"Sure, feel free to sit down," she smiled at her with blue eyes."I'm Cynthia," she extended her hand to Sam."Samantha. Nice to meet you," Samantha reached out her hand to Cynthia, and they shook hands gently, a sign of friendship."You moved here just today, right?" Cynthia grinned at Sam and tucked a strand of black, stubborn hair behind her ear."Is it that obvious?" Samantha chuckled."A little bit," Cynthia winked at her and continued the conversation, "Where are you from?""Originally from Canada, but I've been living in the USA for about 10 years. I don't even count it anymore.""That's great! Is this your first time in Cleveland?" Cynthia asked for more details."First time, after a long while," Sam squinted her eyes for a moment as she thought."I've been living here for 7 years. I work as an assistant to an influential politician," Cynthia revealed about herself."Wow, you must have had some luck.""And you? Do you work here, or are you just on vacation?""I work, yes, in..." she paused for a moment, unable to remember the name, "In a local magazine." She mentally slapped herself for not rehearsing her identity in the taxi."Really?? I know that place, I pass by those buildings often, maybe we could grab coffee sometime," Cynthia smiled."Sure, anytime," Samantha swallowed dryly. They ate for a while and occasionally chatted about whatever came to mind.
"Hey Cynty," a pleasant male voice called out from behind her, followed by another.Samantha looked up at the two men who appeared from the confusion around the table."Heyyy," Cynthia exclaimed and smiled widely."Can we join you?" the first man asked."Of course, come on, I'll introduce you to my new friend," Cynthia gestured for them to sit.The first man sat next to Samantha, tall, muscular, with brown hair that had a few gray strands here and there. He had gray-green eyes and a light stubble. His arms and neck were decorated with tattoos. And of course, Samantha noticed the military tattoo. Her stomach churned. But it wasn't from the food, it was from the two men who sat down next to them. Control yourself, damn it, she scolded herself mentally."I'm Matthew," the man next to her extended his hand."Samantha, nice to meet you," she smiled at him, trying not to show that she was slowly falling apart."Hi, I'm Nathaniel," the second man extended his hand across the table."Samantha," she smiled. Nathaniel was a little younger than Matthew, with black hair, and his face was completely clean-shaven."Did you just finish work?" Cynthia asked.Surprised, Matt widened his eyes at her, "Yes, we were still at the gym," he replied curtly. Matthew didn't like talking about his job with strangers.
"How long have you been soldiers?" Samantha asked, somewhat thoughtlessly. Matt turned to look at her, while Nate opened his mouth, and Cynthia nearly choked."How do you know we're soldiers?" he raised an eyebrow and waited for an answer.Samantha almost choked too. Her bad habit is speaking before thinking, damn it, she thought. This was exactly what she didn't need—drawing attention to herself, and even with soldiers."W-well, your tattoo," she stammered and pointed to his arm, where a piece of the American military unit symbol could be seen under his short sleeve.He glanced at his arm to make sure it was really visible. "Ah. So you must be very knowledgeable if you recognize these symbols," he spoke, though there wasn't a hint of irony in his voice."I work for a newspaper, and I happened to have an article about soldiers on missions two months ago," Samantha lied quickly, trying to sound as natural as possible while her throat tightened more and more."Ah, I see, that explains a lot," Nate chuckled, obviously satisfied with her answer. 
The tension between them eased a little, though Samantha felt the rest of the evening would be a bit more difficult for her. Everyone relaxed a bit and continued the conversation.After a few minutes, once they had all finished eating, they decided to move on to the next phase of the evening. Samantha realized that even though she hadn't wanted to drink at first, the atmosphere was slowly starting to change. She naturally allowed herself to be persuaded, telling herself that one glass wouldn't be a problem for her. Matthew handed her a glass of bubbly prosecco. 
Cynthia laughed and said: "Great, to new friendships!" She raised her glass. Matt and Nate raised their beers, also to Cynthia. Samantha only muttered, "To new friendships," and smiled faintly.Samantha felt the tension that had been building in her since the men sat down slowly start to fade. Maybe it was the magical atmosphere, or just the influence of alcohol, but suddenly she felt that these people were actually pretty cool, maybe just like her – looking for an escape from their own loneliness, similar in their feelings, but stitched into different life stories.