Chapter 7: The Basket
Sami knocked on the door and stood back waiting. No one came to open the door and the silence surrounding the house was eerie enough to make her jump at the slightest noise. She reached out and tried the door. It wasn't locked. She stepped in to the house and looked around. There had to be more secrets he was keeping from her, Sami deducted as she walked around the house. There were no bloodstains and the work EJ had done actually looked good. Sami could start to imagine what the house had looked like years ago before it had been abandoned. She could imagine it as a home.
She laid the the basket she was holding to the floor and went to the stairs. Her steps were absolutely soundless as she made her way to the second floor. There she found things a bit more unorganized and his bed. The narrow, nearly filthy mattress had clean sheets and candles beside it. Next to the outer wall were his casual working clothes laid. The small window didn't have curtains and Sami knew that the bright morning sun would surely wake anyone sleeping in the room. She walked to the window and looked outside only to hear the steps behind her. Suddenly she twirled around and came face to face with the man who had been hiding from her.
"EJ", Sami sighed, "You scared me." A feeble smile was her attempt to set him at ease. He remained expressionless as he nodded:
"I apologize Samantha. What are you doing here? Is something wrong with the twins?"
"No", instinctively Sami took a step closer to EJ, "No, nothing is wrong with the twins. I came here- I came here because of you." His relief changed into wonderment as his eyebrow arched.
"Because of me?" EJ responded with ridicule in his manner.
"Yes, because of you", Sami repeated, "I wanted to make sure you have enough to eat and I wanted to see the house too." He didn't react to her confession. Instead he nodded again and said:
"I thank you for the thought but I can take care of myself, because I am after all, a grown man."
"Right now you look more like a skinny little boy who is afraid of- something. I don't know what it is but you are scared EJ and I don't think I've ever seen you as scared as you are now", Sami said gaining some self-confidence.
"Why are you really here?" he sneered avoiding her gaze. Deciding to back off for now Sami said:
"What did you say to my mother? How did you made her let you in the penthouse?"
"Is it really that important to you?" he stabbed back.
"Yes it is", Sami nodded. There were just too many unanswered questions between them and she didn't want this to become one of them. There was so much history and bad blood between John and EJ that it had been a small miracle to see Marlena accept him as a guest and a sizeable miracle to see her lean on EJ.
"I just told her the truth. I told Marlena that regardless of everything that had happened between John and I, I had learnt to admire him and look inspiration in his actions."
"Is that all?" Sami asked as EJ tried to make his escape. He stopped by the doorway and stole a short glance of her before saying:
"I also told your mother that the world was a better place because of John Black."
"What didn't you tell my mother?" He sneered again and this time he met Sami's eyes. His gaze was freezing:
"I didn't tell your mother that I was taught to respect the greatest DiMera soldier ever, nearly a DiMera himself. I didn't tell her that I was inspired to search for ways to kill a man with my bare hands but I never quite measured up to his example. I didn't tell her that the men John Black killed, were worse than any DiMera you've ever seen."
Sami stood still too terrified to move until she realized it was exactly what he wanted. She shot a cheap shot at him:
"It's something only a DiMera would do." At first she expected EJ to turn and grin at her wickedly and say something along the lines of: "You are a DiMera too." Instead he surprised her with a sharp command:
"Don't! Don't use my name as a curse." EJ breathed deep and tried to regain his composure.
"I don't need you bringing me baskets of food and I don't need you telling me when I should and should not rest, Samantha." The frustration was shining through his edgy movements as he continued speaking in a cold tone:
"You really don't need to come here, at all."
"Then how am I to know that this will be as much my home as it will be yours?" Sami snorted with an arrogant smile on her lips. Her smirk died when she met his eyes and finally realized. This house wasn't going to be her home. It was going to be his home, and only his. EJ was shutting her out of his life. Sami gasped as the pain in her heart reached her eyes.
"Just go", he pleaded with her and she was more than willing to oblige. She didn't see just how bitter-sweet his victory had turned out to be.
A/N Reviews are loved. Even though I don't always reply I do read and appreciate the time you take to give me feedback. It's what keeps me writing and it helps me to move forward with the story I want to tell. Thank you for reading.
