The interview was mostly silly, superficial things. He’d apparently been dating a model by the name Kitelynn at the time, and Al Bell, who April noted didn’t seem to age, spent a few moments joking about the model’s name.
“At least it isn’t Delilah,” Samson joked back.
“At least!” Al Bell laughed.
It was a cute, light interview. Not really one of Samson’s best, but he’d been right about the puppies. Her fondness for him was rising by leaps and bounds. What was it about a handsome man holding a small cute animal?
“Would you like to hang out with him, Dame?” she asked her dog. Damien stared at her in his loving, oblivious, cockeyed way and panted happily.
With great expectations, she clicked on the other video. This one took place not too long after the puppy episode, maybe a year later, so Al Bell started off by apologizing that the set was puppy-free. There was a round of disappointed noises from the audience, which caused Samson to laugh and promise them he’d upload a video with him and a dog soon, even if he had to borrow one.
“Are you dating anyone now? You were with some model last time. The girl had the wildest name.”
“You could say I let that Kite fly away,” Samson drawled.
Al Bell laughed. “That did not end well, if popular gossip is to be believed.”
“Well, no, but at least it ended.”
Laughter.
“I’m not that disappointed, frankly. It allows me to move on to greater things. I have so much to do in my career, so many things to advise on. I’ve even been requested to do a bit part on a sitcom in New York,” Samson shrugged. “So, I really don’t have the time for a relationship.”
“Right, right. Sometimes the timing is bad.”
“I couldn’t imagine the timing will get better. I never wanted to marry Kite. We were just having fun. You know how it is. She’s starting her career, I’m building mine, we both needed a bit of release…”
“The checkout lane tells me that you are a man that needs a lot of release,” Al Bell said.
Samson spread his hands. “I’m a man.”
More laughter.
“So, what’s the future for you? No more flying Kites. But maybe once you’ve spread your business, what’s happening there? Family? Politics?”
Samson wrinkled his nose. “No, no. I don’t think I’d ever be interested in any of those things.”
April swallowed and paused the video. That didn’t mean anything. Not really. The interview had been years ago, but she still wasn’t sure what she was to Samson. Maybe what they had was just fun to him. Could she blame him for that? She had been the one to move them forward after initially putting on the brakes. He was following her lead. She bit her lip and unpaused the video.
Al Bell joked with Samson a bit more, shooting names of famous actresses and models Samson might want to settle down with.
“Just because one doesn’t decide to procreate doesn’t make one heartless. I have a baby sister. I have my colleagues and my friends. For some people that’s enough. And anyway, even the most gorgeous model, after popping a baby or two?” He looked to the audience and grimaced. “I’m just not that fond of children anyway. I’ve never been a man to start something I can’t finish.”
April shut the window. Maybe she just needed to take a deep breath, enjoy the ride, and know that it was all only temporary.
“Our relationship is a mandala,” she murmured. “Build it and let the wind blow it away. Nothing to show.”
That wasn’t exactly true. She would have her memories of him. She would have her experience at this job. She would have everything she learned. And she would have her first love.
That would have to be enough, because she wouldn’t be the one pulling back this time.
***
It wasn’t clear how Babette knew that April and Samson had sex on her desk, but April knew that the woman suspected. Babette caught April with a cold glance when she saw her walking up to work and closed the elevator before April could get there.
The last thing April wanted was news of her affair with Samson getting out around the office. It seemed she didn’t have much control of the situation, but when she finally got up to see her team, their effusive questions focused only on the trip, what they had seen, how the meetings had gone, and if she had any gossip about Samson to share.
“He was mostly business on this trip,” April said reluctantly.
“He probably went out for fresh meat when you were already in bed,” Jessie surmised.
April couldn’t say how she knew that Samson had been in bed with her… when they made it to the bed.