Chapter Four: Office Romance.
"Hey, Addie, have you got a second?" came Amelia's voice over Addison's shoulder as she left her office and entered the hall. The question came as no surprise to Addison, Amelia had been skulking around the office all afternoon and she had a pretty good idea why.
"Yeah, walk with me" she replied as Amelia fell into step with her. She looked over the patient file she was holding, she wasn't going to help Amelia on this one, if she wanted to know how Derek was she'd have to ask.
Sam congratulated himself on his impeccable timing as he emerged from his office and saw Addison with her head in a patient file. He was hoping he would catch her alone so that he could ask her advice on what suit he should wear to the wedding the following day – a poor excuse he knew that but an opportunity to talk to her all the same. He was slightly disappointed when he saw a rather playful looking Amelia by her side. Addison didn't notice him straight away and he had the chance to witness the alluring look of concentration on her face as she tried her best to listen to Amelia and look at her patient's notes at the same time.
"Hello Sam" Amelia's sprightly voice only added to the awkwardness that he knew was about to hang in the air between them.
"Hello Amelia" he tried to keep his response neutral, the last thing they needed was Amelia trying to play cupid.
Addison was immediately distracted by his voice, she wasn't expecting to see him as she looked up from the notes in her hand.
"Hello Addison" Sam took the lead, he knew Addison would stall as her mind scrambled to regain composure.
"Hello" was all she could manage as she watched him fiddle with the button on his suit jacket. She looked at his fingers as he tried to jam the oddly shaped button through the button hole. It took her all her restraint not to reach out and do it for him – there was a knack to the buttons on that jacket, a certain way of pushing the button through at just the right angle, she could sympathise with him – it taken her a few tries too and she was, if her memory served her correctly, somewhat more distracted at the time.
Sam, sensing the silence between them was becoming awkward for her excused himself and headed for the hospital leaving Addison to deflect Amelia's comments – something she had become an expert at doing recently.
Sam was busy filling out Kevin's discharge papers at the nurses' station in St Ambrose hospital when his phone began to ring. He reached down into his trouser pocket, took out his phone and looked at the caller display, it was Pete.
"Hi Pete" he answered.
"Hi Sam, was just checking if you're free for a drink tonight, last night as a single man and all…..I mean if….I'll understand if.."
Sam was a little taken aback by Pete's call, after what had happened between Addison, Pete and himself they hadn't been the best of friends. They hadn't gone out of their way to be nasty to each other but they hadn't exactly been best buddies either. He detected the anxiety in Pete's voice and he responded quickly to assure his friend that he'd be there, that what had happened was in the past.
"Sure I will Pete, I have to pick my suit up from the dry cleaners and then I will head over to the bar."
"Great," Pete's voice sounded lighter and happier "see you later."
Sam said goodbye and put his phone back into his pocket. He didn't want there to be any bad feeling between him and Pete, he'd never be happy about the fact that Pete and Addison had been in a relationship together but he knew, from talking to Addison, that what Pete and Addison had had together didn't compare with what he had with Addison. He had been hoping to catch a few hours with Addison that evening, he had envisioned a long walk on the beach away from Amelia's prying eyes –in order to discuss a patient of course, but he owed it to Pete to show up, he was his friend after all and he was getting married. He reached back into his pocket and quickly sent Addison a text telling her that he wouldn't be at home that evening.
Stag with Pete tonight – don't know what time I'll be home, could get WILD!
Addison chuckled to herself as she read Sam's message, Pete and Sam on a WILD night out? There was more chance of Charlotte and Cooper making it through the week without having an argument!She quickly composed a reply as she stepped out of the elevator.
Been talked into going to Violet's tonight so may be getting WILD myself.
She smiled as she pressed send before being confronted by the sad looking figure of Mrs Walker.
Addison pulled up outside Violet's house and grabbed the bottle of wine from the passenger seat. She wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of spending the evening with Violet – mainly because she wasn't sure she was the person Violet really wanted to spend the evening with, they hadn't really talked much since Pete and Violet had got together and she was quite happy to leave it that way – for now. As she got out of the car she saw Naomi's car parked further along the drive and took comfort in the fact that Naomi would probably do most of the talking.
Sam got out of the taxi that had bought him across town and entered the bar to scour the room forPete. He spotted his friend at the far end of the bar, much to his dismay Pete was alone, he'd ratherbeen hoping that Cooper would be there too.
"Hi Sam" Pete greeted him at the same time as signalling to the bartender to supply his friend with a beer.
"Hi Pete," Sam sat on the stool next to Pete as a beer was placed in front of him.
"Where's Cooper?" Sam inquired in the hope that Pete would say he was expecting him any minute.
