I arrive in the lobby to find her already standing there. She is now wearing a normal t-shirt, shorts and flip flops. Her hair is pulled back into a ponytail.
"Well, you look pretty comfortable."
She just nods and replies, "Yeah. I took a shower after. I figured I didn't need to be dressed up for anything else this evening."
I nod in agreement. She's right, of course. She doesn't need to be dressed up for anything else. I'm pretty sure she has earned the right to dress casual.
There is an uncomfortable silence between us as we start walking together. Neither of us really knows what to do or say. It's not like we've been in this position before. It is also clear that we are both in a somewhat fragile emotional state at the moment.
Finally, she offers, "Thomas, we could just do room service if you'd like."
We stop for a moment to think about it. Then I shrug and motion towards a sign on the wall, "We could try that place?"
"Okay," she replies.
We hold hands as we walk towards a nearby small restaurant on the hotel's ground floor. It seems like the more we hold on to each other's hands, the tighter our grip becomes. It's almost like we are holding on to each other for dear life.
After being seated and placing our order we just sit there in silence and look at each other. "Did you hang up?" she asks me suddenly, with a concerned look upon her face.
"No. Well not on purpose anyway."
"Oh, thank goodness!" She takes a deep breath and covers her face with her hands. Then nervously strokes her forehead. "I was afraid you were upset!"
"When did you notice?" I lean forwards and sheepishly ask.
She shakes her head as she responds, "Not until after it was over." She follows that with a simple shrug of the shoulders. "I guess I called you as soon as I could. Well, after we took a shower."
