Western Jade Hotel at eight in the morning.From the airport, they headed straight to the hotel and as soon as they arrived, they were treated as VVIPs. As expected of Mr. De Luca, his ident.i.ty was remarkable.
They settled in the suite room right away and Gael stayed for a while to talk to Samantha.
"Why didn"t you tell me that we were coming here?" She questioned. Her heart had not stopped drumming nervously ever since they landed and she had been wondering what will happen now that she"s home.
Sitting on the armchair calmly, Gael was browsing on some doc.u.ments in his tablet. Even while on the plane, he did not stop working. Without looking up, he answered, "Does it matter where?"
Samantha raised a brow and walked closer to him as she crossed her arms. "Of course it matters!"
Gael took his time tapping a few more on the screen before he closed it. Placing it on the table, he looked up at her with a gorgeous smile on his face, "Why is that?"
"C-cause…" She stepped back once and Gael stepped forward twice, closing their distance.
Tilting his head, a smug look appeared, making him look extremely fine. "Hmmm?"
She stepped back further until her waist touched the edge of the table. Why did it matter? She too asked herself, suddenly unsure if her protest was valid.
"You have already agreed to accept my condition and that is to be my date on tonight"s charity gala. So why does it matter where it is?" He asked as he took the last step forward, their gap was now a foot away; Gael towered over her.
She swallowed when she saw his gaze. She had noticed that Gael had become bolder recently and though she was not really swayed by his antics, it was still kind of weird for her. Her heart raced but not because she was attracted to him. Truth be told, Samantha did find Gael a handsome, charming gentleman — however, her heart was already taken and was beating for one man and a half.
She looked elsewhere and moved aside to get away from the s.p.a.ce. She was a bit uncomfortable being so close to him.
Samantha understood what he said. He was right to say that wherever it might have been, it shouldn"t matter since she already agreed anyway. But still, she felt like something was going to happen that night. Good or bad, she did not have any idea so she decided to ask. "What do I have to do tonight?"
"Nothing in particular, just be yourself and look pretty beside me," he spoke indifferently, ignoring Samantha"s escape. Retrieving his tablet from the table, he walked towards the door. "You should take some rest, I will see you later."
"Wait!" Samantha suddenly thought of something and so she caught up to him.
"It"s a charity gala… Is… is… he going to be there?" She had actually thought about the possibility of Daniel being on the same event as well but she was hesitant to know the truth. She wanted to see him so badly but seeing him while she was Gael"s date, how was that any good?
Smiling, he turned back to face her and saw the anxious look on her face. "I honestly don"t know. I was only invited to come here and I don"t know anyone else who"s attending, neither was I interested in knowing."
"But…" She was already nervous. What was she going to do if Daniel was there? What was she going to tell him? Were they going to even have the chance to talk? Or should they even talk?
"Are you backing out now?" He raised a brow. "Just let me know and I will send you back to Country A right this hour and we can forget about this whole deal."
Samantha s.h.i.+fted her gaze; she was absolutely conflicted. Her eyes went wide again when she remembered someone else. "What about my father? He could be there too!" She still had to wrap her head around the situation as everything was just too unexpected.
"Well... at least you don"t have to worry about that. I happen to know that your father is currently on an overseas business trip and won"t come back until a few days later. This won"t be televised either."
Samantha sighed in relief and nodded softly — she still looked worried and it made Gael"s heart ache when he saw her like that. Unconsciously, he raised his hand and touched the s.p.a.ce between her brows with his long fingers to smoothen the groove that she made when she furrowed them "You need not worry too much, it will be okay."
Surprised by his actions, she froze for a bit and was about to slap his hand away but before she could do it, he had already lowered his hand.
"Go and rest. I"ll see you at six." He reminded before he left her suite.
As soon as Gael was gone, Hannah appeared from the bedroom and rushed to her side. "Wow, I did not know he was such a smooth man." She complimented as she raised her brow and teased her best friend.
Samantha glared at Hannah and went to see her son in the bedroom, "Don"t be silly. There"s nothing between me and him and there will never be."
"I know that, S. I didn"t say anything else. I"m just admiring this side of him that I did not know he had." Hannah was still a bit doubtful about what was going to happen with this deal but she also believed that this was what"s going to help her friend.
…
At five in the afternoon, Gael sent a gown for Samantha to wear for the gala.
Looking at the gown that was delivered just a minute ago, Samantha bit her lip; the gown was too gorgeous! It was a blush pink off-shoulder gown that had a sweetheart neckline and an line skirt with a high slit.
She did not want to draw attention yet the gown was probably going to cause heads to turn her way.
Exhaling deeply, Samantha gave up and just got dressed. She wore a light and simple make-up with only a pair of pearl earrings; she looked absolutely breath-taking!
"You look stunning," Hannah"s smile was bright as she marveled on her friend"s look. "Are you expecting to see him there tonight?"
Samantha breathed out a sigh, "I really don"t know, Han. Of course, I want to see him. But if we do see each other, what will happen?"
*Ding Dong*
"He"s punctual. Five minutes to six… not bad." Hannah commented. "At least… enjoy your night, S. You badly need to unwind."
Samantha no longer said anything and just nodded. Walking towards the door, she put on a smile before she opened it.
Standing outside her door was a das.h.i.+ng tall man with clear gray eyes, wearing a gray tailored suit. The moment that he saw Samantha before him, his mouth slowly parted and he looked at her as his heart started to pound in his chest. He had grown more attracted to the fine woman and he had a hard time controlling himself.
Pus.h.i.+ng his feelings down, he cleared his throat while he snapped out of his daze and smiled at her. "The dress looks good on you."
"Thank you." Samantha stepped out of the room, nervous but still looking confident.
"Shall we?" Gael gestured his hand forward in a gentlemanly fas.h.i.+on.
Soon enough, they reached the entrance of the hall which was several floors down. They were ushered towards the double doors and they opened as soon as they arrived, revealing a lively party inside.
Gael offered his arm for Samantha to cling on and although she was hesitant, she clenched her jaw before she placed her hand lightly on it, her action warming Gael"s heart.
"Just relax," he said as they stepped inside the charity gala.