Chapter FOUR
"Well isn't this nice?" asked Nicole sweetly as she sauntered over to where Sami was standing nervously by the bed, "Just us two girls. Now what should we talk about do you think…?"
Nicole trailed off then and seemed to be thinking hard.
"The latest fashions?" she offered up thoughtfully and then looked at Sami's clothing and pulled a rueful face, "Perhaps not. Let's see…"
Again Nicole made a big show of thinking.
"I know," she announced brightly, "Why don't we talk about why you thought you could just come in here and sleep with my husband."
"I'm sorry," said Sami quietly, "We never intended for it to happen this way but we want to be together…"
"You didn't actually think my husband was going to run away with you did you?" Nicole interrupted disdainfully and then she caught sight of Sami's suitcase by the door.
She put her hand to her mouth to cover a disbelieving laugh.
"Oh you did!" she exclaimed and then in a very condescending tone, "Oh that is so very cute – no wonder Junior had such fun with you."
Sami's chin lifted in defiance at the other woman's open mocking of her. Nicole made a tutting noise then.
"Honey, you're not meant to take the man seriously," she said with a roll of her eyes, "He was just saying what he had to to get what he wanted…"
Nicole ran her eyes over Sami insultingly then.
"Not that I image he had to offer someone like you very much I'm sure," sneered Nicole, "I'm sure you were glad of the change of scenery from some dark alley way or the back of a car. A bed must have been a real treat for a whore like you."
"Nicole," began Sami speaking slowly and forcing herself to remain calm.
"Nicole?" she spat out her own name with such venom that Sami looked at her in shock, "Oh honey, you don't get to call me by my first name so don't even think about it!"
"Mrs DiMera…" Sami began again, trying to keep her dignity in this situation.
"That's right toots," sneered Nicole, "Mrs… DiMera! You might want to think on that for a moment."
"I'm sorry that you found about EJ and me like this," said Sami quietly, determinedly carrying on, "Neither one of us wanted to hurt you…"
"Find out this way?" scoffed Nicole, "You really are a little idiot aren't you? "
Nicole walked over to where she was standing, pushing her face into Sami's aggressively.
"EJ would come home and tell me about you and we'd laugh over it…," she informed Sami matter of factly, "Before we went to bed of course and he was able to be with a real woman! Not some little trashy blonde that would look more at place making these beds than sleeping in them! Do you really think a man like EJ, with his education and breeding would look at you as anything other than a little roll in the hay… are you seriously that stupid sweetie? I mean you look it obviously but I didn't think anyone in the world could be that dumb!"
"EJ loves me," said Sami, her voice starting to shake a little but she determinedly held her ground.
"Listen toots," said Nicole flatly, "EJ loves what is between your legs and nothing else. Just like all the other little sluts he's had over the years. You're no different, just a little dumber than most and just like all the rest when he's gets bored he comes home to me. He always comes home to me! In fact that is why I'm here - he wanted me to tell you that play time is over and it's time for you to crawl back under whatever rock or bar stool he found you on. He's done with you."
"I don't believe you," said Sami, her voice beginning to rise, "EJ would never…"
"Oh hon don't you presume to tell me what my husband would and would not do," sniffed Nicole, "I've been here so many times I can't even begin to count them. Now why don't you run along back to your husband, pimp, whatever and leave us be?"
"I'm not going anywhere until I see EJ," said Sami stubbornly.
"Alright fine," said Nicole with a roll of her eyes as she walked over and picked up her hand bag and pulled out a cheque book and pen, "How much?"
"Wh… what?" asked Sami, taken aback.
"How much to see you gone?" asked Nicole, very businesslike now like she did this every other day, "Three hundred?"
"Dollars?" squeaked Sami in shock, she wouldn't see that kind of money if she worked straight for the next five years!
"I'm not dolling out pesos hon," said Nicole sarcastically, "So that amount is alright by you then?"
Nicole posed her pen to start writing but Sami stalled her.
"No!" she said loudly.
"Oh a player huh?" she said coldly, "Alright, let's call it an even five hundred shall we?"
"No!" said Sami fiercely and shook her head, "I don't want your money Nicole!"
"Don't you get it you little idiot?" asked Nicole in exasperation, "He used you to get what he wanted, now he's got what he wanted and you're just an afterthought to EJ now. That is how he operates. I'm telling you blondie, in another couple of days he's going to be struggling to remember your name - you may as well take the money so that you get something out of this!"
