Serendipity - A Chance Encounter

Daniel instantly smiled when he saw Samantha. He got out of the car and walked towards her. "Good morning, honey."

Samantha lifted her head up and saw Daniel in black sports pants and a white long sleeved dry fit s.h.i.+rt that hugged his lean muscles. "What the heck? How can he look so fine even in joggers? Unbelievable.", she thought as she averted her gaze after staring.

Noticing Samantha"s stare, Daniel wondered, "Is there… something wrong with my outfit?"

"No, you dummy. You look hot as f*ck. Shut up.", Samantha cursed in her thoughts. "Nothing. Have you eaten?"

Daniel shook his head. "I only had coffee."

"Come.", Samantha ordered as she went inside the café. She looked at the menu quickly and ordered.

"Do you have any allergies?", she asked Daniel.

"Samantha, Is this a date?" , Daniel replied, "Nope."

She nodded and turned to the attendant, "Can I get one peanut b.u.t.ter and banana smoothie with hemp seeds? Also… a tuna sandwich."

Daniel offered to pay but Samantha refused with a smile, "It"s my treat. I asked you here today."

"Also, I don"t want you to be unprepared for what"s in store for you today."

When they got their order, Samantha handed the smoothie and sandwich to Daniel. "Eat. You"ll need it."

Daniel looked at the peanut b.u.t.ter and banana smoothie and was a bit hesitant.

"They"re good, trust me.", Samantha gave a smile.

"Why is she being so nice to me all of a sudden? And why do I need it?", Daniel couldn"t help but doubt for a second.

They sat at a table and although Daniel didn"t know what Samantha was planning, he ate and drank what she got for him.

"You"re not eating?"

Samantha shook her head, "I already did."

After Daniel finished his food, Samantha stood up. "Follow me."

She walked out of the café and took her bag from the car before she headed towards the skydiving center.

"Where are we going?", Daniel suddenly became nervous.

"We"re going to jump out of a plane today.", Samantha turned and beamed at him.

Daniel stopped in his tracks when he heard Samantha. She giggled as she continued to walk and her laughter sent chills down his spine, he gulped.

"Are you trying to kill me, Samantha Kim?"

After signing some papers and listening to an orientation, Daniel was introduced to Samantha"s friends.

"Hey, Kira! You look nice today.", Kai said as soon as he saw Samantha before he noticed Daniel beside her who was looking at him with dangerous eyes, "Oh... you"re here."

"Daniel, this is Kai."

Daniel and Kai gave each other a nod and Samantha introduced him to the rest of her friends.

"Where"s Arthur?"

"I"m here, Kira.", he said from behind her.

"Oh good, Coach, this is Daniel...", Samantha introduced her teacher to Daniel.

"h.e.l.lo, Daniel... I"ll be your tandem instructor for today. I"ll guide you through the whole process, from the exit, freefall, parachute, and landing. I hope you"re ready."

"Woah!! Did you challenge him to jump with you, Kira?", said Kai excitedly.

Samantha and Daniel just looked at each other without saying anything.

"Yes, I"m looking forward to it.", said Daniel to Arthur.

Soon enough, they were all inside the plane thousands of feet above the ground.

Daniel sat at the left side of Samantha with Arthur at his back since they are going to do a tandem.

Kai whispered something to Samantha and with the noise of the plane, Daniel couldn"t hear what they were talking about. He"s already feeling anxious for the skydiving and he"s also getting agitated with Kai being so close to Samantha.

Samantha turned her head towards Daniel and met his eyes. "Are you okay?"

He nodded his head and Samantha chuckled, "You can still back out, you know? You don"t have to force yourself if you can"t do it."

Daniel just looked at her. "There"s no way I"m backing out."

"I"m doing this for you.", he thought.

Samantha felt excited about being able to jump with Daniel. Despite their current relations.h.i.+p status, she was thrilled that she gets to do it with him. They were almost at their target height and Samantha glanced at Daniel again who had his eyes closed.

She clenched her fist before she reached out and held Daniel"s hand, "You"ll be fine. I"ll be jumping with you."

