“There has got to be something,” she muttered. “Unless he’s somehow paying people to keep his news out of the papers or whatever, someone would have posted some stray piece of news. I just need… to find…”
Feeling like she needed to sort out all the info she was getting somehow, she pulled open one of the drawers on her desk and picked a notebook and pen from it. It was where she wrote down all her notes, and she had several such filled notebooks in a different drawer so she wouldn’t get confused. She went through a bunch of searches, noting a few things down here and there, because it was more useful than using bookmarks when she probably wouldn’t be looking into this again. He’d invited her out for coffee, but that wasn’t any guarantee that anything would happen between them, either, and she couldn’t use work as an excuse to stalk him online.
There is definitely something weird here,she thought after a while, leaning back into her chair.
It was all over the place, only she’d managed to find some in more detail. She couldn’t even call it a discovery since rumors were all over the place, but now there was evidence and true statements summing up that Samuel was a somewhat infamous, womanizing billionaire. Still, even with the comments, most of them verified, Camila wasn’t buying it.
“Absolutely impossible,” she murmured out loud.
She couldn’t dispute the billionaire part, even though he’d been dressed pretty modestly when they met. But, it wasn’t as if she could tell the cost of clothes at a single glance. And he definitely had the looks, but he didn’t seem to have the charm for this kind of reputation.
When he asked me out for coffee I couldn’t even tell if he was interested, or if he just wanted someone to sit down with him and drink coffee. A guy like that could really be a womanizer?
Camila sighed and dropped the matter for the moment. She might as well start up on work then figure everything else out later. They hadn't agreed on when the coffee date would be, so she at least had time to determine whether or not she should be wary of this guy.
“Camila! I have lunch ready, come out, okay? You can go on with work after!”
At the mention of lunch, she perked up, and her stomach growled, and she remembered that she was hungry. Also, that she’d skipped breakfast that morning because she felt too nervous to eat anything.
“I’m coming,” she called out, closing down everything on her computer, then shutting it down.
Some time to think things over might be good for her, not to mention having some advice from her mom might be good. She closed her computer lid and got up to leave her room.
Once she got the door open, she could smell the food her mom must have cooked at some point. How long had she spent in her room? And how focused had she been to miss her mom moving around and cooking.
“What’s for lunch?” she said happily, walking into the kitchen, where her mom already had plates set on the small dining table to one side of the room.
“It’s just simple pasta with homemade sauce and a side of fried minced beef.”
“One of my favorites then.”
She helped finish setting up the table, then sat down. Her mom waited for Camila to serve first, then served herself. Camila took a few bites of the food, but she was too distracted and ended up poking at the food with her fork. She was thinking about Samuel Kane, and how to bring up the topic with her mother.
“What is it?” her mom asked, making her look up. “You have this look on your face like you’re a million miles away. Is it something to do with work?”
Camila figured it was the best time as any to launch into the subject, and she put her fork down and met her mom’s eyes.
“It is to do with work, sort of.” She stopped herself before saying it might be more personal in the future.
“Shoot,” her mom said, taking a bite of her food as she gave Camila some attention.
“I went out this morning to do an interview of this man. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of him since you don’t listen to sensationalized news, but he’s someone pretty high up, really rich. I read a bit of info on him online, and it painted a picture completely different from the man I met. And I’m supposed to meet up with him again in the next week or so, but I don’t know what kind of man he is, so I’m wondering if I should listen to all the news out there, or try to find out for myself.”
She bit her lip when she felt she had said more than enough, only giving her mom the details she needed to understand the situation, but making it all sound about work. She waited eagerly for her mom’s opinion, though she didn’t seem all that concerned herself, finishing the bite of food in her mouth, then facing Camila with a serious expression.
“If you want my advice? Avoid him.”
Camila blinked. “What?”
“You heard me,” her mom said. “Avoid him. Rich philanderers never bring anything good to people like you or me, not when it’s quite so personalized. One interview should be enough for what you need, yes? Then why set up another one? Your part of the job is done, so that should be the end of it.”
With that, she went back to eating calmly. It took Camila a while before she could do the same, and the two of them ate in complete silence.
Camila didn’t look down on her mom’s word of advice. She had to agree on it herself, but her mom didn’t have the facts that she did, either. Also, her mom was overprotective, and could sometimes be a bit controlling, especially since they got reunited, so she would take the words with a grain of salt.
In the end, when she ended up back in her room, she still hadn't made up her mind. Just then, her phone which she’d left on her desk, vibrated. It cut off quickly and didn’t resume, so she guessed it was a text message and picked it up to read.
It was from Samuel. Even though he’d said he would, she was still surprised he actually went through with it. The text was pretty simple, asking her to let him know about that coffee. Camila thought for a moment, then sent a quick text back that she was agreeing. His reply came quickly.
My place?
Camila widened her eyes, surprised once more. Samuel was inviting her for coffee…at his private home? As far as she knew, he definitely lived in his family home with his younger siblings. They barely knew each other, and it was okay with him? Then again, if they went out into the city, he might be recognized by someone, and if any pictures leaked out, it could lead to a scandal.
She hesitated again, but sent back her reply.
All right. Let me know when?
She set the phone down, and with a heavy sigh fell into her chair, resting her head on her desk.
“What exactly am I doing?” she murmured to herself, because she wasn’t sure she knew just what she was undertaking, getting further involved with a man like Samuel Kane.