Who: Mr. Gold and Samantha Carter When: Friday 3/8 Where: Restaurant What: A date Rating: Low Status: Complete
It might have seemed a little sudden for him, but he'd been serious when he thought to ask Samantha Carter out for a date of dinner and wine. She was clearly beyond smart, funny in her own right and willing to do off the wall strange things. Like painting roses. It wasn't often that he did things spontaneously, but maybe it was about time he did. On top of that, she wore no ring, and hadn't spoken of a boyfriend -- so she was more likely than not single.
Most all the time Gold wore suits -- he worked in a public office, and on top of that he thought they looked classically neat. So it would be no surprise to her probably that he was wearing one (a dark charcoal) with a red tie when he knocked on her door.
Sam had been very pleased to receive the text from Gold, he was intelligent, fun and someone she found very easy to talk to. True, she may have flailed a little at her best friend but she was allowed to be a silly girl sometimes.
Sam’s choice of outfit had taken a fair bit longer to decide than Gold’s - the evidence of which was strewn across her bed - but she had finally decided on a nice black dress, which fit well without being too revealing.
She had just finished checking her make up when she heard the knock on the door, moving to open it she smiled, “Hi” she said, “Come on in I just need to grab my jacket” she told him.
Gold gave a smile in greeting -- his smiles were always a bit small, lopsided. They failed completely at being boyish, but he liked to think they were at least vaguely charismatic. “Hello. And don’t you look lovely?” he complimented, even as he stepped into the place, looking around in curiosity. It was always a bit charming to see how other people lived.
He did indeed look very charismatic, at least in Sam’s opinion anyway, she blushed slightly at his compliment, “Thank you” she replied, “You’re looking handsome yourself” she informed him as she retrieved her jacket from the back of the couch and picked up her bag.
Mr. Gold took the compliment with grace, only inclining his head in a slight nod, even as he balanced both hands on the end of his cane.
Once she was ready, they existed her place, and walked the short way to his car. He a fan of the old school way of things -- and opened the car door for her.
Sam thanked him as she entered the car, feeling the nervous flutter in her tummy that she hadn’t had in a long time. Yes, this was going to be a nice evening.
---
Gold didn’t turn out to be much of a talker while driving -- he offered a comment or two, but kept his eyes on the road for the most of of the short ride.
He’d picked a nice place -- the kind of place that people who didn’t work in politics probably couldn’t get on short notice, and rathered hoped Samantha might be impressed with it. Valet parking happened -- the staff handing Gold a ticket stub as they exited the car.
“It’s a bit fancy,” he explained and rose his eyebrows a bit, as if asking if she was okay with that.
Sam didn’t mind the quiet drive, she actually felt more comfortable knowing he was focusing on the road.
She recognised the restaurant and was indeed impressed, “It’s wonderful” she told him with a smile, taking his arm as they entered. Now she was very glad she had chosen the black dress.
He certainly didn’t have any complaints about the black dress, either. Not that he would say so in such a blatant manner. Once they’d been taken to the table and were seated, Gold smiled vaguely even as he looked over the wine menu. “I hope asking you out wasn’t too -- abrupt of me.”
“Not at all” Sam smiled, “I was pleased you did,” she added. They’d had a nice day together in Wonderland and Sam had been hoping that they would have a chance to continue that in one form or another.
The man could only smile at that -- he’d sort of guessed she might be -- or else he would not have bothered to ask in the first place. He’d been a bit spontaneous about it, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t weighed the pros and cons of doing so first.
The waiter came, and Gold ordered a bottle of wine for them (a white, those tended to be a little sweeter, but seemed to go down smoother, too). When the server left again, Gold balanced his elbows on the table, and then his chin atop his knuckles. “How’s teaching our future generation going?”
“Better now that there’s no deadly flu or Wonderland” she replied with a smile, “Although I do think half of my students are just waiting for the next crazy occurrence so they can get out of more lessons. I’ve been including more in our classes so they can catch up on what they’ve missed” Setting more essays than usual as well as suggesting things they could look into more on their own time, but she didn’t want them to fail just because they’d had to cancel or reschedule some modules.
“Even you have to admit the days off are a bit of a pleasure,” Gold said, amused. Then again, he didn’t know if she’d gotten sick or not during the flu epidemic. He hadn’t, not even a little bit. “But I guess the curriculum waits for no one.”
“Oh they are” she readily agreed grinning. Thankfully the flu had passed her by, though her friend and roommate Lizzie hadn’t been as lucky. “It doesn’t and as much as we all like time off we aren’t in a position to give them extra time to complete their course which means they will need to catch up” But she had spent the time while she wasn’t ill completing lesson plans for this situation which meant it would hopefully be smoother.
“Understandably,” Gold said, sympathetic - for Ms Carter or the students, he wasn’t sure. Maybe the both of them.
“And you?” Sam asked, “City council ticking along as normal? And your shop?”
Gold smiled pleasantly as the waiter returned with their wine and poured a glass for the both of them. When he’d left, he raised a glass in near-cheers before sipping at it pleasantly. “Both are ticking along. You’d think there’d be more going on in the city council with all the oddities lately, but they seem stuck on the fact that abnormalities are just that and that Orange County will just be inclined to stay normal from now on.” He rose an eyebrow, as if to show how much he believed that.
Sam raised her own glass with a nod, it really was a very nice wine. "Is that not the way of politics in general?" She smiled, "If they can't explain it or don't like it they buried their head in the sand and hope it will go away. I have a feeling that tactic really won't work around here"
“Doesn’t seem to be so far,” Gold could only agree with a look that was more bemused than helpless. His politics weren’t always well liked, but it they had to be fair about things, he rarely liked anyone elses’ either. “Right now it’s a lot of wading through funds and payment plans for the hospitals and patients from the blue flu. It’s all very boring, though. Tell me about yourself, instead?”
