Chance Encounter

"Renee' stop doing that," she said grouchily.

"Sorry," Renee' said, giggling.

"Have Lila show him in," Samantha said.

Another Backstreet Boy? What the heck was Renee' talking about? It wasn't Brian. He never stopped at the front desk. He always just walked back to her office. Who, then? There was a soft knock at the door, then Lila opened it without waiting for her to answer.

"Samantha, there's a Nick Carter here to see you," she said, trying very hard not to laugh. " he's a cutie, "she mouthed.

"Thanks, Lila," Samantha said, looking confused.

Nick entered Samantha's office and sat down in the chair across from her.

"Hi Nick. I'm Samantha," she said, shaking his hand. "What can I do for you?"

Nick stared at her. "You have something of mine and I want it back."

"Excuse me?" Samantha said, laughing.

"You have something of mine and I want it back. Brian. He's my best friend. I've been waiting for him to get rid of that woman for three years, and now that he's done it, I want him back. I'm tired of hanging out with AJ. He's crazy."

Samantha sat down propped her chin on her hand and tried not to smile. She stared back at Nick without speaking. If this hadn't been so humorous, she might have been pissed. She stared at Nick's sweet face. He was trying so hard to look intimidating. His blue eyes were narrowed a little, and his teeth were clenched. She could tell from his body language that he was nervous. His hands gripped the arms of the chair tightly, and his knee was jumping just a little. She had this effect on men for some reason. She intimidated them. Well, most men. AJ hadn't been intimidated. Neither was Brian. Nick, however, clearly was.

"So... you think that I've stolen your best friend?" she asked, tilting her head the the side and pulling her glasses off. She couldn't hide the smile in her eyes.

"I think you're trying to."

She nodded slowly. "Well, that's a problem, isn't it?"

"The way I see it... yes."

"Well, I can't say that I blame you about the AJ thing. The one time I met him, he didn't seem too stable to me, either. But honey, I haven't stolen your best friend, ok? He'll always be your best friend. You'll always know him better than I do. You two have been through more together than I can possibly imagine. I'd never come between you two. And believe me, I'm way too busy to spend time scheming up ways to steal your buddy."

Nick still stared at her, biting the inside of his cheek. Finally he nodded, satisfied. He liked her. She wasn't a bimbo.

"Good." she said, "Now that we have that out of the way, what do you say you and Brian and I have some lunch? I'm supposed to meet him in 30 minutes at Ichiban. Do you like sushi?"

"I guess," he said, smiling a little. He was so cute. She couldn't be mad at him. She walked behind him as they left her office. Nice ass, she thought. She looked at Lila as they passed her desk. She could tell Lila was thinking the same thing. Samantha shook her finger at Lila. Lila laughed.

"I'll drive," she said, pulling her keys out of her purse.

"Fine with me," he said, still trying to be a little aloof.

She unlocked the door to her new Mercedes and Nick got into the passenger seat. He opened her CD holder and began to thumb through her cd collection.

"What the hell is this?" he asked, holding up a Barney cd.

"That belongs to my son," she said, laughing.

"You have a kid?"

"Yes. He's four. His name is Adam."

"Does Brian know?"

"Of course."

"Hmmm ok. Do you mind if I put in a cd?"

"Not at all. Just not Barney, ok?"

Nick smirked at her and put in Pearl Jam's TEN cd. Evenflow came through the speakers, and Nick turned it up as loud.

"Too bad the volume doesn't go to 11," she said, laughing.

"Huh?" Nick looked confused.

"Never mind," she said, shaking her head. Kids...

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