Esmi lowered the window of her glass and smiled.
"Yes, Sir, Do you need something?" Esmi asked politely. She pretended to be ignorant that it was Ryder.
"Is that how you want to do it?" Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face.
"Could it be that you are looking for someone?" Esmi asked Ryder.
"Ah, right. I'm looking for a girl. We have a date planned for today, but it seems like she's running late. So non-punctual," Ryder told her.
"Really? Could it be that you're late and she left?" Esmi asked.
Ryder placed both his hands on the roof of her car as he shook his head.
"Maybe. Anyway, it's fine as well. At least I got to meet a pretty lady like you in this way. I have two tickets for this amusement park. Would you like to come with me?" Ryder asked Esmi.
"Are you flirting with me?" Esmi asked with a curious look on her face.
"Come on, stop acting ignorantly. We're getting late; let's go," Ryder told her.
"Hmph, you're no fun at all," Esmi pouted as she opened the door of her car and stepped out.
"You're a few seconds late, by the way," She told Ryder.
"I was stuck in traffic," Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face. He knew that Esmi didn't really care about him being late and was only messing up with him, but he didn't want to prolong this topic. He wanted to finish this date fast.
"Next time, leave a little early from your house," Esmi chuckled as she held the hand of Ryder and pulled him towards the amusement park.
She intertwined her finger with Ryder's.
"I must say, I was quite surprised when you suggested the Amusement Park for our date. I never expected myself to come to a place like this, considering my field of work. Did you do it because you know that Bastion hates amusement parks?" Esmi asked Ryder with an amused smile on her face.
"It's not that. I just like these amusement parks. The reviews of this park are great. It should be fun," Ryder replied to Esmi.
Esmi simply smiled and didn't reply.
They reached the gates of the Amusement Park and showed the pass to the guard. They were allowed to move forward.
They passed through a metal detector and entered the amusement park.
The park was filled with a crowd, which showed how popular it was amongst the people. There were many rides here, high and low, along with many other attractions.
"Do you want to go on a ride first or get something to eat and just visit various other attractions first before we move onto the rides?" Ryder asked Esmi. Their hands were still holding onto each other, making them seem like a couple.
Esmi was about to reply when she saw a photo booth nearby.
"I see a photo booth. Let's get a photo first!" she told Ryder as she pointed towards that photo booth.
"A photo?" Ryder exclaimed with a stunned look on his face.
"Are you embarrassed about being seen with me? If that's the case, you can tell me," Esmi told him.
"It's just that it would be weird if Bastion sees those photos," Ryder told her.
He didn't want to be in this situation with someone close to Bastion, but this is how this whole situation turned out to be since the beginning. He didn't know how this would end, but he hoped that it wouldn't end badly.
"You don't have to be worried about that. It's not like I'm going to keep the photo framed in my room. It will just be in my purse. Please?" Esmi looked towards Ryder with a pleading look on her face.
Ryder looked at her expressions with a wry smile on his face.
'From no angle does she look like a badass person who handles all that. If I hadn't fought with her, I would never have believed it,'
"Alright. I'll take that picture with you," Ryder agreed at last.
Esmi pulled him with her towards the photo booth smilingly.
They entered the booth. Esmi inserted the coin in the photo machine and selected the options of filters.
The timer started on the screen.
10… 9… 8… 7
Ryder and Esmi stayed close to each other as they waited for the timer to get to zero.
"Ryder?"
Just when the timer had 2 seconds remaining, Esmi called Ryder.
Ryder looked towards her curiously, but as soon as he looked towards her, his lips were closed by her lips.
Esmi kissed him so unexpectedly that Ryder never thought of it.
The machine captured their photo right at that time.
Even though Ryder was surprised, he didn't push her back. Esmi had embraced him firmly and continued the kiss. The kiss lasted for over 2 minutes before they separated.
"You planned it the moment you saw that booth, didn't you?" Ryder asked as he smiled wryly.
"Nope," Esmi replied as she shook her head. "I planned it before I even left my home."
She started laughing as she walked towards the machine to take the photo out of it.
The photo was delivered in 2 ways. It could be transferred digitally or physically. Esmi selected the picture to be printed out as well as to be delivered to her email.
" It's nice, isn't it?" Esmi asked as she showed the picture to Ryder.
The picture was the same as Ryder expected. It showed him and Esmi kissing.
"It's good, but keep it carefully. I don't want to get into trouble because of that," Ryder told her.
"I will," Esmi nodded her head.
She kept the photo in her purse and walked towards Ryder. She held his hand once more and left the photo booth.
"I heard that the haunted house is the place that couples must enter when they come to places like these," she told Ryder.
"Where did you hear it from?" Ryder asked her.
"Why does it matter. Let's find the place. It should be fun," Esmi replied.
"If that's what you like," Ryder responded as he walked the Haunted House.
The Date commenced mostly as per Esmi's wishes. They went to the Haunted House. But it was different than his time with Alice.
When he went with Alice, she was sometimes scared inside the Haunted House, but this time it was entirely different. Neither Esmi nor Ryder was scared this time.
They left the Haunted House without anything significant happening. It seemed as if both of them were on a tour of the Haunted House.
As they left the place, Ryder got an abrupt mission from Janus, which made his expressions grave.
