Daniel and Samantha arrived at the venue where the charity gala was being held. There were a lot of guests, probably big shots in the country. Most of the people who attended have really deep pockets who cannot wait to show off during the auction.Lucas" immediately saw them and he ushered them inside and introduced to some of his business friends. Daniel also had the chance to meet influential people that were potential partners. Samantha stood beside Daniel looking very attractive, though she didn"t talk a lot during the conversation, she understood what they were discussing about and just chose not to interrupt.
At the corner of Daniel"s eyes, he saw a familiar figure. Samantha noticed the change in his expression, she followed his gaze.
She saw Stefan Yoo talking to a beautiful woman near the items that were part of the auction later.
"Your… I mean, Stefan is here? Did he know Lucas too?"
Daniel turned to face Samantha and he shook his head with a smile, "I didn"t know that he did. Don"t mind him. Let"s go grab something to eat."
He led her towards the food table and picked out some food for her. Handing a saucer with a.s.sorted mini canapes to Samantha, he thought of asking her about going home.
"Can we talk about something?"
She took a piece and ate it, "What is it?"
"When do you plan on going home?"
Samantha stopped eating and lowered the saucer as she thought about her answer.
"Do you not want to go home with me?"
"It"s not that I don"t want to… ", she clenched her fist.
Daniel held her hand, smoothening it from the clench. He stroke it gently and comforted her,
"Hey… It"s okay. I understand… I was just curious, that"s all. I"m sorry I asked."
"No… don"t say you"re sorry, you didn"t do anything wrong.", she paused before nervously asking, "Are you- are you leaving?"
"I didn"t plan my return yet, I wanted to go back with you."
"But your work…"
"Don"t worry about it.", he smiled rea.s.suringly.
"It"s just… I"ve been living a different life here, I miss my family and I want to go home.. But they suffered when I lost my memory 12 years ago. And I left after pretending it happened again. I just don"t know how to face them."
Samantha sighed, "I"m such a terrible person."
Daniel cupped her face, "Baby look at me… you"re not a terrible person. Don"t ever think like that. You"re an amazing woman. You were just having a terrible day, that"s all."
"I stayed here for months, Dan."
"Fine, you had terrible months. Happy?"
Samantha chuckled, "You"re bad at this." --"You aren"t, you"re the best.", she thought.
"There you go…", he smiled and then he leaned in to whisper low in her ear, "now keep that smile on you or I won"t let you off when we get home."
Samantha flinched as her imagination went wild, making her cheeks hot and her abdomen feel funny. This man keeps scaring her. "I"m still really sore, I wish I could sit on ice.", she pouted and it made Daniel chuckle.
A flirty laugh sounded near them disrupting her thoughts. Instinctively, Daniel and Samantha turned to the voice behind them. The two people looked at their way too.
"Mon Daniel.", the lady in purple spoke when she saw Daniel, her eyes full of wonder and excitement.
Samantha looked at the woman who just called Daniel, "What? "mon"? Who are you to call him that?" (1)
Daniel didn"t even glance at the woman beside Stefan Yoo despite her calling him.
"Daniel, I"m surprised to see you here.", said Stefan.
"Not as much as I am.", Daniel said with meaning.
Stefan cleared his throat and turned to Samantha, "How have you been, Ms. Bella?"
"I"ve been great, thank you.", replied Samantha politely.
"Daniel, on peut parler?" (Daniel, can we talk?), she asked.
Daniel held Samantha"s hand and the lady in purple looked at the pair, she looked at Samantha from head to toe.
"Dis à ton amie que je suis occupé.", (Tell your friend that I"m busy.), Daniel spoke to Stefan without emotions.
He then pulled Samantha away from the two and went back to Lucas.
"Why didn"t you wanna talk to her? Was she an ex?", she asked directly.
Daniel turned his head to her, "You speak French?"
Samantha nodded proudly, "Oui. Je parle et j"embra.s.se.", (Yes, I speak and I kiss.)
Daniel raised an eyebrow, "Speak French and kiss... french kiss?"
Shocked by Samantha"s bold answer, he laughed. He leaned in and kissed the back of her ear. "I demand a demonstration at home.", he whispered in a low husky voice.
