The next days were pretty much the same, between exams, studying at home or in Sam's office, and sleeping at Sam's place. So nothing too exciting, but being with her made everything more pleasant.
Little things like her bringing me coffee in bed in the morning, helping me to deal with exam anxiety and letting me stay in her office when I wanted, made everyday better.
And since it had been a stressful few days for her too, I made sure our evenings were as relaxing as possible by doing stuff I knew she found calming, like making tea for the two of us and snuggling on the couch reading a book or watching something that didn't require too much concentration.
The week went by in a less challenging way than I thought, and on Saturday Sam took me out for dinner as she'd said she would.
Something I really appreciated was that she'd made a reservation in the kind of place she probably knew I really liked, rather than what she might have regarded as a dinner date restaurant.
It was a small vegan restaurant a few blocks from where we lived, with an incredibly cozy and colorful atmosphere and lit candles on each table.
"I love it here!" I excitedly told Sam as a waiter showed us our table.
"I knew you would" she said, sitting down while not letting go of my hand.
She'd let me do her make-up for the occasion, and not to be too modest but I was proud of myself for how well I'd managed to make her already stunning eyes look even more good.
And she'd also waited for me to finish the look to decide her outfit for the evening, so she could perfectly match it. She indeed was able to do that, wearing a silk navy-blue vest top and a lighter shade pants.
While I just went with a classic sweater over a white-collared shirt and jeans, which was what most of my style consisted of during the coldest months.
"How are you not cold right now? Your hands are freezing" I asked, still confused about Sam's relation with the cold weather.
"How many times do I have to tell you that my hands are often cold, but that doesn't mean I am?" she laughed.
"I don't know, it's confusing"
"Not to me" she shrugged, taking a sip of wine from her glass.
I was happy to see that throughout the evening that was the only glass she'd gone through. But I wasn't sure whether she'd appreciate a comment about it or not.
"I'm not saying I didn't think vegan food could be this good, but damn, this food is better than I imagined it would be" she said as she took the last bite of the desert we'd shared.
"It really is" I giggled. "We should come back here sometime"
"For sure" she smiled, soon after attracting a waiter's attention to ask for the check. "You wanna go back home or go for a walk somewhere? The park we went to for our kind of first date is like five minutes away, if you want"
"I mean...I have to get up quite early tomorrow. But I wouldn't mind a walk"
I hadn't really told anyone yet but I'd continued my search for a job after first mentioning it to Sam, and I was able to get a job interview at a coffee shop nearby campus.
"Why do you have to get up early?"
"I, uhm, I have a job interview at a coffee shop"
"You do?" she confusedly asked.
"Yeah"
"That's great! Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"I didn't wanna tell anyone in case it went terribly and ended up making a fool of myself" I said, laughing as hearing it aloud made me realize how stupid it sounded.
"That's such a 'you' thing to do. Always assuming the worst" she also laughed.
Sam soon after paid the check and we left, heading towards the park. I sometimes felt guilty when Sam was the one paying for everything we did, but she really seemed to not mind it, or even to be glad to do it. So I really couldn't complain.
It ended up being too cold to stay out much longer, so we only stayed in the park for something like ten minutes.
"I..I don't wanna say anything that might upset you so please tell me if I do, but I noticed you've, uhm, been drinking way less. I just want to let you know I'm proud of you" I said after a few moments of reflection.
"Thank you, love" she squeezed my hand a little tighter. "I appreciate it"
The streets were pretty dark but I could see a sincere smile appearing on her face thanks to the faint glow of the streetlights.
And apparently the light allowed her to notice more details about my face too.
"You've once again got chocolate on your nose" she snickered.
"Oh, shit" I attempted to rub it off with the tip of my finger. "Is it gone?"
"Nope"
"Ugh, do you have-" I said before Sam placed her hands on my cheeks and unexpectedly left a gentle kiss on the tip of my nose. I briefly felt her tongue on my skin before she pulled back.
"There you go" she said with an amused expression.
"Thanks" I struggled to say, slightly shocked from the gesture. But weirdly turned on.
"You wanna stay at mine or go back to your place? Since you have to get up early" she added, as we were approaching our block.
"I think I'll go to my place. I need to get ready and stuff quite early"
"That's okay. Just let me know if you need anything, even just emotional support"
"Will do. Thanks" I giggled.
Once we arrived I stayed in front of Sam's front door talking to her for about half an hour, and as tempted I was to just go in for a while, I knew I'd just end up staying the night.
"Thank you for the evening. The dinner and everything" I said before leaving
"No problem" she said with a laugh, as I squeezed my body closer to hers and got on my tiptoes in an attempt to reach her face.
"Why do you always wear high heels knowing that I'm already shorter than you and only wear flats?" I frowned.
"Maybe I enjoy it" she tilted her head with a smirk.
"Well, I don't"
"Sorry to hear that" she teased before finally lowering her head so I could kiss her. "Is this better?" she whispered.
"Definitely" I said, finally satisfied.
"Good" she said, kissing me one last time and opening her front door.
"I'd better go now" I thought of all the stairs I had to climb before I got too tired to reach the top.
