Chapter 7
After 2 hours of non-stop interrogating of Danny, they couldn't get much out of him. Either he really is lost in grief for the loss of his little star or he's a really good actor. Nonetheless, with Sam and some of the other members of her team getting weary from the long, hard, day, they know they can't hold up much longer and it's better to call it a night rather than show signs of weakness to their hostage. With a general vote and acceptance from their Chief, Sam and the team decide to hold Danny on basis of dealing in underage prostitution and then question him tomorrow.
Cranking her sore neck, Sam enters her apartment, flicking on the lights and locking the door, just as her mobile starts ringing. With a groan and wonder at who the heck could be ringing at this time of night, she fishes out the phone and accepts the call without checking the caller ID.
"Hello?"
"We're going on a date. 7 o'clock, this Friday, I'll-"
"Woah! Slow down there Speedy Gonzalez. One, thanks for asking. And two, I may be working," she cries snapping as switches flick in her brain as to who it is calling her and what he wants.
"Fine. I'll move it to Saturday night," he replies simply.
"Adrian..." sighs Sam, the fatigue of the night getting to her, "can we talk about this later?"
"We're talking about it now," he retorts.
"Not anymore," snaps Sam hanging up the phone and switching it off so that he won't bother her for the short remainder of the night. Too tired for anything else, Sam makes sure she's locked the doors well, before stripping off her clothes and climbing into bed-screw the shower, she'll have one in the morning, sleep comes first.
Her wake-up call comes in the form of knocks on the front door. Groaning into her pillow, Sam reluctantly flops off her bed and shrugs on an oversized t-shirt because her delivery boy's a teenager which of course means his hormones are ape-shit crazy and she does not need to be flashing him anything accidently.
She trudges to the front door and unlocks the door, opening it just a crack and leaving the chain still on. In her neighbourhood there's no telling what could happen and although she's sure she could take the neighbourhood thugs, she won't tempt fate. She tilts her upper body out to view her visitor and to her great surprise it's not her delivery boy but her apparent man.
"What are you doing here, so early?" she asks her crankiness from being worn up so early, slipping through.
"Well seeing as you didn't want to talk last night, and you hung up on me. I figured this would the best way to carry on our conversation without me fearing you'll hang up on me again," he coldly says.
"...You won't leave will you?" she flatly states rolling her eyes.
"Not until we discuss a few matters," he replies.
"Fine," she mutters adding to herself that she is so not ready to do this sleep-deprived. But she knows he's a persistent bugger and perhaps it's better to just get it over with.
Adrian nods, his hand slamming on the door though as she goes to close it. His anger spikes, is she really going to be this juvenile?
"What are you doing? Are you really going to-"
"Calm down! Jeez, let me go get changed into something decent and then you can come in," she explains with another eye roll. As his hand on the door slackens, she closes it and trots to her bedroom to add a bra and sweatpants to her ensemble of clothes.
Adrian stands outside with his mind feeling like it's just been turned upside down. It starts connecting dots and adding things up, just as always. Sam was tired last night, she came in late and this morning, she's tired, she's scantily dressed wearing only an oversized t-shirt...a male's perhaps. Maybe it's her victory prize from the night's conquest. Or maybe it's one of the many she has from her previous conquests. A part of him feels indifference, another feels disgust and another...no, he won't go there, he won't label that feeling because no good will come out of it. Adrian manages to trample that emotion down just as the door is swung open and the dull yellow peeling wallpaper of the hallways is revealed.
He carefully strides inside, noting the confines of the place as well as the numerous problems with it. He's wordlessly led into the lounge which although is greatly large relative to the hallway, is not actually that spacious. A tatty brown couch is pushed against one wall, facing the old TV with a VCR player underneath it. Christ, a VCR seriously? He thinks to himself. He hasn't seen those since...wow, he can't even remember the last time he's seen one of them. The carpet isn't in too great of a condition either, with the was-white now a faded cream colour and a lot of it fraying. Even in this room the wallpaper's low quality and although it's an eggshell colour to try make the room seem more spacious, it doesn't do exactly do a brilliant job. A few more bits of furniture and ornaments adorn the room but nothing too spectacular or fancy.
"Have a seat," she offers referring to the couch. Ade gently eases down onto it, grimacing as the springs creak and groan. He's half afraid that one of them would just pop out now and stab him in the ass; however it seems his wondrous mate doesn't share the same concern, as she easily flops next to him, apparently deaf to the protests of the old couch.
"Oh, wait, do you want something to drink?" she asks, remembering basic hostess etiquette, even though she doesn't exactly want him here, it's a matter of principle. Still it has been so long since she's had anyone other than her friends over that she's almost forgotten all these hostess rules her mother tried to drill into her.
"No..thankyou," he declines.
"Alright, so why are you here exactly?" she straight-out asks twisting to face him.
"What were you doing last night? Or should I say whowere you doing last night?" he icily questions. Sam's jaw slackens-ohhhh, he did not just ask her that.
"Just what is that supposed to mean?" she spits with the same coldness.
Adrian gives a small raise of his eyebrows which for some reason annoys the crap out of Sam, "although we have not discussed other...partners, I strongly request that there not be any. I do not need my family or anyone else for that matter, questioning the father of the child."
Sam has to dig her fingers into the couch to stop herself for socking him right across the jaw. What an a-hole. As if she's...she's one of those kinds of women!
"For your information, Mr High and Mighty, I haven't had sex in years, nor do I or have I had 'friends with benefits', 'acquaintances with benefits' or casual flings in all that time. So next time you imply something like that, get your facts right," she venomously snaps.
