Chapter 31

Samantha sat at the table in the café of the hotel looking around for someone. Her eyes became hopeful when the person approached her. She stood up to give him a warm hug. “Hey, you finally came,” she smiled.

“Yeah,” he said hugging her tightly. “You spooked me back there.”

“I’m sorry for surprising you, Jeremy,” she said sheepishly. “I have to admit your reaction was pretty funny.” She chuckled.

“How are you doing?” he finally asked.

“I’m doing fine,” she nodded. “Just keeping busy, that’s all.”

“How do you like the new job?” he asked curiously as he took a sip from his water on the table.

“The job’s great,” she answered honestly. “Surprisingly, everyone’s nice to me. The fans, however, are a different story.”

“So I heard,” he thought aloud.

“How about you?” she asked finally. “I’m sorry about your loss. Did they find the bastard?” she asked knowing full well who the culprit was. She had to hide the smile threatening to form on her lips.

“Nope,” he shook his head. “Honestly, I’m over it. My trainers aren’t letting it slide, however.”

“Dude, it’s gonna be okay,” she assured him. “You win some and you lose some. It happens. One of your trainers told me that a while back, I couldn’t remember who it was.”

“They call it ‘highway robbery’,” he scoffed. “I’m not making a huge deal about it. Now I can actually have a much needed vacation instead of having to train.”

“Exactly,” she smiled.

Jeremy finally decided to cut to the chase. “So about what your boyfriend said back there… I didn’t mean to hurt you, Sam,” he said looking down at the glass in front of him.

“Don’t worry about it, Jeremy,” she insisted. “It was my mistake so you shouldn’t really blame yourself. If there’s someone who should be apologizing, it should be me. I burdened you with my feelings. I didn’t consider yours and I’m sorry.”

“Well you got hurt because of me so I’m sorry too,” he said. “But I never said I didn’t feel the same way, you know.”

“What do you mean?” Samantha asked curiously.

“I did feel something for you,” he confessed. “I was just afraid. I chose not to act on it to protect you. And now you have someone, so I’m a little too late.”

He was still convinced Peniel was her boyfriend, she thought and decided to go along with it. “You had no idea how long I waited for you to say those words to me,” she finally said. “Along the way, Peniel made me see things in a different light. He actually showed me he wanted to be with me. I thought that when we talked, I was happy with you but you always seemed so far away.” She said blinking back tears looking away from him.

“ Well, I wish you and Peniel all the best,” he finally said. “I want you to be happy. Peniel seems like a good guy.”

“He is,” she admitted more to herself. “I want you to be happy too. I hope you get to meet your future wife soon.” She reached for his hand and squeezing it. “And make sure to invite me to the wedding. Also, make sure Nicky likes her. If Nicky doesn’t like her, then I don’t like her.” She playfully winked at him.

He chuckled. “It really is good seeing you again, Sam,” he said finally.

“I guess this is goodbye then,” Samantha replied. “Goodbye forever, Jeremy.”

He gave her a questioning look. “Goodbye forever?” he repeated. “Okay…”

“Well yeah, I don’t know when I’ll see you again, silly!” she playfully shoved him.

He smirked. “We’ll see each other again.” He said. “I should get going now. Thanks for calling me. And remember, don’t be a stranger.”

“Yeah, sure thing,” she said. “I’ll talk to you later!” she stood up and hugged him tightly.

Earlier, prior to Samantha calling Jeremy to meet one last time, Dongwoon and Ailee were hesitant about it. “After all the progress you’ve made?” Ailee whined. “Don’t do it, Sam!”

“Peniel already gave him what he deserved! Don’t do it!” Dongwoon added.

Their whining was giving Samantha a headache. Rubbing her temples with both her hands, Samantha finally snapped. “Alright, I get it!” Her best friends’ eyes widened.

“Well, since Peniel has decided to keep me from talking to him, I’ve already arranged meeting with him tonight,” she announced. “I’d like it if you guys do not spy on me. I’m a big girl. I’m capable of doing this on my own.”

After much thought, Dongwoon and Ailee glanced at each other and finally nodded in agreement. “If you’re sure about it,” Dongwoon finally said, “Then why not?” he shrugged glancing over to Ailee.

“I’m not going to him,” she assured them. “This is going to be my goodbye to him. It’ll make me feel better.”

“Don’t forget to tell us,” Ailee said then gave Samantha a reassuring hug. “Good luck, okay?”

“I love you guys, you know that?” Samantha finally said pulling away from Ailee then turning to Dongwoon she said, “And Dongwoon, I’m sorry about getting angry with you. I had forgotten to tell you…”

Dongwoon embraced Samantha tightly. “Don’t worry about it. You’re already forgiven,” he said. “I love you too.”

“Ditto,” Ailee grinned then pulled both best friends close for a group hug.

“So how did it go?” Ailee asked as she and Dongwoon relaxed in Samantha’s hotel room.

“Yeah, are you satisfied with his answer?” Dongwoon chimed in.

Samantha sighed as she thought about her meeting with the man who kept her hopes alive. “You can say that,” she said. “I’m letting him go. No more waiting for him anymore.”

“That’s great!” Ailee grinned from ear-to-ear.

“Yeah, it’s about time,” Dongwoon nodded taking note of the new Samantha. It appeared as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders and turned her into a new person.

“So what’s next?” Ailee finally asked.

“I have a few more calls to make,” Samantha answered looking out the window into the city. Bangkok sure was beautiful at night, she thought. “I believe I owe an apology to a few more people.” She finally said.

A/N: Hello again! Here's another quick update! This fic is almost over just so you guys know. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I actually enjoyed writing it a lot and I want to thank those who took the time to read it. Enjoy! Now working on the next chapter.