Almost Pt. 02

What? This had never happened! She opened her eyes again, stared at him with determination and grabbed him with both her hands by his lapels to pull him down to her lips.

She closed her eyes again, pressed her lips against his and waited for him to return it. And when he finally did the first thought that crossed her mind was, "This.. has to be ...the worst kiss ...I have ever had... in my life."

What's a matter with this guy??? Doesn't he know how a kiss? He has a beautiful sexy body, he's handsome beyond handsome and up close he smells very, very good. Almost yummy. Samantha eased back onto her feet and when she opened her eyes to look in his face, his were still closed. He slowly opened them and looking at her with the sincerest expression any man has ever given a woman since the beginning of time said, "Samantha, that was the best kiss I ever had in my life..."

Yeah... she would block his number on the way home anyway.

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The two men in a black sedan down the street sat observing the young couple leave the pub. Both were in their late 30's, former military, combat veterans of both Gulf Wars, retired, and now officially double dippers of the Government of the United States of America.

Agent Jeff Smith was 6'5", white, 239 lbs, divorced twice and swore to himself never to get married again.

Agent William McDonald was 6'5'', black, 247 lbs, happily married to his high school sweetheart for the past nineteen years.

Both wore black suits, wore Rolex watches, and both were hard-core to the extreme when necessary. Fucking Hu-rah!

"Looks like wonder boy finally found a girlfriend." Observed Agent Smith

"Well, glad to see he's finally doing something else with is life besides that lab stuff. Maybe this is just the thing. I was getting a little worried about little Dan the man. Anything has got to be better than just sitting alone in that apartment on the weekends drinking himself into a stupor".

"Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it."

Will pondered a moment, "Smith, it's not good for a man to be without a woman. Men are like bears with furniture, they don't do well alone."

Jeff looked across at his partner for the past 14 months and laughed, "Will, I did my time with 2 women and nothing good came out of it. I like living alone now. One, I can clean my own place and two, for 200 dollars I can get a 20-year-old Russian girl who looks like a model to have sex with."

"Jeff, can you hear yourself man? You know how sad it sounds you telling me you have to pay for sex."

"Hey Willy, you don't pay a woman to have sex with you. You're paying that woman to stay out of your life when you done. You get it? "

Will turn his head and with a straight face said, "Seriously PECKERWOOD, I told you DON'T call me Willy. It's either William or Will!" Then turning back to observe what was going on outside calmly added, "Still, sounds like a pretty empty life to me..."

Bored with the direction this conversation was going Smith asked, "Did you get her car tag?"

"Yeah, we'll run thru tomorrow. Let's just ...look... he's kissing her!" McDonald chuckled.

Smith leaned over to get a better look, "Looks like our boy is getting lucky tonight".

"Look again Jeff, I think she's kissing him."

"Figures, poor fellow never been laid before."

"Smith how in the hell do you know that?"

"The Agency knows everything Will. Hell, I feel so bad for the little fellow I was thinking of starting a collection at the office to buy him a playmate for an hour. Anyway, it would be the decent thing to do you know. He's a solid citizen and a good American. Dan's been serving the country like us with truth, justice, and the American way."

"Uh-huh... Hear me now Superman, you better pass that benefit package along upstairs for approval first before you start asking for donations...anyway...mmm"

"What?"

"Damn Jeff, what the hell is a matter the Dan the man?"

"I don't know...why? What's he is doing now?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all. She's all over him and he's just standing there."

"Damn Will, this is just sad. And she's a cutie too. Fuck, he's just standing there? Oh no! Oh hell no, this is too embarrassing to watch anymore."

"Jeff, what in the fuck are you embarrassed about?" laughed McDonald.

"Will, you know we have both have to turn in detailed written reports on what we've seen tonight and pass it on up? "

"That's why we get paid the big bucks."

Then thinking a moment McDonald turned and looked at his partner, "Agent Smith, you getting all fatherly protective on this kid now? Oh Shit, I knew you had some goodness deep down inside somewhere."

Conversation came to a halt as both Agents turned back to observe the young couple. This was the most action both Agents had seen since this assignment began.

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As Samantha drove home she had one hand on the wheel while the other held her cell phone. Keeping her eyes on the road, she randomly flipped her contacts without looking with her thumb as she played with played her phone. What a strange evening. Not that it was bad. Samantha knew what a bad date was. It didn't fit in the category of a "bad" date. It was simply... weird. A movie star look-a-like that couldn't kiss worth a damn.

And all that smiling. What was that about? Just looking at him made her want to smile back. Who was this Dan Hamilton besides Brian's roommate? At the next red light, she looked down at her phone. Dan? Mmmm. To block or not block that was the question. He seemed nice enough. Was he really as nice as he came across?

But he was just another guy. Guys...stand them on their heads and they all looked the same. And the garbage she had met before were just that, garbage. She had been burnt too many times. All her families' money and influence couldn't save her from the emotional pain she was now carrying around. It was no body's fault but hers. It was her fault for opening herself open to such lowlife pieces of trash from so called "good families" that passed themselves off as human beings. In high school those same vampires had tricked her and drugged her at a party. She didn't remember much because she was unconscious most the time. Thank God for Cheryl. Her one true friend who stop things before they could have got worse. And the fallout afterwards she would never live down. She saw it in the way Brian was looking at her tonight. It was written all over his face. No point explaining. Stand him on head, he was just another guy. Sure, he was Cheryl's guy and she seemed happy. Good for Cheryl. Still the way Brian looked at her tonight made her feel guilty.