"Really?" said Sami sharply, beginning to lose her temper against this woman's open disdain of her, "I think EJ is going to remember the name of the woman he asked to marry him today don't you Nicole?"
Sami held up hand and showed off the engagement ring EJ had given her defiantly to her. This finally seemed to break through Nicole's icy façade as she looked at the ring Sami was proudly displaying to her. Sami saw the look on her face and new that she'd caught the other woman off guard with this information.
"You're lying," said Nicole faintly, unable to take her eyes off the glittering ring on Sami's finger, the cheque book and pen slipping through her hands and landing with a thud on the ground.
"No I'm not," said Sami determinedly, "EJ gave this to me today… right after he asked me to marry him."
Nicole turned away sharply, walking away from Sami and moving over to the fire place and resting her hands along the mantle as though if she didn't she might fall down. Sami followed her over and stood behind her, attempting to explain.
"We met and we fell in love," she told Nicole, "It wasn't planned, none of it was. It happened and now we can't undo it. EJ and I want to be together, forever. I am real sorry about this all but…"
"You're sorry?" interrupted Nicole bitterly, slowly shaking her head but not turning around, "The little whoring tramp is sorry that she is stealing my husband?"
"I am," said Sami softly, suddenly feeling sorry for the other woman.
It would devastate her if she lost EJ now so she could well imagine how Nicole must be feeling.
"I know that this is wrong of us," she continued on, "But me and EJ… we can't help it. We have to be together. We love each other, we want to get married, start a family. You're a real beautiful woman Nicole, there will be guys lining up round the block wanting to step out with you and marry you…"
Nicole could hear that Sami was still talking but hadn't heard a word after she'd said that she and EJ were going to start a family together. She'd begged EJ for a child and he'd always told her no, that he hated children and here he was prepared to run off with this little ragamuffin and start popping them out and Nicole couldn't stand it. The little idiot was still twittering on about how there were plenty of other men for Nicole other than EJ when Nicole looked down and saw that somehow she'd picked up the poker from the fire place as she stood there. Nicole's hand tightened around the end of it, until her knuckles went white.
"I know EJ never meant to hurt you," said Sami, trying to offer up some solace to the older woman, "And I…"
Her next words were cut short when Nicole suddenly whirled around, rising up the poker and striking Sami hard across the face with it. She cried out in shock and pain and hit the ground hard. Blood was pouring from a nasty gash in her scalp as she looked up at Nicole blearily through dumb struck eyes.
"No," said Sami weakly and raised her arm to protect herself, unable to get up or move out of the way after the viciousness of that first blow.
Nicole didn't listen though, raising the poker high above her head and beginning to rain blows down on the helpless woman cringing on the ground. Another two blows and Sami was now motionless on the ground, her eyes closed but Nicole couldn't make herself stop. It was as though she was punishing this one woman for every infidelity her husband had ever had and for the most heinous of crimes of EJ loving her when he clearly no longer loved Nicole, if he ever had. Nicole stopped then when she could no longer raise her arm anymore and Sami was little more than a bloody mess. Nicole dropped to her knees beside Sami's body and stared at it, looking for some sign of movement but there was none.
As what she'd just done slowly began to seep into Nicole's consciousness she realised she was in big trouble. The little whore of an interloper was dead and now Nicole had a real problem on her hands. She hadn't intended on killing the other woman but it was done now and she needed to come up with a plan. Nicole got unsteadily to her feet, dragging her eyes from the bloody corpse and staggering into the bathroom. She still had the poker in her hand, Sami's blood dripping from it and Nicole hastily washed it clean. She caught her reflection in the mirror and saw that she had blood splatter all over her face and when she looked down Nicole saw that it was on her clothes and arms as well. She hastily cleaned herself down in the basin, scrubbing away at the blood on her body but knowing there wasn't much to be done about the blood on her clothes.
Walking out of the bathroom Sami was exactly where she'd left her and it was finally beginning to sink into Nicole that this was really happening. A plan started to formulate in her head and Nicole knew she had to act fast. For all she knew EJ could walk through that door at any minute or housekeeping and then she'd have a lot of explaining to do. Her coat was over the back of the sofa where she'd placed it after first arriving and waited for Sami to arrive. Nicole had intercepted Sami's note to EJ of course and had taken it upon herself to warn the other woman off but she hadn't banked on losing control like this. She picked up the coat and put it on, doing up the buttons and hiding the blood stains on her dress.
