dopamine : luke

peach

"hold on," clio says, furrowing her eyebrows, "i'm having second thoughts."

it's been not more than three minutes since she said the words "i'm in," but once again, she's letting her fears get the best of her.

"why?" luke whines, "we were this close to walking out of this café, clio." he slumps down further on his seat as he taps his foot down on the floor impatiently. they need to leave in ten minutes if they want to watch the sunset.

"i don't know," clio sighs, "how can i be sure that you're not a kidnapper? or a scammer? that you won't mug me then leave me in a dark alley?"

she says her words with her eyes wide, scaring herself even more because of her thoughts.

"if i had a plan to mug you, i could've easily grabbed your wallet then ran out the doors, since your wallet's been on display since the second i got here," luke says a-matter-of-factly, pointing down at clio's wallet on the table, "and i'm not a kidnapper, clio, i just wanna show you a good time. i'll have you back here, after sunrise, the exact same way i saw you."

luke speaks fast, knowing full well that the clock's ticking.

"i wanna see what i'm getting myself into," clio says slowly, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "show me the to-do list."

luke's eyes instantly widen at this. she can't see the to-do list. he's certain that once she does, she'll surely change her mind and back out.

"i'm afraid i can't, clio," he says, crossing her arms just like clio, "that'll just defeat the purpose of me wanting to surprise you. where's the fun in knowing what's to come?"

clio's breath hitched. there definitely is a lot of fun in knowing what's to come. clio always makes sure to make schedules, and know just what she's going to do for the day the second she wakes up.

she has a schedule for everything. she makes sure to plan ahead. just the thought of going through a day without a plan makes her shudder.

and now, luke wants her to not know what's on that list?

"how can i be sure that everything there is safe?" she asks.

"i assure you that there's nothing harmful here," luke continues, "these are just activities that will make you love life more. trust me."

trust. someone who clio's only known for twenty minutes is asking her to trust him.

no matter how wild that sounds, somehow, clio wanted to do exactly that. she wanted to trust luke.

since the second luke sat down in front of her, clio felt something different. yes, she felt weirded out at first. but as the minutes passed by, she actually found herself feeling comfortable around this man.

probably because luke speaks with so much confidence. he speaks with so much certainty, with so much security, as though he's known clio for years. he speaks as though he knows what clio needs in life, and that he knows just exactly how to give clio what she needs.

she didn't know why, but something about luke made clio feel as though they're connected somehow.

"alright," clio sighs, once again not believing her own words, "i trust you, i guess."

luke's eyes instantly twinkled more at this.

"thank you," he smiles, feeling his heart start to beat faster, "you won't regret this, i promise."

luke looks down to turn his phone on, and flicks his eyes back at clio who's biting down nervously on her bottom lip.

"let's get started, shall we?"