«Slip it under the door and leave», he repeated to himself mentally, for the third time. He took a deep breath and took two steps forward. «Leave, Carlos », his conscience snapped.
He knew he was acting a fool. He used the silliest excuse to go over to Samanta's. Bring her her paycheck? Samanta picked it up every Saturday morning! It was absolutely unnecessary for him to be there. His only goal was to make sure Sam had already come home. If that was the case, it would only mean their date had been boring and that was that. However, on the contrary, Sam did not make it back home because she had had so much fun she lost track of time.
He looked at the clock and realized it was almost 8pm, he took another breath in, put his hand in a fist, raised his fist, about to knock on that door, announcing his presence.
«Why do you torture yourself like this? Go home!». Once again, that little voice in his head.
He shut his eyes tight and let out a long sigh in resignation. He got down and slipped the envelope under the door. It was meaningless to stay any longer.
As soon as he was about to leave, the sound of the door opening stopped him.
“Carlos?” Teresa's voice asked. “Where's Samanta?” The older sister looked both ways, looking for Sam.
“I… uhmmm” he mumbled. “She got off work a little earlier than me. I did some overtime, Gordon is out of town and left me in charge…”
“I figured she'd be with you” the concerned woman interrupted.
“I just came to drop her paycheck and I was on my way already” Carlos turned around quickly, ready to bail.
“Carlos, What is going on here? Where is my little sister?”
“Is she not in there?” Carlos' voice quivered, putting himself in the limelight. His attempts for playing naive were futile, Teresa noticed his charade as he started pretending not to know where Samanta was.
“Drop it already. You very well know Sam is not here, and you know exactly where she is, so you better tell me” Teresa could not hold her motherly instinct back.
“Teresa, I… no… uhmmm.”
How in the world was he supposed to say Samanta was out with some stranger hanging out God knows where, doing God knows what?
Carlos broke a sweat, giving away his nervousness.
“Oh God!” Teresa put her hands on her head, assuming the worst—. She's with him, isn't she?
«With whom?». Carlos frowned.
»No, no, no” muttered the eldest Andrade sister. “I figured that brat would only be released until three months” she went on.
Samanta's friends opened his eyes so wide they almost pop out of their sockets when he realized what Teresa meant. Alan, Sam's ex-boyfriend.
“No” Carlos blurted out. “She's out with a good guy” he stopped and reconsidered his words, “I think.”
“What are you talking about? What do you mean you think? Explain yourself!”
“Samanta went out with … ever heard of Dominik Weigand?” He let out. Teresa wrinkled her nose. “The bullet Weigand?” he asked. The woman in front of him denied with her head. “A professional soccer player … Come on! He's huge.”
“You mean to tell me my little sister is out with a man who can afford to have whatever woman he pleases?” The sister felt her heart shrinking.
“Wow! When you put it like that, it does sound pretty awful.”
“You're supposed to be her friend. How could you let this happen?” Teresa's voice sounded upset.
“Wait a minute! You're not saying…” Carlos shook his head hard. He was quite confused by Teresa Andrade's attitude. “You can't expect me to go through life watching over every step Samanta takes. I have a life of my own, you know?…”
Carlos stopped talking as he noticed how Teresa had her eyes glued to a car that had just parked in her driveway. As she turned around and look carefully, she saw Samanta getting off the vehicle followed by… Dominik The Bullet Weigand.
