Chapter Seventeen

Shane blinked.

“Excuse me?” he looked at Alex, who was stunned into silence and looking up at the both of them from the booth.

Samantha’s heart was racing. It was him…holy shit…it was really him. She took a deep breath to steady herself. “You have a girlfriend – I saw you with her earlier. You two were at the bar when we came in.”

Now Shane looked thoroughly confused. “I don’t have a girlfriend…I was here with my business partner earlier but she left. Look, I’m sorry, I just thought you’d like to dance – I guess I shouldn’t have come over…” he started to back away.

Samantha was frozen in place, trying to think of what to say next. “What’s the matter, am I still not good enough for you?”

Okay, that was lame, she thought, but she didn’t exactly have her wits about her. But it did the trick. Shane stared at her for a few seconds like she was mental before comprehension slowly came over his features.

“Whoa…Samantha?” he stared incredulously.

Samantha wanted to say something, but found she couldn’t. She merely nodded.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you,” Shane shook his head a bit, acknowledging that he had been drinking. “You – you look fantastic!” he reached out to embrace her.

Samantha recoiled, and Shane backed off awkwardly. He looked at Alex, who was still staring between the two of them.

“And Alex Montgomery,” he smiled. “Sorry for asking you to dance – I didn’t recognize you either.”

Alex stood and responded coolly. “No problem.” She folded her arms across her chest, looking anxiously at Samantha.

“Well…how are you two?” Shane asked, trying to be polite.

“Oh, I’m just peachy. How are you?” Samantha replied coldly.

“I’m fine, just letting off some steam after work. It’s been a long week,” he offered a smile, which Samantha didn’t return. Her head was spinning with the effects of shock and alcohol, and she found herself conflicted between wanting to sit down and wanting to run away as fast as she could. Instead, she got right to the point.

“What are you doing here, Shane?”

He appeared not to understand the undertones and shrugged. “I told you – just letting off some steam. Just out to have a good time.”

“You know what I mean,” she snapped. “There are a million other clubs you could have gone into tonight, why’d you pick this one? Did you know I’d be here? Did you think you’d have some fun with me and fuck up my night?”

Shane looked at her in surprise. “Samantha, you’re not making any sense. Why would I be out to mess up your night?” He eyed her closely, looking concerned. “How much have you had to drink? You know, you never could hold your liquor.”

“Stop patronizing me, I’m not a child!” Samantha was outraged. “Why did you come here tonight?”

Shane’s friendly act began to melt. “I told you why, Sam. And I have just as much right to be here as you do – it’s a public place.”

“This is my city. My territory,” Samantha knew she sounded ridiculous, but she couldn’t think straight anymore. This whole situation was so ironic, so surreal – she didn’t know whether to cry or scream.

Alex touched her arm. “Sam, honey, let’s go…”

Samantha yanked her arm away from her and pointed a finger at Shane.

“Stay away from me,” she snarled. “Stay away from this place. Don’t come near me ever again.”

Shane looked slightly alarmed. “I’m surprised at you, Samantha – is this any way to treat an old friend? I think Alex is right – you should go. You’re obviously drunk, and you should get home before you get hurt…or hurt anyone else.”

Something exploded inside of Samantha. “Since when do you care if I get hurt? You showed me a long time ago that you couldn’t care less what happens to me,” she paused, her eyes agleam. Shane was quiet, which infuriated her further.

“Bastard,” she snarled, then turned on her heel and shoved her way through the crowd toward the door.

Alex followed after her, leaving Shane by the table clearly taken aback.

Samantha burst through the doors and into the cool night air, which was startling after the heat from inside. She stormed down the sidewalk and heard Alex behind her, calling for her to stop. But Samantha didn’t stop; she kept up a furious pace for nearly two blocks before Alex finally caught up to her and forced her to. “Samantha, please, hold up!” she panted.

Samantha was practically trembling with rage, her jaw clenched and her eyes shooting fire. She turned away from Alex, furious and ashamed at the same time, trying to quell the cyclone of thoughts spinning around her brain. “That was Shane,” she pointed out unnecessarily.

Alex nodded. “I know.”

“I haven’t seen him in almost a decade.”

“I know.”

“He was there – right there – in the flesh – right in front of me. I mean, it was him, Alex, him! The guy I’ve spent the better part of my adult life trying to forget about and get over, he just appeared – out of nowhere. Why the hell did he just appear out of nowhere?” Samantha didn’t wait for an answer. “Because he’s an asshole, that’s why. And yes, I know that doesn’t make any sense,” she explained before Alex could inquire. “But that’s just Shane – he doesn’t make any sense himself. He must have known I was going to be there tonight, why would we have just happened to be at the same place at the same time?”

