Sara got a call two days later from her besotted suitor. There was no other word for what Lucas was aiming for with her. He told her to go casual as he was taking her out again today. Since it was a Wednesday, he asked her to leave early as he had a fun date for her in mind. She didn't know what possessed her to agree to it but it wasn't until she found her herself worrying extra about her look and watching the time trickle away while at work did she admit the thought of seeing him again made butterflies float around randomly in her belly.

She sighed and tapped her foot impatiently waiting for the time to move faster and for him to call her again. She supposed he would wait outside for her again but she needed the confirmation. When she got tired of waiting, she focused her thoughts on their previous date. He had asked about her trust issue but it wasn't a topic she was willing to discuss in a heartbeat. She had trusted blindly and was still reeling from the shock of having it broken. That she was eager to live life again didn't mean she'd give him her trust again. He didn't deserve it, at least not yet, and she didn't want to imagine he ever will.

The shrill ringing of her phone brought her out of her reverie harshly and her heartbeat increased when his caller ID popped up. Gingerly, she answered and was told to make an excuse to leave work early and come meet him downstairs. Swiftly, she gathered her stuff and arranged her desk. She stood up to go only to have Katie step up to her.

"Where are you going so early? You can't just leave," She intoned, her eyes filled with suspicion.

Sara stared at her with a upturned smile. "Really? Why not? I already took an excuse."

"What's the excuse? Do you have a family emergency?"

"Yes, actually. My mom needs me back home for an important family meeting. My sister has been getting into a lot of troubles lately. So, I really must leave now."

"But if you leave, I'll be forced to do your work."

"It's just two hours worth of work. Don't worry, you'll be fine."

Flashing the girl a sweet smile, she grabbed her purse and walked out of the office. Katie was only being a pest by asking that question. Always looking for fresh gossip, she wanted to know where everyone went whenever they did. Since she didn't date Jeremy when he pursued her relentlessly, Katie had kept her eyes and ears peered open for any romantic inclinations on her part. Using her mother as an excuse was dumb, but her private life would not become office gossip, at least not this early.

She climbed down the rest of the stairs out of the buildings' front porch to find the famous Ford Explorer parked outside. Lucas, as usual, climbed out of the car to come greet her with his charming smile.

"I'm glad you took my advice and wore sandals. That way, I won't get blamed if you have leg cramps."

She smirked at him. "Well, you said to prepare to have fun and I did. I love being comfortable if we're going out to have fun. So, tell me, where are we going?"

"Aren't you a little impatient? Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough."

She nodded, climbing into the passenger seat and he closed the door. The perfect gentleman, she mused at that, watching as he rounded the car to climb in too. She pulled on her seatbelt just as he reached over to help her. He shook his head slightly amused at the wary look she glanced his way. He had kissed her two nights ago when he tried to help her with her seatbelt and hadn't earned the right to kiss her today yet.

"Based on how frequent you show up here, one could almost forget you have a billion-dollar company to run. How nonchalant." She pursed her lips.

He chuckled, watching her stuffed chin. "I'm pretty sure I have a manager for a reason. Besides, this is important to my cause."

"Which is?" Curiosity was a dangerous thing.

"Of getting you to fall in love with me again," He murmured and kept his gaze trained on hers.

She swallowed hard at the intensity of his eyes which were now locked on her lips. It was evident he was dying to kiss her but that was not why her heart was racing right now. What he said sent off warning bells in her head. Falling in love was dangerous, it was a recipe for disaster, for failed relationships, marriages and broken trust. Why, oh why, was she still in the same car with the man whose life plan was to drag her into that? She needed to get out of here now if she had any shred of common sense left in her.

"Oh, well, is that so?" She asked with a raised brow. "Then I'd love to see you try." She challenged, sneering at him confidently.

He pulled out of his lustful trance to grin at her, completely exhilarated that she was game. "Oh, I plan to. You can bet your life on that."

Sara swallowed hard again as he started the ignition and drove out of the office complex. The man was anything if not persistent. He would rather die than not get her to fall in love with him. She cast him a surreptitious glance and wondered what she had gotten herself into.

He broke the silence by asking about her day. She talked about her job, about her colleagues, even mentioned about decorating his house. He agreed he knew about that piece of information, commending her on a job well done. She knew Donald was out to hurt Lucas for something about sleeping with his girlfriend, at least that was what he told her, so she kept out the part about them being friends. The talk drifted off to that night at his party and she pointed out that he was a total jerk for going so low. He chuckled as he apologized.

"My bad. I was more angry to realize you'd need to sneak into a party just to get recognition than the actual fact that you did. I didn't expect that from you."

"You know I was the topic of conversations for two weeks right?"

"I was not a nice person, I agree but our reunion should have been more cordial. Hence, I'll go all out to make it up to you, while at the same time winning over your heart, my lady."

She gave a light tipped bow in acknowledgement. "I'll look forward to that, then."

"It is probably not of importance but I too made front page news for being a horrible guest."

She chuckled, pushing away a few reckless strands of her ponytail hair. "On the good side, it brought you popularity."

