The Chase by Amber Riel (story reading txt) 📖

the same line of work.”

          “And what is that exactly because Louis won’t tell me himself?”

          “It’s kind of like secret service work or something like that…. I’m not sure how to describe it but it’s kind of dealing with keeping people safe like Annie and Ron for example what they’re in right now…. I don’t know how to describe it…. I don’t even think Louis knows how to describe so for him to tell you is a no because he knows what he does but it’s one of those things that isn’t easily explained unless you do it yourself to know.”

          “Oh.”

          “Now changing the subject…. Did something happen between you two while you were gone?”

          I should have known.  I was unsure if I should have told her about the kiss or not.  I had a feeling that if I had she probably would want to know every little detail and what lead to it?  How it happened?  The reason for it but I bit my lip as I debated if I wanted to tell her or not.

          Luckily, Louis walked back into the room before I had a chance to answer.  “Not talking about me, are ya?”

          “It depends,” Carmen replied, kind of laughing.

          “That’s nothing to worry about,” Louis replied, kind of sarcastically.  He sat in the middle of Carmen and me and Imhotep didn’t seem to like that one bit.  The overgrown dog jumped up and sat in between us, pushing all of his weight on me as he kept a close eye on Louis.  The man looked at the dog with disbelief.  “What’s that for?”

          Carmen and I started cracking up with laughter.  “Apparently, he doesn’t trust you,” I spoke trying to stop laughing.

          “Apparently…. Look, Imhotep, buddy…. I know your name is from a movie and that the character was an immortal but that won’t keep me from pushing you off of the couch,” Louis explained to the dog.

          Ruff.

          “Really?” Louis sighed, trying to think of what he could do with the dog.  “Look I’m not trying to take over your territory but I think your confused.”  He pointed toward me.  “She just met you and I’ve known you for a few years now…. About three years to be exact so how could you just come and disrespect me like that?” He laughed.

          Imhotep stuck out his tongue as if he was telling Louis that he was the boss.

          “I don’t think so.”  Louis grabbed Imhotep’s blue green collar which kind of reminded me of Scooby’s collar and pulled the dog down to the floor.

          Imhotep eyed Louis as if he was asking him with suspicion ‘why did you do that?’  It was so funny.  I covered my mouth to hold in my laughter so I didn’t wake Lainie up where as Carmen laughed silently to herself.

          “Don’t give me that look…. I won and you lost…. Better luck next time, brother.”

          Imhotep sat on the floor, eyes glued on Louis until he finally gave up and walked back over to a dark corner and curled up into a ball.

          Louis smiled as he kept his eyes on the dog then turned his attention toward me.  “Did you tell Carmen yet?” his smiled turned into a half smirk as he asked.

          I shook my head, shyly knowing what he was referring to.

          “Tell me what?” Carmen asked with a raised eyebrow.

          “She’s your sister,” I whispered, kind of smiling.

          “Okay then.”  He kind of laughed as he took my hand and raised it for Carmen to see.

          It took her a moment for her to figure out what was happening and then she smiled.  “Awe…. You two are together?”

          Louis and I didn’t respond right away.  We just shared a smile and then Louis turned toward Carmen.  “Kind of…. We’re working on it…. You think we could stay here for a couple of more nights?  I want to take Sam out on a real date…. Get to know her some more….”

          “We kissed….” I couldn’t resist the words were out of my mouth before I realized what I even said.

          Louis looked at me with both eyebrows kind of narrowed but with a smile on his face.  “I wasn’t going to tell her that part.”

          “Awe…. You two kissed?  That’s so sweet…. Wait till Annie finds out she’s going to be so excited…. Samantha, I have to take you shopping tomorrow…. So that way you can get a few nice outfits, especially one perfect for your date…. And Louis, Eric will be home tomorrow so you two can hang out…. Actually, change of plans, I’ll have Eric make sure that you’re ready to go out on your date with Samantha….”

          Louis shook his head, kind of laughing.  “If it was up to Carmen, we’d be getting married at the end of this week.”

          “Be glad Annie’s not here…. She’ll have a field day,” I replied.

          Louis nodded.

          “Why don’t we all go to bed?  Samantha, we need to get up early tomorrow so that way I can bring you to the store and we can shop….” Carmen went on.

          “I’m not really one for fashion,” I admitted.

          “That’s okay,” Carmen replied.  “I’ll help you find something nice to wear.  Now, be up and ready by ten…. Can you do that?”

          “I think so,” I replied, kind of nodding.

          “Good, good…. And Louis, when you’re out on your date, pick up some flowers for her or something nice….”

