Her attempt to stifle the yawn failed miserably as she held the receiver to her ear. She had been on the phone with the other woman for at least an hour and she could feel her eye lids begin to get heavier and heavier. She heard the voice on the other end ask if she was still there as she slowly pushed herself up off of her couch, ignoring her body's protest.
"Yeah I'm still here, Carly. Just a little tired. I really haven't been getting much sleep lately" Looking at the clock on the desk next to her, she noted the bright red lights informing her that it a little after 4 in the morning. As her mouth opened to expose yet another yawn, Sam flicked the deadbolt on her front door before sluggishly making her way up the stairs toward her bedroom. Time differences were never one of Carly's considerations when it came to what she wanted to do. If she wanted to talk, then it didn't matter where you were or what time it was.
"Why haven't you been sleeping? Is something wrong?" Carly's voice permeated through her tiredness and she glanced over to the corner of the room.
"There's nothing wrong, I swear. I just have a lot of decisions to think about lately, that's all." With the phone now cradled between her ear and shoulder, Sam leisurely shed herself of her jeans, leaving them lying somewhere on the floor, and then climbing into her bed and pulling the comforter up over her. She hated lying to Carly but she just couldn't tell her the truth without others finding everything out as well. Only one person knew, and he didn't seem to care in the least. As much as she hated him for not letting her know how he felt about the situation, whether he liked it or not, he didn't deserve the grief that Carly would give him about it. The man obviously has his reasons, but it didn't mean that Sam had to like any of them. She knew that it would all come out eventually, but she didn't want everyone else to know his logic before she herself did.
"Well I'm glad that you are okay, but I hope that one of those decisions includes you coming back to Port Charles, Sam. You have been gone for too long and I miss my best friend. I still don't understand why you won't tell me where you moved to anyway? I mean I understand you changing your phone number, but you called me as soon as you did to tell me. If this is about Lucky, you know I would never tell that bastard anything after what he did to you…" The blonde was beginning to ramble and Sam felt even worse for the secrets she was keeping from her best friend. She knew that Carly would be hurt and upset when she found out, but Sam only hoped that she could one day forgive her and understand just why she had kept it from her.
"I miss you too and I know that you would never tell Lucky, but that's not why." She let out a sigh and tried to come up with right words to describe her reasoning. "It's kind of hard to explain right now Carly. Can you just give me a couple days to think about things? If I decide that coming back home wouldn't be beneficial for everyone involved, then I promise to fly you out to visit." As Carly heard her friend yawn for yet another time during their conversation, she chose to let it go for now and agree to give Sam a couple days to think through whatever the hell she needed to. But if she didn't hear from her in two days, then all bets would be off and Carly would hunt Sam down herself. She could always tell from their phone calls that her friend was constantly struggling with something and had hated that she couldn't help at all.
"Alright Sam, you win for now. I will give you two days and after that I will have no choice but to hunt your ass down myself. Now that we have your problems out of the way, we need to talk mine… I swear that skinny little bitch is trying to alienate Jason from everyone that she does not deem worthy enough. I am having a hard time not introducing her to the devil. She's trying to change him, Sam, and it's not for the better" Sam rolled her eyes, being used to the blonde's dramatics and over exaggerations.
"Come on Carly, I think you are overreacting just a little bit. It can't be…" Sam was cut short by her friend's insistence
"Don't even say that it can't be that bad, because it is. See? This is why you need to come home. You just don't understand because you can't see what is happening to him for yourself. It's awful. I mean the penthouse door is always locked now, we haven't seen each other for more than a minute in months, and I swear she deletes every single message that I leave on his cell phone. We used to be so close, Sam. I miss my brother just as much as I miss you… and he only lives five minutes from me. I can't take it anymore. I just want to strangle the good for nothing little twit and then knock her off of her high all mighty pedestal."
"Now I'm not trying to downplay anything since, as you said, I'm not there. But Carly, you have to remember that she is Jake's mother and that that little boy deserves to have both of his parents. He shouldn't have to be carted back and forth like he was before. It's not fair to him. Look, you merely need to corner Jason while he's at the coffee house and tell him how much you miss spending time together. Maybe you just need to set aside a couple hours every week where it is only the two of you."
"Now why haven't I thought of cornering my brother's ass at the coffee shop? Oh yeah, that's right, I have. I swear that bitch has ESPN and only comes around when it benefits her." The sarcasm in the blonde's voice was extremely evident and Sam wanted to feel sorry for her friend. The siblings had always been tremendously close, but it was hard for her to tell just how much exaggeration was put into the story since she wasn't there herself. Carly continued her rant, breaking Sam out of her thoughts for the moment.
"I still question whether Jason is actually Jake's father. I mean the poor kid does have a trampy slut for a mother. It really wouldn't surprise me." Carly's accusation shocked Sam beyond belief and she found herself reprimanding the blonde like she was a child.
"CARLY! Now that was uncalled for. Do you not even give him enough credit that he would know if Elizabeth was cheating on him? I mean, seriously Carly, give him that much."
"I didn't mean to call him stupid but let's be honest here, shall we? Jason has always wanted to be a father but feared his lifestyle choices wouldn't be a good environment for a baby. So do I think he would question it if a woman who he trusted, which in and of itself was completely misplaced, told him that she was going to give him the one thing he always wanted but thought he couldn't have? No I don't. You know I love my brother, but he trusts a little too easily sometimes… and with his job that is never a good thing" Sam now felt the guilt that Carly inadvertently caused to well up inside of her but, in her defense, she didn't hide it from him. She wrote him countless letters containing details and pictures without ever getting anything in return. She had left the choice up to him and his silence spoke volumes more than any letter or conversation with him would have. As the expression goes, Jason made his bed and now he has to lie in it.
And speaking of beds, an additional yawn racked her body as she snuggled further into her warm and inviting blankets, just wishing that she could close her eyes for a minute. Sam knew that it wouldn't happen tonight, however, as the clock taunted her with a current time of 5:15am. She had yet to hear movement coming from the corner of her room, but she knew that it would come… and soon. As if sensing that it was time, a soft noise was heard followed by someone knocking on her front door.
"What was that, Sam? It's like, what, 4 am where you are? Why would there be someone knocking on your door at this hour?"
"It's a little after five, actually, and I have no idea who it could be. I should probably go, but I'll call when I can." Yet another lie that she hoped Carly would sooner or later forgive her for. In reality, she knew exactly who was at her door. It could only be one person and Sam was glad that Carly only heard that noise.
"Oh my God, Sam! I am so sorry, I didn't realize it was so late… or early… whatever. Anyway, you tell whoever it is to scram so you can get some sleep. And don't worry, I'll be calling you in a couple of days to find out if I have to abuse Sonny's power to drag your ass home or not… And I say that with all the love in the world." Sam had since reluctantly climbed out of her cozy warm bed and silently walked out of her room.
"I love you too. Bye" She listened for Carly's farewell and ended the phone call just as she reached the front door of her apartment. Unlocking it, she twisted the knob and allowed her visitor entrance.
"You look like hell, Sammie Girl. How did I know that it had been a Carly night? Sorry I couldn't get here sooner" The new comer didn't even wait for a response before turning her around and gently pushing her back toward her bedroom. Once they crossed the threshold, he instructed her into bed and he tucked her in as her pointless protests fell on deaf ears.
"Now I don't want to see you out of this bed until at least noon, do you understand me?" Sam was already half asleep as she nestled her head further into the warmth and comfort of her pillow. After mumbling an incoherent objection her breathing evened out and her visitor went about his daily routine while Sam dreamed about her last day in Port Charles.