Magnetic (New Adult Contemporary Romance) (5 page)

“
Darren, I know we had a great time tonight, but I just don’t think it’s meant to be.”

“
What are you talking about? I know you felt what I did, how can you just give that up? I know we only met today, but I’ve
never
felt with anyone what I feel with you.”

“
Not even Melissa?” Jealous women are never rational, and Samantha’s jealousy was at the peak of the mountain. She’d been jealous the moment Melissa had walked up to their table, but it was nothing to the bitterness that she felt once Melissa had accosted her in the women’s bathroom.

“
Melissa? What?”

“
Oh come on Darren, fess up. I’m just one in a long line of unsuspecting women that you meet and prey upon just to get your sexual fix.”

“
Sexual fix? What are you talking about?”

“
Yeah, well Melissa told me all about you.”

“
She did, when?”

“
When I went to the bathroom.”

Things were beginning to make a little
more sense to Darren, though he was wracking his brain trying to figure out what the bitter hag had said. He couldn’t think of a single
truthful
thing that she could accuse him of.

“
I have no idea what you mean when you say sexual fix, but I can tell you about Melissa. Will you listen?”

Samantha nodded her head, and Darren began to explain his connection to Melissa. “
Melissa was the high-school lover of my freshman roommate, Jared. She spent hours at our apartment. I even wondered at one point if it would be better if I moved out so that she could move in. Initially she only came around when Jared was home, but then she began to stop by whenever the urge struck her. I tried to avoid her, but it seemed the more I avoided her, the more our paths crossed. One weekend Jared went home because his mom was sick and his father had to go on a business trip. His task was to care for his younger siblings; anyways Melissa was in my apartment when I came home from a party. There she was lying on my bed with some skimpy red lingerie. The truth is, I rejected her, and she’s hated me ever since.”

“
Even if all of that is true, it doesn’t refute her accusations against you.” Samantha eyed him, she wanted to believe his story, but there were too many other elements that she couldn’t let drop.

“
Accusations, what does she have to accuse me of?”

“
Being a player, more-or-less.”

“
More-or-less, how so?”

“
Well for one, she said that Lowell’s is where you take all women on your first dates.”

“
Not all, but I do take those that I have a particular interest in there.”

“
See, how would she know that?” Samantha was sure she’d just tangled him into a web and soon he wouldn’t be able to lie his way out.

“
Really? Think about it Samantha. She was my roommate’s girlfriend. She was around to hear about each and every date I went on my freshman year. I took at least three women to the restaurant. It’s not hard to conclude that I like to eat there.”

“
What about your grandfather?”

“
What about him?”

“
Melissa said that you use the same old story to con all of your women. Try to convince them that you have a sensitive side before …” She trailed off.

“
Before what?” Darren was trying to keep control of his anger, but he was beginning to fail.

“
Before … you know.”

“
No, apparently I do not know.”

“
Use them to get your sexual fix.” Samantha blushed as she spoke the words, but she could see Darren’s anger rise.

“
My God and you believed her. I thought you were smarter than that.”

“
How would you know how smart I am? We’ve barely known each other half a day. How am I supposed to know who, or what you are?” He looked over to her. She sat with her hands clasped in her lap, the fury in her eyes piercing him.

“
Why I’ll be damned, here I thought fate just handed me the woman of my dreams. Someone whom I could love and who may love me in return and what do I get instead? Some skittish little girl who thinks I’m a sex crazed maniac. Well I don’t need this shit.” Darren grabbed his jacket off the arm of the chair and started walking towards the door. He was angry and unable to listen to anything else, but he still heard her when she whispered, “I don’t believe in fate.”

Part of him ached at her admission to not believing i
n fate. He thought all women believed in fate, in love at first sight. His sister was always spouting some nonsense that someday she would meet the man that she was destined from birth to be with. That she would see him across a crowded room, and know that he was her undying love. Darren had always hoped she was right, but honestly, until this morning, until he had met Samantha, he doubted that love worked that way. Samantha had changed that though, he had begun to believe his sisters fanciful notions, but no, he had been right after all. Fate, love at first sight, those things didn’t happen in real life. He opened her door and before walking out threw back over his shoulder, “Welcome to college sweetheart. Just remember, there are bitter ex-girlfriends for almost every man on campus, funny thing is, Melissa’s not even an ex-girlfriend, just a crossed wannabe lover. You better grow up and learn to use that pretty little head of your's or you’re going to have a lonely four years.” Darren walked out the door, slamming it behind him.

Samantha burst into tears, unable to control the ache she felt in her heart.