Now she just had to clean up after herself and get the body out of the room. People had seen her go into the room, she'd gotten a key from the manager downstairs so leaving a dead body for a maid to find was not going to be a great idea. Nicole grabbed the rug that Sami had conveniently fallen on and rolled her up in it. It was blood soaked anyway and there was no way she could leave that behind. Sticking her head outside the door she was lucky enough to spy one of those large laundry carts that the housekeeping staff pushed around and put all the stripped sheets in from the beds. It was just what Nicole needed. After checking that the coast was clear Nicole darted out and grabbed the laundry cart at the end of the hallway and wheeled it back into the room. Once there she managed to pick up Sami's body that was now bundled up in the rug and dump it into the large basket. Nicole then began setting about cleaning up after herself.
She pulled the sheets from the bed that already had some blood splatter on them and cleaned up every drop of blood that she see with them. When she was done Nicole dumped the sheets in the laundry basket, making sure no blood was showing and further hiding Sami's body. She quickly scooped up her cheque book and shoved it back in her hand bag and after replacing the poker in the fire place she made good her escape. She held her breath going down on the service elevator but no one wanted to use the elevator at the same time rather fortunately and then she was wheeling the basket out the back of the hotel. Luckily Nicole had had the foresight to park out the back when she'd arrived, wanting to catch the lovers unaware so as it turned out that had been a smart decision for Nicole.
Adrenalin helped Nicole load Sami's body from the laundry basket into the boot of her car, her fear of being caught giving her the extra strength she needed to get the job done. Nicole shoved the sheets in over the top of her as quickly as she could as there was the sound of people approaching from the kitchen area of the hotel. She slammed down the boot and hurried over to the driver's seat and climbed in. She turned the ignition, put the car in gear and tried not to speed away but it was hard not to simply put her foot to the floor, just wanting to put some distance between herself and The Drake Hotel.
Nicole drove around for a bit, uncertain of what to do next. All he knew was that she had a dead body in her trunk that she really needed to get rid of. At last the thought of dumping Sami's body in the river came to her and Nicole turned her car around and headed towards the outskirts of town. There was an old bridge out there that was hardly ever used nowadays. It was a branch of the river that the industrial boats took - the ones hauling coal or scrap metal and the like and Nicole thought that would be perfect. The tides would was Sami's body well up river, hopefully even out into the ocean and then all the little fishies could have a free meal on her. Nicole's lips turned up in a humourless smile at that thought.
She made it to the bridge in record time and drove out into the middle of it. She struggled with Sami's body that was still wrapped in the rug from the hotel but finally managed to get it over the edge of the railing. Nicole balanced it there for a moment on the railing.
"See ya toots," she taunted Sami's lifeless body, "Guess you should have taken the money after all."
One of Sami's arms came loose then and dangled out of the rolled up carpet. It was covered in blood but the glint of the engagement ring caught Nicole's eye in the moonlight.
"Oh no you don't," Nicole muttered and managed to manoeuvre is so she could pull the ring off Sami's finger and pocketed it in her coat, "You were never good enough for that you little whore."
That done there was only one thing left to do, dispose of the evidence and Nicole did just that and pushed Sami's body and the rug she was rolled up in over the guard rail. It wasn't a long drop and Nicole waited expectantly for the splashing sound as she hit the water. She peered over the edge and saw to her dismay that a coal barge had come up the river and under the bridge without her noticing it and as luck would have it she'd picked that exact moment to throw Sami's body off the bridge. The rug and Sami's body had landed with a soft thud into one of the large coal silos and Nicole held her breath, waiting for one of the crew to notice but nothing happened. She saw one night watchman on the bough of the boat and he had his back to the large containers and no one could see into them from the deck so they wouldn't discover the body until they tried to unload the coal which could be for days yet.
Nicole gave a little smile at that, amazed at how well this was all working out for her. Next she discarded the sheets into the river once the barge was out of sight and they quick became wet and sunk to the bottom of the river until Nicole could no longer see their whiteness from the bridge. That done she climbed back into the car and drove away. As she headed back towards home the reality of what she'd done continued to sink in.
She'd just gotten away with murder but more importantly to Nicole, she'd removed the object of EJ's affection from the equation. Theirs had not always been an easy relationship and she'd had to share him with other women to be sure but Nicole knew she couldn't lose him. EJ was like a drug to her and even though she knew it was bad for her Nicole always needed more of him. And now that his little interloper with delusions of grandeur was no longer in the picture Nicole had her man all to herself again. The thought sent a flood of relief through her body as she drove back into town.