those things we just can't talk about;tag;Sampson

[essence morgan delaroca]

OUTFIT

essence chuckled as she snapped her cellphone closed. her dad was a little nuts about safety sometimes. but i guess with her being jayson delaroca's daughter he had every right to be a little overprotective. see jayson delaroca is and has been the reigning crime boss in richmond. actually he had been the reigning crime boss in new york until essy had been born. then he moved them to richmond to keep them safe. but when you have a reputation as vast as the delaroca's life never stayed safe long. just ask essy's mother. oh that's right, you can't. she's dead. a car bomb had been planted in her father's car and had it not been for essy's innate ability to always be late, it would have been her behind the wheel of the car when it exploded. essy carried that guilt with her everyday. everyday but today. today she refused to allow the bad memories to creep up on her and ruin her day. today she was spending the day with sam.

sampson reindhart. her best friend. the pair had basically grown up together. they both went through the 'cooties' phase together, and sam was the brother essence had never had. as the oldest of three girls she was doomed to live in an estrogen ran household. so spending time with sam was a breath of fresh air sometimes. of course yes he would pick on her about being 'such a girl' but she liked that. someone other than her dad pointing something out about her. when you live in a family full of women, the spotlight is rarely free for the taking. essence lifted a spoonful of butter pecan icecream and slipped it into her mouth as she looked back and forth down the street, still waiting on the blonde man. "Where the hell is he?" she said sighing to herself as she flipped her phone open to see the time.

[reindhart]

now, sam knew he was late, and he honestly hadn't intended to be. he'd had a dull night and had stayed home watching movies that had come on tv. staying up till midnight had turned into staying up till four in the morning. so naturally, he'd slept in later then usual, missed his workout at the gym and called essy to hang out.

he shot in and out of traffic until finally reaching the ice cream place, and by his oh so rare luck, there was an open parking spot right in front. he made a sick turn, and was inside the shop sitting next to her in record time. he nodded his head towards the window, dark sunglasses on and pointed to himself, "did you like that? all me, just saying." he was joking of course, sampson wasn't the cocky type. he was showy sometimes, but not cocky.

"gimme some of that? we gotta finish this, i didn't pay the meter." he admitted like it was something shameful. it was a fricking parking meter. but still he didn't need a ticket that he'd take to court because he was a stubborn asshole.

[essence morgan delaroca]

OUTFIT

Essy was just about to punch the speed dial number to call Sam when she had heard the familiar screeching tires of Sam's car whipping into a nearby parrallel parking space. and then suddenly he was at the table in front of her. the boy moved sometimes at a rate that made her head spin. Essence laughed brightly at the man's faux cockiness. "Have you ever thought about checking into the possibility of you being ADHD?" she said as he asked for some of her ice cream. She scooped up a spoonful and aimed it toward him. "I probably shouldn't give this to you either..." she said chuckling. It was then that he mentioned that he hadn't fed the meter. The blonde just rolled her eyes at the man, "Really Sam? You couldn't spare a quarter?" she said with a shake of her head as she dug in her purse for some change. "Here. So we don't have to rush." she said dropping a couple quarters on the counter. Sam didn't need her money, but that didn't matter. Giving Sam change was like giving her family change. No big deal.

Essy shook her head at the guy, why did he have to be so damn stubborn sometimes. Sampson was the best friend of a crime boss's daughter, he didn't need anymore fingers pointed at his back. Essence often felt bad about how her affiliation with crime affected the people she knew and cared about. Everyone associated with her, was trouble by association. So what would normally just be a meter ticket to anyone else, would inevitably turn into something more for Essence DeLaroca's friend.