He grimaced at that. "I think having a free porn show for important investors brought me more fame than I've ever had before," He pointed out.

She fell back in her seat, laughing very hard when she remembered that incident. It was not a pleasant plan but it had been necessary. She realized now that he must have been embarrassed about that video. She didn't think carefully about her plan, her whole thoughts on getting into her son's life.

"I'm sorry. You were being a stubborn mule and I got desperate. I didn't see any other way around it."

"The ingenuity of the plan still baffles me up to this point but I'd admit I liked it. A lot, actually that I might attempt such sometime in my life and sell it for millions of cash."

"Don't, please. That almost always never ends well for almost anyone." She laughed.

"No," He concurred. "But there are a few celebrities that made fame that way." And they went on to discuss the topic in details.

By the time Lucas pulled up in front of the Lekki park, Sara was laughing in incredulity. This was not what she had in mind at all. The park consisted of a Merry-go-round, a Ferris wheel and swings. There was an ice cream stand, a popcorn booth and a water boat ride. Sara watched the people strolling into the area laughing and chatting animatedly with their company. She never envisioned this was what he had in mind, but seeing the grin on his face, she knew she would undoubtedly have a great time.

"The park? This is where we are having our date?"

He nodded, pulling into the car park and stopped the car. "What is the best way to relax after a hard day of work?"

"Not go to a children's park on a weekday?" She quizzed in a dull tone.

He chuckled, smiling cheekily at her bored expression. "Come on, don't be a party pooper. It will be fun and definitely worth your time. Besides, you're hanging out with the fun master himself."

Sighing, she climbed out of the car and strolled to go fall in step with him, laughing as he made jokes about how angry Freddie would be to realize he took someone else to the park instead. Apparently, Freddie was staying with his sister, Amanda for the week and was supposed to have a lovely time with her. Gingerly, they made their way to the Ferris wheel first and bought their tickets. It had been long she'd rode on this thing and found her heart beating faster as their ride got closer. Instinctively, she squeezed her palm together to calm herself down and realized it was coated with sweat. The ride pulled up and the queue filed in quickly. Lucas turned to climb in only to notice her tightly clenched fists. He came to stand in front of her and raised her chin so she could look into his eyes.

"If you want, we can try the Merry-go-round instead," He offered.

She pursed her lips, her eyes darting to the ride behind them. She came here to have fun but the Ferris wheel always gave her the chills. It must be an innate fear of fast-moving objects without control. "No, it's okay. It's just pre-nerves. I'll be alright," She said, flashing him a weak smile to assure him.

He wasn't buying it. "Are you sure?"

She nodded, sidestepping him to go climb in to their compartment, buckling herself. Lucas sat next to her before reaching out to link his fingers with hers. She eyed it warily but let it slide. Then the engine was started and the ride started to move, slowly at first, giving her time to adjust to it and calm her erractically beating heart. She even got brave and removed her hand from his hold. He said nothing, relaxing into his chair.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

She eyed him angrily, wondering why he was so worried about her. "I'm fine. Don't worry, it's not..."

Her reply was caught off when the ride picked up its momentum without warning. Suddenly, things were whizzing past her in reckless abandon and Sara felt queasy. People started to scream on instinct at the freefall motion of the car, while the daredevils laughed obnoxiously. Lucas chuckled at the feeling of almost flying, loving the exhilarating rush going through him. He tried to lift his arms up only to notice the death grip on it. Sara was terrified and her eyes clamped shut, willing the queasiness and helplessness of the situation to go away. Lucas's attention was locked on her, on the grip on his arm effectively cutting off his blood supply but he didn't mind. He was angry she'd stubbornly agree to do this when it was obvious she didn't enjoy it. He kept it in mind to give her his tuppence about such actions later.

After about more than half of an hour later, with teeth clattering and limbs wobbling, the ride pulled to a stop at the ground floor and disgorged its passengers. Sara peered open her tightly shut lids to find Lucas watching her. Slowly, she released her grip and he winced as blood quickly rushed to his veins. He didn't say anything, but stood up and exited the car with Sara trailing behind, feeling guilty. She fell into step again beside him as he marched off towards the direction of the Merry-go-round. He bought their tickets and then turned to her.

"Are you sure about this one?"

It was in retrospect to what happened earlier but this case was different. She actually enjoyed this contraption ever since the first day she rode it. She nodded slowly, a smile flickering on her lips. He didn't return it, instead accepted the two tickets and marched off to join the queue, Sara falling into step. She knew he was angry about the Ferris wheel incident but he was never one to hold his anger for too long. If he didn't want to confront the issue, she was not foolish enough to bring it up in public.

They were led to the different horses and an operator helped her climb onto one. It wasn't until the machine started moving did she realize he didn't get on. Alarmed, her eyes darted around, frantically searching for him. The ride made a full circle before she saw him standing by the side of the ticket booth watching. He didn't look too happy, a grim expression etched on his face but to realize he was letting his anger affect their date spiked up her fury. If he had something to say to her, he should say it and not ignore her like some petulant child!

