by Tara Brent
Hope you had a good evening with the family, call me tomorrow!
Also... Can’t believe you’ve been so rude as to not send me any selfies with Benny! I miss him so much!
Love you!
I quickly messaged him back a smiley face and then a sleeping emoji. I would catch him up with everything in the morning.
Chapter 8
Rick
The next morning, I was not ready to go to work at all. I hadn’t really slept much. I’d spent my evening turning things around in my head and thinking about Samantha – about the past. I spent hours thinking of our time together when we were younger. Our dates, our secret rendezvous and how we’d got together in the first place.
Samantha was three years younger than me so I hadn’t really taken any notice of her, but that had changed in her senior year. I knew that she had a crush on me, she was always wanting to tag along with me and Josh when we were going places. Being the girl of the family – the youngest and clearly the favorite, Roger and Valerie always told me and Josh to let her come along. Josh complained but I found that I really didn’t mind it.
Shopping trips, nights out at parties, and even weekends decorating our new business premises – Samantha was there like a shadow and somewhere along the line, I started to actually notice her. It was since then that we started actually talking and I started to see her as something other than Josh’s annoying little sister. It was then that I noticed how beautiful she was and I quickly fell for her sense of humor, her cute face and her infectious smile.
I fell fast, the attraction between us was insane and the chemistry was sizzling. It was like nothing that I had experienced at that age. I had thought that it had been down to the sneaking around. There was something thrilling about our secret relationship – it was fun and dangerous, but now I look back, I knew it wasn’t just that, at all. I’d had something unique with Samantha, I just hadn’t known it at the time.
When she’d left for college, she had been clear that she didn’t want to see me again, but they say time heals, right? Which was why I was going to quiz Josh and see if he knew anything that was useful. I was sure that he wouldn’t want to tell me, but if I wound him up enough, he might let something slip.
So, if Josh thought that I was going to let it go, then he had another thing coming.
I skipped into the office the next morning with a grin on my face as I made a beeline towards finding my closest friend and business partner, two Starbucks in hand and a mission in mind. Find out about Samantha.
I took delight in banging his office door open with a kick and scaring the crap out of him. He jumped out of his chair, his phone clattering to the floor. He glared at me.
“You just scared the shit out of me, you dick,” he cursed, immediately scrambling up and reaching for his phone on the floor.
“Good morning!” I laughed. “It’s payback,” I said, marching inside and saw him sitting in the chair at his desk. I pushed a latte across the desk at him.
“For what?” he complained, rubbing his phone against his shirt as he inspected the screen. “You could have smashed my iPhone.”
“That’s because you’re always glued to it. Are you sure you haven’t got a girl that you’re hiding to yourself?” I teased, immediately going in for the kill.
Josh rolled his eyes. “No, man, just... emails,” he said.
I doubted him completely. I just knew there was something suspicious but I would let him take his time in telling me whatever it was. I wasn’t a complete jerk.
“Anyway, did you see Samantha last night?” I asked, knowing full well that their family was a unit and they loved a good family dinner. I bet she’d been there all night chatting away and as they watched TV together and played cheesy games.
I had been to many a dinner over the years. My parents were so close to Josh and Sam’s parents, so sometimes I just got dragged along. Though to be fair, Valerie and Roger always did their best to not mention anything about Samantha suddenly cold-shouldering me after following me around like a lost puppy for the best part of a year. It had gotten easier over the years. It had to. After all, Josh and I both had fifty percent of the company. We had no choice but to all get along with each other.
“You must know that I did,” he replied, looking unamused. “But you know I’m not going to say anything. My lips are sealed. If I told you and she found out then she’d probably take some superglue to my face.”
He was joking, but actually, with the mood Samantha had been in yesterday, I could kind of see her actually doing it. Well, that or something as equally creative. I wouldn’t put it past her.
“You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?” I speculated and I narrowed my eyes at him. There was definitely something happening with him – I just couldn’t figure out what it was.
He faltered for a second. “Quit playing around, man,” he deflected. “I’m too busy for your games today. I have a million things to do, so if you think you’re going to wind me up until you get your own way, then it’s not happening.” He gave me a pointed look. “I’m busy trying to sort this out,” he sighed, gesturing to the laptop in front of him.
I hated that he could read me like a book. And I knew he was snapping because I was right, he wasn’t telling me something. But that didn’t mean he had won because he had redirected things back to our work. I wasn’t going to let this drop any time soon.
“Fine,” I huffed. “Just tell me one thing: did she mention me yesterday? At all?” I asked, eager to hear what she had said even though she had refused my apology.
“No,” Josh replied as he put his phone back down and then went back to whatever he was doing on his PC. “She didn’t.”
Oh, I thought, disappointed. Well, that was anticlimactic.
I had spent most of my evening thinking about Samantha and for some reason I thought she might have been thinking about me as well. Did I really mean so little? Had I upset her that much that our meeting meant nothing to her? I sure hoped not.
Well, I was especially glad that I had sent her some flowers now. I hoped she liked them. They should be arriving any time this morning. I hoped they had the desired effect and at least brightened her day. I hadn’t sent a card with them, but I was hoping that she would know right away that it was me that had sent them for her.
