Date Night (closed to Roosevelt)

[starting_over]

"You can do this, Samantha," she said out loud to her reflection in the mirror as she finished her makeup. "You've faced hardened criminals in open court, you learned to walk again, you can certainly handle dinner with an attractive man you've already seen socially a few times without turning into a complete idiot."

As pep talks go, it probably wasn't going to win any awards, but it did the job for her. She'd gone down at least a few degrees of nervousness. Enough that she was able to clasp the necklace around her neck finally. And almost, but not quite, stopped checking the her phone every few minutes, both for the time or any messages about something coming up.

She took one last look in the mirror, slipped on her shoes, and went out to the front part of the loft to do...something while she waited.

Comments

[comeonbro]

"I wasn't sure if you'd like them but I figured worst case scenario you were allergic and I'd just toss them," he said, glad that she seemed to like them so much. He would definitely remember that she liked them and have to do it again. It might seem like he was trying too hard but he had a feeling she'd know he just wanted her to be happy.

[starting_over]

"I love them," she told him and pulled a vase from a cabinet to fill it with water. When the stems were trimmed and the flowers placed in the vase, she turned back to him. "They're frivolous and impractical and they'll wither in a week, two at most, but I can't help it. I love fresh flowers."

She approached him and raised onto her toes to kiss his cheek. "Thank you again."

[comeonbro]

Roosevelt didn't think it was possible to smile even more but when she kissed his cheek he definitely smiled even more. It was just a random thing he had decided to do that had made her really happy. He was taking this as a good sign.

"Shall we go then?" he asked. "We do have a dinner to make afterall."

[starting_over]

"Yes, we do and I'm starving," Samantha grinned, hooking her purse over shoulder. As she turned, she slipped her hand into his and gave it a squeeze. "I'm glad we were finally able to get the timing to work."

[comeonbro]

It was kind of ridiculous how her just holding his hand could feel so nice. The ridiculous feeling was nice though, it made it feel all that more special when he was with her. Like there was another level to how he felt about her.

"I am too. Although maybe we should do some less formal things if it takes this long to do a proper date," he said with a grin as he led her back through the shop to his truck. "Assuming sometimes you don't mind me falling asleep while sitting on the couch and watching a movie at night."

[starting_over]

Samantha climbed into the truck and waited until he was behind the driver's seat. "On the contrary, that sounds like a wonderful way to spend an evening."

She closed her eyes and pictured it in her mind; just the image was enough to spread a wide smile to her lips. "Provided we like the same kinds of movies. If you put on some depressing art house thing and then fall asleep, expect it will be turned off in favor of a movie filled with plot holes and explosions."

[comeonbro]

"And here I thought I finally found someone to share my love of art house movies with," he said with a wink. It was maybe cliche for him to like action movies but he couldn't help it, he was an action movie kind of guy.

"But if you aren't at least willing to suffer through a Shakespeare adaptation or two then we might have some issues."

[starting_over]

"I'll share them with you," Samantha teased back with an impish smile. "I'll probably just pout a little and make you watch Live Free or Die Hard right after to cleanse my palate. But I can handle Shakespeare and Austen adaptations fine. It's the movies that reviewers call 'powerful' and 'emotionally draining' that I tend to steer clear from. If I'm going to spend two hours on my sofa watching something, I either want to get my action or super hero on, or watch people fall in love and get stupid with it."

[comeonbro]

"I think I can live with Shakespeare followed by a Die Hard movie," he said. It was maybe a little bit sexist to think that it was rare to find a woman that appreciated action movies like that but in his experience it really was. Roosevelt felt like he had won the lottery.

"Never a fan of Austen. In high school I got really into Shakespeare though. After I scored or threw a touch down I used to turn to the opposing bench and bite my thumb at them. It really confused them."

[starting_over]

"We might have to do movie night at your place, though. I don't know if you noticed, but my place is a little small and my 'couch' is really my bed. I didn't have room for anything else in there and since it was just me, it wasn't really an issue."

Samantha was grateful for the darkness of the truck's cab as it kept the deep blush on her cheeks, one resulting from thinking about lying on her bed with him, hidden from view. "Did you really? That's fantastic. I might have had a thing for jocks with brains when I was in school."

[comeonbro]

"My couch is open to you whenever you'd like to use it," Roosevelt said, almost adding that his bed and any other piece of furniture was too but this still was a first date after all. Not that things couldn't go that way but it was still pretty early.

"Well, I didn't really have a lot of brains. I did well enough to get into the Naval Academy but science and math were always a lot easier for me than literature."

[starting_over]

"You still knew enough to use a Shakespearean reference in context. That gets full marks from me," Samantha told him. "Besides, math and science are hard so if you understood them, you get even more points. I, on the other hand, nearly didn't graduate from college on time, and completely derail my scholarship to UMass law school because I came within a point of failing my third and final attempt at my one required math class."

