Title: Few Blocks
Author: NikiMeg
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me. I own nothing. I wish, but I don't.
Rating: PG
Author's note: Thanks to Devanie for beta-ing for me; as always you helped me so much.
Summary: Samantha and Marie face to face.
Samantha had finished the report before rising from the chair. She looked around; she seemed very tired. Then she went to Jack's room.
She stopped and gazed at Jack through the wall of transparent glass. He was seated, finishing some paperwork, not noticing that Samantha stood outside.
She entered without knocking.
"Jack." She said softly, knowing he hated to be startled when someone approached.
He looked at Sam, making a sign to her; she walked and stopped next to his desk.
"The case is closed." She said as she gave the report to him.
"Have a good night, Sam." He smiled.
She nodded. "You too."
She went back to her cubicle, grabbed her purse and went in the direction of the elevator.
Inside she looked at the lights of each floor in the panel of the elevator; they turned on, they turned off quickly and this made her think of her own life. One day everything was up, in another it seemed like things turned off; would her life will be going down too?
Her life was a mess-- in a dreadful state of chaos. Some time ago, a good night would be spent with Jack; they'd be together all night; nowadays, a good night was a couple hours in the bathtub and a cup of white wine. It was exactly what she intended to do as soon as she arrived at her house.
"Agent Spade?"
Somebody called her name, a female voice.
Sam turned at the voice; she didn't recognize the woman instantly.
"Samantha Spade." The unknown woman approached.
Sam didn't believe it; it was Jack's wife. She squeezed her eyes to make sure that woman was really the spouse of the man with whom she had had an affair.
"Mrs. Malone."
Marie stopped in front of Sam.
"We need to talk; Is there any place we could do that?" Marie said seriously.
"I'm afraid I can't; I haven't got time now." She had thought to answer like that, but the only thing that escaped her lips was "There's a bar a few blocks from here."
"I'll meet you there." Marie left sooner as she came.
That was not what Samantha had planned for that night: Meeting Marie, meeting Jack's wife.
Fifteen minutes later.
Samantha was seated at the counter of the bar, waiting for Marie. Her mind was clouded. She knew why Marie wanted to talk; they were not friends, only Jack was the link between two such different women. Or perhaps not too different.
Several answers had shown up in her mind when she pondered the unavoidable question. When and if Marie asked why. Why she slept with her husband.
Marie entered in the bar, looking for Samantha. Finding her, Marie approached and sat down in front of her.
The two women in Jack's life were face to face, in a bar. He probably never imagined that this could happen.
Marie ordered a drink from the waiter.
Sam ordered another one.
Marie looked at Sam, as if she wanted to figure why... why her husband had had an affair with this blonde woman sat down in front of her. She was pretty and smart and young... Younger than the both of them.
Marie didn't start. Sam wanted to, but she didn't know what she could possibly say besides confirming that the other woman's suspicions were right; she had slept with her husband.
Marie sipped her drink, drinking in courage.
"I ran this through my mind a thousand times before I come here tonight...You know that Jack left our house." It was more a statement than a question.
"He told me about a week ago." Sam said, her eyes trained on her glass; she didn't want to look at Marie right now.
"I know everything." Marie continued, " I already knew, a woman always knows. I also knew that it would be somebody from the office. I was surprised to know who it was."
"This just happened. I had never planned to do this. I suppose he hadn't either."
"I feel better now." Marie said sarcastically.
Sam felt awkward; she didn't mean this, not in that sense.
"He hadn't told me your name. He told me what had just happened, how he felt about everything. But I needed to know, just to know, so before he left our home, I asked it. I thought he wouldn't tell me, but he turned toward me and said. "This won't make any difference, but it was Samantha."
Sam didn't know what to say; she didn't want to hurt her more than Marie had already been hurt.
Then, she sipped her drink, looked straight in Marie's eyes.
"I'm so sorry for the pain I caused to you, to your family. I'm not a bad person and this was not a goal of mine; it just happened."
"I didn't come here to hear your excuses; I didn't want to know his. I just... actually, I don't know exactly why I'm here. I think... I just need to do this."
This entire situation was terrible for both of them; every minute seemed to be an eternity.
"You're so young." Marie said, looking at Sam.
Samantha just looked at the woman, not as young, but very pretty. She meant it when she said that what happened didn't have to do anything with being young, but she wasn't sure about this, so she didn't say a word, she just looked at Marie.
What will happen now? What should the next words be? Neither Marie nor Sam knew what to do, what to say.
Suddenly, Marie's cell phone rang. The sound was a relief, breaking the awkward silence between them. Marie turned off the phone, saying that she needed to go right now, something had come up and the babysitter needed to leave early.
She said a cold goodbye to Sam and left the bar. Samantha stayed seated. Before leaving, Marie stopped in the doorway and turned around, looking at Samantha sitting alone at the table. The younger woman looked back at Marie, her eyes seemed to hold another apology before she looked back down at the glass on the table in front of her.
Sam's stayed seated, immobile in that chair, thinking of everything that had happened there.
"Sam? What are you doing here?" A familiar voice.
Sam looked at the man stood in front of her, and smiled. "Hello, Jack."
"I saw Marie's car. I suppose you were here with her?"
"I don't want to talk about this, not now." Sam rose up; " I want to go home and rest. See you tomorrow, Jack"
"Have a good night, Sam."
"That's the second time you've told me that tonight, Jack."
He saw her disappear as she left through the door.
Without looking behind, without looking at him.
The End