"That all seems like so long ago now" she said in reference to the blue flu incident, though because of Lizzies hospitalization and subsequent surgery it had seemed longer for Sam. "Me? What else would you like to know?" she asked, "I'm afraid I can't claim to be that interesting"
“Modesty doesn’t suit you, Ms. Cart-- Sam,” he corrected himself, remembering she didn’t like her last name used in such a way. “I’m sure you’re filled with amazing secrets and facts.”
“I fear you may be disappointed” Sam told him with a smile, happy to note he remembered to call her by her first name, “My dad was in the military so we moved around a lot, typical army brat really in that respect. Part of him expected me to go down the same route I think but I was far too interested in science, I spent a couple of years as a researcher after gaining my PhD before deciding to try my hand at teaching”
“But that means growing up you’ve seen a lot of different places, yes?” He sipped his wine again and then rose an eyebrow almost challengingly. “Any favorites?”
“Oh yeah, most of the US” she nodded, “Honestly? Not really. Here maybe. Now I’ve settled a bit. But we moved so much I got used to not getting attached the any one place” she admitted, or any person either.
Well, that was a shame, really. But Gold supposed he had no real reference to a lifestyle such as that. He hadn’t moved around very much, himself. Well, not from state to state anyway. Foster care had been a bit of a challenge, but it was all within the same city. And that had been a very, very long time ago anyway.
“Why California?”
It probably would have been more fun and more of an adventure had Sam been a more outgoing child but she had been almost cripplingly shy which meant it was harder for her than her more popular brother.
“The job offer was pretty good and also I learnt that my best friend from University, Elizabeth, was moving here. She teaches at UC Irvine too, so it just seemed like the right choice to make.”
“Does she teach the same thing as you?” Because it was always smart to show interest in the best friend of the person you’re interested in. Otherwise things could go awkward quickly.
“Oh no” Sam shook her head, “Lizzie teaches International Studies and Linguistics. She used to work for the UN” They were both smart women but in totally different areas, it was sheer luck that they had become such good friends at University.
Gold had the grace to look impressed. It wasn’t that difficult. “You seem to surround yourself around a good amount of very clever people,” he said. “I’m afraid I might not be up to scratch.”
Sam laughed, “Now I know that isn’t true” she told him, “We’ve already have some brilliant conversations”
Fair enough, Gold was interested in linguistics, and English in general. But he knew next to nothing about all the science that Sam did. He only could shrug and grin -- almost boyishly. Quite a feat considering his age.
To be fair not many people could understand the the science that Sam did, she had a very mathematical brain and natural aptitude for her subjects. Luckily she did have good general knowledge too. Sam returned his grin as she sipped her wine, he really was quite attractive.
--
When their food came, they ate in an amiable silence for a while. It was kind of nice -- Gold didn’t feel he absolutely needed to keep talking in order to keep her interested, and that was nice on its own. Mature. Sam was clearly not a needy person, and that was good all on it’s own. He found he was not disappointed that he’d asked her out. Which was almost curious.
After a while, he set his fork down and smiled almost playfully. “Robert,” he said, without any explanation or prior conversation. His first name -- one that he gave to virtually no one.
It wasn’t often that you found someone who was happy with silence, most people tried to fill every second with talking; even if what they were saying was complete babble so Sam found it refreshing that Gold didn’t feel the need to do that.
Sam raised an eyebrow, “Robert” she repeated a small smile spreading over her face as she caught on, “Robert Gold?” she checked.
In response, he only spread his fingers wide and gave a half smile. One and the same, it seemed to say. Names were important. They were used for more than labeling -- there was some power behind them that he couldn’t quite explain, but one that he knew of nonetheless.
“But call me what you like, as it were.” No pressure, because everyone called him Gold, or Mr. Gold, anyway.
“Thank you” she told him smiling, she had the feeling it was quite an important thing that he felt he could tell her his name. And she was glad that he had.
Gold only gave a little bob of his shoulders at that. “Seemed fair, anyway.” he gave a slight pause as he finished off his wine. “Dessert? Coffee?”
"Not sure I could eat another thing" Sam replied, the meal had been lovely though. "Coffee would be nice" she added.
Plates were cleared and coffee was ordered - and it arrived only a few moments later.
Blowing softly at the top of his cup, he gave a vague sort of smile. This was nice in a mostly comfortable sort of way, he thought. Maybe it was one of the better things about being an adult -- no more of that strange awkwardness that youth had once brought. No need to fill every silence, or say any random thing that came to mind.
“Anything you would like to do after this?” He asked, after a moment.
“Maybe a short walk?” Sam suggested, the weather was currently quite favorable and not too cold in the evenings, “Some of the architecture in this area is quite interesting” she added with a smile. It wasn’t her area of expertise but some of the ‘older’ buildings were quite pretty.
“Could do,” he agreed with a little dip of his head. He might have walked with a cane, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t go a decent distance. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t met when he was going on a stroll, either.
“Unless there is anything else you would prefer” Sam added, she was completely open to anything. She enjoyed his company and was in no rush to return home.
“Whatever you like,” Gold said, because he was an acquiescing sort of man when it came down to it. “A walk sounds perfectly magical.”
Sam smiled, “Be careful, saying that in this county might be taken as a wish” she teased as she sipped her coffee.
He let out a little snort at that, but did not disagree with her. It was more or less true, it seemed. Although so far, Gold hadn’t really had any trouble with the magical things going on -- he’d never gotten sick, or felt the need to belt out into song. If anything, he seemed oddly immune to all the goings on. Which was good. “It’s not all bad,” he said, finishing up his coffee before pulling out his wallet for a credit card to cover the bill.