WestFiction- "If You Love Something" by Mary

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If You Love Something...> chapters 9-10

It was Christmas evening, the Micah’s and the Lee’s were lazing around the living room of the latter’s home and were talking about the good old times. Yesterday, they went for mass, at a nearby church. Samantha always preferred Christmas Eve mass to Christmas Day mass. There was something magical in the night’s air.

Later, they headed back home for dinner. It may be late for dinner but it was worth the wait. Mrs. Lee was an excellent cook, it was a mix of East and West. Samantha and Joshua tasted dishes, which they last had back in KL. By the time dinner was over, every one was stuffed. They sat around the dinner table, drinking wine and hot chocolate and eating slices of fruit, for those who could manage. Then one by one, they went off to bed.

Samantha and Joshua came back downstairs when they were sure everyone was asleep. When they were kids, they exchanged a gift with each other, when Daddy was fast asleep. They do it now out of tradition. They sat under the Christmas tree talking about everything. They called it a night around five a.m.

The morning was a quite one, Samantha woke up with a bad headache. It must have been the wine and the lack of sleep. She made quick calls to Mark, Rowen and Eve and Nicole, her close friends from school, wishing them a happy Christmas.

Lunch was no less superb than last night’s dinner. Ashley, Joshua and Samantha helped Mrs. Lee any way they could. After lunch, they watched videotapes of their life back in KL. This particular one was taken on Ashley’s first birthday. On screen, Mrs. Lee was coaxing her to blow the candle on the cake. Baby Ashley, looking so cute with her curly hair and yellow dress, leaned forward to blow the candle when she lost her footing and smashed her face on the cake. Off screen, everyone was laughing and Ashley buried her face in her hands and gave out a loud groan.

Bryan came over to give a gift to Ashley, he also gave one to Samantha. Mrs. Lee insisted he stay for a while. Now he was in deep conversation with Joshua over the model F1 series she gave him. Dad and Mr. Lee were talking about fishing and how they don’t get a chance to do it anymore. Mrs. Lee was fastening a necklace on Ashley, she then turned and gave her mum a hug. I love ya, mums,” Samantha heard her say. It pierced her heart, she looked away, then she noticed Joshua was watching her all along. She just shrugged and gave him a small smile. He came over and sat beside her and handed her a gift.

“Another one?” Samantha asked, surprised and pleased.

“Last one,” he promised, giving the Scout’s honor.

“That’s what you said the last time,” she said while opening the present. He gave her a bracelet last night, a broach, a bottle of perfume and now a simple chain with her birthstone, “I love it,” she said as she slipped it on, “You are the best brother anyone could ask for,” she said ruffling his hair.

“The hair, the hair,” Joshua warned as he grabbed her hand. She laughed and gave him a hug.

~ ~ ~

Bryan sat on the bench near the playground, which was in front of the Lee’s residence. Samantha took two cups of chocolate drink and went over to him.

“Hey thought you might need this,” she said handing over a cup to him.

“Thanks,” he said taking the cup from her. He was unusually quiet the whole evening.

“Ashley talks about you once in a while, how long have you known her?” he asked.

“Careful, it’s really hot,” she warned him, when he was about to take a big gulp. Too late, he already burned his tongue. Guiltily she apologized, “Sorry.” He just waved it off with his hand. “We have known each other since we were babies. What about you?”

“Well…” he began to blush, “umm…it’s pretty embarrassing.”

“Come on, it can’t be that bad.”

“As long as you never repeat it to a soul,” he said. Samantha mimicked Joshua’s Scout honor. “I knew her from Billie’s, I used to hang out there with my sis and that’s where we initially met. But we never talked. When I was a kid, I used to be…uhh…fat. One fine day, well, a couple of older boys were teasing me and they cornered me to a wall and things were getting pretty rough,” Samantha hid a smile, she could guess exactly where this was heading, “Ash here happen to be nearby when she saw it. She marched over and gave them a piece of her mind. They of course, laughed at her, but one of them pushed her down and she got pretty mad and gave them one of those karate kicks. That same guy attacked her back, the other two, tried to pull him away. Guess she hurt his ego. And I was hopeless in the whole incident,” he said shaking his head, “Come to think of it, it was pretty brave of her.”

