During lunch I did most of the talking. Samuel would ask me a question and then I would try to answer the best I could. Most of the conversation was about my family and how they would treat me . Our meals had arrived thirty minutes after we ordered. Apparently Shrimp Ala Scoundrel meant two small shrimp, a few noodles, and some kind of Cajun seasoning. My heart sunk at the sight of the plate in front of me. I love food, and this right here wasn’t even considered a snack. I could finish off this meal in maybe four bites or less.
Did Samuel bring me here knowing that they serve small portions? Is he trying to make me lose weight to?
“What is wrong?” His eyes were focused on me. I guess he was trying to figure out what I was thinking. I can’t let him know that my heart just broke over the disappointment sitting in front of me.
“Nothing is wrong.” I cut the shrimp into smaller pieces. I can probably make it seem more satisfying if I eat it really slow.
“You are not a very good liar.” He leaned forward in his chair to get closer to me. “Tell me why it looks as if someone killed your puppy.”
“You will laugh.” I stated. Of course he will. The fat girl sad because she can’t have more food. Everyone would laugh.
“I can’t promise that I won’t, but I can try to refrain from laughing.” Such an honest answer, from such a terrifying man.
I hesitantly told him why I had become sad all of the sudden. “The…the portions…are extremely small.” I held my head down in shame. I didn’t hear him laugh, or even breathe out, I just heard silence on his side of the table. I jumped when I felt his hand lay upon my knee.
“Look at me.” My head shot up, only to see that he had a strange look in his eyes. “You may be my assistant, but I also want you to be happy. If you are hungry, let me know. If you are tired, let me know. If you feel as if you need a haircut, let me know. I may be your boss, but I do care, Sarah.”
“Why? Why act like such a jerk, and then try to be so nice and say you care?” He tilt his head to the side, in thought about what I just said.
“As I said before, I like you. You are different from my other assistants. You intrigue me. You test my patience. You have brought something new to my office, and I have yet to figure it out. You make me second guess some of my choices. You, Sarah, have only been in New York for a few days, and you have already began changing the way I think. My life has become slightly boring these past several years, and then you show up and bring something new to the table.” This man had just completely shocked me. No one has ever said something like that to me. “Speechless?” I nodded. “Finish your wine while I pay, then we can go to McDonald’s to get you a more appetizing meal.” Samuel waived a finger in the air, and within seconds our waiter was at our table. Samuel handed the waiter his credit card, and the waiter walked off with it without saying a word. “If you will excuse me, I need to run to the restroom before we leave.” I watched Samuel’s figure disappear behind some curtains as he headed to the restroom.
I can’t believe that he said all of that to me. I’m not even sure what to think. My head was beginning to pound with a strong headache. I glanced towards the restrooms to make sure Samuel wasn’t coming back, and then I reached over the table and grabbed what was left of his wine and chugged it.
“Thirsty?” A deep and sexy voice interrupted my thoughts. Standing right beside me was an extremely good looking man. His dark eyes were fixated on me. Although he was good looking, there was something about him that screamed ‘run.’ “You must be Samuel’s new flavor of the week.” He sat down in Samuel’s seat.
“Excuse me?” I coughed while I choked on the wine that I had just chugged.
“His flavor of the week. He has a new one every seven days.” The man leaned back in the chair and became a little more relaxed. “I must say, I never thought of Samuel as a…thick loving man.” What in the hell did this man say to me?
“I don’t know who you are, but I think it would be best if you would leave this table.” I tried my best not to give him a ‘go to hell’ look, but I’m pretty sure I was failing.
“Forgive me, I am Nicholi. I am an old friend of Samuel’s.” He reached out his hand for me to shake it. I didn’t want to seem like a bitch, so I placed my much smaller hand into his. However, instead of shaking my hand like I had expected him to, he brought it to his lips and placed a kiss on my hand. For a brief second I thought he had sniffed my hand, but it must have been my mind playing tricks on me. He finally let go of my hand, and I quickly placed it in my lap. This man was not only pissing me off, but he also scares me more than Samuel does. “Tell me, is he able to handle so much woman?”
No he just did not. “I would advise you to leave now, unless you wish to be embarrassed. I can go from calm to bitch in 0.5 seconds.” I said just low enough that he could hear me. If I’m not mistaken, it looked as if his eyes flashed a dark red for a brief second. Maybe it was all the lights in here playing a trick on my eyes.
“Feisty little thing, aren’t we? I thought Samuel liked his women well behaved.” He seemed to be amused.
“I’m not sure what you are talking about. I am just the assistant.” This time I made sure I was giving him the dirtiest look I could muster up.
“Assistant? Samuel never takes his assistants to lunch. You must be special.”
“Once again, I do not know what you are trying to say, but please leave me alone. I’m warning you, Bitch Mode is just around the corner.”
He laughed. Not the sexy chuckle like Samuel’s or the comforting laugh of Jacob’s, but a scary laugh that made my guts tighten up from fear. “Are you threatening me? I like you. Maybe I should hire you as my…assistant. How much does he pay you?”
“That isn’t any of your business, Nicholi.” The sound of Samuel’s voice relieved me. I wanted to jump up and wrap my arms around him, but I know he wouldn’t like that very much.
“I was just having a very interesting conversation here with Ms…” He paused for me to tell him my name.
“Flowers.” Samuel said for me.
Nicholi smirked while looking at me. “Such a sweet name for such a sweet woman.” Holy cow, this man is creepy.
“She is off limits.” Samuel grabbed my hand and pulled me up from my seat. The touch of his cold smooth hand made me shiver, not because I didn’t like it, but because it sent tingles up my spine. If this man touched me more often I would probably die from all the feelings he is giving me.
“Come on, old friend. You can find a different assistant.”
“I swear to you, if you lay one finger on her, I will kill you.” I slid my hand out of his and took a step back. The look these two men were giving each other, made me fear for my own life.
“It is not wise of you to be making such threats. Especially ones you know you cannot follow through with.” Nicholi took a step toward Samuel, making the gap between them much smaller. Every eye in the room was now staring at us. I could feel the heat in my cheeks from the embarrassment.
“Will the two of you stop? Everyone is staring.” Somehow I found the courage to interrupt these two scary ass men.
“Yes, we can finish this conversation some other time. It was nice to meet you Ms. Flowers. I will be seeing you again.” Over my dead body. I will do everything in my power to avoid seeing him again. Nicholi just gave a strange look to Samuel, then walked away to a table on the opposite side of the restaurant. At this table sat five other men who looked just as terrifying as Nicholi. Every one of them was looking at me.
“Please can we leave?” I pleaded with him. I don’t want to be in the same room as them.
“Of course.” Samuel grabbed his credit card off the table. I’m not even sure when the waiter had brought it back, but somehow I had missed it. I jumped when he placed his hand at the small of my back. “Come on. I’ll explain what just happened in the car.”
Samuel led me out of the restaurant, not once did his hand leave my back. I felt like I was going to melt from this man’s touch. Just like before he opened the car door for me, and I got in. He quickly made his way around the car and got into the driver’s seat.
“Now, are you going to tell me what in the hell just happened?”
***Author’s Note***
A new character!!!
Fill in the blank. (Nicholi is ………. )
His picture is on the sidelines.
HUGS AND KISSES
TO MY MISTERS AND MISSES