As the elevator descends at a painfully slow rate, I use the time to take deep breaths. Butterflies are playing tag in my stomach and my heart is racing a mile a minute.
The elevator doors finally open and I turn into the lobby. I walk towards the front and see Trayce leaning against the passenger door of his sleek black Ford Fusion.
He looks up and our eyes meet causing my face to heat up and form a delighted smile. Just by seeing him my nerves calm down and I'm able to relax a bit. Trayce's mouth is opened ajar in awe and he straightens up as I get closer to him.
I push through the glass lobby doors and take in his appearance before I get to him. He is dressed nicely yet casually in a blue and white blue dress shirt with dark jeans and a pair of white converse.
I sigh in relief that I didn't over or underdress and as I reach him I greet, "Hi." He responds with a shy "Hi" and opens his arms pulling me into a brief but warm hug.
As he pulls away he says, "Calia you look gorgeous." I smile at his compliment and say, "Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself."
He opens the passenger door for me and asks, "Shall we?" I chuckle at his cheekiness and get in while stating, "We shall."
This is off to a nice start...
He jogs to the drivers side with a skip in his step and hops into the car. The ignition comes to life and the car purrs softly as we drive off.
I look over at Trayce and ask, "So, where are we going?" He gives me a small glance and smirks slightly before saying, "Well that would ruin the fun wouldn't it?"
I smile back even though his eyes are focused on the road. We both turn silent for a moment and oddly enough it isn't awkward. It's actually quite...comforting.
Trayce then breaks the silence by asking, "So I'm assuming you're from LA?" I look over at him and reply, "Your assumption is correct. I was born and raised there."
He nods slightly and comments, "Interesting." I then push the conversation forward and ask, "Where are you from?" He looks over at me for a second and says, "I'm originally from Oregon but came to LA when I was a teenager."
My expression is shocked as I ask in disbelief, "Are you really?!" He chuckles at my question and states, "I really am, why does this shock you?"
I wipe the silly expression off of my face and say, "I'm just surprised I guess, I love Oregon, Portland especially."
I look out the window at the night sky and notice how the stars are beginning to pepper the sky with their glimmering beauty. Meanwhile Trayce is smiling thoughtfully to himself however, this goes unnoticed by me.
I then shift my body towards Trayce and ask, "So what's it like being a Dodger?" He smiles in deep thought and says, "That's a tough question to answer."
I quickly add, "Okay better question, what's one of the best things about being a Dodger?" He thinks for a second and says, "The relationships and bonds that I've been able to make with my teammates."
I nod approvingly at his answer when he turns into the parking area of a secluded and quaint restaurant.
The restaurant is small and lit elegantly with white and cream paper lanterns. The structure is wooden and extremely open to it's outside surroundings.
A 'wow' escapes my lips as I step out of the car and turn directly towards the restaurant. I see Trayce come closer to me in the corner of my eye and shift my gaze to look at him.
I don't even notice the large smile that's plastered on my face until Trayce smiles back at me and gently places his hand on the small of my back as we walk towards the restaurant.
The hostess greets us with a warm smile and says, "Hello, welcome to The Paper Lantern do you have a reservation?"
I look over at Trayce and he says, "Yes under Thompson." The hostess looks down at her reservation list and her eyebrows lift in recognition. She grabs two menus and says, "Alright, right this way Mr and Mrs. Thomspon."
My eyes widen in shock and I ever so gracefully start to choke on my own spit while Trayce's cheeks grow redder by the second.
After my aggressive coughing fit, I open my mouth to correct her but nothing comes out. She looks at us both quizzically and then comes to an abrupt understanding and says, "Ohmygod I'm s-sorry, my mistake...uh I just assumed a-and...!"
She looks absolutely horrified and continues to muddle apologies. Trayce is staring at me intently but I focus my attention on her, trying to reassure her with a calm smile and say, "It's alright, it was an honest mistake."
She gives me an embarrassed smile out of appreciation and says, "Uhm...follow me."