"Okay, baby" she cupped my face with both hands, gently pressing her lips on the top of my head. "Have a good night"
"You too" I smiled, standing in silence for a few seconds before eventually having to let go of her hand, and soon after climbing all the flights of stairs with the idiotic smile on my face that would always appear anytime I thought of Sam.
The next day already didn't start the right way from the moment I didn't hear my alarm clock and slept half an hour more than I was intending to. But I'd luckily set it so that I'd have plenty of time to get ready, so it really just meant having to do everything in a slightly quicker way.
I changed my outfit three times before finding one that I felt would give a good impression on the people who were going to hold the interview.
But I overall wasn't feeling too agitated about it. I knew I'd have tons of other opportunities to find a job and it wasn't that urgent, anyway. I'd actually already worked in a cafè in my hometown for about two years, in high school, so I even already had some experience.
That specific place would have been quite convenient because of how close to college it was, though. I'd been there a few times in my first months before realizing it was too expensive for my weekly budget.
I reached the shop and once I entered it no one was there but a blonde-haired girl behind the counter, she couldn't have been that much older than me. Pretty understandable since it was just about opening time.
"Hi! What can I get you?" she asked.
"Hi, uhm, I'm actually here for a job interview. I might stop to get something when I'm done, though" I said, trying not to seem too nervous.
"Oh, of course. The store manager is in the room on the left, across that corridor" she pointed towards a corridor with two doors. "Just knock and he should be available right away"
"Okay, thank you" I smiled.
"No problem. Good luck!"
"Thanks" I lightly laughed, walking towards the door and knocking on it.
I soon heard a male voice saying "Come in" from the other side.
I opened the door to find myself in a small room with white walls, nothing but a wooden desk with two chairs in front of it. Behind it was a bigger chair on which a brown-haired man with a short beard was sitting.
"Hello, what can I do for you?" he lowered his glasses as I closed the door behind me.
"Hi, I'm here for the job interview. We exchanged a few emails some days ago, I'm assuming that was you"
"Oh, yes, that was me. Eleanor Brown?" he asked, looking through a pile of paper sheets.
"Yes" I said, internally cringing at hearing my full name after so long of no one calling me that. "That's me"
"Great, take a seat. I'm Samuel, by the way" he said, gesturing towards the chairs.
It took all of me not to widen my eyes as I heard the first part of his name, most likely what he usually went by. Maybe that was a good sign from the universe.
He went on to ask me questions about my previous experience, what I was doing in New York, my availability and the reasons behind me looking for that specific job.
It went pretty well, I assumed. He seemed positive by the end of the interview and I felt satisfied by what I'd said. He told me he'd let me know in a day at most, but I was quite sure I'd managed to get the job.
"How'd it go?" the blonde barista asked as soon as I walked away from the corridor.
I'd done a good thing by choosing to do the interview on a Sunday morning, there was only one person in the shop and barely anyone around in general.
"Quite well, I think" I said, tying my hair into a ponytail because I'd suddenly gotten warm, most likely because of the stress.
"That's great! High five" she reached out for my hand as I amusedly high-fived her. "Still wanting that coffee?"
"Yeah, uhm, a vanilla latte with oat milk and two sugars would be great"
"Sure thing" she started making it as soon as I asked. "I'm Sarah, by the way. Nice to meet you"
"Oh, I'm Ellie. Likewise" I smiled.
"Here you go," she handed me my coffee. "Anything else?"
"I'm good, thanks" I said, paying for my order, as I suddenly thought that it wouldn't be a bad idea to get some coffee for Sam. It usually took about fifteen minutes to get home and almost no one would be in the subway that early on a Sunday.
"Wait, uhm, actually" I added. "Could I also have a double espresso with one sugar?"
"Of course! Strong, I like it"
"Yeah" I laughed. "My girlfriend likes her coffee bitter"
"Hm, is she a bitter person then?"
"I wouldn't say that. She just has a strong personality"
"One's coffee order says more about one than you think"
"I'd be glad to hear about that if I ever get the job here" I chuckled.
"Oh, for sure. Can't wait to tell you all about it" she joked.
"Great" I played along, paying for the extra coffee. "See you around then, hopefully"
"Yeah, have a nice day!" she smiled as I headed out.
I felt extremely relieved but also proud of myself during the whole ride back home, and by the time I got off the subway my mood was better than it had been anytime in the past few weeks.
I thought of texting Sam beforehand to check if she was actually awake, but I kind of knew she would most definitely be. And I was right, her opening the door soon after I'd knocked.
"Good morning, you" she smiled.
"'Morning" I pecked her lips. "I got us coffee"
"I gathered" she looked down towards the paper cups in my hand. "Thank you, baby. Come in"
"No problem" I handed her her cup.
"So?"
"So what?"
"The interview. How did it go?" she chuckled, taking a sip and sitting on one of the chairs around the table.
"Oh, right. It went well. Very well, actually" I said, sitting on her lap.
"Yeah? That's great, I'm so proud of you" she tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and kissed my forehead.
"Don't leave coffee stains on my forehead" I giggled.
"It's okay, I can just kiss them away anyway" she shrugged.