Flower

Sam rubbed his forehead as he exited Angela's apartment. Simply put, the amount of information he had obtained was overwhelming.

Afterward, Sam hurried to his own apartment and took a combat knife as a memento or gift, or something similar, from one of his relatives. Sam couldn't remember clearly. Then he left his apartment to exit the building.

"Let me go get something to eat." Sam quickly decided, aiming to nourish himself so he wouldn't be devoured alive by his power and to stay focused.

He glanced at his phone, finding it was 5:24 PM and noticed a notification from Christina. Sam opened the message and read its contents.

"Hello, Sam! How are you? I'll be heading home around 6:00 PM. There's a good movie, and I really want to watch it with you. If you're not busy, I hope you'll come."

Sam saw numerous and strange emojis throughout the message and smiled a little. Then he typed a reply, saying he would come, and swiftly went to a good restaurant.

There was a fast-food restaurant about ten minutes away from the building. It offered various burgers, with several employees working under the pressure of customers shouting their orders.

"Fools." Sam scoffed mercilessly at them, observing the place. He noticed that there was only one camera covering the cash register and orders. It didn't cover the waiting areas or the seating.

Sam took a seat leisurely and stared at the counter, then saw an upcoming order. He quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching him, and of course, he didn't see anyone. Then Sam pulled out the combat knife quickly and then precisely, with great accuracy, he stabbed it directly into his own temple.

Time froze...

Sam felt the frantic screaming halt as all customers and employees turned into frozen statues, as if frozen in time for thousands of years.

Sam rushed to the counter, grabbed the meal, and calmly sat back down.

Time resumed...

Sam took out the seemingly large bag and emptied its contents. He had three burgers of three different types, along with many fries and other additions.

"What a feast it will be." Sam's appetite heightened as he immediately began to eat the meal without hesitation.

Sam heard the screams rise from the counter, but he didn't care at all. He just hid the bag smoothly under the table and kept one burger in his hand, continuing to eat greedily.

Sam heard more shouting, which seemed to turn into vile cursing. Then he saw security personnel appearing out of nowhere to address the disturbance.

Sam finished his meal without any concern, finishing the first burger. He then took out the second and began eating it immediately.

Sam noticed that the one who was cursing was a man who appeared to be in his forties. He was being literally dragged by the massive security guard.

Sam continued his second meal, glancing at the puzzled forty-year-old.

The man was smoothly ejected, and Sam continued his meal in peace.

While eating, Sam remembered Angela's words about 'training' his ability.

"If I have to do this with Christina, huh?" Sam felt a tinge of guilt about using Christina for training his ability, but he quickly dismissed the thought.

Christina was the one seeking him out and asking for it. He was just complying. And honestly? In Sam's view, she was genuinely beautiful, and he really wanted to enjoy her without the focus on ability training.

"No, you won't fall in love, not again. Stay focused, Sam, damn it!" Sam sternly reminded himself not to tether himself with the chains of love for Christina. Even if she showed clear interest.

Love was for fools. Sam strongly believed that. What had love given him? What had Sam gained other than suffering, pain, and regret? Sam knew love was a sin, not a virtue, and he learned that the hard way.

Sam suppressed his feelings and continued with his third meal before finishing it, then taking the bag with him and heading out of the building, throwing it into an outside trash can, away from the store's trash to avoid raising any suspicions.

Sam opened his phone and saw that it was 5:55 PM, then suddenly received a call from Christina.

Sam answered the call and put the phone to his ear.

"Hello, Sam. Where are you now?" Christina's voice was lively.

"On my way to your apartment. Are you already there?" Sam replied.

"Unfortunately not yet. I'm at a store near it, getting some stuff for our evening. Can you stay up with me tonight, right?"

Sam stroked his beard for a moment and said, "Yes, I can."

"Great! I called you to know if you need anything from there, do you want something?" Christina said with a pleasant voice

"Thank you but I don't need anything but water, the rest of the things you can manage." Sam said simply.

"Well, I'll only take around ten minutes , how long will it take you to get to my apartment?"

Sam lied shamelessly, "It'll take around twenty-five minutes."

"That's fine. I'll wait for you and get everything ready. Don't be late, okay?"

"Of course." Sam nonchalantly agreed.

"See you there, Sam." Christina said and hung up.

The distance from his current location to her apartment was approximately a fifteen-minute walk at a leisurely pace. Sam lied to take some time for him self and make her prepare before he arrived, and, of course, to appear a bit occupied.

"Damn it!" Sam remembered that he had come to the library when he was supposed to be 'working'."

Sam quickly created an excuse, either that he had an early and short shift or that he had gotten permission from work.

Sam aimlessly wandered the street, lost in thought about everything that had happened to him since last night.

Yesterday, he had contemplated ending it all. Today, the world was within his grasp, well, almost within his grasp. Sam needed to train relentlessly to improve his ability before the world truly lay within his grasp.

He needed to master his ability and do so quickly. To save himself from its risks and to elevate himself from the pit of filth he lived in. The path was long, but it was possible. He was finally walking the path.

Sam continued to think for a while and began pondering his mother and his brothe— Suddenly, his train of thought was cut, or rather, Sam cut his train of thought directly by slapping himself hard.

"Don't even think about it." Sam chastised himself, then decided to go directly to Christina's apartment without allowing himself to think. He was considering the most random things, anything to keep himself from thinking.

Sam continued walking without purpose until he stood in front of Christina's apartment building. He didn't bother checking the time and went straight up to Apartment 17.

Sam knocked on her door several times and waited for a moment. Then he saw the door open, revealing the beautiful figure of Christina with her exquisite feminine body and captivating curves.

"Hello, Sam!" Christina said excitedly, her eyes gleaming.

"Hello, Christina." Sam replied with a slight smile.

"Come inside, everything's ready." Christina said with a charming smile.

Sam entered the apartment and found it to be even better than he had seen yesterday. Christina had clearly put in some effort to clean and organize. He also noticed that the library was missing some books mysteriously.

Sam took off his shoes and his ever-present coat, then sat on the couch comfortably. Meanwhile, Christina went to prepare some things like the food.

"So, how old are you exactly, Christina?" Sam suddenly asked.

"Hehe, how old do you give me?" she replied to his question with a question.

"Hmm, fifty?" Sam answered casually.

"Fifty??" Christina chuckled a bit before continuing, "That's mean! I'm a delicate flower and proudly young!"

"Well then, how old are you, 'delicate flower'?" Sam repeated his question.

"I turned eighteen four months ago." Christina said proudly, then added, "And now I'm waiting for my acceptance to medical school! Wait for me to cure you of your depression."

"I didn't expect you to be this young." Sam remarked, raising an eyebrow from the couch.

Christina noticed that and raised an eyebrow in return, saying, "What? You want a thirty-year-old unemployed woman with five kids and divorced three times?"

"Perhaps?" Sam grinned at her playful tone.

Christina cleverly smiled and said, "If you want me to be a diligent student, I'll be that. If you want me to be a proud worker, I'll be that. If you want me to be a mature woman … I'll be that." Her cheeks blushed a bit as she finished.

"A multi-personality woman, huh? I'm fine with that." Sam said, staring at Christina's tight pink pajamas, which accentuated her well-crafted hips, extremely feminine waist, and delightful chest.

Christina smiled at his response, then brought some pre-prepared popcorn and assorted drinks. She sat down next to Sam and looked at him, saying, "Are you ready for the movie?"