Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Oblivious to the bustle going on in the busy terminal, and the cold metal of the seat pressed against her back, Sam sat alone, lost in an internal battle.

Ryan had walked off towards the arrivals gate, tactfully leaving her alone to her thoughts and for that, she was grateful. His presence left her twisted up in a confusing web of desire, making it impossible to think logically.

And logic was desperately needed, because she needed to somehow convince her own self to be happy he'd promised to stop making moves on her. She finally got what she wanted since the night at the club; for Ryan to back off and leave her alone. So, why was this victory bittersweet?

It's what she wanted, ever since that disaster of their first time together when she realized the man she'd crushed and lusted after, bore far too many scars and issues to have any semblance of a healthy relationship.

A shrill sound broke into her thoughts. With a tired sigh, she pulled out her phone and glanced at the screen to see an unknown number.

"Hello?"

There was a rustling at the other end as though papers were being shuffled then a warm male voice spoke.

"Ah, hello." The voice held a hint of hesitation, as though it's owner was uncertain he had the right person on the other end. "Am I speaking with Sameera Bhaat?"

"Yes, this is she."

"Ms. Bhaat, my name is Vihaan Patel, and I'm calling on behalf of my grandmother, Milli Patel."

Eyebrows scrunched, Sam repeated the name in her mind, searching for a connection with someone she knew. It sounded familiar, but for the life of her, she couldn't recall knowing anyone with that name enough to be anticipating a call.

"Okay,” she said, wariness heavy in her tone.

“I have the names of your brother and yourself on the guest list, and would like to confirm your attendance next week so we can finalize accommodation arrangements?”

“I’m sorry, what guest list?” Bewildered by the strange conversation, she couldn’t help wondering if this was one of those scam calls and tried to trick one into giving out personal information.

She heard an impatient sigh on the other end. “The wedding, Ms. Bhaat.”

What on earth was he talking about? What wedding? Far as she knew, no one of her acquaintances had a wedding coming up, plus she had no idea who this man was for her to even think of attending his wedding.

A conversation with a certain someone floated to the forefront of her memory and she stilled, eyes widening in horror as realization dawned.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” she blurted out, drawing looks from passersby.

Too flustered to care about the attention, she concentrated on the ridiculousness of the situation. The email with the list of names came to mind and she cursed under her breath, remembering where she'd seen his name. He was potential marriage match numero uno!

The promising bachelor with the doting grandmother and the sister whose wedding her mother had tried to coerce her into attending in order to meet said promising bachelor. The same one she'd told her mother she'd call but had conveniently forgotten until now. Her mother had mentioned procuring an invitation, but since Sam had made it clear she had no intention of going, she’d wrongfully assumed the matter settled, but apparently, Parvati had neglected to inform her cohort in crime – most likely this Milli person – of her decision.

Though, on second thoughts, perhaps that had been a deliberate move on her mother’s part. She’d probably schemed with her accomplice to come up with the ruse to get Vihaan to contact her instead. That sneaky, scheming woman!

What was the penalty for matricide again?

“I assure you Ms. Bhaat, I’m not kidding about this.” At the other end, Vihaan sounded affronted. A mental image of a stodgy man, wearing a frown filled her mind. “Could you please confirm your attendance?”

After several deep breaths to clear murderous thoughts, she composed herself to some semblance of normal.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Patel, but there seems to be some misunderstanding going on. I have already declined the invitation several weeks back, but it looks like the message wasn’t passed along to your family.”

Inwardly, she cursed her mother for putting her in this awkward situation. Someone was going to get an earful of her wrath today.

“I see.” From his tone, it was obvious he didn’t see, not one bit. “Well, in that case, my apologies for bothering you, Ms. Bhaat.”

The line went dead and Sam heaved a shaky sigh, resisting the urge to just throw her head back and scream. Today was fast taking over as the crappiest day ever, what with Ryan and his yoyo emotional episodes, being unwilling dragged along to pick up a woman she wasn’t thrilled to be meeting, and now this. If she’d known what kind of day she would be having, she would never have set foot out of bed.

What promised to be a crushing migraine was already well on its way, and would you know it, she’d left the painkillers on her desk, her stomach was protesting the amount of wine downed at the museum, which probably was the cause of the headache in the first place.

She inhaled and her lungs filled with a heady masculine scent. Her eyes fell on the damp, discarded suit jacket lying on the seat beside her – the source of the all too familiar scent. The material was soaked from the rain, the result of Ryan’s attempt at chivalry when he’d suggested she take the umbrella, while he made a dash for shelter.

Dismissing the idea, she’d insisted on sharing it with him, and even now, her shoulders still tingled in awareness at the feel of his arm, drawing her close to his heat as they power walked together through the rain.

Sam shook her head at the thought of the contrast between nice Ryan and nasty Ryan. How could a guy be so…considerate in one moment and in the next, was hurling insults her way? How could the same mouth that kissed so gloriously also be the source of words that caused the heart to bleed?