His lips felt cool on her skin, this man, he can make and say anything sound s.e.xy. He can probably say an ugly word in that way and still sound s.e.xy.
"Get a room, you two.", said Lucas who just arrived in front of them.
"Lucas."
"I like seeing this side of you, my friend. Being in love suits you."
Samantha and Daniel looked at each other in surprise, he smiled lightly. "Love?"
Seeing the couple"s silence and gazes to each other, Lucas figured that the two probably haven"t really talked about that yet so he changed the topic,
"The auction is starting, you"re partic.i.p.ating, right?"
"Of course, that"s why we"re here.", Daniel replied.
"Excellent. I"ll meet you guys later."
The emcee came on stage and asked everyone"s attention. She introduced a female pianist who was apparently on tour together with other musicians and the charity gala welcomed her presence. The pianist in a purple dress went up the stairs, looked over the audience and smiled. She sat at the piano, minding her posture and her fingers started to glide over the keys playing a relaxing piece.
"Did you learn piano from her?", Samantha asked innocently.
Daniel turned his head, "Is this you being jealous?", he smirked.
"I was just asking. Fine, don"t answer.", Samantha turned away.
He held her hand and pressed his lips on her knuckles. "You"re cute. But no, I learned when I was in middle school. It was just a phase though, I didn"t play much after that."
Samantha nodded, "Your break up... did it have anything to do with Stefan?"
"More or less."
"What do you mean?"
"There were other factors, but it ended when I caught them cheating."
Samantha turned to Daniel, "I didn"t think he was that kind of person."
"Me neither. But let"s not talk about that anymore. Not worth our time together.", Daniel smiled at Samantha.
The piano piece has just ended and the emcee complimented the artist.
"That was such a beautiful performance Ms. Melissa Qin, are you inspired?"
She looked over to Daniel"s direction and answered, "Yes."
Samantha who was watching the stage noticed the woman"s gaze towards Daniel.
"Honey, your ex is looking at you. I think she"s talking about you."
Daniel who is still looking at Samantha cupped her chin to face him, with a smile he said, "I don"t give a d.a.m.n about irrelevant people. I only see you in my world.", he spoke before he planted a light kiss at the corner of her mouth.
She blushed, "You--"
Samantha was interrupted by the auctioneer"s chant, the bidding started. The first item was a sculpture that was donated by Ms. Qin, she"s a pianist and an artist. The bidding started and a lot of people fought to bid. The woman kept on glancing at Daniel, Samantha noticed this but she didn"t bother herself about her. The first item has been sold and the auction continued to present more valuable items. The last piece was a painting by one of country K"s old painters. Daniel joined the bidding and won, he spent a hefty sum for it but since it was for charity, he didn"t mind.
As the auction came to a close, Samantha got up from her chair, "I need to go to the ladies room."
Daniel nodded, "We"ll go home right after, I"ll meet you by the stairs."
When Samantha arrived in the restroom, she b.u.mped into Melissa Qin who was on her way out. The woman scoffed, "C"est un gros boudin.", she muttered but was clearly directing her words to Samantha. (Explanation: Boudin = literally means blood sausage but it"s French slang for ugly/unattractive. )
Samantha glanced at the woman but didn"t say anything.
She was dying to pee; since she was still a bit sore, it was kinda painful, she winced and was suddenly reminded of what Hannah said to her before, "You know what they say, "A man who has big feet has big meat."
She clenched her jaw and imagined Daniel"s" "feet" in her head. "Tch."
After she was done, Samantha walked towards their meeting place where she finds the woman who just insulted her talking to Daniel. Actually, it was more like, she was trying to get his attention but he didn"t look her way or respond to her words. He looked really annoyed.
She calmly walked towards them and Daniel noticed her right away, he smiled. "Ready?"
Samantha smiled back at him before she turned her head to the woman on his right who was looking at her. With a very calm expression, she spoke, "Excuse-moi, si tu veux m"insulter en français, dis-le correctement. Tu parles français comme une vache espagnole.", (Excuse me, if you want to insult me in French, say it properly. You speak French like a Spanish cow.)
(A/N: You speak like a Spanish cow - her French wasn"t good. She was trying TOO hard to sound French.
[1]Mon = my, so she was saying, "My Daniel". Close friends, family or Lovers would use this term)