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 Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 11:28 am
The restaurant was only starting to get busy. It was still a little early for a dinner rush, but people were starting to trickle in and fill up the tables. It was an ‘upscale’ casual dining type restaurant, part of a chain that had all types of foods on their menu but was making an effort to seem more fancy then it was really. The lighting was low, with dangling lightly glowing lights hanging over every table; funky art covered the walls.
At the front, a hostess was peering over her placement map when four people walked in. Those were the Colt family with an extra girl in tow, Ainsley. The hostess spied them and asked “for 4?”
Delia, Sam’s mother, eagerly chipped in “Yes!”. Her son, Sam, had a look like he could just die, at that very moment. He was settling well into his teenage angst and fear of being seen with his parents. Robert, Sam’s father, was well clued into his son’s moods. Robert approached the hostess as she started to grab four menus and whispered in her ear. The hostess looked back at the two young teens standing there, Sam being stiff as a board, then back at her seating chart and nodded.
Sam's father and the hostess were now in cahoots. All the thoughts of what terrible things they were planning to do filled Sam's head. Were they planning on making him wear some ugly horrible hat!?
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Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 11:59 am
Ainsley's icy blue eyes immediately looked around her new surroundings, looking at the walls in particular. The art was interesting, that's for sure! The setting was pretty dim even with the dangling lights that hung down from the ceiling and it took a moment for her eyes to properly adjust. Upon hearing the hostess speak, her head turned and her eyes focused on the woman. A small smile on her face, she admired the woman's hair.
As they stood in front of the hostess, Ainsley stood quite close to Sam. Her hands were placed delicately over each other, laying flat against her dress between her attempts to fix it. They would gently run over the fabric to remove any creases and then they would fall back to their prior position. She looked to Sam's mother, then his father before finally she looked to Sam with a smile.
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Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 12:11 pm
Sam gave Ainsley a meek little smile and a nervous chuckle. What was happening!? He didn’t know, and he wasn’t sure he was going to like it.
“Alright, follow me.” The hostess chirped, and smiled as she guided the four through the restaurant. She led them to a little table with two chairs, and placed down two menus. This table was in the middle of the restaurant, with a view of almost the whole place. “For the lovely elder couple.” The hostess waved for Sam’s parents to take a seat. For once, Delia and Sam Colt shared a shocked looked of confusion. What was happening!?
Sam’s father took his seat while nudging his wife to take hers. The hostess began to move on. “And if you two could come this way.”
Sam started to blindly follow the hostess, unsure of where they were going. Looking back, he saw his father grinning and wave to him, while his mother looked severely disappointed.
Nearly across the restaurant, the hostess sat the two young teens in a booth. It was well out of earshot of Sam’s parents, but not quite out of eyesight.
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Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 12:21 pm
Unlike her friend, Ainsley was a little less nervous. However, things were going to change when they followed the hostess to a table for two and only Sam's parents sat down. She looked disappointed at first, wondering where their seats were but when the hostess had them follow her to across the restaurant to a booth of their own. She didn't know what to think of it, her eyes looking at it before looking back to Sam's parents with inquiry.
"Oh," she said. "Oh."
There was a light blush across Ainsley's face as she sat down at the booth, her hands fidgeting in her lap as she rubbed the creases out of her dress's hem. They were at a table of their own and Ainsley was old enough to understand what this could mean! Did Sam think of her like that? Her mind went wild with ideas as her icy blue eyes looked from the table to her lap and then to the hostess, properly avoiding Sam's brown eyes.
"Thank you," she whispered politely, although a tad meekly, to the hostess.
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Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 2:14 pm
Sam sat down across from Ainsley, his gaze not really meeting hers either. He looked at pretty much everything but her. “I guess they wanted to be alone,” he shrugged, trying to play it all off like maybe this was a normal thing to happen.
If she was blushing, he really didn’t notice it. Folding out the menu, Sam scanned over it, focusing intensely on the different dishes without looking up. He really wasn’t sure if this was more or less awkward then having dinner with his parents; being subjectively forced into a private dinner… date? No. Nooo. Couldn’t be that. They were too young. He was Ainsley’s friend. Just her friend right? Besides, Ainsley seemed to prefer older blue-haired men, as Sam recalled. Just thinking about that made him frown in frustration; which he hid under the menu. Stupid blue-haired old guy.
“So. What looks good?” He peered over his menu to see what Ainsley might be looking at.
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Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 2:35 pm
The words Sam said about his parents wanting to be alone would have been a great way to cover things up if his mother hadn't invited her to go with them in the first place. She looked over at them with suspicion before she picked up the menu and looked down at it. It was a fairly large menus and Ainsley was at a loss at where to look. It wasn't like she went out very often.