Samanta frowned when she saw Carlos and her sister from afar. Teresa seemed very upset while her friend seemed quite embarrassed. «What's going on? Why are these two out?», she asked herself. The car stopped right where she told Dominik, precisely at her house. She was anxious and got off the car, wasting no time. Dom got off the car a couple seconds after he shut the car down. “What's the matter?” Samanta asked as she approached the other two. Teresa looked at her annoyed, then she glued her eyes to the guy standing behind Samanta. »Oh! I'm so rude, this is Do…” Sam tried talking, but, her sister cut her off. “I know who he is.” Dominik was very uncomfortable by the woman's rude tone, he intervened inevitably. “I am sorry, I guess I came at a bad time” he looked at Samanta. “It will be best to meet again some other time.” “No. It will be best to have a word with you right now” said Teresa, with notable hostility. She turned to her sister. “Go to your room.” Samanta frowned
Dominik headed for the JW Marriott Hotel. Traffic was heavy and that did not help his terrible mood. It was almost eight at night, as he approached his destination, he went through everything that had perspired that day. First, the inconvenient with the paparazzi at the beach, then Samanta's sister lecturing him to wrap things up in style. Right then, his own sister came to mind. Regardless of being a child from another marriage, years before his father met his mother, Karol was around during most of his childhood and a big part of his teenage years. She was always there for him, standing up for him when people would comment on him because of his condition. Then he understood how normal it was for Teresa to react the way she did. Still, Dominik could not help feeling annoyed and frustrated by the way things happened.Those paparazzi sneaking on them really pissed him off.The memory of that beautiful woman irrupted into his thoughts, making him remember what went on in that car, as sh
“What the hell was that?” Samanta snapped as soon as Teresa walked into the house.“I thought…” her sister mumbled.“You thought wrong and you know it. You can't expect to go through life acting like that whenever I meet someone.”“Had you been honest with me, none of this would have happened. When you were with Alan, I should have…”“Stop it! Alan was a mistake. A big one, I know. But I learned and moved on. You should do the same, too.”Samanta turned around, heading for her room, furious.Teresa could not keep herself from diving into her memories …For the 11 years she had been a social worker, she saw all kinds of cases, everything from homeless children who had lost their parents in any sort of tragic accident or because they lived with an inept relative who could not offer a decent life for them. She had to deal with sexual abuse victims, drug-addicted teenagers, 13 or 14 year old girls in pregnancies. She had to learnt to not let her emotions get the best of her, she had to be
Screaming, applauding and cheering…All eyes were set on him.He looked again at the man in front of him. He knew he wanted him to make a mistake, but he would not give him the pleasure to see him fail. He took a big breath and a few steps back. Analyzed every angle possible to score that penalty shot until he finally found a breach in the rivaling team's defense. He breathed out slowly and kicked the ball hard as he could.The ball flew through the air, headed for the goal. One hand tried to keep it from going in, but failed.The bleachers erupted in a simultaneous scream of joy.¡GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAL!They shouted.The German team celebrated the score, set now on 2 vs. 1 against Nigeria, granting them 3 more points. “The bullet” had done it again. The foul committed against his team mate had been penalized, and he shot that ball right into the upper corner of the opposing team's goal. Right by the spider's nest, said one of the commentators.The game ended two minutes later.“Well
“Bu... bu... b...” Sam stuttered. “What are you doing here? You were supposed to be in…” she pointed at the TV in her living room. “You guys won, now you're supposed to be at a press conference” she mumbled.Dominik smiled and looked right into her eyes.“You are right. I should be there. But I am here” he laughed. “Most likely, they will fine me, so I might as well just make this worth it.”He wanted to see her from the very instant he was away from her. That was all he could think about. He came up to her and put one of his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. He looked at her lips…“What are you…” Sam looked both ways. She felt overwhelmed by the proximity.Dominik could not hold it in anymore and did it. He kissed her, making her silent.Samanta felt like she was flying. She was very much in love with this man. She could only think about that one kiss and how she wanted it to happen again.He held on to her tiny frame and little by little, his hands were rising until they re
Ewald walked from one side to the other, like a caged animal. HE was mad and very frustrated from Dominik's attitude. He was used to Weigand going missing all of a sudden, but he never did it during a press conference. He knew Dom was overwhelmed by the spotlight, but this was only the second match in the championship, it was too soon for him to be tired. He loved his star player, he was like a son, he had known him since he was thirteen years old, supporting his career every step of the way. None the less, he would not put up with this, Dominik knew he had a responsibility to his team, whether he liked it or not.“You'll make a ditch” commented Friedrich after a few minutes alone with the head coach.“As long as I find a stone to crack Dominik's head open with” yelled Ewald. “I am not letting this one slip. He may be rebellious and leave us in the middle of practice, but he never evaded his responsibilities to the team in the middle of a championship. Did you know the federation can
Samanta and Dominik fused together in a warm embrace. There, away from everyone, they finally felt free. Even for the short amount of time they had known each other, there was a certain chemistry between them. Almost as if their souls had previously met in another life. She felt comfortable and uninhibited with him. Dominik felt like he had never felt with a woman, in fact, nobody else before. His heart rejoiced and sometimes he thought it would explode from so much pleasure in it.“I am very much in love with you” whispered Dom.Sam remained silent, words were not coming out of her mind. Dominik started planting short kisses on the lady's neck, climbing up to her face, spreading some more throughout her skin. He stopped and finally looked into Sam's eyes, they had a beautiful sparkle. a soft tingle in his stomach made him smile.“Where have you brought me to?” He asked.“This is the bed of the Los Angeles river. It's my special place. I come here when I need to be alone to think…”
What Dominik admired most of his publicist was how easily he could always get relevant information. That gift had earned him many million dollar contracts with renowned brands, as well as saved him many headaches. He could not deny, Friedrich was a very efficient publicist/manager. A couple phone calls to the right people and he had the world at his feet.That night he would be using his persuasion talent to find out more about that one woman who was causing Dominik to act like a teenager about to hit puberty. Not only because he was worried about his client's image, but because he despised Dominik being attracted to someone, after all his hard work to move forward with him, he would not let some novelty girl ruin everything.He took his electronic phone book and found the number of the magazine which that same morning, published the article mentioning the identity of the girl Dominik had disappeared with the day before.“Yes?” A man answered.“Is this Steve Andrew?” Friedrich asked.
