Run into her

The days go by and the temperatures keep rising. It's almost unbearable and one sticky afternoon I walk into Danny's room.

“Wanna grab some ice-cream?” I ask him and his face is lit up immediately and he is on his feet in no time. There's a little café only a block and a half away, so a I take Danny by the hand and we walk to get something to cool off. Most people seem to have decided to stay inside to escape this intense heat and there's not very much traffic. The little guy doesn't seem to be bothered be the temperature, he pulls on my arm to urge me to go faster. The café is in contrast to the rest of the city fully packed. The tables on the outside are all occupied. Danny manages to slide his hand out of mine and he runs the last few feet to the counter. There is a line of five people, but Danny doesn't care or see them. He presses his little nose against the glass and looks at the different flavors. I follow him leisurely and get in line. Two people are working behind the counter to keep up with the customers coming to their little café. It takes under a minute for me to be next in line.

“Danny. What do you want?” I ask him and bring him out of his daze.

“Chocolate, strawberry, straciatella, cherry,........” he starts and wouldn't have stop if I let him go on.

“Just three.” I tell him and he looks at me disappointed. But he is just a kid and his disappointment has the lifespan of a fly.

“Chocolate, straciatella and strawberry.” he tells me with a smile. I repeat his choice to the employee and order the same for myself. The second his ice-cream is ready he stretches his arms to the maximum to receive it. His little tongue starts to lick the different flavors and he seems to be in another world. After I pay and grab my own ice-cream, I hold my free hand out and Danny grabs it without looking at it. We turn around, start to walk away. Preoccupied with his ice-cream Danny doesn't see the girl in front of him and walks right into her. Chocolate, straciatella and strawberry decorate the girls short white skirt and the sudden cold makes the girl jump up and scream.

With her eyes open in shock she turns around and I recognize Sam. She is wearing big sunglasses and her skin is darker than the last time I saw her. The plain white shirt makes it even more obvious, that she must have enjoyed several hours in the sun the last few days. The sweat glistening on her skin makes her almost like like a bronze statue of a Greek goddess. Her eyes find my face and her surprised look changes into something different. Her skirt is of course ruined. Danny tightly squeezes my hand, he is just a little boy, but her understands that ruining girl's clothes is a bad thing. Some of the first thing I told him in my unlimited wisdom.

“Hi Sam.” I greet her with a smile. “The little guy who just has decorated your nice skirt with his ice-cream is my little brother Danny.” A little bit confused and angry she looks at him, but her face softens the second she she's the scared little guy. Seeing her beautiful face, Danny relaxes and stops squeezing my hand.

“Danny, this is Sam.” I tell him.

“I'm sorry Sam.” he says with an adorable expression and Sam can't help herself, but smile at him. That is one of his talents, if he really wants something he gets it.

“No problem, it was just an accident.” she reassures him and pets his head.

“I would offer to get the stain out, but I think you'd prefer a dirty skirt to a wet and see-through one.” I try to lighten the mood even more. Sam shoots me a dirty look and Danny laughs uncertain. He doesn't know what was funny, but he is smart enough to know when someone makes a joke. Kneeling down I face Danny and give him my ice-cream.

“Why don't you take mine and enjoy it at the fountain over there.” I ask him and point at a fountain only a few feet away. Sever children play around it, trying to cool off a bit. Delighted he runs over to the fountain. He tries to balance on the edge without falling. Sam lets out a small laughter when he sees him almost fall in.

“You can't be mad at the Doe boys for very long. We're just too adorable.” I tell her, trying to read her mood. She doesn't respond at first and continues to look at Danny.

“Are you still mad at me?” I ask her in the hope to figure out what she thinks.

“I was never mad, I was.........” she answers pretty quick.

“Avoiding me.” I finish her sentence for her. We still stand in the middle of all the tables and people walk around us, but I don't care. I want to talk to her. “You didn't like the songs?”

“No, No.” she answers slightly shocked. It run towards her and try to make eye contact, but she adverts her eyes and looks to the ground.

“So what's the problem?” I ask her and try to think of any plausible reason.

“I loved them.” she answers in a whisper. At first I think I heard wrong, but the confused look in her eyes confirmed it. She doesn't seem to know herself, why this is such a problem.

“Sam, do you think I have many friends or even girlfriends?” I ask her out of the blue. The change of topic throws her off and she looks at me once more with a confused look.

“I don't. And I'm fine with it. The friends I have are more than enough and are worth more than anyone, I had to pretend to be someone else for. A few years back I decided to go my own way, be who I am and don't follow the herd.” I start to explain to her. Now her exotic green eyes are locked onto my face, following every movement of my lips and try to figure me out.

“I know you love music, I can see it in your eyes. You have to make a decision, that'll maybe cost you some of your “friends”.” I try to make her understand. “If you really want it, come by my dad's workshop, when we get together, or my house if you're not sure and don't want to play with your brother before you are.”

The uncertainty stays in Sam's eyes. There's no more I can tell her, so I simply smile at her.

“Bye Sam.” I see her off and walk towards Danny.