Samantha felt her knees weaken when Daniel"s lips touched hers. Daniel held her still to keep her in place as he continued to kiss her gently."Wait..someone might see us.", Samantha whispered when she got the chance. Daniel broke the kiss and let her settle in the pa.s.senger"s seat. He walked around his car and got in the driver"s seat.
"Are we going somewhere today?" Samantha asked as soon as Daniel closed his door.
"Not yet." right after he said this, he swiftly hovered Samantha and reclined her seat.
He lifted her chin and took her mouth. With a mixture of disappointment, hunger, and yearning, Daniel deepened the kiss making Samantha whimper, "mnghhh", she moaned. She grasped Daniel"s biceps as he bit on her lower lip and invaded her mouth with his tongue. He kissed her fervently for a minute before he pulled back.
He immediately returned to his seat after he fixed her chair up and buckled her belt, "Now we can go.", he said as he started the engine and moved the car out of the parking lot as if nothing just happened.
Samantha was in a daze, with her mouth swollen she sat quietly. It took her a few minutes to recover from the sudden outburst of emotion. "Daniel is so unpredictable and rude, he got me excited and left me hanging. Too cruel.", she thought as Daniel drove towards the countryside.
They"ve been driving for more than an hour before they reached the beach. Daniel glanced at Samantha who fell asleep half the car ride and a smile formed in his face.
When they reached their destination, Daniel parked the car and got out. He let Samantha sleep in the car a little more, he knew she went through hard times yesterday evening.
Daniel recalled how Samantha looked when he arrived at the scene, she looked like she was hurt emotionally. And when he heard a little of what the two best friends were talking, it seemed like Samantha was blaming herself. Why would she feel guilty about what happened to her best friend? It"s not like it was her fault, was it?
Daniel hesitated in talking about this issue with Samantha, he felt that if she was ready to talk about it, she will. But even if she won"t, he will know once he receives the results of the investigation from Ahn. He just wishes that Samantha would trust him more. Isn"t that what they"ve agreed upon?
As Daniel was deep in thoughts, a pair of warm and delicate arms wrapped around his torso, disturbing his trance.
Even without seeing her face, he knew it was her.
"You"re awake?", he said as he turned around to face Samantha.
She smiled a gentle one after she nodded, "What were you thinking about? You didn"t even hear me call your name."
"I was thinking about how much of a troublemaker you are.", Daniel said with a hint of despondency.
Samantha pouted her lips, "I"m not a troublemaker."
"Hmmm.", he could only sigh.
Samantha"s eyes gaze upon the view in front of them and her eyes lit up like a child seeing a mountain of toys, "Ooh, this is so beautiful, Daniel." It was almost twilight and it was the perfect time for Samantha to enjoy the stunning view. On her right, she saw the mountains meeting the sea and right in front of her was a vast sea where she could see the horizon line; where the sea meets the sky. It was simply marvelous.
Daniel walked beside her as she enjoyed the view, "Do you like it here?"
"Yes! I love it! Someday, I"d want to see a view like this every day when I wake up... that would really make me very happy." She beamed as she said this and turned to Daniel, she beamed, "Thanks for bringing me here."
"I love seeing you happy like this."
"I"m a simple person huh? I"m not very much into lavish things. Does that make me weird?"
"No, it makes you.. you." Daniel moved closer and kissed Samantha"s forehead. Samantha leaned into him and the couple embraced each other in the dusk.
Samantha didn"t know when it happened but she began to seek Daniel more and more. His presence simply made her feel comfortable as though she can be herself. Although they haven"t dated for a long time, that didn"t matter... she simply believes that being with him makes her happy.
After watching the beautiful view, the two went to a restaurant nearby and had dinner. It was already 10 in the evening when Daniel brought Samantha home and said their goodnights.
----
The next day at Trident Company, Alexander and Samantha had a meeting.
"It looks like we"re losing this one, Sam.", Alexander said as he handed some doc.u.ments to Samantha, he looked troubled.
"Who"s leading?"
"Quantum Solutions. They"ve been collaborating with Cho Corporation with some of their projects for a long time actually. But this new project that we"re bidding will be used for the entire company. Even the subsidiaries will be included." Alexander explained, "So they"re laying all their aces on the table."
"I see.", Samantha pondered before she added, "We haven"t had the chance to work any projects with them, it"s understandable that they would lean towards someone they already trusted... but keep working on it."
"Oh, didn"t CEO Daniel look for you that one time? Didn"t he talk about the bidding at all?", he probed.
Samantha hadn"t told Alexander about her relations.h.i.+p with Daniel, it"s not that she doesn"t trust him... But knowing that someone likes you romantically, you wouldn"t just go and say it to their face that you"re dating right? That"s how Samantha thinks... "No... it was something personal.", she said.
Alexander didn"t want to ask further so he just nodded. "I"ll keep an eye on this. I"ll let you know if there are any updates."
Samantha knew that if she told Daniel about this, he might give her favors which she doesn"t want to happen. Just like before, Samantha doesn"t want to depend on others especially if it"s something that would involve others. If she loses something, then she would rather suffer alone; why burden other people?
Samantha"s phone rang and she smiled when she saw the name, "Hey... you.."
"What are you doing?" Daniel asked on the other end of the line.
"Just finished a meeting. You?"
"I just got off a meeting too."
"Don"t tire yourself..."
"I know... Can you come over to my office?"
"Why what"s up?"
"I have something to tell you. I"ll have Ahn wait for you at the underground parking."