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I couldn’t help but grin at Sam who was looking at his feet sinking in the sand with each step in wonderment. Gosh, did this man ever take a day off work to experience the beach?
“So, are you going to tell me about your hundred girlfriends now? I reckon I’ve watched you countless times sitting in your big office chair with a sly smile across your face as you sent an ‘urgent text’. Undoubtedly a text of explicit content to a Patricia, a Victoria, Becca, Tina or a Savannah.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever dated anyone with those names. Or maybe I did because, as per your assumption, I’ve had my fair share of meaningless dates with women I won’t even recognize if they pass by, much less remember their names. So nothing to tell about them really.”
Figured Sam’s women were just hook-ups. So I didn’t press. Certainly didn’t want to hear details of his exploits.
“Then tell me something else about you. Tell me about your family.”
He sipped on his tea before he began his own recounting. “Well, my dad worked in my industry. He started from bottom to top, like you. He had planned to launch his own start-up. But his bosses had found out and they offered him the CEO’s chair with an impressive contract inclusive of a big non-compete clause. Dad knew they’d destroy him if he did not stay with them. Too bad for them, he passed down everything he had learnt to me. Fast forward years later, here I am. Their biggest competition. When I told dad that one of their biggest clients had signed on with me, he poured us a shot of whiskey and he told me ‘Well done, son. My work here is done.’ A week later, he and mama left on their retirement road trip. They’ve been at it for four years now. My mama had been a dentist for over thirty years and after raising one rowdy boy into the man I am today, I guess they both deserved a second honeymoon.”
He sure was one son spoilt with affection and returned the same amount of adoration to his parents. The bright smile on his face was proof of that.
“Is that why you opened up your own company straight after graduating?”
“One of the reasons, yes. Bold move, I know, but I had my family’s support with every move I made. Fair enough, yes, they did pay for the best education and invested in my ventures, but other than that, they did not give me an extra dime. They made me work my ass off to get through university life and to buy my very first apartment. They taught me to be independent. They even let me make my own bad choices to learn from them. Like when I messed up my partnership with Joe. Or like when I got married.”
When he got married. Right, I forgot he had mentioned that once before. Still sounded so foreign coming from his mouth.
“Why does it sound like it was the worst thing that happened in your life whenever you talked about your marriage?”
Sam chuckled sardonically. “Because it sure fucking was.”
“Is that why you keep it a secret?”
“No, I don’t. Okay, maybe I might do that. Not because it’s a secret. But because any reminder of that unfortunate episode doesn’t bring out the best in me.”
Sam stopped next to a big rock. He wiped the sand off it and sat down there. Then he patted the remaining spot next to him.
“I’m good. You hate sand between your toes, I hate sand on my brand new coat- Woah, Sam.”
In a second, Sam tugged me forward and sat me down on his lap. He tucked my back to his warm chest and wrapped his big arms around me. “Luckily, my coat isn’t new.”
“Just don’t blame me for getting your coat and pants dirty if you get sand on your car seat.”
“I’ll just take off my coat and my pants before getting in the car.”
Knowing his obsession with the car, I wasn’t sure if he was bluffing or not.
For a few seconds, we simply relished feeling the cold breeze and listening to the cawing seagulls and the sound of the crashing waves.
Until Sam broke the silence. “You know the stupid fantasy every boy has to score with an experienced, older lady? I was one of those stupid boys.”
“Your wife?” I was surprised that he returned to that subject, so my curiosity took the opportunity and led him on for more.
Sam finished his tea and set the empty cup next to our feet. “I was twenty-five years old, she was sixteen years older and as an added bonus, she was a lingerie model. Besides the benefit of getting good sex, Celeste was a great choice for a companion. She was career-focused, seeking fame and I was all committed to getting my company off the ground. Our lifestyles fit perfectly. But not everyone saw it like that. Definitely not my parents. So I went against them and married her in the back of a church less than six months after we met. Unsurprisingly their reasons for opposing were spot on. Turns out Celeste baited me because she wanted someone with a nice growing bank account to adopt her twin daughters. I was gullible enough to go along.”
Oh, my. No wonder Sam didn’t advertise his marriage. That was certainly not the love story I imagined to hear.
“How long were you married for?”
“Somehow, we made it work for two years. Till the day her lover showed up on our doorstep. He was blonde and blue-eyed like the girls. My lawyer instantly ordered a paternity test to prevent me from being stripped of a huge sum of money. Long story short, the DNA test came negative and to this day, those two girls are legally my daughters and I’m paying for their mother’s extravagant lifestyle in Paris with the alimony. That damned woman ruined my life and my bank account. But hey, I get to tell I married a cougar, right? Stupid fantasies.”
“Did you ever love her?”
“I’m not sure. What is love anyway? All I know is that I don’t want it. I have no wish to make the same mistake twice. Steering clear of any more drama. Ten years of dealing with this marriage-divorce shit are more than enough for one lifetime. The girls will be eighteen soon and I’ll be free of their mama’s claws on my pockets. I’ll be a free man who could enjoy the single life even more. In fact, I’m thinking of joining the bachelor for life club.”
“You do know that even Casanova fell in love.”
