"You just don't like him because he plays for another team," his sister replied.
"It was nice of him to come in and compliment Samantha," Cora said.
Riley finally stopped staring at the doorway and turned to his girlfriend. "Are you standing up for the guy?"
"I mean, he's right. Samantha did a great job on the show."
"Yes, she did!" Georgia said. "So let's pack up and get the hell out of here. I want to have a fancy drink at a fancy Los Angeles bar."
Samantha smiled at them and finished throwing a few more things in her bag. This was the best way to handle all of this. Just focus on packing up her bag and moving along. Nothing to see here. Nothing to think about. No reason to ever entertain ideas of Fletcher again.
Except it was going to be hard to stop thinking about Fletcher again after tonight.
Pack up the bag, put on a smile, get the hell out of here.
"Alright, let's go."
The group smiled at her -- even Riley -- as they walked out the door and headed for the studio exit. Riley rented a convertible for them to enjoy while they were in town and they were going to have a good time driving around the city with it tonight.
The group was almost out the door when Samantha heard her name.
"Uh, Ms. Sadok?"
The voice came from someone who looked like a production assistant or something with one of those headsets and a clipboard. He probably had some final paperwork for her or something.
"We'll meet you out there," Riley told her as the group headed out the door.
The production assistant watched and waited until her friends were outside before looking back at her. "Mr. Keris wanted me to give this to you before you left." He handed her a folded up piece of paper. "You did a great job tonight."
"Thanks," she said quietly.
She stared at the paper for a moment before looking up to see if anyone was around. Her friends were outside and the production assistant had already slipped away. She could hear the voice of the show's host farther in the depths of the studio, but there was no one around.
Samantha slowly unfolded the paper to see Fletcher's handwriting on it.
"It was great seeing you again. Call me, text me, whatever. -- Fletcher"
There were some numbers written below and she recognized the way he crossed his sevens just like he did when she tutored him in high school math.
The numbers were his phone number. He had given her his phone number.
"Crap," she muttered.
Samantha found the little zippered pocket in her bag that she used to secure her phone and wallet, stuffed the piece of paper safely inside before zipping it back up, and walked out to meet her friends.
Chapter Four
Samantha should be putting her swimsuit on and heading to the beach.
Her friends left that morning for the airport, along with the rented convertible, because Riley had to get back for summer training while Cora and Georgia were taking care of the bakery as usual. The game show network had paid for an extra day at the hotel for Samantha, and her friends had insisted she stay to enjoy some time off and the warm weather.
It was only two blocks from the beach in Santa Monica. She just had to get her suit on and walk over.
But she was sitting on her bed in her hotel room staring at a stupid piece of paper.
"It was great seeing you again." OK, that was pretty self explanatory. It was nice of Fletcher to say that. "Call me, text me, whatever." What was that about? Was he just being polite and wanted to catch up? Did he want to see her again without her friends around? Was she supposed to text him now or wait a few days?
That question put more dumb ideas into her head. You should wait a few days to contact a man who's interested in you. That was just a basic rule. But she wasn't going to date Fletcher. This wasn't some dating ritual thing.