“So you are the one who got her grounded!” She knew Ashley got grounded for getting involved in a fight a few weeks after moving to Ireland.

“She was grounded?” Bryan asked surprised.

“Yup. For two months.”

“So that’s why I couldn’t find her to apologize and thank her,” he said, “she teased me about it ever since, ya know.”

Samantha and Ashley were same, yet different. Samantha was three months older than she was. Sometimes Samantha wished she were more like her. She was the only child, so they regarded each other more like sisters than friends. Ashley had the do-first-think-later attitude, which most of the time leads her to trouble. She’s the type who would take two guys on a date at the same time. In each other they saw something which they are not, and somehow that’s what made them click.

He was quite again, the longing look in his eyes again. “You should tell her ya know,” Samantha said.

“I did, the first chance I saw her,” he said.

“Not that,” she said as she took a sip form her cup which was now icy cold, “that you like her. That you really, really like her. That there might be a possibility of you falling for her.”

“I am not falling for her,” he said calmly looking at her straight in the eyes. Samantha had to hand it to him, he could act.

“I’ll give you an Oscar for that act. But you can’t fool me Bryan.”

“Is it that obvious?” he asked. Samantha nodded. Bryan rested his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands. “I can’t tell her,” he mumbled, then he sat up, “Look at her,” he said, motioning to the window where they could see Ashley laughing, “She’s smart…beautiful…funny…kind…confident…gutsy…a lot of things I’m not. Some of my mates fancies her, and she them. So, what makes you think that she would go out with someone like me?”

Samantha got up, it was getting very cold, “Well, you’ll never know now would you if you haven’t asked her out yet? Take a chance Bryan, you have nothing to lose,” she took the cup, which he handed to her, and made her way back to the house, “Just tell her.”

~ ~ ~

CHAPTER 10

Samantha and Ashley walked out if the café after having lunch. She pulled her trench coat tighter around her, as usual the day was cold. Ashley seemed restless the whole afternoon and quite, which was unusual.

“Hey, anything wrong?” Samantha asked her.

“Nope,” Ashley replied shortly.

“You seem pissed about something,” Samantha said.

“Well, I’m not Ok? So, can we just drop it?” Samantha was taken aback, “Ok, fine.”

“Hey Sam, Ash. Wait up,” Bryan called out from a distance as he jogged over.

“Hi,” he said, catching his breath.

“Hey,” Samantha greeted cheerfully, at least someone was in a good mood. Ashley mumbled something which turned out more of a grunt then she continued walking. Bryan looked at Samantha questioningly and Samantha shrugged in reply.

“So, are you both gonna be at Ian’s New Year’s Eve party tomorrow?” Bryan asked as they caught up with Ashley.

“Yeah,” Sam replied. When Ashley didn’t say anything, Sam replied for her, “We both are,” then added, “And Josh too.”

Bryan was walking in between Ashley and Samantha then turned his attention to Ashley, “Hey, Ash can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Not in the mood, Bry,” she said, looking ahead and continued walking.

“It’s kinda important. It would just take a sec,” he tried again.

“Nope.”

“What’s her problem?” Bryan whispered to Samantha when Ashley was a few steps ahead of them. Ashley turned around and glared at him.

“You wanna know what my problem is?” she asked him, her hands on her hips, “You are.”

“Me?”

“Yes you, Bryan Nicholas McFadden,” poking him in the chest, forcing him to take a few steps backwards.

“What did I do?” he asked.

“You asked Sharon out to the party,” she stepped forward making him take another few steps back.

“But I—” he began.

