Samantha sobs silently in the car, her pink gown ripped at the shoulder from the pull after falling down earlier.
Renee glances at her and gives her a tissue. "You should stop crying. They should be the one doing so. Come on."Samantha sniffles and wipes her eyes slowly. She sighs sadly."You have no idea what has happened this last two hours. Hell, these past twenty fours hours.""Yes, I don't know much or even anything about what really happened but I have eyes to know that you are not that loose and something really happened backdoors. Let's stop talking about it. You need to eat something and take a shower.""Are you saying I smell?""Of course not..." She pushes her shoulder slightly. "...maybe just a bit."They both laugh.The rest of the ride to Renee's apartment is short and silent.Upon arrival, Renee helps Samantha to run a bath and prepared some food while waiting for her to come out of the bathroom.She shows up in a little bit, dressed in a cross shoulder top and bum short with her hair still damp from the shower."I made noodles." Renee announces as she sets the plates filled with sweet smelling, hot and shiny noodles.Samantha smiles. "You know just what I always crave. Something hot and spicy."Renee Whitfield has been Samantha's best friend since elementary school when Sam fell off the swing. It had been Renee who helped her then and now she's doing the same.They eat silently as Renee is a sucker for table manners.After resting for a bit, Renee clears her throat and turns to face Samantha square in the face."Sam, would you like to share what happened now?"Samantha smiles. "Sure."Renee nods. "At the feast yesterday, mum gave me a glass of champagne to meet with guests. Not long after, Mark called me upstairs to a suite in the hotel and I took the elevator there. I admit I started to feel woozy and drunk so I ended up in the next room with another man... And something happened between us."Renee's eyes widen but she doesn't say anything."When I woke up this morning, I was worried about the wedding and called Ben to come pick me up but he told me something that made me turn on the TV and I came across the live conference by Mark and Taylor... Did you see the conference?""Not by myself. Someone shared it on a group chat I'm in and I happened to see it then and watched it. That's when I called.""Before you called, I'd gone home to discover that Taylor will be marrying Mark instead of me. Today's the feast and tomorrow is the wedding. They didn't even make it subtle about sabotaging me. Taylor said it herself that she had a crush on him since that video call years ago." Samantha's voice started to break as she neared tears."After doing something like that, what did your Dad say?""He believed them and chased me out. He said..." She broke into tears outrightly."You don't need to say it. We're going to the wedding tomorrow. I just need to find what to wear."Samantha sniffs. "What did you say?""I said we're going to that wedding. And we're going to disrupt it. If Mark won't marry you, he won't marry your sister at least. Anyone but Taylor."Anyone but Taylor.Samantha realized that that was the one thing that disturbed her the most. She wasn't disappointed that Mark had called off their marriage but that he cut it off for Taylor.Samantha inhaled deeply and then smiled."Let's go shopping."Renee laughed and grabbed her car keys and purse. "Come on. We've got only a few hours before the mall closes.""Elena, I want the file with the proposition MF made.""In a minute sir."Claude drops the telephone and has his eyes fixed on the news in New York at the moment."Yes, we have Intel from a reliable source right now that Miss Samantha has just been disowned by her family after showing up at home in a mangled gown and messy hair, obviously, the aftermath of a steamy night with someone we've yet to identify. Tune in this time tomorrow for the wedding clips. Up next..."The TV goes blank.Samantha...Could she be the same Samantha Stiles? Claude is momentarily distracted by his thoughts and didn't hear Elena, his secretary come in with the documents he had requested for.She drops the file on his table, almost touching him. He quickly withdraws his hand and notices a small document on top of the others."What's this?" He asks, holding it up."It's the reprinted invitation letter that came from MF this afternoon.""I see. You can go."She bows and leaves the room. Ford opens the paper an
More than everyone in the noisy hall, Samantha is more than baffled at what the situation has come to be, but her head is all muddled and out of sorts from being kissed by this really handsome man who looks like he wants to have her there and now.She pulls away breathing heavily and inhales and exhales deeply to relax herself and steady her beating heart.Taylor, her dad and mum walk over to her.Her Dad whips her over in one fluid movement and slaps her heavily on the face. Samantha reels from the shock and almost falls.Second physical slap in two days from the same person.The man behind her catches her just in time and she leans into him for a moment of comfort, a moment of peace from what's happening outside his suit's lapel.She's rudely pulled out from her hiding place and shouted at."You whore. How dare you do that at my wedding?" Taylor screams and beats her body with the bouquet of flowers in her hands over and over again. Nobody makes a move to stop her so Claude steps in
Samantha steps out of the elevator into a wide hallway with different doors on the sides but a particular door is open with people coming in and out of the room. They all have numbers pinned to their shirts.She walks up to a lady who's sitting alone, reading something looking like a pamphlet. "Excuse me. Please where do we get numbers?""You just arrived? Go to that woman, she'll assign you a number. You have to hurry though because they can get to the last number before yours quick and when that happens, well, sorry."Samantha nods and gets her number immediately. She gently attaches the pin to her shirt. It reads in large numeric writing "32"She goes back to sit beside the lady from before and settles down beside her. She peeks at her number. She's number 30.A man exits the room sniffling hard and eyes red. The two ladies watch him go."Is it that bad in there?""It's terrible. Bad is an understatement. They are hiring just five people this year and there are still people coming.
