Floating by

Chapter 16: Where's the Milkshake?

At 7.30 sharp, Zach knocks on Kayla's door. He waits a bit before it's pulled open and Kayla's standing there, in a long navy blue floral print maxi dress. Zach takes a few seconds to admire Kayla as Kayla does the same to Zach.

"Wow, you look amazing." Zach breaks the silence and looks into Kayla's eyes.

"Um, thanks. You don't look too bad yourself." Kayla says swishing her dress around and looking at her feet shyly before looking back up into Zach's eyes.

"Shall we?" Zach says turning slightly and sticking his arm out for Kayla.

Kayla giggles, steps out of her room and loops her arm into his. She lets the door shut and they continue on their way.

"So where are we going?" Kayla asks as she follows Zach's lead into an elevator.

"You'll see" Zach says as he hits the '7' button.

The doors close and they head on up, stopping on a few floors as people enter and leave.

When the doors open on the 7th floor, Zach takes hold of Kayla's hand and leads her down a corridor towards the suites.

Zach passes each door as he looks for a specific number. When he finds it, he stops in front of it and lets Kayla's hand go. Kayla suddenly misses the feeling of his hand holding hers.

"Here we are, room 701." Zach says as he pulls out a fancier looking key card.

"Zach, what are we doing here?" Kayla asks unsure and taking a quick glance around them then at the double doors in front of her.

"Don't worry, just come in." Zach says as he pushes one door open.

Kayla follows Zach in and gasps at the luxurious room. The first thing she notices is the big living room complete with a flat screen tv, to her left a kitchenette fitted with top of the line equipment and to her right there's a door.

Zach takes her hand in his again and leads her towards the door, which belongs to the master bedroom. As they walk through it, Kayla is so distracted by the size of the room and the en suite that she doesn't even question why they're there.
She lets Zach's hand go and explores the room a little, walking into the walk-in closet and peering into the bathroom. When she's done she finally remembers that this was supposed to be a date.

"So what-" She stops and gasps as she turns around to see Zach standing at the balcony doorway. Out on the balcony there are fairy lights strung on the railings and above a table set for two. She slowly walks over to him while still gaping at the set up. She notices that the balcony has a beautiful view of the back of the boat and the trolling waters below it.

"Do you like it?" Zach says scratching the back of his head nervously and looking at Kayla expectantly.

"H-how? Wh-what?" Kayla looks between the table for two and Zach, trying to figure out how he managed to do this in an hour.

"I-uh, had some help." Zach says sheepishly with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Wow." Kayla breathes out still looking at everything.

Zach walks out into the balcony and stands behind a chair looking at Kayla he says, "Mademoiselle, your table." In a really bad French accent, as he pulls out the chair and gestures to it.

Kayla giggles but walks over to him nonetheless and makes to sit on the chair as he pushes it in for her.
"Merci beaucoup monsieur Zachary. Qu'est-ce qu'on mange?" Kayla says in perfect French, which leaves Zach confused and embarrassed as he sits down.

"Um, what?" Zach asks, which only makes Kayla giggle more and makes Zach go redder.

"I just asked what are we having for dinner?" Kayla says between giggles.

"Oh. Well. It's nothing fancy but it's um, all I could afford without asking my moms for more money. I uh, hope it's okay." Zach says while lifting up the metal cloche in front of Kayla and doing the same for himself.

Kayla's smile widens at the sight of the burger and fries before her. She looks up at Zach and makes her face all serious.

"What, no milkshake?" She says in a jokingly accusing voice.

"Oh right! Be right back!" Zach says as he hastily gets up and in the process kicks the cloches that he placed under the table, making them clatter around. He picks them up embarrassed and mumbles out a million apologies before scurrying back into the room. Leaving a laughing Kayla alone at the table.

When Zach walks back out he's holding two ice cold milkshakes, one vanilla and one chocolate. He sits down still holding the two milkshakes and gestures to both as he asks her which one she would like.

"Chocolate! Ooooo, gimme the chocolate!" She says reaching out like a little kid who's been deprived of chocolate. Zach hands it over and lets out a low chuckle. He watches as Kayla takes a sip of her shake and sighs in contentment. She looks back up at him and suddenly becomes shy.

"I hope you don't mind, but I snuck a few fries in while you were gone. I mean they were just staring at me and I've always said fries before guys any day. You know?"

"Oh yeah totally. I say that all the time too. Fries before guys." Zach says as he shoves a few fries into his mouth. This sends Kayla into giggles as Zach tries to keep a straight face but fails. The slight awkwardness that was there is suddenly gone and they flow into an easy conversation as they enjoy their food.