Chapter 6

He shouldn't be here, John thought over and over in his head. This was stupid. What was he doing here? He knew better than to come here. He sat in his car and waited. The sun sank slowly over a horizon of trees at a bend in the road. It was a nicely secluded neighborhood where the rich could live in privacy, not wanting to be bothered after coming home from a hard days work. John looked at his watch. It was six in the evening and no one had shown up yet, John noted as he looked up a light came on in the large house. He followed her silhouette as it crossed the window. Before long Samantha appeared at her front door alone and headed for her car.

John stepped out of his own vehicle and crossed the street. The red head looked up at his approach and waited by her car as he neared. "I was wondering when you were going to approach me. You've been waiting across the street for the past half hour," she commented.

Startled at first, John didn't have a reply. "Just wanted to make sure you didn't find another friend to escort you and make an uncomfortable situation of the mix up." She had been expecting him? How...

"Indeed," Samantha said and handed him the keys to her car. They stood there in her driveway and looked at one another, measuring each other, silently testing what really might be between them. Distantly a dog barked and broke the stillness of the quiet moment. "The door, John."

John snapped to attention and hurried around and opened it for her. He shut it gently when she was comfortably seated and he walked calmly to the driver's side as his mind ran in overdrive; his heart didn't fare much better. He keyed the ignition and drove as Samantha gave him directions. It was at the Marriott; John knew where that was. He had been there on occasion when he needed a larger room to entertain a large group of women. He put that thought aside. Those days were behind him. Ever since Cassandra he had lost interest in such sport.

They drove in silence.

When they arrived at the Marriott after an hour-long drive John tossed the keys to the valet and slapped a five in the boy's hand. Until that moment John hadn't paid attention to Samantha's appearance. He did now as she stepped out of the car. A long stretch of green silk ran from her pointed heels and up her long legs, a seductive slash in the skirt flashing her left thigh sheathed in a pale green stocking. The bodice hugged her slightly athletic frame and hinted at an attractive body within. It wasn't a daring cut nor reserved, but the way she wore her dress as it sparkled in the hotel lighting made John feel a twinge in his groin. A pair of diamond earrings sparkled by her smoky, emerald eyes. Her hair was done in a professional coif with a few auburn tendrils caressing her neck.

"You look lovely tonight," John whispered as she hooked her hand lightly in his proffered arm. She didn't answer but nodded in acceptance of his compliment. He led her to the main ballroom where the dinner was being held. Other people were just beginning to filter in as John and Samantha entered. A few heads turned and then resumed their conversation after having registered who entered. John's eyes swept the room. It would be another five minutes before anyone approached them. He knew these sort of political games; it was the main reason he didn't wish to climb higher in the corporate ladder. He waited for Samantha to lead him to anyone she knew. Before long she found a representative at GenenCorp and talked shop with him. She drew him into the conversation and even went so far as to comment that he was a former employee of GenenCorp. Damn her, John thought, she's trying to flush him out again! John gritted his teeth and blithely batted aside the allusion and said that he didn't like working under their current VP, Evans. The rep laughed, no one liked him. The representative did comment that he didn't seem to recall John's name, though.

"I was formerly known as Edwards. I switched from using my family name to my middle after some people wouldn't lose my phone number," John replied. "Darn telemarketers can be annoying at the worst of times."

They had a brief laugh at that and Samantha walked them off. Truth was, some of the girls he had been seeing still sought him out and he had to go underground and nearly change his identity to escape them. Another reason he changed his lifestyle. John shifted his attention from the past. Samantha had asked him to escort her for more reasons than just the company and to fend off political sharks. She was fishing into his past. This had all been an elaborate trap to test him. That first encounter with the GenenCorp rep was a heavy-handed marker that she knew there was a connection between his eccentricities and his former employer. He knew it was intentional because it had her certain straightforward style.

"You seem to prefer cudgels to scalpels, I see," John commented in his date's ear.

Samantha jerked a bit in surprise. "What do you mean by that?"

"You forget who you are with, Samantha," John whispered as he led her to a secluded corner. "I see you've done your research on me. And done it well. I never put GenenCorp on my list of referrals when I applied to Pharmtech or mentioned it at the work place. And I doubt GenenCorp would openly say that I worked for them, under a different name I might add, unless directly asked. So tell me, what did you find out about me?"

Her face was a stone mask as she measured his gaze but he noticed her jaw clench in frustration. "I figured you would tell me. Your past with GenenCorp is as shadowy as you are now. I thought you had a mishap while working with them, which is why you always cover up. I'd like to know the dirt on my employees. Especially," she paused then changed the subject. "I believe the dinner call has been given." Samantha stepped around him and headed for their designated seats.

She almost slipped there, John thought. There was a look in her eyes that said something. What, he couldn't tell. He followed quickly on her footsteps and made it just in time to pull the chair out for her. They were seated with a couple of other representatives from other corporations and health foundations. They barely held their end of the conversation with Samantha. John compared the political arena to a game of chess. Samantha, reflective of her personality, had moved the queen, herself, into the game early. It was a risky move but unnerved many if not all of her opponents. She managed to single handedly fend off most of the points of inquiry that cut a little too close to home on their more cutting edge research. The rest she handed to John. John knew more in the field than did Samantha and was able to divert most everything else. Sometimes she threw one to him just to see how he handled it. If anything the dinner was a competitive chess game between him and his date, not with the people on the table. John was far too experienced at reading people to fall to others.

A figure approached their table and John shifted his attention. "My rep, Hank Thompson, told me you were here but I had to see for myself," the man said and introduced himself to Samantha. John, of course, knew who he was.

"Mr. Evans," John smiled although it never reached his eyes. "How nice to see you after so long. This is Ms. Summers, the president of Pharmtech."

"Pleased to meet you," Evans greeted. "Tell me, how have you been doing, John? It's been ages since we last spoke."

"Didn't have much to say to you after you pulled me off my project and cut me off from royalties."