Claude rifles through the files and personal documents in front of him and then picks one out of it all. He studies the mini picture on the document and stands up with it."You're not seeing the interview to the end sir?" One of the directors ask him"No. I have some things to take care of." He glances at the document again and leaves with a small smile on the corner of his lips.He really does have business to tend to.Choosing to not draw attention to himself, he takes the elevator downstairs and walks outside the door, hoping to meet Samantha before she leaves. He manages to see her hair whip into a taxi and as it drives away, he discovers he's not the only one watching the vehicle leave.They turn to face each other at the same time, the spark of recognition crosses their faces at the same time too."Mr Whyte." He walks up to him, quite cheerily, too cheerily infact, and extends his hands for an handshake. "I'm sorry our meeting at the wedding was quite sour. I'd love to make up f
The entire day after Samantha got her job acceptance message has been all fun and colourful. She's happy at herself at making such an achievement all by herself, without an external help from any influential person like her parents used to.All of Tuesday is spent shopping for the perfect and most official clothes they can find in Samantha's size. They had sorted everything and at the end of the stressful day, they had eaten out and then went house surfing.Samantha had already looked up some cost friendly and okay apartments for a single lady like her, and kept some pictures and addresses so they can go check them out later. In all the excitement, they play matchmaking for the clothes and Samantha picks up the clothes she will be wearing on her first day.It's a light red suit pant and cream shirt."How do I look?""Wow. Chic and official. Official Chic. You're fit to be one of those beautiful and sexy secretaries that get their bosses in the end.""What? Not that boss. I didn't even
Dylan chuckles as the elevator doors open to reveal a large workspace with many cubicles. Computers or laptops on each table, only a few towards the floor to ceiling windows are empty.A man walks over to meet them. "Good morning. Just on time. Punctuality is very important when you work here. The other interns are sitted over there..." He points to a large conference room just opposite the empty table. "Join them. You will be briefed by the boss on your place while you work here." They nod their thanks to him and walk into the conference room to meet three other people.Samantha looks around and she sees the lady that she sat with on the physical interview day. Happy to recognize someone in the room, she takes her seat beside her."Hi. I remember you. I'm Samantha." Sam formally introduces herself, holding her hands out for a shake.She looks at her outstretched hand but does not take it. "I'm Cheryl." She states coldly and looks away.Dylan shrugs at her from opposite her. The doo
Seventeen minutes later, Samantha drops the large document on the woman's table. She looks up at her blankly for a second and then remembers."I thought I said ten minutes?"Samantha groans. "Two of the copiers...""Are you about to start giving excuses for your tardiness? So unprofessional. If you can't handle all this on the first day, it will be better for us all if you quit." She snickers evilly and takes the document to herself. "You didn't arrange them in order? I should be collecting six of these documents from you right now." She slams them on the table and stands up.Not wanting to cause a scene, Samantha grabs the document, trying to smile politely. "I'll go arrange it right now. Please don't be annoyed." She leaves back for the copier room. It takes her all of five minutes to arrange everything in order and take them back again."Finally." She looks through the documents. "You can go." She says, without a thank you or anything. As soon as Samantha turns her back, she throws
Exhausted after walking around the whole day, the five new interns find their way back to their temporary office. Dreading the fact that she was being ordered around, Samantha is initially hesitant but Dylan drags her along anyway."You have to show them you're not scared. Even if you're being ordered around, stick with it and they will get tired. Infact, laugh at their jokes too and they will think you're cool and possibly even make friends with you.""Dylan, that's a big stretch. I don't want to make friends with those people."Dylan pulls her along with him inside. She breathes a sigh of relief when she sees the empty chair of that woman, Daniella.And then she notices the empty table as well, also everyone who's there looking at her and then whispering amongst themselves.What did she do to warrant such cold treatment anyway? That she spoke her mind to the boss?That man? He may be fine and all, also helped her out of a sticky situation but then, he's just as rude as the next big
