Serendipity - A Chance Encounter 65 Marrying Kira.

Daniel's brows raised, "????... ?????"

Little Jacob pursed his lips, pushed Daniel's hand off Samantha's shoulder and glared at him. "Kira. She's my wife. Only I can hug her.", he declared before he wrapped his tiny arms around Samantha's neck.

Samantha found Jacob's actions so adorable, she glanced at Daniel and saw his dark expression.

"Little boy-", Before Daniel could finish his sentence, Samantha nudged his side gently as if to remind him that Jacob is just a child.

"Jakey, don't be rude... His name is Daniel. Be nice to him."

Only then did little Jacob changed his expression into a friendly one. "Hi."

Samantha chuckled, "This is Jacob."

"Hmm.", hummed Daniel. "Why does he call you his wife?", Daniel couldn't help but dwell on that word. 'How could this little creature claim Samantha as his wife? She's mine!'

Jacob beamed, "When I grow up, I will marry Kira! So she's my wife!", he said as he hugged Samantha tightly.

"Jacob!", A man's voice called the little boy's name from afar.

He wiggled his way out of Samantha and she let him down. "I gotta go, Kira! Daddy's calling me."

"Okay, Jakey..!"

"Promise you'll come tomorrow?"

"I promise.", Samantha ruffled his hair.

Jacob looked up to Daniel, "You can come too. Bye!", he said shyly before he ran off to his father.

Daniel chuckled at the cute little boy despite being annoyed by him.

"You sure have a lot of suitors.", Daniel glanced at the woman beside him.

Samantha laughed heartily which made Daniel's heart flutter. "I can't believe you would be jealous over a child, Mr. Cho. What has the world come to?", she said before she walked away.

"Who's jealous? I'm not jealous!", he followed Samantha from behind and pulled her under his arm again. "Don't walk too far from me, it's dangerous."

Samantha eyed Daniel and sighed. The two of them walked around some more and looked at trinkets and souvenirs along the shopping district without speaking to each other so much. Kai, River, and Chelsea met up with them later that afternoon before they bid farewell to each other.

They walked back to their cars and Samantha turned to Daniel, "You go ahead. I have to drop by the supermarket to buy some things."

"I'll go with you. I don't have anything else to do anyway."

Samantha didn't reply and just got in her car. When they got to the supermarket, she first got some food and daily necessities before she went to the wine section. Daniel followed her around and picked up some stuff for himself as well. He helped her choose a bottle of wine and he got another when he thought he can't show up empty handed tomorrow. After paying for their groceries, they headed home.

Later that evening, Samantha couldn't sleep so she decided to go out and laze on the back porch. She thought about what happened during the day and then her mind was filled with Daniel. She sighed as she reminisced about their past... what could have happened if she didn't run away, what could have happened if she was stronger. But because she felt so broken, it was very difficult for her to continue being around everyone and feel guilty about everything all the time.

She had a lot of what ifs, what if... she wasn't able to save Hannah that night? What would've happened to her? What if her brother died in that accident? And it's all because of what she did that put her brother in danger... and her thoughts went to Mia again. She can't go back in time and undo everything that she did. And... Daniel, she chose to leave him instead because she couldn't bear the thought of putting him in danger because of her selfishness, immaturity, and stupidity. She'd rather hurt herself than hurt him.

While she was deep in thoughts, she didn't notice that Daniel was already on her porch.

He bent down and waved a hand in front of Samantha, "Samantha?"

Samantha got startled, she was so surprised to see him in front of her so suddenly. 'Did he just appear in front of me because I was thinking about him?', she thought.

"I was calling you from over there but you didn't hear me.", he said as he pointed towards his porch with his thumb. "What were you thinking about and why are you here?"

Samantha shook her head, "Nothing. I couldn't sleep so I went out for some fresh air."

The night was cool but not cold and the waves of the sea made the ambiance of the area very calming.

"What about you? Did you need something?", she asked.

"No... I just saw you from my room and thought I should check on you."

Samantha nodded and was silent for a minute before she asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Aren't you... tired? I've been pus.h.i.+ng you away... how are you still here?"

Daniel sat beside her and breathed before he answered, "Because I want to. Even if you don't remember me, I still want to be with you."

They didn't speak for several minutes and just sat beside each other.

Daniel was the one to break the silence, "Do you want to have a drink with me?"

Samantha turned her head and looked at him, she pondered for a second before she agreed. "Um... I guess?"

Daniel stood up and went to his villa and got a bottle of wine. It was a stash that was already in the house when he arrived, Lucas must have stocked it there for him so he wouldn't mind, right?

He brought a bottle and when Samantha saw him coming, she got two wine gla.s.ses from her kitchen. She also prepared some cheese, peanuts, and grapes.

"Sorry, these are the only snacks I have."

"Don't worry about it."

They each have a gla.s.s of wine in their hands and they were silent once again. Daniel wanted to take the opportunity while Samantha didn't refuse him right now, "Samantha... how are you? Really, how are you?"

She smiled while she looked at her gla.s.s, swirling the wine. "Is it okay if we don't talk about it? Let's not talk about those things and let's not talk about us."

"I'm fine with anything else.", she added.

Daniel knew that he pushed his luck, but since Samantha allowed him to talk about other things, he didn't want to miss the chance to have a conversation with her.

"Okay.. what do you want to talk about then?", he asked.

"Tell me fun stories..", Samantha looked at Daniel with a smile but he can clearly see that her eyes were filled with sadness. His heart ached when he thought of how depressed she is.

"All right... You met Lucas earlier... he and I...", Daniel started telling stories about Lucas and him back when they were still in Country A. Stories about how silly they were that time and what they did... he told her about the time when he also used to race and was named Swift.

He was smiling the whole time he recalled his memories before he became a CEO. Samantha smiled and laughed when he told funny things and Daniel loved it. It was probably the first time that they had sat down like this and just talk about anything. And she enjoyed getting to know the younger him, she got to learn a part of him which she never knew. 'How could I have not asked him to tell me about these things before?'

He's so different compared to how people portray him to be. And listening to Daniel talk, Samantha's heart fluttered. She loved how the corners of his lips curl when he says something hilarious, the way he raises his brows when he's emphasizing something and the way his hands move when he gestures.

They've emptied the bottle and when Daniel noticed it, he asked, "Oh, we've finished it all up, did you want to drink more?" He turned to Samantha and saw her just staring at him.

He gazed into her eyes as if he was trying to read her mind. And at that moment, Samantha's eyes were clear and all he could see was himself in her eyes.

Samantha noticed that Daniel was looking at her intently but for some reason, she couldn't look away as if she was drawn to maintain their eye contact.

Daniel leaned in slowly and when he was inches away from her, Samantha's breath hitched. Her hand clenched into a fist as she realized what was about to happen. He continued to inch closer that they could already feel each other's breathing.

But just as Daniel's lips were about to touch Samantha's, she placed her hand on his chest and gently stopped him. "I'm sorry.", she said as she looked into his eyes.

He pulled back and Samantha stood up. "I'm going to sleep now. I'll see you tomorrow."

Feeling dismayed for the almost kiss, he replied, "Uhm.. okay. Good night."

Samantha went inside her house and locked the sliding doors. She ran to her bedroom and dove into her bed. "AAAAAAH!!", she screamed to her pillow. She reached to touch her pounding heart and recalled what just happened. That night, she had a very hard time sleeping.