Chapter 22

Dominik shut his eyes close and forced himself to calm down, he was about to blow.

“I cannot believe this. Friedrich” he said the name begrudgingly.

“Who's Friedrich?”

“My manager and publicist” he responded, looking at one of the men watching him. “He goes out of his way to keep watching over every step I take.”

“Why would he want your picture, I mean, ours?” Sam seemed confused.

“Pictures? What?”

“Yes, that one over there just shot his flash” Sam looked at the man by the hot dog stand.

“Jeez!” Dominik seemed very upset.

“What's the matter?”

“Let's go.”

“Sure, we'll go, but. What's going on?”

“They are not Friedrich's men, they're paparazzi. someone recognized me and let them know” he said, grabbing Sam by the arm as they walked towards the car. “Forgive me, Samanta. Coming here might not have been the best idea.”

“Are you kidding me? I loved it!”

“Seriously, forgive me, I never wanted this for you…”

“But… What are you talking about?” Sam was starting to get agitated by Dominik's attitude.

“You'll be on headlines tomorrow, on the cover of every tabloid and in a few weeks time, you'll be on a magazine claiming you're 3 months pregnant and we're getting married…”

“Man! When did you propose? Scratch that! When did I become pregnant? I missed that part” Samanta tried joking to lighten the mood.

Dominik stopped on his track and turned to her, frowning.

“What? What do you mean? I never did such thing!”

“I know, Dominik. I'm kid…” she stopped and remembered what he said earlier in the car, when they arrived to the beach. “Never mind. Let's go.

They both rushed, avoiding the impertinent photographers. They stuck to walking towards the car and stare at the ground.

When they reached the car, a group of paparazzi came out of nowhere and started taking pictures all around them. It was a blinding light storm.

Dominik started the car and got going.

“I am really sorry I never wanted this for you.”

“It's alright, Dominik, I'll deal with it.”

Dominik was furious, not by what just happened, but because it happened with Samanta and he remembered the conversation he had with Friedrich a few weeks before …

“I'm telling you, Dom, It's good publicity.”

“It is dumb, Friedrich, people will realize it is fake in time and when they realize Scarlet is on her own, out and about, and I am doing my own thing.”

“But, We'll reach our goal. Dissipating those rumors about your sexuality.”

“What do I need this for?”

“You have not been spotted with a woman for a very long time, people start to think you're gay and that's not good for your image.”

“Is it so hard to understand I am not dating because I have not met the right person? Besides, my sexuality should not matter to anybody.”

He refused dating a Victoria Secret's Angel, because he did not want anything to do with anybody. Keeping his privacy away from the spot light was becoming very difficult. Of course he wanted to have someone to share with, someone to make love to after a long day, someone who gave him a nice massage after a hard game, someone to kiss and hold and … suddenly that person became Samanta.

“Dominik! Hello! Are you there?” Samanta's voice pulled him out of his sudden trance.

He shook his head strongly.

“I am sorry, Samanta, I really am sorry.”

“Stop it! You've been apologizing for almost an hour, I'll figure out how to deal with this, stop worrying.”

“Shoot! I don't want you to be a rumor” Dom smacked the stirring wheel and Sam got a little scared. “I've been so stupid!” He kept going. “I can't go to the hotel, they'll be expecting me.”

Samanta observed him in silence and started to worry about his sanity.

“Let's go to my place” she said. “They have no idea where I live, you can get away from all this stress and fill me in on what's going on, because I'm totally lost.”

Dominik felt more calm as he saw Samanta's radiant smile tell him everything would be alright.

“Okay, lead the way.”

“The way to where?” Sam seemed confused.

“Your place, you said we could go there” he reminded her.

“Ah! Right. Keep straight and when you reach Harbor bridge, make a right. We're going to 127th street at S Figueroa” she said, looking in the mirror and fixing her hair.

“You look fine” he said, looking at her from the corner of his eye, then put in the destination on the car GPS, he had no idea where he was.

“Could I play some music?” she asked.

“Sure, be my guest” Dominik touched the player touch screen. “Help yourself.”

“Do you have any classical music?”

“I would not know. Rental car” he said and started going through the player buttons.

“Let me, I'll find it. Eyes on the road, please” Sam reprimanded him. Dom smiled and obeyed the demand. He drove on, paying attention to the road.

Samanta looked for some music among all the broadcast stations and stopped when she found a specific tune.  She closed her eyes and started bobbing her head at the beat of the melody. After a few seconds, she laid her head back on the head rest, doing subtle movements with her hand, imitating a maestro. For a second there, she disconnected from the world and gave herself away to the relaxation produced by Eine kleine Nachtmusik by Wolfang Amadeus Mozart.

Dominik turned to her to ask where he should go next, since they were now past the bridge and on the intersection she mentioned, but when he saw her, looking beautiful as ever, she did not dare disturb her. He stopped the car and sat there in awe, staring as Samanta.

There she laid, on the car seat, with her eyes closed, moving her hands, feeling every note in the song. she was softly biting her lips, squinting with the fortes and subtly moving her head. Dominik simply watched and smiled.

Samanta was so focused and ecstatic with that melody … that feeling. Music managed to stir her deepest passion, so she did not realize the car had stopped moving.

The Grand Finale was coming close and Dom thought of the perfect closure for this nightly serenade.

He leaned towards her and gently held her face. Samanta did not react to the touch of his hands, so he caressed her lips with his fingers. Sam opened her mouth slightly and let out a faint sigh. Dominik leaned in a little closer and, determined, locked his lips on Samanta's. They responded positively and joined his in a tender kiss, lasting a few seconds. Long enough to ignite the fire of a beautiful sentiment.

The music was over, and another melody came in. As their lips moved softly, trying to be as sweet as they could, they both enjoyed themselves as if they were touching the face of an Angel.

Their hearts were racing and a rush of pleasant feelings took over both of them. Dominik for one, was discovering a plethora of feelings he never felt before, holding Samanta's face in his hands and trying to tenderly explore the mouth of this woman who really turned him on. Sam, on the other hand thought she would never feel this passion as she felt for her first love, but she realized she could feel something even more intense. She did not know why, but it was as though Dominik's lips were made for her and feeling them was her reward. For what? She did not know.

They slowly pulled apart, wanting more…

Dom smiled brightly as he saw Samanta let out another sigh. She opened her eyes and smiled back, feeling pleased and fulfilled.

One more kiss, a short, mischievous kiss sealed that moment.

“We should better go” said Sam.