Walk A Different Path 🤍 Jaa/First

Chapter 10 ~ the business trip ~

"I have to ride to a neighbouring village and it's a bit too difficult for Maisie to navigate since she's a kêhtêstim, an old horse, and I don't want to wear her out" Maskwa had lied.

"she does well to carry a deer on her back then" Sam replied a little sarcastically.

"I won't be long, I'll set off right after breakfast and I should be back home well before sunset" Maskwa assured Sam who was looking a little bit peeved.

"I'll be ok, don't worry about me ... I should be thinking about going home anyway instead of staying here and playing house." Sam replied.

"what? is that how you see what we've been doing?" Maskwa asked him.

"well isn't it?" Sam asked.

"look, I admit I'm not very good at dating, I've never done it before so I don't know the right things to say or do and it's not like I can take you to see a movie or a fancy restaurant, at least not while we're in the village" Maskwa said.

"I don't necessarily need all that stuff Maskwa, I'd just rather you be straight with me if you're sick of seeing me, I can leave" Sam said.

"what? where is this coming from?" Maskwa asked him.

"I'm just saying ..."

"I'm not sick of seeing you at all baby, don't think that, I just need to know you'll be ok for a few hours tomorrow because I have business to attend to, business that I can't do over the telephone" Maskwa said while gently holding Sam's shoulders.

"I already said, I'll be fine" Sam replied.

"I'm not going to come home and find you gone am I?" Maskwa asked worriedly.

"what? why would you think such a thing, I'm not that kind of a person Maskwa in fact I'm a little bit sad that you would think that"

"look, I'm sorry it's just, I'm feeling a little bit insecure here with you talking about leaving" Maskwa replied.

"I'm sorry too ... yes of course I'll be fine, don't worry about me and I'll still be here when you get home, if I was going to leave I would tell you to your face" Sam said.

"ok then, alright, so now we've got that sorted out, let's go and relax together for the rest of the evening, I'm going to miss you tomorrow" Maskwa said.

"the business you have tomorrow, it's not ... dangerous is it?" Sam asked him.

"no, of course not it's as I said, I need to go but Maisie will have difficulty on the uneven rocky ground so rather than risk her hurting herself it's better to ask you to wait for me here" Maskwa replied.

"I'll have my cellphone with me so you can call me if you get lonely or if there is an emergency but the service up here is a little hit and miss" Maskwa said.

"I'll be fine Maskwa, what could possibly happen?" Sam said.

They spent the rest of the evening curled up on the sofa and watched another episode of the drama they had been following.

That night as they held each other close, Maskwa thought about picking the mare up and imagining what Sam's reaction would be when he arrived back home tomorrow. Sam on the other hand was wondering if his business trip had anything to do with the secretive phone calls he had heard him  making.

He couldn't help but be annoyed with himself for behaving so clingy, he had never felt like this before. He was Sam Chalarmsong, supermodel and actor for goodness sake, so what if it turned out that Maskwa wasn't being entirely honest with him, he would survive, wouldn't he?

Both men fell asleep with their own thoughts, one was exhilarated, the other was unsettled and kind of sad but holding it together for the sake of appearances.