Chapter Eight

"Good morning!" I said as I walked in inside our office area. Justin looked up from his seat and smiled at me. "Hi, Samantha Stripper! How was dinner last night? Did the two of you ended sleeping in the same bed?" He asked me. His eyes waiting for me to tell him every detail of his fantasy, that is me being divirginized by a guy. I rolled my eyes and said, "John would never do that to me. I mean, he respects me and I do believe that it must be done after marriage." I justified myself as I placed my bag on my table and started wiping my area with alcohol. Justin is sitting opposite to me and he stood up and leaned to look at me closer. "He still didn't do it?" He asked, skeptically. I sighed and looked him straight in the eye, "He is my bestfriend!". I then sat down in my chair and started choosing the journals and articles that I need to read. Justin was still leaning in his table to look at me. I looked back at him and raised an eyebrow. "What?" I asked. "You can't hide it. You're frustrated because he didn't take you to his house." He said laughing, as if trying to tease me. I stood up and smacked his shoulders with a bunch of paper I was holding. "Shut up gay!" I said laughing. Justin was laughing as he sat in his seat and went back to work in interpreting the data of the assay. I sat down and remembered Lorraine and her sad marriage. How come she will pursue the wedding even if the guy doesn't love him? I thought to  myself. 

"So, what happened last night?" Justin asked not taking his eyes from the computer. I took my pink steno notebook from the stack of books in between our tables and I looked at him. "Well, we really didn't have dinner together since his cousin was with us." I said and started reading the article that I choose to read. I heard Justin stopped typing and I looked immediately at him. He was already looking at me and he asked, "Was he cute?" I shrugged. "No! She is a girl. Well, the dinner is kind of a meeting since Lorraine, his cousin, is getting married and she wants me to do the prenup pictorials." I said as I was looking at the article. "Oh, I see. Well, I'm assured that you can pull that off pretty easily." I heard Justin said and I nodded. We were silent for quite sometime because we are so focused with what where doing when I heard Justin ask, "Did you see your handsome, self-centered stranger?" I immediately looked at him and said, "No. Why would you ask?" I asked him back. I then remembered Mike, how he smiled at me and saved me from the pervert. I blushed by the thought of it and Justin laughed. "See? You're blushing. You do like that stranger! Haha!" Justin said teasingly and I just rolled my eyes. "Can we just start doing the things we need to do?" I asked at him rhetorically. He rolled his eyes and started working on analyzing the data again. 

I started reading the article about an experiment in chemodrug resistance but the face of Mike enters my mind. I looked at my hand and remembered how his hands fits perfectly in my hands. I blushed again and my heart skipped a beat. Stop thinking about him, Sam. You'll never again see him. Besides, he's just to handsome for you, okay? I told myself and started concentrating on reading the article. 

***

I sipped from my cup, caffe mocha. Justin was looking at me and I nodded. "Yup, his cousin, Lorraine, was arranged marriage and John was scared that his parents will also decide to do the same." Justin took a sip from his cup and placed it down the table. It was our after duty routine, drinking coffee at our favorite coffe shop, starbucks. I looked out the window and remembered John's worried face. "You said that Matthews Communication was owned by John's grandfather and that he passed it on to his sons, which means John's dad is one of the owners of it right?" Justin looked at me and I nodded. I stirred my cafe mocha with the stirrer and said,"I asked him the same question last night but he didn't answered me." Just then, Justin's phone beeped and he immediately checked the message. I saw him smile and immediately knew that it was his boyfriend. He looked up at me and said, "We need to go home. James just got home and has prepared something for me." He immediately started fixing his bag and I did the same. He took my arm as we  walked out of the coffee shop to go home. 

Justin walked me to the train station and waved goodbye since he only need to take the bus. I waved back as I walked in the train station and bought some ticket. After buying, I sat on the seats, waiting for the train to arrive. I immediately remembered that tomorrow will be the prenup pictorial, I must prepare my camera, I thought to myself. Just then, the train arrived and I climbed in. I sat near the window and remembered I was seating in the same position the night I saw Mike. Maybe, he'll be riding the train tonight. Maybe, I'll see him. I thought. The train started to move and I looked at the stations that the train will be stopping. One more station and Mike might enter the train, I told myself. I immediately tried fixing myself in case Mike might take the train today. After a couple of minutes, the train stopped at the station and I looked at the train door, watching the group of people coming in. Two teenage girls came in and then a group of high school guys followed. I waited to see Mike however, the train door closed.  Why are you so eager to see Mike? I asked myself and then tried thinking of something else. Well, tomorrow, I'll be with John and it will be fun. I said, reassuring myself. 

***

I heard John's car outside so I immediately took my camera bag and the tripod from my room. John was already opening the door and took the tripod and the bag from me. "Hi, Ms. Samantha, I'm John, your personal assistant for today." he said teasingly. I smiled at him and took my bag that was already in the living room. I locked the door of my house and then followed John who was putting my things on the trunk. I climbed in the front seat and flicked the music on. I took my planner and checked the time and place of the pictorial today. John climbed in and started the engine. "Are you ready?" he asked me and I nodded. "I'm excited to do the shoot. The sun is just perfect and the place is wonderful." I said smiling at him. "Okay. Then, let's go. I think Lorraine is already in her house waiting for us." He then started the engine and we took off. 

A couple of minutes later, we were already parking at Lorraine's house and it was huge. Well,actually, it was her parents house but she's the only daughter, so it's still like her house, too. I climbed out of John's car and stared at the house. The entrance has circular pillars and the house was painted white and beige. The landscape was extravagant, with pink and yellow flowers aligned near the entrance. John took my things and signaled me to follow him. I was so speachless to see the house, it was like a mansion. I saw John already knocking at the door and I ran immediately to his side. The door was elegant and the door knob was copper colored like those doors you see in the president's office. The door opened and a uniformed maid was the one who opened it.  When she saw John, she immediately bowed her head and took the bag and the tripod from John. John then refused the maids offer and went in. I was behind him when the maid also bowed her head to me, I bowed my head back to her and she smiled. I smiled back at her and then went after John. "Wait for me." I said to him and he stopped walking to wait for me. 

The inside was huge, with shiny, patterened tile floors and unique figurines everywhere. The light has some yellowish hue that makes me think I was entering a hotel. I heard some noises that seems to be coming in from the living room. John lead me where the noises where and as I looked, it was the living room and there were already people sitting. As we came, Lorraine saw us and stood up. "Here they are!" she said. I suddenly felt nervous because Lorraine was dressed pretty business like. Just then, John hugged Lorraine and the old woman who sat next to Lorraine. I was guessing it was Lorraine's mom when the old woman came to me and shaked my hands. "I'm Matilda, Lorraine's mom." she smiled at me and I smiled back. "I'm Samantha." I said. She then told me to seat in the sofa and I immediately did what she said. John went to the kitchen and I sat at the soft couch and took the opportunity to look at the house. Just then, Lorraine said, "They are here mom." I then heard some voices coming nearer and immediately guessed it was the family of the groom to be. I pretended to look at my phone when I saw Lorraine greeting another old woman and an old man. They must be the groom's parents, I thought to myself. "Where is he?" Matilda asked the old woman and she replied with a smile, "He's just coming in." Just then, we heard footsteps coming in nearer and I was so curious to see who the groom will be. John gave me my bag and I took my camera out. I tried adjusting the camera lense when I heard a familiar voice said, "Good afternoon everyone." 

I looked up immediately to see who it was. My heart then skipped a beat, my eyes widened, and I blushed. Lorraine looked at me and John and said, "Meet Mike Smith, my fiance."

Mike, is the groom? Please no! I thought.