Hey everybody...are you all still out there? Yes? Okay great...lol...So Artie didn't fix the device...well not the way he was supposed to lol. Maybe one day he will invent something intentionally. Before I go any further I will take this time to answer your questions from the reviews: JuJu they didn't time travel, Artie mistakenly invented the time machine. Sam's diamond made it work the way Artie initially intended (to reverse his injury) it to which is why Artie is walking now.
Let's see what happens to Samcedes...
It had been two weeks since that morning when the device broke in half and made Sam give up any hope he had on returning home. Since then he'd pretty much stayed in his room staring at the ceiling. With Mercedes giving him the silent treatment still and Artie enjoying the use of his legs, Sam practically had no one to turn to at all. He laid in bed and replayed different clips from his memory bouncing between 2045 and 2015, wondering where did he go wrong. Fate decided for him that he was meant to be in 2015 and he came to terms with that the moment he held the broken device.
"Bye Quinn." he said as he watched a clip of him scattering rose pedals in her bath water. He remembered that she never even made it over that night but instead she came in the morning and all his plans were ruined. He thought about how most of his plans always ended up being ruined when he heard Mercedes' footsteps coming out of her room. He quickly jumped up and ran to his door to catch her before she went down the steps. "Hey...hey Mercedes." he said catching her turning as if she was just about to knock on his door.
"Oh hey Sam...thought you'd be asleep." she said turning and looking his way as if she was caught red handed.
"I haven't really been able to sleep..."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." she frowned. He wanted to tell her that her that the silence between them was what kept him up at night. He hated that she was still mad at him.
"No...not because of what you think." he shook his head and walked over to her. "I'm just having a hard time finding a job and all. I want to be able to contribute around here, you know." he said instead. He smiled when she looked at him and smiled at him for the first time in two weeks.
"I guess even with Artie giving you fake IDs, degrees and bogus background it wouldn't make much of a difference with the way the market is set up in 2015."
"Exactly." he nodded. They both just stared at each other for a minute till she took a few steps back. "I guess I should let you get back to work before you end up unemployed like me."
"Yeah...I'll...I'll see you later tonight and we can...talk." she smiled then turned making her way down the steps. Sam sighed and turned back into his room and dropped down on the bed. He made a few clicks on his sleeve and replayed the last time they spoke, right after they left Artie's.
Sam sat in front of her trying to get a read on her as she tried to clean the cut above his eyebrow that he got from when the blast knocked him out. Mercedes only left with a bump behind her head so she drove them home and cleaned Sam's wound. The entire time she cleaned the wound she remained stoic. Sam slowly placed his hand on her thigh and rubbed it with his thumb until she moved it then looked him right in the eyes.
"Stay still Sam." she instructed as she dabbed the disinfectant swabs around the wound then right on top of it causing him to wince. "I know it hurts but I need you..." she paused and cleared her throat. "Just stop moving."
"Okay but can we at least talk about...everything?"
"There's nothing to talk about, Sam." she replied quickly as if she knew he was going to ask that. "Just sit still and let me clean this up for you." she turned and opened up another disinfectant packet.
"I just want you to know that I'm sorry." Sam said then reached up and held her hand as she placed a band-aid over the cut. She stared into his eyes for a minute. For that split minute Sam thought he'd take the chance to kiss her but once he got close enough she placed her other hand over his chest.
"No Sam...you can't just say sorry and think that everything is fine. You have a girlfriend. A girlfriend Sam."
"In 2045..."
"You were going to propose to her." she cut him off.
"I didn't..."
"The point is you should have told me." she cut him off again.
"I didn't think it was important at the time."
"Yeah you mentioned that."
"I didn't think that I would develop feelings..."
"I mean I have no one to blame but myself." she cut him off. "I should have known that you had someone back home. Why else would you have been in so much of a rush to get back home."
"For Artie."
"Bullshit, Sam!" she replied. He sighed and watched as she packed everything back in her first aid kit. Slamming it shut then making her over to the closet and placing it on the top shelf. "Look none of this matters now."
"It matters."
"Whatever." she turned to leave then stopped midway and looked back at him. "You can stay here until Artie fixes the device and sends you back home." then she turned and walked away.
Sam knew right then when she walked away that he wanted to stay because Sam had already given up on Artie fixing the device. He wanted to stay. He wanted to make things work in 2015. He wanted to make things work with Mercedes, but she avoided him like the plague. He knew if he wanted to get Mercedes to give him a chance then he would need to do a grand romantic gesture. Hopefully this time he isn't left with a tub of soggy rose pedals. He grabbed the house phone and dialed Artie's number. He was going to need help and he knew even with Artie's new walking excitement he would help him in this situation or point him in that direction.
Mercedes was tired of not talking to Sam and she was tired of seeing him sulk around the house. She knew that she had to help him find a job since it was looking like he was staying for a while. She knew who she needed to talk to for just that. There was no way he'd get on the police force but she knew someone that could definitely use his expertise. She was sure she was going to have to sell him up for more than he was but she wouldn't leave till she found him something. She smiled as she entered the Motta Estates and smiled at the security guard.
"Morning, Rory."