Darren climbed into his jeep and slammed his hands upon the steering wheel,
how could she believe such a base and vicious attack,
his mind screamed. Firing up the engine he squealed the tires out of the driveway. He drove carelessly all the way back to his apartment, not caring if he got a ticket.

Samantha lay in bed all night, replaying the
day’s events over and over in her mind; running into Darren at the bookstore, kissing him in the Seattle parking lot, the flowers, and the dinner. In addition to it all, she couldn’t get Melissa’s accusations out of her mind. Deep down she knew they weren’t warranted, both her mind and her heart confirmed it, but she just couldn’t stop the jealousy. The thought of another woman having Darren, her Darren, was too much to handle, and as a result, she wasn’t thinking clearly. All rational thought was lost, and now so was he.

To make it all worse, she c
hastised herself for thinking of him as
her
Darren. Sure she had felt the magnetism between them from the very start, but her mind screamed at her to grow-up and think logically. That stuff only happens in the movies, or at the very least to women who are not her.

Lying on her bed, Samantha closed her eyes to go to sleep, but instead Darren
’s eyes were staring back at her in her mind’s eye. She recalled every sensation of his kisses, the taste of his tongue as he thrust it into her mouth to drink her in. The weight of his body hard against her. Samantha shivered despite the heat that was coursing through her body. The more she tried to push him from her mind, the more the thoughts of him lingered at the edge of her consciousness. She got up and went to the bathroom to splash cold water upon her face, but nothing helped, she could still feel him against her. Her whole body shuddered at the sensation.

Lying back upon her bed, she wrapped her body around her pillow and willed herself to sleep. She
hadn’t slept long when she awoke from her first sexual fantasy dream. Her breasts ached, her thighs were tight, and her panties damp from the wetness that seeped from her most womanly place. Shaking her head to clear it, she watched the moon-lit shadows cross her walls. The more she tried to forget the more detailed her dreams became. Stretching out her full length on her bed, she could feel Darren’s hands wrap around her waist, she could feel his groin press against her. Samantha squeezed her ass and lifted her hips against his invisible power. It almost felt better. Even now, she could feel the caress of his hands at the base of her neck, the warmth of his breath upon her mouth.

Samantha wanted to scream, she
’d barely known the man twelve hours, and already she knew that if he wanted it, she would give him her virginity, no questions asked.

The next morning when she woke, it was as if she
hadn’t slept at all. The sensations of Darren’s touch, the passion of his kisses were dangerous thoughts to Samantha. If she lingered on them too long, she was unable to do anything else.

Getting out of bed and taking a shower to clear her
head was necessary. Her mind lingered on their animated conversation from the night before and the more she thought about it, the more she hated to admit that he was right. She hadn’t used her brain, she hadn’t rationally thought through a single thing. Nope, she acted foolish, like a silly high-school girl rather than the mature woman that she wanted to be. Now, as a result, she had just lost the man of her dreams.

The first week of classes was hell for Samantha. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t forget Darren. She tried to reason that she had only known him one day, but that didn’t help. Her mind played tricks on her everywhere she went. She could swear she saw him coming down the sidewalk towards her, her heart raced, and her palms went sweaty, just to realize that the man wasn’t Darren, in fact, he looked nothing like him. She saw him in the library, at the student union building, even in one of her lecture halls, each time again disappointed when she looked a second time, and it wasn’t him.

Mark Flattery, another freshman in her American History class, had noticed Samantha since the first day. He alw
ays found an available seat near, but not so close that he drew attention to himself. Although he didn’t know her, he could tell that she had recently suffered some type of loss and that she was deeply affected by it. He watched her close for a full week before making his move and approaching her.

“
Is this seat taken?” Mark asked.

Samantha looked at the empty seat next to her, and the other fifteen nearby, slightly irritated that he would want to sit so close when there were plenty of seats scattered arou
nd the room. “Um, no it’s not taken.”

“
Great,” he said as he sat down.

He leaned closer to her as he introduced himself. “
I’m Mark, what’s your name?”

“
Samantha,” she answered.

“
Such a beautiful name, for a beautiful woman,” he crooned, raising his eyebrows and flashing a dazzling smile.

Samantha rolled her eyes,
this guy thinks he’s so smooth
, she thought.

“
I’ve seen you in class each day, but you always sit by yourself. What’s up with that?” he asked.

Samantha shrugged her
shoulders, “Nothing, I just don’t know anyone in this class.”

“
Well, you know me now, how about I just plan on sitting by you every day. What do you think of that?”

