A Rose in Shadow

Samantha

Samantha sat at the bar and shifted the ice pack around on her forearm trying, in vain, to pull her torn shirt back up over her bare shoulder. Her hands were shaking but she was making an effort to ignore this while she fussed with the sleeve.

Stupid, she berated herself. Stupid to let that guy grab her in the first place. She should have known that he would. She'd been aware of his interest all night but thought if she just ignored him that he would go away. Ever the optimist.

She glanced toward the door watching for Finn before she peeked discreetly over to the table in the back corner where the off-duty police officer, the very cute off-duty police officer, paced back and forth while talking on his cell phone. She noticed that the group of people he had been with were all starting to gather their coats.

Once again Samantha quickly looked to the door, immediately relieved to see Finn walk in while the cop was still occupied. She was embarrassed enough about what had happened and just wanted to leave before causing even more of a scene. She would have left already if the cop hadn't been there and she felt really bad for ruining, what appeared to have been, a fun night out for him. She hoped that she could sneak out and leave before his friends did. If that happened he may still be able to enjoy the rest of his evening.

Finn walked in and stood a moment in the doorway before spotting Samantha. Because of his lifetime of playing competitive hockey he continued with the discipline of working out on a regular basis, despite having retired his 'competitive' skates quite a few years ago. Jogging and weight lifting, and the odd pick-up hockey game, were still a part of his daily routine and made his tall frame very appealing.

He was a contrast with Mac, Samantha's brother, in that, where Finn was tall and slender, with toned muscles and shocking blonde hair and bright blue eyes, Mac was stocky at an even six feet tall, and more built for fighting than running.  He also shared Sam's dark hair and skin colouring so it was their similar personality that was the reason Finn and Mac had become and, remained, best friends all of these years. The two of them rarely ever argued or got annoyed with each other and still spoke almost every day, never lacking things to talk about.

Samantha stood and grabbed her coat, putting it on while subtly setting the bag of ice down on the bar with a slight nod to the bartender as Finn approached her. As soon as he reached her he let his eyes roam over her face as though to assure himself that she was okay and he gently raised her chin with his index finger so that she would meet his gaze. "What happened, honey?" he asked in a soft voice as though he could tell she needed some care at this moment.

She could feel the hot tears suddenly prick her eyes and blinked them back furiously. If Finn, her surrogate brother, started showing her compassion now, instead of his usual sass, she would definitely break down.

"Let's go" she said quickly. "I'll tell you on the way".

Just then came a deep voice from behind them "Is this your brother?"

Resigned, Samantha took a breath and turning slowly, looked up at Adam McCabe, the off-duty cop that had the pleasure of a front row seat to her humiliation this evening.

Samantha responded "No" to his question at the same time that Finn said "Yes" and Adam raised an eyebrow, passing his gaze back and forth between them both, while waiting for clarification. She felt Finn's hand firmly come to rest on her shoulder and cleared her throat.

"Detective McCabe, this is Finn Sullivan, a close family friend, who just happens to be like a brother to me" she turned a grateful smile to Finn, who at 6'2" towered over her 5'4" frame like the big brother he tended to always be.

Adam, hovering just over six feet himself, reached out his hand to shake Finn's "Call me Adam" he said. "I happen to be off-duty right now. Did Samantha tell you what happened this evening?"