by Jenna Brandt
“That bad, huh?” William asked with sympathy. “You know, I got a bad vibe from him in the lounge that last night on the island. The way he came onto Heather, I knew he was no good. Tell me you didn’t let things get too far before you pulled the plug.”
“I stopped seeing him just in time.” Even as Vanessa said the words, she knew that wasn’t true. She’d fallen hard enough for Samuel that damage had been done to her heart. She wasn’t going to admit that to anyone else though. “Can I join?”
Vanessa started to sit in the seat next to her sister, but Heather stopped her. “Uh-uh, little sis, we have better plans than losing our shirts on a game of chance. By the end of the night, you’ll be losing your shirt—or should I say dress—in a whole other way. You know what they say, the best way to get over someone is to move on with someone else.”
Vanessa wasn’t sure what the saying was, but she doubted that was it. Either way, the last thing she wanted to do was spend time flirting with some other guy. “I think I would rather stay here and play a few rounds.”
“No way; trust me, my plan is better. Once word gets back to Samuel that you’ve moved on, he’ll be ripe with jealousy, which is exactly how you want him to feel. It’s called payback.”
Vanessa was regretting her decision to involve her sister. Heather’s go-to-move was to make a guy jealous by any means necessary. Vanessa wasn’t built that way. She preferred to lick her wounds in private.
“Hey, is that what you did to me back on the island? Was that why you were flirting with Samuel back in the lounge?” William accused with anger.
“It worked, didn’t it?” Heather questioned with a mischievous grin. When William started to speak, she lifted her hand to silence him. “This isn’t about us right now, William. We need to focus on my sister.” She wrapped her arm through Vanessa’s, pulling her out of the car and towards the last one where the dance floor was located.
“I don’t know, Heather. I’m not really in the mood to play games like this.”
“It’s not a game, Nessa. It’s important that you’re the first to move on. He can’t see that he hurt you.”
Was it that obvious? Could everyone see that she had been duped and discarded by Samuel? She was doing her best to keep her feelings concealed, but maybe that wasn’t possible.
Before Vanessa could object further, her sister was pushing her into the middle of the dance floor where a group of people were moving to the fast-paced pop music. Vanessa found the rhythm of the song, and followed the steps, trying to lose herself in the crowded room, hoping that her mind could finally stop continually replaying what happened with Samuel earlier in the evening.
Several quick-tempo songs played back-to-back. By the end of them, Vanessa’s breath was ragged, and she could feel the beads of perspiration on her forehead as sweat trickled down the back of her neck. The next song was slower, offering Vanessa the break she needed. She was nearly off the dance floor when a hand reached out to stop her escape.
“I think we should dance,” Harry coaxed, pulling her around to face him, so he could ogle her.
Instinctively, she recoiled. Harry was everything she despised in a man. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Besides, weren’t you supposed to leave the train by now?” she spat out as she tried to pull away with no luck.
“Oh, earlier was just a misunderstanding. Samuel gets his feathers ruffled way too easy. Come on, I promise to show you a good time.”
She wanted to object further, but before she could, he was roughly yanking her into his arms. She could smell the alcohol on his breath, and she turned her face away to avoid the awful stench.
“I have to say, when your sister texted me and told me that you were looking for someone to make Samuel jealous, I jumped at the chance,” Harry slurred out with a wicked grin. “That man thinks he’s better than everyone else, and it’s about time he got taken down a peg. It makes it even sweeter if I’m the one to do it, and as a bonus, with a hot little number like you.”
Not only did she hate how Harry was talking about her, but how he coldly talked about using her for his own amusement. She refused to be a part of a plan to hurt anyone, even Samuel, despite how much he hurt her first. She’d been stupid to listen to her sister, and now she was stuck being pawed like a piece of meat by Harry Belfour.
“Let me go,” she snapped out, trying to wrench free from him a second time. “I don’t want to dance anymore.”
Harry didn’t seem to care what she wanted; his grip only tightened on her arm, his face moving closer to her until his mouth was only inches away from her own. She could swear he was going to try to kiss her, and she had no idea how she was going to stop him. “Come on, don’t be like that. This is going to be fun. You’ll see. Just wait until Samuel gets here.”
“No need to wait,” Samuel growled out. “I’m here and I’m putting an end to this.” He marched up to them and pushed Harry off of Vanessa. “I told you to stay away from her and I meant it.”
“How dare you touch me like that,” Harry yelled. “We were just having a little fun.”
“It didn’t look like fun. It looked like you were trying to take advantage of my girlfriend.”
Vanessa’s eyes darted towards Samuel. If she hadn’t heard him use the word to describe her with her own ears, she wouldn’t have believed it. Was he just saying that to make a point, or did he mean it? Did it matter to her if he did?
“She came down here looking for a good time. Do you blame me for obliging her? If you didn’t pick such easy women to date, things like this wouldn’t happen.”
Samuel lunged towards Harry, grabbing him by the front of his shirt. “Don’t you dare talk about her that way.”
Harry jerked free, pulling down his shirt in an effort to smooth it out unsuccessfully. “You’ve wrecked my shirt; now it needs to be pressed.”