Alex’s eyes were dark with concern. “How could he have known you would be here tonight, Sam? I was there too, remember, and I saw his reaction when he recognized you. He didn’t expect to run into you tonight any more than you expected to run into him.”

Samantha considered that. She knew Alex was right, and that she had just been jumping to paranoid conclusions before, but the encounter had been so unsettling on so many levels. She switched tactics.

“And what the hell was that bullshit about being an ‘old friend’? Old friend my ass!”

“Yeah, that was really stupid of him to say…” Alex trailed off.

“The way he talked to me…so nonchalant…so casual…like nothing ever happened between us…” Samantha fumed, looking off blankly across the street. “That’s what pisses me off the most!”

She looked back at Alex.

“He lives in Jersey, did you know that?”

Alex shook her head, surprised. “No, but it makes more sense that he was here tonight. I thought he moved away after the divorce.”

“So did I.” Samantha fell silent. This was all too much to handle. First she finds out that her ex-husband is a prominent contractor who’s just signed a business deal with Habitat For Humanity and lives locally, and then three days later she runs into him at a bar. And all this after zero contact, zero news from him for years. What were the odds? She didn’t know who she was angrier with – Shane, for showing up out of the blue and messing her up, or herself, for allowing him to mess her up.

Samantha realized Alex was looking at her, clearly worried. She sighed, suddenly exhausted. “I’m sorry, Alex, I don’t know what came over me back there. He just really surprised me.” She felt tears sting the back of her eyes and blinked them back, refusing to let him win. “Look, I don’t want to think about this anymore. Can we just go home now?”

Alex enveloped her in a hug, holding her tightly. “Of course, sweetie. Let’s get out of here.”

They found a cab and rode to Sam’s apartment in silence. When they got there, Alex walked her to her door and stopped. “Are you going to be all right by yourself tonight?” she asked. “Want me to stay?”

Sam shook her head. As much as she appreciated Alex’s support, she just wanted to be alone right now – she needed to sleep and escape from her dizzying thoughts and emotions, forget about the last hour…and get the alcohol out of her system too.

“No thanks, I just want to go to bed.”

Alex gave her another hug. “Call me if you need anything, all right? Try to get some sleep – don’t let that bastard keep you up all night.”

Samantha nodded. Alex gave her a sympathetic smile and left, closing the door softly behind her. Samantha ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes.

“Fuck,” she whispered. Gina sat down at her feet and looked up at her, head cocked. She knew she was hurting. “Hi, baby girl,” Sam rubbed the dog’s soft head. She made her way to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face, her head starting to throb. Tommy and Gina jumped onto the bed and curled up contentedly, but when she finally crawled wearily under the covers, she curled up into a ball and cried herself to sleep.
______________

Richie called at noon the next day, the phone jarring Samantha awake. She didn’t have quite the hangover she had expected, but the ringing still resounded through her weary brain like nails on a chalkboard.

“Hello,” she mumbled into the receiver.

“Well good afternoon, princess,” Richie’s voice made Sam’s troubles melt away momentarily. “Are you still sleeping?”

“Not anymore,” she answered, sitting up against the pillows sleepily. “Or maybe I’m sleep-talking.”

“Why aren’t you at work? Did you oversleep?”

“No – I took the day off actually. Closed up the office early last night.” Samantha rubbed her eyes.

“Oh, I wondered why I got your voicemail at the office. I thought I better check and make sure you were okay.”

Despite her grogginess, Samantha smiled. “That’s sweet.”

“So you skipped work on Tuesday and finished up early last night, eh?” Richie’s voice was sly. “Am I finally breaking Miss Workaholic down?”

“Well you broke me down on Tuesday morning, if that’s what you mean.”

“Ah, I sure did. But you didn’t have any complaints, as I recall.”

Samantha felt the blood rush in her veins. “No, I certainly didn’t.”

“So what happened to you last night? Party hard?”

“Meh.”

“Well, that answers my question,” Richie chuckled. “Have a cup of strong coffee, that’ll have you feeling better soon.”

“I’m not hung over, Rich, I’m just…” Samantha didn’t feel like going into the events of the prior evening in the slightest. “Tired.” That was the truth.

“Right,” Richie didn’t sound convinced. “Well listen, it’s great that you’re off today, because I want to take you to dinner. Three days without you is too long.”

Samantha smiled again. Awww. “You’re a charmer, has anyone ever told you that? But I acquiesce. Where to?”

“Oh, I don’t know…how does Ricardo’s sound?”

Samantha furrowed her brow. “Where?”

Richie gasped in mock surprise. “You mean you’ve never heard of it? It’s the best place in Jersey – good cooking, fantastic views, a gorgeous chef.”

