Chapter 25
As planned, after dinner Sam sent Mel a Text that she would soon be there. Melanie made her way to the grocery store to pick up a few things and let Sam work her wiles with Freddie. She had only been gone a few minutes when Sam pulled up to their half of the double house and just walked right in like she always did.
Freddie, was working on something at the table and had his back to the door. "You forget your purse, Mels?" For someone so intelligent, Melanie was frequently absent minded. "You really are a blonde." He teased.
When she didn't say anything and simply stood behind him, he turned to see another blonde with a scowl on her face, hands on her hips.
"Oh, uh, hey, Sam. What's up? I thought you were Melanie. She usually forgets something when she goes to the store. List, keys, credit card."
"Don't 'what's up' me, nub." Sam glared.
"What'd I do?" Freddie gulped.
"You made an ass out of my sister, that's what." She walked around to stand in front of him, arms folded. "Mel wears her heart on her sleeve and she really likes you. All she wanted was to go out on one lousy date because she hasn't met a decent guy in months and then you go and shoot her down in flames. What's the matter, isn't my sister good enough for you?"
"I really do like Mel and if things were different, I'd date her in a heartbeat; but the whole thing with Carly - if she comes back, I mean. I don't want to lead Melanie on. Because when Carly comes back. . . "
"Wake up and smell the bacon, Fredward! Carly's not coming back! She moved back to Italy, you guys aren't dating any more. She took off! Why is this a difficult concept to you?" Sam pulled no punches, it was time for brutal honesty.
"But we never really broke up. And I know she's coming back some day." Poor Freddie's naivety had himself convinced this was a fact.
"Oh, for the love of . . . " Sam sighed and went from grumpy to caring. "Freddie, you're doing it again. You've got yourself convinced Carly's coming back to sweep you off your feet some day. Just like you had yourself convinced that I was coming back to you when I lived in L.A. You can't spend your life sitting around waiting for someone else to make up their mind what they're doing."
"But, you did come back. Sure, it was after I got together with Carls, but you came back. An-and I should have waited for you. But instead I hooked up with her and that was wrong and I shouldn't have done that. As bad as I miss Carly, I - I, um, I miss you more."
His statement took Sam aback for a few seconds, she had no idea he had felt this way.
More than anything, Sam wasn't going to give into her desires right then and there. "Listen, dude. I'm only gonna say this once. I care about you. I care about your feelings and to some degree your mental health so please understand that I say this from a place of affection when I say you're a damn fool."
"Thanks." He said with a sneer. "I, um, guess. Was that supposed to be some back handed compliment?"
"I mean it. You're a fool if you sit around and wait for something that may or may not happen. I understand if you don't feel you're ready to date. You and Carly were together for a long time and there was the baby an all so I get it if you don't think it's time yet."
He shrugged.
"And I'm totally on board if you don't want to get involved with Melanie when you're sharing a place together. That could be really awkward if things go sideways and I do want what's best for both of you. You've been my friend for years and she's my sister and believe it or not, I love her. Granted, I think she's a pain in the butt most of the time, but she's not quite so bad since she's older. And she really does like you. Though I can't figure out why." She teased him, ignoring how he confessed his feelings for her moments before.
"I just don't want to . . . What if Carly finds out and she gets upset? I can't do that to her."
"Don't think that's she left in the first place? To wipe her slate clean. So you could each have a fresh start. I've known her forever and I'm sure she doesn't expect you to act like you guys are still a couple. Don't sit around and tell yourself that Carly is coming back and you have to be faithful to her if she didn't tell you those exact words."
"But we're not broken up." He argued. "Just like you and I never broke up."
Sam tried to stay rational but all she wanted to do was slap him in the head. Instead, she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "We really weren't a couple. Ask yourself this, how often have you guys talked since Carly moved? Is it like everyday like we did there for a while? When you do talk does she say I love you?"
"We've talked a few times, but it's been a week, maybe a couple of weeks, though. But there's the time difference and all. We do talk, just not all that often. We didn't call all that often when she lived over there before." He also hadn't heard I love you from Carly since the day she left, when she hugged him goodbye and Spencer took her to the airport.
"OK, but you weren't dating her last time she lived over there, right? At least I hope not with the stuff we used to do. So you guys might not talk, but you surely text or at least email every day, right? Stupid, nubby love notes or whatever weird stuff daffodils like you two are into."
"Well, actually it's been a couple of days since I even heard from her. And no, we don't do mushy love notes or whatever. It's usually just a quick text or an instant tweet, some funny meme or something."
"And deep down inside you don't think if some dude asked her out over there, she'd go ahead and go out with him? I mean, maybe not get real serious right away, but don't you think she'd at least go on the date?" Sam also knew Carly wasn't opposed to giving into her desires if the mood struck.
Freddie took a deep breath and let it out. "I am a damn fool, aren't I?"
"I've been trying to tell you that for years." She smirked and gently punched his shoulder. "Nub."
"So what am I supposed to do about Melanie?"
"Just tell her how you feel and let nature take its course."
"And you're sure you're OK with that? Me dating Melanie, I mean."