"Hey there Ms. Jones...what brings you by?" Rory said with his heavy Irish accent.
"Here to see the boss...can you let me in?" she smiled as he pressed a button that allowed her to drive in. She smiled as she noticed Sugar's favorite pink BMW wasn't parked in her usual spot. She knew if she wasn't there or at the Sugar Shack she was either out causing trouble or she was with Artie. Al Motta had heavy security for his house, business and for himself but he had none for Sugar. Mercedes was going to use that to her advantage. She parked her car then smiled as she walked past the security guards that stood in front of his door. As his lawyer, she on occasion had wondered if he was dealing with more than just pianos. She walked across his large foyer till she reached the back entrance where he usually sat poolside to have his breakfast. She smiled when he turned and waved her over.
"What a surprise! Are you hungry?" he asked and before she could respond he turned to one of his servants and snapped his fingers. "Go ahead. Tell them what you'd like to eat."
"Just a coffee will do." she smiled and nodded as Al nodded to the servant. "I'm actually just passing by. I don't plan to be here long. You know I have other clients that I need to see today."
"Nonsense." he waved her off as he cut into his steak and placed a morsel into his mouth. "Whatever they're paying you I will double it so that you can only work for me." he smiled. "Name your price. It's nothing."
"Mr. Motta, I understand that but I didn't come here to negotiate my fees." Mercedes smiled. Motta mentioned doubling her fees every time she mentioned that she had other clients.
"Oh...okay...is this about Sugar? Is she in trouble again?" he asked as if he didn't live in the same house with her.
"Yes and no...I wanted to know why you haven't hired a bodyguard for her yet?" she smiled as she the servant poured her coffee for her. "Thank you." she smiled then looked back at Al.
"Well, I never thought it was necessary." he paused and wiped his lips. "Do you think she's in danger some how?"
"Well...look around you. You have guards everywhere guarding everything you hold dear to you except for your most treasured thing...your daughter. I just don't see how you haven't gotten someone for her yet. Especially with all the trouble she's been getting into lately."
"You know what...you're right." he nodded as he looked around him. "I can have Jake be her new guard." he snapped his finger over at Jake and called him over. Mercedes never thought he would just give her one of his old ones so she had to think fast.
"Don't you think she needs her very own bodyguard? You still need Jake around here, right." Mercedes said quickly before sipping her coffee. Al looked at her then snapped his fingers at Jake then shooing him away.
"Do you have someone in mind?"
"Yes...and I brought over his information. I already did an extensive background check on him. He has military experience and he used to be a police officer for Lima." Mercedes lied. She slid over the folder she had Artie create for Sam and smiled as Al looked it over then placed it down.
"You vouch for this...Sam...Evans?" he asked looking at the picture that was on the front of the cover. "Can I trust him to be discreet?" he asked. Mercedes nodded and smiled as she thought of the secrets Sam was holding at the moment.
"You have no idea." she smiled. Al looked at her for a minute then smiled as he went back to eating his steak. "If you look at the third page you can see that he has history..."
"Mercedes, Mercedes, Mercedes...no need to go further. He has the job. He can start as soon as possible. I'm sure you'll draw up the paper work for him to sign and bring him by so that I can meet him, yeah?"
"Definitely." she smiled. "I'll get on it right now." she got up and pushed her chair in. "Thanks for the coffee." he held a hand up to tell her it was no problem then watched her walk away.
Mercedes went to work and did her rounds before packing up to head home. She made sure she placed the paperwork for Sam to sign inside of her briefcase then left the office. Once she got in the car she kicked off her heels, because her feet were killing her then pulled out her cellphone to call Artie to check up on him. She had planned on passing by to see him but her feet was killing her too much. She just wanted to go home and rest.
"Who this be?" Artie barked into the phone as if he didn't have caller ID.
"Artie, you know damn well it's me." she smiled as she backed out of the parking lot. "Just calling to check up on you and see how project reverser is doing."
"Well...I'm still trying to get use to my new mobility. I shocked the hell out of my mother when I walked into her room with my walker." he laughed. "I told her that physical therapy helped. I can't really tell her about the reverser till I can fix it. I want to build it again so that I can help others that are handicapped."
"What about Sam?" she asked. Although she didn't want him to leave she still knew he needed to go back home. Even if it was to go back to his girlfriend.
"I know...but it cost a lot of money to build a time traveling device." he confessed. "But that's where my girl Sugar comes in handy...amongst other things." Artie said and then she heard him say something to her in the background. "Apparently, we don't have enough energy to make the device work so she's going to help me buy generators that we can use to juice it up. Hopefully that works."
"Okay...okay...well in the mean time, I found Sam a job working as Sugar's bodyguard so he won't just be sitting around doing nothing."
"Oh we literally just saw Sam..."
"I guess that's a good thing he got out of the house." she smiled as she parked her car in front of her house then made her way to her door. She took out her key and opened the door. "I guess I'll see him when he gets..." she stopped when she noticed rose pedals on the floor. "Artie...I'm going to call you back." she said as a smile curled up on her lips. She hung up the phone and closed the door behind her before making her way inside.