Daniel: [ You did well. Thanks. ]Liam pursed his lips like a kid, his brother rarely gives him praises. He didn"t do anything big but it actually earned him a "praise" from his brother. He was in a good mood all day.
He received another message.
Daniel: [ Give me your access to the IP Camera System. Send it within 5 min. ]
Liam: [ You want to watch the incident? ]
Daniel: [ 4 min. ]
Liam: [ All right! Geez! Here. ]
Liam panicked and immediately sent his login credentials to access the surveillance camera online. Since he was in a good mood already, he just let his brother"s bossiness slide.
Right after Daniel received the info, he hastily searched for the part where Samantha arrived at the club. When he found it, he watched intently and observed all the little details. The IP CCTV system allowed audio recording, despite it being illegal, they still had their ways; therefore Daniel saw and heard everything that happened.
Daniel felt a mixture of emotions, he was touched when he saw how Samantha was such a good friend, proud when she defended herself but he was oh so worried that she might have hurt her hand when she punched that man. When the video ended, he sighed in relief after seeing that she was still in one piece. But he couldn"t help but worry about her safety, he wasn"t beside her and that"s why he felt bad; plus, she drank even when she knew that she"s going to drive!
He left after he brought her home and just a couple of hours later, she already went to a club, encountered danger, and drunk drive.
Daniel is exaggerating a bit, she just drank 1 light beer, it"s a standard drink; she"s totally fine!
Daniel felt helpless that he"s far at the moment; she"s dating a trouble-maker!
After pondering about it, he decided to call Samantha, he was so ready to scold her.
"h.e.l.lo~" Samantha"s angelic voice was heard on the other line and Daniel"s expression turned gentle.
"Hey.. have you eaten?"
"Hmmm yes, I just finished. I ate our leftovers from last night. And you?" Samantha sounded lively.
"Yeah, me too. I just had a lunch meeting."
"Ooh, are you tired? You should rest. You didn"t have enough sleep last night since you had to fly."
"I"m okay now."
"You had a nap already?"
Daniel took a deep breath, "I mean, I"m okay now that I get to hear your voice."
Samantha pursed her lips, blushed and smiled shyly.
Daniel waited for Samantha to respond but didn"t hear anything. "How are you?"
"I"m okay... I"m spending the day with my best friend Hannah."
"Ah... I see."
Daniel waited if she was going to tell him about last night but it looks like she wasn"t going to.
"Will you be busy today?", Samantha asked.
"A bit. I"ll have another meeting later."
"Rest when you can and Don"t tire yourself."
Daniel"s heart warmed and he smiled, "Yes, ma"am."
Samantha giggled and her laugh sent giddy feelings to Daniel.
"I"ll call you when I can. Take Care, Samantha."
"Yeah, you too, Daniel."
Daniel actually wanted to be mad at Samantha for last night, but how could he? When he heard Samantha"s voice, his worries just vanished into thin air and he felt content. "I"ll just let it go this time, Sam", he thought.
-----------
"You seem really smitten, S!", Hannah teased as they sat in Samantha"s sofa watching "You" on Netflix.
Samantha didn"t reply but it was evident in her reaction that she was feeling good.
"Why didn"t you tell Daniel about what happened last night?"
"Do I really need to?"
"Ummm, yeah, I guess?"
"It wasn"t such a big deal, was it? Plus, he has a lot of things to worry about at work already, I don"t want to burden him with little things like this. It"s been dealt with, anyway."
Hannah didn"t say anything more, although she believed that Samantha shouldn"t keep this matter from Daniel, it wasn"t her place to decide.. She knew too well how Samantha likes to keep things to herself.
------------------
A few days later, Samantha is sitting in her office while working on some company doc.u.ments when Daniel called her. As soon as she saw the caller ID, she beamed and cleared her throat, "Hey~"
"h.e.l.lo... How"s your day so far?" Daniel asked. He had been calling her everyday and they kept in touch through texting when they get the chance.
"It"s fine, got a lot of files to go through but nothing that I can"t handle. What about you? Are you still busy there?"
"There are a couple more things that need to be done, I"ll come back soon."
"Okay--" Knocks on the door interrupted Samantha.
*knock* *knock*
"Hey, Sam... it"s lunchtime... Let"s go eat out, my treat." Alexander Li announced when he entered the room.
"Oh, I"m not hungry yet. You go ahead." Samantha replied.
