Feeling Good - The Story of Sam & Henry

Chapter 30 - Superior Mesenteric Artery

"Oh God that was amazing!" I brought my napkin to my face and exhaled deeply. I had just eaten my own weight in breakfast potatoes and an omelet. I looked over at Sam's plate, she had eaten half of her oatmeal and barely touched the side of fruit. "Was yours ok, you didn't eat much?"

"It was fine, it's just so early in the morning... I'm not really used to eating before 1 pm." She checked her watch, then turned and smiled at me. "You done? I'll pay the check up front, I just want to introduce myself to the Chef real quick. Our movie is just next door and starts in about 15 minutes." She grabbed the check and stood up, grabbing her suede jacket from the back of her chair.

"Are you sure I can't take you to lunch? I feel like it is unchivalrous of me to let you pay."

"Relax, Blue, I'll let you open the car door for me."

"I'll get the movie tickets, then, ok?"

"Deal. You ready?"

I took another swig of my coffee and then scooted out from behind the table, following her to the cash register at the front of the restaurant. We waited behind another couple who were getting seated by the hostess. When they had been taken care of, Sam handed a credit card to the cashier and then asked the hostess if she could introduce herself to the Chef. She gave her name and then we moved to the side to make room for several other people who had just walked in. After a few minutes, a large man wearing a white shirt and black pants with an apron folded around his waist came out and looked around for us.

"Hi," Sam said, walking forward to introduce herself, "I'm Sam Smith, I'm the new Sous down at Riverhorse Downtown, I work with Simon and Karl."

"Pleasure to meet you Sam, I'm Kevin Donnelly, I'm old pals with Simon; how're things going at the new place? I've been meaning to get in there, just haven't found the time."

"Oh you know, it's crazy, but a good kind of crazy. Simon and Karl are good people, which isn't always the case, so I feel like I'm lucky to be where I'm at. I don't want to take more of your time, we just wanted to say thank you for breakfast, it was delicious." Sam gestured at me, and then addended, "Oh, sorry, this is my friend Henry Wallace."

I extended my hand and Kevin shook it firmly, using both hands.

"Glad you two enjoyed it, come back anytime." He waved at us and then walked away. Sam turned to me and smiled, "shall we?"

We walked together to the exit and then turned right out of the restaurant to the movie theater which was just next door. Because it was close to Halloween, most of the films were in the horror genre, which Sam wasn't a huge fan of, but we'd agreed on Zombieland: Double Tap as it was suitably horror-esque in keeping with the season, but likely to be more ridiculous than scary.

We chatted while waiting in line to buy tickets. Since we had just eaten, neither of us bought anything at the concessions and we made our way into the dark theater. I turned my cell phone to buzz and put it in my front pocket. I wasn't on call this weekend, but I could still get paged at any time. She sat down to my right, and took off her shoes, tucking her legs underneath her in the overlarge recliner. I found the toggle on my chair to the left and pushed the buttons which magically extended a footrest below my feet. I was glad we were seeing something that was likely to be intense with action and a bit of gore because as I laid there in the full recliner position, I realized there was a very real possibility that I would fall asleep, given how much I had just had for breakfast.

The movie started, and I turned to Sam, who looked back at me and smiled. I wanted to reach out and grab her hand, but I felt a little awkward. So much of our time together was at night, when physical intimacy seemed easier. I wasn't sure if she was much of a toucher during the day though. There was something about being near her, it just made me want to touch her, even if it was something small, like holding hands in a dark theater. There was a big arm rest between us, so I couldn't really put my arm around her, but I did lean close to her and noticed that she moved a little to lean closer to me too.