Samantha

 

            When I was just three years old my mother died leaving just my father and I behind. My father had just started to work a higher position so we were getting in a little money but not that much. It was hard for my father to put food on the table. There would be nights where he would buy ramen for himself and cook a little bit of food for me. I wouldn’t eat all the food that he cooked me so he would save it and stash it in the refrigerator. He would do the same with his ramen. He would eat half of it and then save the rest for the next night. We were fortunate to even afford food.

            During the day there were times where my father had to actually take me into work with him. Being only three I caused him a lot of trouble. I would scream and cry and cause everyone to be upset at my father.

            One day my father’s boss came up to him while I was calm and playing around with my toys. He looked down at me and sighed. Then he turned to my father. “Alexander. May I see you in my office please?” He said.

            “Yes sir. Hey Maria, could you watch over Samantha for me for just a little while?” My father asked his coworker.

            “Sure thing Alex it’s no problem.” Maria said. She walked over to my father’s office and stayed by me. “Hi sweetie.”

            “Hi Aunty Maria.” I said with a very shy voice.

            My father walked with his boss into his office. He was incredibly nervous. When the boss told my father to sit down he closed the door and closed the blinds. My father then sat down and became even more nervous. There were many things that went through my father’s mind. If he got fired then it would take him months to find a new job. There would be no possible way that he could take care of me.

            Back with Maria I was looking around for my father. “Where did my daddy go?” I asked her.

            “Daddy went to go talk with Mr. Cook. He’ll be back soon.” She said to me.

            I looked at her with my brown eyes. “Is my daddy in trouble?” I asked her.

            She looked at me with a confused look. “No, I don’t think that your dad is in trouble. Why would you say that?” She now asked me.

            “Sometimes when daddy is upset with me and there are other people around he takes me to someplace where we can be alone so that he can tell me what I did wrong. Then he tells me how I can fix it.” I explained to her. She smiled and seemed very satisfied.

            My father’s boss sat down in his chair and sighed. He looked at him and then spoke. “Alexander I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?” The boss asked him.

            My father sighed and closed his eyes. He figured that he was going to get fired. “I might as well take the bad news first. I want to get it over with.” My father explained.

            “Well the bad news is that I don’t think that your new position here is going to let you bring your daughter to the office.” The boss said.

            “I’m sorry but did I hear you say that correctly about a new position? Wait, what are you talking about sir?” My father asked.

            “Alex, let’s just talk as friends right now. I’m going to give you the promotion that you deserve. Every time I see you in this office you are working the hardest out of everyone on this floor. It’s something that you deserve especially since your wife died not too long ago. I know that times are hard but if I give you this promotion you cannot bring Samantha to the office. You need to find a daycare to put her in while you work.” The boss explained.

            My father shrugged hearing that. “You see sir; I’m barely making enough money to pay for all my bills and to even put food on the table. I can’t really afford to pay for a day care.” My father explained.

            The boss nodded. “I see. That shouldn’t be a problem. Until you can start paying for the daycare yourself, the company will pay for Samantha to go to a daycare.” The boss said.

            “What? Are you serious? Thank you so much sir.” My father said with a smiling face.

            “No problem Alex. Just work hard and don’t make me regret my choice.” The boss said. My father stood up and shook his hand. “Now you go get back to work. Maybe take your daughter out to dinner.”

            “I will sir, thank you so much. You aren’t going to regret this at all.” My father said and then ran out of the office.

            Maria was still playing with me when my father came rushing in. “Samantha! How about we go out to dinner tonight?” He asked me.

            “We get to eat real food tonight?” I asked my father. Maria overheard that and shrugged.

            “Yes baby, we get to eat at a restaurant tonight. Would you like to join us Maria?” My father asked while turning around to see her.

            She was shocked at first. Then she started to get shy and play with her hair. “Well I don’t want to intrude.” She said.

            “Don’t be silly, we would love it if you came.” My father said.

            Maria was still shy. “Please Maria, come and eat with us.” I said trying to encourage her.

            From that Maria felt more encouraged to come. She nodded and smiled. I shouted in happiness that she was coming. She giggled and my father put me back down. It almost felt like we were a family.