Taylor and her mother sit in front of the television, watching the morning news on the same day, waiting to see the lineup of the headlines, smiling and chatting amongst themselves, waiting for the news they want to see and hear.Mr Stiles walks in and sees them in a gleeful mood, given that he knows his wife and daughter, normally, they would not be awake by that time of the day, especially when it's a Saturday and a day after a late night dinner. What's more, they are smiling in front of the television and chatting. He takes a seat on the big couch, watching them.Taylor sees him first. "Oh, Good morning Dad. Did you sleep well?""Shouldn't I be asking you and your mum the same thing? What's so fun on the TV that's keeping you awake?""I'm refreshed though." His wife smiles at him, subtly glancing at the news. "And aren't you the one always nagging us about watching the early morning news?"Mr Stiles shrugs. "If you say so then. What's on?""Ugh. They keep talking about wars and eco
Claude glances at her through the rear view mirror. "I don't know actually. I just didn't feel like."Sam dips her hand into her bag and produces a tie clip with a platinum lion and an almost illegible carved name. "C.W. I don't know why I never thought it could have been you. I've kept it since then, it was the only thing I had left from that... Unfortunate night.""Unfortunate?""That same night then into the next day, I lost many things. My family, my integrity, my name.""Let me ask you one thing, don't you think sooner or later, you would have lost them?"Sam frowns. "What do you mean by that?""Isn't it better that you found out before the marriage? What if you caught Mark and Taylor later when you're married? Won't that be worse?""Hm. I never thought of it that way but you're right. I should be happy for all I've got now right?"Claude smiles. "In plain words, be happy you have me. My name will replace the one you lost."Samantha laughs. "You know you can be a proud little nar
For a particular female, the night was a hectic one, didn't get good sleep and then was haunted by full images of herself, drugged and completely out of it, dressed in a pink gown, short hair bouncing in every direction, walking down a hallway to the wrong room, admiring a strange man's husky voice while thinking of her fiancee and passing out right under him.What used to be a nightmare.Samantha wakes up with a jerk, sweaty all over even though the windows are open and the room is cool.Her eyes go straight to the clock on the wall and it's already eight thirty am. "Shit."First word of the day, is a curse word. Can the day get any better? Now that she knows fully well that the man that always lurked at the back of her mind, always seeming familiar and distant at the same time, is her boss and the same man that the whole world knows she is engaged to.The same man who managed to show up everytime she's going through a moment, embarrassing or not.In an hour, she's sitting down at
Later that day, Claude returns home and meets the place empty.Samantha had left before he returned.He sighs and goes back to the living room to take a seat, worried for her sake.What could the woman have done to deserve such hate? Not only from her own family now but almost everyone around her.Thinking of that, he dials Elena. "Yes sir?""Where's the footage I asked you to analyze and get for me?""I had it on top of your desk today but since you were not in...""Send it to me now."While waiting, he goes to get a glass of water from his kitchen and sees a memo stuck on his fridge.Smiling slightly, he plucks it off the cold metal and reads it."Thank you very much for everything. I guess I'll see you again..." Signed "your fiancee."He laughs, his mood boosted up ten times.He grabs his phone, muttering to himself. "I need to make some calls and urgent changes before work begins next week."While he's furiously typing on his phone, he receives a video message from Elena which he