I turn back to look at Trayce and giggle at the silly situation. His face softens at my attempt to ease the tension and I send him a wink before following the waitress.
She guides us towards a wooden table at the end of the outdoor balcony and places the menus on both sides of the table.
Trayce pulls the chair out for me and pushes me in after I sit down. I grin at his chivalrous action and watch as he sits down.
The waitress steps back a bit and I catch the subtle smile that is tugging at the corners of her mouth. She then says, "I'll let you guys look over the menu, my name is Carol and I will also be your waitress so let me know if you need anything."
Once she leaves, Trayce and I both receive waters and I sip on mine while I study Trayce's alluring features as he looks over the menu.
A warm breeze begins to stir in the air and I close my eyes and take in a deep breath. As soon as I open my eyes I find Trayce staring at me. The unexpected action startle me a bit but once I recover I notice that he's zoned out.
Did he just zone out staring at my face? Ouch!
I try to gain his attention by calling, "Trayce" but he doesn't budge. I call his name again, still nothing. I sway my body from side to side hoping the movement will attract his attention and I succeed in doing so.
He shakes his head as he comes back to reality and I chuckle and ask, "Are you alright?" He diverts his eyes from mine in a shy manner making my smile grow even wider.
I gently place my hand on top of his causing him to look down at our hands then look back up into my eyes. I notice his breath hitch as our hands connect so I ask again, "Are you alright?"
After a moment or two, he seems to have calmed down a bit although he hesitates before saying, "Yes I'm fine." I give him a reassuring look when suddenly Carol comes back with a pen and pad to take our orders.
After telling her our desired meal choices, I take my hand off of Trayce's so that I can hand Carol the menu and I swear I see his face fall for a split second. I simply blame it on my bad vision and ignore it.
Before Carol heads off, she fumbles with the menus almost dropping them and laughs out of embarrassment before going back inside.
I turn to Trayce and say, "She must be new." His head cocks to the side and he asks, "How do you know?"
I shrug in response and say, "Sometimes you just know things about people." A subtle smirk forms on his face and he asks, "So what do you know about me?"
I don't think he wants to know the full answer to that question...
I ask a follow up question to get clarification on what he wants to know by asking, "You want to know what I know about you as a player or like overall?"
He then replies, "Overall." I try to think about a way that I can say this without sounding absolutely creepy but can't seem to find one.
Screw it.
"Alright before I tell you, remember I'm very serious about the Dodgers and stats along with some stuff you've told me" I state with an uneasy tone. He laughs at my sudden anxiousness and says, "Alright, go on."
I shift uncomfortably in my seat and explain, "Well, you play on the Dodgers, obviously, you used to play on the White Sox, you're a talented player, you are from Oregon, you are 25 years old and 6'3 you are the youngest of three and uhmm that's about all I can think of..."
He nods slowly in approval not phased at all by everything I just said and replies, "So you know a decent amount then." I laugh and reply, "Yeah I know a bit." I then add, "For the hell of it, guess some things about me."
He grins nervously and says, "Okay, you are a...therapist, you're 20 years old? You're an only child? And 5'5?" I burst out laughing uncontrollably and after a moment or two Trayce joins me. I calm down enough to stutter, "Y-you were s-so off-f!"
A minute or two of laughter passes and I finally start to correct him, "I'm starting a company that specializes in sports medicine, I'm 23 years old I'm the youngest of three including my twin sister and I'm 5'6 1/2".
We continue to chuckle about his multitude of mistakes when our food arrives.
As the evening progresses, we talk about our family and the constant struggles of being the baby of the family. Conversation flows like the Nile river and I know for a fact that my cheeks are going to hurt later from smiling so much.
As soon as we finish eating he pays for the check disregarding my many attempts to pitch in.
We head back to his car and begin to drive off. On our way to mystery destination #2 I look over at my phone for the first time tonight and see that it's 10:07.
