Mister Softee & I

Mister Softee

...."we are now beginning our final descent into New York. Please keep your seatbelts fasten and seat trays upright. Thanks again for flying with us here at Delta Airlines." As the final announcements alerted over the intercom Sam had just woken up from her nap and realized she was sleeping on Daniels's shoulder. "My bad, why didn't you wake me earlier? I would've leaned against the window," Sam apologizes. He just looks at her and laughs, "you don't think I tried that, you were dead tired of the world. Nothing was waking you up. It's all good though, you get enough rest? I know you've been pretty busy these last couple of weeks." She lets out another yawn, "yeah I'm good now, just a little drained. But excited for this trip."

They deplaned, got their luggage, and were now off to the hotel. It was a long flight, and both of them are looking forward to just relaxing and lying low for now. Making it to the hotel, they checked in and realized their room was across from one another. "Nice, now I don't have to walk all over this hotel to come to bother you when I'm bored," Sam says with a laugh. They make it to the door of their respective rooms and mention that they will check in later for dinner plans.

Daniel gets into his room and starts to unpack and gets ready to take a shower when his phone goes off.

SL: Either I don't get out much or this is just the nicest place I've stayed at in a while 😂

He laughs and decides to reply when he gets out of the shower, that was a long flight and he needed to feel fresh. Turning on his Spotify playlist, he heads to the bathroom.

Feeling better and calm, he chills on the bed and gets ready to text Sam back when there is a knock on his door. Getting up to answer, he checks the peephole and sees Sam, opening the door he mentions, "I was just about to text you back, I needed to grab a shower first." Signaling her to come in. "Oh no worries, I was thinking about dinner already. I saw this place I wanna check out." Sam shows him the place on her phone and they agree. "You wanna do anything else tonight? Since I'm going to be pretty wrapped up for the rest of the week?" He asks as he pulls out what he's going to where to dinner. She thinks about it, "let's play it by ear." Daniel agrees, "sounds good. Meet you in the lobby in 2 hours. I'll have the car service ready." Sam nods and heads back out of the room, about to get herself ready for tonight.

Sam gets back to her room and is already contemplating what to wear tonight. She didn't bring a lot of dress-up clothes, plus this is just Daniel. "Why am I tripping right now? We are just hanging out like normal." She takes out some nice dress pants and a cropped top with her white kicks. "Perfect. Comfy, casual, and cute. Plus who knows what else we might get into after dinner." With the outfit decided, Sam gets ready to take a shower and start her routine. Turning on her latest music obsession, Daniel's Summer '22 playlist.

An hour passes and she is just about to get started with her skincare routine and finish with some light makeup when she gets a text.

DE: Hey, change of plans of car service for tonight. Since the restaurant is close by, let's just walk it. It's nice out anyway.

That sounds perfect and she replies back telling him so. Sam gets dressed and decides last minute to add a jacket since she isn't sure how late they may be out. She grab her bag with everything she needs and did one final once over in the mirror then headed downstairs to meet Daniel.

As she gets to the elevator, her nerves start to pick up. She can't pinpoint exactly why. Maybe it's being in a different city, or being with only just Daniel, or only with Daniel in a new city. Whatever it was, Sam was definitely in her head and started to have second thoughts about all of this when the elevator door dinged and opened into the lobby. She was about to just head back up and cancel, but then she saw his side profile as he was waiting for her. Those old feelings of want and attraction started to rear their head again. "Damn. He looks good." Stepping out of the elevator she slows her breathing and get's her emotions in check. 

Daniel feels her presence and turns his head as soon as she steps out of the elevator, making her way over to him. Sam graces him when that big, infectious smile of hers, and returns one in kind. "You look nice, ready to head out? We are a bit early but we can just take our time walking there." She nods, "Yep, all set. You look nice as well by the way." He extends his arm out and she grabs it as they exit the hotel, heading towards the restaurant. They make pit stops along the way, a vendor with a hilarious shirt, some decent graffiti art Sam just had to get a picture in front of, and a nice flower shop Daniel wanted to make a stop at. "I'll be right back," he says entering the flower store as Sam is left with her thoughts wondering where this night will lead. 

As he heads into the shop, Daniel is contemplating what to get her. He not going to lie, his head is kind of spinning right now. Having this time away from everyone, also in a different city with Sam is indescribable. She is effortlessly beautiful and carries this aura about her that makes you want to be around her. "I thought I dealt with these emotions already. Obviously, there's a vibe here, but we've never crossed that line. Maybe it's just this new setting we're in. Let's just see where the night goes. I'll follow her lead."  He thinks to himself, then he stops when he sees her favorite flowers. 

Coming back out he hands her some beautiful marigolds, "Oh gosh Daniel, these are so beautiful. Thank you." Slightly blushing, Sam gives him a small kiss on the cheek and stands back to look into his eyes. She feels that pull again, and this time she can feel that she's not alone. He stared back into her eyes as if to dare her to make the next move. Not wanting to ruin the friendship, she breaks the moment, "we are going to be late to our reservation if we don't keep going now." Starting to walk ahead of him, Daniel tugs on her hand to pull her back to his side and doesn't let go until they reach the restaurant.