“Send me the bill,” Samuel growled out as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“You need to get it together, Samuel. You’re letting her make a fool of you. When are you going to realize, you’re just not the settling down type? Leave that to people like Wade McAllister.” Harry stormed off towards the other part of the train, leaving Vanessa with Samuel.
“I didn’t need you to rescue me,” she snapped at him, wishing the night would just end and she could wake up and escape all of this by flying home.
“Vanessa, let me explain what happened with Aisling.”
She looked down at her Cartier watch, noting that it was nearly two hours since she left the promenade, giving him plenty of time alone with the other woman. “There’s no need. I get the picture. You didn’t need to rush back here on my account.”
“It didn’t look like that when I came in here,” he pointed out. “Would you have gone somewhere with Harry if he had asked you?”
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed into angry slits. “Don’t you dare turn this around on me. I’m not the one who had a side piece stashed here in Ireland. You’re the one who ruined everything between us.”
“Please, don’t say that. I’m doing my best. Just give me another chance,” Samuel pleaded, reaching towards her.
She lurched away, shaking her head. She refused to let him trick her into believing his lies again. “You’re best isn’t good enough, and I’m all out of chances. We’re done, Samuel.”
As Vanessa rushed from the car, she could no longer restrain the tears. They fell freely down her cheeks, reminding her just as she realized how much she cared for Samuel, she also realized, it was too late to save their relationship. She couldn’t trust him, and without trust, there was no hope.
Chapter Eleven
Samuel couldn’t believe what just happened. He honestly thought that when he got back to the train, he would be able to explain to Vanessa what happened. They’d be able to work it out. Instead, he found her with Harry and reacted poorly, only making things worse. She told him it was over, and from the way she said it, he could tell she meant it. Part of him hoped that af
ter a good night’s sleep, she might be willing to listen to him, but in his gut, he knew her mind was made up. He’d lost Vanessa, and he only had himself to blame. If he hadn’t played so fast and loose with life, this trip would’ve had a very different outcome.
“Is there anything I can get you, Mr. Butler?” Simone offered, a sympathetic expression clearly written across her face.
“No, there’s nothing I need that you can get me,” Samuel lamented, trying without success to squash down the anguish in his heart. “I think I’m going to spend the rest of the night in my cabin.”
“As you wish, sir, but if you change your mind, please don’t hesitate to call me.”
Samuel had a restless night, tossing and turning, his mind racing to figure out a way to prove to Vanessa that everything was just a big misunderstanding. The problem was, if she didn’t trust him, it didn’t matter what he said. The more he thought about it, the more he worried too much damage had been done to fix what went wrong. How would he find a way to overcome something like that?
The next morning, he ordered room service, not wanting to deal with the rest of his guests. Even if all of them wrote him off because of how he was behaving, he didn’t care.
Deciding he had nothing left to loose, he headed over to her room. He knocked on the door, waiting for a reply. When he didn’t get one, he knocked a second time. She must be ignoring him. He decided to speak through the door, hoping that she would listen to him.
“Vanessa, I know you’re upset with me, but you never gave me a chance to explain what happened with Aisling. It wasn’t what you thought. Nothing happened between us. I could never do something like that because I care about you.” To his disappointment, his heartfelt declaration was met with silence. He waited a few seconds before adding, “Can’t you just talk to me?”
Tara came up to Samuel with Wade by her side. She had a concerned look on her face. “We heard about what happened this morning at breakfast, so I came by her cabin to talk with her, hoping I might be a friend she could lean on. She didn’t answer the door for me either. I’m sorry how this all turned out. For what it’s worth, I’ve seen a real change in you over the past couple of days.”
Wade patted his friend on the back. “I have, too. Promise me, despite what happened, you won’t go back to your old ways.”
“I know it seems like I changed for Vanessa, but the truth is, I did it for myself too. I’m not going to deny this; it would be easy to just drink and party the pain away, but I don’t want to be that man anymore. I want to be better.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Wade praised. “I know it stinks that things are ending this way with Vanessa, but at least you’ve changed for the better.”
He knew that should comfort him, but Samuel didn’t wish he had to lose Vanessa to become a better man. He wanted to be with her because of it.
The train arrived back in Dublin in the late morning. As everyone disembarked, Samuel watched for Vanessa. To his astonishment, he never saw her get off the train.
“Simone, where is Miss Lewis?” Samuel inquired with confusion.
“I’m sorry to inform you, but she requested to disembark in the middle of the night. She got off in Westport with her family.”
“You didn’t wake me up to tell me?” Samuel accused in anger, trying to process the disheartening news. “I could have tried to stop her from leaving.”
“She asked me not to say anything to you, which I tried to talk her out of. She had the right to leave when she wanted and do it however she liked.” Simone had a concerned look on her face. “I hope all of this won’t affect your opinion of the club.”
“No, no, it’s not your fault, Simone. You’ve done an excellent job of providing me with a wonderful birthday celebration. I’ll make sure to convey that to your boss when we reach the island.”
