Pirate Queen & Guitarboy (ON HOLD)

Chapter 21 - Silence Is So Silent

Was he serious? Did he really think she would go through all this trouble without getting her date? Oh no, she was going out with him. “Yes, I still want to go on our date. That’s the least you owe me.”

That earned her a smile. “That’s true. Let’s go”

They walked back across the street to his car. The valet must have brought it around when Sam was yelling at Ace. Probably thought the superstar needed a quick getaway.

And once again they were off. Sam still didn’t know what his plans were, but she tried to relax and let the wind play with her hair.

To drone out the silence in the car, Ace turned up the radio pretty loud. Instead of driving further into the city, Ace took them the other way. The further they drove, the greener the landscape. Driving past those green fields, Sam fully enjoyed this little trip through nature.

At one point she saw a sign for a Vineyard. Another five minutes and she looked upon this big white mansion. Instead of driving up to it, Ace turned left into a driveway lined with big beautiful oak trees. At the end he stopped and put the car on the side of the road. Stepping out, he came over and opened her door.

“Thanks,” Sam said absently, still in awe at the beauty around her.

Ace opened the trunk and took out a big cool box and a blanket. “It’s a little bit further, but we have to go on foot to get there,” Ace said, before grabbing her hand and started walking to wherever they were going.

“This place is beautiful,” Sam interrupted the silence.

“Glad you like it, but you have seen nothing yet.” He smiled at her. Such a gorgeous smile. Those full lips spreading to the whitest straight teeth she had ever and with this little dimple in his cheek. Sam loved to see Ace smile. It made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Instead of staying on the paved path, Ace took her on a smaller path between the plants. Holding back a branch, Sam joined him on the plateau.

“Wow.” The plateau overlooked what seemed to be the entire vineyard. Rows and rows of grape plants. “This is amazing.”

“I’m glad you like it. This is one of my favorite places in the world.” Ace went a bit further and put the cool box down. “So if it isn’t clear, I’ve planned a picnic.”

It was an ultimate cheesy idea, but still very sweet of him. As long as he didn’t want to hand feed her, this would be wonderful.

Spreading the blanket on the grass, Ace started unpacking the cool box. Sam sat herself across of him and started opening all the containers to see what they were going to eat.

“I hope you’re hungry.” Ace handed her a water bottle.

Sam was practically starving and seeing all this delicious food in front of her wasn’t helping. “I could eat,” she smiled at him.

“Well dig in then,” Ace gestured to the food.

If only she could choose what to pick first. There were these cute little cucumber sandwiches or mini wraps with chicken or those baby tomatoes or all the rest. It all looked so good.

“You’re having trouble choosing?”

Sam nodded. “Yeah, it all looks so great and I’m so hungry. Did you make these yourself?”

“Kind of.”

“How do you mean?”

“My mom helped me,” Ace confessed. It seemed he was slightly embarrassed as he got this red glow on his cheeks. Which was so adorable. Sam wanted to reach out and pinch those lovable cheeks. Luckily she could contain herself.

Grabbing one of the chicken wraps, she took a big bite and moaned in delight. If this singing thing doesn’t work out for Ace, he could always become a chef or something.

Ace laughed, “I’ll give the compliments to my mom.”

“You do that,” Sam’s mouth was still half full. The rest of the meal they pretty much ate in silence, enjoying the food too much to interrupt it with talk.

After they finished Sam laid back onto the blanket, holding her stomach. “I think I ate too much.”

“Nobody said you had to eat it all.” Ace laid himself down beside her.

Sam turned her head to him. “But it was way too delicious to let it go to waste.”

Ace turned his head also. “Too bad, ‘cause you haven’t even seen the dessert.”

“Oh God, no more.”

He laughed at her and turned back looking at the blue sky. “We don’t have to eat it now.”

Thank you. If she had any more food right now, she would just burst. Now that would be embarrassing.

And so they lay there, enjoying the pretty unexpected warm November day. Once again the silence hung between them. Sam didn’t mind silence, you know, once in a while. But this was a first date and Ace had barely said five sentences to her or maybe six. She could no longer contain her frustration. She sat up and looked down on him. “Aren’t you at least a bit curious?”

Ace had his hands folded behind his head and his eyes closed. “Curious about what?”

“About me?”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

Boys could be so dense. You always had to spell it out for them. “You don’t know anything about me and you never ask anything to get to know me better. But still you asked me out, so I’m a bit confused to why.”

“To why what?” Ace removed his hands from behind his head and sat up a bit, leaning on his elbows.

“Why you asked me out?” Sam noticed her voice started rising and tried to calm herself down.

Now Ace looked at her like she was dense. “Because I like you.”

Argh! He didn’t get it. “How could you possibly like me when you don’t know anything about me.”

“I know stuff about you.”

“Yeah, like what?” This she wanted to hear.

“I know you’re a senior and you live with your grandpa above a music store. You have two best friends, whom are a lot of crazy. You can definitely sing, but I’m guessing you’re a bit shy about it.”

After a couple of seconds waiting for him to continue, Sam realized she didn’t get men at all. “That’s it?”

For the first time in this conversation Ace didn’t seem so sure of himself. “Euhm, yeah.”

Sam sighed deeply. “Anyone who goes to my school knows that. The things you just said are facts about my life. They say nothing about me.”

Ace realized he somehow made a mistake. Sitting all the way up, he grabbed her hand. “Isn’t this why we are on a date, to get to know each other better?”

Unbelievable. “First of all, I just said that like a minute ago. Secondly, you’re not acting like you want to get to know me.”

“Well I do. I just figured if you wanted me to know something you would just tell me,” shrugging his shoulders, like it was obvious.

“Hence the silence,” she explained him. “I’m really not that open or start telling stuff to people at random.”

“Okay fine, then I’ll begin.” He laid himself back down, with one hand behind his head. Then patted the spot beside him, so she would also lay down again. “When I was eight…” Ace started telling and Sam listened to one of the most embarrassing childhood memories ever. It was even worse than her fainting when they first met.