Don't Let Go, Love : Roman Reigns Mini Series
Chapter 1: The Diner
"Ugh… I need a vacation!" Samantha thought as she shifted the dirty dishes from table 3 into the tub to take back to the kitchen. She wiped the sweat from her brow and collected the tip that the nice elderly couple had left for her. This was the fourth night in a row that she had picked up a shift at the diner to make some extra cash. She spent her day time hours working as the unit secretary down at the local Children's Hospital. The girl worked hard to support not only herself, but her mother as well.
Day after day, Samantha came home exhausted from working so much only to have her mother jumping on her case. She loved her mother dearly but her refusal to get treated for her bipolar disorder was driving Samantha insane. The constant fear of uncertainty had drained the 26 year old of what remaining energy she had left.
"Goodnight you guys! I'll see you tomorrow…" she waved to her co-workers after clocking out. She sat in her car and said a few silent prayers before she headed home. Her neighborhood was quiet with the exception of a few unruly people here and there, but for the most part it was peaceful.
"Hi mom… I'm home." she called out as she entered the house and was instantly greeted by their dog, Ginger. "Hey girl…" Sam smiled as she leaned down to pet and rub the happy pooch's belly.
"I'm in the kitchen… hope you're hungry sweetheart." her mother called out. "Just take a load off and I'll bring you a bowl. I made chili!"
"Ooh that sounds great... Thanks mom! I'm just gonna go wash my hands…" Samantha replied as she made her way over to the powder room. She sighed looking at herself in the mirror as she took note of the tiny circles under her eyes. "Damn I look awful…" she thought while tracing one of the circles with her finger. She quickly washed her hands and exited the bathroom to make her way back into the kitchen.
"There's my girl…" her mother smiled as she placed a bowl of chili and a warm, buttery slice of freshly baked cornbread in front of her daughter. Sam smiled and nodded graciously before digging into her food.
"So how was work? Dr. Navarro still giving you a hassle?" her mother inclined as she sat a glass of sweet tea down on the table for Samantha.
"Work was good today…" she said quickly taking a sip of her tea. "As for Dr. Navarro, he wasn't there today. I swear that man just loves to pick at me for no good reason…" Samantha laughed as her mother joined her at the table. The two women ate in silence for a while as Ginger crunched loudly on her dog food.
"So… I need a favor." Della sighed, breaking the peaceful silence between her and her daughter. Samantha watched her mother intently and nodded giving her the ok to speak while she ate.
"I need $400 to pay the rent with." Della said pointedly. Samantha frowned as she tried to wrap her mind around her mother's large demand.
"Rent… I, I thought you had the rent money already?" she asked with a confused look on her face.
"I spent that last weekend when your auntie and I went to the casino. What… is that too much ask for? I mean you went shopping the other day and I don't see you around worrying about the bills of this house! See that's so typical of you… always spending money on clothes and shoes and all this other bullshit but your ass can't contribute shit into this household when I ask you for it! You're so damn ungrateful…" Della snarled at her daughter.
Samantha didn't even react to her mother's blow up. Instead, she quietly removed herself from the kitchen table and disposed of her scraps her food before rinsing her plate and placing it into the dishwasher. As the tears stung her eyes, she made her way upstairs to her room and softly shut the door. The urge to leave her mother's house grew stronger and stronger as the days wore on, but she also felt guilty at the thought of leaving her mother in a surge of financial debt that she had gotten herself into.
Unfortunately Sam felt as though it was her responsibility to help her mother out of debt. She let the hot water of the shower rain down over her sore and aching body as a few tears streamed down her cheeks. Her mother's drastic mood swings were definitely taking their toll and poor Sam was left to wonder if things would ever get better?
"Girl… are you sure you need to go work at the diner tonight? You look awfully tired, Sam." her co-worker, Natasha, asked as she looked at Samantha warily. Tasha knew that Sam had been running herself ragged trying to keep everything at home soundly afloat.
"I'll… I'll be fine Tasha, honest I will." Samantha half smiled at her friend as she darted in the restroom to change into her uniform from the diner. She pulled her long, black curly hair up into a bun and pinned down the few straggling pieces with some bobby pins. After fixing her hair she slipped into her black shorts and red t-shirt then headed out.
As Samantha raced up the steps to the diner she accidentally bumped into a tall, dark and handsome man with long flowing black hair.
"I'm so sorry…" she muttered barely looking up to notice the man as she jetted inside and went straight to the back to clock in. The man simply smiled and chuckled as he watched her disappear. He carefully surveyed the seating area of the diner and chose the table near the TV that was showing Sports Center, in hopes that he'd see her again.
"Sam, honey you've got a customer at table 10… and he's a handsome devil." Mrs. Harlow, one of the owners of the diner called into the kitchen. Samantha shook her head and snickered as her buddy, Leo got in a good laugh at her expense.
"Go get 'em tiger!" Leo said jokingly as Samantha made her way out of the kitchen. She rolled her eyes at her friend and quickly made her way over to the table.