Sam didn't know quite how to answer. On one hand, she knew him and Melanie would make a good couple. They had a lot in common and seemed to get along well. But on the other, she really wasn't sure if she was ready to see him in a steady relationship. Especially if there was a chance, even a slight chance that someday . . . Nope, that wasn't gonna happen. She had a boyfriend and Freddie deserved someone, too. Sam simply shrugged rather than divulge the feelings that were floating around in her head.
A quick knock came at the door as a welcome distraction, followed by Karl Benson's entrance. He liked Melanie and knew she and Freddie were good friends, but he was definitely a Sam fan. As much as he liked Carly and Melanie, he wished his son would just get together with Sam and get it over with. "Hey, Karl." She tried to look like she wasn't just dressing his son down or that they were on the verge of sharing a moment.
"Hey, Firecracker!" He smiled and offered her a hug. "How's it going?"
"Good. I was just giving Fredwardo here some love advice."
"Time to get back out there, son?" He asked.
"I, um, was thinking about maybe asking Melanie to a movie or something." Freddie confessed.
Karl simply glanced at Sam to see her reaction but she kept a poker face. He kept hoping his son would come to his senses and hook up with Sam. "Just be careful and how about taking a look at this dumb phone of mine. I can't open my contact list." Mr. Benson handed the device to Freddie. "I'm ready to run over this piece of crap with my car."
"Sure, Dad. I had that trouble once. I'll bet you just need to update your password. The new software has a setting that automatically disables personal information unless you . . . "
Sam rolled her eyes at this geek speak.
Melanie soon walked through the door and saw there were guests. Not that it was unusual for Karl to be there after he got home in the evenings, she was just shocked Sam was there so long.
Sam quickly excused herself after Karl left with his repaired phone. "Hey, I gotta get going. Nick will soon be home and I wanted to swing by his place and get him to look at why the seat belt in my car won't roll up right."
"Why didn't you just stop by the dealership where he works?" Mel asked.
"Because I drive a fourteen year old car they charge 85 bucks an hour and he can probably fix it with a piece off a coat hanger or something."
She walked past her sister and gave her a look that Melanie immediately knew she had 'the talk' with Freddie along with a half smile to let her know it went well. Melanie began unpacking groceries with Freddie's help after the two were left alone.
"So, you remember the other day when we talked about going to see a movie or eat dinner or something?" He asked kind of nervously as they finished up and returned to the living room. "You know, like a date or something."
"Um, yeah. But what about Carly?" She asked, hoping he had changed his mind. "Aren't you worried about hurting her or something?"
"Well, you see I've been thinking. Or rather Sam got me to think about some stuff and I guess I'm kind of being silly by acting like I'm still in a relationship. Because she's gone. It's just, uh, this is really hard Mels. You know, Carly and I were together for a while. But you're such a good friend, I don't want to miss out if there's a chance we might, you know, have a spark."
Melanie found this flattering and gave him a shy flirty smile. "So what did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking about a nice dinner. Sure, we go to the diner all the time, but some place special. Where do you really like?"
"I'm a Puckett. Any place that serves meat is always good. But I haven't been to Dead Lobster in forever. I saw on Splashface that they're running that all the shrimp you can eat deal this weekend. We can dive into a pile of 'em. Maybe I can break my own record. I think it's 73." Melanie liked shrimp, she considered them calorie neutral and a healthier alternative to Sam's gorging herself on massive amounts of ribs or fried chicken.
"Yeah. That sounds good. I like shrimp. But you realize Sam can put away, like 250 of those things, right? I've seen her do it. "
"Uh huh. And that's why she can't go back there and why every buffet in Seattle has banned her for life. I swear right after I moved back we were in the Chinese place down by the mall and she made that poor old lady break down and cry when she took a whole plate full of egg rolls and a dozen dumplings."
"Well, they do call it an all you can eat buffet." He joked, remembering lots of meals with Sam. "Sam just considers that to be a personal challenge."
"Yeah. That's one of our biggest differences." Mel replied. "Sure, I splurge once in a while, but I don't eat like she does every day. And she's still smaller than me."
"What are you talking about you guys are identical in every way. Well, she doesn't have the mole on her right shoulder."
"How did you see my mole?"
"I gave you a back rub after you cleaned the whole house by yourself last weekend. And you were wearing a tank top. It's kind of hard to miss. It's cute." 'Not as cute as Sam's though.' He thought to himself and smirked at the memory of where hers was located.
"Oh, that's right. And I could go for another back rub after all the grocery shopping. Did anybody ever tell you you're sooo good at that. So, um, Saturday? Dinner?"
"I know. Let's eat early then we can maybe see about a movie or something, too." He suggested.
"Wow, you're really going all out, aren't you?" She giggled. "Sounds fun. Just nothing scary. I still have nightmares about that zombie movie Sam dragged me to last Halloween."
"Ugh. Sam and her horror movies." He shook his head, remembering the make out sessions in the back of the theater when they used to go to the movies years ago.
Like I said earlier, don't worry about any Frelanie happening. But it's all helping two people get their eyes open.