Another Bag

As Maya followed behind the unpredictable man, she noticed the pilots had handed him a big bag from the helicopter. It was black, zipped up, and it was square in shape.

She immediately remembered the backpack from the previous night and the items that the police officer had shown her: rope, knife, white powder...

It made her panic a little. She had almost forgotten about those items. Was he carrying the same items again today? She had yet to question him about them. Why was he carrying them? And was the white powder actually illegal? Like Noah said, did he just pay his way out of trouble?

"What's in that bag?" she asked nervously.

Lucas smiled and did not answer. She would find out soon enough anyway.

Eventually, he pulled her toward a cliff with an amazing view of the canyon and stopped. Below them, Maya could see the vast valley of red rocks that revealed millions of years of geographical history but she subconsciously took a step back in fear as soon as the man let go of her hand. Although the man seemed innocent based on the story that he told her in the helicopter, she had yet to verify that information. It was still his word against Noah's. Truthfully, she was beginning to trust Lucas, but now that they were out here all alone and he was acting all mysterious with a bag that he wouldn't tell her the contents of, she had to put her guard up again.

Lucas placed the huge bag on the ground with a thump and took a deep breath. It seemed heavy. What could he possibly have inside?

Maya glanced at the bag nervously as Lucas bent over and started unzipping it.

She took another step back and looked around to see if there was any route of escape. If anything seemed wrong, she had to get out of there as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, the helicopter had landed on a flat plateau that was not accessible by foot. The only way to escape was either to climb up or jump down; neither of which seemed safe without proper equipment.

Maya pulled out her phone to see if she could call for help but noticed there was no phone signal either. This entire situation did not seem safe.

Just as she was panicking, Lucas pulled out a long rolled up fabric of some sort...

Without a word, he held onto one end, shook it open, and unrolled it to cover the rocky floor. It was a red checkered pattern rug!

Maya finally took a step forward for the first time when she realized what it was. "A picnic rug?" she asked with curiosity.

Lucas smiled, "Miss Yeung, I know our blind date didn't end so well yesterday. Would you mind sharing another meal with me?"

As he said this, he sat down on the rug and pulled out two plates from his bag followed by some containers. That was when Maya noticed his bag had a foiled lining — it was a cooler bag!

Relaxing a little, she sat down opposite the man and watched as he opened each container. The first one contained a collection of cheeses and hams. "I hope you like cheese," Lucas said. Since he didn't know Maya well, he wasn't sure if she was allergic to anything or had any dietary requirements, so he brought a variety of items just in case.

The second container contained a selection of sandwiches.

Then, there was a container of sushi, a container of fruit, and finally...he pulled out a container that was sitting in a bag of ice.

When he opened the lid, Maya couldn't help but let out a laugh.

Sitting inside the container...was a dozen fresh oysters.

"This is to make up for the oysters I ate yesterday..." Lucas chuckled. "I won't tease you today. You can eat all of it if you want."

Maya looked at the man and felt her heart flutter. She understood that he was trying to apologize for getting her arrested, but this was beyond any apology that she had ever received. No one had ever planned something so special for her; even she didn't treat herself this well.

Did the man have to go this far for an apology? If this was the case, he should make mistakes more often.

Amused by her own thoughts, she looked straight into the man's eyes and said sincerely with a smile, "Thank you."

Lucas stared at the woman and also felt his heart flutter when he saw her genuine smile. His original intention was to apologize to 'Delilah', but who knew that seeing her happy would make him feel so happy too. Apart from Ryan, he didn't have many friends, and he often participated in activities that could be done on his own like rock climbing, hiking, fishing...

But now, he suddenly had the urge to share everything with this woman just to see her reaction.

"Are you doing anything this evening after we return to Vegas?" he suddenly asked as he handed Maya an oyster.

Maya licked her lips. She had been craving oysters since the previous day. Shaking her head subconsciously, she replied, "No."

"I need to attend an event this evening. Would you like to come with me?" Lucas invited.

Maya swallowed the oyster and looked at the man with curiosity. "What kind of event is it?"