The next morning, Mika arrived at the hotel earlier than expected.
Loretta had just finished getting dressed when she received his message.
(I am downstairs.) The two had agreed after their dinner the previous night that Mika would take her to visit other interestibg part of the city that are not really spoken about by Tourists.
A small smile appeared on her lips before she quickly grabbed her bag and headed out.
When she stepped outside the hotel, Mika was leaning against his car while holding two cups of coffee.
"You came early," Loretta said as she walked over.
Mika handed one cup to her. "I did not want to waste the day."
Loretta accepted the coffee softly. "You make it sound like we are on a schedule."
"We are," Mika replied seriously before suddenly grinning. "Today's mission is making sure you enjoy yourself." he held the door opened for her.
Loretta laughed quietly before getting into the car.
Mika first took her to a small breakfast restaurant near the waterfront. The place was peaceful with warm sunlight coming through the glass windows.
The two sat across from each other while eating breakfast and talking casually.
For the first time in forever, Loretta felt relaxed. There was no pressure around Mika. No need to pretend.
After breakfast, Mika drove her around different parts of the city. Sometimes they stopped to buy snacks from roadside stalls while other times they simply drove around talking.
"SL has a zoo with some rare animal species," Mika said while driving. "Would you like to visit?"
Loretta was not really a fan of zoos, but since there was not much else to do, she nodded. "Alright."
When they arrived, the zoo was more beautiful than Loretta expected.
The place was filled with trees, flowers, and wide walking paths. Families and couples walked around while children ran excitedly from one section to another.
Loretta looked at the children, when she was younger her class had an outing to the zoo before but her mother thought it was a waste to pay so much money for the trip so she wrote to the school that Loretta would not be participating because of health issues.
Back then she had been sad but it has been so long that she already forgot all about it.
Loretta quietly followed Mika just going with the motion but little by little she became interested.
At one point, they stopped in front of a large glass enclosure where a white tiger rested lazily under the shade.
"It's beautiful," Loretta said softly.
Mika looked at her instead of the tiger. "Yeah."
Loretta turned and caught him staring. "Were you even looking at the tiger?"
"Yes," he lied with a straight face. Then he inwardly reminded himself to put it together m
Loretta rolled her eyes, though she could not stop herself from smiling.
"Do you want to take a picture?" He asked.
Loretta nodded thinking that the white tiger was pleasing to the eyes, Loretta agreed.
Mika smiled. He took out his phone and took the picture. He thought the scene was beautiful and wanted to capture the picture.
After taking the picture they moved to another section where giraffes stretched their long necks toward visitors for food.
Mika bought animal feed before handing some to Loretta.
Loretta looked hesitant. "What if it bites me?"
"It's a giraffe, not a lion." he was amused.
"That does not answer my question."
Mika laughed before holding out his hand to feed one. Loretta watched the scene seeing that it did not hurt him she carefully imitate his action and the giraffe immediately stretched forward and took the food gently.
Loretta's eyes widened in surprise before she suddenly laughed.
The sound made Mika pause for a second.
It was the first time he had heard her laugh so freely.
An elderly woman nearby watched the two warmly before smiling. "You two are such a lovely young couple."
Loretta froze slightly, before she could explain, Mika smiled naturally. "Thank you."
Loretta immediately looked at him. "You are not even correcting her?" she whispered once the woman left.
Mika looked innocent. "Why would I ruin her happy imagination?"
Loretta shook her head helplessly, though her ears had turned slightly red.
As they continued walking, several people glanced at them warmly. Thinking that Loretta would be tasty, Mika bought too cold drink and handed one to her.
"Thank you," Loretta smile. She could not understand how he managed to be so thoughtful.
A little girl holding her father's hand pointed at them excitedly. "Daddy, they look like people from a romance movie."
Loretta almost choked on her drink while Mika burst into laughter.
"You seem very popular today," Mika teased.
Loretta gave him a warning look. She honestly had no idea why everyone was mistaken them for a couple.
The two moved to the panda section. "I did not realize a visit to the zoo could be this fun," Loretta said while looking at the panda.
Am glad you are enjoying it," Mika said.
The two spent hours walking through the zoo together.
Mika took charge of taking her pictures, They shared snacks, and teased each other naturally along the way.
At some point, Loretta became tired from walking, so Mika bought ice cream for both of them before the two sat quietly on a bench near the lake inside the zoo.
A cool breeze passed gently through the trees.
Loretta looked around at the peaceful atmosphere before speaking softly. "I really had so much fun today, thank you." She was grateful for his time.
"You are welcome," seeing that sincere smile on her face made Mika so happy. He was not ignorant of his own thoughts. He only hated it because Loretta was someone that was engaged soon to be married.
Since his last relationship ended a year ago, he never thought he would be attracted to another and definitely not so soon.
Yet, the universe was playing a bad joke on him. She was someone who was already engaged.