(sorry I hadn't put months at the start before. I started losing track of the time myself and knew it'd likely get more confusing down the road. Anyway, enjoy!)
-February-
Throughout all of Saturday, while making a failed attempt to get some work done, Mercedes' mind kept thinking about the spark she felt when she touched Sam's hand. This, of course, led to her thinking about Sam, beyond the contact between their hands. She kept seeing his friendly green eyes, his lop-sided smile and the way he sometimes spoke out of the side of his mouth. She thought about that Henley shirt and those arms, hooped with thick muscles. She thought about the way he cared for his daughter—with so much love, affection and patience. And her mind kept circling back to his revelations to her, before she made her abrupt leave.
Later in the evening, after returning to her hotel room with some Chinese takeout, she started to feel a dry itchiness in the back of her throat. She tried not to think much of it, but when she woke up Sunday morning, it had evolved into a full-blown cold. After several whines and groans, Mercedes dragged herself out of bed, threw on some comfortable, yet still stylish clothes and made her way down to the lobby. When she reached the front desk she was surprised to see the hotel's manager, Rachel, standing there.
"Good morning, Mrs. Tinsley."
Mercedes halted and swallowed back the flare of irritation. She doesn't know, Mercedes. Don't give her attitude, she reminded herself. "Just…Mercedes is fine," she said and then sniffled. "I'm actually a little glad you're here."
Rachel gave her a surprised, wary gaze, "You are? Are you okay by the way—you sound terrible! I mean…your voice just sounds off."
"I came down with a cold. Can you tell me where there's a CVS around here or something?"
"Oh! Of course, here I'll write the directions down for you."
While Rachel's hands disappeared beneath the high countertop, Mercedes turned away to cough into her elbow. When she looked up, just as she started turning back to the front desk, she caught a glimpse of Sam stepping out of an elevator with a stack of towels under one arm, walking up the hallway towards her. Today he'd been dressed in black slacks, a white dress shirt and a dark grey vest and tie—much like the other Best Western staff members. Initially he regarded her with a friendly smile but when she coughed into her arm again, his expression changed, looking either confused or concerned.
"Here you are, Mercedes," said Rachel, breaking Mercedes' concentration from Sam.
"Thanks," she quickly replied, sliding the slip of paper off the countertop. As she quickly strode out of the hotel's entrance. Seeing him only made her mind flood with thoughts of the previous day, and the last thing she wanted was to be caught ogling him again. She drove to CVS and picked up a humidifier, a bottle of Vitamin C, cough syrup, some bottled water and a bag of cherry cough drops. When she got back to her hotel room, she didn't make any attempts to get work done; it was clear that she was going to fall behind but she lacked the focus and energy to bother with her laptop or phone calls. Instead, she tried to rest and hope it might just be an overnight bug. Luck wasn't on her side, as she woke up feeling worse. She got out of bed and readied herself for work as per usual but upon arriving in the office, she remembered that today was the day Tina was returning from maternity leave. The two normally worked very close but Mercedes had no interest in getting Tina sick, especially when she and her husband had a newborn at home.
When she stepped out of the elevator, her eye briefly caught the red, pink and white festivities that adorned the walls and outer cubicles. She made a beeline to her office, summoning Tina after her with a wave of her hand. She hurried to her desk, bundled up in her magenta pea coat and a thick scarf, and immediately sat at her desk to forward some documents to her laptop and compose an 'out of office' email to send out to her staff.
"Hi Mercedes! It's good to see you!" Tina happily stated as she entered the office.
"Welcome back Tina. How are Mike and Jackson?"
Tina smiled, "They're good. Now that I'm back at work, Mike's taking some time off to be at home with him. I swear he loooves being a dad."
Mercedes returned her smile with a weary one of her own. "I bet they're gonna have fun times together. I'd hug you but I'm coming down with a cold."
"Ooo," winced Tina, crossing the room at a slower pace. "Not to sound rude but…don't you think you should go home then?"
