Samantha smiled as she looked at the pictures that were hung to dry
"You sure had a blast, as usual" she commented
"Of course"
Her smile fell and she turned to him
"What?" he asked defensively
She crossed her arms
"You said you were only going for three months, but you were away for nine months" she said
"Did I say that?" he asked
"Yes, you did"
"I see. That's why I'm making it up by staying"
She put on reins on the smile that was approaching
"Till when?"
"Till when you are ready"
She scrunched her brows
"We are going together"
She gave a blown out smile, then went back to the pictures. Cole was a person who loves adventures, and every time he went, he took pictures
"What are you going to do until then? Go back to the company?" she asked
"I'm thinking" Cole answered
He hung another picture
"You should go back. There's only so much a company can do without it's CEO"
After he had hung the last picture, he cleared up the place, and they left the dark room
"They have been doing well so far, but we'll see" he said
Any conversation that was about to be brought up was cut off
"I guess your company needs their CEO"
Shannon brought out her phone and smiled at the caller's ID
"It's not that"
She waved her phone to Cole, smiling as she answered the call
۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞
"Are you still contemplating?" Julian asked his mate
She was still hovering around her phone
She nodded
"I just don't know if she wants me to call her or not"
"I'm sure she doesn't" Orion said from his desk
She sent him a glare even though he wasn't looking at her
"If she doesn't, she wouldn't have given me her number, or taken mine"
"She might have just done it as courtesy demands"
"Get out" Chloe said
"This is my office"
He rose his head
"Speaking of that... Why are you guys here again today?"
"Because you won't come out" she deadpan
He signed and pinched the bridge of his nose
He glanced towards his beta for help, but got none
"I agree" Julian shrugged
Orion groaned
"I really think I should call her"
She faced her mate
"Let's play rock, paper, scissors. If you win, I won't, but I win, I'll call her"
"Why do we need to play for..."
"Ready or not, rock, paper, scissors"
She smiled triumphantly after the three rounds of rock, paper, scissors
"I won, so I'll call her"
"I don't think the result would have made a difference" Julian said to which she smiled
She dialed the number, and the call was answered at the second ring
"Hey" the lady on the other end greeted cheerfully
As soon as she talked, Orion's ears pricked at the mention of her voice. He rose his head
Chloe greeted back
"Hi. I was thinking of whether I should call you or not" she said
Samantha laughed lightly, and that unconsciously brought a small smile to Orion's face, and made his wolf push his head pass the barriers into the conscious state of his mind, as if he could see the person Chloe was talking to like that
Julian wondered how his mate could connect with a person so fast, now he could see why. Just listening to her voice, he felt connected to her for reasons he didn't know of. And it surprised him more that the instant connection didn't make him feels troubled or angry, he rather liked it. It wasn't the kind of connection mates have, that would have been disastrous, but he couldn't place his hand on what it was either
"Thank goodness you did"
"How're you doing?" Chloe asked
"Great. And you?"
"As normal. Are you busy today?"
There was a small pause on the other end
"Not really. Why?"
"I wanted to ask if we could meet up, but if you're busy, we can do it another time"
"Today is fine. Is the same place where we met okay? You can send me the time"
"Sounds good. And I hope you don't mind, I'm bringing company" Chloe looked at Orion waiting for him refuse, but to her surprise, he did no such thing
"The more, the merrier. See ya"
"Bye"
They hung up
"I think I now understand, a little, when you said you felt connected to her" Julian said
"You felt it too, right?" she asked
He nodded
Chloe smiled
"You'll get to understand it fully when you meet her"
She turned to Orion
"You're coming with us" she asked although it sounded more like she had already made the decision for him
Orion didn't understand what happened. His reactions seemed minimal, but it wasn't something that happened everyday: it was actually the first time this happened to him in his life time. He ignored and drove away the though he was about to have, it will hurt if he held to it only to be disappointed
"We can leave it time before the ceremony" Chloe added, not aware that him hesitating wasn't because he didn't want to go, but that he wanted to go badly
If he wasn't welcoming any ideas, he refused to give either of them any idea, so he just shrugged nonchalantly
Chloe clapped her hands
"I'll take that as a yes. Get ready, guys. We don't have much time"
۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞
"Who was that?"
"My new friend"
They walked together to her car
"To the office?" he asked
Samantha nodded, and they started their journey
"I guess our lunch date is canceled?"
"I can join you guys"
"Are you sure? Won't you be uncomfortable?"
Cole placed his arm on the arm rest, and leaned slightly towards her
"Hey, have you forgotten who I am? I'm Cole. How can it be possible for me to be comfortable with meeting people?" he bragged
Samantha chuckled
"Yeah, yeah, I hear. Now drive before you hit someone's car or something"
"I can pretty much drive around with my eyes closed"
"Don't you dare" she warned, although her voice was void of any seriousness
He chuckle
"What of Diana? Shouldn't you guys be having dates?"
"Well, we're supposed to, but her boss wouldn't let her. She has a very mean boss, you know"
Samantha scoffed
"I support the boss, she should be even meaner"
Cole smiled
"I'll have my lunch date with you, as planned, then I've have dinner date with Diana" he said
Samantha gasped
"Are you, by chance, two timing right now?" she asked with feigned shock
"Maybe" he answered following the tone of her voice
She shook her head
"Boys of nowadays" she said
"In this case, it's men" he corrected as he parked in front of where she was getting off
He gave a light horn and she turned around
"Text me when it's time" he said
"What will you be doing?"
"Well, look around"
"I meant what I said about you going back to your position"
He smiled and nodded
"See ya" she said and walked into her company