DISCLAIMER: I took the song out of order to better fit the story I wanted to tell, but I hope you enjoy it!
"Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" - Meatloaf
Ej hadn't seen Samantha in ten years, yet went to sleep each night thinking of her and trying to remember how it was to be with her. To hold her and make love to her, how her laughed sounded and the rose perfume she always wore. He knew that she was with someone else and was probably happily married at this point, but he couldn't help but think about her and how much she did and always would mean to him.
After leaving Salem he tried to move on, went out on dates each and every night, but never found what he was looking for. He would take different women out hoping to get what he needed, to get contentment if not fulfillment, but it never came. Then when he finally thought he was getting somewhere, Samantha crept into his consciousness and left him screwing up the best chance he found at a relationship with someone new, with someone who wasn't her.
Baby we can talk all night
But that ain't getting us nowhere
I told you everything I possibly can
There's nothing left inside of here
All he needed to say was he loved her and it would be fine, she would forget the slip he made at calling her Samantha, and she would forgive him. But he couldn't say it; he couldn't give her the one thing she wanted and he felt truly sorry for that. When he called Christina, Samantha he knew that there was a problem.
"What is wrong with you? How could you call me by another women's name?"
And maybe you can cry all night
But that'll never change the way that I feel
The snow is really piling up outside
I wish you wouldn't make me leave here
She asked and with due cause, but he just got out of bed and headed over to the bar for a drink, just the sound of her name made his heart start to race. With the sound of her name came memories and ones that only made his heart race even faster and then fall to pieces when he realized she wasn't the Samantha, "his" Samantha.
And all I can do is keep on telling you
I want you
I need you
But there ain't no way
I'm ever gonna love you
Now don't be sad
'Cause two out of three ain't bad
Now don't be sad
'Cause two out of three ain't bad
"I want you and parts of me needs you. But I will never be able to love you." Was all he said before he poured another glass of scotch, hoping the scotch would ease the conversation he knew was inevitable.
"What?"
"I loved someone once and I would have died for her, she was my world and she left me for someone else. She walked out of my life and I have never been able to love anyone since. I am sorry for that because I do care about you, but it will never be love. I'm just not capable of that anymore."
Just talking about her hurt, and Christina seen it in his eyes, she could see the pain he was going through by just mentioning the time they spent together. With the graceful mention of her, he started to remember their last night together, the night she left and the last night he ever felt like a whole man.
There's only one girl that I have ever loved
And that was so many years ago
And though I know I'll never get her out of my heart
She never loved me back, ooh I know
I remember how she left me on a stormy night
She kissed me and got out of our bed
And though I pleaded and I begged her
Not to walk out that door
She packed her bags and turned right away
They were in bed and for the first time he told her he loved her after making love to her again. He told her that she was his everything and nothing was the same after he met her that she was his other half and with her he felt complete. But instead of returning his love, she kissed his cheek and got up from the bed they shared almost every night over the past few months.
She walked over to the chair and pulled back on the dress he carefully unzipped. Sat down and began to put on her shoes without saying a single word. He just watched, still in shock by what was happening. When he seen her going for her purse he knew it was time to step in.
"What is the matter? Don't you love me?" He asked as he ran to her side and slid to his knees in front of her. "What is it?"
"I want you, at night when I am lonely and during the days when I feel the urge to be close to someone and want to feel your warmth. I even need you as my friend and my only form of support against my family and the world. But I'm sorry Elvis I will never love you. Not like you love me and that is why things have to end, I cannot and will not let things continue when I do not love you. I will never feel in my heart what you feel for me and that is why this ends tonight, we end tonight." She said and with that she walked over to the door, leaving him on his knees looking as lost as a broken hearted man could be.
And she kept on telling me
She kept on telling me
She kept on telling me
I want you
I need you
But there ain't no way
I'm ever gonna love you
Now don't be sad
'Cause two out of three ain't bad
I want you
I need you
But there ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you
Now don't be sad
'Cause two out of three ain't bad
Don't be sad
'Cause two out of three ain't bad
"Trust me when I say this is for the best, it's not fair to you." She finished and with that she was gone, no goodbye and no I will miss you, just vanished into the night and left him still on the floor.
I poured it on and I poured it out
I tried to show you just how much I care
I'm tired of words and I'm too hoarse to shout
But you've been cold to me so long
I'm crying icicles instead of tears
Samantha knew leaving that night was one of the hardest things she had to do but it was for the best. She knew that Ej loved her and just couldn't continue once he finally admitted it and realized it himself. She needed to walk away and she needed to do it then.
As Ej came back to reality he seen that she had never left, just sat there in the chair starring at him, wishing there was something she could do to help. The truth was she did love and loved that he was so passionate about things. She loved how he would do whatever it took to accomplish something as simple as changing a sign to rewriting a business deal. She loved everything about him and if he said he loved her, even if it were a lie she would stand by him knowing that his heart would never be hers.
"Just tell me you love me and everything will be ok. I understand that you have a past that is filled with thorns on a rose, but you need to let her go. If it's been over a year, then you need to let her go."
"It's been 10 and I can't let her go. I will never be able to let Samantha go and I will not lie to you and tell you I love you. I have been closer to you then any women since her and wish that it would just magically work and I could tell you what you want to heart but I cant. I can't tell you something that I don't feel, I won't do that to you."
I can't lie
I can't tell you that I'm something I'm not
No matter how I try
I'll never be able to give you something
Something that I just haven't got
"Please, just tell me it and I'll believe it, that's all I need to go on. To just go on with you like we were before tonight."
And all I can do is keep on telling you
I want you
I need you
But there ain't no way
I'm ever gonna love you
Now don't be sad
'Cause two out of three ain't bad
Now don't be sad
'Cause two out of three ain't bad
"I can't lie to you, if she taught me anything it's not to lie. That's not reality Christina, that's a falsehood, a fairy tale that will never be true. There are some things that just aren't meant to be, and me loving you is just not one of them."
You'll never find your gold on a sandy beach
You'll never drill for oil on a city street
I know you're looking for a ruby
In a mountain of rocks
But there ain't no Coupe de Ville hiding
At the bottom of a Cracker Jack box
"I don't care if you never love me, I can take that. I just want to be with you and maybe one day you will be able to love me. You will love me like you loved her; you just need to give it time. It can happen, I know it can!"
Baby we can talk all night
But that ain't getting us nowhere
She said and with that walked over to him at the bar and sat on the floor just as he did for Samantha, she just looked into his eyes and he seen what was in his eyes the night Samantha left and he finally understood why she left. He knew that staying with Christina would only make things worse as she fell more in love with him.
"I'm sorry, but I will never love you. I want you and I need you, but I will never love you!" He wasn't sure how he came to it, but he got up and got dressed before walking out of her hotel room. With that he was gone and vanished into the night, headed to the nearest bar hoping to loose the memories that had resurfaced that night. The night she left and how he felt sitting there on the floor alone, the same way Christina now felt about him.