[reindhart]

sampson laughed and shook his head, "you know, having adhd would be the perfect excuse. alright, that settles it then, i am officially adhd." he shrugged and lifted his arm to rest over the top of the booth seat, his body angled so he was facing her.

sam reached into his jean jacket pocket and pulled out a handful of quarters, "it's not that i couldn't spare a quarter, i just more or less didn't feel like sparing a quarter. who knows when these might come in handy, like...if we walk past a fountain or someone who actually needs this money. parking meters don't need shit, their metal." he pointed out matter of factly then swung himself around so he was completely facing her. he latched his hands around the sugar in front of him and grinned, ready to get into a full on rant about the bogusness of parking meters.

he tapped his head with his finger, "i did right by you, delaroca. throwing money at me like this, handing over ice cream at a whim." he batted his eyelashes before laughing again, if one didn't know better they'd think he was on something. he was just in one of those occasional moods. "we don't have to rush anyway, i haven't seen you in a while, how are you? any boys in your life, other then me?" naturally, if there were he'd have to meet them.

and beat them at everything they were good at. he didn't like coming second in essy's life, and perhaps that wasn't fair to her. sam didn't want essy to date anyone better then himself, but he didn't want essy to date him either. he didn't think he was good enough for her, to be honest.

[essence morgan delaroca]

OUTFIT

essence just rolled her eyes and shook her head at sampson's little self diagnosis. "if i'm not mistaken, i think a doctor is supposed to be the one to determine that. not just you on a whim." she smiled running a free hand through her hair, leaning her arms on the booths table.

essy listened to sam's lopsided logic, and the scary part was that it made perfect sense to her. she completely understood his desire to not waste the quarter on the meter. he was just that kind of guy. however anyone else would have debated it out. essence would have, if he hadn't been right. "ok... fair enough." she said giving him a point for the conversation. he then took her ice cream and the blonde woman scoffed. "HEY! no no you have to share that buddy..." she then slipped the spoon out of the small ice cream bowl. sam was a trip but essy loved spending time with him.

she smiled at sam's comment and laughed glancing down at the table when he began laughing. the thought of sam and essence being more than just friends had come up more than once through her father and some of her girlfriends. her girls loved to entertain the idea of sam and essy getting together. but when essy would try to nip the talk, her friends would just call her out for protesting too much. she snapped back to reality, when she heard sam speak again. "huh? oh i've been good, well as good as i can be." she said with a small smirk. she then glanced up to answer his next question, "nope no other guys, no one could handle me like you do." she finished with a chuckle because it was true to some extent. sam sometimes acted like the protective guy whenever a new guy came around. as if guys didn't have enough to deal with for her, sam would make everything a competition of wits and wills. at times he even seemed upset to see her date. she then smiled and leaned toward sam wrapping her arms around him. "besides what other guy do i need when i have you, right?" she said only half joking.

essy wasn't sure if she would ever allow sam to be anything more than a friend to her. he had a big enough target on his back just being her friend. let alone the one he would have were he to become something more. the delaroca's were constant targets and if someone were to target him to get to her or her father who saw him as a son. essence would be devastated.

[reindhart]

"oh essy," he started, reaching up and patting her cheek gently with his hand, a smirk on his face, "you know i don't need a doctor." it was true, he was pretty decent at stitching himself up, being a mechanic and all he was decent with his hands. and he HAD attended med school for a while before giving up the thought of being a doctor. if you wanted the truth, he didn't like having the responsibilty of someone's life in his hands. he didn't like the idea of having so much power. what if he fucked up?

which he did do a lot.

"share? share, what? this...no i don't think so." he told her fending off her spoon a couple times before handing it over. the had a good time together, sam had decided long ago that essy was the only girl he could really and truly hang out with and not have sexual thoughts about. though he definitely did have them from time to time, i mean look at the girl! it was hard not to.

sam chuckled and allowed himself to feel a few seconds of triumphantness, "damn right i'm the only one that can handle you." he said quietly, more to himself then to her, but she could most likely hear him. sam returned her hug, all the while pretty psyched at the compliment. even though she was probablly covering for a few guys sam would surely kick the shit out of, he didn't mind. anything for a compliment, right?

"none, none at all. and i'm sure your brother and father would agree with me on that one." it was true. they really would. sam got along well with essy's family, he'd been around so much that it wasn't unusual for essy's father to occasionally slap sampson upside the head when he was acting an idiot.

"essy, you know i can handle myself, right?" he asked her, immediately catching on to the look of worry she'd just let slip through her carefully crafted features.

