Serendipity - A Chance Encounter

Samantha nodded, "Okay." Then she pulled out the paper that Daniel gave her the other night, the piece of paper didn"t look like any business contract at all, rather it"s just a list that contained several things which Daniel requests from her.

• Inform each other"s whereabouts at all times;

• Avoid any dangers at all cost; of course, this is for your own safety.

• Mutual respect.

• Exclusivity.

• Honesty.

• Open communication.

These are actually very basic things that a couple would not need to proactively agree upon. Why was Samantha indecisive at first, aren"t these things supposed to be "a given" when dating? She is still a bit bothered why they have to do this silly paper.

"I just have a question.." Samantha asked.

"Shoot."

"Let"s not lie.." Samantha paused before she continued, "Are you dating me only because you want your mother off your back?"

Daniel did not answer, he"s sure that Samantha still wants to ask another one. And sure enough, Samantha sees that Daniel is waiting. "The last time, I asked you if you like me... And then you told me that our mothers are setting us up hence your proposal."

"Go on.." Daniel gaze bore into Samantha"s eyes making her swallow.

"You are a clever man, I"m sure that you can think of other ways to solve your problem. So why me? Why are you doing this?"

"You want the truth?... Fair enough, since you are a straightforward person, I"ll be honest with you." Samantha leaned back on the couch as she watched Daniel carefully. He loosened his tie a little and said, " I find you interesting... Interesting enough to make me possibly like you. I like you because I can sense that you are a genuine person. I want to get to know you more not because my mother forced me to but because I want to; you have to understand, if I want something, I"m going to pursue it, others wouldn"t be able to affect my decisions. Since I like you, I"m going to pursue you, even if my mother didn"t badger me, I will still pursue you."

"Samantha, I"m positive that you are already aware of this.. but you"re asking me because you want a.s.surance, that"s why I"m opening up to you."

Samantha didn"t deny it, she nodded and said, "That"s true."

"So your mom setting you up with other women…?" Samantha probed.

Daniel continued, "I wanted to take things as naturally as possible, I believed that if we"re really meant to cross paths then we won"t be able to avoid it. But knowing my mother, she really won"t stop unless she"s satisfied. And that"s why we"re here… And normally, couples go through stages and then they would have a mutual agreement because they"ve somehow understood each other already. But you and I, we barely know each other… So we both have to agree on things clearly, I don"t want you to think that I"m taking advantage of you or that I"ll be doing things that you aren"t comfortable with. So I hope you can also find security by doing this."

Samantha listened to Daniel and now she can finally understand him better. "He"s a unique guy, what kind of dating proposal is this? How can he say he likes me so openly."

Well, you asked him. So he answered.

There was silence in the room as Samantha stared into Daniel"s eyes, she wanted to see him clearly…see how honest he is. Daniel did not waver and so Samantha, satisfied, she said, "All right... Your first clause, instead of "at all times" let"s change it to "as often as necessary"."

"Very well.", replied Daniel.

"And I"d like to add just a few more," Samantha gave him her paper that said:

• Arrange date nights at least once a week and (should be free from distractions)

• Honor commitments we make.

• Be faithful.

• Maintaining privacy.

"For the last part, I"m not sure if you know this but as much as possible, I"d like to be low profile. So if it"s not necessary, I don"t want my ident.i.ty to be known by irrelevant people."

Daniel smiled while reading the paper. They didn"t really ask a lot from each other, the things listed were to be expected to maintain their relations.h.i.+p. They both just want to be true to each other.

"So, it"s settled then.." Daniel smirked.

Samantha and Daniel are now "officially" dating. So... what now?

-

After they concluded their agreement, Daniel asked, "Are you hungry? Why don"t we have dinner together?"

"It"s still early, don"t you have work to do?"

Daniel checks his watch, "Hmmm.. I"ll get off work in an hour or so."

"Okay, then I"ll wait for you."

Daniel raised his eyebrow, "Won"t you be bored if you"ll wait for me here? Why don"t you go shopping?"