"Good evening, my name is Samantha and I'll be your server this evening. Can I start you off with something to drink?" she said as she flipped her ordering pad open. It felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her when she made eye contact with steely grey eyed man at the table. Her knees went weak as he smiled at her with a little nod.
"Hi Samantha…" he cooed with his deep, husky voice. "I'm Roman and I'll gladly take a lemonade." he smiled. Unable to speak, Sam simply nodded and smiled back at him as she wrote down his drink order.
"I'll… I'll be right back with your drink." she stuttered and turned to make a quick exit.
Roman watched as Sam fixed his drink and slowly examined her from head to toe. She was a curvaceous bombshell, standing 5'7" with light brown eyes and a smooth red-brown complexion. Her dazzling smile revealed the natural bronze glow of her cheeks and her voice was as soft as cotton.
"Here's your lemonade, Roman." Samantha grinned, placing his cup on the table.
"Thank you!" he smiled back. She couldn't help but notice his eyes and the way his smile could light up a room. Roman was large with a very muscular and athletic build. Sam had a thing for men with tattoos and she nearly fainted when she saw his sleeve tattoo. She had to snap herself out of admiring the handsome man in order to resume her work.
"You're quite welcome…" Sam nodded. "You about ready to order?"
"Yeah… uh, let me get the build your own grilled cheese meal with ham, tomato and spinach. And for my side… instead of fries can I get scrambled eggs and grits and perhaps your number?" Roman asked casually.
"Absolutely… wait… what was that?" Samantha inquired with a slight look of shock on her face.
"I asked if I could also have you number. You're a very beautiful woman, Samantha." Roman said as he flashed his winning smile at her again. Sam couldn't think straight for two seconds as she tried to wrap her brain around the fact that this God-like hunk of a man was asking for her number. Of course this wasn't the first handsome man that she had ever encountered, but she had never encountered a man much like Roman.
"Uh… let me go place your order and I'll think about it." she blushed.
"What's the matter… you have a boyfriend or something?" Roman smirked. If Samantha had blushed any harder her cheeks probably would have popped as she shook her head, "No."
"So if you don't have a boyfriend, why can't I have your number? You're a gorgeous woman and I would love to get to know you better. Please…" he begged with a playful pout. Sam couldn't resist the big man's charm so she caved and wrote her number down on a spare order ticket.
"I'm gonna place your order in the kitchen… and bring you a refill." she gleamed, pointing to Roman's nearly empty glass of lemonade. He smiled and took a quick look around the diner to survey the other patrons.
"Glad this place isn't too busy tonight. Don't want her to get in trouble with Mrs. H, cause I'm flirting with her." Roman thought as he spotted Sam returning with his new glass of lemonade.
"Here you are… and your food is cooking so it should be ready soon." she smiled, turning to head back over to the main counter.
"Hey… stay and hang out for a bit. You guys aren't that busy tonight." Roman chuckled as he gently brushed her forearm. Although the contact was brief they both felt a tingle run through their bodies. Samantha inadvertently made eye contact with Mrs. Harlow, who surprisingly gave a her a smile and a wink. If Sam didn't know any better, she would've assumed Mrs. Harlow was encouraging her to talk to Roman. Was that really happening… right here, right now in this very moment?
Roman and Samantha talked for over a span of two hours. Which within that time frame, Sam still managed to serve three other customers and help with closing the diner for the night. Being the gentleman that he was, Roman walked Samantha to her car after her shift was over.
"You didn't have to do this… I'm sure I would've been just fine but thank you anyway." she said graciously with a smile.
"Not a problem at all. Besides, you totally broke the rules to talk to me. So I figured I could definitely walk you to your car." Roman chuckled. There was a moment where time seemed to have stood still between them. Sam's heart began to race as Roman reached to push the few curly strands of hair that had fallen out of the bun back behind her ear.
"God he smells so good…" she thought as she closed her eyes for a split second to bask in his scent. Her breathing grew shallow as they stared each other down. Who was going to make the first move?
"Well uh… you have a good night and a safe drive home." Roman muttered as he struggled to find the right words to say. On impulse he kissed her on her cheek, catching Sam off guard. He was already back over by his vehicle before she even had time to process what happened.
"Uh thanks… You have a good night too and drive safe." Samantha replied as she unlocked her car.
"I'll call you tomorrow!" Roman shouted as he hopped into his truck. Sam smiled and waved as she hopped into her car and fired up the engine. She sat there for a minute and rubbed at her cheek with her thumb, still reminiscing about how quick the kiss was and how soft and plush his lips were against her skin. Although Samantha may have been dog tired from working two different jobs, it was clear that nothing could wipe the huge smile off her face tonight, not even her crazy ass mother.
Hi guys, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. To my regular readers, do not worry I have not abandoned my original series. I'm still working on those on a regular basis. This story was just something that was rolling around in my head that has basically scratched and clawed it's way out lol. More than likely this will be a short series (maybe like a 3-shot). Anyway, thanks for checking it out! Hope to see you for the next chapter.
XoXo
-S