This was a challenge, something unlike anything they had ever done before together as a couple or as individuals. Via word of mouth, Rose and Ezra had heard people talking about escape rooms, as they are called, and the growing popularity of them sweeping across the world. Neither of them had ever done one before, whether it was because they had packed schedules, other plans, and whatnot, it was never a matter of not wanting to explore the idea, they just hadn't gotten around to doing it yet. Rose had been thinking about things they could do on that upcoming Friday night after Ezra had showed her a gorgeous time just days prior with a picnic and a view that she would never forget. Usually they didn't have the time to incorporate too many dates into a week with her filming and also with having Rocky with them, but after reading up on Mission Escape in Atlanta, she figured it would be the perfect time to try.

When Rose called for details she found out that this particular establishment had two different "escape" rooms or games that they could tackle. The first, The Study, was the original and was suited for a smaller group of people, Rose was told between three and ten, while the second puzzle, if you could even call it that, was a little more challenging and consisted of a Hotel theme that required more people to sign up for. Rose wanted to keep this a traditional date night and though The Study was meant for a minimum of three, Rose was able to persuade the woman on the phone to allow them to just go at it together. The woman warned her, though, that even with a number like six, the success rate for this room was around twenty-five percent, so going in with only two people was slicing that number nearly in half. Stubbornly, Rose wanted her and Ezra to take their chances anyway to see how it would pan out for them, signing them up for 7:45 in the evening.

"How do you feel about being locked in a room with me?" was how she prefaced telling me about Mission Escape. Just like Ezra she should have known that he assumed she was alluding to the two of them being alone and locked in a room in a different way, his arms sliding around her as if there was something else up her sleeve, to which she wasn't about to turn down, her arms looping around his neck as they shared a quick kiss. "Not like that," she finally said, letting him down gently when she began to tell him the details, not leaving it to be a surprise this time around. She gave him the basic outline: they had sixty minutes to find clues in this study room that looked like a typical library with a desk, some chairs, papers scattered around, books galore, and a plethora of other items. She showed him some of the photos online to get a feel for what they were in for, though what they researched on the internet didn't give them all that much insight on what they had coming for them.

On the evening of, Rose and Ezra left left favourite little dudes with their babysitter who really took a liking to Vincent and Rocco, a feat they were equal parts happy and relieved to know. They drove to the building where it took place, neither of them sure how this was supposed to work exactly from the start. "Do you think a team of actors are going to ambush the car pretending to be spies," she asked, almost nervous of the thought being a reality as they parked. Rose was not the best with haunted houses, a terrified woman whenever anything decided to jump out at her and catch her off guard. Lucky for them there were no surprises once they got inside.

The atmosphere was cool and there wasn't much going on the room they waited in before their time slot started. There were other groups waiting there and some coming out, people laughing and faux-arguing that they had seconds left and still couldn't figure out the puzzle. When it was Rose and Ezra's turn, they nervously followed the staff member who took them into the room and began to give them the breakdown. "The world's most coveted jewel, "The Siena III", has been stolen from the British Royal Family. You and your team of detectives have been selected to infiltrate the estate of billionaire playboy mastermind, Sir Claude Juan Philippe, to attempt to steal back the jewel. You only have 60 minutes before Claude returns and you are caught. Good luck! " She also explained how she would be able to hear them the entire time in case they needed any help. Usually the staff will be allowed to give three clues to help them along the way, but because there were only two of them, a number smaller than the usual group, she said she would give them four. "I don't think we'll need any," Rose said, thinking this would be much easier than it really was. Ezra was in agreement, feeling very much the same, the two of them thinking how hard could it really be?

They were wrong. They couldn't be more wrong, in fact. In those sixty minutes in the room, Rose and Ezra looked through the papers, throwing some of the books, pushing over the chairs. At one point Rose began crawling on the floor thinking that there was a trapdoor somewhere underneath all of the carpets laid out of the floor (there wasn't) but that didn't mean she didn't stop trying. They grew increasingly frustrated as time went on, uncovering some of the clues while remaining absolutely clueless when it came to piecing them together. They didn't want to admit defeat and ask the staff member for a clue, but the time on the wall told them they only had twenty minutes left and they felt like they were nowhere near where they needed to be.

"This is your fault, we don't even have all of the clues, there's no way," she said with an annoyed tone in her voice. "Maybe we should just ask for help." Inside her head she didn't want to end up doing it and neither did he. "We don't need any help," he told her. "But if you're going to stand there and talk, you should at least help me look through some of these stacks of books over here." Ezra and Rose were aware of the time, but as they fell more engrossed into the hunt, they forget it was even there, the time slowly running out on them.

With sixty seconds left, they had even more clues without any real direction where the jewel was hidden. Panicking with clammy palms, Rose pushed her fingers into her hair and began to pace. "A minute! We only have a minute!" Ezra tried to calm her but he was just as panicked as she, both of them in a frenzy as they resorted to just trying to see if they could locate the jewel without looking at the clues at all

. When time was up, the two defeated parents looked at each other, her blaming him and him blaming her as the staff member returned and told them that everyone asks for the clues, a note that they didn't want to hear. That evening they joined the seventy-five percent of people who were unable to unlock where the jewel was. Leaving the building they agreed they wanted to try it again, maybe with more people, doing it with strangers or perhaps with friends if they looked into the ones back home in Brooklyn.