Author's Note: For the sake of this story, Marlena stopped her killing spree after getting rid of Doug. Doug never left any clue behind and let's just say Marlena left Salem and eloped with her letter opener ;) Also, Jan was unsuccessful in killing Victor, so he and Alice are both still alive.
When it became apparent to Sami that the loud, frantic knocking on her apartment door was not going to stop, she sighed reluctantly and went over to the door. She unlocked the door and flung it open to reveal a very distressed-looking Nicole, who glared at Sami as soon as the door opened. Nicole stepped inside the apartment without waiting for an invitation and plunked herself down on Sami's couch, propping her feet up on the coffee table.
"It's about time." Nicole huffed, "Do you always make people wait that long before you decide to open the door?"
Sami immediately became defensive, "No. But I thought you were Lucas and usually he just lets himself in with his key if I don't open the door. What are you doing here anyway?"
Nicole avoided Sami's inquisitive gaze by lowering her eyes to the ground. Her forward disposition from only moments before had seemed to completely vanish, "I'm sort of in trouble and I was wondering if you would do something for me."
Sami couldn't resist laughing at the blonde woman's request, "You're kidding, right? What made you think that I would actually do anything to help you?"
Nicole looked up at Sami and the look in her eyes was so pleading and desperate that it caused the amused smile on Sami's face to fade, "I had a feeling you would react like this. But can you just listen to me before you decide not to help me?"
Sami rolled her eyes and sat down on the couch, "Fine. But only because your pain makes me laugh and I want to see what mess you've gotten yourself into this time."
"Fine." Nicole ignored the scorn in Sami's voice and took a deep breath, "Do you know who Lyric Wilson is?"
Sami frowned, "The name is familiar but I can't remember where I've heard it before. Who is it?"
"She's a writer. She's published three novels already and her first one came out last summer." Nicole told her, seeing signs of realization in Sami's eyes.
"That's right. She's that sex novelist who writes that erotic series of novels. Belle's a big fan, she lent me the first book in the series to read." Sami said.
Nicole nodded, "She hadn't expected her books to do so well, she only started writing because she had nothing better to do. But her books have actually become really popular and now they want her to do a four-week publicity tour. She would love to go but she can't."
"And how does this relate to you?" Sami asked, despite the fact she already suspected she knew the answer.
"Lyric Wilson is a pen name. I'm Lyric Wilson, Sami."
Sami snorted, "Riiiiiighhttt. And I'm a playboy bunny. There's no way someone like you could write like that."
Nicole didn't even try to pretend that Sami's words didn't offend her, "I did write them. You don't know what it's like to have a husband who locks you in your room and never lets you have any fun. I just started writing the books because I was bored. Then I decided to try sending them to publishing companies and since the publishers actually liked my work and wanted me to write more, I kept writing. I even did an interview for a magazine over the internet. But in the interview, I lied and said I had a gorgeous boyfriend whose sexual prowess inspired me to write those books. I figured it would help sell more books if I lied because it would totally turn readers off it they found out I was married to someone like Victor."
"You have a point." Sami agreed, "And if you tried to go through with the publicity campaign yourself, then Victor would find out and expose you."
"Exactly." Nicole looked relieved that Sami understood what she was saying, "But I've already received a good amount of money from the profit of the first three novels. I'm ready to publish the fourth book and this publicity campaign is going to help me receive a larger amount of money than I have for the first three books combined. At least, that's what my agent said. And once I have enough money, I can easily divorce Victor without having to worry about being financially secure. Then Brady will realize that I'm not a gold digging whore."
"But you are a gold digging whore." Sami objected and was rewarded with an indignant look from Nicole.
"No, I'm not. And ever since the eighth murder was committed while I was handcuffed to him, Brady has also dropped the idea that I'm the serial killer. It won't be long before I have him in my bed, where he belongs." Nicole decided it was time to move back to the original subject, "So, my agent also wants me to bring this non-existent boyfriend with me on this tour, which I obviously can't do. That's where you come in. You just have to pretend to be Lyric Wilson for four weeks."
"And why would I do you this favour?" Sami questioned her calmly.
"Because I'd be willing to pay you." Nicole answered, "You'll just have to appear on some talk shows and do some book signings. I'd go with you, to make sure you were playing the part of Lyric Wilson right and everything. I'd be like, your coach. I'm willing to let you have thirty percent of whatever I make and I'll only take sixty percent."