            That night we ate some good Italian food. While I was coloring in my coloring book Maria and my father were just talking. They were talking about work and then eventually my father opened up to her about our financial problems. She seemed to be worried about us but she knew that things would get better.

 

***

 

            Things did get better by the time I was ten. My father somehow grew to become the vice president of the company. We had a full on solid income and we got to eat real food every night. Most of those nights were spent with Maria. My father had started to date her when I was around seven.

            It took him four years since that day that he got the promotion to ask her out. She had almost started to lose hope about them ever being together. But I never lost hope. I knew that my father was going to ask her out sometime. He basically had to. She was a mother figure in my life.

            Anyway one day my father decided to ask Maria if she wanted to move in with us. We were going to go look for a new house that we could call our own. At first she seemed a bit hesitant but she agreed to move in with us. I was happy that she agreed to move in with us because she was also an excellent cook. My father really isn’t.

            We looked all around for a house and we finally found one. It was two stories high and it had around four rooms. I had claimed one room upstairs while Maria claimed one downstairs. So did my father. We were going to use the extra room as the computer and office room. We liked the house a lot and we immediately called it home.

            I was in my last year of elementary school and I was a straight A student. I never got into fights and I got along with everyone. There was a problem though, I had no clique to call my own. I would usually just hang out in my class and study during recess. Then at lunch I just ate and left to go read a good book at the library. I was a nerd I will admit that, but no one really ever made fun of me. They would all come over to me at times and just start a conversation. I always enjoyed the conversations but no one ever really stood out to me as someone I would want to hang out with.

            Maria came up to me one night when I was doing my science homework. There was a counter that was like the boarder of our kitchen. I would sit there sometimes and watch Maria cook. But I mostly used the counter to do homework. It just was so opened and I felt like I could just think there.

            “Hey Sam, what are you working on?” Maria asked. She was the only one who called me Sam. Everyone else just called me by my full name.

            “Science. We are learning about photosynthesis. I find it a bit interesting actually. It’s amazing how other species have different ways of getting food.” I explained.

            “It is. I just wish I studied harder in school. It would have made getting into college a whole lot easier.” She said to me.

            “Were you a troublesome student Maria?” I asked her.

            “No, I was just lazy and didn’t study at all.” She joked with me. I laughed and went back to working. “When you’re done I’m making stir fry. Do you want to help?”

            Stir fry was the best dish Maria makes. All of her dishes are delicious but her stir fry could not be beat. “I would love to. I’ll help out as soon as I finish my homework.” I said. She nodded and started to take out a few pans.

            Ten minutes later I started to help her out with cooking. All I had to do was stir the food. We would always sing a couple of songs while cooking. It was so that we could bond a little more. Not that we really needed to. We were so close already. I knew that even if Maria and my father broke up that I was going to visit her every so often.

            My father would come home late every night but that was the normal since he first got the job. Maria and I spent most dinners alone together anyway. We didn’t mind my father coming home late at all. It would surprise us when he was on time for dinner though. We always had a good family bonding time though when we were all home.

 

***

 

            It was my sophomore year is high school when I met my best friend Jordan. We had the same likes in everything. But we almost had different personalities. She was way more outgoing and I was just shy. She loved to party and I loved to study. I don’t know how it happened but we were just best friends.

            We would always hang out at my house after school. Maria would always make us snacks when we came home. She and my father had gotten married at the beginning of my first year in middle school. So she was now my step-mother. But I always just called her Maria.

            Maria liked Jordan because she was so outgoing. Maria would sometimes join us when she was bored. We didn’t mind because she was actually really cool and Jordan agreed that Maria was just an amazing person. Jordan’s mother is very strict so she doesn’t really get to have individual freedom in her house. She has to go by her mom’s rules. At my house we had rules but we just didn’t have ones that were as harsh as her mom’s. That’s why she would always come over.

            When I finally got my driver’s license we would go all over the place. We would go to the mall and sometimes we would go partying. I know that sounds bad but I never drank or smoked. I was totally against all that. Jordan on the other hand drank like crazy. Never smoked but she sure drank like there was no tomorrow. There would be times where I would have to sneak her to her room because she was so drunk. We almost got caught once but we got through it without being discovered. I never got in trouble because there was nothing to indicate that I was out partying.

