Is this destiny?

Next two days passed in a flash.

There were no further incidents in the company.

On the last day of the four-day company events, Samantha Fleming submitted her resignation; effective immediately. She was one member of team Venus who was involved in cheating during scavenger hunt. They identified her as the leader of that group.

Sophia had concerns that Samantha will not just let the incident fade from memory, not after seeing her disdain when she didn\'t get what she wanted and that she got caught. Sophia called Tod who has agency which provides security services and asked him to keep an eye on Samantha; just to make sure they catch her if she tries to go to the press or anything else funny. Tod is the same man who works with Sophia and Felix to find them candidates for personal security.

Other than that, everything ran smoothly in the company.

Friday morning, Isabella thanked everyone for their time. She was heading home to Salina later that day. Isabella had lunch with Leah who dropped her at the airport after that.

Two of them promised to stay in touch, and that within next few weeks they take a vacation together. They will see each other again in two weeks, Isabella is invited to Sophia\'s and Felix\'s wedding. And so is Leah.

Isabella wanted more than once to mention to Leah that her father will not approve of their relationship, but she didn\'t want to spoil the mood. At the end, she didn\'t talk about that. She didn\'t think it\'s a big deal, since Leah will not meet with her father anytime soon anyway.

Everything seemed to go well between them. They had lunches and dinners together, as well as coffee breaks. They went for walks and got to know each other much better than expected. Two of them found that they are very different, yet very compatible. Everything worked great. Their physical intimacy didn\'t go beyond kisses, but neither of them seemed to be in a rush. They enjoyed current situation.

For Leah this was a new high. Totally new experience. First time getting emotionally attached to a female! She was happy and anxious at the same time. But she told herself to listen to her heart, take it slow and see how it ends up.

…

At the Sophia\'s and Felix\'s house, Aiden watched furniture delivery trucks leave and then headed to the backyard. He found Sarah in the lounging chair, working on her laptop.

"I thought you finished setting up Eve.", he frowned.

She looked up at him and smiled. "I did… I\'m making changes to the learning plans for the kids. They are like sponges, absorbing everything very fast. I\'m adding more content."

Aiden sat next to Sarah and observed. "Driving?"

Sarah\'s smile widened. "Yes, I want to take them with us to New Mexico. We get to try out new cars, and kids can learn driving. Skipper can give them some basics about cars and engines, it\'s always good to know what is inside and how it works."

"But these dates won\'t work… change them."

"Why? We can go and be back in time for big sis wedding…" Sarah was confused. Aiden never had such demands, he would add things, but nothing like saying that something does not work. Sarah was in charge of planning what kids learn and when.

"Move New Mexico trip for… after Sophia\'s wedding.", he demanded.

She stubbornly shook her head. "Not unless you tell me why." She wanted kids to learn about cars and driving, and she was itchy to try out Divo as well as SLR McLaren. And she thought that he wants to try them out also. \'What is with this behavior?\'

"Right here…", he pointed at the dates on the screen which she marked as time reserved for New Mexico. "…we are going on a date."

Sarah\'s mind exploded. \'Did he say DATE?!! Last time he said that, we ended up in Paris…\' Sarah\'s expression showed her enthusiasm. "Date? Where? When are we leaving?"

"We leave in two days. As for where… it\'s a surprise. Pack a swimsuit.", he winked, happy to see her lit up expression.

"How long are we staying?" She was attempting to squeeze more details from him. He said, \'pack a swimsuit\'… that means swimming. Beach, maybe? And since she needs to pack it\'s definitely more than one day…

"Don\'t worry… we will be back in time for the wedding…" He squinted at her expression which showed that she is trying to figure out more information and added: "Stop guessing! Let me surprise you."

Sarah pouted. "You can\'t keep me in the dark and expect me to cooperate."

Aiden pulled her in his embrace and sighed. "OK. Five days, tropical climate, just the two of us. Happy?"

She looked at him with her eyes sparkling from excitement and nodded. "Very happy! How…"

He put his index finger over her mouth. "No more questions. That is already more than what I wanted to say. We leave Sunday morning… and don\'t even try to hack into my files to find out more.", he warned her and then glanced at laptop. "Until then, find something else for kids to do."

Sarah obediently nodded and sank into his embrace with a silly grin on her face. \'A date…\'

He kissed top of her head and held her tightly.

The weather was nice. Two of them were holding each other on a lounging chair, surrounded with tall trees and a great lake view which was available in front... But Aiden was not able to enjoy the views or the privacy or the weather. His mind was going over things he planned for their five days date. The more he thought of that day four, the more nervous he was. \'…or maybe I move that for day three… I hope all goes well…\'

"Are you OK?", Sarah\'s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Why would I not be OK?", he was not sure why she asked that. \'Can she read minds? Oh, I hope not!\'

"Because you are squeezing me… and your hands are curled into fists…", she explained. Sarah\'s expression showed that she is not comfortable.

"Oh…", he loosened his hug. "Sorry… I was just thinking something." Aiden realized that Sarah was about to ask more questions, and he quickly changed the topic. "Kids can do more math, right?"

She squinted suspiciously for a second but decided to let him out of this one… it\'s probably related to the date, and she knows that he tends to overthink some things. If she keeps on probing, he will just get more anxious. Sarah still remembers how disappointed he was that their trip to Greece was not a surprise.

She smiled thinking how silly he is sometimes. Adorable, but silly. "They already have plenty math… let\'s see what else I have in future planning that can be pulled in their schedule now…" She focused on her laptop.

Aiden was happy that she dropped the topic. He kissed back of her head. "Thank you…" He knew that she decided not to ask further questions.

She smiled in response and continued looking at her laptop.