"I am…I mean I will but I have some stuff to fill you in on and some things I needed to get off my computer here before I go."
Tina's wariness for getting sick momentarily waned as she read past the dreary look of illness on Mercedes' face. She nodded once and perched herself in one of the lounge chairs on the other side of her desk. Right away, Mercedes dove in to the things Tina was absent for. She had no interest in burdening her friend with concern while she was on maternity leave, but now that she was back in the office, it felt imperative that Tina know about Shane. The abuse, the heightened security; protecting her assets and her starting steps towards a divorce—all of it came out without any verbal interruptions from Tina. When Mercedes finished b letting Tina know that she was staying at a hotel, Tina looked like she was going to cry.
"Oh my God…Mercedes, I…"
"I know," she replied, wiping her nose with a tissue.
"Have you gotten a restraining order against him?"
She shook her head, "I was going to go to the police station over the weekend but then I started coming down with this cold."
"Mercedes, you need to protect yourself from him. What if he finds out where you're staying?"
Again, Mercedes shook her head, "I can't stress myself out about that, any more than I already do. But I promise, Tina, that once I'm feeling less like death, I'll be at the police station."
Tina grimaced at her, "Okay. I just don't want to see you get hurt any more than he already has."
"I don't either. But I needed you to know what was going on with me. You and Puck are my closest friends—in and outside of work."
With one nod and a devastated expression, Tina asked, "What can I do to help you, Mercedes?"
Mercedes rested her head against the back of her chair and let out a sigh, staring up in thought at Tina's question. What could she do? There wasn't an answer to that. Right now, everything was falling on Mercedes; she needed to meet with Lauren next week. She needed to make the appointment with a counselor, and she needed to reach out to her parents. And she needed to protect her company.
"I don't know, Tina. Just…you and Puck keep an eye out on things here—that would be a huge help, especially while I'm out of the office. We need to start thinking ahead to the April issue, as well as REAL's 5th anniversary party. I'll email you from my hotel room about that, and I do want the senior journalists from each department to be interviewed for the April issue on what 5 years of REAL means to them—whether they've been here the entire time or not."
"Okay, so you want interviews from Santana for politics, Sugar for travel, Brittany for advice, Blaine for home and garden, and Artie for pop culture?"
"Yes, I want all of them interviewed, but I don't want them to feel confined to talking about their department for their interview. Just for them to talk about the magazine in general. What does working here mean to them? What challenges and triumphs have them come across over the years, and what sort of growth do they want to see happen for the company and its effect on society for the next 5 years? Questions like that. I want you to interview them and I want Puck to also be interviewed."
Tina was scribbling rapidly on the notepad she'd brought with her and while she wrote she asked, "What about you?"
"I'll just do my author's note like usual."
Tina looked up—her pen movement slowing. "Oh…okay."
Mercedes dipped her chin without taking her eyes off of her friend, "What?"
"Nothing, just…I figured given what you've been going through for the past..almost 5 years…"
Mercedes picked up on what she was getting at in no time and shook her head, "This is a celebration on the magazine, not an exclusive on the CEO's abusive marriage."
"I know," Tina quietly replied. "I just thought—"
"Tina, please. I can't do this today. Just make sure that the interviews happen before the end of next week so that we can get them in the editing stages by the end of the month."
Tina's look of devastation returned but she kept quiet and nodded. "Is there anything else?"
Mercedes shook her head. "I don't think so. I'm going to get going soon but if anyone spots Shane here for any reason whatsoever, alert security so he can be escorted from the building immediately. Double check my office to make sure it's locked before you go tonight too, okay?"
"No problem, Mercedes." She stood up from the chair and started towards the door. Before going, she turned back and told her in a morose tone, "Take care."