After a short drive we turn into the parking lot of an ice cream parlor. Without thinking I squeal, "ICE-CREAM!" immediately covering my mouth with my hand afterwords.
Trayce bursts into fits of laughter and parks the car. We head into the vacant ice-cream parlor and gaze at the variety of sweet options.
What kind of ice-cream parlor is open this late?
There isn't anyone in the parlor besides me, Trayce and a tired looking employee so just I decide on getting two scoops of my all time favorite ice-cream, mint and chip, while Trayce gets a scoop of mint and chip as well as a scoop of rocky road.
We take our ice-cream outside and find a small wooden bench to sit on. The occasional street lamp brightens up the area around us, allowing us to see what we're eating. All while the night sky is lite marvelously with a gorgeous abundance of small sparkling specks providing a breathtaking view.
We eat the first portion of our ice-cream in a comfortable silence until I look over at his ice-cream and state, "I've never understood the appeal of rocky road."
Trayce's eyes widen in disbelief and he says, "Are you crazy? Have you ever tried it?!" I laugh at the defensive raise in his voice and say, "Yeah I have actually!"
He lifts an eyebrow obviously not believing my answer and asks, "When?"
I turn my body to look directly at him and answer, "When I was a teenager my best friend Elaine, who you've had a small encounter with, her favorite ice-cream was and still is rocky road so I tried it and didn't like it".
Trayce looks baffled at my response and stutters, "But...wh...how...what's not to like?" I shrug in response but he is not taking that so he negotiates, "Okay try it one more time and if you still don't like it then I'll accept it."
My nose crinkles at the idea of eating rocky road but I see the determined and pleading look in his eyes causing me to give in.
He's lucky I like him...
I give him a small nod to go on so he takes his spoon and grabs a small scoop of rocky road ice-cream before steadily guides the spoon to my mouth.
As I slowly swallow the ice-cream my eyes never leave Trayce's while he stares at me intently awaiting for my opinion.
After I finally finish the small portion of ice-cream Trayce asks, "Well?" I smirk and reply, "It's good." Trayce sighs in relief and states, "I told you it wasn't so bad!" I giggle at how excited he is about such a little thing.
Shortly after we finish our sweet treat, we head back to my hotel so Trayce can drop me off.
Once we arrive, he parks in a nearby parking space stating that he's going to walk me to my room.
He's such a sweetheart.
We reach the lobby elevator and after I press the button, the elevator door opens and we both step in. I press button 3 and we slowly begin to rise.
I then take the time to say, "Well I had a great time. I'm glad we had the chance to go out."
Trayce smiles pleased by my comment and says, "I had a nice time as well...I actually would really like to take you out again. If you're up for it."
My cheeks heat up and I reply, "I'd be delighted to." I look up at Trayce and notice him hesitantly leaning in. I start to lean in as well and gradually close my eyes as our faces get closer.
Our lips are just about to meet when the elevator door opens with an obnoxious 'DING DING DING'.
My eyes flutter open and I see Trayce's focus casted down as he clears his throat. I bite my lip harshly and reluctantly step out of the elevator knowing the mood has been hit by a pick up truck and ran over multiple times.
The walk to my room isn't far although the awkward tension makes it feel as though it's 100 miles away.
We arrive in front of my door and I take my key card out of my clutch when Trayce asks, "Are you going to be coming to anymore of the games?"
I nod 'yes' and add, "Yeah I should be at tomorrow's game actually" A grin suddenly appears on Trayce's face lightening up the mood tremendously and he says, "Oh nice...would you by any chance want to go out to lunch after?"
I smile back and reply, "Sounds great!" I reach up on my tip-toes and give Trayce a kiss on the cheek resulting in his face turning bright red.
I then mutter barely above a whisper, "Goodnight Trayce." He nods with a charming smile and says back, "Goodnight Calia, sweet dreams."
He turns and walks away while I slide my key card into the door. Before I step through the threshold, I take one last glance at Trayce oblivious to the fact that he did the same after I turned away and walked into my room.