Trust me, babe

Chapter 35

Kathryn

My eyes were scanning the arrivals hall, trying to spot Dad from the crowd. All around me people were greeting their loved ones, reuniting after some time apart. But I didn't have that. There was no one there whose face would light up at the sight of me emerging from the crowd. There was no one who'd run over to hug me and whisper they'd missed me.

A small, stupid part of me started to imagine Samson here. He would be standing somewhere in the crowd and I'd spot him first. For a minute I'd admire him, finding it hard to believe he was mine, but then he'd spot me. Our eyes would lock and his face would light up. I'd make my way over to him and- there was that other girl. That Emily. She had her arms wrapped around him and she was smiling deviously at me.

Kathryn, what? I thought to myself. What on Earth had I been thinking about? I tried to shake the images from my head. Samson and Emily weren't here. And I didn't want them to be here. Not even Samson. I wouldn't want him to be here waiting for me, wrapping his arms around me and calling me babe...

I spotted Dad and walked over to him, pulling my suitcase behind me and trying to get Samson out of my head.

"How was the flight?" Dad asked, reaching his hand toward the handle of my suitcase.

"It was fine," I replied as I handed the suitcase to him.

"Good," he said. "The car's outside."

He turned around and led me through the crowd toward the doors. I followed him but my mind lingered in the arrivals hall. The last time I'd been here had been when Kenzie and Jacky had arrived and I'd been waiting for them with Samson. Back then I had been totally clueless about what Kenzie had been hiding from me and how Samson would turn out to be. Thinking about that day now, made my stomach churn. So much had changed.

Once we made it to Dad's car, he shoved my suitcase into the trunk and I slumped down on the passenger's seat. I tried to do everything in order not to think about Kenzie and Samson but for some reason they seemed to be glued to my mind. All I could think about was the last time I'd driven home from the airport, Kenzie on this same passenger's seat, babbling non-stop while my mind was stuck on Samson and our conversation at the airport.

"Some guy came over a few days ago," Dad said as he slowed down to a red light. "Sam or Sammy or something like that."

My heart skipped a beat. It must've been Samson. Dad had talked to him? It annoyed me that Samson couldn't leave me alone and let me be but at the same time the thought of him coming looking for me made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. But I wasn't supposed to feel warm and fuzzy at the thought of Samson. He was a guy. And he had proved he couldn't be trusted.

"He was asking for you," Dad continued. "Said you hadn't replied to his message. I promised you'd stop by at Steve's beach bar once you came home."

"Okay," I replied, not wanting to give anything away to Dad. I bet he was curious to know who Samson was and why he had been looking for me. But he didn't need to know. I didn't want him to know. Besides, there was no point in letting him know since I wanted Samson out of my life. And I wanted him out for good.

We sat in silence for the rest of the ride. I was trying to decide when would be the best time to go meet Samson. A part of me wanted to get it done as soon as possible but at the same time, telling him I wanted nothing to do with him felt really final. But it was supposed to be final. I wanted it to be final.

By the time we were climbing up the stairs to our floor, I had decided I would do it tomorrow. Dad was talking about how he had to do a few finishing touches on his newest article but then we could order take-away from the restaurant nearby. I nodded along, pretending I was listening when in reality my thoughts were on Samson and what I was about to go and tell him.