“Though,” Josh continued, using an odd tone that caught my attention, and not in a good way, “I did tell her that you called me with your tail between your legs.”
Damn, you did what? Why did he always do stuff like this? It was times like this that I contemplated why I was his friend. I could honestly murder him sometimes.
“Oh, God.” I groaned as the memories from our Walmart exchange came back to me. He wasn’t wrong. “What did she say?” I needed to know. It had been driving me mad all night.
“I’m not telling you,” Josh said with a smirk and then scoffing at me.
“Why start to tell me and then not finish?” I asked, exasperated at his behavior.
“Because it’s hilarious, obviously.” Josh laughed. “As if I’m going to tell you anything Sam has said about you. You know the rules.” He smirked at me.
I playfully threw a pen at him but he dodged it easily as he expected it from me.
“What are you doing anyway? What’s got you so moody this morning?” I asked, grabbing his laptop and spinning it around to look at the screen. I was faced with a hotel website and I frowned. Suddenly I felt like I was forgetting something important. Something very important.
Josh rolled his eyes. “You’re such an idiot sometimes. It’s the party tonight, I was emailing the caterer and they had a question about the number of vegan guests. I know we sent the menus off weeks ago but the kitchen misplaced the list or something. No idea. I don’t really care as long as they fix it. You know that Tina will pitch an absolute fit if we get her order wrong.”
I just stared at him for a moment as I processed everything that he had just said, glancing between the webpage of the hotel an
d Josh. With everything that had happened last night, I had completely forgotten that it was the office Christmas party tonight and that Josh and I had to go.
Oh, shit. This is the worst possible timing. I can’t tell her I’m sorry and make a big deal about apologizing, only for me to then be busy all weekend. She’s going to be thinking I’m messing her around on purpose when that’s the last thing that I want.
And I’d already sent her roses. There were only so many romantic gestures you could do before it started to become obnoxious.
There was no way to get out of this. I would need to make a speech. I was expected to be there and to thank the staff for another year of hard work. There was going to be a lot of important clients at the party as well. It would be important for us to maintain a good relationship with them, and to keep them invested in the business. I had actually been looking forward to it but now... Now I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to see Samantha this weekend but I couldn’t throw away that much hard work.
I groaned.
What the hell am I going to do?!
“Don’t tell me: you forgot,” he said, his voice dead-pan and his face judging me. “Rick, we’ve been planning this party for months.”
Annoyed, I shot him a look. As if I would actually forget? It had just slipped my mind, that’s all. It wasn’t like I wasn’t going to go. I had no choice. I just hated that I had told Samantha that I wanted to take her out, and now suddenly I couldn’t.
“Yes, actually. I was too busy thinking about your sister,” I shot back since I was annoyed with him. Immediately I balked at my own words – I had not meant to say that out loud. It had just slipped out because I was frustrated.
“Gross,” he replied before pulling a face at me. “I don’t wanna hear about that. Anyway, now that you’ve got this out of your system and we’ve figured that I’m still not planning to tell you Jack about Sam... Did you get in touch with the party planner like I told you to last night?”
Damn.
No, I hadn’t. I’d drank a bottle of wine and felt sorry for myself instead and bought your sister gifts. “Yes, of course,” I lied to his face already thinking about when I would have time to do this today.
It was then that I realized I was going to have to talk to Samantha, and fast.
Maybe I could invite her to the party? I could kill two birds with one stone.
I’d get to see Samantha and I’d still get to do the party stuff. The plan seemed perfect in my head, but I wasn’t sure if it would actually go that way. After all, I didn’t even have her phone number, I’d have to pop into her mom’s and see if she was in.
Great, she’s gonna think I’m stalking her.
Josh glared at me. “B.S.”
“Okay, fine, I’ll go over and sort it today.” I’d have to go now. It was my own fault. Josh was right, I should have done it yesterday and so I was going to have to fix it today. Besides, if I was already out and about... it wouldn’t take long at all to just pop over and check if Samantha was in.
“Talk about leaving it to the last minute, Rick,” he complained, but I was already standing and patting down my clothes, making sure I had the keys to the work van. I remembered that they were in the safe, so I quickly grabbed them from there as Josh followed me with his eyes.
“When you say you’re gonna sort it, that doesn’t mean I want you to disappear for half the day and end up at my mom and dads’ stalking Samantha.”
“I’m not stalking her,” I replied, thinking about the flowers that I had already sent over. I wondered if I should go over there now or if I should wait a little bit and go see the party planner first.
Everything felt like it was falling into place and I started to feel much better about the situation. It was basically fate. It would be rude not to go over and invite her.
Josh raised an eyebrow at me, looking at me as if he could hear everything that was going on in my head.
“Fine, fine... I’m going. I’ll try not to be too long,” I said, lying again.
Josh merely rolled his eyes. “Just be back here this afternoon, Rick! You owe me lunch!”