To this day, she was positive the professor gave her more credit than she'd earned on the final because she'd worked so hard at it.

[comeonbro]

"I take it you don't have to be an expert on math to practice criminal law," Roosevelt said as he pulled his truck up into the parking spot outside his apartment. There was no doubt that Samantha was smart though, you didn't get as far as she did in law or business without being smart.

"Maybe a bit more when it comes to owning a business though?"

[starting_over]

"Nope, I didn't even have to worry about tweaking my billable hours," Samantha grinned. "As for the business, there are lovely software packages out there that help me do everything I need to do. If it gets too complex for the software, I will pull in my accountant. I'm a work smarter not harder type and thankfully, have someone I trust to help me with numbers and money things beyond my limited scope. I'm okay with numbers for the most part, but when they started using letters and weird looking symbols, my brain sort of shut off."

[comeonbro]

"Working smarter, not harder. Sounds like you would have made a good SEAL," h said with a grin as he parked the truck. He quickly hopped out and moved around to open her door, doing his best to remember all the ways his mother had told him to be polite on a date. Roosevelt always did best when he felt familiar with a person or situation. It had been so long since he'd been on a first date it felt like he needed training wheels.

[starting_over]

"I'd have never made it through training. One minute on a cold beach, covered in sand and wet clothes and I'd have been ringing the bell and packing my bags."

Unfortunately, she was out of the truck when she said it and the parking lot lights fully captured her blush when she realized what she'd revealed. Best to own up to it. "I might have done a little research about SEALs. In my off time."

[comeonbro]

"Just to see what you're getting into, all the problems that I might be?" he asked with a grin. Honestly he was a bit flattered that she had, although he couldn't quite resist teasing her a bit about it because he could see how much she was blushing. "I guess if you haven't run away yet that's good."

[starting_over]

"Oh, I knew you were trouble almost from the first," Samantha teased back, slipping her hand through his arm, "but I didn't know much about what you used to do apart from what I saw in movies. And considering how lawyers are usually portrayed in movies, I figured I better get the real story. So I found a documentary online about the course you had to go through to become a SEAL. You are amazing for having made it through that."

[comeonbro]

"Trouble? You must be thinking of someone else. I am definitely not trouble," Roosevelt said as he lead her up the stairs to his apartment. It wasn't anything fancy, although it was a bit bigger than hers and was clearly a man cave. It was well kept with a military tidiness but there was no mistaking that it clearly lacked a woman's touch.

"And really, at the time it doesn't seem impressive. It's hard, but you do it because you don't want to let down yourself but especially the others. They're counting on you, so you don't quit."

[starting_over]

"You're very much trouble," Samantha laughed softly, poking his stomach lightly as they entered his apartment and looked around. "I'm getting a very definite man cave vibe here," she commented, "which is a step up from my place, I have to say. I mean, it's nice, but small and cramped and very much gives the same feel as my place in Boston. A place to sleep, and to eat, but not to live. I think now that I'm more settled, I might need to change that up a little."

She turned to him. "Are you still in touch with the others you served with?"

[comeonbro]

"I don't know what you're talking about. This is clearly a gender neutral cave," Roosevelt said with a grin. It was sort of true, the kayak and the exercise equipment and giant TV could all be appreciated by any gender. But it was still very clearly a guy's place.

"I am with most of them. A few of them didn't... settle back into civilian life very well and it's hard to keep tabs on them. I'm in the Reserves though so I still have a group that I regularly train with."

[starting_over]

"It must be a difficult transition," Samantha nodded, "I can't even imagine."

She looked up at him with an impish smiled on her face. "The Reserves, huh? So that means there's a chance I'll see you in uniform at some point?" Deciding to be completely ridiculous, she added an eyelash flutter in with the grin.

[comeonbro]

"I promise when there's a function where I am in dress uniform and can bring a guest, I will take you," he said. It was maybe a bit presumptuous, this was only their first official date after all, but he had a feeling there were going to be a lot more after this one.

[starting_over]

"I'm going to hold you to that, Roosevelt," Samantha told him with another poke to his chest. "So. Are you going to give me the tour or is it straight to dinner for us?"

[comeonbro]

"I hope you do hold me," he said with a smile. It was a cheesy line but so far she had really seemed flushed and embarrassed by any time he said something like that. It was cute.

"But there's not much to it," he said, gesturing to the place. Being a studio it was mostly one big room but it was kind of sectioned off. "Kayak is there. Kitchen and dining room in the corner. TV and couch there. Exercise equipment... everywhere. That bookshelf is the library. And the bed is over there."