"Cooper's.." Pete searched for the right words "not on board" Pete finished as he took a swig from
the bottle he was holding.
"Not on board?" Sam questioned as he took a mouthful of his own drink "with the wedding?" this was the first Sam had heard about Cooper's objections and although he hoped it wasn't anything too serious he was glad of the conversation – anything that diverted from Pete and Addison was fine by him.
"He thinks it's too quick," Pete explained "that Violet is jumping into it"
Sam detected an air of annoyance in Pete's voice and smiled as he realised that he could empathise with Pete, he too was fed up of people getting involved in his relationships, intentionally or not.
"Well it's not up to Cooper" Sam said simply.
"No, but he and Violet, they're well…..they're Violet and Cooper" Pete said in a tone that Sam recognised as defeat.
"Yeah, they're Violet and Cooper" Sam replied before lifting his drink to his lips "but Violet is your girlfriend, the mother of your child and Cooper has to learn to deal with that."
"Hmmm" Pete was glad of Sam's opinion but was a long way from consoled by it.
"You know Cooper, he needs Violet, she's his 'person' they've been friends a long time, he's probably scared of losing her." Sam said in a matter of fact way, trying to make light of situation and make his friend feel better.
"Yeah you're probably right," Pete said as his mood seemed to improve "Another beer?" he asked as he motioned to the barman to take their order.
"Where's Amelia?" Charlotte asked as she handed Addison a large Martini.
"She'd doing yoga" Addison replied as she took a sip of the drink and headed towards the lounge where Naomi and Violet were sitting.
"Yoga?" Charlotte questioned in a voice that failed to hide her disgust.
"As in yoga or 'yoga'?" A slightly tipsy Violet asked as she took yet another Martini from Charlotte.
"I suspect it's 'yoga'" Addison replied with a grin.
"Ahh yoga" Naomi said wistfully as she thought about the last time she had done any yoga herself, she stopped her thoughts quickly as images of Fife flashed before her eyes. She took another large gulp of the Martini she was holding in an attempt to drown her thoughts and send them back where they belonged.
Addison took a large gulp of her drink, her friends were significantly more intoxicated than her and unless she caught up it was going to be a long night.
"Thanks Sam, for coming I mean, I know things haven't been easy between us with Addison and…" Pete's words were slightly slurred as he tried to apologise to his friend, tried to put things right between them.
"Pete, it's over, we've all made choices and well…..it doesn't matter…it's over" There was a part of Sam that wanted to confide in Pete, wanted to be straight with him but he and Addison had decided that they would tell Naomi first, plus, tomorrow was about Pete and Violet and they deserved a day that was purely about them and their relationship. Pete wanted to say more, wanted to tell Sam that, regardless of the time that he and Addison had spent together, it had only ever been about running away and numbing the pain, never about true love. He wanted to tell him that he was sorry that things hadn't worked about between him and Addison and that he hoped Sam would find someone who made him happy but he knew better than to push, Sam didn't want to talk about it and so he left it.
"I'd better get home," Pete remarked looking at his watch "the sitter is only booked until 10 and well, I need my sleep before tomorrow."
"Sure," said Sam as he picked his bottle of beer up from the bar "big day" he smiled as he held his bottle out towards Pete.
"To the big day" Pete said as he softly hit his bottle against Sam's
"To the big day and those who can't be there to share it with us" Sam said before draining the last of the drink from his bottle. The two men indulged in a quiet moment of contemplation before heading for the door.
"Do really have to go?" Naomi asked in a somewhat whiny voice as Addison got up from the sofa and went to retrieve her coat.
"I can't stop thinking about the Walkers, I'm going to back to the practice to look over the file, I'm hoping that looking at it again will make me decide one way or the other" Addison replied as she headed towards the door.
Naomi looked at her with a friendly face, she knew Addison cared about the case and that despite her reservations she wanted to do the right think by the Walkers, she only hoped that Addison would decide to help the couple.
"Ok," Naomi said as she hugged her friend "but don't work too hard."
"I won't" Addison smiled as she returned Naomi's hug.
"Addison wait" Violet appeared from the living room just as Addison was about to leave.
Addison was slightly taken aback by Violet's appearance in the hallway.
"Look Addison, I'm sorry about, well…." Violet's words seemed to be suffering from the amount of alcohol she had consumed.
Addison, who hadn't managed to get any further than her first Martini was astutely more aware of the emotional mess Violet was about to create.
"Violet, it doesn't matter…it" Addison jumped in quickly to avoid a conversation that would no doubt be forgotten in the morning.