She glanced towards the gate, easily spotting Ryan where he stood waiting with others for the passengers of the flight still taxiing its way to a stop. He’d rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, exposing nicely defined forearms, hands thrust in pants pocket, hair falling in damp curls around his ears and neck. He was currently staring out the tarmac, watching the plane but, as though he could sense her gaze, he turned around and their eyes met and held.

Tingles of desire ran down her spine, in spite of the distance and she was the first to look away, silently chiding her weak resolve, and her body’s response to this man. Still hyper aware of his stare, she picked up her phone and in an attempt to look busy, fired off a text to Dee.

Having THE worst day ever, send help.

Dee’s reply was a cute kitten gif that made Sam feel slightly better.

I could show up at the office with some comfort food. Would that help?

Not in the office rn, I’m at the airport. With him. To pick up his mother.

Her phone vibrated in her grasp. With a resigned sigh, she answered the call.

“What?” The single word contained a wealth of questions.

Her spine had stopped tingling and she hazarded another glance in his direction. The passengers had begun to disembark and his attention was fixed on the gate. She turned hers back to the waiting Dee.

“I don’t have much time, so I’m only going to give the condensed version.” she replied, watching the gate with one eye.

“Fine, just get on with it already.”

“We had a business lunch with a client, there was a traffic jam later so he couldn’t drop me back at the office and now we’re waiting on his mother together. Oh and, he said he likes me, but promised to back off from flirting with me.”

There was a brief silence as Dee absorbed her explanation. Finally, she spoke. “Wow! Okay…I’m dying to know the full details of that last part, but… just wow.”

A tall middle aged blonde emerged from beyond the gate, caught sight of Ryan, who waved and headed over. Mother and son shared a hug and some murmured words.

“I gotta go, Dee.” Sam told her friend.

“Okay, I’ll see you at your place this evening.” Dee replied, “And Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful. I know you like this guy, but don’t let that cloud your judgement. Okay?”

“Says the woman who practically threw me at him the other day.” Sam joked, then sobered. “But I hear you.”

“Good. Love ya.”

“Love you too.” With a wistful smile, she ended the call and looked up just in time to see mother and son already within earshot.

Her eyes caught Ryan’s just in time to see something flicker in their depths, though his expression was carefully neutral. Her gaze slid to the woman on his right who was an older, feminine version of him, save for shrewd, dark blue eyes instead of grey that were currently studying Sam with an unnerving intensity, her expression closed off.

Sam rose, palms suddenly clammy under their stares.

“Hello, Mrs. Silverton,” her voice was mercifully steady, belying the internal nervous wreck. “I trust you had a good trip?”

Ryan’s lips quirked and he glanced at his mom, who was still silent, watching Sam. “Actually, it’s Wilson, not Silverton. Mom, this is Sam.”

Sam felt her face flood with color. Seriously? This dude couldn’t have mentioned this like…say… any time before now? She shot him a glare and he had the good grace to look ashamed.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” she sent an apologetic look at his mother, who was now watching the silent exchange, eyes glittering in amusement. Mrs. Silver – er – Wilson merely laughed and before Sam could understand what was happening, enveloped her in a boisterous embrace.

What is happening?

“Never mind that,” Mrs. Wilson chuckled, still holding onto Sam in a bone crushing grip. “I prefer Kelsey, anyway. And it’s so sweet you came with this idiot to meet me.”

While Sam was struggling to absorb all this, Mrs. Wilson held her at arm’s length and gave her the once over, eyes sparkling, before turning to her son.

“You sneaky devil!” she chortled, tucking Sam by her side, no easy feat since Sam towered over the woman in her heels, but somehow, she managed it.

“I was sure you were going to drag your sister along to distract me from giving you a well deserved ass whooping, but bringing your girlfriend? That, I never expected. Brilliant!”

Sam froze, shock turning her blood to the consistency of molasses. “What?”

“Decided to go for the opposite end of the color spectrum, eh?” Kelsey snickered. “I’m happy either way to see you finally getting involved again, and she’s stunning to boot.”

A glance at Ryan showed him just as pole axed by the news. Sam managed to extricate herself from Kelsey’s grasp and used her new found freedom to step on Ryan’s foot.

Hard

The pain was enough to jolt him back to reality. With a strangled yelp, he shot Sam a pained look, receiving an icy glare in return and a nudge of her head towards his mother.

You fix this, now.

He grimaced at the task, one hand reaching up to pinch the skin between his eyebrows as though battling with a headache.

“Mom, Sam isn’t my girlfriend,” he heaved an exasperated sigh. “We’re co-workers.”

“Oh, is that what you trendy people are calling it these days?” Kelsey looked unconvinced, glancing from one to the other, brows raised sceptically. “Fancy bringing a ‘co-worker’ along to meet your mother. I feel honoured.”

“Technically, she’s my boss.” he muttered.

“Mrs. Wilson, we’re not dating.” Sam felt compelled to add, certain her entire face was a mass of red. “We’re just co-workers and believe me; unavoidable circumstances caused me to be here. We didn’t plan for this.”

“What do you mean, she’s your boss?” Kelsey’s smile faded to be replaced by befuddlement.

“She’s the one Dad hired in my place.”