Serendipity - A Chance Encounter

Nodding her head, Samantha gave a slight smile, "Okay." She had gotten used to being around Nathan since she got sick a while back and even after she woke up, they still remained friends.
She glanced at Gael but the man kept his gaze away. She wondered what made him tick as he seemed to be very unpredictable and capricious. Shaking her head, Samantha then opened the door to Dr. Lee"s clinic with Philip following from behind her.

At the same time, Daniel and Lucas were still in Logan"s room which was located on the fourth floor of the hospital, waiting for him to gain consciousness. Logan had two gunshot wounds and was rushed to the hospital last night after their gun war but he was now out of danger.

The two friends discussed how to go about the situation as their plan had obviously failed after last night"s incident.

"We need to find another way, Lucas." Daniel was already frustrated about what was going on. The chance that was in his hands just slipped out of his grasp. "Because of last night, there"s no telling when our next chance will be."

"We still have two of the client"s men. We"ll extract information from them." Lucas replied.

"They are true-blue. The way they responded… it"s obvious where their loyalty stands." Daniel"s gaze was nowhere in particular as he imagined how they tried to pry information from those men.

"That only means one thng, the client is someone with a high reputation."

Daniel scoffed, "This Yanovich sure has many connections."

Yanovich had lay lowed since last year to avoid getting entrapped by Daniel. And because the former"s transactions were less, there were fewer chances for them to catch him.

Feeling stuffy, Daniel stood up and headed towards the door. "Where are you going?" Lucas asked and without turning his head, Daniel responded, "I need to think. I"ll just be out here."

Getting out of Logan"s room, Daniel sauntered towards the end of the hall with his hands in his pocket. He was thinking of Samantha as he aimlessly walked, wondering how she was at the moment and where she could be at that time. If only last night was a success, he should have already been closer to the day that they"re going to be together.

His stomach growled loudly, that"s when he realized that he had not eaten since yesterday. Feeling lazy, he looked for a vending machine when he reached the lobby. He looked at all the snacks that were available and picked the mini pretzels.

Daniel lazily brought himself to sit on the lobby and started eating the tasteless food. He looked worn out and the bags under his eyes were evident. He was wearing just plain black sweats.h.i.+rt and jeans but despite his ragged appearance, Daniel was still Daniel… he was still gorgeous, though he looked lonely.

..

Pediatrics Department

After their check-up, Samantha walked out of the clinic carrying Ashton. Dr. Lee did not find anything wrong with him except that he was developing quite faster compared to other babies at nine months. She had some doctor"s prescriptions in her hand for some supplements and vitamins that she planned to buy before heading to the lobby. "What time is it?"

Philip glanced at his watch and replied with a stoic expression, "It"s half past one."

"Oh… then they"ll go down soon too." Samantha contemplated for a bit before she decided. She didn"t like people waiting for her so she thought of something.

Turning to Philip, she looked at him and he stared back with a questioning gaze. She handed Ashton to him and he gingerly received the little boy, unsure of how to hold him properly at first until Samantha taught him where to place his hands to support Ashton properly.

"You should head downstairs first. The pharmacy is this way and I need to go there." She pointed at the opposite side. "Nathan and that guy should be on their way soon... I will meet you in the lobby after." Samantha looked at Philip"s bewildered expression and wanted to laugh at him but she held back and bit her lip.

Though he was a silent person, Philip actually played with Ashton from time to time so Samantha trusted him to watch over her son for a while. "You"ll be all right." She said before turning around and walking away.

"Wait!" Philip hesitated to step forward as he was going to catch up to Samantha but she was already gone. His gaze s.h.i.+fted to the little potato in his arms and his brows knitted when he recalled his agreement with Samantha"s father. "You will watch over my daughter. You are her bodyguard."

"Bodyguard?" Philip mocked. "Why do I feel more like a nanny since this little human was born? Tch." Shaking his head, Philip did not have any choice but to follow Samantha"s order.

As soon as they reached the lobby, he sat down on the bench and placed Ashton on his lap in an awkward position. He sat up straight and the little boy looked out of place with him as he was too stiff. He did not dislike Little Ash, it"s just that he did not have a lot of experience with kids.

Seemingly uncomfortable, Little Ash wiggled his way out, wanting to be put down on the floor. "The floor"s dirty. You can"t sit there." He warned with his deep voice.

The little boy just glanced at him and ignored, pus.h.i.+ng his way down until his shoes touched the hard ground. Philip sighed, thinking that the little boy does not understand him anyway, why did he need to talk to him? Even so, he held Ashton"s right hand as the boy tried to glide to the side.

