Chapter 34 - Samanta

Samanta was used to go jogging every Sunday, to relax and put her thoughts in order. The past two weeks had been crazy, she really needed it this morning more than never, a good dose of serotonin in her organism. She would make the most of her day off.

Feeling the wind blow softly against her cheeks while listening to Alexandra Stan, at the beat of Mr. Saxobeat, playing in her ear buds was just great. It felt great to run and feel free, her heartbeat speeding up, her muscles heating up reminded her she was alive. Her thoughts started getting in order, among all of them, she came to the conclusion that she had to go to Egypt. She would have to wait one more week until the SAT results came out, to find out whether she had been admitted to study Archaeology at the American University in El Cairo. She could not lose her focus, living some shady fling with a celebrity. Her goals were set, she could not deny her feelings for Dominik, but he was not one of her life priorities.

A sudden flash in the distance snatched her peace from her. She had been jogging for the past, at least, 30 minutes, when she focused on the place those flashes were coming from, she could make out a man in a black rain coat with a camera in his hands.

«Paparazzi. Great!», she thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

She sped up and tried to ignore that man's presence.

After a few minutes, the flashes became more constant and she felt a few eyes staring intensely at her. When she turned around, she saw some men running up to her, news reporters. Samanta was terrified and sprinted as fast as she could in order to escape from them.

When she noticed she had lost them, she stopped to catch her breath and decided to go home.

First thing she saw when she opened her house door was her boss, sitting on the couch, talking to her sister, Teresa.

“Gordon! What are you doing here? When did you get back?”

“Hello, Samanta. I came back last night. I was picking up my baby” he said about his bike. “Carlos told me what happened yesterday. Are you ok?

“Yes, are you ok? When were you planning on telling me you were being harassed like that?” Teresa was very concerned.

“It was nothing” Samanta told her sister. “Yes. I am fine.” She looked at Gordon. “Is Carlos alright? I was calling him last night and…”

“He said he was unavailable this morning. I asked him to take the day off. Ethan, Megan, Stacy and I will deal with the coffee shop.”

Samanta handed over the motorbike keys to their owner, she said goodbye and went to take a shower and change. She needed to see her friend.

“Sam” her sister called, but she kept going without even looking back at her.

“Are you sure she's fine?” Gordon asked Teresa.

“I don't know. She's been acting weird.”

“Please, let me know whatever comes up” he asked.

Teresa smiled from Gordon's concern. She knew he felt something for her and, she could not deny she had feelings for him, too. She just was not over her husband's passing yet.

She waited for Gordon to get on his bike and leave. She rushed back in and up to her sister's bedroom.

“We have to talk, Samanta” she said as she slammed the bedroom door. “Seriously. You're acting weird.”

“It's alright, Teresa” Sam said from the shower.

“What happened yesterday?”

“Nothing.”

“Come clean” she demanded. “Ever since that guy came in your life, you seem very upset.”

“I'm fine. Don't worry.”

Samanta came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. She picked some clothes to wear…

“Where are you going?” Asked Teresa.

“To see Carlos. Didn't you hear Gordon? He's not feeling well and I need to see him.”

“Sam, please. We need to talk. I know something is going on.”

Samanta came up to her sister and kissed her forehead.

“I'm fine, Teresa. You really have nothing to worry about.”

She turned around and kept getting dressed. At that moment, she was thankful her sister did not watch TV, or else she would be too well aware of the buzz going on around her and Dominik.