Love Lost & Found

Chapter 11

As soon as Sam shut the door behind me, he quickly turned to face me.

"Ivy...I'm totally at a loss for words of how beautiful you look." A burning sensation rose to my face as it turned a bright red. His hand gently  caressed my cheek and he smiled at me.

"You look beautiful too, Sam." As soon as I said that, I mentally slapped myself. He let out a loud laugh and whipped away a tear from his eye. I lowered my head in shame. 'Really Ivy? Really?!' I said to myself over and over. I felt like such an idiot.

"Oh Ivy," Sam said as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder, ushering me to his car, "you're too cute for your own good!" I grumbled at his statment, I was still beating myself up about it. He helped me into the car, and quickly ran to the other side and hopped in. He turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. Neither of us spoke, and it was a little awkward, but comfortable at the same time.

"So," I began in an attempt to break the silence, "where are we going?" I asked curiously.

"It's a surprise." Was all he said. I knew better than to push forward. Even when Sam and I were little, whenever he had a surprise for me, he wouldn't tell me what it was no matter how hard I persisted.

I sat back and stubbornly crossed my arms over my chest. I glanced back over at him through the corner of my eye and I could see him stifling his laughter. I casually slapped his arm, "Shut up!" I yelled in annoyance.

"I'm sorry Ivy, you're just too adorable when you're mad!" He said inbetween fits of laughter. I rolled my eyes, typical Sam. We again sat in silence as I waited for us to arrive at our destination.

The car came to a halt as we approached a stop light; Sam asked me to close my eyes so I wouldn't see where we were turning into. I grudgingly obeyed and waited for him to tell me when I could open my eyes. "Okay Ivy, you can open your eyes now." He half whispered. My eyes fluttered open, I gasped when I saw we were parked in front of Friendly's. My heart almost dropped, Friendly's was my favorite restaurant! I turned to Sam, mouth open.

"I can NOT believe you're taking me to Friendly's!!!" I exclaimed like a little kid. I felt all bubbly, and it was just like old times, my mom and dad used to bring Sam and I here all the time when we were little.

"Well, I knew it was your favorite place when we were little, and I figured it still was." He said with a smirk. I couldn't help but blush at how well he knew me. We quickly hopped out of the car and as we were heading inside the restaurant, a warm sensation crept up my hand. I glanced down and saw his fingers intertwining with mine. My face felt hot as I held his hand back. He looked up at me with a handsome smile, and I returned the gesture.

As we approached the doors, he opened it for me, and allowed me to walk in first. I was a bit disappointed when his hand fell from mine, it was like getting out of bed on a cold winter morning. The blankets kept you nice and snuggly warm, but as soon as you got out, you were cold and empty. It was like Sam was my blanket on the cold winter morning.

We were happily greeted by one of the employees as we arrived at the desk to be seated. She was a pretty girl who seemed to fit the job she had to do. She was very peppy and sociable. She gave us a big toothy grin, and I couldn't help but smile back at her. She just seemed like one of those people who can make anyone smile.

"Hello! Welcome to Friendly's! Will it just be the two of you dinning this evening?" She said politely. Sam nodded in response, and she grabbed menus and two sets of silverware, wrapped neatly in a napkin. "Follow me, please."

We followed her to our booth, where she placed the menus on either side of the table. Sam notioned me to go in first, and he slid in on the other side. The girl placed the sets of silverware next to Sam and I. "You're waitress will be right with you!" She stated happily, and walked off to seat the next set of customers.