As soon as she was back in her room, she pulled off her heels, un-dressed and re-dressed into the most comfy pair of pajamas she had, and crawled under the blankets. She flipped the humidifier on, popped a cough drop in her mouth and cuddled with a box of tissues until she was asleep. She didn't know what time she'd returned to the hotel or what time she had fallen asleep but she tossed and turned, waking up and falling back asleep again repeatedly. When she awoke for about the fourth time, the light coming through the curtains was a dim, orange-pink hue. Her heavy-lidded eyes stared at her humidifier before she turned it off and rolled over. It would be too easy for her to go back to sleep again, but three raps on the door changed that. With a twinge of irritation and some heavy reluctance, she got up, slipped on her robe and went to the door. In the peephole, she saw a round, blond-headed face staring down at his side with a soft smile. Mercedes shook her head and pulled the door open to find Sam looking down at Dani, but both their pairs of eyes went to her right away.
"Hi Miss Cedes!" cheered Danica.
"Heyyy, I heard you were under the weather."
Mercedes' brows furrowed. "You heard?"
"Yeah, I mean I heard you coughing when I came down to the lobby yesterday. Then Rachel said you were sick, so…yep, I heard." He grinned softly.
"Unfortunately I am," she croaked with a nod. "What a crummy way to go through Valentine's Day, huh? Sick and soon-to-be-divorcee."
Sam shrugged. "Could be worse. Dani and I decided to bring you some stuff to cheer you up though."
Mercedes tugged the collar of her robe over her mouth and coughed into it; when she pulled it away from her mouth, she revealed a tired but grateful smile to them both. "Aww, you guys are too much." She looked to Dani's smiling face and thanked her, then looked back up to Sam. "I'd invite you in but I don't want you guys to catch my cold, especially after Dani just got over being sick."
"Pleeease Miss Cedes? We brung movies!"
Sam grinned, "Yeah, Dani and I each picked out a movie from our collection for you to watch, but..here." He held a plastic bag out to her and when she took it, she realized it held more weight than two DVDs should possess.
"There's also some Ginger Ale, a bottle of OJ and a pint of Strawberry ice cream in there."
Mercedes' already dry mouth fell open slightly as she stared in the back. When she looked back up at Sam she rasped, "I can't believe you'd do all this for me."
He smiled and shrugged, "It's the least I could do after your advice on helping Dani get better. I was gonna put some of the Vitamin C pills I bought in a Ziploc but...I didn't wanna look like I was dealing, y'know?"
Mercedes chuckled softly but the chuckles quickly turned into coughs. Frustrated, she shook her head but she told Sam, "It's okay. I bought some yesterday at the store. But thank you both so much for thinking of me."
Dani tugged on Sam's pant leg and although she thought she was whispering, her inquiry was plenty loud enough for both Sam and Mercedes to hear. "Can we stay, Daddy?"
Mercedes smiled guiltily. Had she not fallen so il, she would have let them in but she knew Dani getting sick so frequently at a young age wasn't good for her health, and Sam getting sick wasn't going to do him any favors, work-wise.
"Well it's up to Miss Cedes, Danimal. But you and I just got over being sick and that was no fun, huh?"
"No," Dani answered, sounding instantly deflated.
"You were sick too?" asked Mercedes, stifling a yawn.
Sam nodded, "Yeah, I think she caught it from me when I was at the tail end of my cold. Now it looks like we passed it on to you. I'm sorry."
Mercedes shook her head, "Don't blame yourself. It's wintertime—everyone's sick this time of year. Then spring rolls around and it's allergy central."
"True," Sam replied with a soft smile. He then grabbed one of Danica's hands and said, "Anyway, we should get going. You look pretty tired and since Dani's got me tonight instead of her sitter and Finn, I need to get her ready for her bath."
"You're not working tonight?"
He shook his head, "Nope, not here and not at REAL. Didn't you know? Once a week the janitorial staff members get a day off. This week, mine fell on today, so here I am."
"Ohhh, right, right. I did know that but it slipped my mind. Well don't let me keep you from your night off with your daughter. I'm gonna fiddle around with the DVD player 'til I get one of the movies to play."