Chapter 9
Samantha
I was awoken to something that I had never thought I would miss. The feel of tiny fingers grabbing my eyelids and prising them open. I blinked confused for a few moments at what was happening until I felt something bouncing on the bed.
Despite feeling exhausted, it brought a smile to my face.
I sat up, trying to magic some energy from thin air as Benny squealed with each jump and rocked the entire bed. It was far too early for this. I wasn’t sure what time it was but I felt like I hadn’t slept at all.
I fished my phone from underneath my pillow and I peered at the screen. It was six am. I groaned. I had missed Benny but now I was back to reality and I was mourning for my lost sleep.
I took a deep breath and mentally prepared myself for the day.
“You cheeky monkey, what are you doing?!” I said to him before grabbing him and proceeded to tickle his little tummy.
“No, momma, no,” he said, gasping through his fits of giggles and he wiggled like a worm in my grasp.
“Ohhh, yes, Benny, yes. You woke momma up and I’m so hungry! I’m gonna have to eat your toes,” I exclaimed playfully.
He immediately pushed away and screamed. “No!” he yelled with a laugh, before slipping off the bed. “Catch me, catch me,” he yelled before running around my bedroom like a miniature Flash.
Wow, I wish I had your energy, baby, I thought as I watched him zoom around. Today is going to be long. But instead of worrying, I found myself excited. This was it. This was our new start.
Excited, I jumped out of bed and ran to catch him, scooping him up and kissing him all over his face. He protested and I eventually put him down on the floor. He instantly ran back to his bedroom and I followed him so I could get him ready for the day.
He spent five minutes showing me everything in his room and I acted as if I had never seen it before. He looked delighted to show me his toy animals and his new bookshelf with ‘story times’ on it as he called them.
He was so cute that I felt like my heart might explode at any moment. I had missed him so much.
Once I convinced him to get dressed, we made our way downstairs and I started cooking him some breakfast. I sat him in front of the TV with some scrambled eggs and a spill-proof sippy cup before I quickly ran back upstairs to get myself ready for the day, knowing that he would be okay for a few minutes while he watched his favorite cartoon show.
I showered, finally managing to wash my hair and then dressed in comfortable clothes. I had no real plans all day. I was planning to head over to my mom’s in time for lunch. I’d missed her so much and my dad would be working from home today which meant that I could spend most of my day with them just catching up.
I paused before leaving my room as I caught my reflection in my vanity mirror.
After a second of thinking I went to go peer into my reflection. I looked at my face, turning from side to side. I’d always thought that my round face wasn’t particularly attractive. I had boring brown eyes and messy curly hair. I tried to see why Rick had liked me all those years ago, why he would want to even talk to me now. I’d never been anything special and I looked the same as I had back then, only slightly older.
I’d never felt like I was a beautiful person, but Rick used to make me feel that way. I hadn’t had a boyfriend since him. I mean, who would be interested in me? A college student with a child. I just hadn’t had the time to date, what with school and work and Benny. It had been impossible.
I got lonely. Being a single mom was hard. But that was what I had chosen. I loved being a mom to Benny, but sometimes I did wish that I had some time for myself. To just be me instead of ‘Benny’s mom’.
I reached for my makeup bag which I’d left on the side, and sat to put a thin layer of makeup on. I applied some foundation and some lip balm, and pulled my hair back into a bun. I
looked a little better and smiled at my reflection. I felt a little better.
Before leaving my bedroom, I grabbed my phone and I was surprised to see several unread messages from Andrew.
Good morning!
I’ll see you tonight!
Followed by a selfie of him in his car.
I immediately called him and he answered right away. I instantly knew that he wasn’t kidding with me because I could tell I was talking through his car’s speakers - there was a familiar echo to my voice and I could hear the sound of other cars. He sounded like he was on the highway.
“Oh my god, you love me so much!” I gushed, hugging the phone to myself in excitement.
“Yeah, I know, I’m the best!” he said cheekily, and I could hear the amusement in his voice. “I swapped my weekends around so I can stay until Tuesday.”
I felt a million times better. I honestly couldn’t express how much I appreciated my friend right now. “That’s fantastic. Thank you so much.”
“No need for thanks, it means I get a little vacation and I get to come and eat your mom’s cooking.”
I laughed. “I knew you had an ulterior motive!” I joked. “I’ll look forward to it.”
There was a bang from downstairs and my eyes widened - what was Benny up to down there? I’d barely been away ten minutes.
“Is that Benny trashing the place already?” he asked.
“I guess so, I’ll see you tonight. Keep me in the loop okay and drive safe.”
“No problem! Bye!”
I basically skipped downstairs, excited to share the news with Benny.
“Benny, guess who's coming today?” I called as I made my way back to him.
I was surprised to see that he was actually behaving somewhat. The bang had been him dropping his plate on the kitchen floor but he was trying to clean up the small mess he had made. He completely ignored my question in his normal manner, favoring attempting to pick up some left- over egg.
“Hey, Benny, Andrew is coming today,” I told him.
That caught his attention. He looked up at me excited. “And Rew?” he asked, his eyes wide as he started to dance around excited. “I love And Rew.”