“
Suit yourself.” Samantha was more annoyed by his too chipper voice, than his actually wanting to sit by her. Having a friend in class wouldn’t be so bad. At least she could tell her father she’d finally made a friend. He was already threatening to visit her in Seattle. Three nights ago he had figured out that she was down about something, and ever since he hadn’t stopped calling. She was tempted to give in and tell him a man broke her heart so that he would laugh at her, tell her to get over him, and move on, but she didn’t want to hear it, she didn’t want to move on. She wanted Darren.

She swore if she could see him again, just once
, that she would make it right. She would apologize, ask his forgiveness, even beg if she had to. All she needed was one more chance.

Samantha had tried everything to fi
nd him. Every day she looked she hated herself more for not learning his last name, for not getting his phone number, for not finding out where he lived. All she knew was that his name was Darren, he grew up in Bellingham, and he drove a green Jeep Wrangler; hardly enough information to find him. Like searching for a needle in a haystack. She had Googled his name, searched for him on Facebook; she even went to admissions and asked for his contact details. He didn’t exist on Google or Facebook, though she was unsure how he had managed that since almost everything and everyone could be found on one location or the other. Admissions wouldn’t give her his information, for all they knew she was a stalker, but it didn’t matter anyways; she didn’t even have a last name, just a first name and a hometown.

“
So, what’s your gig?” Mark asked.

“
Gig?” she questioned.

“
Yeah, what are you majoring in? What kinds of things interest you? What do you like to eat? It’s an open-ended question that a thousand different answers will suffice. I’m just throwing it out there as a conversation starter. If you would prefer that I ask something more personal, I will.” Mark looked deep into her eyes as she stared at him with unease. “Would you go to the movies with me?” he leaned in and asked.

Samantha leaned away from him, arching her head sideways to provide the most distance between them as possible. “
What? No!”

“
Why not?” he acted hurt, but she could tell he was secretly amused.

“
Why not? Well, … because I don’t even know you.”

“
That’s why the date was invented. You see it’s common for a boy,” he sat up straight and pointed both thumbs at his chest, “to see a girl that he likes,” he then pointed both fingers at her, “and then ask her out on a date. They go out, share a pleasant time, and viola they get to know one another.”

“
I know how a date works, but I’m just not interested.”

“
So, I can assume you have a boyfriend then?”

“
No, I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“
So, I’m guessing that you prefer other women?”

“
What? No, I don’t prefer women, I prefer men.”

“
Perfect then, I am a man, and like you, I am not encumbered with a significant other.” He leaned towards her again, “Although I would like to be.”

“
Look, I’m just not interested.” Lucky for Samantha, the lecture began, and Mark sat back in his seat only slightly put off by her rejection. He would try again at Thursdays lecture.

And try again he did on Thursday, then the following Tuesday and Thursday, and then the following lectures the week after those. Mark
’s persistence at first was annoying to Samantha, but then at some point it turned cute. He started off each class begging her for a date, and then closing it with one last attempt just hoping she would say yes.

“
At some point this is going to get old, me asking, and you rejecting every day.”

“
Perhaps, although it’s not old yet.” Samantha teased. It had been a whole month since her disastrous date with Darren, and although she still thought about him constantly she had regained some of her playful nature.

“
You know, your original argument of not knowing me is no longer valid. We’ve known each other three weeks now.”

“
Hardly, you’ve sat next to me in class, talked to me a few minutes before and a few minutes after. I think we’ve known each other less than an hour, collectively.”

“
Oh come on, you can’t be serious, the two hours of lecture each week count also. We are up to at least six hours of lecture and one hour of extracurricular. That’s a total of seven hours. Plus, doesn’t persistence count for something?”

She did have to give him that, he w
as determined. Looking slyly at his face out of the corner of her eye she accepted. “I guess when you put it that way it sounds pretty reasonable. Sure, I’ll go on a date with you.”

“
You’ll go? YES!” he said, then with no shame whatsoever he shouted amongst the crowded pathways between the buildings, “Samantha finally agreed to go on a date with me.”

Mortification spread across her features.

“Great, I’ll pick you up tomorrow. Can you text me your address?”

Samantha grabbed her phone out of her back pocket, punched in his number and texted her address to him. Rather than being excited for her date, her heart
sunk at the realization of how easy she had just been given a method to contact Mark. Why couldn’t Darren have asked her to text him? Why couldn’t she have been smart enough to love him when she still had a chance?

Mark saw her face fall as soon as she hit the send button on her phone, he didn
’t know what caused it, but he didn’t care, she had finally accepted his date. He had a perfect spot all picked out to take her.

Mark was punctual in his arrival at her apartment, in fact, he was ten minutes early, and she had to scramble to finish accessorizing her outfit before opening the door.