[essence morgan delaroca]

OUTFIT

essence smiled and leaned into sam's hand as he tried to convice her that he didn't need doctors. it made her think, had she ever even seen him sick? not off the top of her head. "sam... you are such a trip." she chuckled taking another bite of her ice cream. she knew that he was very much self sufficient. there was no doubt that sam could take car of himself. but that didn't mean that essy didn't worry about him. he was important to her. she just couldn't help herself.

she couldn't help but think about all the times that her girlfriends had said how cute sam was and what the story was on him. the part that scared her was the feeling of jealousy that ran through her at the thought of them actually liking him. no he was her sam. but he wasn't hers. not in the literal sense at least. sam had every right and every opportunity to date any of her friends but he never did, at least not to her knowledge. she smirked and glanced over at him. "what about you casanova? any new women in your life i should be worried about?" she said this in a teasing tone, but she was entirely too serious. she knew the risks involved with being around her all to well and even though they had been friends for years, essence always waited for the other shoe to drop. always waiting for sam to come to his senses and say that essy's life was too much for him to handle. but he hadn't done that yet and she was not about to mention it to him.

it was then that essence heard sam's little sided comment, "damn right i'm the only one that can handle you." and essy's blonde brow raised at him. "oh really. is that what you think?" essy smirked because he opened up a whole other conversation. and essence was the kind of girl that did not handle cocky men well. she chuckled lightly, before she spoke again, "you've had it easy sweetie." she said confidently. and it was a fact. there was a whole side to essence that sam had never seen. essence was one of the sweetest people you would ever meet, but if neseccary, essy could be just as vicious and vengeful as her father. but sam was a good man, even with his faults, he was a good guy. and she prayed that he would never see that side of her.

she tried desperately to hide her worry and concern when around others but sometimes her sculpted demenor cracked. and now was one of those times, based solely on the question and the tone in sam's voice. "i know you can take care of yourself sam, but that doesn't mean i don't worry about you." the confident, sassy tone she had just moments before had all but completely disappeared. in it's place, was a worried concerned, almost sad tone. "you don't know the kind of people that are really out there. i worry that you'll get hurt because of me." essence's eyes fell to the melting ice cream in the bowl in front of her. "i couldn't handle that. i would walk away from you altogether before i would let my life and my dad's life hurt you. you're too important." even though the tone of her voice was still sad and upset, there was an underlying hint in her voice of total security. she had thought about this multiple times and had come to terms with her decision, and as much as it would hurt, she knew what she would do if she had to.

[reindhart]

sam laughed and shook his head. naturally, sam was quite a trip. he threw everyone for a loop, that's how goofy he could be and at the same time he could get so terrifying you might fear for your life. he liked being around essence, not only for her company, but more or less because he liked the idea of being the protector. sampson grant reindhart, pretty girl protector. it was amazingly catchy, he couldn't deny that.

"new woman in my life? you're the only girl for me, essence delaroca." he said this last bit in an armando spanish tone, winking at her. "and on a slightly more serious note, nope, not really." he shrugged then pursed his lips. there was that meeting with siena at the diner? should he even bring it up? would essy care that much? the two hadn't ever really gotten along...he decided against it. all he'd have to do now was fend off the impending feelings that he was keeping something from her.

sam raised an eyebrow, "oh, ho, ho, have i now?" he asked her curiously, leaning forward on his forearms. "i guess i should be a little bit afraid then, yeah?" he wondered, feigning fear. naturally, sam had no idea that a woman could be frightening, to him, nothing was scary. sam had no fears. fearlessness was a quality to be afraid of though, and it was dangerous to be fearless. but dangerous was practically sam's conformation name. (since he already had grant, and everything).

sam listened to her, hearing her worry like she was made him a little upset. and not that he'd admit it, but his feelings were a little hurt now. essence didn't think he understood the danger her family was in--and in turn where it put him? right in the crossfire, that's right. but sam didn't care, he could just as easily become dangerous.

"you're important to me too, essence, you know that. but don't you go worrying about big sam over here. i got this." sam said, wiping imaginary dirt of his shoulder before crossing his arms a little higher up on his chest then most people would. that was sam. different.