"Are you sure? I"ll buy you something then, you can eat here while you work."
"It"s okay... I"ll meet Hannah in a few anyway. Thanks, though."
"I see... I"ll leave you then, don"t work too hard." Alexander left the room after.
Right after Alexander left, Daniel spoke on the other line, "Who was that?", he asked.
"It was Alexander Li. He just asked if I wanted lunch..."
"That was sweet of him." Daniel said sarcastically and Samantha chuckled.
"I didn"t know President Cho is such a jealous man."
"I"m not." He scoffed.
"Right...." Samantha said in a teasing tone.
There was a few seconds of silence before Daniel spoke again, "Does he invite you often? Do you always eat meals with him?"
Samantha chuckled, "No, and you don"t have to worry about that, Daniel."
"Who"s worried?" He muttered.
Another knock on the door disturbed the couple"s conversation and Hannah entered the office.
"Hi, S... I"m here, let"s go eat. I"m so hungry I could eat a horse!"
"Okay, Han! I"ll be done soon."
"You"re going now?" Daniel asked.
"Yes, and that was Hannah in case you were wondering; we also go out to eat meals very often but there"s nothing to worry about between us, she likes men." Samantha said, eager to tease Daniel for his jealousy earlier.
"I wasn"t worried about that." he said.
Samantha grinned, "I know but I wanted to make things clear to avoid misunderstandings."
"Tch... Okay, Have a nice meal, Samantha. I"ll see you pretty soon."
"Hmmm. Take Care, Daniel."
Daniel was indeed a jealous man, he tried not to show it but most of the time, he"s pretty obvious.
------------------------------
La Maison Restaurant
Samantha and Hannah sat in a corner table by the window. It was after lunch so there weren"t a lot of people in the restaurant. The two chatted while they ate lunch.
"Have you checked the trending article yet?" Samantha asked Hannah.
"What trending article? Where? What is it about?" Hannah asked as she was checking out her phone.
When Hannah opened her SNS, she found an article ent.i.tled "Manwh.o.r.e of the year.", she was intrigued and said, "Which one are you talking about? Oh look, Sam, there"s one that"s funny, AHAHA!" Samantha peered on to her phone and saw what she was referring to.
"Why don"t you read that?" Samantha instructed as she sipped on her mango juice.
"Okay."
When Hannah opened the write-up written by an anonymous writer, she read aloud with a smile on her face but when she continued to read and saw a name, and some photos, her expression changed. "Sam, why is this story talking about Harry, and it even has pictures of him with other women?? Is this true? Oh there"s even one of me but my face isn"t seen.", The article"s shares and views reached millions.
Samantha tilted her head and grinned, "While I was trying to find some dirt on this b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I didn"t really think he would be this bad. But apparently, he was seeing two other women while he was seeing you. So I gathered some evidence and released it to the internet for the whole world to see how much of a jacka*s he is." The photos were taken from CCTVs with date and timestamps, Harry"s face was clear, and Samantha tried to capture an angle, only those that didn"t show the women"s faces clearly.
"Oh my G.o.d! How disgusting! You don"t know how relieved I am that I didn"t allow him to defile my rosebud!!"
Samantha laughed hysterically at Hannah"s terms. "Yeah, good for you!"
"I feel pity towards his fiancée, though. I"m sure she doesn"t deserve this piece of sh*t." Hannah scoffed.
"Yeah, I checked it and sure enough, she"s now his ex-fiancée."
"Thanks, S! I didn"t think this is how you would avenge me. But I don"t feel bad for him. He played with women"s hearts and he"s a cheater and a liar. He deserved this."
Hannah felt so much better after seeing the article. She"s thankful for Samantha; she"s more than just a friend, she"s a sister that she could always rely on.
----------
The next day, Samantha just got off her baking and pastries cla.s.s. It was just past lunchtime and she was walking towards her car when someone not far from her called her name.
"Samantha!"
When Samantha heard this voice, she stopped in her tracks; she refused to face this person that she hadn"t seen for months. But he was already there, what else can she do?
She turned to face the man and there she saw Andrew Park, he looked overbearing. "Oh here"s another Manwh.o.r.e of the Year."
"Andrew."
"Babe, let"s talk... I"ve been looking everywhere for you."
"We"re over, Andrew. There"s nothing to talk about." Samantha tried to turn away but Andrew caught her arm and forced her to face him.
"We"re not over until I say so!", He raged.