The next morning Ian woke up first to find that Samantha had turned in her sleep, she was now facing him. He was able to leisurely take in, enjoy, and appreciate every feature she possessed. Her long eye lashes rested on her mahogany cheek, as he took in the fullness of them, and the small cute button nose. Her beautiful mouth was a perfect medium size that curved into a bow on top, before leading to her soft pink fuller bottom lip.
An overwhelming urge to kiss her consumed him, but he didn't allow himself. Instead he slipped out of bed and walked over to her bathroom, to find a spare toothbrush. As he brushed his teeth he took a long look at himself. His long blond hair was tossed everywhere full of curls, and color. His face held a gruff appearance from the thick blonde scruff adorning his flushed pink cheeks, from a well-rested night of sleep.
Examining his body he saw little pink marks all over his shoulders and chest. Leaning closer he saw that they were scratches everywhere, even on his ass. Laughing, he shook his head, being so pumped up last night made him not notice a thing. The sound of rustling got his attention, so he walked back into the room. To see that Samantha was now awake and sitting up on the side of the bed. She seemed not to notice him, as she sat with half of the sheet wrapped around her, looking out the window.
"Sammy?" He called, walking around the bed to stand in front of her.
Looking up at him, he could see tears in her eyes. Alarmed he went to his knees at her feet. "Baby what's wrong?"
Staring at him for a long moment she tried to control her emotions, but her anger overwhelmed her. Pulling back her fist she brought it forward, yet he saw it coming, and caught it. He didn't however see her left swing following right behind the first, until it was slammed into his jaw.
"Ah fuck! Damn It!" He moaned in agony, holding his cheek. "Sammy why di─"
Another punch to his left cheek cut him off. "You Sleazy fucking asshole!" She shouted.
He glared angrily at her, but she didn't back down. She whipped at her tears roughly. "First you fuck Kriste and every girl you feel the need to, and now you think you can make me a fucking whore for you as well!?" She stood up and looked down on him, as he gaped for words like a fish would out of water. "Ian I refuse to be a slut for you! You won't fuck me whenever you want, because you think you can."
Standing to his feet Ian grasped for words, but Samantha stormed past him. Slamming the door she made sure to lock it, as she started the shower; eager to wash the entire night off. She made sure to scrub her body thoroughly, while steeling her emotions, and thoughts. When she came out of the bathroom, she expected for him to have gotten the point to be gone. Yet Ian sat on the edge of her bed, dressed in his shirt, jeans, and socks.
Seeing her expression Ian rushed to explain. "I just wanted to talk about things, Sammy." He got up, and walked towards her.
"I don't want to talk to you Ian." She couldn't bring herself to look at him, so she walked past him to gather the rest of his things. She found his shoes and his jacket and shoved it at him. "Time for you to go."
Ian gently touched her cheek. Samantha tensed noticeably and tighten her grip on the towel covering her body. She felt nothing as he stared at her lovingly and intensely.
"Sammy, what happened last night was not a mistake, I don't regret it." "The only thing I regret is how I went about it. I should have been sober, and told you how I felt from the start. Then I should have made love to you like you deserved, instead of taking you so hard on your first time." Ian brushed her damp curls behind her ear. "Forgive me Sammy."
Samantha looked at him with dark eyes. "It's over and done with. I won't allow you to do what you want to me like other girls. Sorry but, no. I won't you to leave me alone.
Ian shook his head sadly. "Samantha, like it or not we're intertwined. It's not in me to let things go like this."
"Well good thing I can." She replied. "I have to go to work."
Ian tried to read her expression, trying to gauge her truthfulness. "What? You've never worked on Friday. Annabel has always giving you Fridays off."
"Well damn it. For your information I took someone else's shift. I don't want to be around you, what do you not get?" She asked exasperated.
Ian clenched his teeth and silently put on his shoes and jacket, fuming inside. "You know what? You can have all the space you want. Just remember." He walked to the door. "I care about you, and I want to work on whatever we have going on. You're not a one-time fuck to me, your much more Samantha." He looked at her for a long moment as if he wanted to say more, but ultimately he walked out of the apartment without a backwards glance.
Samantha uncaringly dried off her body and got dressed, in a hip hugging pin skirt with a silk red shirt, and matching black pumps. She pulled back her curls in to a chignon bun, before putting on a subtle eye shadow with a ruby red lipstick. Spritzing a bit of body mist on she grabbed her purse, coat, and rushed out the front door. Rushing to the car she stuffed herself in and checked her phone. She had 10 minutes to get to the little store front boutique 'Stars', located in Charlottesville Historic Downtown Mall. She hit three, and she waited for Annabel to answer.
"Hello?"
"Hey Anna, it's me. I'm on my way to the shop now, I over slept a bit." She explained.
"Ah, it's alright girl. I'll just see you when you get here, Caroline just walked through the door also." Annabel said something to Caroline before she spoke into the phone again. "Don't rush and kill yourself trying to get here Chica, we will manage just fine until you do."
Samantha laughed. "Ok, Anna. Thanks for understanding."
"No problem." Annabel replied, before hanging up. Samantha smiled to herself, glad to have such understanding friends.
Her Beautiful Mulatto friend Annabel was one year older than her 21 years, and they met at an art exhibition at the Fralin museum of art, at their university. From that moment on, they became very close friends. She hung with them constantly, and before long Annabel began to date Ian's friend Andy. After graduating she took control of her sick mothers shop. Striving to make her single mother proud, she not only took over the business but also began the process of expanding. Samantha couldn't begin to describe how proud she was of her friend.
~*~
Finding a parking spot Samantha rushed to the shop. The jiggling bell above the door drew the eyes of Caroline, Annabel, and Maria to her.
"Well, look what the wind blew in." said Caroline sarcastically. "You look... different." She stated, cocking her head to the side. Seeming to observe Samantha closely.
Samantha looked down at her body in confusion, finding nothing out of the ordinary she looked at Annabel, who shrugged her shoulders. "You do seem a bit, different."
Samantha rolled her eyes. "Guy's your being crazy, nothing is different about me. I'm the same as the day before, and the day before that."
Caroline eyed her curiously, for a moment, before going back behind her makeup counter. "If you say so, darling." She chuckled to herself.
Samantha found herself rolling her eyes again, before heading to the backroom. "I'll be in the stock room taking inventory, and filling out the next order."
Annabel nodded. "Thanks babe."
Samantha dropped her things off in the office and grabbed the clipboard, choosing to busy herself with something that could keep her in her own solitude. She worked throughout the morning doing minimal task, and when she had that completed she filled out an order form. Only when that was complete did she go out front to do price checks and help with customers that moseyed through the store. Around 1 o'clock Caroline found her in the office. When she approached her she smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Samantha, you've been working yourself like crazy all morning. Hiding in this room, it's like 1 o'clock and I've only seen you 4 times since this morning. You've haven't even taken a break, have you eaten anything?" She questioned.
Samantha shook her head uncaringly. Caroline shot her a disapproving look, and grabbed her hand, making sure to grab their coats also. Before pulling her to the front of the store, where they saw Annabel looking over the order form Samantha filled out earlier.
"Anna, we'll be back. Miss workaholic here, has been working herself to death on an empty stomach. I'm going to take her to lunch. That cool with you?" Caroline asks.
Annabel looked at Samantha also with a disapproving frown. "Yeah, you guys go ahead. Maria and I can handle the fort, while you guys are out."
Caroline kisses Annabel's cheek before tugging Samantha along. "Be back in 30."
