*
“Aren’t you going to go up there Samantha?” Jamie whispers to her when like a few seconds had passed
“No”
“Miss Samantha, don’t tell me you are shy now?” Bass says
“Go Samantha,everyone is waiting?”Jamie nudges her
Samantha gives her a stiff smile and begins to walk as the clapping and cheers begin, she takes his hands reluctantly and stands by his side.
“A few words Miss Samantha?” he turns to her
“Sure! So it’s been a —“
******
Veronica walks up to him “Hello Bass” she says when she leans in to kiss him, he kisses her cheeks instead
“Hello Veronica” he tells her “I didn’t know you were here”
“Oh you know me, I just watched you do your thing from the corner and wanted to come congratulate you. This was lovely “
“Yes it was” he turns to the remaining guests leaving “Thank you so much for coming’’
From the corner of his eyes he sees Samantha speaking to some few people too
He would want to have a talk with her
“So, your place or mine” She touches his arm, dusting an invincible speck away from his suit
“Stop it Veronica” he tells her
She laughs and stops only for a minute..
He tells her to stop but she laughs and continuous, leaning again to kiss him
“I want to let anyone know that we are together baby so…” she kisses him again as a few women who had been coming to say goodbye turns up their noses, but they smile at him,
“Thank you for coming” he tells them kissing their knuckles
Thankfully they were the last of the guests, Samantha was leaving too.
“Excuse me Veronica ..” he sidesteps her and begins to move towards Samantha, Veronica, upset now, chases after him and catches up with him
“Bass, how dare you..I am here waiting on you, knowing all your bullshit and still being here and yet you keep treating me like trash but I am still here and the least you can do is show me some respect instead of letting your eyes constantly roam over one woman and then you leave me hanging to chase after you?” she grabs him
He looks down at her hand, then he grabs her shoulders “You are welcome to stay the hell away from me Ver, I told you before and I will tell you again. You mean nothing to me. Now calm yourself, I would have my accountant book you a ticket to go to some nice resort and bask in the warmth of bliss, but you need to get off my turf Ver” he walks away from her
She runs to him “You are a bastard .. I love you, why don’t you love me” she grabs him
“You don’t love me Ver, you love my money, my status and wealth, the man is just a bonus, be honest with yourself for once” he screams at her
“You all are just the same, so why aren’t we allowed to treat you as you are” he looks to Todd who had come out of the car.
“Take her home” he takes her to the car and opens the door for her “And please don’t contact me again. We are done, being done right from the first day Ver, find someone else..’’
She slaps him “You are a bastard Jake Bass, a rich pompous Bastard who has no feelings and regard for a woman” she says entering the car and Todd drives away
He straightens up to find Samantha standing there… staring at him.
Then she turns, disgusted and walks away
*
He catches up with her as she flags down a taxi
“I have to talk to you Samantha”
“There is nothing for us to talk about Mr Bass, our business together ended a few minutes ago and I am heading home’’ she ignores him.
How could he treat a woman like that with no remorse. He was like Veronica said, heartless!
“I just want to talk to you”
“Really, I don’t see you giving Veronica the time of the day. How dare you talk to her like that when all she has done was love you, apparently“
“You have to right to question my behavior with any woman, that’s my business”
“And it’s my decision to not have you talk to me’’ she gives the cab man directions
“Samantha Brookes?“
“Mr Jake Bass, you are an arrogant man who is incapable of true feelings and to not feel a hint remorse for the way you treated that woman, then you are not entitled to even an ounce of respect from another person. Have a good day Mr Bass, and I hope to never have to see you again”
He stops her from leaving “And you think you can decided what I would want to do”
“oh Yes’’
“You think I am incapable of feeling ?”
“Oh you have no heart Mr Bass, not even close, you are distasteful, proud and its Ugly”
“I have a heart and I do feel… much more than you would ever know” This hurts him for the first time
“You didn’t feel anything for that woman, not even her tears, did you?”
“No” he was honest
“Then you are heartless. Let me go Mr Bass” she hits his hand, and enters the cab
He stands there watching her leave as Todd approached him, for the first time in his life, he felt broken
“Todd, Give me the keys”
“Sir I could drive you”
“Give me the keys!!!’’’
******
She was in bed when the knock came.
She sighs
Must be Jamie, but it was late.
Today has been a good day, only to get soured by that distasteful scene of Bass and Veronica… any man who treated a woman like that deserved to be treated as poorly too.
Poor Veronica..
Knock knock!!
She opens the door, surprised
“You? What the hell are you doing here?”
“To tell you that indeed I am not heartless”
“Look I don’t care”
“I went to her”
“I don’t need you to come to my house at this time to tell me about your sexcapades with a woman. What is wrong with you?”
“You see, the way you talk to me, no one ever does, the way you reproach me, no one ever dares, it makes me so mad and I want to … I want to Argh make you stop. I hate the way you rile me up, I hate the way you make me think about you even when you make me angry. You say I have no heart but I do, and that heart had been in control for years until you came and messed it all up. I don’t like you Samantha, I do not like you at all. But because of you I went to apologize to her, not because I wanted her back but to apologize for hurting her, disrespecting her… And I told her politely that I didn’t feel anything for her and if we would be friends. I never apologize to people let alone ladies, now I see myself having to think twice addressing staffs, even thanking them and when I react, I feel guilt and other emotions piling up all because of you… and I hate it and I hate you”
“Then why are you here, to tell me all that? Because all you have ever been was annoying to me, and I think the feeling is mutual because if a man wants respect he must first respect others but you Mr Bass is a forgotten case. Why are you here if you hate me so much?”
“Because despite that I hate you, I can’t stop thinking about you and it drives me crazy… so crazy” he says by the door
“Get out of my house Mr Bass” she breaths
“No, no not this time” he enters, staring at her, he closes the door, nudging her in gently
“what are you doing?” Aghast!
“I want to kiss you Samantha Brookes, and this time I want to seek for your permission” he is close to her now
“Bass” she says
He holds her close to him “Can I kiss you Samantha, maybe it would stop my head from spinning nonstop and then it would abate this anger I have within me and just maybe I would stop wanting it or top thinking about you… can I kiss you?’’
She is speechless, she blinks.
“Samantha?”
*****
