Author's Note: Here is another chapter I hope you enjoy. Please forgive my many grammar mistakes, somehow I just can't seem to get that right-you see! LOL.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any of its characters.

My Eyes Were Trained On You

Chapter 3

Sam stood on the train platform the next morning. It was bitterly cold today and overcast. He had taken mass transit for months but being at the station today seemed foreign to him.

There were things that he had never noticed before. He looked at the same people day after day but today he noticed the weariness in their eyes. He noticed their slumping shoulders of those around him. Everyone seemed unhappy or maybe even angry or both.

"Was he just projecting how he was feeling on them?" He didn't know, but today even the lamp posts mocked him standing in a row with its long neck bent down, the lamp shade itself seemed to reflect the futility in this city. Out of all of what he saw nothing displayed emptiness and despair as his own reflection in his mirror this morning.

A train puttered forward along the tracks but even its lights were out this morning. It offered up a long slow blast from the horn and passed the station by. He stood there and watched as the darkened train offended the others who had been waiting without as much as a hint of concern.

"Who cared if they would be late? Who cared if they would be inconvenienced?" It just passed them by. Sam could not help top recognize the parallel between that action and time itself. Time did not care if you were waiting for the right moment or if you were trying to get your nerve up. Once it was gone it was gone.

He thought about how he met Mercedes and why did he allow three months to go by without speaking to her. "I was an idiot." He thought and now all that precious time had passed that he could have spent with her. He would not ride with her anymore; he would not talk to her anymore. He was foolish to not move sooner and value their time better.

A bitter wind blew through him and the automated voice spoke "Due to a police investigation at Bronx Park East all passengers please leave the platform and head downstairs for the free shuttle bus service that is being provided to 180th Street."

This day had become more and more annoying by the minute. Sam could not even pretend that it was still the same. It hurt his heart to think that he would never see her smile again. As he began his descent down the stairs with the others he couldn't help but think about the irony of it all then he thought to himself "Maybe if I could go down deep enough, I would find my heart had sunken."

XXXXX

By the time Sam finally got to work today Figgins' had them doing what they had been doing for months sitting in the conference room and brain storming fake business scenarios. "They had to learn each other." Figgins' said. "Learn how the other thinks, and begin to define their roles within the group." He charged. "Which one keeps a cool head? Which one worries too much? Which one jumps the gun? Which one is the troublemaker or instigator? Which one deals with data? Who is solution oriented? And who was just a pain in the ass?" These were Figgins' words of wisdom.

No one personality type was right or wrong in Figgins' estimation but according to him you just have to know who you are dealing with and the truth of character would emerge through these shared experiences.

Today's Question was of a moral nature "Are there any gray areas when it comes to getting what you want out of life?"

"Resolved: In America you have the right to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Figgins continued.

"We also as humans have a survival instinct, and only one life to live." He stated. "How then to you use these truths in getting what you want out of life?" Figgins spoke with such conviction. "Ryder Lynn" Figgins shouted with emphasis "What is your take on the situation?"

"It is my personal obligation to myself to live this life in the best way possible; I owe that to myself." Ryder responded. Sebastian chimed in "Yeah, but who defines what's best? What is best for me may not be what is best for you." He answered smugly. Mike then added as he stirred his coffee "Who says it has to be? I'm going after what I want not what you want."

Figgins then interjected "What if you have to override someone else's happiness to get it?" The room was silent as the men pondered that question. Sam then asked "Are you saying that my happiness should override someone else's?" Sebastian asked "Why should it?" Figgins asked "Why shouldn't it?" "Because, they are afforded the same rights under the Constitution as we are." Sam said. "What if your happiness is the greater good?" Figgins spoke again.

"How can you measure happiness?" Mike exclaimed. Then Figgins asked a question "Who contributes more when they are happy? The business owner, or the employee?" He must have meant for the question to be rhetorical because he then began to answer his own question. "The business owner can create jobs. What can the employee do? Spend a little extra at Best Buy? The business owner's happiness should trump the employee's."

Sam rolled his chair back a little from the conference table and then spoke. "Are you saying that you believe in Class-ism? Do you believe that the person with more-has more rights, or should?" Figgins replied "What I am saying is it is always better to keep the boss happy and if you want to be happy then you need to become the boss and attempt to take my happiness from me." Figgins continued to speak after taking a sip of coffee from his cup. "If you are not intelligent enough to do so, driven enough to do so, or courageous enough to do so- then my happiness should always trump yours-and I will always get what I want one way or the other."

