January Rain

Chapter 10

Sami thought this might be the first good thing to happen in a while for her. She'd rushed over to the quaint bookstore after leaving her father's office at the Salem PD hoping that she wasn't too late to inquire about the job and loft apartment. She saw the help wanted sign in the window and prayed a silent prayer that this was the right decision for her. She tried to calm her nerves as she walked into the store she had always enjoyed and hoped the owner would see she was the person needed for the job.

Sami recognized Lydia Barrs from her several visits to the store, although she hadn't spoken to her before today beyond the casual hello and questions about a few book recommendations. Lydia seemed kind and friendly and it only took a few minutes into their conversation and before Sami knew it Lydia was offering her the job.

"I'll be gone for quite some time and Ruby my part time worker goes to college at Salem University so I need someone to work the day shift and the occasional evenings as well," Lydia said as she walked over to the front door and placed a closed sign on it so that she could take Sami upstairs to look at the loft apartment.

Sami was surprised over how much space the loft apartment contained and it was decorated so beautifully too. There were rooms off from the main living space it would make excellent bedrooms for the kids. Sami asked, "I have children, will that be a problem?"

"No, actually before I bought the place and renovated the downstairs for the bookstore a family had lived here for years before the parents both passed away and the grown children had both moved away to other cities. I got this place for a steal and loved it from the first moment I stepped foot in it," Lydia looked around her loft with a look of sadness, she hated that she would be leaving this place, but the money the FBI had given her more than paid off the rest of her loan on this place and provided enough cash for her to go see the world like she had always dreamed of growing up.

Sami saw the look of sadness in the owner's eyes; it was a look she knew all too well lately. She guessed everyone had their own share of sadness in life and now she was more attune to others. One of the upsides of living in the convent had been the quietness and it had given her time to reflect on her life and be more understanding of the lives of others.

Well most other people, she still didn't care for either Nicole or Chloe, but hopefully she wouldn't have to encounter them too much beyond the times she would be picking up her children from their respective fathers. There was only so much goodness she could extol and both of those hussy's didn't deserve anything from her at all.

But right now she needed to get back to the moment at hand and spoke earnestly to the woman who would possibly be able to facilitate a new start for her career wise and more importantly give a temporary home for her and her children. "This is lovely and I would be thrilled to work for you and take care of your place while you are taking care of your father."

Lydia hated she was lying to this girl, she seemed nice and genuine, she wondered what kind of person she was for the FBI to be so interested in her that they would orchestrate all of this just to keep tabs on her. The man who had come in earlier had said the woman had previously been involved with a family who had mafia ties and they needed to keep her safe.

Lydia smiled and took both of Sami's hands within her own, "I just had a feeling that you would be the perfect person for the job. I've been so worried that I would have to shut down my store during my absence and now I can keep it running."

"I'll do my best to run the place how you want it to until you return. The Salem Book Exchange has always been one of my favorite stores on the waterfront ever since you opened it." Sami gushed thinking that maybe her luck was turning around for a change.

"I'm sure you'll do a great job," Lydia replied and then they went back downstairs to talk about what Sami would need to do while working at the bookstore, the salary and her contact information where she could call her with weekly reports about the store.

In about an hour, Sami had left to go retrieve some items of hers that had been put into storage. Lydia had already given her the keys to the place so when she returned she could immediately begin settling into the place.

Lydia still had some reservations about leaving Salem, but the cash had been a godsend, now the store would be in the black instead of the red and there wouldn't be any worries over losing the store to the bank if her loan payments were behind like they had been the past few months. The recession had hit her store especially hard, but she was determined she wouldn't lose the place she had struggled to build into a success.

She went to the counter, reached for the business card the FBI agent had given her earlier and placed a call to him. "Mr. Hernandez, this is Lydia Barrs."

"Hello Ms. Barrs, it's good to hear from you," Rafe stated while he was in the process of setting up his temporary office in the Salem PD.