The anger bubbles in her, so hot and red, that she actually feels her tear ducts kicking into gear. She'll be damned if she lets him see her cry though, so with a quiet whisper that she's making herself a cup of tea, Sam pads into the adjoining kitchen of the open plan lounge.
As the kettle is slammed down and the flick switched, she feels Adrian behind her, leaning against the breakfast bar.
"I apologise," he quietly states, "I shouldn't have insinuated that despite the evidence-"
"Evidence? What evidence?" cries Sam spinning around to see him leant against the counter with his arms folded across his expansive chest.
"You answered your phone late last night, sounding tired. You woke up tired this morning and you were barely dressed. For a young woman such as yourself, I don't find it too hard to believe you would have been entertaining a companion last night," he lists.
Sam's shoulders tense and she has to keep repeating to herself to keep calm as she pours the hot water into the mug. Quickly completing the task, she can savour the soothing taste of the first sip before feeling like she can deal with her most recent problem.
"Well for future reference. I'm not that kind of woman. And FYI I was working last night," she reports. Ade looks at her for a moment before glancing away. He knows she's probably exaggerating about the whole sex thing. A woman like her-with that much fire-she'd be a hellcat in bed and no way would she not have men on the sidelines begging for a turn.
"Unbelievable," mutters Sam with a sigh.
Ade gazes back at her waiting for her to elaborate, she does so with a heavy sigh.
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"Not in the slightest," he states back, "but I don't care about your past relations. What matters to me are your ones in the present.-"
"I don't have any! Alright?! Happy?! Christ, you think if I had men lining up for me, I'd put myself through the torture of being with you?" she snaps feeling a stab of guilt from her words but she shakes it away. She's allowed to be mean to him-he's like that with her, so it's only fair he gets to realise he's not the only one suffering.
Adrian considers her words in silence for a minute. Unusually for him, her last sentence causes him to feel a splinter of pain. Is he honestly that bad? Perhaps...probably. His last girlfriend did say how he was always too cold and unfeeling before she broke up with him. Maybe that's what Sam thinks. Or at least what she will after they're through and she'll never want to see him again. It doesn't matter, he reminds himself. It doesn't matter as long as he has his child.
"But wait, if I'm not allowed any 'partners' then neither are you," she states, stance guarded and fully expecting an argument about this. However, much to her surprise one does not come.
"Agreed," he states.
"W-wait..What?" blinks Sam in shock.
"I agree. This is to a mutual relationship between only the two of us until the birth of the child, of course."
"Y-yeah...of course....So, is that all you wanted to talk about?" she asks still a little dazed by his compliance.
"No. I-" he breaks off for a moment trying to find the words escaping him at the moment of truth, "I believe it is customary to go on...dates in order to...get to know each other?"
Sam bites her lip to try containing her laughter. This has to by far be the most awkward way she's been asked out on a date and she's had her fair share of weird, crazy, requests.
"Yeah, dates are quite common," she shrugs in agreement watching him squirm internally from her response. Then suddenly his eyes narrow momentarily as he latches onto the fact she's messing with him.
"I'm glad you agree. So this Friday I'll text you the add-"
"Woah. Hold on there! You realise you haven't actually asked me on a date yet, right?"
"...It was implied-"
"Adrian," 'patiently' calls Sam. Ade rolls his eyes and gives a short sigh.
"Fine. Miss Torres, may I court you this fine Friday evening?" he stiffly asks clearly mocking her. Sam just gives a smug grin back.
"You may, Mr Carter....But! I pick the restaurant and the time," she deals.
He looks at her hesitantly, "Time. You can pick time-"
"Nope. My turn, Ade, you picked that stuffy restaurant for our last encounter-"
"That's 'stuffy restaurant' has 3 Michelin Stars-"
"Don't you think gold stars is a little kindergarten?" she teases.
He gives her a cold stare but Sam can see past it to the corners of his twitching lips.
"Fine," he agrees, "you can pick the restaurant and time. At least then you will be texting me instead of me always having to contact you."
"Alright and er.. glad you could you see it my way," smirks Sam knowing full well she's pissing her mate off, but that's the fun part.
He gives a small growl of irritation before a curt nod, "well then, since that's been cleared up, I need to get to work."
"Sure, and I'll be going back to bed," she smiles, her thoughts lusting over the few more hours of sleep she'll be getting before her shift starts.
The corners of Adrian's lips curl ever-so slightly into an amused smile. Now if only she would invite him to join her. As soon as the thought enters his mind, Ade suppresses it down. But as he exits the apartment he re-evaluates that thought. Why should he not accept his lust for her? She's hot. Goddamn it, she's fucking smoking! With those curvy hips and that beautiful, big ass, how could he not be attracted to that (in a strictly primal way, of course)? When they consummate he will have to make sure to take her at least once from behind, he muses to himself. With that resounding promise to himself, Ade tries to force all thoughts of his mate to the back of his mind and onto work.
Sam allowed herself the luxury of one more hour of sleep before images of her mate fills her head. They return back to that picture she saw on the internet of him half-naked and looking so sinful. That image is contrasted with the one she can remember of him standing in her kitchen looking equally as sinful in his suit.
Sam shouldn't be attracted to him-she just shouldn't, because he's not her type. She likes bad boys, the ones with tattoo sleeves and motorbikes or at least she's always thought she does. Now her goddamn libido seems to prefer stone cold men in slim fit suits with bright blue piercing eyes.
Why?! Why?! She asks herself, groaning into her pillow. Why can she just not be the mate to someone else, anyone else?!
A/n short but meh, that's all I could do this week. How are we (not) liking Ade? More on the 'case' next chapter and bit more talk with her friends. I'm building up to the exciting stuff, don't worry :P Thanks for reading, enjoy your week.
Next upload: Next Saturday, maybe....
xxx