“
You’re early,” she scolded as she opened the door for him.

“
I wanted to make sure that you didn’t decide to stand me up at the last minute.”

“
I would never do that to you. If I hadn't planned on coming, I wouldn't have accepted, or at the very least, texted you that an emergency came up.” Samantha reached for her jacket and wallet and followed Mark out the door. He strode ahead of her and hastily got into his little hatchback car.

Samantha stood next to her door for a moment until he yelled, “
It’s open,” from inside the car. Her heart longed for Darren. Opening the door she looked down where he was wiping food crumbs off the seat and throwing empty energy drink cans into the back.

“
Sorry about that, I guess I should have cleaned out my car, but honestly it didn’t cross my mind.”

“
It’s alright,” she said as she sat down on the seat, keeping her hands in her lap so that she didn’t touch anything
nasty.
As he backed down the drive, she couldn’t help but compare his car to Darren’s jeep. Darren’s jeep had been clean, and best of all, he didn’t even know she would be in it. It was obvious that he valued his vehicle and regularly cleaned it. Mark’s probably hadn’t been cleaned out since the day he bought it. The car smelled like left over food and dirty clothes, Samantha wanted to gag.

Luckily the drive to the far side of the campus
wasn’t long and soon Mark parked his car in the parking lot of the church on the corner of
The Ave
and
NE Pacific Street.
Stepping out of his car Samantha breathed deeply the fresh, crisp fall air. September had gone, and October was in full force, red, orange, and yellow leaves littering the ground in a rainbow of fall colors. Mark called to her from around the front of the car. “Over here.” They walked about a block down the
Burke-Gilman Trail
until they reached the University Planetarium. Mark reached for her hand as he opened the door for her.

The empty feeling of her hand in his
didn’t go unnoticed by Samantha. She longed for the spark that she had felt just being near Darren. She yearned for the sensations that he invoked though every fiber of her being at the mere thought of him holding her hand. Her face flushed as she thought about Darren.

Mark noticed her heightened color and attributed it to the fact that he had reached for her hand. He was e
xcited that she was beginning to feel for him what he had felt for her this past month. Samantha noticed his attentions turned towards her and longed to direct them elsewhere. She loosened her hand in his, expecting him to let go, but he didn’t.

“
Where are we?” she inquired.

“
The campus planetarium.”

“
I’ve never been to a planetarium, though I have always wanted to,” Samantha said nervously.

“
You’re in for a treat then.” They walked around the building, looking at the artwork and photographs of planets and the night sky. Samantha enjoyed all of it, the uniqueness of their location appealing to her, some of the scenes even bringing back memories of sitting on her front porch, back home, looking at the stars against the pitch-black sky. Part of her yearned to be home, to be where it got dark. When she arrived in Seattle she thought it a novelty that the sky never darkened because of the hustle and bustle of the city lights, but now that she had been here more than a month she missed the stars. The missed the ebony night sky.

Touring the building took less than thirty minutes, Mark had held her hand the entire time and the only sensation that she could remember was his palms getting sweaty. Samantha longed to pull her hand free, but she didn
’t want to offend him.

“
Well, are you ready to go into the actual planetarium?” Mark asked as he guided her towards the door into the dark room.

“
Yes,” she said with a genuine smile of interest. She may not be interested in him, but she was truly enjoying the location and planned to come back again when she could peruse the room a little more leisurely.

Dropping her hand he opened the door and guided her inside with his hand resting on the small of her back. Samantha instinctively arched away from his touch, unable to let his
hands linger where Darren’s once had.

As they entered the planetarium it was flooded with light, and then as the door closed behind them it was
again drenched in darkness. Samantha paused, waiting for her eyes to adjust, and then twisted her head every which way to take in the sight around her. She had read that the university had partnered with
Microsoft
to enhance the resolution of the projected images, but nothing prepared her for the sight she witnessed. She actually sighed at the majestic view around her, she was in heaven.

Darren Riggs had been irritated when the planetarium doors had opened to admit a couple. He had felt particularly on edge the past few weeks, unable to shake Samantha from his memory. He just didn’t understand it, he’d only known her one day, but that’s all it took; one day, half a day if he admitted it to himself. She was the only woman he was attracted to. A month before he could have asked out any number of women on a date or entered into a relationship with quite a few that he had once considered attractive, but not now, not after meeting Samantha. The worst part about it was that the more he pinned away for her the more frustrating the situation became. Everywhere he went women were offering him their numbers, asking him to call. They waited for him after class, caught him exiting the library, even stood outside the men’s locker-room waiting for him to change after his workouts, all so that they could try to get a date with him.