I guess I am really on a role now. I know you guys hate cliffhangers and I just wanna say I get it. I am so excited to see that I have over 100 reviews already and I am so excited to hear your thoughts and predictions. Here is another chapter and the more reviews I get the more inspired I am to finish. So enjoy and tell me what you think will happen at in the next chapter.

Stay Blessed

Mercedes felt on air as they left the Neyo concert. The Jazz club was intimate and romantic. Both couples enjoyed the night full of music and fun, and as they left the concert, arm in arm she happily snuggled close to him.

"So what kind of food are you in the mood for?" He asked kissing her forehead.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe Chinese?"

Sam nodded as they made their way to his car. "That sounds good to me."

Opening the door for Mercedes, she stood on her tippy toes placing a soft kiss on his lips as she slid into the seat. Sam was barely in his seat when his phone rang. Mercedes heard him say "Savannah" and "I'll be home" as he hung up the phone. Mercedes looked at him sadly. "Sam? What's wrong with Savannah?"

"She had a nightmare and has been crying for me. Mrs. Thornton said she is distraught. Do you mind if I go home?"

"Sam no, we need to make sure she is okay."

Mercedes had to exhale long and hard before stepping foot in Sam's house again. Every time she stepped foot in it, she felt sick to her stomach. But this wasn't about her, it was about Savannah. Sam squeezed her hand and Mercedes smiled.

"You go on up, she needs you."

Sam nodded taking the stairs two at a time to see his daughter as Mercedes went to the kitchen to find something to eat for them. She had just started making roast beef sandwiches for herself and Sam when Mrs. Thornton walked in in a fury.

"YOU ARE MESSING UP MY KITCHEN!" She said angrily.

Mercedes glanced at her and rolled her eyes. "I don't see why you are getting so upset, I am just making us some sandwiches. Sam and I are hungry."

She heard the older woman sigh.
"You better leave this kitchen exactly how you found it. You hear?"

"Fine." She said going back to making the sandwiches.

Mrs. Thornton looked at Mercedes for a while.

"Marley is hopeless in the kitchen. She won't even come in if she can help it."

Marley is dead! She wanted to scream, but all she said was "Oh?"

"That's why I am not used to anyone in here."

Mercedes nodded. "I understand." As Mercedes cleaned up after herself, she grabbed the sandwiches and started to leave.

"Wait!" Mrs. Thornton cried out. She took Mercedes hand and it took everything she had in her not to snatch it back. Mercedes looked at her seeing the cloudiness and dullness in the older woman's eyes.

"I know something about you. I know something you need to know. There is something that she wants me to tell you." Mercedes pulled her hand away as Mrs. Thornton kept talking.

"You are a sensitive woman Mercedes and you have been hurt before. If you stay on the same course you will
be hurt again in the same way. Marley knows, she was hurt. Cheating, Betrayal and darkness."

Mercedes eyed her as the older woman raised an eyebrow. "We both know what the means, don't we?"

Giving and evil cackle, Mrs. Thornton smirked at her, and Mercedes turned quickly with the sandwiches out the kitchen. That woman was unbalanced, and Mercedes was worried about Savannah being in her care. She really needed to talk to Sam about that woman. Mercedes made her way across the dining room, when she heard a loud piercing crash. She jumped up and felt like she was gonna faint as she dropped the plates onto the floor. She turned around slowly and saw Marley's huge oil painting had fallen to the ground and laid on its side with the glass shattered. She closed her eyes and catching her breath before she scooped up the sandwiches and laid them on the dining room table. After she was done she hurried out of the room and towards Sam.

Sam was coming tiredly down the stairs as Mercedes walked right into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her and sighed. "Savannah is sleep. She had been having these nightmares the past few weeks. I am going to take her to the doctor and see what is going on."

His arms tightened around her, and he finally got a good look at her. "Mercedes? You are trembling, darlin what's wrong?"

Mercedes looked up to him with tears in her eyes. "Please Sam, please just take me home."

Mrs. Thornton walked out of the kitchen looking at her. "I cleaned the mess you left in my kitchen."

Mercedes didn't even look at the woman, she just looked up to Sam. "Please Sam, Please I need you to take me home right now."

The uncontrollable shivers that ran up and down Mercedes spine, didn't cease until she was far away from Sam's house. Sam looked over to her and frowned. "Mercedes please tell me what's wrong? Is it Mrs. Thornton?"

Mercedes nodded, and Sam sighed. "Mrs. Thornton is and old and eccentric woman, she is from New Orleans and she says she has clairvoyant powers or what not. Says that she can speak to the dead. I know it's a lot but don't let her get to you with that suspicious mumbo-jumbo and speaking of Marley in the present tense. She is good with Savannah and an excellent cook, and you have to admit she keeps the house up beautifully. Most importantly she had served all her life and we are her only family. She doesn't have anywhere else to go. Please just overlook her and don't let her upset you."

Mercedes just stared out the window. Fatigue and strain coupled with numbness took over her body. She didn't feel up to arguing with Sam about Mrs. Thornton because the bigger issues were concerning their relationship. That is what was truly nagging her. As they pulled up to her house, Sam reached for her and she pulled away from him. "Sam, we need to talk, but not tonight. I am tired, and I am just not sure this relationship is going to work."

Sam was about to say something but Mercedes shook her head, letting herself out of the car and hurried to her door. She sat at the peephole watching him, waiting for him to go. He sat there about ten minutes before slowly pulling away, and Mercedes slowly made her way to bed with a heavy heart.

It was raining when Mercedes finally woke up. A dull headache filled her head as she rubbed the back of her neck. She couldn't bring herself to get out of bed, so she lay there listening to the raindrops on the roof. After a while it sounded as if they were calling out Sam's name.

The aching in Mercedes heart matched the ache in her head. How could they be together? How with all the drama and issues. There was her reputation at work, there was Teddy, Candice, Mrs. Thornton. And there was Marley. And now the big question was could Sam be unfaithful? Mrs. Thornton insinuated that he cheated on Marley. Did he?

Mercedes turned to the pillow and screamed into it. She had come to a big realization in the midst of everything that somehow along the way, she fell in love with Sam. She wanted him more than she had ever wanted any other man in her life. But Mrs. Thornton was right, she had been hurt before, and she truly thought that the pain she felt was unbearable at the time, but it was nothing compared to the heartbreak she felt right now. She would risk the heartbreak if it was just her and him, but with some many demons in their path she wasn't sure she could.

Mercedes knew Sam enjoyed being around her. She knew he wanted her body, but did he want her heart? Did he want her as much as she wanted him? Most of all she wasn't sure if once she gave herself to Sam, would he still want her? Or would he leave as fast as he came? That was a fear that she would never be able to a come to terms with.

Tears overflowed from her eyes as she sobbed in her misery. It wasn't until a little later did she get herself together and take a shower. She had chores to do such as cleaning and laundry.

Several hours later, the laundry was folded and put away, and her house was sparkling clear. She had just gotten off the phone with Quinn, that conversation lasted 2 hours and she was emotionally drained. Though Quinn had more than a few choice words for Holly's behavior towards Mercedes.

Mercedes was stretched out on the couch, flipping through the channels when the doorbell rang. She sighed going to the door and frowned when she saw it was Sam. He stood at her door with the rain streaming down on him and mercedes couldn't deny that her heart melted at the sight of him. Mercedes didn't know how she was going to find the strength to stop being with his man.