Seattle, Washington, at the Summit Convention Center, on Friday, June 14th, 2030 at 6:30 pm

Rachel

The room that the dinner was being held in looked similar to the auditorium in terms of size, but the lighting was much more elegant and the floor was made of wood instead of linoleum. There were rounded tables that stretched from every corner. Vases of flowers, candles, and place settings with name tags sat upon the long white table cloths. There was a small stage in the back of the room, although it was nothing compared to the one I was just on.

"Well, time to find our table!" Erika exclaimed as she searched for our table. We spotted a sign that had our school's name on it and headed over.

"Well, howdy!" Vance said as he stood up from the table to shake our hands.

"If it isn't our brothers from Texas," Sam jested as he stood up next to Vance. He wasn't as tall as Lucas, and not nearly as broad. He clapped a hand on Tyler's shoulder. Tyler's face was beaming with joy.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun!" he exclaimed as he patted Sam's shoulder. I smiled awkwardly, trying to compose myself.

I'm going to have to sit at a table with him for hours.

Sam walked over to me and held out his hand.

"It's nice to see you again, Rachel," I shook his hand timidly, my cheeks on fire. He smiled widely at me, not letting go.

"Let's sit down, I'm exhausted," Artemis exclaimed as she plopped down next to me.

Sam didn't break eye contact with me as he took his seat across the table. The tension between us was broken as a waitress came by to bring us water and wine glasses.

"Oh, we are definitely going to be having some of that," Artemis sang as she moved the wine glass closer to her. Vance laughed heartily and nodded in agreement.

"Well, how did you folks enjoy our presentation?" he asked, leaning with one elbow on the table.

"Oh. My. God. It was fabulous!" Erika squealed. "Rachel has never spoken in front of that many people before!" I shot her a quick glare, embarrassed. "Oh, don't worry about it, Rach! You overcame a fear today! Your students would be so proud!"

My expression softened at her comment, and my lips curved into a smile.

"Yeah, you're already inspiring to them. They're going to get a kick out of that story!" Tyler added, stacking his silverware up to make a bridge between his glasses.

I looked down shyly as I played with a strand of my hair. Everyone continued to talk about Sam's magic background for a while as dinner was served. It was a beautiful chicken breast with garlic risotto.

"Rachel, this is almost as good as yours!" Erika said as she ate her food. Sam's eyes darted up from his plate at me.

"You like to cook?" he smirked at me.

"Oh, she doesn't like to cook. She could be a chef!" Tyler added, nodding at Sam. "I wish my birthday was every week so I could have her make me delicious treats all the time!"

Sam smiled at Tyler before glancing back at me again. His eyes were full of heat as he stared at me while taking a sip from his wine glass.

"I think that a woman who can cook is incredibly sexy," Sam said boldly. I almost spit out my drink before Tony started talking.

"Hey, Sam, you didn't finish telling us about when you started doing magic," Tony said as he gestured to Sam, winking.

"I went to college in Florida and would perform on the beaches to make money. That's pretty much it," he took another sip of his wine, and his expression looked almost embarrassed. His sudden sign of innocence was adorable.

"Did you perform shirtless?" Artemis asked bluntly. I choked on my water and had to grab my napkin to cover my mouth. Everyone laughed as they waited for Sam to answer.

"Occasionally," he said, making eye contact with me. "It definitely drew in more of an audience if I had on just a bathing suit." He didn't look away from me, and I started to feel like my chest was going to explode.

"I think that I need a stronger drink," I said quickly to Artemis.

"Oh, so do I!" Tyler and Vance said almost in unison. They pointed at each other and Tyler yelled out that he was owed a coke.

"Perhaps you and Sam could go and get us all drinks?" Tony said as he smiled at me.

"Wonderful idea," Vance agreed. "I would like a whiskey on the rocks please," Tyler and Tony mumbled in agreement.

"Vodka cran for us," Erika said, gesturing between her and Artemis.

I gave my friends a death glare, begging them to save me, but they ignored it.

"Sure thing," Sam said as he got up from the table.

He looked at me expectedly, and I slowly stood up from my chair. Sam's eyes followed me as I walked around the table, watching my every move. We headed over to the bar on the right side of the room in an awkward silence. There were quite a few people waiting, but as soon as the bartender saw Sam, she came right over.

"Hi, handsome, what're you drinking?" She had black hair in a tight ponytail, and her outfit was a classic bar uniform of a black shirt and jeans. She leaned over the bar at him, smiling. Her expression quickly faded into a frown when she noticed me.

"I need three whiskeys on the rocks, two vodka crans, and a gin and tonic," he glanced at me, waiting for me to order.

"I'll take a whiskey, too," I said hesitantly.

The woman behind the counter was giving me the evil eye.

"Of course, I'll get right on that. There will be a small wait," she said as she turned back to the other customers.

"Looks like I ruined your game," I said as I nodded my head towards the bartender, surprising myself that I managed to say something to Sam. He laughed and shook his head.

"You didn't ruin anything. I wasn't interested in her." He looked me up and down slowly, making me dart my eyes away from him.

Before I knew it, I was blurting out, "I'm married." I held my breath as I waited for Sam's response. I peered over at him again, and he was staring at me blankly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see a ring," he apologized.

I rubbed my left finger where my wedding band usually sits.

"Yeah, I haven't had it on," I said timidly. I didn't really want to elaborate, but the face Sam was giving me was telling me that I had to. I sighed before continuing.

"I'm still legally married," I clarified.

Sam nodded slowly, as he started to understand what I was saying.

"I see. So you don't feel like you're emotionally married, then?" he asked, his expression genuine.

I leaned against the counter with my left arm, and Sam watched me closely.

"Yes. I suppose that's a good way to describe it," I said quietly as I looked back out towards our table. "We don't need to get into that. I just figured you should know."

I glanced back at him, and he was still looking directly at me. His green eyes were fixated on mine. He still didn't say anything, so I kept talking.

"You know, so you can pick another girl to impress with your magic tricks," I add apprehensively. His lips curved into a mischievous grin.

"So you were impressed?" he probes. I felt my cheeks flush as I jerked away from him again. "Good, I was worried that I had imagined our chemistry."

"No, I felt it too," I whispered, keeping my eyes focused on the bottles behind the bar.

"I've never met anyone who I find as beautiful and interesting as I find you," Sam said softly as he took a step closer to me at the bar.

I peered at him out of the corner of my eye, keeping my head turned away from him. He leaned down onto the bar with both elbows so that he could see my face.

"If you don't want me to keep flirting with you, then I'll stop," he continued. I could feel my breathing quicken. "But if there's any chance that I can take you out to dinner tomorrow when the conference is over," he paused, leaning in closer to me. His brown hair looks blonde under the lights from the bar. He waited to speak again until I turned and looked at him.

"Then I would like to get to know you more, Rachel," he said my name with such intensity that my mouth opened slightly. I felt his hand gently slide over mine, creating a twisting feeling in my gut. His confidence was incredibly attractive, and his gaze made me feel like I was the only person in the room.

"I think that I'm available tomorrow night," I answered, smiling shyly back at Sam. His grin spread from ear to ear.

The bartender came back with two trays for us to carry the drinks on. Sam didn't break eye contact with me as he thanked her for the drinks and grabbed one of the platters.