Zoë thought about Callen's question. He wasn't just asking her out he was asking her away with him for a weekend. Sure Callen had promised to take her to a American football match but she'd kinda figured it would be here in LA or something close by, not in Indianapolis. She liked spending time with him and they were great friends but were they ready to go away for a weekend together? Wouldn't that get awkward or something?
"I know it's not nearby but I thought it would be fun. And don't worry about the hotel or something, we can book separate rooms or something if you'd prefer," Callen said as he saw Zoë thinking about it.
"Well you do have the tickets already. It would be a shame to let them go to waste. So why not, I'll go with you Callen."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fun."
"Great. I'll book everything."
"You don't need to do that. You've already got the tickets I'll cover the hotels. I insist."
"Alright, if you insist."
"Great. Thanks for asking me along. I'm really looking forward to it. But I don't know that much about American football."
"I will teach you some basic rules."
"Great."
….
The next weekend Callen and Zoë went to Indianapolis. After work they went to the airport. The had a night flight which would leave LAX at just before 11pm. They would arrive in Indianapolis around 6am, local time. Zoë had booked them a nice hotel. After checking in they grabbed a bite to eat at the airport before boarding their plane just after 10.30pm. They found their seats and Callen put their bags in the overhead compartment.
Once they were up in the air it didn't long for Zoë to fall asleep. Callen us usual was still wide awake. Callen managed to doze off after a while as well. He slept for about an half an hour before waking up again. When he woke up he noticed that Zoë had moved in her sleep. Her head was now resting on his shoulder. Callen looked down at Zoë and noticed that she was peacefully asleep. So he just decided to let her sleep like that. He had to admit, in a way it felt nice. Zoë was becoming a really good friend of him. He never thought he would like her this much but he did and he felt at ease with her whenever he talked to her. She was a great listener and had helped him through some stuff this past year. He told her stuff he had never told Nate. He didn't know what it was but he just felt so comfortable talking to her.
Callen managed to sleep some more before they arrived in Indianapolis. They grabbed their bags and exited the airport. They took a cab to the hotel. They were staying in the Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre hotel, right on Monument Circle. The hotel wasn't that far from the football stadium. They were at the hotel just after 7am. They grabbed their bags and went into the hotel, after paying the cab driver. They came into a spacious lobby with some couches and chairs and tables and a computer corner. Up ahead was a dark wooden reception desk. They walked up to the reception desk.
"Good morning, welcome to the Sheraton. How can I help you?" A friendly man behind the desk greeted them.
"Good morning," Zoë spoke. "We have a reservation here under the name Moore."
"Let me just have a look." The man typed some keys on the keyboard. "Ah yes I see it here. You're early so your room is not ready yet. But you can leave the bags here in luggage room and go explore the city until your room is done. It should be done around 1pm."
"Okay, that's fine."
Callen and Zoë brought their bags to the luggage room and went out to get some breakfast. They went out and around the corner was a Starbucks café. They ordered some coffee and breakfast. After breakfast they went to monument circle. They went inside the monument. Afterwards they walked via North Meridian Street towards Washington Street. They took a right onto West Washington Street and followed the street until White River State Park.
"Oh why don't we rent one of those bicycles Callen? They are fun to explore the park," Zoë said once she saw the rental bike stand.
"Sure why not."
Callen had never been on a bike like that but Zoë thought it was a nice idea so he was willing to give it a shot. They rented a surrey bike. Callen got in on the left side and Zoë got in on the right side.
"Now how does this work?" Callen asked.
"You just start peddling with your feet just like on a bike and with the steering wheel you can steer just like in a car," Zoë explained.
"All right, let's do this. Are you ready?"
"Yep I am. You are too?"
"Yep."
For an hour they peddled along the park and the central canal. The central canal was frozen over with people skating on them. It was actually pretty fun to do, although it was a pretty chilly outside. But they had a blanket over them to keep them warm. After the bike tour they went to the NCAA hall of champions museum. After that they went to grab some lunch at Osteria Pronto. Zoë ordered a Caesar salad while Callen took a chicken pesto flatbread sandwich.
"It's really nice to just get away for a weekend," Zoë stated as they were having lunch.
"Yeah it really is. It's nice to just unwind for a while and not worry about catching the bad guys."
"Yeah totally. I'm really glad I decided to come along. I'm really having a great time so far."
"Me too. I hope the match tomorrow will be exciting as well."
"Yeah. What exactly is American football about?"
"Well you have to score points. You can do that by a touchdown."
"Ah yes I've heard of them. That's when the ball hits the ground in the zone right?"
"Yeah in the end zone. If they do that they get six points and they can get an additional two when they shoot the ball through the goal posts."
"Ah okay, so the objective is to get the ball in the end zone?"
"Yes, that's the main objective. But it usually takes a while before they get there. They move yards at a time."
"Ah okay. How long does a game normally take?"
"That depends but four/five hours is normal."
"Four/five hours? They play that long?" Zoë asked astonished.
"No they don't play that long but when the ball isn't in play the clock stops."
"Ah okay."
As they were waiting for their lunch Zoë looked through things they could do here in Indianapolis.
"Oooh there's an escape room nearby. That sounds fun."
"An escape room?"
"Yeah. You get locked in a room and you have to find your way out of it by discovering clues within a period of time."
"And if you don't get out on time?"
"Then they just let you out. But it's fun to try and figure the puzzle out in time. It's really fun to do. I've done it a few times in LA."
