BEST FRIEND’S BROTHER

Frowning, Samson stared quizzically between the two ladies. Something wasn’t right, he probably thought. However, he seemed to have absolutely no idea on what was going on.

“Well, too bad. I’d love to continue chatting but we need to go home.” Sasha stood up, fixing the big, black shirt she was wearing. She liked it because it hid her growing bump pretty well.

“Home?” Claire flushed.

“Yeah, that’s what I said.” Sasha huffed a small laugh, imagining the ideas lurching in Claire’s mind as though she lived in it. Perhaps Samson had become her lover in the her psyche. How silly!

“Sure, that’s no problem with me.” Claire smiled. “We can always finish where we stopped, Sasha. Good evening to you both.”

Where they stopped? What was the meaning of that? Sasha was alerted.

“Good evening to you, too,” she replied and Claire left with a curt nod.

“Let’s go?” Samson asked softly. Sasha nodded and both made an exit.

Outside Sasha exhaled heavily as though she’d been holding her breath forever. Her heart was racing in her chest, guilt-charged. How could she talk to Claire like that? She walked pensively towards Samson’s car, pondering. Really she had turned into a bitch.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

But was she going to give up on Kaleb? No, she was supposed to have let him go him by now! Chaos invaded her heart and brain, waging war. Claire’s tone of voice was full of sarcasm earlier. She was being nasty without being vulgar. Could it be that she knew about Kaleb and her?

“Is everything okay?” Samson asked, derailing her training of thoughts.

“Huh?” she gasped.

Samson narrowed his eyes. “I’m asking if you’re okay, because you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he repeated, laughing indulgently.

God! Now she was being obvious, wasn’t she? “Oh, yeah, I am okay.” Her smile was elusive.” They both hopped in and the ride commenced.

“Who was that lady earlier? You two seemed to know each other, but then you looked like enemies,” Samson, who had been silent the entire time in contemplation, finally spoke.

Sasha giggled at that, amused despite the trouble she was in. “Why would you think we’re enemies?” she asked, glancing at him.

Samson shrugged, his expression soft. “I don’t know. I just sensed some kind of . . . tension?” he remarked, and

Sasha winced. He chuckled. “Well, I feel like I’ve seen her before. Who is she?”

“I think you have,” Sasha answered, reclining back in her seat with a sigh. “Her name is Claire. She works with Kaleb as a director or something? I don’t know.”

“Oh,” Samson muttered thoughtfully.

“Yeah, but I’ve only met her recently,” Sasha said vaguely.

“And yet you two looked like rivals?” Samson grinned.

“Oh please,” said Sasha, flushing. “I’m not sure what you saw to think that way, but I assure you it’s not. Why would we be?”

Because she was sleeping with her man? Her subconscious wasn’t dumb not to remind her.

“Okay.” Samson called it off and another moment of silence took place until they pulled into a traffic jam.

“Do you have a girlfriend, Samson?” Sasha suddenly asked him.

He looked startled. “Um, no. I had one a year ago though, but things weren’t working out so we broke up. What about you?” he asked with a smile.

“Me?” Sasha chucked ridiculously. “I don’t think I have one. I mean, I don’t have one,” she said.

What a complex life she had! She mentally laughed at herself.

“I don’t get it.” Samson laughed briefly. “You sound like you’re not sure or something. Is it a complicated kind of relationship? Because I know such things exist.” He was ingenuous about it.

Perhaps a sex partner, Sasha thought, and his name was Kaleb.

“It’s not complicated, I just don’t have one.” She decided to be subtle.

“That’s odd,” Samson murmured under his breath. “Are all the guys in your life blind or something?”

“Samson!” Sasha exclaimed, and he laughed hard. “You’re one of the guys in my life, Samson”

“Yeah I know” he replied, “And I’m not blind. I’ve been wanting to ask you out on a date for sometime but I guess I didn’t have the guts,”

Sasha looked stunned, and Samson chuckled, but he continued speaking, “I would have done that some months ago… At Kaleb’s party, but then I saw the both of you together and…. Ermmm… It looked like something was going on… So I backed off… Stupid move, I know but you looked so… Into him that I felt like I didn’t have a chance,”

Sasha was stunned. She had never imagined that Samson liked her that way. Guess Kaleb was right, “Oh, I’m so sorry, Samson. I had no idea” she said.

“It’s alright, Sasha, don’t get me wrong,” he told her. “I’m fine.” His voice was serious.

“Sure?”

“Yes. Trust me, I am. You’re smart, you’re beautiful and most of all . . . you’re kind. Any reasonable man would want to have you and Kaleb should know he’s lucky to have you,” He smiled softly.

“I’m flattered, I guess,” Sasha uttered, recalling similar words coming from Kaleb. She was definitely missing him. Unbidden, the day she kissed Kaleb for the first time flashed in her mind. Would things be different if she’d controlled her hormones that evening? She wondered, imagining her previous life before things got out of hand with him.

“I guess since you know all that… You also know that I’m….”

“Pregnant?” Samson completed for her with a smile, “Yeah I know. I know that’s the reason why you’re putting on that big ass shirt, and now that I think about that lady at the restaurant, I’m thinking the tension between the both of you had something to do with Kaleb?”

Sasha buried her face in her hands. She could hear Samson chuckling beside her.

“Relax, Sasha” said Samson when she lifted her head again, “I’m very happy for you… And Kaleb.”

Sasha returned his smile, “Thank you” she replied softly.

At last they arrived at her home. Sasha said goodbye to Samson with a hug. She intended to rush into her room for a warm and relaxing bath. It’d been one hell of a mental exhaustion for a day, especially after seeing Claire at the restaurant.

Samson drove away and she headed to the front door of her apartment. As she tried to push the key into lock, the door opened from inside. Kaleb stood in front of her… An angry look on his face.

“Where the hell have you been?” he asked her.