At 25 she should know be able to recognize the difference between good ones and bad ones. You'd think anyway. What was a matter with her? Why couldn't she find someone to love her for who she was and not what her parents had?

How old did Cheryl say Dan was? 23? Samantha had never dated anyone younger that herself. Still, Dan was easy on eyes. He would make nice arm candy anywhere, but then what? She would have to teach him to kiss if she decided to see him again. That sounded like too much work. Just block, delete his phone number, and move on.

The thing was, most guys who dated her had their eyes roaming over her body like she just a piece of trim to use. 2 minutes of that nonsense and they were history. But Dan? Did he look too? Yes, she caught him a couple of times but it was different somehow. He was embarrassed when she caught him. She'd never saw that before. Mostly he just stared at her face all evening. What was he looking for? She even went to the lady's room one time to see if she had something in her teeth or messed up her make up. Who knows and anyway she was tired as she pulled through the gates of her parent's mansion. Home sweet Home.

She parked her car in its spot and looked down at her phone again. What to do? Why did she give her cell number to him? Stupid. Just a couple of taps and Dan would disappear. Maybe she should have taken a picture with him to show her friends she was out on a date with Jake Gyllenhaal.

Cheryl was sure to give her a call to follow up. What could she say to her? "Cheryl, I love you like a sister, but next time could you find me a guy who can kiss?" She laughed remembering him opening his eyes and telling her it was the best kiss of his life. Ha! OMG that was so... pathetic. Well.. maybe not pathetic, more like sad. Now she felt a little guilty. That wasn't fair. What else could she say? The guy was goofy. No, that's not the word. He was kind of charming in a goofy way. An idiot? No, not that either. But he was certainly no genius that was for sure.

She had to admit there was something about him she liked. Sure, he was good looking. No, good looking wasn't right either. He was absolutely beautiful. Maybe she could teach Dan the way she wanted to be kissed. Could she even do that? That sounded like a stupid idea even as she thought about it. She would have to do it without hurting his precious male ego. Blah! Except for that stupid line about, "Love at first sight" and experiencing the worst kiss of her life, the night actually was the best in a while. Dan seemed like he was genuinely interested in her. Was he really interested in her as a person? Again, he was just 23. She put away her cell. She'd sleep on it.

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Dan watched as Samantha backed out and drove away. He watched her car until it turned at the next corner and when it disappeared he felt a heaviness descend. He wanted to go with her. He wanted her. She was perfect in every way. He put in hands in his pockets and with his head down in deep thought headed towards the apartment he shared with Brian.

Dan slowly reviewed the evening in his mind. Every thought led to same place. For the first time in his life he felt true loneliness. For what? Some girl he met one time a blind date? Whatever he was feeling, it wasn't a pleasant. It felt terrible.

10 minutes later Dan opened the front door of the apartment and walked in. The clock read 12:35. He kicked off his shoes, went over to the refrigerator and pulled a half empty bottle of Vodka out of the freezer. Ah yes, exactly what the doctor ordered. Pulling a tumbler out of the kitchen cabinet he poured himself about 3 fingers then put the bottle away. He didn't turn the lights on in the living room as he sat on the couch in the dark.

What now? So much was going on in his life already and now this girl too. He had to laugh at himself a bit. When he turned around and saw Samantha tonight it was like getting a best present in the world. But this present walked away at the end of the evening. What to do? He opened his phone and reread the message she had sent. The little ;-) at the end of the text made him smile inside.

And that kiss. He rubbed a couple of fingers across his lips trying to remember how hers felt. "What's a matter with me?" he thought. All the work he had been engaged in for the past year was secondary now. Usually at night he would work thru technical problems spinning the Rubik's cube in his mind constantly modifying plans upon existing work at the lab. Tonight, after meeting Samantha all that went out the window. All he could think about was her.

Looking down at his cell again he was disappointed he hadn't taken her picture. Maybe Cheryl had one she would share. Looking at Samantha's text he wanted to send a reply but was still uneasy about how fast things turned by saying something idiotic. "Do you believe in love at first sight?" Moron! What the hell was he thinking? With that thought he shot back all three fingers at once to kill the feelings of self-inflected humiliation. He winced only a bit as the near frozen Vodka washed down this throat.

Looking back at his phone, he had to do this before going to bed or he might not do it at all. So he texted her. "Samantha, thank you so much for such an enjoyable evening. I had so much pleasure tonight with your company this text cannot express it. Sorry if I said anything offensive tonight. My bad. I would like to see you again sometime when you're available. Anytime really. All the best, Dan". After reviewing it he thought of deleting it and starting over. Did it sound too desperate? Who knows? Yes/no? Just press send and be done with it. Looking down at the text one last time he pressed send and unconsciously made a wish like one would upon a star. A wish that he would see her again.