"I'll do anything you want." She whispered.
"Really?"
"Yes, anything." She put her hands to his belt.
"That's a relief, because I thought we were going to have to fight."
"I'll fight you if you want me to."
"No Valerie. Please just sit down. I have something I want to ask you."
"The answer is yes." She said. "Whatever it is."
"Great. Then sit down and close your eyes."
"Except for that. I don't want to close my eyes." She gripped his belt tightly again.
"Do it or I'll leave right now." He ordered.
Reluctantly she closed her eyes. He pulled her hands from his belt and then gently guided her back down into her chair.
"Begin counting backwards from 100." He said.
She opened her eyes again but he gently brushed them closed with his fingertips. "Shh. I've got something for you. I'll put it on the table right here. All you have to do is count all the way down to zero." She peeked through her fingers and saw Alex place a small dark box on the table. Then he wrote a note, folded it up, and placed that in the box as well. A thrill of excitement went through her. She had just met Alex Drummond, billionaire, that evening. He was a hard guy to be paired with through the dating website and it was rumored he was very picky.
But tonight was obviously her lucky night.
"Start counting and then keep going. If you stop or if you look then I'm taking it back."
"One hundred, ninety-nine..."
Alex stood up. "I'm going to stand behind you." He said. "Keep counting."
When she arrived at zero, Valerie peeked through her fingers. "Can I look now?" There was no answer. She looked around and Alex was gone, but his gift was still there. She grabbed the box and opened it frantically.
Inside was a single toothpick and a note.