"No, Addison I," Violet tried to compose herself, she didn't want to have a heart to heart any more than Addison did, but she did need to ask her something "tomorrow, at the wedding, I was
wondering….we were wondering if you'd look after Lucas" the softness in both Violet's face and voice told Addison that although she too wanted to avoid any conversation about what had
happened in the past she did want to put things right and rebuild the trust and friendship that had or were on their way to having at least.
Addison smiled as she recognised the advance Violet was trying to make "Of course I will" she smiled before promising to see Violet in the morning.
The main foyer that served the office block containing the practice was dark when Addison arrived, as she entered through the side entrance and headed for the staircase she realised that it had been a long time since she had worked late. When she first took over the practice it felt like she used to live in her office but lately she'd been better at detaching and leaving her work at the office. As she climbed the stairs she remembered the bottle of red wine she had stashed in he bottom drawer of her desk, that should help the Walkers' notes a little more digestible.
As Sam emerged from the stuffy bar he was pleasantly surprised by the cool night air that hit him, it was refreshing after an evening spent surrounded by sweaty bodies.
"You want to share a cab?" Pete asked as he moved to the curb to flag one down.
"Actually, I need to drop by the office, I left my suit there after collecting it from the dry cleaners this afternoon, don't want to risk being late for the big even tomorrow." Sam replied.
"Well we could get the driver to swing by the office first, it's not too far out of the way." Pete suggested.
"No, it's ok," Sam smiled "you need to get home to Lucas, plus I will quite enjoy a walk across town" Sam was sincere with his objections, he was enjoying the cooling air and welcomed the idea of walking across town to the office.
"Ok, sure" Pete said as a taxi pulled up alongside him "see you tomorrow Sam" he said before
getting into the taxi and disappearing into the night. Sam smiled as he watched the taxi pull away, he and Pete would be ok – they were on their way to
being friends again.
As Sam got off the elevator he saw a glimmer of light coming from the hallway beyond, he made a mental not to remind Cooper about the electricity bill – again. He headed for his office with the intention of retrieving his suit and heading straight home. As he made his way down the hall he saw that the light wasn't coming from Cooper's office but from Addison's. He quietly approached the window of her office and, through the half open blinds, saw her sitting on the floor infront of her sofa leaning back into the soft cushions. The overwhelming need to be beside her engulfed him immediately but he prevented himself from entering the room in order to remain at the window and take her in. She was wearing a shirt style dress that he recognised from her bedroom, she had loosened the buttons at the collar and the top of the dress was slightly open revealing the taught skin that covered her neck and chest. He watched as she lifted a glass of wine to her lips and took a sip as she poured over the file she that was on the low coffee tale infront of her. He enjoyed watching her, it didn't feel weird, he didn't feel awkward, it felt right, he was allowed to watch her, she was his. Unable to resist her any longer he broke away from his vigil at the window and entered her office.
"Hello" he smiled as he stood in the door way making his presence known.
Addison looked up and for once, didn't make any attempt to hide the smile that his presence automatically caused on her lips.
"Hello" she smiled with a grin that told him that, although she was supposed to be thinking about the Walkers, he had been the only thing on her mind all evening.
Sam walked towards her without another word, they didn't need words, the look on her face told him that she needed him, needed his support and his touch. He made his way across the office towards her peeling off his jacket as he approached her and discarding it on the nearby chair. Addison smiled as she realised that Sam had read her thoughts, had understood her need for his closeness. She closed the file she was holding and placed it on the table in front of her as Sam removed his tie and lowered himself onto the sofa behind her draping his legs on either side of her body. Sam could feel Addison's tenseness as he gently started to rub small circles into her shoulders.
"I thought we agreed on no touching at work" Addison smiled as Sam slid forward on his seat and began to plant small kisses around her neck.
"We're not 'at work'" Sam replied as his hands found the warm skin of shoulders.
Addison smiled, she loved the banter with him, she loved how easy it was, how relaxed. She pushed herself up from the floor and joined Sam on the sofa. Sam shuffled over on the sofa in order to make space for her as she slid between his legs bringing them face to face with each other. She felt Sam's hands explore her back as she leant in to kiss him, he tasted sweet. Her hands instinctively started to unbutton his shirt as the kiss deepened, his smooth skin seemed to liven as she ran her hands across it, taking in every inch of his upper body, a body that had become familiar over the past few weeks, a body that seemed to respond instantly to her touch. The heat between them rose as they hastily removed each others clothes and threw them on the floor, there was a sense of urgency created partly by their want for each other and partly by the exhilaration of being in the office, the place in which they vowed to remain separate, the place in which they always worked so hard to keep their hands off each other and here they were exploring each other and touching each other in ways that they had both been thinking about all day.