Taylor paces around and around her home, grunting and stamping her foot from time to time in anger in frustration.Mark brings her a glass of coffee and sits down opposite her, watching her every action. "Are you really this bothered?" He inquires, his hand supporting his chin.Taylor looks at him, her expression masked, except the anger. "Yes, I am that bothered. How did she manage to get a man like..." She glances at Mark and stops short."A man like...?""I mean, Mr Whyte is too good for her don't you think? She must have seduced him or something. I still can't believe her proposed to her so publicly. Let me tell you something, their marriage is already doomed."Mark cocks his head to the side. "She didn't break the glass at your feet yesterday did she? You did it yourself to grab attention and make her look bad. I knew Sam before I knew you and she absolutely hates confrontations. She didn't break the glass."Taylor scoffs. "So, you're believing her over me?""I'm just stating the
During the dinner, Sam and Claude played the perfect couple in love, fawning over one another, even putting food in each other's mouth, feeding one another and giggling.They frustrated everyone in there with their antics.And of course, with a dinner of such high and mighty people, there's bound to be some gossip the next day.It rocked the business world that Claude has settled down.Not only them, every beautiful female who ever had eyes on him aand of course, his employees who were all throwing the "I told you so" line with reference to the closeness between the two the day before.Although, that morning seemed perfect...Sam opens her eyes dramatically, her clothes missing from her body and she's covered in a big white blanket in a completely unrecognizable room. "Where am I?" She asks herself, her eyes wide with trepidation. She smacks her own head. "Where the fuck are you now? What have you gotten yourself into? You should stay away from anything intoxicating for the rest of y
Claude stands by the rail, watching her intently."Are you naive or are you pretending to be a nice person?"Samantha looks up. "What? I'm not naive.""Then you're just nice. You let them walk over you ever opportunity they get. How is that worth anything? You're not planning on getting any revenge? You're going to just have cat fights and then be seen as the loser?"Sam's eyes start to glisten. "You don't get to say that. Do you even have any idea what happened? Who they meant to me before this whole things? Before things went to fuck?""Yes. I didn't know you before this but I knew you right from the start of it all."Sam frowns but doesn't pursue the matter. "Then you'll know that I was treated unfairly.""Exactly. You are the victim so why are you giving her the chance to play your role?"Sam understands everything he's saying but it's still a big blow to her to hear the truth so bluntly."Samantha." A woman calls behind her Sam turns around, shocked to see her parents right behin
At the venue, there's a long line of cars, arranged in a line and at the red carpet, the occupants of the car exit, take some pictures and make their way to the venue.It's more like a Celebrity award show than a Dinner amongst Business owners.In their defence though, these business owners and the top 1 percent of the whole country so why not show off their glam?Claude grunts. "Did they need to make the entry this lavish?" He asks no one in particular as he fishes in his pocket for something. He brings out a pair of white gloves and puts them on.He sees Sam watching and he smiles slightly. "Wondering what it is for? Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough. I don't like to publish it either."Samantha wonders what he's talking about but doesn't have to for long as it's their turn to get off the car. "Stay in here, I'll open the door for us both." He exits the car and walks to the other side to open the door for Sam.He extends his hand out to her just like before, and this time, s
In five hours, Claude looks at himself in the mirror in his office's closet and he smiles. "She has a good taste then. This combination looks perfect for a dinner."He checks his watch and takes the elevator downstairs deliberately.Downstairs, he calls Elena and tells her to tell Samantha to meet him downstairs in five minutes or she will have to meet him at the venue.His message is delivered and although Sam is done getting dressed, she looks at herself over and over again, wondering if she did right with her choice of clothing, also hoping she will not embarrass herself in front of those despicable duo.She peeks on her table and sees the box of rings that Taylor had asked for. She decided she'd rather give it to them by herself than mail it.Samantha tucks her hair behind her ear once more and grabs her bag and iPad.She's still going to the party as his secretary so she has to be official and dressed to perfection.Elena had told her she looked perfect earlier but she's still n