Chapter 6 : A Date to Remember

Luke Owens. That was interesting, I knew a Luke Owens, actually. Well, not like knew him personally, but I had heard of him.

A lot of people had heard of him. It would be hard not to when he was on the news so often. He was the son of the multimillionaire resort owners, Gail and Jeremy Owens. Their luxury resorts were the inspiration for some of my story locations.

Their son, Luke, was given a hotel to manage on his sixteenth birthday. Most of the populace had expected him to use it for parties and future frat house meetings. Instead, he went and surprised everyone by taking the responsibility seriously and making the hotel a location of innovation and green technology.

The branch he made of the Owens resorts, the Rigel Hotel, started out as a three-star hotel and was quickly made into a five-star by his careful planning and actions.

It was now THE place to stay at if you were someone and the other hotels in his name were also quickly rising to fame as well.

All in all, he had the work ethics and productivity people could only dream about—i.e. people like me who were procrastinating on a book for months and were getting chewed out by their editors.

Enviable for many reasons, Luke Owens was well known, whether he wanted to be or not.

“Oh, like the hotel owner,” I said. He smiled at me, eyes alight with mirth and then, it hit me like a bucket of ice. “Oh, THE hotel owner,” I echoed, feeling slightly embarrassed, and he chuckled softly.

“Exactly.”

“Well, it’s lovely to meet you, Luke. I suppose since I know what you do for a living, I should tell you what I do. I’m a writer.”

“I know. Well, I knew as soon as I heard your name. ‘Weathering Storm’ was a fantastic book.”

I blushed. I didn’t realize he’d know of me as well. I was a bit popular, but I didn’t think I popular enough that anyone partaking in the Lush Experience would know me.

I felt a bit stupid now. Andre was always telling me that I was more famous than I gave myself credit for and that I shouldn’t ruin my image by not delivering my book like I said I would.

…urgh. He was right, unfortunately. I owed him an apology, or some finished work.

“Thank you,” I finally answered with a smile. “Uhm, should we continue this conversation elsewhere? This is my first time at the Lush House, but from what I’ve seen the grounds are just spectacular.”

“What a coincidence, this is the first time I’m using the experience as well,” Luke beamed. “How about something casual, say, lunch?”

He offered his arm out to me and I was taken aback. Wow, a true gentleman.

This was already going better than I ever could’ve hoped. I slid my arm into his, smiling widely. I don’t know what I was expecting anymore, but it certainly wasn’t Luke Owens.

“Sounds like a plan,” I agreed.

We walked forward, heading down the hallways, examining everything the Lush House had to offer. Some dates were already in full swing. We passed a room with a couple painting, and then another with a different couple wading in the hottubs. This place was pure heaven, and the longer I was here, the more I began to realize that I might actually even enjoy myself. Especially if my dates were all like Luke.

“So, how did you come to try the Lush Experience, Anais?” Luke asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

My heels clacked on the marble floors as we walked.

“Well, my friends recommended this place to me and set me up with a ticket. I think they were worried I was getting too absorbed in my work, you know?” At this, Luke nodded. I had a feeling he’d understand. As a multi-hotel owner, I’m sure he experienced it himself from time to time. “And you?” I continued.

Luke sighed. “After bringing the hotel to its current standing I realized how much time had passed and how few friends I had made in college. I wanted a relationship and to build connections, but being so high profile, it can be hard to find. So, I decided to try out this service instead. It feels a little more discreet, somehow.”

I agreed wholeheartedly. Celebrity drama was more than enough for me to understand how hard dating could be when you were a public image.

In my own friend group, Karena was a rather famous model and she struggled just to come see us, her friends. She had to sneak around to even do so, and if she had a romantic partner? Oh, the press would have a field day.

Well, hopefully we’d both have a good time today and Luke would be able to let go of the pressure that I’m sure was building on his shoulders.

The Lush House was huge, and the dining room we walked to looked like it was set up for a feast for royalty, not the date we were going on. At least four crystal glasses were on the table, along with what felt like a dozen pieces of silverware.

Luke pulled my chair out for me, like a gentleman, and at least seemed to know what to do with the fancy set up. He sat down and pressed a button on the table that made a doorbell noise.

“These are popular in Korea,” he told me, pointing at the little button. “So, instead of yelling for a server you press this, so they know which table to go to. It’s probably to give the couples more privacy to get to know each other.”

“Fascinating, does it always sound like a doorbell though?” I joked.

Luke chuckled, and his laugh was melodic. “Yes, or at least, I haven’t heard anything different.”

A server came out with two salads before we could order anything, and began his speal.

