Stalker

The drive between Las Vegas and The Grand Canyon took approximately 4.5 hours each way, whereas a round-trip on a helicopter only took 3.5 hours all up. As such, a helicopter was definitely a much faster and more comfortable way of getting between the two places if one could afford it. Best of all, no view was better than a bird's eye view of this spectacle of nature.

Apart from the fact that she was excited about riding on a helicopter, Maya was initially glad that she didn't have to spend so many awkward hours in the car with this man that she still didn't know properly. But now that she was sitting in the helicopter with him, she felt surprisingly comfortable and time seemed to fly by.

"Mr. Lee and Miss Yeung, if you look out the window right now, you will see Lake Mead below us. It is a man-made lake that lies on the Colorado River and it is the largest capacity reservoir in the United States. Isn't it beautiful?" one of the pilots said into his mouthpiece as the helicopter hovered above a beautiful expanse of sparkling blue water.

"Although the water levels have been dropping in recent years, it is still a popular destination for water activities and fishing," the other pilot continued.

Lucas smirked and said beside Maya's ear, "I also heard it's the deadliest national park in America and there is a heap of dead bodies at the bottom of the lake..."

Maya tried to focus on the view outside the window, but her heart was distracted by the man that still had his arms around her waist and this comment did not help. Ever since earlier, he had not let go, and now, he was talking about dead bodies... She didn't know how to feel about this situation. "You have a window on your side too," she complained. But even though she complained, she no longer tried to shake him off. Perhaps, her intuition knew that this man meant no harm. In fact, on this cold winter's day, his warmth was actually very comforting.

"The view's better from your side," the man simply replied as he hugged her tighter. He didn't know why he acted so impulsively around this woman and why he loved to tease her so much, but now that he had her in his arms, he didn't want to let go. Her warmth and her scent were much too addictive.

As they sat there in silence for a little while enjoying the view, Lucas suddenly broke the silence by saying something that made Maya's heart race. "You know, Ryan told me you weren't my type after he saw you at the pool party the other day. And when I looked through your social media account, I also thought you weren't my type. But here I am...on my first ever second date with a woman... Delilah Yeung, what is it about you that's making me act this way?"

Maya glanced down shyly and blushed a little. One moment, the man was teasing her, the next moment, he was praising her. "I'm nothing special. I'm just an average woman. Maybe if you had given the other women more of a chance, you would have been interested in them too," she replied modestly. She had dated before, but never once had she felt special or different. In fact, one of her ex-boyfriends even cheated on her because she was 'too boring'.

Lucas shook his head, "No woman has ever lasted more than half an hour with me. You're definitely special."

Maya scoffed, "No 'date' has ever 'officially' lasted more than half an hour with you, but I'm sure you've spent more than half an hour with women before."

[This sweet-talking playboy has definitely had his fair share of flings and one-night-stands. At his age, and with his looks, he can't possibly be still a virgin...]

Lucas understood the underlying meaning in the woman's words, but he did not defend himself. Instead, he also said with an underlying meaning, "That's true. I do have quite the stamina..."

Stamina? Maya blushed even harder when she heard this response. Was he referring to his performance in bed?!

Trying to bring the conversation back to something cleaner, she cleared her throat and asked, "Why do you always scare your dates away anyway?"

Lucas stared out the window and sighed. After a moment of hesitation, he replied, "I know there's no chance so I don't want them to cling to me..."

Maya listened to the man's response and sensed that there was more to the story. "It sounds like you've had a bad experience in the past..." she guessed.

At this point, Lucas finally released her from his arms and sat back in his original position. "You must think I'm a jerk...but if you were in my position you would do the same thing too..." he said with seriousness.

There was a moment of silence in the helicopter as Maya thought about what the man said. He wasn't normally this serious.

"And what position is that?" she continued to ask gently as she turned to look at him.

Lucas glanced into the woman's eyes. They were calm and soothing, and he suddenly felt the urge to confide in her.

"No one knows this except for Ryan..." he said after hesitating again.

"4 years ago...I had a stalker..."

Maya's eyes opened wide in surprise. "A stalker?!" she exclaimed.

Lucas nodded his head. "Yes...she was an American correspondent that worked for my father... Her name was Nova Thomas..."

Nova? Nova Thomas? Of course, Noah must have changed his surname to get close to Lucas and this Nova must have been his twin sister. But...stalker? This wasn't the story that Noah had told her...

"What exactly happened?" Maya asked with curiosity.