Sam arched a brow at her, amused. "You don't know how to work the DVD player?"
"Not this one. I mean all my movies are still at the penthouse, so I never had a reason to use the one in here."
"Daddy can do it!" chirped Danica, giving Sam's jeans several more tugs.
Sam tuck a thumb through his belt loop and shook his head at Danica, "Stop tugging on my pants, Danimal or I'm gonna lose 'em!" He chuckled a few times and Dani immediately stopped. "I can show you really quick if you want, Mercedes."
She stepped aside, opening the door wider and nodded, "That'd be great. Thanks."
Sam and Danica stepped through the threshold and made their way over to the T.V. perched on the dresser in front of her bed. Meanwhile, Mercedes went to stick the ice cream in the tiny freezer space of the mini fridge, and added the orange juice but kept the bottle of Canada Dry out to pour herself a glass. While she did, she stole a few glances at Sam's backside and asked, "So how are you liking working at REAL so far? I mean I'm sure cleaning up after our messes can't be all that exciting but…people are treating you OK and all, right?"
Without taking his eyes off of what he was doing he answered back, "Yeah, it's been a good job so far. Getting to know a few of the other janitors, and the head of security seems like a pretty cool guy."
She nodded, screwing the cap back on the bottle. "He is, and he's good at what he does, most of the time."
At that, Sam looked at her like he was trying to read between the lines. Both of them absolved their conversation however, at the question that left Danica's mouth.
"What's this?" asked Dani, picking up Mercedes' wedding ring.
"Oh, Dani put that down," insisted Sam. "You shouldn't touch things that don't belong to you."
Mercedes scrutinized the ring after Dani put it back on her nightstand and answered her anyway. "That's is my wedding ring."
"Pretty! Why don't you wear it?"
She could tell Sam was growing uncomfortable due to his daughter's constant inquiries. It took her a moment to figure out an appropriate answer to Danis' question. "Well…" she sniffled and sighed, holding her glass and a wad of tissues, "sometimes some people shouldn't get married. They make a mistake and decide not to be married anymore."
"How come?"
Sam chuckled once, nervously, "Dani um…it's not something that—"
He stopped at the sight of Mercedes shaking her head. With another sniffle, Mercedes made her way over to the bed and told him, "I don't mind. Besides I'm sure you want to know too." When his lips settled and he nodded, Mercedes set her tissue-wielding hands in her lap and looked to Dani. "It can be different reasons for different people. For me, I decided I didn't want to be married anymore because…my husband hurt m—my feelings."
"He sounds mean."
Mercedes softly chuckled and exchanged her tissue wad for her cup of Ginger Ale, "He was very mean to me for a very long time. And that's why I don't want to be with him anymore. I want to be someone who's nice to me."
"Like Daddy?"
She choked on the sip of bubbly ginger ale that was once making its way down her throat. A series of hard coughs, had Mercedes turning her face away so she could cough into her robe collar again. She didn't know whether she was feverish and just now noticing, or if she was now blushing; either way, her face was very, very hot.
"You okay Miss Cedes?" Danica innocently asked, patting Mercedes' leg.
Mercedes nodded, despite her continued coughing. She tried clearing her throat a few times but the irritating scratchy feeling was still well in her throat.
"I think it's time we let Mercedes get some rest so she can feel better, Dani."
Sam's voice was suddenly a lot closer than it had been before she'd turned away. When she looked up, he was standing over her with concern growing in his eyes.
"You sure you're okay?" he softly asked.
She nodded back, mesmerized by his gaze. "I'll be fine," she told him in an equally soft-spoken tone.
"It's starting! Look! Miss Cedes!"
Danica's cheering jolted Sam and Mercedes out of their private moment. She scooted to the end of the bed, giving herself a front row seat as The Princess and the Frog began to play on the screen.
