Author's Note:
Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. Had been very busy with work etc.
By the way I have a job which I enjoy very much; must be one of the most interesting jobs in the world – I train staff working for the South African tax man in how to utilize their computers in the best way possible in order to increase the amount of tax they can 'steal' from the poor, average, 'innocent' taxpayer, hehe.
The only improvement to that joy in my life will be if I can become a professional writer, but alas my talent is not nearly good enough for that.
XXX
The account had been settled and a lot of excuses been given as to why they definitely did not require a doggy bag for the remains of their meal.
It was as they reached the exit that a familiar voice calling out from behind them made them froze in their tracks, both of them shocked at the realization of the identity of the person.
"General O'Neill? Colonel Carter? What a surprise to see the both of you here."
XXX
THE DATING GAME – CHAPTER 6
For a few moments they both stood very still, torn between the desire to flee and the realization that they actually had no choice but to turn around and face their destiny.
Turning his gaze to Sam, Jack raised an eyebrow slightly. When she did not respond except to stare back at him with an unspoken question displayed all over her face he shrugged his shoulders and immediately followed the gesture with a slight movement of his head in the direction of their addressee.
In unison they both turned around slowly. Sam's face displayed a whirlwind of emotions and Jack pretended to be staring in boredom at invisible dirt marks on his fingertips before finally giving his full attention to the man standing in front of them. "General Hammond, Sir. What brings you to our little corner of the universe?"
"I think that is supposed to be my line son," Hammond responded impassively and then added, "Any plans to answer that question?"
"Oh…well…you know…the usual," Jack replied with slightly shrugged shoulders, his hands tugged inside the pockets of his jacket and a smile threatening to form at the corner of his lips.
Ignoring Jack's comment for the time being Hammond turned his attention to Sam and inquired, "And you…Colonel?"
"I…uh...well…Sir," Sam stuttered, her eyes darting between the twinkle in Jack's eyes and General Hammond's poker face. She knew that she acted like a naughty schoolchild caught out in the act, but she had no idea how to answer his question, especially since she knew the answer must be quite clear to her former commanding officer. She also could not help but feel slightly upset at Jack for not even attempting to rescue her from the wrath of General Hammond.
Narrowing his eyes slightly Hammond said, "I am waiting Colonel."
Taking a deep breath, realizing that she had no choice but to answer his question with complete honestly, she replied, "We…I mean Ja-General O'Neill and myself are here on a-"
"Date," Jack completed her sentence for her. Not sure whether she should kiss him in gratitude or be angry at his interruption she merely frowned at him which he returned with a huge grin.
"Date as in?" General Hammond continued pressing on.
"Ah…you know Sir," Jack answered with a slight absent waive of his hand, "The usual sort. The kind where I invite, date, dine and hope to get a grand goodnight kiss from my former 2IC."
The last comment caused an involuntary blush to spread across Sam's cheeks. Afraid that the two men might notice this she lowered her eyes and pretended to be deeply interested in the patterns on the plush carpet underneath her feet.
"I see," Hammond replied after a few moments of silence.
Another few seconds of grim silence followed.
Just when Sam started considering that it might not be such a bad idea if the ground were to open up and swallow her in whole, Hammond suddenly spoke up again. "Well…Jack…Sam there is only one possible way I can react to this scandalous news…"
Sam could clearly hear him take a deep breath before continuing, she dreaded the next few words which she was sure would fell loud and painful from his lips.
"What in hell took you so long!" Hammond exclaimed. Crossing the distance between them in as few steps as is possible he reached out a hand to Jack and say, "Congratulations Son, after everything you deserve this happiness in life."
Shocked, still a bit unsure as to what exactly was happening, Sam's head snapped in the direction of the two men, just in time to observe Jack returning Hammond's gesture with a warm handshake.
Feeling her gaze on him, Hammond turned in her direction and ignoring the multitude of questions in her eyes he said, "That goes the same for you. Jacob would surely have approved of your choice this time round," he added and proceeded to shake her hand too, which was quickly followed by him pulling her towards him into a quick hug.
"So…why the original scare technique?" Jack inquired just after Hammond released Sam from the hug.
"To be honest I just could not resist playing my General persona on you one last time," Hammond replied with a chuckle in his voice, "Especially since I have been observing you two for quite some time this evening."
"What?" Sam asked with widened eyes.
"Excuse me?" Jack added, clearly surprised at this remark.
Smiling Hammond explained, "It's my youngest granddaughter's birthday today and her birthday wish was a dinner with me at this restaurant. We've been here since 6:00 pm. Therefore I spotted you two the moment you walked into the restaurant earlier on this evening."
"And…you only decided now to come and bless us with your presence?" Jack could not help but asked with a slight tone of skepticism mixed with sarcasm in his voice.
Ignoring Jack's disbelieve Hammond stated, "That was my plan originally, but when I realized why you two were here in the first place I decided it would be best not to spoil your evening…was actually sure that you would notice me anyway sooner or later, especially since I was sitting at a table only a few feet away from you. It was therefore quite a surprise when it did not happened and when I saw you were about to leave I decided to take my chance…and maybe even have a bit of fun at your expense."
"Right…" Jack said slowly. Another person might have defined his comment as a statement of offence at what had just been said, but those people close to him would have noticed the silent emotions playing behind his dark eyes and realized that it was in fact quite the opposite.
"So…first date?" Hammond asked after a few seconds of observing Jack and Sam with something very akin to fatherly pride radiating from him.
"Yep, that obvious?" Jack replied.
"I have known you for quite some time Jack…and you Sam since you were very small. Therefore I imagine I've become quite the expert at reading the both of you. Besides…your whole body language shouted first date."