            Throughout all of high school I maintained straight A’s. Jordan had all B’s with maybe a C here and there but I was always able to help her out. I graduated and ended up being towards the top of my class. Jordan was happy for me. But when I find out that she got a full ride scholarship to Yale I was shocked. I forgot why she got it or what she was majoring in but I was just so happy for her.

            For the whole summer before we went off to college we spent most of the time together. While she was going off to Yale, I was going to stay here in California and study. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to major in at the time. All I knew was that I wanted to just stay in my home state. I was going to miss Jordan a lot but I knew that we would call each other every day and I knew that we would eventually hang out again.

 

***

 

            Now I am twenty-two. I had just graduated from college and I majored in journalism. I work for a local media company. All that I have to do is find something to report, get it approved by my boss, and then post it online at our website. Every visitor that visits our website we get paid. That’s why I try to find the best things to write about.

            I will admit that this job is hard but people love to read about the economy, politics, and just gossip in general. Those were the things that I tried to focus on. Every time someone writes about one of those things our website goes crazy. We had it all figured out.

            I had bought an apartment that was around forty-five minutes away from my dad and Maria. It was small and it really wasn’t meant for more than one person to live in. But that was what I wanted. I wanted a small space but one that was big enough for one person. That is exactly what I got. I loved it though. It was a very peaceful apartment.

            There would be times where I felt just like my father. I would be at work all day and come home late. I really didn’t have a family of my own so it was okay. I had a boyfriend on and off but no one really was the one for me. I didn’t need a boyfriend yet. Besides, I was just starting my life on my own and I want to have at least some freedom before I find someone special.

            While gas prices rise, I decided to ditch my car. As convenient as it was I just couldn’t believe the gas prices. So I would either take a taxi or ride to bus to get to places. I do prefer the bus over a taxi because it was cheaper and the driver was a whole lot nicer to you. Plus you can meet a bunch of new people.

            Every night around eight Jordan and I would skype each other. We had kept in contact with each other ever since the first day that she left on a plane to go to Yale College. She had switched majors three times. At first she wanted to be a vet, then an accountant, but then she settled for a science teacher. It was funny how that worked because she just hated school. It was quite ironic.

            “So, how was your day today Samantha?” She asked me. That was always how we started our conversations.

            “It was fine.” I replied. Before I could ask the question back she rolled her eyes.

            “Why is everything with you always fine? You make your life sound so boring. Go ahead and ask me how my day was.” She said. I knew she was going to say something out there.

            “Okay, how was your day Jordan?” I asked her.

            “My day was . First this kid back sasses me and then I send them to detention. After that I get a call from his mother who was screaming at me telling me that her son was a little angel. She wanted me to take back his detention so that his record could be clean. Can you believe that?” Jordan said.

            Jordan, like me, was able to get a job right out of college. She worked at a middle school and she hated it at times. But there were times that she was saying that she absolutely loved her kids. She was moving along with her life pretty well. She had a fiancé as well. They weren’t going to get married any time soon but they really want to be together. He treats her well so I approve of the relationship.  I could only envy her though. It seemed like her life was going a whole lot more smoothly than mine.

            I knew in my heart that my life was going to get better. I did have another strange feeling though. There were times when I felt very paranoid and nervous. It was mostly out on the street that I felt that way. But there would be times in my own home that I would feel that way. My life was going to change dramatically. I could feel it. I just didn’t know in what way.

 

A/N: So that was Samantha's POV. Now chapters are going to be coming in pairs and they are going to take a long time to write. Plus I also have another story to write. But I hope you guys like it. I know that Samantha's story wasn't as awesome as Joon's but it'll pick up once they meet. I promise. Anyway subscribe if you like my story. Also leave comments cause I love reading them :)

Ps. The pic above is what I had imagined Samantha to look like. But actually that is Park Shin-hye from the drama You're Beautiful. I love that drama and I thought I would giver her some love. But yup that is how I imagined her. Only with longer hair. :)