Samantha smiled at Daniel, "I don"t go shopping unless I really need to. Don"t worry I won"t be bored, I brought my laptop. I can do some things while you work."

Daniel learned how Samantha isn"t a shopaholic like other rich women are, that"s a plus, right? "All right, make yourself comfortable.", Daniel stood up and went to his desk. He started browsing on his computer and working on company files.

Samantha set up her laptop and began working on some of her own company matters, she replied some emails efficiently.

Daniel would sometimes glance at Samantha, and Samantha would also steal glances from Daniel once in a while. (These two, stop being cute.) Daniel asked his secretary to send in some afternoon tea snacks for Samantha. His secretary was baffled when she saw Samantha in her boss" office. She actually saw her go in earlier with a.s.sistant Ahn but it had been a while and she was still there. "Who is this pretty face in casual clothes?".

The sky is starting to darken, Daniel had actually worked for almost 2 hours. But Samantha was so engrossed in her own little world that she didn"t even notice Daniel already sat beside her and peered into her laptop. He watched Samantha"s delicate fingers dance on the keyboard and series of codes and alien language flash on the screen. He wanted to ask her what she was doing but before he did, he caught a whiff of the familiar peachy scent; it made him look at the woman beside him.

Daniel studied Samantha"s face, she had clear milky skin and rosy lips, she didn"t wear any makeup unlike other women but she had a natural beauty; Daniel finds her alluring.

"What are you doing?"

Samantha was so startled by Daniel"s voice, she was so focused on debugging some programs that she was unaware of his presence. "AAH--! Ohhh! You scared me!"

"Sorry, I didn"t mean to scare you." Daniel chuckled, "So what are you working on?"

"Just some work stuff, I"m debugging a program."

"You"re a programmer?"

"Yeah, you could say that--" Samantha didn"t get to finish her sentence when her stomach growled.

Samantha"s eyes widened and Daniel"s eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Oh G.o.d, that was embarra.s.sing." Samantha blushed as she covered her mouth with her hand.

Daniel laughed at how cute she looked.. and Samantha laughed with him.

Daniel stood up and grabbed his coat, "Let"s go... I"m starving as well."

Samantha grabbed her things and followed but before she could walk further, Daniel stopped her. "Wait."

Daniel picked up somethings on the table and stood in front of Samantha, "What?", she asked.

He carefully put the sunnies on Samantha"s face and secured the facemask on her. "There.", he said and then he flashed a bright smile. "Ready?"

She nodded and smiled back, "Yes, ready."

It just turned six in the evening and some employees were just getting off work. When Daniel and Samantha were on their way out, everyone"s head turned towards the pair. It was the first time that they have seen their boss with a woman. "Is this woman a celebrity? Why is she being so mysterious, we can"t see her face. What"s her relations.h.i.+p with the president?". Everyone greeted farewells when they saw the boss leaving, they were all so curious.

They got into Daniel"s Maybach, and before starting the car, he asked Samantha, "What do you wanna eat? Are you craving for something?"

"Hmmm.. Sus.h.i.+?" Samantha smiled, "I"ve actually been craving for some j.a.panese food recently."

Daniel nodded, "All right, I know just the place.". He glanced at Samantha on the pa.s.senger"s seat who was now playing with her phone. He reached over to her side and Samantha froze with the sudden proximity, she stared at Daniel in front of her wondering what he was doing until she heard a "clank"; the sound of the seat belt. Daniel turned to Samantha. He was so close that Samantha could smell his delicious scent. Seriously, she"s not kidding. Daniel had on a Versace and his scent was just vibrant, s.e.xy and virile. Samantha gulped and subconsciously bit her lip to suppress her thoughts and Daniel noticed this and was amused, he smirked.

He got back on the driver"s seat and drove towards the restaurant. When they arrived, the waitress showed them their dining room. Just as they were about to enter, a man"s low voice was heard.

"Samantha Kim. What are you doing here?"

Samantha"s eyes grew wide upon hearing the familiar voice.