Samantha stared dumbly at the wall. “It’s in Jersey? Well that’s why I haven’t heard of it, Rich, I’m not there very often.”

Richie was silent for a moment, then, “It’s a good thing you’re beautiful. I’m talking about my place, baby. Pack a bag because you’re staying over. And go get that cup of coffee now – and make it black.”

__________________________________

It was closing in on ten o’clock. The food had been eaten, the wine finished off, the candles were burning low in their holders, and a foggy June-gloom had settled over the New Jersey town, making it the perfect setting for a romantic night in. Richie had dressed nicely in a pair of form-fitting jeans and a button-down black top with the top buttons left undone to show off his smooth, bronze chest. They were sitting on a deep red velvet loveseat in his gorgeous house – everything was perfect.

Except that Samantha had barely spoken a word all evening.

“So…what do you think?” Richie asked again. Samantha, curled up against him, had appeared not to hear his question.

“What? Oh, yeah, that sounds good. You’re right, I can’t take time away from work, so opening at the Garden would be perfect.”

“Well, you can take some time away from work, right? If the response to you is good – which I’m sure it will be – we want you to be able to perform elsewhere, too.” Richie trailed his fingers gently up and down her arm.

“Oh, yeah, well that’s fine.”

Richie waited for her to say more. When she didn’t, he turned to look at her. “Is something wrong, baby?”

“What? Oh, yeah, that sounds good.”

Richie lifted an eyebrow.

Samantha shook her head. “Ugh, I’m sorry. No, nothing’s wrong, I’m just…tired, I guess.”

“Well you’ve been tired an awful lot lately.”

Samantha sighed. “I know. A lot’s been going on…” she trailed off, appearing to have said too much, and snapped her mouth shut.

Richie was startled. “Really? You’ve never mentioned anything. What’s been going on?”

Samantha shook her head again. “Nothing, never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s no big deal.”

There was a small silence. “Well…all right,” Richie tried not to let on the hurt in his voice.

They sat in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts, until Samantha finally spoke softly. “Hey Rich? Thanks for making dinner for me.”

Richie squeezed her gently. “You’re very welcome.”

“You do the sweetest things for me. And sometimes I just don’t know why.” She was quiet.

Richie lifted her chin with his finger and looked into her eyes. “Because, baby. You’re special to me. I love doing these things for you because, well, you mean the world to me, and I…I love you.”

He tried to keep his heart from crashing against his rib cage, but that was a losing battle.

He said it. He had been terrified of those words for so long after Heather, and he had finally found someone who was worth hearing them…someone who deserved to hear them, someone he thought of every time he heard them. He hadn’t meant to say them right here, right now, but something just felt right. He had been hit by a stroke of bravery, courage, and acted on impulse. But he meant it. He was sincere.

Samantha looked back at him, but Richie couldn’t read her expression. Suddenly she moved, wriggling out of his arm. “Can we go to bed now, please? I need sleep.”

Richie blinked, stunned. Huh?

He stared at her for a second before lifting himself off the couch. “Um, sure, baby. Where do you want to sleep…?”

Samantha looked at him as though the answer were obvious. “With you, of course.”

He was getting more confused by the second. “Oh, well I just thought you might want to sleep in the guestroom or something…have your privacy. You said you were tired.”

“Yes, but we’re not going to do anything except sleep. Right?”

Richie kept his face passive. “Right.”

They climbed the stairs together and entered the bedroom. Richie moved ahead of her quickly and brushed the rose petals that he earlier scattered on the pillows onto his side of the floor. He flipped on the bedside lamp, illuminating the spacious bed with a soft golden glow. Samantha was already changing into her pajamas, her back to him.

“I’ll be right out...” he headed for the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He brushed his teeth quickly and pulled off his shirt and jeans to sleep in his boxer shorts. Not five minutes later, he emerged. “Do you need to use the – ” he stopped when he saw Samantha was already on the bed, fast asleep.

Richie sighed and climbed into bed beside her. He kissed her forehead gently and lay close to her, smelling her sweet scent and wishing he had at least gotten to kiss her good night. He watched her sleep, wondering if he had made a mistake in confessing his love to her. He partly felt like a fool, but mostly was hurt by how she had responded. She had acted so…so distant. Like he hadn’t said anything at all.

She had been increasingly distant lately, he realized. She had closed up the office a day early, apparently partied the night before, made inadvertent mention of “a lot going on,” but then pretended none of it was worth mentioning, and to top it all off, this was the second time they were in bed together and she had insisted they just sleep. Richie frowned, not liking what he saw.

What’s going on? He thought. Why is she suddenly closing up on me?