CHAPTER 12: OPENING GAMBIT   In the Wyndemere game room; Nikolas reads the Herald at one table,  Stefan and Staci play chess at another and Laura is curled up on the sofa  reading a book.  Stefan moves his rook to put Staci's solitary king in checkmate.  "Checkmate."  Staci frowns, "Why don't you ever let me win, Grandfather?"  Stefan smiles, "How will you learn if I 'let you win'?"  Staci stands up in frustration and walks over to Laura, hoping to gain some  sympathy from her grandmother. "How am I supposed to learn if you  capture all my pieces so quickly. Right Grandma?"  Laura looks up at Staci and smiles, "He never lets me win, either." Laura  puts down her book and stands. "Come here, I want to show you  something." She leads Staci over to the computer and pulls up a menu.  "There's a computer chess game in here so you can practice."  "Cool, thanks Grandma."  As Staci plays on the computer, Nikolas looks up from his paper, "Has  anyone seen Lesley Lu this evening?"  Staci looks over at her father, "She's out."  As Stefan crosses over to the sofa and sits down, he asks, "Out where,  Staci?"  Staci shrugs, "Don't know. But you should've seen her, she was really  dressed up. Wow! She looked amazing. Totally older."  The three exchange glances. Stefan is instantly concerned. "Did she  happen to say who she was with?"  "Nope."  Laura sits back down and rests her hand on Stefan's thigh. "Lu's fine. She  knows how to take care of herself."  Stefan fights to remain calm. "She's only 15, anything could happen to a  child her age. She should be protected and watched out for."  Nikolas tries to hide the smile on his face, "I've seen her handle guys twice  her size when she visits the club. No one stands a chance against her when  she's mad."  Stefan sighs, "At least she has her bodyguards with her."  Laura knows her daughter well enough to know that Lu doesn't have her  guards with her, but she's not about to tell Stefan that. "She'll be home  soon, she probably just went out with Georgie or some other friends from  school."  Nikolas adds, "Lu's very responsible, she'll either be home soon, or call."  Nikolas crosses over to Staci and pulls up a chair beside her. "You want to  show me how your game works?"  Staci smiles at him, "Sure, Daddy."  Laura avoids Stefan's uneasy gaze. She sighs, "She's just spreading her  wings. All teenagers do. Remember when Nikolas and Lucky were that  age?"  Stefan nods, "I do. They very nearly killed each other." Unhappily, Stefan  adds, "I don't like it, Lasha."  "What are you going to do? Lock her up in her room until she's 25?"  "The thought has crossed my mind."  *****  Lu smiles as the waiter brings two large baskets of cheese fries and sits  them down in front of her and Dylan. Dylan watches her expression and  can't help but smile too, even though he gives the cheese fries a slight  sideways glance. She laughs.  "What's so funny?" he asks.  "You, the look on your face. Haven't you ever had cheese fries before?"  "Not on a first date." He smiles again, "You look like you've just won the  lottery."  "Jackpot," she says as she takes a bite.  "Huh?" Dylan seems thrown for a loop.  She holds up a fry for him to eat and smiles temptingly. He leans over and  takes it from her with his mouth, kissing her fingers as he takes the fry.  She watches his expression while saying, "You know what they say about  diamonds being a girl's best friend? Forget it, it's the cheese fries. Better  than gold."  "They're good," he admits.  "I was brought up on these babies. Nutritional value, nil, but what the hey,  right?"  He nods slowly. This girl was a whirlwind. He can tell that he's falling  fast. "Absolutely." He feeds her the next fry. As she eats, he says, "I feel  like I've known you forever."  She sits back. "Wild, isn't it? That whole chat thing was so unreal. I  didn't expect us to really get along like we did on e-mail." She thinks for a  minute, "Do you consider this a first date? I mean, we've been e-mailing  each other for months."  Dylan smiles, "And to think we owe it all to the chat room. I guess we  wouldn't consider this a first date in the traditional sense of the word.  Most people, when they go out for the first time, they spend the evening  finding out about each other. We've already done that."  "I have an idea," Lu says while smiling devilishly.  Dylan smiles, "Whatever it is, I'm all for it."  She leans in closer to him and whispers conspiratorally, "Let's get out of  here. I want to show you all the sights while you're here. I don't want to  waste a second."  Dylan stands, "I agree. Let me just settle up here, and we'll be off." He  leans down and kisses Lu on the forehead before walking up to the bar to  pay Mike.  Lu sits back in the chair and sighs, "I think I'm in love," she mumbles  dreamily.  Standing up, she meets Dylan at the door. "Am I driving?" he asks.  Lu responds with another question, "Do you mind?"  "Not in the slightest." He helps her with her coat, then offers her his arm,  which she takes graciously as they leave.  *****  Emily walks into Lucky's, just missing Lu and Dylan. She goes up to Mike  at the bar.  Mike smiles at her, "Hey Emily, What can I get for you?"  "Uh, nothing," she says as she looks around, "Is Lucky here?"  "No, he isn't." Mike looks surprised. "Didn't he tell you? He's out of  town on a business trip for Nikolas. He'll be gone another couple of weeks  at least."  Emily looks down sadly, "No, he never said anything. Thanks anyway,  Mike." She turns and leaves.  Mike feels bad as he watches her go, noticing a sadness in her eyes he  hasn't seen for a long time.