Daniel opened his eyes and looked at Samantha"s hand on his before he turned to her, "Oh, I"m not worried.", and then he saw Samantha"s beam, she looked really happy. "Is she happy for trying to scare me off or Is she happy to skydive with me?"

Truth is, although Daniel was feeling a bit anxious about the dive, he was more enraged about Kai"s stare at Samantha so he was suppressing his anger that"s why he had to close his eyes. But Samantha seems to think it was because he was very scared; but who cares? Samantha held his hand and for that, he"s already happy.

The plane doors opened and the two of them looked at each other. Samantha, Daniel, and Arthur moved towards the door and before she jumped, Samantha smiled and shouted, "Enjoy flying! I"ll meet you outside."

Daniel watched as Samantha happily leaped out of the plane, his heart jumped a little when she disappeared. And a few seconds after, he and Arthur followed her outside.

"Oh, sh*t!", Daniel felt the sudden feeling of falling before the rush of adrenaline overpowered his fears. They caught up with Samantha who was below them just a few seconds ago.

Samantha looked up to Daniel who had a huge grin on his face and she chuckled as she imagined how it must feel for his first time. Without thinking twice, Samantha gave in to her urges and reached out her hands towards Daniel and when he saw this, he felt even more elated. And just like that, Daniel and Samantha held hands thousands of feet from the ground, high in the sky.

This man searched for her for months and came to the country for her. He raced with her and now, he jumped out of the plane and skydived for her. How could she still ignore that? Samantha is very much on the edge already, getting swayed by Daniel every minute he is with her.

After about a minute of freefalling, Samantha let go of Daniel"s hands and Arthur deployed their parachute; Samantha did hers just about the same time.

Daniel enjoyed the picturesque view of the capital city of Country D for about 5 minutes and he realized how Samantha must really love skydiving if she gets to experience this every time she jumps.

When they were landing, Daniel felt suddenly dizzy which is quite normal for first-timers. Arthur helped him remove the straps from his body before Daniel laid down on the gra.s.s at the corner of the field in an attempt to regain his balance.

When Samantha landed, she unclasped the straps from her and the first thing she thought of was Daniel. Her head turned from side to side but didn"t see him until her gaze landed on the body laying on the ground far from the landing zone and she recognized him right away.

In a rush, Samantha ran towards Daniel and knelt beside him as she anxiously called him, "Daniel? Daniel? What happened? Don"t scare me! Wake up, please?", she repeatedly called for him as she tapped his face and arms. Her heart raced as she looked at him not responding to her.

Daniel actually noticed her presence right away as soon as she came to him but he kept his eyes closed wondering what Samantha would do. He felt satisfied after knowing she got worried about him. He wrapped his arms around Samantha and pulled her to his body as he opened his eyes and met hers. And just like his alias "Swift", he swiftly kissed her on the lips before Samantha could realize what happened.

He pulled away and smiled, "Thanks for worrying about me, honey."

Samantha"s eyes widened in surprise and she pushed herself off him and they both sat up. Her chest heaved up and down and her cheeks were flushed red.

"I did your challenge, 2 out of 3. One more to go, Samantha.", Daniel said c.o.c.kily.

Samantha couldn"t believe that Daniel Cho just tricked her. How could he do that? She was so worried that something happened to him! She glared at his smug look before she punched his arm.

"Aw!", Daniel rubbed his arm. "I was feeling dizzy, how can you hit me? So violent.", he said playfully.

She lifted her chin up as she spoke a.s.sertively, "Good! I"ve always been like this, what now? You"ve lost interest huh?!"

Daniel thought how cute she was for trying to make him not like her, he smirked, "Never, I"m a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t."

Samantha stood up, "Ugh! You"re infuriating!! Tsk, tricking me like that!", she snapped before she left.

Daniel laughed heartily at the sight of her adorable expression, "You think you can get rid of me that easily? You"re never getting away from me again.", he said as he followed Samantha back to the building.

Samantha ignored him as she walked away but she couldn"t help the corners of her mouth to curl into a smile that she"s trying so hard to hide.