"In that case…" Grabbing hold of Sam's hand, before she could protest, he brought it to his lips, planted a gentle kiss on the palm and just as quickly let go before continuing with his sentence, "We have your approval?"
Nodding his head Hammond refused to answer the question. Instead he dismissed them with a warm smile and a slight waive of his hand before stating, "I'm not going to take up your time much longer, especially since it's clear you were about to leave anyway. Besides my granddaughter must be wondering where I disappeared too."
With a last goodnight wish to the both of them Hammond turned around and disappeared back into the restaurant.
"Well…that was…strange," Jack commented after a little while of staring at the retreating backside of the General with a faraway look in his eyes.
"Do you think he will tell anybody?" Sam asked softly, concern clearly noticeable in her voice. She was unable to prevent herself from slightly biting on her bottom lip as her mind replayed the recent conversation.
"About what?" Jack replied innocently as he turned towards her.
"Jack," she said with a tone that stated she was in no mood for his humor.
What...good ol' George? Nah…he loves being part of a secret way too much. Besides he had kept the 'you-know-what' a secret all these years, even from his family," Jack replied with a twinkle in his eyes.
"That's not the same and you know it."
"Why so concern about anybody finding out about us?" The humor in his voice had changed to something more seriously as he observed her with a slight frown.
Closing her eyes for a second she hesitated before answering his question. "Because there are barely an us as it is. I…I just think we can do without the stress of our relationship being put under a magnifying glass by everybody around us."
"Sam…" reaching out a hand he gently trace a fingertip across the side of her arm, resulting in a small tremble raking down her spine, before continuing, "Why should we care about what anybody think about us?"
"You have been my direct superior officer for a long time. During that time I have went from a Captain to a Colonel-"
"Which you deserved," Jack interrupted her.
"I know…but once people know about us, there are going to be those of them that are going to start wondering-"
"So let them wonder."
Shaking her head, feeling her eyes going slightly misty, she asked in a slight begging-pleading voice, "I just don't want anything ruining what we have, before we actually know ourselves and…"
Suddenly realizing that her voice had gone from slightly more than a whisper to something loud enough to cause nearby bystanders to stare at them intently, she grabbed hold of Jack's arm and dragged him to the outside of the restaurant. When they finally came to a standstill she finished her sentence, "I don't know whether I am making sense to you or not-"
"Oh…perfectly," Jack stated and then added as a sort of an afterthought, "I think?"
Sighing Sam continued, "All I'm saying is that I'm scared that if such a thing was to happen…that the stress of the situation might result in me loosing…you." The last word she spoke very softly, almost like she was afraid of admitting one of her deepest fears.
"Samantha," Jack replied in an equal soft, but very gentle, voice and appeared to be slightly hesitant before saying, "C'mere." Pulling her into his arms he allowed her to take comfort in his warm embrace for a few moments before continuing, "There is no way in hell that I'm ever going to let you get away from me again."
"Oh?" She only managed to utter the one word.
"Yeah," he stated and then added, "I almost lost you to that Pete 'what's-his-name-'"
The last remark resulted in a soft involuntary chuckle escaping from Sam's lips. Lifting her head from Jack's shoulder, but not breaking away from his embrace, she stared at him with a smile lining her lips.
"Hey! I'm quite serious here," Jack exclaimed, pretending to be offended.
"Off course you are," she responded, silently amazed at the sudden realization of how comfortable and safe she felt in his arms.
"What I was trying to say..." Jack stated, with an equal bright smile on his face that belied the sternness of his words, "Before you interrupted me so rudely is that I will never allowed anybody or anything to stand between us again."
"In that case," Sam whispered, feeling a strange sense of bravado taking hold of her. Swallowing, realizing what she was about to do, but not willing to retreat from her planned action, she moved her head closer to Jack's.
Removing one hand from behind her shoulder blades he gentle caressed the side of her cheek before allowing himself to cross the physical and emotional bridge between them in one movement.
The kiss started of by him gentle steaming his lips across hers. For only a second he allowed himself to move his head slightly away from her, to confirm that this was what she wanted, before he moved back in for a deeper, more meaningful kiss.
After a few minutes of feeling like they were alone in the world their kiss was rudely interrupted by a cough and the respectful tone of a strange, yet slightly familiar, voice, "Excuse me?"
For a moment Jack refused to acknowledge the interruption, but when the words were followed by, "Pardon me…General O'Neill?" he sighed and very reluctantly let go of Sam before turning around.
"Oh…you again," Jack stated in a bitter tone when he realized the identity of the person that had interfered in his exploration of Sam's lips.
"Ah yes, Sir. I am so sorry for having had to interrupt your…ah…" The poor man was clearly at a lost of words.
"Look Carter, it's our friend from the restaurant that gave us such a wonderful time earlier on," Jack commented sarcastically.
"For that I apologize profoundly. If I had knew you were a General-"
"You would have what? Gave me an even better reception?" Jack interrupted his sentence.
"Oh no…no Sir. Nothing like that." The man was nearly groveling at Jack's feet.
"Then what?"
Reaching a hand inside the inner pocket of his jacket the man retrieved a couple of notes and offered it to Jack. "Your ah…money from earlier Sir. A man, who introduced himself as General Hammond told me who you and your partner were and stated that if I valued my ah…let's just say career at this restaurant it would be best if I return the money immediately and offer my sincere apologies. Additionally I wish to invite you to come and visit this fine place whenever you get a chance. I can promise you that there will always be a table available to you from now on."
Moving his eyes between Sam's half-moon smile and the man's hopeful face staring intently at the both of them, Jack pretended to be deep in thought before responding, "Nah…you keep it. What I got out of tonight was definitely worth all the trouble."
Without a second glance Jack turned around, offered his arm to Sam and together they made their way to the waiting car.
XXX
Author's Note:
Final chapter to follow soon…