[essence morgan delaroca]

OUTFIT

essy smiled when sam laughed. he had one of those infectious laughs that you couldn't help but smile and laugh with him. that was just a quality about sam, he was a male version of essence, he could be one of the sweetest and quirkiest men in the world, but when need be he could be an undefeatable force of nature. there had been plenty of times where something has happened and sam had reacted before essy's bodyguards (jamie and rob) did, many times she felt safer with sam around than with jamie and rob. in a way sampson was the overprotective big brother she never had, but she didn't like the sound of that. him being like her brother, meant she shouldn't like him the way she secretly did.

essence chuckled at sampson's avant guarde display. "new woman in my life? you're the only girl for me, essence delaroca." and in turn, essy brought her hand up to her forehead and fanned herself with the other. "oh sampson!" she said in an equally theatric voice, before breaking character in a fit of laughter. essence felt a little hit of happiness when sam said that he really hadn't met anyone new. it was a bittersweet feeling though. she was happy she hadn't lost him to some gold digging tramp, but at the same time, it had been a long time since she had seen him truly happy. no since siena. ugh siena. she thought silently to herself. just the thought of the girl turned her off. the girl had all but broken her best friend and essy hated her guts for it. sam deserved so much better. she saw the look sam unconsciously gave her, and she took note of it but didn't press the issue assuming that if it was important he would tell her. she just hoped it wasn't siena. ugh.

the good thing about sam was no matter how cocky or sarcastic essence might get about something, sam was never phased by it. in fact he usually kept right with her. and now was of course no exception. with a raised brow, sam countered her comments, leaning forward on his forearms. giving yet another theatrical display, essence chuckled. the boy was fearless, absolutely and utterly fearless. which could be determined one of two ways. incredibly brave. or incredibly stupid. sam was definately the latter.

the look on sam's face told essence that she had said too much, her worry was now making him worry about her. the blonde girl let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. she always got like this around this time of year. the anniversary of her mother's murder was coming up soon. whenever that time came around essy went into uber-protection mode. she did the same thing with her sisters and her father. so of course sam would be no exception. "i'm sorry sam. you're right. it's just.... well.... you know how i get." she didn't even want to say it. it's just the anniversary of my mom's murder and i don't want you to die. would be a little hard to say and hear. sam had been around essence and her family long enough to know the risks and accept them. essy just needed to realize that. essence smiled and shook her head lightly at sam. he was so silly sometimes. but at times he could take things a little more seriously. but that was sam. different.

[reindhart]

"i've been meaning to tell you, i think you should try out for a film or something. you've got this way with words that could drive a teenage boy absolutely insane." sampson complimented, all be it teasingly. their friendship thrived off playful banter and flirtation, he only wondered if a relationship would be the same. couldn't they just be friends forever and get married when they were old after having been happy and playful for so long? sam didn't like married people, all they did was fight and fall apart.

and sam was much to worried he might become like his father in a marriage, which was why he planned not to get married at all. but, when it came to matters of his heart sam had little to no choice in the matter. just then, an old couple walked slowly into the ice cream shop, the man assisting his wife with wise, strong hands. sampson watched them and nudged essy with his foot under the table. "see, look at them, they are truly happy. they've been together their whole lives and their marriage still seems strong as ever. it's a shame we can't all be like that, you know? it kind of fucking sucks."

sampson was hardly one to show his emotions, but around essence he found his carefully constructed walls lowered and ocassionally he let out a bit of what he was feeling. a little bit of the pain still left because of his shitty parents. he hated the way people lied sometimes, one couple saw stars and the other only fits of rage. sampson was sure if he found another girl like siena, he would treat her differently, he would change--they say you grow through past relationships. and he'd had his heart broken through his last one. but now he knew how he was supposed to do things. at least, do them a bit better.

he reached across the table and pinched her cheek, all signs of emotional confession time gone, it was rare for sam to open up, and when he did it was over quick. "i do know exactly how you get, my widdle baby." he said in a baby voice, letting go of her cheek and holding back laughter. but he knew the truth behind her words. he knew all to well what was here, and he didn't really know how to approach it without upsetting her. sampson scrunched up his nose and looked back at the old couple, then back at her. "how are you though, essence, really?" there was no playful banter in his voice this time.