Night had fully fallen, and under the dim glow of the streetlights, the two of them strolled leisurely down the quiet street, chatting along the way.
When they reached a café in the middle of town, Luke suddenly stopped.
He pointed toward a digital locker by the café entrance and grinned. "I got you a little gift. It's in that locker."
"Really? What is it?"
"No peeking. You have to guess it right before you can see it."
Luke gently covered Yuffie's eyes with both hands and guided her to the locker.
His fingertips brushed against her soft, delicate skin—it felt like touching the smoothest piece of jade.
"Did you open it yet?"
Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Yeah, it's open. Go ahead and guess."
"What could it be? What could it be? Obviously lilies!"
Yuffie laughed as she pried his hands away from her eyes.
"I knew it!"
"How'd you figure it out?" Luke asked, disappointed.
"The smell of lilies is so strong—how could I not? If you really wanted to fool me, you should've covered my nose too!"
"Ah, rookie mistake!"
"It's okay. I love it."
She smiled, holding the bouquet of white lilies. The flowers matched her graceful aura perfectly.
"You really like it?"
"Mm-hmm! I do!"
"That's enough for you?"
"Huh?"
Luke smirked mischievously and slammed his fist lightly against the locker.
Thunk!
With a rattle, a platinum strawberry necklace hidden on the top shelf dropped down.
"Well, since you're already satisfied, I guess I don't need to give you this anymore."
"What? There's more?" Yuffie gasped in surprise.
Luke chuckled, picked up the necklace, unfastened the clasp, and reached toward her.
Seeing him ready to help her put it on, Yuffie obediently swept her hair to one side, revealing her elegant, snow-white neck.
As his fingers brushed against her skin, the warmth made his hands tremble slightly. It took him several tries to fasten it.
"It looks beautiful—just perfect for you," he said with a smile, trying to play off his nerves.
"This must've been expensive. Did you buy it with your paycheck from The Fast and the Furious?"
Coming from a wealthy family, Yuffie could tell at a glance—it was at least worth five thousand dollars, enough to buy a used car in the U.S.
Luke wasn't rich. He had just started earning some money.
He only smiled in response, his gaze filled with affection that silently said, You're worth it.
"A bouquet of flowers was more than enough—I'm already really happy! You shouldn't waste your money like this. You risked your life to earn it. Let's return it, okay?"
"I like how you nag," Luke said playfully.
"Ugh, seriously!"
"It's fine. I'll make a lot of money. I'll be successful. Soon enough, something like this won't even matter to me."
"You go ahead and take the lead—I'll catch up soon!"
"I believe you. Come on, it's getting windy. Let's grab some coffee inside."
It was early winter, and the night air was growing chilly.
They pushed open the café door and sat down together.
"I'll get two coffees. Stay right here and don't move," Luke said with a grin.
"What's that supposed to mean? Are you teasing me?" she shot back, immediately sensing the double entendre.
After all, she'd gone to school in Asian—she knew what that line implied.
"Wow, so childish! Why do you guys always like those dumb 'dad jokes'? What, you want me to call you daddy now?" she said with mock disgust.
"You actually know that one?" Luke thought, a little impressed but also competitive.
"I wouldn't mind if you called me that… in certain situations," he said smoothly.
"What do you mean?"
She tilted her head, pretending not to understand—but her ears turned red.
Oh boy. He'd assumed she wouldn't get it.
But she did. She totally did.
She was just pretending not to.
And her blushing ears completely gave her away.
What now?
Well, all he could do was play dumb too.
Luke, shameless as ever, quickly composed himself. His inner logic was simple:
If a girl often listens to a guy's dirty jokes, odds are they'll end up starring in one together someday.
And if the reverse is true, well—same difference.
She's going to be my girl anyway, he thought. So what if I let something slip?
"Kids shouldn't ask adult questions," he said righteously.
That made Yuffie even more flustered—furious but unable to call him out. Her cheeks grew redder by the second.
Just then, the café door opened again.
Luke looked over and waved.
It was Director Cohen, whom he had arranged to meet tonight.
"You've got business to talk about? Then I'll head out," Yuffie said, standing up.
But Luke gently caught her hand.
"Stay and watch—it'll be good for you. You'll have to meet directors yourself soon enough. I'll take you home after we're done."
"Are you sure? I won't interrupt?"
Truthfully, she was curious to see how actors talked with directors.
"If it were anyone else, maybe. But you're not just anyone."
That answer made her smile, and she sat back down without another word.
After introductions, Luke and Director Cohen got straight to business.
"I went over your script revisions and proposal with Director Johnston," Cohen said. "He was really impressed."
That didn't surprise Luke.
He already knew the weak points in the upcoming Jurassic Park III—and his changes addressed them directly.
One of the biggest problems was the scene where the T-Rex gets killed by the Spinosaurus.
The T-Rex was practically the mascot of the entire franchise, insanely popular with fans.
And Johnston had the nerve to let it get killed by a random dinosaur?
Audiences hated it.
More than a decade later, when Jurassic World came out, the new director even added a revenge moment where the T-Rex smashes through a Spinosaurus skeleton—an intentional nod to fix that grievance.
"I really believe that if the movie follows your plan, it'll be a box office hit," Cohen continued.
Luke smiled. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. But I'm guessing it's not all good news, right? There's always a catch."
Cohen nodded and sighed.
"Yeah. The problem is money. Universal won't fund your revisions."
"In short—we're broke."
"So no matter how great your ideas are, they'll just end up collecting dust."
"How much more funding would it take?" Luke asked.
"Ten million dollars." 💵
—belamy20