Since she was holding onto the rope with her right hand, she flipped her left arm above her head furiously attempting to draw attention to herself. She needed to get down and have a talk with some angry bull. A few minutes later, the ride slowed amidst murmurs of unhappy customers. Ignoring them, she climbed down from the horse so fast she almost hurt herself. Clumsily, she made her way out and marched off, ignoring Lucas who was shouting her name.

He caught up to her just before she reached the famous water boats. She whirled around to face him.

"What is the matter with you?"

"I should ask you that question, Lucas," She retorted, fuming.

He sighed, clenching and unclenching his fists by his side. "I did not feel like riding."

"Don't give me that crap!" She yelled, stomping her foot. "You're angry because of the Ferris wheel incident and you decide to take it out by ignoring me."

"I was not ignoring you. Like I said, I did not feel like riding."

She snorted, shaking her head sadly. "Oh, yes, and I do not feel like talking to you either," She returned, before heading for the boats. She handed them a note and got a ticket before heading for the docks. Lucas watched her change into the swimming gear and go through the precautionary measures before striding to the boats. Without thinking, he made his way over to her and reached her just before she settled into the boat.

"What are you doing?" She quizzed, looking at him and at the guide who was yelling he should come change into his gear.

He ignored both. "What does it look like I'm doing? This craziness has to stop. You can't just decide what to do without including me in your plans. We're on a date!"

"Which is the exact reason why my date should not shut me out because he's angry."

"I did not shut you out," He reiterated. "I was angry about the Ferris wheel ride. You should have told me you didn't like it, not be so stubborn and foolish. What were you trying to prove by doing that?"

"I was not being foolish. I knew I could do it. Just because I was frightened didn't mean I have to chicken out. You taught me that," She snapped.

"Yes, and I also taught you to admit your fears and doubts, not act foolishly like a child!"

She shook her head in defeat and turned around to settle in her boat. Lucas stood there watching her as she sat on her chair and reached for the ignition. It only took a second for him to understand what she was doing. He opened his mouth to warn her at the same time the boat did a whirring sound and rotated, pushing him off the boat into the water below.

"Lucas!" Sara shrieked and watched in horror as the lifeguard ran to the dock, frantically searching the water for any sign. Her eyes too were glued to that portion of the water, wondering what was taking him too long. He was a very good swimmer, so he should be alright. A few crucial minutes later, he poked his head out of the cold water, spluttering and splashing water about. She watched him make his way to the dock and the two lifeguards helped pull him up and out of the water.

Quickly, she made a U-turn and drove back to the dock. He was drenched, shivering slightly and dripping wet. They handed him a large towel and he wrapped it around himself, talking with the lifeguard. Slowly, she came to stand in front of him, watching his hazel brown eyes narrow into slits. If he was angry before, he was beyond pissed now. His lips thinned into a fine line as he regarded her.

"I'm sorry," She said, moving closer to him. "You're right. I should have told you I wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the Ferris wheel but I was being stubborn,"

He did not reply, just kept his thin slits locked on her. A cool evening wind blew across, causing him to shiver uncontrollably.

"Let's get you home before you catch a cold." She turned, leading him away from the dock. He followed her and they made their way to the parking lot. Suddenly, an Uber pulled up and Lucas climbed into the back with Sara following after.

"What's wrong? Why are we not taking your car?"

He looked at her and sighed. "Unfortunately, I lost my car key when I fell into the lake earlier, so we're using an Uber." He told the driver his address and the car pulled out of the lot, making his way into the ever busy Lekki-Epe expressway. They elapsed into silence the whole ride home, each lost in thought of how much nicer this date could have gone if things had happened differently. Less than an hour later, they pulled up in front of her apartment complex. She climbed out of the car and was surprised to find Lucas had joined her too. He caught her hand before she left.

"I apologize for my behavior today," He began in a solemn voice. "I shouldn't have acted like a douche with you, giving you the silent treatment because I was angry. This day could have gone so nice." He flashed her a smile, the first one since they left the Ferris wheel.

She reciprocated, reaching out to stroke his chin. "I'm sorry about pushing you inside the lake and consequently loosing your car key."

He chuckled. "I deserve it as my punishment for earlier. Let me make it up to you, say Friday. Since you'll be meeting with Freddie on Saturday, I don't want to come in between that."

She nodded, loving the fact that he was being very considerate with her. "Let's do Friday. But I must warn you, no more parks and Ferris wheels and water boats."

He grinned, bending to kiss her lips, causing a warm feeling to run across her skin. "No, it would definitely not be any of that, I promise."

Sara stood there and watched the Uber drive off, and wondered briefly about the warm fuzzy feeling in her stomach. She had experienced this before and it didn't end well, which had her wondering why she was letting it happen again. She must be a fool, she thought shaking her head as she made her way to her apartment. She must be a thrice-damned fool.

~~~~~~~~

I have nothing to say, except...

Remember to vote and comment as usual, people.

Thank you😍😘