"Then who does the other ten percent go to?" Sami asked.
"Your gorgeous, sexy boyfriend, of course." Nicole responded, "He doesn't get as much as we do because he'd basically just be sitting there and looking pretty."
"Yeah, that's kind of a problem. I don't have a gorgeous, sexy boyfriend. Where the hell am I supposed to find one?"
Nicole shifted uncomfortably, "I had a suggestion. And I don't know how to tell you this but I was thinking that maybe you could get-" the sound of the apartment door opening cut Nicole off. Lucas suddenly stepped inside the apartment.
"Sami, have you seen Will's..." he stopped speaking when he noticed Nicole sitting on the couch. Nicole smiled pleasantly at Lucas, crossed her legs and turned back to Sami.
"That's where." Nicole said simply.
Sami began to laugh nervously, "All right, now you're getting out of hand, Nicole."
"Why? It makes perfect sense. And I'm sure Lucas would go along with it." Nicole shot back.
"Go along with what?" Lucas asked curiously, sitting down on the couch next to Sami. Nicole quickly filled him in on her plan while Sami scowled at Nicole the entire time. Sami couldn't believe Nicole was actually getting Lucas involved in this. It wasn't as if her feelings for Lucas weren't already confusing enough. But having him masquerade around as her lover for almost a month was going to make things ten times as worse. She hoped that Lucas would tell Nicole that there was no way he would get involved in her scheme. But to her horror, he looked almost excited at the prospect. After Nicole had finished her explanation, Lucas cleared his throat loudly and looked over at Sami.
"What do you think, Sami?" he asked, "Should we help her out?"
Sami tried frantically to stall for time, "I don't know. What do you want to do?"
"I wouldn't mind doing it." Lucas told her, "It would be kind of fun. Besides, we'd get an all-expenses paid trip to places like Hawaii and Malibu, right, Nicole?"
Nicole shook her head, "Not Hawaii or Malibu, but we do get to go to Florida."
"So, I'll do it if you will." Lucas concluded, looking at Sami to see how she would respond.
Sami was still trying to see if there was a way out of this situation. It wasn't that she didn't want to do it, she was just nervous about the idea of having to act all in love and what-not with Lucas. She didn't know if she was ready for that yet.
"What about Belle? I'm sure she and Shawn would love to go along with your little plan. It would give Belle an excuse to get Shawn to sleep with her." Sami told Nicole.
"They broke up though." Lucas reminded Sami, "Remember, Belle told Shawn that she lied to him about being your mother's alibi? Then your mom left town, causing everyone to become even more suspicious of her and then Shawn dumped Belle. Now that Jan girl is supposedly following Shawn around like a love-sick puppy dog."
"Oh, right. I must have momentarily forgotten that." Sami blushed, realizing just how flustered this was getting her.
"Besides, Belle is a prude." Nicole added, "She'd never be able to pull it off. In fact, besides me, you are the only woman in Salem that could probably pull this off. You and Lucas are such good liars and I mean that in the nicest way possible. You're both really good actors. It won't kill you to pretend that you can't keep your hands off each other for a little less than a month."
Pretend that we can't keep our hands off each other? Sami thought to herself, I'm not going to have any trouble with that. No acting required on my part. And that's not a good thing.
But she knew that if Lucas and Nicole continued trying to persuade her to agree to doing this, she was going to end up giving in. She had been having the hardest time saying no to Lucas lately, so she knew it would just be a waste of time to try and get out of taking on the role of Lyric Wilson.
"All right." Sami said, somewhat resentfully, "I'll do it."
Nicole grinned at both Lucas and Sami, "Thanks, this means a lot to me. But you two do realize that you'll have to act like the horniest couple in America, don't you?" Nicole inquired watching the two of them so she could gauge their reactions, "Because, after everything I said in that interview about my 'boyfriend', it's absolutely necessary."
Sami smiled confidently, "Well, since you have Lucas, you've already got one-half of that couple. If you had found a woman that is actually turned on by Lucas, it would have been perfect. But I am not turned on by Lucas. Not even the slightest little bit." she added for good measure, since Nicole was one of the last people she wanted her true feelings for Lucas to be revealed to.
We'll see about that, Sami, Lucas thought to himself, vowing to use his current situation to his advantage and to somehow make Sami finally see how much they meant to each other.