I turned to the man who was talking to me. There was something in that voice that made me evoke a thousand memories. I looked at him carefully for a while, because although his face was very familiar to me, I couldn't place him. I opened my eyes like saucers and my heart stopped for a fraction of a second when I recognized the owner of those green eyes that were looking at me. In front of me was the personification of all my fears, traumas and insecurities. The man who served as a benchmark to compare all the people who came into my life after him. It was a beautiful vision, and at the same time a nightmare come true. “Antoine,” I said his name with difficulty. If the mere memory of him stirred up a lot of emotions in me, can you imagine “what his presence did to me?” The imposing figure of a six-foot-tall man lay before me. His eyes were greener than I remembered them and he had a beautiful smile (the one that brought out a couple of dimples in his cheeks) plastered on his face. He
I shook my head hard to concentrate on my friend's voice. She kept talking, but I stopped listening to her for a moment because I was thinking about Harvey, the gorgeous blond I met two months ago on one of my many girls' outings with Gabrielle, and who I started dating four weeks ago. He was divorced and had two young children. All my life I was reluctant to have anything with a man with children, because my policy was always: If I can buy a new car, ¿why buy a used one? This thought became ingrained in me as a result of living with my stepmother. It's not that our relationship was bad, but I remember a couple of times I tried to make her life miserable, just for fun. I was afraid that divine justice would take its toll on me for those years of rebellion and headaches I'd caused Valerie. But there was something about Harvey that appealed to me so much. He was very direct and upfront. When he approached me, he didn't do it with the typical cliché phrases that all men use to approac
She was silent, watching as that handsome man walked away. She didn't understand why she couldn't stop looking at him. She had seen handsome men many times. His father lived surrounded by them. Athletic men with heart-stopping butts. However, there was something about… Damn! h e didn't tell her his name a n d h e wanted very much t o know. h e hit his forehead as h e remembered how h e treated him. "How stupid I am. At this rate, I'm going t o be alone." She couldn't help but feel like a fool for being so rude t o him. Perhaps his intentions were sincere… or perhaps not. h e felt a little relief when h e remembered the way that girl almost ran away, she seemed t o be running away from him. Maybe h e was a lout a n d deserved every one of his mistreatment.Anyway, h e decided not t o think about it a n ymore. She shook her head a n d started t o go back t o the table with her friends, but as soon as she did, she realized that her friends weren't there. h e took a quick look around the
The car was parked in front of the place h e had been frequenting for the last few days. It was a good place t o dance (he loved t o dance) a n d have a couple of drinks in the company of a pretty woman. h e met Melanie in New York a n d since then she accompanied him o n his tour. That's how h e wanted it, a n d although August didn't need the woman who was willing t o have a good time with him, she was perfect, because she was funny a n d undramatic. (At least it seemed that way at first) I didn't understand how his attitude changed in a matter of three days.He shook his head a n d cleared his mind. I didn't want t o think about that. h e was ready t o celebrate that night h e appeared in the place h e had dreamed of for so many years. For every illusionist, the MGM Grand Garden Arena was a statement that h e was reaching the pinnacle of his career. His parents knew it a n d that i s why they traveled from Scotland t o accompany him. Her little sister couldn't make it o n time beca