"Ms. Brady took the job and said she would return in a few hours after she picked up some things she had in storage," Lydia said while she looked around the loft apartment she would be vacating within the hour. Things were moving so fast that it almost overwhelmed her.

"Excellent, remember if you need anything while you are away to give me a call and I'll make sure you get it."

"Thank you Mr. Hernandez."

Rafe pushed his chair away from the desk a ways, leant back in the chair and propped his feet upon the desk. "So you'll be out of there soon?"

"Within the hour like you instructed if Ms. Brady decided to take the job," Lydia replied thinking of the conditions of her bargain with the FBI in exchange for the money they had supplied her.

"Thank you; on behalf of the FBI we thank you for your cooperation."

"Ms. Brady will be all right won't she? She seems like a very nice person," Lydia began and was about to say more when Rafe cut her off.

"Ms. Brady is a very nice person, just one who had the misfortune of becoming mixed up with the wrong family. We're just trying to protect her from them by any means necessary."

"Okay then," Lydia replied with a nod of her head even though the man on the other line couldn't see her. "I guess this is it for now."

"I'll be calling to check in on you and you can contact me day or night with any concerns you may have about the deal we made with you."

"Thank you Mr. Hernandez. Goodbye."

Rafe shut off his phone after his goodbye to Lydia and smiled. He would have to move fast in placing the surveillance cameras and listening devices within the apartment before Sami returned, but he could get it done. He was a man on a mission and his plan to take down the DiMera's was going to be kicked up a notch higher now that he was in Salem. Sami was the key to get to EJ DiMera and if he got EJ then taking down Stefano and the DiMera organization wouldn't be far behind.

Things were looking up for him and would only get better as time went by.

~ EJami ~

After EJ had returned home with Nicole and Sydney he had announced he needed to go into the office to work for a few hours. While Nicole started to protest his leaving he reminded her that DiMera Enterprises didn't run itself and there were things he needed to take care of that couldn't be done at home.

That was the reason he had given Nicole although he didn't want to admit that he needed some time away from everyone to just think. Ever since this morning when he had opened the door to see Samantha standing there looking all forlorn it had triggered to open back up the floodgates of emotion he felt for her that he had tried so hard to shore up within himself.

He had tried his best to get Samantha off his mind these past few months, he knew he needed to commit himself fully to Nicole and he had almost convinced himself that he had accomplished the impossible task. Then one look into Samantha's eyes, ones that now held something he hadn't ever witnessed before in her and he was all torn up inside once again.

He realized it had been a fool's errand for him to try and conquer these feelings he had for Samantha. He knew there was a huge difference between who he loved, who he was settling for and who he thought was the woman that was meant for him. Sadly that woman wasn't Nicole and it never had been.

His heart still belonged to Samantha even if she didn't want it. She hadn't ever wanted it had she? Things were so jumbled up in his mind between his wants and needs for a woman who had captured his heart, yet had thrown it away like it meant nothing at all to her.

He had always considered himself a smart man, but this was crazy. He needed to stop thinking about Samantha and focus solely on Nicole. Samantha was the mother of Johnny that was all; Nicole was his fiancé and his future.

He didn't know how many hours he worked after coming to that conclusion, immersing himself into his job as he tried to banish thoughts of Samantha away. He'd made his choice; he was the one who had called her to tell her he was moving on with Nicole. He was going to go ahead with this wedding even though he wasn't looking forward to it.

He had to do something to stop his heart from wanting Samantha, marrying Nicole would be the first step. He wanted a family, he needed it and if he couldn't get that with Samantha he would try to make a go of it with Nicole who was more than willing to give it to him.

He only wished he was more excited about it. He was close to getting what he had dreamed about for so long, it was only with a different woman. One that loved him and he is turn would learn to love her too. It just would take time.

After he had given himself a mental pep talk he thought he might be able to go home now. Then his cell phone rang and all thoughts of going home were dashed in an instant when he answered his phone and the other voice on the line was Samantha.