Chapter 3
Peter Parker walked tiredly to his bedroom and slumped face down onto his bed. His face hit the pillow and then sleep quickly over came him.
His eyes flew open just as he heard quiet footsteps come into his room and then the sound stopped.
"Oh, Pete, are you alright?" Harry's voice spoke in a concerned and faded tone.
Peter shifted his head to the side and mumbled tiredly, "I stayed up half the night trying to find that alien."
"Alien?!" Harry's voice was filled with surprise.
"Yeah, there was an alien that brought that ship.. It couldn't have gotten here by remote control could it?.. If you don't mind, I'm just gonna take… a little… snoo-"
Harry blinked in bafflement. He heard Peter lightly snoring. "Dang, out like a rock.. I wonder what kind of stuff he has to do as a photographer?"
* * *
"That bug is really getting annoying with his smart ass remarks!.. But I feel sorry for the kid. He mindlessly tried to follow me… What the hell was he thinking?!.. I gotta cut him a break. He must be an amateur." Samus muttered to herself as she went in the direction her star ship was.
She stepped onto the edge of the pavement and looked down at the rocky shore. "What the hell?! It's not here!" She spun around and let out yells of anger that contained various phrases not suitable for children.
* * *
Peter blinked his eyes open and let the blinding light of midday flow into his eyes. He sat up and got to his feet. He then headed into the next room and found Harry and Mary Jane sitting on the couch beside each other.
Harry looked up, "Pete, you're awake! Um uh, Mary Jane came by."
Mary Jane smiled at Peter, "Hey, tiger." She furrowed her eyebrows and made a surprised look, "You look tired, Peter. Did you stay up late?"
Peter nodded, "Uh, yeah. Photographer stuff you know. We're almost up twenty-four hours a day." He chuckled nervously.
Harry spoke up, "Hey, Pete, we're going out to dinner. Do you want to come with us?"
Peter shook his head, "Oh no, I wouldn't want to ruin your meal."
Mary Jane smiled again, "Come on, Peter. You wouldn't ruin it! We would enjoy your company! We're friends after all, right? Shouldn't friends hang out together?"
Peter smiled slightly and sadly thought, Just friends? I wish we could be more than that, Mary Jane.
"No, it's alright. You two go out and have fun."
"Come on, Pete. You might actually meet someone." Harry insisted smugly.
* * *
Samus sat at a dining table while munching down on a juicy medium-rare steak.
She raised her head up to quickly glance around at the other people that were eating at separate tables.
Hmm.. this kind of reminds me of the fancy restaurant at Galactic HQ.. too bad no one ever asked me out because everyone knew very well not to mess with me. She thought with a smirk.
She turned her head to look at three people that came into the entrance.
One was a woman with red hair put back into a bun and a young tall man with the woman's arm around his elbow. The roots of the man's hair were dark and the rest was a light brown.
The other young man followed behind the couple.
Samus' gaze fixed upon the young man. He was tall, slender, and looked athletic from under his dark evening suit. His hair was dark and his eyes bright blue like the morning sky. His expression revealed that he was a little nervous and not in the mood to be here.
Samus slowly ran her tongue over her lips to wipe off the steak from around her mouth as she stared, hypnotized, at the young man.
* * *
Peter walked behind Mary Jane and nervously glanced around.
"I hate these kind of suits." Peter muttered.
Harry turned his head to look back at Peter, "They aren't that bad. You'll get used to it, Pete."
Peter smirked, "Yeah right."
Peter slowly turned his head and his eyes fell upon a young woman with golden blonde hair that was braided and was twisted into a bun on top of her head. Her skin was softly toned and lightly tanned. Her lips were small and looked soft enough to kiss. Her eyes were burning bright blue with a tint of dark green around the edges.
Her eyes were fixed on him and Peter could feel it.
The young woman smiled shyly and quickly lowered her head, trying to hide her face.
Peter turned to Harry and gently tugged on his friend's sleeve, "Harry, I'm gonna go sit over here, okay?"
Peter quickly walked away before Harry could turn to answer him.
Harry looked in the direction Peter was walking to and noticed that his best friend was going in the direction of a young beautiful woman.
Harry's eyes grew wide and he thought, Whoa! Damn, Pete! This is his lucky night!
* * *
Samus quickly glanced up to see the young man walking her direction.
Shit! He saw me looking at him!
"Um, hello." The young man spoke nervously.
Samus slowly raised her head up, "Hi.."
The young man shifted his feet position and nervously scratched his head. "Um, I was wondering.. if this seat is taken."
Samus looked down on the cushioned round bench she was sitting in the middle of. She returned her gaze to the young man, "I'm alone.. but you can sit here if you want."
The young man sat down and slowly slid closer toward her.
Samus returned her attention back to her steak. "Call a waiter… and get yourself something to eat." She spoke softly.
"Uh, okay." The young man spoke nervously.
* * *
Peter eyed the young woman from the corner of his eye. He admired her medium-sized build and her slender body that fit perfectly in the long black silk dress.
He turned his head to see a waiter walk by, "Um, waiter!" Peter raised his hand up to draw the waiter's attention.
The waiter turned to him and asked, "Do you need something, sir?"
Peter nodded, "I'll have some soup."
* * *
Samus narrowed her eyes as she listened to the young man order a bowl of soup.
She slowly cut into her steak and slid a piece of meat into her mouth. She chewed slowly and swallowed.
Samus suddenly turned her head and came to meet face to face with the young man. "Oh, sorry… I was gonna-"
The handsome man smiled nervously, "Oh, pardon me.. I just-"
Samus smiled and turned her head away to hide her blushing face.
