Chapter Twenty-One - Lucas

My date with Samantha went better than I could have imagined. Spending the night with her had been incredible. I can’t wait to be with her again, to touch her again. Now, more than ever, I want to figure out a way to keep what’s happening between us. I don’t want to let competition ruin it. I don’t want to chase her away. I want her to stay in my life. I want to keep seeing her, kissing her, touching her, being with her. I want to pursue this for as long as I can.

I don’t want this to be a fleeting affair.

I’ve been thinking about ways to keep Samantha in my life, to keep this thing going, ever since our first date and night together. I’ve been preoccupied with her for weeks, but now it’s even more intense. It’s all I can think about. I can’t stand the thought of losing her, of our diverging business plans making an irreparable division between us.

I think I might need a new plan. I’ve been staring at the center’s website for almost half an hour now, thinking about how much I’ve enjoyed the classes I’ve taken there. They’ve been a fun addition to my normal workout routine. I’ve been enjoying them and the challenge they provide. I’m starting to think my clients might feel the same way. I’m starting to think that maybe instead of looking at our businesses as being against each other, we should start thinking about them as working together.

Just like Samantha and I have been discovering how much we have in common, our businesses have a lot in common, too. Maybe that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Maybe we don’t have to compete. It’s not a fully-formed plan and I don’t know exactly how we’d pull it off, but I keep seeing snippets of the idea. We could work together. We could send people back and forth to each other’s businesses. My clients could take classes, and her clients could lift weights. I don’t know all the details, and it’d certainly be an unpopular idea with some of my investors, but I’m starting to think that some kind of business partnership would be the best thing for Samantha and me, for our growing relationship, and for the neighborhood in general.

I want to discuss it with Samantha as soon as possible, so I call her up and invite her to lunch, my brain filling with ideas for a potential plan.

I make some notes on my phone for things to discuss over lunch and head out. I’m planning to meet Samantha at a little cafe about three blocks from the center and the new development. It’s one of those places that’s only open for breakfast and lunch, but you can get both all day and everything is always fresh and delicious. There are a lot of really healthy options, and their menu also includes smoothies and fresh-pressed juices. I like to stop in after workouts, but it also seems like a great place to meet Samantha and discuss plans.

I drive over from my office. She’s there before I am. She looks beautiful today, just as beautiful as she had all dressed up for our date, I think. Even sitting here in a sweatshirt and leggings with her hair pulled back, she’s one of the most gorgeous women I’ve ever seen, and I can’t take my eyes off of her.

“Hey you,” I say, leaning in to give her a quick kiss before sitting down. She puts a hand on my arm as we kiss, warm and intimate.

“Hi,” she says, smiling. “I’m glad you called.”

“I wanted to see you and to talk to you about some things, actually,” I say.

She nods. “I wanted to see you, too, and I really needed a break in my work day today,” she says. She sounds a little stressed out and her eyes look tired.

“Rough morning?” I ask.

Samantha nods. “You could say that. More stressful than rough, I suppose, but yeah. I usually eat at my desk, but this lunch break is just what I need,” she says.

“On days I’m in the office, I do too,” I say, pausing to place my order with the waitress and listen to Samantha give hers.

“This is a lot better than eating carrots and a protein bar at my desk while I stare at spreadsheets,” she says with a sigh.

“I have days like that,” I say, thinking of times I’ve worked so long I didn’t even notice how late it got. There have been entire weeks where I’ve eaten all my meals in the office. It’s one of the reasons Paul worries. It’s part of why I’ve gotten so many dinner invitations to eat with him, Molly and the kids.

“I guess it comes with the territory,” Samantha says, thanking the waitress as she brings her drink.

“It seems to,” I agree. “So, what’s going on that’s so stressful?”

“I don’t know if we should talk about business things like that,” Samantha says, frowning. “It seems like a bad idea.”

“Actually,” I say, taking the opening into discussing business and going for it, “talking about business is exactly what I think we should do.”

“You do?” Samantha asks, looking puzzled and doubtful.

“I do,” I say. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot.”

“About our businesses?” Samantha asks, taking a sip of her juice.

I nod. “About our businesses, and about us,” I say. “I really enjoy spending time with you.”

“I like spending time with you, too,” Samantha says. Her eyes look suspicious, so I press on.

“And I would like to keep seeing you,” I say, reaching out to take her hand.

“Me too,” Samantha says, squeezing my hand back, but she’s still looking at me like she has no idea where I’m possibly going with this.

“I don’t want the business thing to come between us, so I’ve been thinking about ways we could avoid that,” I say. Samantha tilts her head at me, clearly puzzled.

“How can we avoid it?” she asks slowly, like she’s bracing herself.

“By working together,” I say, “We could join forces. I thought that with your concept and my gym—”

“Are you trying to buy me out?” Samantha asks, pulling her hand back and looking offended.

I shake my head. “No, I want us to join,” I say.

Samantha crosses her arms over chest. “Under your name,” she says, sounding like she’s on her way to getting angry.

I shake my head. I don’t think I’m explaining this well. “Look, give me a chance to lay it out for you,” I say.

Samantha stands up. “Why, so you can try to sweet talk me into closing willingly? Into folding into you? Are you going to offer me money? Try to get me to work for you?” Samantha asks. She sounds hurt now, hurt and furious, and she continues before I can finish laying out my thoughts. “I can’t believe you, Lucas.”

“That’s not what I’m doing,” I say.

Samantha shakes her head and throws the money on the table for her order. “I should have known,” she says bitterly, shaking her head. “I should’ve known this wouldn’t work. Honestly, I should say how dare you, but it’s myself I should be angry with for giving you a second chance.”

“Samantha, listen,” I say, standing up to talk to her.

“No,” Samantha says firmly. “I don’t think I want to hear anything you have to say ever again, honestly.” She turns to walk away so fast that I’m left stunned and reeling.

“If I wanted to buy you out, I would have done so weeks ago,” I call after her. “I could have bought your building with one phone call.”

“Am I supposed to be grateful for that?” Samantha asks, stopping to glare at me again. “You’re an ass, Lucas.”

She shoves back out the door after that, walking so fast it’s almost a run. Like she’s literally running from me.

I’m hurt she’d been so quick to jump to conclusions and more than a little angry. Maybe I should have just bought her building out weeks ago and put an end to all of this.