"For your wife and yourself. I think you should go on a date,” Nino said as he handed Jack two playground tickets.
Jack frowned. "Why are you giving these to me. You know how my relationship with Lea isn't the typical husband and wife relationship."
Nino snorted in annoyance. "That's precisely why you should try to get closer. You can't live in a tense situation as husband and wife forever. Act like a normal married couple."
"You care so much about my domestic relations. Why don't you use the ticket to go on a date with your girlfriend?"
"I'd like that too. But Natasha is back home to take care of her sick grandmother. Since I've already bought this ticket and feel sorry for her, I'm giving it to you. Come on, don't waste the ticket I gave you,” Nino said with a pleading face.
Jack sighed heavily. He then accepted the ticket from Nino with annoyance. "Don't get your hopes up. I just feel sorry for you."
Nino smiled wryly. "I'm sure you'll enjoy it. You'd better smile a lot and enjoy your time with Lea as much as possible."
With a flat face, Jack replied like this, “I won't!”
***
Jack went home with a mixed heart, the playground ticket from Nino clutched tightly in his hand. Upon arriving home, he saw Lea sitting in the living room, staring at the television with a blank stare. It was clear from her gaze that Lea was actually bored.
“Lea,” Jack called softly, breaking the silence.
Lea turned her head, slightly surprised. "What's wrong, are you hungry? I ordered food earlier so eat up. Don't forget to wash the dishes."
Jack held out the ticket. "Nino gave it to me. He wants us to go to the playground together."
Lea frowned. “Why did he give it to us?”
"He said we need to get closer. I don't know what that means." Jack shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. He honestly didn't want to get further involved with Lea. But somehow he felt that lately, he was always involved with Lea and he couldn't separate himself from her. Even though she had tried to keep her distance.
Lea stared at the ticket for a moment before raising her eyebrows. “Alright, when do we leave?” Lea didn't seem to mind at all that they were going together.
“We can go tomorrow,” Jack said. “Better hurry up, so I can forget about this soon.”
Lea snorted in annoyance. “If you're like that, it's better not to go.”
***
The next day, they both went to the playground in a strange mood. Jack felt awkward, while Lea seemed rather excited even though she tried to hide it. I don't know why Lea seemed enthusiastic.
Once there, Lea looked at Jack with a small but proud smile. “So, where to start?”
Jack complained softly. "I don't know. You're more excited, you choose. I'll follow your choice." Jack, who wasn't too interested, just left the choice to Lea.
Lea's eyes lit up. “How about we try the roller coaster?”
Jack gulped. "Roller coaster? Seriously?” He was surprised to hear Lea's choice.
Lea nodded enthusiastically. "Come on, it'll be fun! Are you scared?"
“No, I'm not scared at all.” Jack couldn't resist, so they queued up to ride the roller coaster. As they sat in their seats, Jack felt his heart pounding. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
Lea laughed. "Just relax, Jack. You'll be fine. If you're scared just pray silently."
The roller coaster started moving, and instantly Jack felt his whole body tense up. As the train hurtled down at high speed, Jack screamed louder than Lea. A feeling of dizziness and nausea began to envelop Jack, and as soon as the train stopped, he immediately came out with a pale face like a person who hadn't eaten for a week.
“Jack, are you okay?” asked Lea while holding back laughter. It couldn't be denied that Jack apparently felt scared when riding a roller coaster.
Jack shook his head. “I need a break... and a bucket, maybe.”
Lea patted his shoulder. "Come on, sit down for a while. We'll continue later."
After resting for a while, Lea took Jack to the free fall tower. Jack could only let out a long sigh, feeling that today was going to be a very long day.
“Lea, do you really want to ride this?” Jack asked in a trembling voice. Even his toes were shaking violently.
Lea nodded vigorously. “Of course! It'll be more fun!”
Jack gave up and followed Lea.
When they were at the top of the tower, Jack could feel his heart almost jump out of his chest. As the tower fell with incredible speed, Jack felt like his whole world was spinning.When they finally stopped, Jack almost fainted, staggering out of the chair.
“Are you okay?” Lea asked again, this time with a hint of concern.
“I... I need to sit down again,” Jack replied weakly.
Lea pulled him towards a nearby bench and forced him to sit down.After a while, Lea returned with two corn dogs in her hand and a bottle of water.
"Here, have a drink.It might make you feel better,” Lea said as she handed Jack one corn dog and the bottle of water.Jack took it hesitantly.“Thanks, but... shouldn't I have bought this for you?”
Lea smiled."No problem, Jack. After all, I already ate ten corn dogs earlier."
Jack was surprised."Ten of them?How can you eat that many?"Lea just laughed."My stomach is an unsolved mystery, Jack.Come on, finish your corn dog, we still have plenty of time to enjoy this day."After finishing the corn dog, Lea pulled Jack towards the meat restaurant in the playground. Jack could only shake his head at Lea's unstoppable spirit.“Don't you ever get full, Lea?” asked Jack in surprise.
Lea laughed again."I have a big appetite, Jack. Don't worry, you'll get used to it."They sat down at the restaurant and ordered their food.Lea quickly finished her roast beef, while Jack was still trying to overcome his nausea.“Lea, you really surprised me today.”
"I just wanted to have fun. Because I rarely spend time playing outside like this,” Lea answered honestly.
Jack looked at Lea for a moment, then smiled a little."Is that so? Well at least I'm grateful that this ticket can be useful for you."
Lea nodded in agreement. “At least, it's fun and makes me feel entertained.”
As the sun began to set, they walked out of the playground feeling much lighter.Lea looked at Jack and felt grateful for this strange yet fun day.
“Thank you, Jack,” Lea said sincerely.
“For what?” asked Jack.
“For making me feel alive,” Jack replied.Jack smiled warmly."You're welcome.I'm also grateful to you for accompanying me."Without realizing it, slowly and surely both Jack and Lea finally began to become very close to each other.