Samson (Chapter One, Part Two)

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         He had seen her only once outside of her tours.  It had to be two years ago, or maybe three.  He had convinced a blond USC grad to break away from her Pi Phi sisters and meet him at Il Ridotto for dinner.  Amazingly enough, although the whole place has a total of five tables, Gina was coming in (alone) as he was coaxing Blondie out of the restaurant.  Of all the times to run into Gina, it had to be the night his date was so inebriated she could hardly stand up; she was singing "O-so-lo-me-o" and begging him, literally on her knees begging him, to take her on a gondola ride so they could "kiss under the Bridge of Sighs", even though it was well past sunset.  Score one for Gina as she casually explained to Blondie the story behind the bridge's name was quite different than the local legend that promises sweethearts, who kiss on a gondola as they pass under the bridge, to be assured eternal love.  "It's interesting, the bridge actually connects the interrogation rooms to the old prisons in the Doge Palace.  So the story goes, convicts would sigh at their last view of the free world as they were taken to their cells."  For the second time, Gina appeared to be laughing at him.  When a person doesn't want you to know they are laughing at you, they'll get that smug little half-smirk on their face, but Gina was showing dimples and looked at him with a chuckle in her eye.  Even after all these years of the same crash and burn pattern, he continued to track his prey, sure that one year he'd be able to bring home the trophy.
         Until this year.       


         A new obsession caught his eye the moment he arrived at Marco Polo Airport.  He probably hadn't noticed her on the plane,  because he had been chatting up the flight attendant, comparing notes on the best places for morning espresso on the islands.  She just couldn't be convinced that place was his room, the Library Suite at Ca'Sagredo.  Well aware from personal experience that catching a flight attendant proved as difficult as hailing a Manhattan taxi in a rainstorm, it didn't prevent him from trying every time he boarded another plane.  Letting that trail grow cold didn't take long once he noticed a damsel in distress struggling to get her suitcase off the baggage carousel.  From what he could tell, part of a strap from the bag had somehow gotten caught and, to make matters worse, there was a much larger bag lodged on top of it.  Samson knew that everything she brought must be in that bag since she didn't have a carry on with her.  He wasn't much of a clothes horse but he instantly recognized the outfit she was wearing, a stunning royal blue linen pant suit that held the spotlight in the Manhattan Macy's window the week before.