“Today’s salad has a balsamic vinaigrette and herb croutons. We’re serving salmon over a bed of wild rice, steak with garlic mashed potatoes, and our vegetarian and vegan option is spinach and ricotta pasta. Dessert is chocolate gateau, earl grey chiffon cake, or fruit jelly. Here is our wine menu. The soup of the day is minestrone. Now, what can I get for you to drink?”

“I’ll take a screwdriver,” Luke stated confidently. The server then turned to me.

“Iced tea?” I asked weakly. This was a bit fancier than I was used to, but the server seemed unperturbed and just nodded along to our orders before heading off.

“Well, it’s not quite what I expected when coming here,” Luke said dryly, making me chuckle.

“Tell me about it. Then again, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s a bit—much.”

“The Lush Experience does pride themselves on being one of the best organizations for finding rich and powerful people love. I’m not surprised they’re going above and beyond.”

The waiter came back with our drinks, and I didn’t have the heart to correct him for bringing me sweet, iced tea. Next time, I’d be sure to clarify.

“So, Anais,” Luke began after taking a sip of his drink. “Let’s get to know each other. Should I start and ask what your favorite color is?”

A teasing grin appeared on his face, and I giggled.

“I’ll have you know I like a nice dark purple.”

“Hmm,” he hummed. “I happen to like a nice green. Now that THAT questions out of the way…”

This made me chuckle even more. Once I settled, I continued the conversation. “Well, we’ve already learned how we found the Lush Experience, so, what’s your favorite food?”

Luke thought about it for a minute, then gave me an answer. “I’d have to say a good Italian gnocchi, which is much harder to find than you would think. And you?”

My answer was much quicker. “A nice baguette with butter.”

“How sacrilegious, the French would have your head for besmirching their baguettes,” he said playfully.

“I suppose it would be the guillotine for me then,” I joked. “Have you been to France?”

“Yes, where my friend yelled at me for putting butter on my baguette. You should’ve seen him. I thought he’d drag ME to the guillotine for that.”

I tried not to look like a loon with how hard I was laughing. This date was going far better than I ever could’ve hoped.

Luke wasn’t just a gentleman, he was charming and could carry a conversation without it feeling like it was forced. It was…comfortable, and soon I found myself truly enjoying his company. He was strangely attentive, trying to get to know me and focusing on me, but I found it flattering.

“So, we both have golden tickets?” I asked, halfway through the steak and Luke nodded.

I needed to ask River and Vera just how much they spent on that ticket because I was starting to think they could’ve bought me a brand-new car instead.

The services at the Lush House were absolutely insane, I didn’t know how they’d be able to run this place otherwise.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had to worry about a relationship that wasn’t a business one,” he noted. “I wasn’t sure how well things would go with the service, but I have to say I’m impressed. Today’s been wonderful.”

Luke smiled sweetly and I felt myself blush.

“I’ve had a great time too. Would you…like to go on a second one?”

Nowhere in my thoughts when I started this did I think that I was going to be going on a second date, let alone asking someone for one. This whole experience was full of surprises. I found that I was starting to look forward to it, too.

We pulled out our phones and opened the Lush app.

River has explained it, and the introductory tutorial they had helped. The Lush Experience was meant for meeting people, forming relationships, and finding a permanent partner. That meant an array of checks and balances.

We could only communicate through the app, so if any relationship went sour and one person wanted to end it, they could.

You would just go in and block the contact, inform your agent, and they’d take care of it. No private numbers or anything were shared in case one person didn’t want the relationship to end.

Safety was certainly taken seriously, and dates and meetings had to be set up and confirmed through the app so they would know where you were in case of emergency.

We both accepted each other on the app for another date.

I don’t know why but I felt—giddy. Almost like I was in school again and trying to get a date for prom. We continued the rest of our date, chatting and getting to know each other, and before I knew it, the date was over and our time was up.

Luke stood from his seat, and extended his hand to help me get out of mine. I grabbed a hold of it, pulling myself up. However, I tripped on the leg of the chair, and collided forward into Luke’s chest. He caught me, and I looked up at his smiling face.

“Careful,” he said, his words soft like a whisper. “We need you in tact for the next date.”

He winked and I felt my cheeks heat. I pulled back and smoothed out my dress in an attempt to forget my clumsy moment. I grabbed my clutch and Luke gestured to the front exit. Once we were outside, his car pulled up.

He stared at me for a moment, neither of us speaking. I wasn’t sure what he was going to do. Was he going to kiss me? Did I want him to? But instead, he surprised me once again, and took a hold of my hand, lifting it to his lips. They were soft as he planted a kiss on the back of it.

“Until next time,” he smiled.

“Until next time,” I repeated, somewhat in a trance. I watched as he descended the stairs and climbed into his car.

As it sped off into the distance, I couldn’t help but be excited for what else was in store at the Lush House.