Happy Birthday KakaAnko!

Hope you like your birthday gift!

"What is the purpose of this activity?" Caesar frowned.

"It's fun. We go around the city and collect all the things on this list." Beverly explained showing him the list.

"How is this fun?" Caesar did not understand. "It seems like a waste of time."

Beverly was running out of ideas for interesting date nights. She was worried that they were getting stuck in a rut, but she didn't want Caesar to be bored either. "If you don't want to do this…"

"No, no. If you think this is… fun, then we will have fun." Caesar amended himself.

"I don't want to force you to…" Beverly started saying.

"We will have fun." Caesar interrupted her.

Beverly looked skeptically at him as he pulled the list from her hands.

"Welcome, couples!" A cheerful lady announced to the group. "Thank you for choosing us for your unique dating experience. Please find all the items on the list and return back here when you are finished. You have three hours."

Caesar looked at the list. "Let's go." He grabbed Beverly's wrist and pulled her along.

"We can get roses around the corner, chocolates down at the…" Beverly pointed out.

"That's where everyone else will be going, and they will price gouge." Caesar led her away from the crowd.

"What? Where are we going then?" Beverly asked confused as they stood in front of his research pod.

"Wait here." He stepped into the lift. Beverly watched as he disappeared into the ship. A few minutes later he reemerged with a couple of watches in his hands.

"We can test these while gathering these items." Caesar said handing her what looked like a watch.

"What is this? Beverly asked strapping it onto her wrist.

"I am working on a portable dimensional disruptor but instead of interdimensional travel we can jump linearly." Caesar strapped his on as well.

"What are you talking about?" Beverly looked at him. "Why are we jumping anywhere?"

"You'll see. Set these coordinates." Caesar instructed.

Beverly wondered what he was planning but before she could say anything else she felt a violent wind and a slight buzz when suddenly, she felt a hot breeze. Looking around she saw stalls set up with beautiful roses.

"What? Where? Huh?" Beverly gaped at the sight around her.

"Ecuador. They grow the best roses and luckily also make some of the world's best chocolates." Caesar walked up to a vendor. "¿Puedo por favor tener una docena de rosas*?"

The vendor nodded and began gathering the flowers. She then wrapped them in some parchment paper before handing it to him as Caesar handed her some dollars.

"Gracias." Caesar turned to Beverly. "Shall we get some chocolates?"

"Sure." Beverly said still feeling rather confused.

"Quisiera una caja de tus mejores chocolates.*" He said to a different vendor.

The vendor produced a box of chocolates from his refrigerated cart.

"Gracias.*" Caesar paid for the box. He consulted the list. "Hmmm, wine is next. Well, that's easy." He punched in some coordinates on his watch. Beverly wordlessly followed him.

A second later she was dodging people on a crowded cobbled street.

"Regardez où vous allez!*" One yelled at her in French.

Beverly looked for Caesar. The area was brightly lit by gas lamps that lined the streets. She spotted him going into a small store. She ran after him. Caesar pointed at a bottle on the shelf. The man pulled the bottle and put it into a paper bag. Caesar handed him a credit card and paid for the bottle. Turning to face her, he said, "Now for the heart shaped balloon."

"Caesar," Beverly stopped him. "This thing on our wrist can take us anywhere?"

"Yes."

"That can travel anywhere?"

"Yes."

"And we're just using it to gather random items?" Beverly's voice raised an octave.

"Uh… yes?" Caesar wasn't sure where this line of questioning was going. "That was the point of the game, wasn't it?"

"Caesar, you've created a way to instantaneously travel anywhere at any time. You can take me to dinner anywhere around the world! Why didn't you tell me you made something like this?" Beverly was trying not to yell.

"These were experimental prototypes and perhaps cost prohibitive. But I thought you'd be interested in finishing the scavenger hunt." Caesar was confused. "Didn't you want to do the scavenger hunt?"

"Caesar, I was just trying to do something interesting for our date but if you have a magic portal that we can go anywhere…"

"Dimensional disruptor isn't a magic portal." Caesar sounded offended.

"Close enough!" Beverly took a deep breath reminding herself that this was Caesar and that sometimes he needs to have things spelled out. "Caesar, we are in Paris right now…"

"Bordeaux," Caesar interrupted.

"Whatever. Let's have dinner here." Beverly said.

"What about the scavenger hunt?" Caesar asked in surprise.

"Forget that! We're in France. What's more romantic than dinner in France?" Beverly huffed.

"Nothing?" Caesar guessed hesitantly.

"Exactly!" Beverly exclaimed.

"Uh, there's a café around the corner that sells good crepes." Caesar said consulting his smart phone.

"Sounds great!" Beverly said excitedly.

Caesar handed her the flowers and chocolates which she accepted with a smile. He offered her his arm. She shifted the flowers and chocolates to free her arm. She took his arm and they walked to their new date destination.

¿Puedo por favor tener una docena de rosas*? = May I please have a dozen roses?

Quisiera una caja de tus mejores chocolates. = I would like a box of your best chocolates.

Gracias.= Thank you.

Regardez où vous allez ! = Watch where you are going!