* * *
Peter, you're making a fool out of yourself.. you should just leave now because you know very well you have no chance with such a gorgeous woman like this! Peter thought. Well… it wouldn't hurt to at least try.
"Um, I'm Peter Parker." Peter held up his hand to shake hands. "I'm a photographer."
The young beautiful woman turned her head to meet his gaze once again. "My name is Samus Aran."
* * *
Idiot! I shouldn't have told him my name! Samus thought. Hmm… maybe it was a good thing.. he sure is cute. She took the man's hand and smiled, "I work in the police force."
The man smiled pleasingly, "Samus Aran… That's an odd name, but it's fitting for a beautiful lady."
Samus felt her cheeks become hot.
* * *
Whoa! Way to go, Peter! Now you're just trying to scare her away! Peter thought frustratedly.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to make you-"
The woman shook her head, "No, it's alright… I just never had any comments like that before."
Peter made a surprised look, "Really? That's unbelievable! How could anyone not resist such beauty!" Peter replied dramatically.
The woman frowned, "Are you trying to flatter me or kiss my ass?"
Uh oh, Peter, I think you just pushed the wrong button!
"No, no! None of the sort. I was just making my point clear." Peter answered nervously.
You're screwed, Peter. Tuck tail and leave now before you cause any more damage.
The woman raised an eyebrow, "And your point is? You're asking me out, correct?"
Peter gulped nervously and slowly nodded. She'll never go out with you. You totally screwed yourself over the first chance.
The woman smiled, "Sure. I suppose I will go out with you.. but it seems we're already at a restaurant eating fancy dinner… so, this could be considered as the date."
Peter made a baffled expression, "Huh? Really?!"
You got the girl, now just don't make a bigger idiot of yourself, Peter.
"Oh, I mean that's great!.. So, what kind of stuff do you do? Since we're officially going out. I thought that we could get to know each other."
* * *
He's really nervous.. I don't think I should mess with him.. He's a really modest guy.. I suppose I'll give him a chance. Samus thought with a smirk.
She watched as the young man turned his attention to the bowl of soup the waiter placed before him.
Her eyes became slits and she lowered her stare to eye his athletic body.
Damn! I wonder if he works out.
Samus returned her eyes to the man's face. "I'm just another cop, ya know? Business is business… So, what kind of job does a photographer do? I'm not familiar with photographers."
The man turned to her and replied, "We take pictures of action scenes, like crime scenes that may appear to be interesting for people who are willing to pay to buy the pictures to put into magazines or newspapers."
* * *
You're rambling on again, Peter! You're going to bore her to death!
Peter's cheeks went red, "I'm sorry to have rambled on like that."
"No, it's fine. I would like to hear about it." The woman smiled and placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her wrists.
She looks more like a television model than a cop. Peter thought. He lowered his gaze to see the half eaten juicy steak. Okay… maybe a TV model that's a cannibal.. I sure hope I don't screw this relationship up.
"Hey, Peter." A soft voice spoke from beside Peter.
Peter turned his head and looked up into the face of Mary Jane. "Mary Jane! I oh um-"
"It's alright, tiger… Who's your friend?" Mary Jane turned to smile at the young blonde woman.
"I'm Samus." The woman replied stiffly.
Harry came to Mary Jane's side, "Hey, Pete. How's it going?" He turned his head to smile at the young woman at Peter's side.
Mary Jane turned to Harry, "I'm gonna go to the restroom." She turned and walked away.
Harry softened his expression, "Hello. I'm H-Harry. A friend of Peter's." He stepped closer to the table and reach over to offer to shake hands.
Peter watched as Samus reached out with her left hand toward Harry's right hand.
Harry chuckled, "How could we shake hands with the hands we're used to?" He dropped his right hand and took up Samus' hand with his other hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, "Harry." Samus smiled slightly.
"It's even a greater pleasure to meet you, Miss… I'm afraid I don't know your name." Harry smiled sheepishly.
Peter spoke interruptedly, "This is my date, Samus Aran. She works in the police force."
"She is awfully attractive to be working as a cop isn't she?" Harry asked smugly.
Samus blushed, "So the both of you like to flatter women.. how ironic."
Harry smiled slyly again, "I only like to speak the truth."
Peter slid out from behind the table and stood up, "The truth is, Harry likes to chase girls that I want to be with." Peter muttered in Harry's ear as he pulled his best friend away from Samus' earshot.
"Harry! You have a date with MJ! Why are you flirting with another girl?!" Peter whispered in a slight irritated tone.
Harry placed his hand on Peter's shoulder, "Ah, come on, Pete! Don't be so silly! You wouldn't think I would take this girl away from you?"
Peter frowned and muttered, "You took Mary Jane."
"That's because you waited too long to take the opportunity! You should learn not to be afraid to take chances."
Peter narrowed his eyes and thought glumly, As Spider Man, I'm not.
Harry smiled kindly, "You can take MJ if you want and I'll take this one off your hands."
Peter blinked, "Harry!"
Harry dropped his hand from Peter's shoulder, "Okay, okay. But I thought you were the one with the crush and wanted to be with MJ."
Peter lowered his head and softened his voice, "I do.. but.. I like this girl too."
Harry slapped Peter on the back, "You better decide now which one you want because this is the only chance to keep one of them."
"One of who?"
Peter and Harry spun around to see Samus standing behind them.
"Um.. uh-" Harry began before he was cut off by Samus' hard glare.
Samus placed her left hand on her hip, "Look, whatever you two were talking about, I don't really care. I came here to have a good time." She snatched Peter's arm and pulled him away, "Come on, Peter, let's go have fun."
Peter turned his head back to glance at Harry as he was being pulled away.
Harry winked and gave Peter a thumbs up.