Something Sweet

Chapter 12

When Nalani was eight, she believed she felt true anger. The pure red-hot adrenaline rushing through her veins. Nalani's eyes flashed with the fire of simmering rage, and her furrowed brow cast shadows over a stormy sea of emotions. Each word she spat was a thunderclap, reverberating with the force of pent-up tempests within. All because Charlotte Westfall, the bully. Nalani stood to her once out of pure justified anger. Even after she did, she felt good because she was only doing it to help those she bullied.

So, when Nalani saw Samuel today in her bakery, she almost levitated. Her heart swelled at the sight, and gleamed when he made his way to the counter, "Darling I—" Nalani words were taken out of her mouth and stomped on when another woman stood beside him with her arm wrapped around his. Smiling like he'd reach up and get the moon for her.

This time Nalani felt a different emotion, something she hadn't felt before. It has always been Samuel and her. Yet, truthfully, she knew Samuel wasn't exclusively hers – not her boyfriend, and she wasn't his girlfriend. That realization struck a pang in her heart.

"Hi Mr. Foster, what can I do for you," Nalani says trying to give her best smile. The sound of his last name coming from Nalani's lips felt like a slap to his face.

"I—what?"

"Would you like the same," Nalani smiles again before turning around to make his usual.

While making the tea, Nalani couldn't help but be distracted, her eyes averted to the table where Samuel sat. The girl laughed and honestly what could've been so funny. Samuel wasn't that funny. He couldn't tell a good joke to save his life!?

Samuel kept glancing at Nalani as she entered the back kitchen. Something was wrong, He couldn't pin it yet, but Nalani's vibe was off. Aria, Samuel's sister, interrupted his thoughts when she spoke.

"So? Are you coming? "Aria tilted her head to follow Samuel's line of sight, "Is that her? She's very pretty, you should invite her!"

Aria chuckled as she observed Samuel's shoulders tense at the mere notion of his long-standing crush. "What? -are you serious?"

Before Aria could reply, Nalani set down his evidently scalding tea. "Here's your tea, Mr. Foster. Is there anything else I can assist you with?" Nalani inquired in a mechanical customer service tone.

Something feels amiss; he couldn't quite identify it just yet. "Are you alright? "Samuel delicately lifts Nalani's hands, examining her fingers. "Did you burn yourself again? Did you sit down for a minute like I told you? I told you to take care of yourself while I am gone." Samuel continued to nag. Aria watched as her brother acted like a lovesick fool.

 Nalani was touched by the thought that he even noticed a change in her attitude but that wasn't the point. There's another woman with her man! "Don't you have somewhere else to be, Mr. Foster?" Nalani's voice carried a subtle edge, her concern evident. Samuel, caught off guard, glanced at Nalani with a raised eyebrow. "I'm still on my lunch break and would you stop calling me that! What is up with you?" he replied, his confusion mixing with a touch of defensiveness.

Nalani's patience wore thin, and she desperately tried to extricate Samuel from Aria's presence. With an exasperated huff, she turned on her heel and stomped toward the back of the bakery, her emotions swirling inside her.

As Nalani vanished from sight, Samuel muttered a brief "I'll be right back" to Aria, who found amusement in the unfolding scene and her older brother's eccentric behavior.

In the solitude of the back room, Nalani leaned against a countertop, her mind racing with a whirlwind of emotions. Doubts and insecurities clouded her thoughts as she pondered her place in Samuel's life.

Meanwhile, Samuel, unable to ignore the feelings stirring within him, followed Nalani into the back room. He knew he needed to address the situation and reassure her of his intentions. "Hey, you, okay? you look off..."

Samuel's words reached deaf ears. Nalani only responded by turning her back to not face him anymore. "c'mere, let's talk about this." Samuel says, turning her around to look at him.

"I really don't like the way she looks at you." Nalani barely whispers.

What is she talking about right now? Samuel thinks to himself. He only has eyes for–. Like a jolt to a circuit, it finally clicks in his mind. "Are you jealous?" A smile tugged at his lips.

"No, I'm not!" Immediately embarrassed at the revelation Nalani tries to walk away only to be pulled back into Samuel's chest.

"Oh, you really are jealous! Wait, why would you be jealous?"

"Because there's another woman on your arm who isn't me!" Nalani exclaims, her hands instinctively flying to cover her face in embarrassment. "I'm not your girlfriend or your wife. You don't belong to me, so why am I feeling like this?" Nalani whines into her hands.

Oh, little did she know, Samuel held her in his thoughts from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning until he closed them for rest. His very feelings were controlled by the look of her beautiful face. Samuel waits for her to walk through those fiery red doors. He watches for her when he's dispatched into a burning building. Samuel doesn't breathe unless she is with him. In the tapestry of his existence, Nalani is the vivid thread that weaves through every moment. In this declaration, Samuel surrenders to the vulnerability of love, laying bare his soul before her. With an unwavering passion that declares, unequivocally, that Samuel is hers, in every way possible now and for all eternity.

"I am yours," Samuel murmurs, his words a tender vow, as he cradles her face in his hands. A soft, apologetic kiss follows, a gentle affirmation of his fidelity. "I'm sorry that I made you feel otherwise," he confesses, his lips conveying a promise to dispel any doubt and reinforce the profound connection that binds them.

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Thank you for reading. <3

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published with my new laptop ^_^!