BitterSweet (On Hold)

Chapter Fourteen: Surprises

Many thoughts were running through my mind. I thought that that was it for us. In a second, she would see both of us and we would be questioned to a corner and, everything will then come to light. What a nightmare. Just then, I saw Amanda coming out from a store quite far away. See diverted Priscilla's attention towards here so I took this moment to grab Samson's arm while he stood there dumbfounded. I grabbed his arm and pulled him right towards the other alley leading to the entrance. We had to leave and fast.

Wait a minute. Why does this sound like we are being sneaky as if he was having a mistress? Wait what?...Mistress?! What the fuck am I thinking? I screamed at myself in my mind. By then I had dragged Samson all the way to the entrance and flagged a cab. While in the queue and Samson being absolutely quiet, I phoned a number and then spoke on the phone for a while. "Hey. Samson. You alright?" I asked, frowning and concerned. I might've been a little jealous that Priscilla might be on his mind now at this moment, but I let that slide.

When the cab pulled over, I opened the door and signalled for Samson to get in. After he did I got into the cab and said, "One Raffles". The taxi driver nodded his head in confirmation that he heard my destination. We reached there in only under 30 minutes. The place was a posh office building surrounded by other such buildings. This was however one of the few buildings that the top few levels was for commercial uses instead of business uses. My father brought my mother and I here went we first arrived in Singapore. I got to say the food was good and the service was awesome though I did have a sour mood due to the fact I didn't like shifting my place of residence ever so often.

I paid the taxi driver and got into the building. At the lift lobby, the security guard stopped us and requested for our identity cards which we promptly produced and then I said we were going up to the restaurant at the top. Then we proceeded. In the lift when it was just the two of us, Samson whispered, "Hey. Don't you think it's a little over the top to bring me here?" I gave him a shrug and then I smiled.

When we reached the floor, we stepped out of the lift and immediately, we saw the restaurant. "Do you have a reservation", asked the waiter standing at the entrance. "Yes. Charles, please" I replied. He ran his finger over the booking list then then exclaimed, "There. Come this way then". He led us to a table set in a private room. The room was big enough for 8 people to dine in but it was just the 2 of us. After all, I requested for this extravagance. By the way, the room was so big it even had a coffee table and a sofa facing a fantastic city view that can be seen through the full length glass.

I looked over at Samson when he first stepped into the room. The look of amazement on his face made me chuckle a little to myself. The waiter led us to the table which we sat down and he left shortly after. "Wow. It's so nice here. Did you book a private room, Charles?" he asked, frowning. "Yeah. I thought maybe you haven't visited such fine dining place so I got us the private room so you can eat in any way you want to" I replied. He smiled back at me.

The waiter left the room after we sat down and gave us the menu for the day. I looked over and saw Samson frantically flipping through the menu. "Wah. There's so much to choose from. I don't know what to order, Charles". I smiled at him when he looked up from the menu to meet my gaze. "How about we have a steak? And maybe a crème brûlée, since you love sweet food?" I asked him. He seemed to be in agreement so I just called the waiter in and ordered that. "One lobster salad and 2 glasses of pinot noir as well" I said to the waiter. "Sure thing, Mister. Please wait a while, while we prepare your food" he said as he walked out of the room, carefully shutting the door after him.

"It's so nice here Charles. Why did you suddenly bring me here?" Samson asked. I shrugged and sneaked a grin. I just couldn't tell him. Not yet. "Look at the stunning view of the sunset" I said, diverting the attention to the city view that was slowly being swallowed by darkness though, it was currently bathed in brilliant orange and purple hues. He stood up from the chair and walked over to the glass panel so that he could see well. I walked up to him and then placed my hands around his waist. I whispered into his ear, "Happy birthday, love".

I could see from the reflection in the glass that he was smiling widely. My heart fluttered when he smiled and I smiled too. We stood there till it was finally dark. Then I suggested we go back to the table to sit down. As we sat down, the waiter entered the room, as if on cue that we were ready to be served. The lobster salad came. By then I could tell that Samson was absolutely hungry. He literally wolfed down his portion of the salad.

"It's so delicious. I've never eaten such yummy food!" he said, mouth still full with chunks of lobster. "Here, you can have mine", I offered, pushing my bowl of salad towards him. He shook his head to refuse my offer. "Don't worry. There are still other dishes for us to eat. And, you should eat since you are hungry" I said. "You sure? Then, I would be polite anymore", he grabbed the salad and started wolfing it down too. He seemed so happy. I sipped my glass of pinot noir and gazed at the happy Samson. I wish I can make him smile like this every day for the rest of his life.

When he was about done with his salad, he looked up and asked me, "How did you know it's my birthday?" He had mayonnaise all over his lower lip and the sides of his mouth. I took the handkerchief and initiated to wipe the mayonnaise off his mouth. "I can do this myself", he protested. But, I continued to move forward. "If you don't help me move forward, I'm going to go over there" I threatened. He gave up and leaned closer. I wiped the mayonnaise off his mouth and then I swiftly gave him a peck on his lips. Yum. "That's your birthday kiss" I proclaimed, seeing his shocked expression.

The waiter came in with the steak and then he left, closing the door behind him yet again. It was like Samson hardly used a fork and a knife so he was a little clumsy cutting his steak. "It's yummy. Especially the sauce. I can never cook so well" he said. "Yes you can. Your porridge was great. Anything you cook is delicious", I said. He looked down, trying to concentrate on his food. I could see that he was blushing a little. But maybe it was because he had some pinot noir.

As we finished up our steaks, the waiter came in to serve us the desserts. When we'd eaten our fill, I paid the bill and then we left the restaurant to go to the patio that was located just at its exit. The patio was 57 storeys high and overlooked the cityscape. It was fantastic at night with all the buildings lit up. It was purely magnificent. I led him to the right corner of the patio and there, was a bench and a large stitch soft toy was sitting on it, its neck tied with a ribbon. "That's for you, Samson", and nudged him towards the giant soft toy. He looked back at me speechless and with a large grin. "Go on." I continued to nudge him forward. He took the toy and hugged it tightly. "Wow. It's so soft. I love it." He said. I was happy that he was so elated. It made me feel kind of warm and happy inside.

I stood there seeing him dance around like a little kid with his new toy. Then he walked up to me after his dance, placed his toy on the bench and gave me a kiss. "Umm", he deliberated for a while before saying, "Thank you Charles". His face was flushed red. My mind was in a blank. All I could think of was his smile that he wore on his face. How can someone be this cute? And that was the day he turned 16.