Daniel woke up to the sound of someone knocking on his door. Lying in the darkness, he was momentarily disoriented. Was he late for a briefing, or God forbid, a mission? Then he remembered: Boston…hotel…Sabrina….Then who was at the door? Oh, Sabrina! He stumbled out of bed and made his way through the darkened room to the hall door.
"Weren't we supposed to have dinner, Dr. Jackson?"
"Oh, God. What time is it?" Daniel squinted against the harsh glare of the hall as he turned to let Sabrina into his room.
"It's eight-fifteen." Sabrina turned on the closest lamp and was glad that she had. Two more steps and she would've been sprawled, face-first onto Daniel's luggage.
"I'm sorry. I must've slept through my alarm." Daniel ran a hand through his hair apologetically. He already had a good case of 'bed-head'. This just made it stick up even more. Sabrina found the look irresistible, and she smiled at his discomfort.
"Why don't we just order room service? We can sit back and relax and we won't have to get dressed…up…dressed up…" Sabrina blushed nicely. It was only then that Daniel looked down and noticed that his shirt was completely unbuttoned. When had that happened?
"Why don't I take a quick shower and you can surprise me…with dinner… surprise me with dinner?" There must be something in the water here causing these double entendres, because Daniel had never felt less like a linguist and more like a teenager on his first date….not a date…definitely not a date.
By the time Daniel had showered, shaved and put on fresh clothes, their dinner had arrived. "That was quick," he commented as he stepped out of the steamy bathroom. His glasses were all fogged up, so he took that opportunity to wipe them clean on the hem of his shirt.
"Well, I have a confession to make," Sabrina replied as she got up from the foot of Daniel's bed. "I actually ordered this before I left my room."
"Had the evening all planned out, did 'ya?" Daniel smiled as he walked over to the small table and lifted the cover from the plate closest to him.
To Sabrina's credit, she had managed to surprise him. How could she possibly have known he'd been craving a cheeseburger?
Daniel couldn't remember when he had enjoyed a meal more. Maybe it was the fact that the cheeseburger was cooked to perfection. Maybe it was because he was so relaxed after his shower. And maybe it was because of his dinner companion.
He and Sabrina had developed a nice relationship in the short time they had known each other. And as the evening progressed they moved from the table to the small sitting room at the far end of Daniel's suite. There they sat and talked until the wee hours of the morning, well on Boston time, anyway. They were both a little jet-lagged.
Finally Sabrina stood to leave, and Daniel followed her to the hall. "Let me grab my key and I'll walk you back to your room."
Sabrina laughed. "Shouldn't you put on some shoes, first?"
Daniel looked down and curled his toes up at the same time. Had he really been entertaining a woman in his hotel room for the last four hours, bare-footed and not even realized it? He grinned, grabbed his shoes and walked her down the hall to her room.
"You know, you really didn't have to do this." Sabrina turned around to face Daniel after unlocking her door.
"I know, but I wanted to." He hesitated just a moment, then took her face in his hands and kissed her gently. "I didn't have to do that either." He smiled as he released her. "But I wanted to."
He glanced up over her shoulder at the hotel security camera, its red light showing it was operating. "And look, we even got it on tape." She looked at him curiously as he kissed her once again, wished her good night and walked down the hall to his room.