Sam gave Mercedes a hesitant look and Mercedes merely smiled and shrugged, settling herself in the middle of the bed beneath the covers. Sam walked around to the other side and perched himself on the edge near the headboard for back support. A few times, the two of them exchanged amused glances at the commentary Danica was giving, as well as her humming and occasional singing along to the music.
"We've seen this movie one too many times," Sam confessed in a low tone.
Mercedes softly giggled and whispered back, "There's never too many times to see a Disney movie."
After a disagreeing stare, Sam muttered, "I knew I should've put Avatar in first."
"And how many times have you watched that?" she wittily replied.
She watched Sam deliberately turn his head towards the curtains, causing Mercedes to laugh.
"Shhh!" insisted Danica. "Guuuuyss, you're gonna miss it!"
Mercedes clamped her mouth shut and looked at Sam. He was also trying not to laugh but he muttered, "Sorry, Dani. We're watching."
They kept quiet but were both shaking with silent laughs. When they calmed down from their quiet titters, the two of them actually paid attention to the movie, with occasional glances to one another.
"Do you sing, Miss Cedes?" asked Dani as she twisted around to look hopefully at Mercedes. Tiana was singing 'Almost There' and Dani had been mumbling some of the lyrics here and there until the question popped into her mind.
"Usually, yes."
"Sing with me, kay!"
Mercedes softly chuckled, "I would but I'm too sick to sing, Dani."
Danica pouted, "Aww… okie."
Mercedes wanted to pout too, from how quickly she had disappointed the little girl. But thanks to fast thinking she told her, "How about this: as soon as I feel better, if your daddy's okay with it, we'll watch this again and sing all the songs together."
Like the switch of a light, Danica completely brightened up. "Kay!"
Sam smiled at Mercedes and nodded while mouthing, "Thank you." Mercedes nodded back and settled back against the pillows. Towards the end of the film however, her heavy eyes started to get the better of her and she slumped against the pillows. She didn't know when exactly but eventually she slipped back into unconsciousness; her head lolled to one side until it landed softly against Sam's shoulder.
When she woke up again, the room was dark and quiet. Her forehead creased in confusion and for a moment she wondered if Sam and Danica being in her room was all just a dream, but when she rolled over to turn on the desk lamp, her breast smashed something paper-like.
"What the hell?" she croaked.
Once the light clicked on, she sat up, yawned and picked up the note pad sitting beside her. Sam's chicken scratch told her that she hadn't dreamt a thing:
Dani and I let ourselves out. She fell asleep too…right after I put Avatar on. Sorry if Dani embarrassed you earlier. Enjoy the ice cream and hope you feel better soon. –Sam
It wasn't until she read, "Sorry if Dani embarrassed you earlier" that she recalled the 4 year-old girl's inquiries about her divorce and getting together with her father. She wasn't sure if it was the early onset of a fever or merely her face flushing from the memory, but Mercedes did start thinking about Sam in that way, whether she wanted to or not. They hadn't known each other long but he always put her at ease, and was incessantly kind—sometimes more than she felt she deserved. He held the door open for her all through the night of Danica's dance recital, and he had the courtesy of letting her rest when she fell asleep through the movie.
Yes, Sam Evans was someone who deserved a lot more in life than what he'd been given. She didn't know how right it was for her to ponder too much on it, but she did know that Sam and Dani were warmth—a flame that Mercedes was quickly finding herself drawn to after the icy burns inflicted by her soon-to-be ex. And as she lay in bed, reading Sam's note again, she didn't know that she was going to find herself spending more and more time in the coming weeks, ebbing further away from her icy, ailing past and nearing her newly discovered flame.
Please leave reviews. I know people have a lot of questions with some of the things that have been brought up so far but I promise I have answers to all of them. All will be revealed in due time. ;) I will say however, that one person so far has made one correct guess about a big part in the story. I won't say 'who', but once again—all will be revealed in due time!
Chapter title: "Hey There Lonely Girl" by The Stylistics