A man who was sitting on the same bench as them was a foot away and Ashton saw the same man ate something. The little one was so curious that he walked towards the stranger and looked up at him while placing his little hand on the man"s knee.

Feeling the touch on his knee, Daniel looked down and saw Ashton. And for some unknown reason, his heart skipped a beat when their eyes met. Daniel furrowed his brows when he looked at the little boy — it was as if he was seeing a younger version of him. He wondered what was on the boy"s mind whilst he stared at him.

Ignoring the grown man"s stare, Ashton"s gaze moved to the snack in Daniel"s hand. He reached out his tiny hand and was about to grab what was inside when Philip stopped him. "No… that"s not yours." He told Ash softly before he apologized to Daniel, "Sorry." Philip pulled Ashton towards him.

"Oh, it"s okay." Daniel offered a slight smile before he looked at his snack. He pondered for a bit and then turned to Little Ash, "I"d like to give you some but… you"re too young to eat something hard." Daniel only curled one corner of his mouth but when Ash saw his expression, the little boy smiled as well as if he understood what Daniel just said.

Daniel"s left hand curled before he let himself reach out and stroke Ashton"s soft cheek gently with his finger.

Seeing the happy expression on Ashton"s face, Daniel"s mood was lifted. It was such a strange feeling but he brushed it off and just continued to admire the little boy"s cute grin.

Philip"s phone rang and seeing that it was Samantha, he answered it right away. "Yes, Miss?"

"I b.u.mped into them here at the Pharmacy. There"s an exit near here… Let"s just meet at the parking lot, okay?" She said.

"Understood," Philip answered before the phone call ended. Putting his phone away, he picked up Ashton, "Let"s go. Your mommy"s waiting." He briefly nodded at Daniel out of politeness and headed out of the hospital.

Daniel watched as they walked away until they were out of sight before he got up and went back to Logan"s room.

…

"Don"t you have friends whom you can stay with?" Samantha questioned as they arrived in the parking lot. She was eager to shoo him away and not be a.s.sociated with him anymore.

Noticing Samantha"s irritation, Gael furrowed his brows. He thought that Samantha was too bold even though she knew what kind of person he is. But for the life of him, Gael could not find the reason to snap at her. He also found it strange that although they met because he was after Becca a couple of years ago, he was no longer curious about the latter.

"Are you that excited to kick me out?" He asked, annoyed that he was not wanted. He thought of himself as someone who was important and special; he was the kind of person that people would fight to have him stay in their house. But Samantha was just too eager to let him go.

"You"re not exactly welcomed in my house. Also, aren"t you very rich? You surely can afford to stay in whatever hotel that"s made of gold. Don"t you have a phone? Why don"t you call your servants to pick you up?"

Gael could not believe that he was arguing with a woman. Sure he had his wallet with him, so why did he allow himself to listen to Samantha and even went to the hospital? "You have such a sharp tongue. I don"t have my phone with me, I lost it last night. You can leave me here, my men will find me anytime soon."

Samantha knitted her brows and wondered how that was possible for his men to know where he was but just as Gael said, a car came beside them. A man got out and went over to Gael, putting on a thick coat on him without saying anything other than making a bow, surprising Samantha and Nathan.

At the same time, Philip arrived and he gave Ashton to Samantha right away. "Thank you," she said kindly.

Gael observed the pair in front of him and found it weird that they never spoke about Daniel. "Are you and Cho not together anymore?"

"I didn"t know you are a gossiper, Mr. De Luca," Samantha responded.

Gael clenched his jaw upon hearing her retort. He"d been hearing all comments from Samantha since last night and his annoyance just continued to grow. Resigning, he turned around and went inside the car without even saying anything.

Samantha hated him further but was feeling more comfortable that he was no longer with them. "Let"s go home."

On the other hand, Gael felt so sour that he became irritable the entire day. Scoffing and sighing the whole time when he"s reminded of Samantha"s bitter comments.
…

The next day.

Gael hesitated a lot of times before he finally knocked on the door.

"Coming!" A female"s voice was heard from inside.

His heart pounded in his chest and for the first time, Gael De Luca got nervous. He swallowed when the door opened and he met Samantha"s confounded look. "What the h.e.l.l are you doing here?"

Seeing that his Master was not responding, Gael"s right-hand man said, "My Master wished to apologize and say thank you."

Gael could feel the burning stare that Samantha was giving him; she looked at him like he was an alien. Looking away, he gestured his men to bring all of his gifts to be brought inside Samantha"s apartment.

"Hey! You can"t just barge in here!" Samantha gaped when she saw several things brought to her living room, from food to baby"s toys and clothes. Despite her complaint, Gael"s men followed their Master"s orders.