She continued to avoid looking at Sam, her blue eyes scanning the menu as she started her way from the soup and appetizers and worked her way down through entrees. She didn't know what many of these things were but thankfully there were descriptions under them. There were so many things that she couldn't make a hasty decision. One thing hit her button though...
"The strawberry milkshake looks good." She said, looking up at the wrong time to meet Sam's glance with her own. Immediately she buried her head back down and scanned the menu again.
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Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 10:46 pm
“Uh… yeah, that does sound good.” Sam was just as quick to glance away from Ainsley’s peek back to his own menu. “Maybe I’ll have a milkshake too.” The boy nodded behind his menu repetitiously, as if confirming to himself over and over that yes milkshakes were a good idea while so trying to convince himself that everything was fine and normal. They were two friends having dinner, just dinner. Repeating that in his head didn’t really make it much better, but it helped to make him a little more relaxed. Just a bit. All he had to do was focus on food and eating it, and everything would be fine.
“Ugh. I am so sick of spaghetti.” He shook his head a little, thinking back to all the pasta he had eaten over the last year and a bit. Sam was ready to swear off all pasta for a good while. What he wanted was something a little more meaty. “I think I’m ready.”
A red-haired waitress with the name tag “Ruby” came by fairly quickly to take an order. “Hey, you guys look cute! I’m Ruby, I’ll be serving you tonight. Can I get you started with anything?” Ruby smiled wide as she pulled out a notepad.
Sam startled a little at being called cute. He wasn't cute! Handsome maybe, but not cute. Was he? They weren't cute either! Were they?... Well Ainsley was always very well put together, but cute was not really the right word he would use to describe her.
He reluctantly folded up his menu and peered at the waitress. “Uh. I’ll get water I guess, and um…. A vanilla milkshake. And. Uh. A cheeseburger with onion rings. …. And… uh… Ainsley?” Sam turned to his gaze to Ainsley, and for a second locked on to her icy blues eyes. Definitely not cute, to Sam, she had much more than that, though he could not think of the word to define what it was that Ainsley had, nor what that really meant.
Then he smiled at her.
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Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 11:28 am
Other than the milkshake, Ainsley didn't know what else to order. She had been hungry when she first came in but the longer she sat here the less hungry she felt as her stomach churned around. The menu was too big and she felt like Sam was staring at her! Her face was beet red as she hid behind the menu, trying to find something on it to order.
By the time Ruby rolled around, Ainsley's face no longer matched the waitress' name thankfully. She took a deep breath, listening to Sam order food as she finalized her decision. It felt like one of the hardest decisions in her life. Did she really want to order this? It was ridiculous! She frowned a bit behind the menus before her face softened again. She was a lady, she could do this.
Gingerly Ainsley put the menu down, setting it flat against the table as her hands fell over top of it. Icy blue eyes looking at Ruby, she smiled at her.
"Salutations Ruby, how are you doing today?" She said politely before she got down to business. "I have decided to go with the Pumpkin Soup and Mushroom Salad with a glass of water and a Strawberry Milkshake. I would be quite grateful if you would bring my order with his food instead of an appetizer as I will not be ordering an entree today, please and thank you."
A final hesitation, Ainsley passed the menu to the waitress. What was she going to do now that she couldn't hide behind it anymore? Avoid looking Sam in those big, brown eyes it seemed.
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 11:36 pm
Sam was astonished at the degree of Ainsley’s decorum when ordering. He knew she had a large vocabulary, but this really took the cake for him. He wondered how so many big words fit into her head, and how she let them out with such precision, in such a prim manner. When speaking, Sam usually had to carefully select his words, less he say something off putting… which did happen if he wasn’t watching.
Handing his own menu back to the waitress he uttered an ‘uh, thank you’ to her. Ruby happily left the two in peace, as she walked away she commented to her coworker on how adorable and precious they were. Luckily, that was out of earshot.
“So…” Sam started to tap his foot against the foot gently. He was just itching to do something, anything that got him to focus on something other than the girl across from him until his food came. “Pumpkin soup. Sounds sorta spicy.”
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Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 6:18 pm
It was quite lucky the two coworker's comments were out of earshot, and Ainsley's face and heart thanked them greatly for it.
Her eyes falling awkwardly on the table, she stared at the lines in the wooden grain until Sam broke the silence. For such a silent young fellow, he was doing a lot more talking that would probably be expected. If anything, Ainsley could appreciate that. What was simply awkward got ten times more awkward when they sat there in silence.
