Danny was swinging his lithe body around the kitchen of his apartment, grooving to the tunes of Caetano Veloso as he prepared his Saturday night meal. Before his mother died, she made sure both her sons could navigate around a kitchen and Danny took pride in his culinary talents. He grabbed a spoon to stir his egg noodles when he heard a knock on the door.
Frowning, he put down the spoon, turned down the music and grabbed a dishtowel to wipe his hands. Peeking through the peephole, his frown morphed into surprise. He opened the door to find Samantha standing there.
"Hi," she said softly.
"Hi…" he replied, at a loss for words. "I…didn't know you knew where I lived…"
Samantha smiled wryly. "I'm an investigator, Danny." She held up a bottle of non-alcoholic wine. "I thought I would swing by and bring you an apology gift for standing you up this afternoon."
Danny smiled at her choice of gift. "Sure, come on in," he said, standing back to grant her entry. Samantha looked around the apartment surprised to see it had some what of a metrosexual flair, with comfy couches, art decor and sleek colors.
"I like it Danny," she said pursing her lips. "Not bad."
"Why thank you. Have you eaten yet?"
"No…what's for dinner?" she asked.
"It's my own concoction with a fiercely guarded recipe secret, but I will tell you it has egg noodles, tomato sauce and Kobe beef."
Samantha nodded confidently. "I trust you."
Samantha took a seat at the kitchen island while Danny went back to work at the stove. The couple sat in comfortable silence while Samantha sipped her drink and Danny prepared the meal. After twenty minutes, Danny plated the entrée and served Samantha at the table.
"Mmmmm…this is delicious Danny," said Samantha, not bothering to be ladylike around each mouthful. "I thought you only specialized in Cuban food."
Danny shook his fork. "I'm a one-stop Bobby Flay shop, baby."
After a bit of innocuous conversation, Danny decided to dive in to the day's events.
"So…are you going to tell me?"
Samantha stilled. "Tell you…?" she trailed off, innocently.
"What happened today Sam."
"I said I was sorry for standing you up. It won't happen again, I promise."
Danny stared across the table at her. "I am more concerned about the 'why' then the 'what.'"
"I had something I needed to do," she said evasively.
Danny frowned, putting down his fork. "Sam, I don't think you realize how much I…how much I am in to you."
"Danny-"
"But I have to be honest that you don't make it very easy to trust you."
Samantha blinked. "Trust me?" she asked incredulously. "We go out on a date and all of a sudden I have to answer to you?"
Danny regretted his choice of words immediately. She was right. It was still early and she had no obligation to him. "I'm sorry…I just wish you would open up and let me in. It just seems…you seem off Sam. For the past two months, anyway. I would help you if I could, you know, but you have to tell me what's wrong."
Samantha's features softened. Acting on impulse, she jumped up and walked around the table to Danny's chair. Instinctively, Danny pushed his chair back from the table, allowing Samantha room to straddle him. She laid her forehead on his and stared into his eyes before slowly cocking her head to the side to allow her unrestrictive access to his mouth. Danny met her lips eagerly as they enjoyed a lengthy and breathless kiss.
"I'm sorry Danny," she whispered after breaking off the kiss. "I have a lot going on in my life and this…I am not very good at this relationship thing."
"Well, you dropped the word 'relationship'," he warned. "What's holding you back? Besides work and the office politics, what's holding you back?"
Samantha sat back with a small smile, her arms still curled around his neck, refusing to answer.
"Is it Jack?" The question was incomplete, but she knew exactly what he was asking. She frowned in her reply. "I am no longer in love with Jack," she said bitterly. "There is no chance in hell I would ever go back to Jack."
Danny nodded at her strong reply, deciding not to delve deeper on that subject. "…Martin?"
Samantha sighed, closing her eyes. She decided for the first time to just be honest with him "I don't know Danny…I really don't. I don't know if a part of me is still in love with him or a part of me is just feeling immense guilt over the way I treated him. Or maybe it's a little bit of both."
Danny was quiet while he digested this. It wasn't the answer he was hoping for, but he knew it was what he should have expected. True to his feisty nature, he made a decision.
"Samantha, let's just take it slow," he said, looking into her eyes. "What happens, happens. If you find in the end that you can't let go of Martin, then I'll respect that. But I want to at least give it a try."
Samantha swallowed the frog in her throat. "Okay, Danny. Let's try."