Figgins' Blackberry started buzzing and he excused himself from the conference room to take the call.

"Figgins has balls the size of boulders." Sebastian said as if he was really just thinking it but it slipped out and was said out loud anyway. "He can't be serious." Sam stated. "I think he was completely serious." Mike added. "I wonder how much he makes in a year?" Ryder mused. "Are you kidding?" Sam said shaking his head at Ryder as if he were crazy or something. "What can I say; I'm impressed I would like to be like him when I grow up." Ryder said.

Figgins entered the conference room again and said that he had to leave town suddenly but while he was gone he would also set up an "Enrichment Retreat" for them that would last about a week. He told them that he would send them the information and travel arrangements in an email. He also let them know that they needed to "bring it" because once they returned he was going to choose which one of them would lead in their first real world assignment, and that the client would be worth a significant amount of money for the company.

XXXXX

Sam's train ride home seemed so lonely. There were some people who he recognized and from time to time a smile or two may grace their lips-simply a sign of recognition, but it wasn't the same. He had decided that he need to get out of this rut that he had found himself in. He tried to enjoy going out for beers with the guys from time to time on a Friday night.

Sam had met different women and gone on a couple of dates with a few but honestly he still could not get Mercedes out of his mind. It had been a whole two months already and although some of the women he met seemed nice, they just didn't click as easily as he and Mercedes did.

He wondered about her-"how was she doing? Did she need financial help? Did she just leave town altogether?" He missed her even now, even after so much time had gone by; he really did still miss her. He couldn't understand how she became so important to him so fast; he only knew that she was. He only wished that he could have helped her, or that she would have let him help her in her time of need.

Figgins had finally sent out the email to everyone and they were to meet on Sunday bright and early for their flight out of JFK to Scottsdale, Arizona. They were going to stay from Sunday to Sunday and it was all on the company, the flight, the resort, the meals, and even the drinks. Sam was excited about the prospect "Maybe a little time away from the city would do me some good." He thought. "At least I won't be taking the train and thinking of her."

XXXXX

When the van from the airport brought them to the resort Figgins was already there waiting for them, he had come out on an earlier flight. The resort was beautiful and it looked more like a vacation than a working trip. He told them to hurry up and check in and they would meet out back on the green for a game of golf in a half an hour. He wanted to instill in them "A sense of patience and purpose." he said.

When Sam saw his room it had a king size bed and a full bath, each room had Wi-fi accessibility, it also had several cable channels, and a patio overlooking the property; the mini-bar was truly calling his name, at the moment, but instead he started looking at the room service menu.

As soon as his telephone in his room began to ring he knew exactly who it was. "Hello Ryder" Sam said as he answered the phone. "So seriously…" Ryder started "how much do you think he makes a year?" "I am hanging up on you Ryder." Sam said as he chuckled and proceeded to hang up the phone.

Sam realized then, after he had looked at the time on the telephone that his hunger and desire to be completely wasted- had to wait until he finished doing his due diligence by hanging out with the boss. He made sure he had his room key and then he went out back to meet up with the rest of the guys.

Mike and Sebastian were already there waiting when Sam joined them. "Can you believe, they supply everything here, we don't have to pay for a thing? I could learn to like this." Mike spoke with a huge smile on his face while wearing his dark sunglasses- which had been reflecting Sam's own face back at him.

When Ryder joined the group he had already had a Margarita in his hand. "I say we make this a once a year event!" He spoke cheerily. Sebastian just shook his head no "Once a year is not enough for me-maybe I can talk Figgins into allowing me to teach these classes to the newbie's and I will just live out here."

Figgins arrived with the biggest grin on his face that they had ever seen before. "Okay everyone are we ready to embark on a journey of bonding and brutality, ha ha ha." He said as he clapped his hands and then rubbed them together rigorously. "I am if you are!" Sebastian quickly spoke up.

Sam caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, something that he didn't dare believe. Mercedes was walking toward him her eyes glowed a little when she saw him and she began smiling widely at him. Once she made it to the group Figgins began to speak. "Everyone I would like to introduce to you my prized possession – This is Mercedes Jones, meet the newest member of the Figgins Five!" "It's nice to meet everyone." She said with the smile that Sam had missed for months.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed and please review. It would be nice for me to celebrate Thanksgiving with writing reviews just one more thing to be thankful for.