          “Carmen, I’ve dated before you don’t need to tell me what to do and how to do it,” Louis replied.

          “I know but it’s been so long…. I mean this is your first real date since….” Carmen thought about what she was going to say then decided that it was probably not a good idea.  “It’s just been a couple of years for you that’s all.”

          “Well,” Louis replied as he stood up, pulling me to my feet as he looked down at Carmen, “I’m not going to mess this up besides I didn’t say that our date was going to be tomorrow anyways so why….”

          “You might not have,” Carmen answered as she stood up as well, “but I’m telling you two…. Actually, I’m making you two go out on a date tomorrow besides after everything that’s happened you two need time to yourselves and I think tomorrow will be perfect and don’t worry about Lainie I’ll keep an eye on her and I know that when Eric comes home that he’ll visit with her.”

          Louis sighed.  “If you insist.”  He started dragging me out of the room.

          “And no sharing a bed you two until you’re married.”  Carmen laughed.

          “You don’t have to worry about that.” Louis laughed as well.

          I couldn’t help but smile and shake my head.  Carmen reminded me so much like Annie it was insane.  That was probably one of the reasons they were close friends because of the similarities they shared.

 

        Louis stopped in front of the door to the room that Lainie and I were sharing.

          “You walked right past your door,” I informed him.

          He kind of laughed.  “But that would have been rude of me, I wanted to walk you to your room…. If Carmen said anything that might have embarrassed you I’m sorry….”

          “No.”  I shook my head.  “She’s a lot like Annie…. As a matter of fact could imagine that same situation going on when we tell Annie.”

          Louis smiled and kind of nodded.  “Well, we better go to bed before Carmen kills the both of us tomorrow for not getting any sleep.”

          “Okay.”

          “Oh and,” he said as he took both of my hands in his and held them up to his face, “if you have any nightmares tonight, don’t be afraid to come to my room and wake me up…. I’ll stay up with you like last night so you can talk.”

          I nodded.  His hands felt rough almost as if he used them a lot when he did hands on work but they felt so reassuring and comforting as they held onto mine.  They felt just right and I wouldn’t have wanted another man to hold my hands then him.

          “Good night.”  He kissed me softly on my forehead.

          “Good night,” I whispered to him and walked into the room.

Shopping

          I lay in the bed with Lainie curled up next to me.  I kept staring at the dark ceiling, thinking about the kiss and kind of smiled.  I didn’t want to go to bed but I knew I had no choice.  My eyes were fighting to stay awake but I knew it wouldn’t have been long before they lost the battle.  Eventually, my eyes closed and darkness overcame me.

          I sat in a diner looking around.  It was almost empty of life but in a good way.  The sunlight shone through the long and wide window which I was sitting next to.  There was a woman over by the counter, counting money or something.

          Louis walked out of nowhere and sat in front of me.

          I felt myself smile as I looked into his beautiful eyes which took my breath away.  He took my hand in his and lightly kissed it.

          “Sorry I’m late,” he told me with a small but delightful smile.

          I kind of bit my bottom lip as my smile grew.  “It’s not a problem,” I replied.

          “Good.  Now, did you go ahead and order without me or did I make it in time?”

          I kind of laughed at his question.  “You made it right in time.”

          Louis nodded.  “Good…. Sam,” he began softly, “I have something I would like to ask you.”

          I kind of tilted my head, wondering what was going on in his mind.

          “Well, I was wondering….” He looked around, searching for help.  “If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this right.”  The next thing I knew, he stood up and moved around.  He stood on one knee and held out a small black jewelry box which looked like it was made from velvet.  He opened the small box and inside was a small princess cut clear beautiful diamond ring.

          I was speechless at the sight and had no idea how to respond.

          “Samantha, will you marry me?”

          I tried to speak but I couldn’t.

          “Say yes,” Annie replied as he appeared out of nowhere followed by Ron and Carmen.  “Please say yes.”

          “Annie, it’s her decision,” Ron replied as he pulled Annie back with one arm.

          “But….”

          “Let her decide for herself.”

          Annie sighed and looked over at us then turned her attention toward Ron.  “Okay.”  Her voice sounded defeated which kind of made everyone laugh.

          I turned my attention back to Louis and smiled as I took his hands.  “Yes I will marry you.”

          Louis’s smile grew as he placed the ring on my finger.  He stood up and pulled me too my feet.

          “YAY!” Annie shouted with excitement.

          “Congrats, you two,” Ron replied.

          “Yay,” Carmen replied as she clapped her hands together a couple of times.

          Louis and I smiled at the excited audience who were probably waiting for us to kiss.  “Let’s give them