“I wanted you to take me to the party.”

“Ash I—”

“I wanted you to ask me out. I happen to like you Bryan. Why do you think I hang out with you?” she raised her voice and continued forcing him backwards until he was flat against a lamppost.

“I—“ Bryan tried to get a word edgewise but failed.

“Get a clue McFadden. Why do you think, I asked you to show me how to rollerblade? So that I can spend some time with you. Incase you didn’t know, I in-line skate pretty good. Why do you think I have a sudden interest in soccer? ‘Cause I can watch you practice. Frankly, I hate soccer. I can’t even kick a ball even if my life depended on it! Why do you think I go out with your friends? Chances are you would be there too!” she was practically shouting at him at this point and attracted an audience but neither of them noticed, “DAMN IT MCFADDEN. I HAPPEN TO BE FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU!” When Ashley stopped, she took a deep breath.

“You—you like me?” Bryan was stunned. Ashley nodded, not looking at him. Bryan was smiling from ear to ear, “Would now be a good time to tell you I didn’t ask Sharon out?”

“Huh?” Ashley asked faintly meeting his gaze.

“I didn’t ask Sharon out,” he repeated, “Never did and never want to.”

“But…I…But…” she turned crimson, she took a step back then mumbled, “Sorry…I’m sorry.”

“Now can I ask you out to the party?” he asked her.

“What?” she asked unsteadily.

“Ashley Lee Au-Lyn, would you do me the honor of going to the New Year’s Eve Party with me?” Ashley was stunned, he may as well propose to her! “I umm…ahh,” when she regained her composure she smiled, “Yes. Yes I would.” People around them began cheering, Samantha joined in too. Bryan gave Ashley a hug. Samantha turned around and smiled. She may as well make her way back alone.

~ ~ ~

Samantha was lying on Ashley’s bed, when the door burst open and startled Samantha causing her to drop the book she was reading. Ashley was at the doorway, flushed and out of breath. Samantha gave her a big smile then asked, “So at which point of the day did you realize I was missing?”

She had been reading Patricia Cronwell’s Post Mortem since she got back and now it’s nearly dinnertime. She rolled on her tummy and reached out for the book and all the contents, which was inserted in it.

“I am so, so sorry,” Ashley began apologizing, “I did not mean to dump you like that. And I’m sorry for being such a bad company during lunch.”

“So Bryan’s what it was all about.”

“Yeah,” Ashley admitted.

“And when did you realize this?”

“Remember I told you about crying my eyes out backstage?” Ashley asked her and Samantha nodded, “Well, sometime after that.”

“Tell me something, if you knew all these time, why didn’t you ask him out?” Ashley looked at her and shrugged, “I guess, I didn’t want to admit it. But today, when the thought of losing him to someone else…well…I didn’t like it.”

“Samantha, Ashley, dinner in 5,” called out Mrs. Lee from downstairs.

“Ok, mums.” Then she spotted something on the floor and picked it up, “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” she said waving the photograph, which was in the envelope. Samantha immediately jumped off the bed.

“Now, I’ll ask you nicely, give it back to me and no one gets hurt,” said Samantha trying to get the photograph back.

“Marrrrrrk!” Ashley said out loud.

“Give it back to me. Need I remind you I hold a black belt in karate?”

“Uh, Sam? You’re forgetting something. So do I,” Ashley continued, “Don’t you know better than hide things from me? Okay, my turn now, how long ago?”

“Four months,” Samantha replied still trying to get the photograph from her, “Now can I please have it back? I’ll forgive you for dumping me today.”

“How serious?”

“Steady,” Samantha replied shortly, Ashley raised an eyebrow at her. Samantha smiled, genuinely, Ashley understood that smile. She looked at Samantha a moment then carefully placed the photo back in the envelope then handed it back to her. Ashley put her arm around Samantha as they went down the stairs, “You can tell me all the details after dinner.”

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