The best part about long car trips where I'm not driving: I have time to write this! I have so many partially written stubs for this story and I just can't wait to get to most if not all of them!

Happy Reading!

Chapter 6

He watched as she started to walk down the dimly lit hallway of the hotel. Did that really just happen? Anakin glanced down at the crumpled ticket in his hand. Scribbled over the information were ten legible digits. A phone number —her phone number. An almost giddy smile crossed his face as he turned down the hallway towards his own room. Opening the door he stepped inside and set about organizing his belongings. He hung up his blazer, loosened his tie until he could slip it off and hung it over the head of a hanger before kicking off his shoes and pulling his belt from the loops. Anakin pulled his shirt from his pants as he sat back down on the bed with his phone in his hand, intent on adding her to his contact list before he lost her number forever.

It wasn't too forward … that's what she had said. Did… did that mean she was interested in him too? She'd said her loser ex had left her years ago, but that didn't mean she wasn't dating someone at the moment, right? But then, she wouldn't have said what she said if she was, would she? But what if she only meant she wanted to get to know him as a friend only? Anakin groaned as he flopped back on the bed, his hands covering his face… why was this so hard?

He heaved a sigh as he glanced at his phone again, checking and double checking that he typed in her number correctly before hitting the "Create New Contact" button then closing the app and tossing his phone onto the mattress beside him. This date had gone better than he had hoped. He hadn't expected her to even agree to go to dinner with him, but she had. When he first saw her he had thought she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Unconsciously his mind had built up a backstory for her one that was just as perfect as her. But to his horror, her story was far from the perfection he had envisioned. She'd been abandoned, left alone with a child to raise. Part of her story reminded him of his mother's and how she had given up her dreams to take care of him and he couldn't help but feel for her. He didn't know too much about lawyer stuff, but he was certain that she would have been amazing at it if she'd gone to law school.

Lazily, he stretched his arms over his head and let out a wide yawn. He had an early flight to fly to Vancouver before he would get caught up to where his schedule should be. From there he was flying down to Milwaukee before one last flight to Denver by the end of the end of the day. Tomorrow was going to be a heavy day for him. But the day after he had an entire day free to enjoy Denver. Anakin groaned as he sat up and undid the rest of the buttons on his shirt and tossed it onto the end of the bed before standing up and pulling his pants off and carelessly throwing them on top of the shirt and doing the same with his socks. Walking over to his bag, he pulled out his chargers and plugged them into the outlet next to the bed before setting his alarm early and then climbed under the covers and letting the sweet dreams and memories of his date with Padme drift him off to sleep.

They met in the lobby the next morning. He was dressed in his uniform, gold wings clipped proudly to his breast and his tie clipped to his shirt. His blazer and his cap were absent, tucked safely away in his suitcase that he rested his elbow against as he watched her close the distance between them pulling her suitcase along behind her. Unlike him, she wasn't dressed in her uniform yet. Instead, she wore jeans and a graphic tee with a jacket. His smile broadened when he saw she was only wearing flats. She had to crane her head even more just to see his face. God, she was so short!

As if sensing what he was thinking, she squinted up at him, "How's the weather up there?" She said between laughs with a light blush on her cheeks.

Anakin snorted, "If it starts to rain, I'll let you know," He said.

"You mean 'when'," She said, "You know it rains a lot here."

He laughed and shook his head, "Well, you ready?"

"Of course," she said and the two of them walked through the automatic doors and onto the street.

Padme told him about a little diner near the airport she and Dorme had gone to the last time they had stayed in the city. It sounded like the perfect place for them to get some food. Close enough to the airport for him and yet far enough away that she could enjoy her morning before she too would have to go to the airport. The diner itself was small with about twenty tables or so and a long bar area. It wasn't very crowded, there was an older gentleman sitting at the bar with a coffee reading a newspaper, a young family with two kids eating at the corner table, and an elderly couple sitting in a booth. A small bell chimed when they opened the door and they were greeted by a hostess who looked like she was still in college led them to a booth by the front window. The entire place had a homey feel to it like one of those feel-good Southern comfort food restaurants he'd been to in Louisiana.

It was easy for both of them to figure out what they both wanted. Both of them ordered coffee which he drank straight while she added cream and sugar to hers. When it came time to order he got the Meat Lover's Skillet with a side of pancakes while she got the Cinnamon French Toast with a side of eggs. Padme smiled as the waitress left. "There was a diner just like this one when I was a kid," She started. "My mom never liked it, complained that my sister and I would get fat if we ate there too often," She laughed as she stirred her coffee, "That didn't stop my dad from sneaking us out of the house to go sometimes after my mom left for work."

Anakin smiled, "Did your mom ever find out?"

"I think she always knew," She said in a whisper. "You know how parents have that cryptic way of talking about their kids that sounds like they aren't talking about them, but they really are?"

Anakin gave a small shrug, "I think so…" He said, "I mean, I think I get that feeling around Obi-Wan sometimes…"

The color drained from her face, "Oh, God, I-I'm sorry I wasn't—"

He raised his hand and laughed as he tried to calm her, "It's okay, it's okay," He started, "You didn't upset me or anything. You can't miss what you never had, right?" He placed his hand over hers and smiled at her. She seemed to start to calm down as his thumb rubbed against her knuckles, "So anyway…"

Padme took a small breath, "My mom would say things to my dad that just sounded like they had this weird tone to it. Sometimes it would be something about leftover night, or groceries… I don't know… it's… kinda hard to explain. It was just a feeling. But once my sister was in high school we swore she had to know."