The flight back to the resort was long and tedious. Normally, he would have enjoyed all the amenities, but all he could do was think about Vanessa and how badly he’d messed up. If he could go back to the beginning of the trip, and do it differently, he would. Heck, he would go back two years ago, and change how he acted on New Year’s Eve. There were so many things he wished he had done differently where Vanessa was concerned, but none of it mattered now that he had lost her.
Back on the island, Simone tried to pick up his spirits with several distractions. From paragliding, to a spa day, nothing seemed to work. By the end of the second day, he was ready to return home, hoping that by throwing himself into his work, he could finally push Vanessa from his mind.
Chapter Twelve
A quick glance at the Town Car’s clock confirmed that Vanessa was going to be right on time for her sister’s dinner party. She had balked at the idea of attending, considering she hadn’t felt much like socializing since leaving Ireland the month prior. Her sister, however, pestered her until she finally relented.
Vanessa had done everything she could to forget about Samuel since returning home. The problem was, no matter how hard she tried to remind herself of what he did wrong, her heart didn’t seem to want to let go of the man she had thought he was.
She kept telling herself that in a couple of weeks, she would be heading back to Yale and would finally be able to stop thinking about him once she was working on her doctorate.
The driver pulled up in front of the apartment building, then parked the car. He opened the door saying, “We’re here, Miss Lewis.”
Vanessa climbed out of the car. “Thank you, Sean. I’ll meet you back here in two hours.”
“Yes, Miss Lewis, I’ll see you then.”
She made her way towards the entrance of the posh apartment building. The doorman greeted her, opening the glass door for her to enter. “Thank you, Fred, I hope Heather hasn’t been too much trouble lately.”
“Of course not, Miss Lewis. She’s a pleasure every time I see her.”
Vanessa forced herself not to laugh at the elderly man’s stoic reply. She knew better after living with her sister last summer, which had turned out to be a major mistake. Heather would often stumble in after a late night and need help getting up to her penthouse, or have a fight with William in the lobby for all to see. Fred handled all of it with professionalism and class.
“When are you going to get a place back in the building, Miss Lewis?” Fred inquired.
“I’m going back to Yale in a couple of weeks, so not any time soon. Besides, with my parents away so much, someone has to keep an eye on their place.” Her parents owned a large 20-room mansion in the Upper East Side. It had been passed down from generation to generation in their family, but mostly stayed empty now.
“Well, you sure are missed around here, Miss Lewis. Have a nice night.”
Vanessa took the elevator to the top floor. It slid open and she stepped out into her sister’s swanky apartment. The place was decked out in platinum fixtures and accents that contrasted nicely against the dark gray furniture and marble floors.
“You made it,” Heather gushed with a smile. “I’m so glad you didn’t change your mind and stay home. Why don’t you follow me into the dining room? We’re almost ready to eat.”
Vanessa glanced around the room, counting the guests that were there. Three couples including Heather and William, which made Vanessa the seventh guest, but there were eight place settings. “Who’s the extra spot for?”
“Oh, you’ll see,” Heather said with a knowing smile.
‘“Please tell me you didn’t set me up on a blind date,” Vanessa complained. “I’m really not in the mood.”
“It’s nothing like that,” her sister promised. “Do you mind going in and checking with the chef when he’ll be ready?”
Vanessa nodded her head. “Sure thing, Heather.” She walked through the door and into the kitchen. She glanced around the room, surprised that no one was present. The stove and ovens were off, and not a single lick of food could be seen.
“What on earth’s going on?” Vanessa asked herself in confusion.
There was a commotion behind her, causing her to spin around just in time to see Samuel being pushed through the door.
“What are you doing here?” Vanessa accused. “Did you crash my sister’s party to try to get to me?”
“I didn’t know this was your sister’s place or that she was hosting this party. I was invited by Willa.”
“Well, obviously, someone made a mistake. I’m getting out of here.” Vanessa headed towards the door, but when she shoved on it, the door wouldn’t budge. “Somethings wrong.”
“Here, let me try,” Samuel offered, coming up beside her. He had the same results, causing both of them to pound on the door in an effort to get someone’s attention.
“You can stop wasting your breath,” Heather said from the other side. “I’m not letting you out until you sort out your problems.”
“What do you mean? We have nothing to talk about,” Vanessa protested.
“No, that isn’t true,” Willa chimed in. “We left plenty of food in there for you to cook a meal with. I’m betting by the time Samuel is done, you guys will have figured out what we all know. You’re both miserable without each other.”
“Willa’s right; you need to stop pretending you’re both okay being apart. You aren’t fooling anyone. This is hard for me to admit, but I was wrong about the two of you. Some things are just meant to be. Until you’re both willing to admit that, you’re going to be stuck in there.”
Samuel moved away from the door and leaned back against the counter. “We could try to call someone to come get us out of here.”
“Really? Who do you think would help us? It seems like all of our friends conspired against us to ‘parent trap’ us.”
“There’s always 9-1-1,” he suggested.
“I’m certain this doesn’t constitute as an emergency. Besides, do you really want the police involved? The press would just love to spread something like this all over the internet. I can see the headline now, ‘Celebrity Chef trapped with New York socialite in penthouse kitchen in an effort to revive their romance.”