"Do you want to try some when they bring it out?" She offered politely. It probably had spices in them but definitely not the spices that would make things spicy.
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Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 8:49 pm
She was offering him her food? Did she expect them to share a spoon or something? The thought made Sam shake his head a little, sharing food off her own plate (well in this case bowl and spoon) seemed like it would be crossing a boundary into strange territory. Soup wasn’t like fries, you couldn’t just take one and happily munch it. Soup was slurpy liquid, and he would have to put a spoon into the bowl.. and then into his mouth! No, no. That was too much sharing indeed. Sam let his head shake, replying with a gentle and firm ‘Nah…. Thanks though.”
The timing for their food was fast, and it wasn’t long before he said the same thing to the waitress when she offered the young couple fresh cracked pepper and inquired if they needed anything else. “Nah … Thanks though.”
Happy to be relieved from speaking, Sam swirled his onion rings around in a thick wad of ketchup. Biting into the ring made a satisfying crunch with the crispy batter coating crumbling off. Sam seemed very pleased with his meal, and offered one to Ainsley. Onion rings were easy to share, not that Sam was afraid of cooties and he knew that certainly Ainsley did not have any, but he was leary of tasting the soup.
“You wanna a ring?”
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Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 11:01 am
The food came before the children could even blink. Ainsley definitely appreciated the fast service and she smiled to the waitress as she brought their food over to the table. Ainsley accepted the waitress' offer of fresh cracked pepper and then thanked her as Sam sent her away. She couldn't help but giggle a bit at Sam's vocabulary. Was he broken? He definitely just said the same thing twice in a row.
Placing a napkin over her lap, Ainsley began with the soup. It was creamy with a hint of cinnamon spice in it. A wonderful texture, Ainsley was happy with her choice until Sam presented her with a ring. Oh, how much did she want a ring! It was such a simple solution and she couldn't help but smile at him, her hand reaching out and lingering in front of him. She didn't want to just steal one!
"I would love one," she spoke softly.
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Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 12:02 am
Smiling back, Sam nudged his plate of crispy golden rings closer to the girl’s side of the table so that she could easily choose one for herself. This action had consequences however. After nudging the plate forward, the boy picked up his own delicious onion ring. His hand lightly tapped hers. The touch was innocent, and quick. But with so much awkward tension between the two of them, sitting there in the restaurant and feeling a little bit silly about the whole situation, even just a small tap felt like a lightning bolt. Sam was so startled by the tap, he jerked his hand away quick, and in that fast motion he managed to knock over his own milkshake. Thick vanilla liquid splashed out of the glass and went everywhere.
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Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 8:58 pm
From his hand to hers, Ainsley felt her hand burn up her arm and straight to her face. She didn't have to pull back from his hand because he had done so immediately but she had to pull back from the milkshake that spilled all over the table.
Seriously.
Not only was it all over the table but it was everywhere else as well including her. It caused Ainsley let out a yelp as her hand flying back from the table turned into her body sliding out of the booth. It was all over her salad and all of her dress, causing the girl to frantically excuse herself from the table and flee to the bathroom.
Part of her was happy he spilled it all over her because the emotional tension of awkwardness at the table was probably sensed by birds in Canada. It was nice to have a second to breathe and after her dress was thoroughly wiped off so it wouldn't stain she found herself staring into the mirror and fixing her hair.
The milkshake was cleaned up by the time she came back and her salad was gone.
"Sorry," she said softly. If he hadn't offered her an onion ring they could have avoided that.
Now he didn't have a drink.
She looked at hers and nudged it toward him.
"Do you want some of mine?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 10:38 pm
Sam had watched Ainsley leave, and while she was gone he attempted to clean up the mess on the table. The waitress was quick to come by with a damp cloth to help, and she removed the messy plates. “I can take care of that, you don’t need to worry about it, really.” The waitress tried to calm Sam down. “Sorry… sorry… no, I got it.. I mean… if you want to help a little. But really, I think it’s pretty much fine now.” “Well, if you’re sure.” The waitress however did take the sullied napkins away as soon as Sam was done cleaning up the spill. He then sat back down and waited patiently for Ainsley to return. His eyes caught the sight of her dress, and he watched he walk back, eyeing her to make sure that there was no damage to the dress. “It was my fault. Don’t be sorry. … You’re dress is fine, right? I could get it dry-cleaned for you… or maybe get you a new one, with my allowance if you need. I…. yeah. That was my fault.” When she nudged her milkshake towards him then, Sam only hesitated a little bit. It did look good, and he was thirsty. “That’s really nice of you… sure. “ And he took a sip of it straight from the straw before he realized that maybe it would have been better to have asked the waitress for another one.
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