He laughed and leaned back in his seat, "I think I know what you mean," He said. "There was this mechanic that lived down the street from us. We didn't like him, but he was the only one in town so we didn't really have a choice but to use him. He'd charge anyone an arm and a leg for something as simple as an oil change if he could get away with it. Anyways, the transmission in the car broke. He charged my mom more than it was worth but got it fixed up for her and just had her pay later. She had to work extra shifts for two months just to make the payment. I didn't know about any of that until after the fact. But when I found out, I snuck into the bastard's garage. He had this one car he was working on in his free time that he kept bragging would make him rich." Anakin shook his head, "It was nothing," He said with a wave of his hand, "None of the parts were originals and the model was more common than he claimed. Anyway, "I packed the tailpipe with sawdust and rewired it so the radio would turn on with the wipers and the wipers would turn on with the gas… basically, the car was a mess afterwards."

Her eyes were wide as he told the story, "And you were how old?"

He gave a shrug, "Ten? Eleven, maybe?" He shrugged again, "Young enough no one suspected it was me. Besides, everyone knew the guy was a crook. I think he moved a few years later anyway. Shop closed down after a new mechanic moved in." Their waitress returned with their food and gave him a refill of coffee while Padme ordered a water.

She shook her head as she cut into her breakfast, "I can't believe you did something like that," She said.

"My mom interrogated me for hours when she found out what happened," He said, "I never told her though. But I did get in trouble, supposedly for something I did at school, but I had a feeling it was also for that as well." Anakin nodded as he took another bite from his skillet, "This is really good," He said and she smiled and nodded in agreement. "So I don't think you told me where you're based out of," He said.

"Boston," She said. "You?"

"Philadelphia."

"Let me guess, Eagles fan?"

Anakin gave a shrug, "Only when I have to be," He said. "To be honest I'm not much of a football fan. Hockey is more my thing."

"So Flyers then or… Penguins?"

An almost nervous smile crossed his lips as he made a show of looking around as if making sure no one is listening before he leaned in closer, his hand held up to cover the side of his mouth so no one could read his lips, "I'm actually a Toronto Maple Leaves fan." Padme's brow raised in surprise as she paused mid-bite and he couldn't help but laugh, "Is it really that surprising?"

"That the city of Philadelphia hasn't murdered you yet? Yes!" They shared a laugh, both of them knowing full well from the sports seasons how devout the city is to their sports teams. This is the city that nearly burned down their city when they WON a Super Bowl!

"Well, I've learned to watch my games at home and cheer for the home team when I'm out," He said. "When I first moved to the city I lived with a roommate for a while and I had to keep all of my Maple Leaves merch hidden in the back of my closet. Those were the most trying months of my life," He said. "I had to watch the games on my tiny phone screen with headphones!"

"Poor you," She joked.

"I'm serious!" He said though the smile on his face said otherwise. "Every time I came back I had to wonder 'is this the day I die?'"

"Sure you did," She scoffed.

"Oh, like you didn't have a similar problem?" He challenged. "From what I know about Boston, they're also pretty intense about their sports teams."

She gave a shrug as she took a sip of water through her straw, "It's not a problem if you don't watch sports," She said. "My dad is a die-hard Red Sox fan. Season ticket holder, 'stop everything the Red Sox are on!' fan," She said. "I've had my fair share of fanatics."

"So does that mean your son is a Sox fan then?"

She scoffed, "Hell no! Much to my dad's displeasure, Luke never really liked baseball. He only goes to the games with my dad because he gets to have funnel cake."

Anakin laughed, "That'll get him every time."

"You're telling me," She said with a smile.

Much like the previous night, they talked for as long as they could but eventually, the time came when they had to part ways. This time Padme paid the bill and they left the small diner walking closer to one another than they had the night before. Anakin smiled down at her as his Uber pulled up to the curb. He didn't want to leave. If he could spend the entire day with her, he would. Finally knowing more about her than just her name, he wanted so badly to know everything about her. But that would have to wait for another time. He hoped it would be soon.

"So…" He said.

"So…" She repeated. "This is goodbye then?"

He bit his lip, "Yeah…" He said. "But I'll call you later?"

She smiled, "I'd like that," She said. "Maybe next time I'm in Philly or you're in Boston—"

"—We could do this again?"

Padme nodded and the smiles on both their faces grew. "I look forward to it, then," He said.

"Me too." She took a hesitant step closer to him as their hands touched. Should he kiss her? He wanted to, but did she want to as well? He thought she did. Slowly he leaned closer, their foreheads touched briefly and their lips were so close…

The loud car horn from the Uber driver made them jump and pull apart before their lips could touch. Blushes covered both of their cheeks as they gave each other nervous goodbyes and promises to call and text later before he hurried to load his suitcase in the trunk and climb into the backseat. His eyes narrowed at the driver as hey pulled away from the curb and started the drive to the airport. "You are so getting a bad review!" He hissed at the driver.