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Her meetings went long and all she wanted was a hot shower, a book, and to curl up under the covers in her hotel room. But she was hungry. She stopped in the bar at the hotel for dinner. As she sat to eat, her phone beeped. She replied, “In the bar.”
A gentleman in a suit came to the bar and sat next to her. He glanced at her left hand and did not see a ring on it. He asked if he could buy her a drink.
“No thank you,” she said.
He tried to get her into some small talk, but she wasn’t really in the mood to talk to anyone. She heard her phone beep again and checked her messages. She put the phone face-down on the bar, and asked for a food menu. Ten minutes later he tried again to buy her a drink.
“Not interested, thank you,” she said a bit more sternly.
The bartender looked at the gentleman and gave him a warning, and a nod of his head telling the man to move on. He rolled his eyes at the bartender, took his drink, and left Sam alone to eat and drink.
She ordered a burger and fries, and two Guinness beers. She needed comfort food after the day she just had. She returned from her year on Atlantis and was beamed into the Pentagon for what she thought would be her first year review. But in reality, her command was taken from her and given to Woolsey. It was supposed to be a regular 3 year tour for her.
She was excited to get to go to Ba’al’s extraction ceremony. She’d get to see her old team again. And she’d get to stay at the SGC while they figured out what to do with her. So here she was, in DC, waiting to go back to Colorado.
Twenty minutes later she saw someone sit down next to her. She looked in the mirror behind the bar and saw it was a rather tall man with greying hair. This older type is who she has gone for lately. Maybe her luck would change tonight now that she’s back on Earth. She could use the company.
“Is this seat taken?” the gentleman asked.
“Um, no,” she said, and went back to eating her meal.
The man ordered a beer. She kept catching his eye in the mirror, and he kept catching hers. He looked at the silver eagles on her uniform. He raised his eyebrows at her, and she ignored it. But she did let out a little smile as she ate some of her fries.
“So, Colonel, huh?” the man asked.
“Yes. Air Force. And you?” she asked, noticing he was in a suit. Typical outfit for DC.
“Would you believe me if I said I’m also in the Air Force? I know it doesn’t look like it,” he said, pointing to his suit, and adding a small smile.
She laughed and took a sip of her beer.
“No. You don’t seem the type,” she said.
“The type? What is the type?” he asked, moving a bit closer to her.
His movement made her withdraw from his closeness, but she did turn her head to him and caught his eyes. His eyes were so dark and handsome. Her breath caught in her throat.
“Um. The type? Well, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but maybe younger?” she said with a smile.
He looked at her and smiled and let out a feigned pain, and pretended to grab his chest.
“Ouch! Younger? Well, I’ll have you know that with age comes experience,” he said looking at her straight in her eyes. She looked back and felt heat rush through her body.
“Why, sir, are you flirting with me?” she asked, a bit seductively.
“I may just be,” he replied, moving into her space a little more. This time she did not retreat. She moved closer to him.
“There’s just one problem,” she said.
“Problem?” he asked, not taking his eyes off of her.
“Uh huh. Big problem,” She said, smiling back at him.
“Well, an Air Force Colonel such as yourself should be able to figure out a big problem,” he replied, with emphasis.
“Yes, well, my husband might have an issue with you flirting with me,” she said.
“Husband, you say? I don’t see a ring on your finger,” he said, gently taking her left hand into his, and massaging her ring finger at the knuckle.
She slowly took her hand away from him, and looked down at the food on her plate. She took her hand and pulled her dog tags out from under her shirt.
“See. It’s right here. Safe and sound,” she said staring at him as she showed him the ring.
His eyes went wide when he saw the ring, and let out an approving whistle. He smiled at her.
“I can personally vouch that your husband will have no issue at all if I accompany you back to your room.”
Then he leaned in and kissed her. He pulled back and stared at her again. He took her dog tags and found her ring. He worried the ring between his fingers before undoing the ball chain from around her neck. He removed the ring and put it as far down his pinky finger as it would fit. He clasped her dog tags back around her neck. He kissed her cheek as he sat back in his chair.
He took her hand and put the ring back on her ring finger. He didn’t let go of her hand, and caressed her hand.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss her again.
She took a few moments before she opened her eyes. When she looked at him, he was already staring back at her. Her eyes began to fill with tears.
“Me too,” she said softly before a tear escaped.
He wiped the tear from her face.
“I’m sorry for what happened. There was nothing I could do.”
“I know. It just hurts.”
“I have no doubt that you will get something just as extraordinary for your next gig,” he said, giving her a smile.
“There’s another problem we seem to have,” she said.
“Really? And what would that be?”
“I have a decision to make,” she said, and motioned for the bartender to close her out.
“And what is this big decision?” he asked, moving closer to her again.
“Are you sure my husband won’t mind if you accompany me to my room for the night?” she asked.
“Positive,” he said, grabbing her hand again.
She looked at him and gave him the smile that lights up his life
“OK. Then come on,” she said, getting up and starting to walk out of the bar.
She didn’t have to turn around to know he was right behind her. She reached her hand back, and he grabbed on, and she walked her husband to the elevator that would take them up to her room. Neither one of them wanted to take the time to drive home.