Chapter 6 - Let's play a game

Samantha continued fiddling with her drink, totally ignoring the bartender's confused stares. She was stranded with nowhere to go.

She could feel her heart sink whenever she remembered her mother's reaction on the phone after she had told her about the divorce.

Despite all her mother pleading for her to go back to beg Reid, she was sure to never go back to him after calling it quits.

She looked at her phone and was surprised when she discovered that she had spent over 4 hours sitting in one spot and aimlessly looking at her drink.

Her mind began to wander on things she would do with her life now that she was free.

She considered getting an office job and couldn't help but recall that her first meeting with Reid had been in the same setting.

Samantha began to regret all the years she wasted staying idle while focusing on the search for the cause of her barrenness.

She remembered all the times she had begged Reid to let her resume work, but he had spared no effort in mocking her over her supposed barrenness. She had always given in to him since she felt guilty and always blamed herself for not giving him a child.

Samantha was lost in her thoughts, and unknown to her, tears flowed freely down her face. This unintentionally made her draw a lot of attention to herself, as passersby wondered why such a beautiful woman would be crying and drinking alone in the bar.

This happened for some time until a large, firm hand gripped her hand from behind, snapping her back to the present.

Samantha was shocked by the force with which her hand was dragged, but even more shocked to see the person who had done it.

She had come to the bar on the spur of the moment but had never expected to meet Steven there again.

Samantha wondered why he was frowning so much, as if he were fuming with anger.

She began to feel that it was because of her presence in the bar; maybe he felt uncomfortable running into her once more after what they did the last time.

As Samantha's mind trailed from one thought to another, she was interrupted by Steven's cold and icy voice, which sent shivers down her spine.

"Who dared to make you cry"?

Samantha couldn't help but protest; he was hurting her hand by holding it too tightly.

Upon hearing her protests, he slowly let go of her hand.

Samantha looked at him for a while; he was still fuming in anger, which made Samantha wonder what he meant by that question earlier.

She warily motioned for him to sit beside her, which he did to her surprise.

She studied him while he placed a drink order, revelling in his stunning looks. She thought back to their initial meeting at the bar and felt embarrassed.

He turned to look at her, and she quickly redirected her stare to the glass of wine she was holding.

They both kept quiet for a while, as Steven continued drinking his wine at intervals while Samantha continued fiddling with her cups.

After some time, Samantha broke the silence, turning to face Steven.

"Let's play some sort of game," Samantha said, expecting a response from Steven but receiving none.

She wondered why he was in such a crappy mood tonight, but ignored his cold reaction and continued speaking.

"All you have to do is just answer my question, and if you can't answer, you will have to gulp down a glass of wine. The same goes for me." Samantha said, then joggled down the whole contents of the glass cup into her mouth.

I know you've got some questions to ask me, and so do I. So we both benefit from this. She said, pausing for a bit before she continued speaking again.

I'll go first. What did you mean by that question you asked me earlier? She said this while filling his glass cup to the brim with wine and shifting it to his side.

She wished he would not answer, as she would rather not be disappointed, aware of the fact that it could never be because of what she thought it was. And at the same time, she wished it would be as she had guessed.

But to her surprise, Steven picked up the glass of wine in front of him and emptied its contents into his mouth instantly.

She was taken a bit aback by his reaction; she had never expected him to comply with her and play the stupid game she had brought up.

She filled her cup with wine and turned to face him again. "Now go on; it's my turn."

Samantha stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes landed on Steven.

She could easily interpret the look on his face. He was dying to know the truth. He wanted to know what had happened to her.

But that baffled Samantha even more. Why would he go out of his way and trouble himself just to know what had happened and make her sad?

She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. This time she could feel her face become wet as tears ran down it.

"Steven, I'll tell you everything."

*****

Samantha slowly opened her eyes and shut them immediately as the bright light in the room shone into her eyes, almost making her blind.

She turned to the other side of the bed, where she was sure it was not so bright, and opened her eyes again. This time it was much better, and she could see better.

She sat up, could feel her head throb greatly, and clutched her head with her hand in pain. She remembered drinking last night and concluded that the headache she was having must have been from the hangover.

Her memories of last night were quite fuzzy, as she could not help but wonder what she could not remember.

Samantha sat down on one side of the bed and picked up her phone. It was after 10 a.m. She smiled to herself, as she could not recall when she had such a satisfying sleep as this.

But although she was happy, she wanted to know where she was, as she blamed herself for feeling safe and secure in an unknown place.

Almost immediately, the door swung open as Steven walked in, dressed in a black three-piece suit that fit him perfectly.

Samantha couldn't help but be taken aback by his presence. She had seen him at different times but had never seen him dressed in his complete work uniform.

She couldn't help but wonder what kind of work he was doing that would make him dress gorgeously in this manner. She continued gaping at him while he made his way to where she was. She blamed herself for ever believing that Reid looked good in a three-piece suit and agreed within herself that he would never compare to Steven.

"I can see that you are up. I have prepared everything to make you comfortable here for some time. They will come in when I leave."

He said it plainly and looked at his watch before he continued speaking again.

"I have limited time here, so I'll go straight to the point."

"Sam, are you willing to learn everything there is to know about your family and your ex-husband, or would you prefer to remain in the dark and have me clean up this mess?