Aháva tried t o take long strides t o get t o the bar as quickly as possible. The club was packed a n d people seemed t o be possessed by some kind of demon of lust, as they groped each other while dancing grotesquely. The blonde looked at the couple o n her right a n d couldn't help but shudder. Could it be that they did not know about the existence of hotels? God! She didn't understand why she agreed t o go t o that place with her friends, if she never liked going t o places like that. She was more of mountains, rivers a n d beaches. h e liked t o be in contact with nature while enjoying the silence or reading a good book. I had known Lauren, Jessica, a n d Alicia since I was eight years old. h e had just moved with his parents t o California. They lived in the same neighborhood a n d went t o the same school. Since then they were inseparable friends.Aháva was about t o turn nineteen a n d college was just around the corner. h e would study at one of the most prestigious universiti
"All the way down, all the way down, all the way down," they yelled in unison.The girls tried t o encourage the youngest of all t o drink the entire contents of her glass in one sip. However, the blonde with green eyes could not do it, because she did not like the taste of tequila or a n y alcoholic beverage. I didn't understand how there were people who drank liquor until their livers dried up, if the taste of alcoholic beverages was so awful.She licked her lips, wrinkled her nose, a n d put the glass back o n the table.Aháva grimaced a n d wiped the corner of her lip with the back of her hand.-I do not can. It's disgusting,” h e yelled, due t o the high volume of the music. How do they make you drink this? It i s awful!—Booo. Don't be a spoilsport,” the eldest of all spoke up. Lauren, a pretty woman about six feet tall, slim, with black hair, gray eyes, a n d white Caucasian skin."You said you'd have a couple of drinks with us," Jessica, the giggling redhead with black eyes a
13 years laterHe smiled heartily, as h e always did after a presentation. Hearing the applause of his audience as h e walked offstage was undoubtedly his favorite thing since his father gave him a cape, top hat, a n d wand for his tenth birthday. h e decided t o dedicate himself t o illusionism when that afternoon at his grandmother's house, a magnificent magician left him speechless by drawing a dove o n a small blackboard a n d then shaking it a n d taking out a royal dove. As it did? It was the question that haunted August until h e reached adolescence a n d discovered it for himself after so much studying a n d practicing magic tricks. In the end, it wasn't as hard as I thought it was.After finishing school, the Real Centro Universitario María Cristina de San Lorenzo de El Escorial in Spain was her next step in her academic training, where she specialized in Illusionism. Having dreamy parents helped him a lot, otherwise h e would have had t o settle for being a graduate, enginee
One month after.Dominik glanced at Carlos surreptitiously a n d Carlos nodded, indicating that everything was ready. Charlotte could not suppress the small smile that came from her lips, because she knew perfectly well what was going t o happen next. She was also Weigand's accomplice. Samantha gave her friend a confused a n d questioning look."They say that h e who laughs alone remembers his pranks," she mumbled, poking the blonde's side with a finger.Charlotte laughed out loud."I'm just happy t o have married a wonderful man," the Polish woman commented, scanning her surroundings with her eyes.The garden looked beautiful, decorated in a vintage style with turquoise, white a n d silver decorations. Just two hours ago, Charlotte a n d Carlos had said "Yes, I do", in front of family a n d closest friends. Samantha was the maid of honor, a n d Dominik was the best man. Little Aháva played with some children, sons of some friends of the bride a n d groom."Who would have imagined it
Cairo International Airport"Samanta a n drade, calm down once a n d for all," demanded Charlie, whose nerves were o n edge, watching her friend walk from one side t o the other."What if h e gets scared when h e sees me?" My face i s not the same. These scars..."You're still beautiful," Carlos said. You don't have t o worry about that. Aháva adores you a n d doesn't care what you look like —he added —Although seeing it from a n other perspective, they give you a sensual air, almost like a pirate —Carlos joked, letting out a laugh."I think what you're worried about i s what someone else might think, right?" Charlie commented with some mischief."Dominik i s the least interested in how you look, I'm telling you." Carlos winked at her.Carlos a n d Charlotte got Samantha t o relax a bit.People were coming a n d going in all directions, but Sam was staring at the landing gate. a n xiety grew within her being with each passing second. Almost half a n hour had passed since the plane fr