"Sure, why not."
"Great. Do you skate?" Zoë asked.
"Like ice skating? Yeah I do. Why?"
"Well I thought we could go skating on the canal. I saw a rental booth when we were cycling. If you'd like."
"Yeah sure, sounds like fun."
After lunch they went back to the canal and they each rented a pair of ice skates. After pulling them on they stepped onto the ice. To Callen's surprise Zoë was actual pretty good on skates.
"I didn't know you could skate so well," Callen stated.
"Yeah well I grew up in Holland so we skated a lot as kids. We had a park nearby with a big pond where we could skate."
"That's nice."
"Race ya?" Zoë suggested
"You sure about that?"
"Yeah sure. Or are you afraid I'm gonna beat you?" Zoë teased.
"You're on."
"From here to the last street light, okay?"
"Yeah good."
"You ready? On three. One, two, three."
On three Callen and Zoë took off. Callen held in a bit so Zoë could win.
"Haha, beat ya," Zoë spoke as she victoriously threw her arms up.
"Well done."
Zoë skated over to Callen but almost tripped as she reached Callen. Callen managed to catch her in his arms before she tumbled down. They were suddenly very close together with Callen's arms around Zoë. It was a bit awkward.
"Uhm, sorry. Thanks for catching me," Zoë spoke after a second.
"Yeah no problem."
Callen released Zoe and they skated for a little while longer before going to the escape room. They choose the jail break room.
"Now where do we start?" Callen said.
"Just start looking around to see if you can find a clue somewhere or if there's a hatch or something that opens up to another room. And keep watch of the screen. Our time is on there and sometimes a hint pops up."
Callen and Zoë started looking through the room for some clues. They were in an actual jail and they had to find their way out of the cell. With the help of a hint they managed to get out of the cell but now they still needed to get out of the jail. Callen and Zoë were having a lot of fun and they worked great together on finding the clues. The managed to get out of the room with fifteen minutes to spare.
"Not bad for a first try," Callen stated.
"Yeah, not bad at all for a rookie."
It was 5pm in the afternoon now so Callen and Zoë went back to the hotel. They walked up to the reception desk and checked in. They were staying in a Deluxe city view – monument circle view room on one of the top floors. They took the elevator upstairs and Callen opened the door to the room. They came into a hallway with on the right side a closet and on the left side was the bathroom. On the right side of the bathroom was a tub and shower in one. Straight ahead stood a wooden vanity with mirror and on the left side was the toilet. They walked further into the room and came into a spacious room with two queen beds, an armchair with ottoman, a desk with a chair and a dresser with a TV. They had a view of monument circle from their balcony.
"This looks nice," Callen stated. "Do you want the bed by the window?" Callen offered.
"No thanks, I prefer the other bed."
"Alright no problem."
They unpacked their stuff and freshened up a bit for dinner. Zoë had dressed herself in a dark blue dress with on the skirt some pink flowers. She finished the outfit with a dark blue bolero, panty hose and dark blue pumps. Callen looked at her as she emerged from the bathroom. He was speechless. She looked really beautiful in that dress. Zoë caught Callen staring at her.
"Is it not good this dress?" Zoë asked.
Callen shook his head. "Oh no, it's perfect. It looks perfect. The dress looks really beautiful on you."
"Thank you. You look very handsome yourself."
Callen was dressed in a pair of dress jeans with a light blue and white checkered shirt on it and a dark blue jacket over it.
"Thank you. Shall we go have dinner?"
"We shall."
They went down to Alexander's bar and grill. The had a bar table with two bar stools. As starter Zoë ordered Santa Fe chicken quesadillas while Callen had the angry birds. As main course Callen had the grilled New York steak and Zoë had the classic cheeseburger. Dinner tastes really good, it was really delicious. As dessert Zoë took the crème Brûlée cheesecake while Callen took the classic tiramisu. Callen payed for dinner and they went up to the room. They changed into their pajamas and went to sleep. Zoë was fast asleep but Callen was still awake. He didn't want to wake up Zoë so he decided to stay in bed and just do some reading and quietly practicing his languages.
The next day it was game day. Zoë had bought some Pats fan wear she could wear to the game. She dressed herself in a pair of jeans with a red shirt on it and over it she wore a Patriots varsity jacket. She finished the out with a navy colored cap.
"Tada, what do you think?" Zoë said as she came out of the bedroom.
"Look at you, all fan-ed up."
"Yeah if I go I might as well go right, right?"
"Yeah sure."
"Go Pats."
Callen wore a navy blue varsity jackets and a navy colored cap as well.
Towards the end of the afternoon they made their way over to the stadium. They had pretty good seats on row twenty from the bottom. They enjoyed the show that was being performed and some snacks before the game started. Just before the game started Callen and Zoë took a selfie together with the pitch in the background. It was a pretty exciting game to watch but in the end the Pats lost.
"That was actually nice to watch," Zoë stated as they walked back to their hotel.
"Yeah it was. Too bad the Pats lost."
"Yeah too bad. Thanks for asking me along. I really had a great time."
"You're welcome. I had a great time too."
They went back to the hotel and got a few hours of sleep. They needed to be at the airport around 3am.
They woke up around 2am to go to the airport. They had some breakfast at the airport before their flight. When it was about time to board they went towards the gate area. When they looked at the board they saw that their flight had been delayed.
"It says it's at least delayed for an hour," Zoë said.
"Let's hope that's it, otherwise we'll be late at work."