Thank you for your continued support. I appreciate it.
Standard disclaimer.
Warning: sensitive conversation mentioning sexual assault(rape). My apologies...
Mercedes looked in the mirror the next morning and gasped.
She vaguely remembered someone having the bright idea, of doing homemade tattoos the previous night.
And she was pretty sure, it was she who started it.
Right in the middle of her chest, was a crooked heart, with the letters 'Sa' in the middle of it.
'Oh my God,' she thought.
She'd even left the 'm' off the end. 'Great. Now everyone who sees this, will know what a sappy drunk you are.'
Even after a scrubbing so hard, she had taken off a few layers of skin, the Sharpie marking still prevailed.
She picked a shirt that covered up most of her drunken body art and left for work.
Once at work, she headed straight to Marlene and Lana's floor, to see their tattoos.
Lana had to pull her into the office, to show hers, since it was on her breast.
"Winston loved it. He said he would be turned on all day, knowing it was there."
Marlene pulled her shirt down, showing another crooked heart with 'Stevie' written in the center.
"All right," Mercedes huffed, "Why am I the only one with a misspelled name on my chest? Who did it?"
Lana looked guilty, before raising her hand.
"I think I did. Don't judge me, though. I'd had way too much to drink by then." Turning to Marlene, she said, "You weren't drunk, why didn't you stop us? Or at least encourage us, to use something a little less permanent than a Sharpie?"
Shaking her head, Marlene replied,
"Hey, I tried to talk you out of it, but you were both bound and determined to go through with it, even when I pointed out, that the marker was permanent. So...I did what any good friend would do...I joined you."
Mercedes grimaced.
"Well, I'll go back over mine with some bleach and a loofah tonight. I'm sure it'll be gone in a few days...or weeks."
Suddenly, the mood sobered, as Marlene asked,
"Have you heard from Warrick? How is Lisa doing?"
"He said she's feeling better, but would like for everyone to wait to visit. I wanted to go by there during lunch, but he told me she's not really ready for visitors yet," Lana finished, looking miserable. "Part of me wants to go anyway, but I know how my sister is. She likes time to think things through and I feel that, regardless of my wanting to see her, I need to give her space."
Mercedes put her arm around Lana, giving her a brief hug of understanding.
"I would love to see her, too, but I think Warrick knows what she needs now, better than we do, so even though it's tough, let's do this for her."
Before she could comment further, the phone on the desk rang and Lana jumped to get it.
Mercedes walked out with Marlene and they promised to have lunch the next week.
She took the elevator to her floor and felt a pang of disappointment, knowing that Sam wouldn't be there waiting, as he usually was.
Mercedes worked steadily through the morning and grabbed a quick sandwich for lunch, eating at her desk, while playing Candy Crush.
She was almost bored enough to call her mother...almost.
Instead, she settled for her sister.
She could still get the same gossip from Ramona, but wouldn't be forced to answer a lot of awkward questions, as she would with their mother.
Unfortunately, Ramona was too busy to do more than say hello and talk for a few minutes, about her upcoming vacation to Sebastian Inlet on the other side of Florida.
Her sister spent most of her spare time surfing, and Sebastian Inlet, had some of the best waves in the state.
Mercedes might be decent on a paddle-board, when she was younger, but she had never been graceful on a surfboard.
Their brother, Boston, was a natural surfer, with the whole surfer-dude stereotype to go along with it.
Her siblings had been more blessed, in the natural athleticism department, than she had.
At that moment, she envied them both.
She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.
Ramona worked and surfed. She also dated, but had no desire to be in a serious relationship with anyone.
Boston...well, whatever he did, he seemed pretty happy with it.
She, on the other hand, had slept with her boss, going so far as to have a fake relationship with him and then fallen in love with him.
She now realized, that she had probably been in love with him for a while.
But her uptight, boring boss was so unpredictable now, that she had no idea what he would do next.
He was hot, then cold and just generally all over the place.
His ex-fiancée was living with him and she had vague recollections of him calling last night, sounding pissed off, that she had been with Stevie.
God, her life was a mess.
The weekend loomed long and lonely before Mercedes.
That had never bothered her before, but with Sam gone and so much up in the air, it was hard to enjoy the thought of more time on her hands.
She decided she would stop at Walmart on the way home and splurge on some chick flicks and snacks.
She would spend the weekend in style...on her couch...wearing pajamas...not combing her hair...and not bathing.
Solo girl time was just what she needed.
Mercedes' shopping cart was full and she was trying to decide between The Proposal and Sweet Home Alabama, when she heard,
"Ahem, death by chocolate...how original."
She jerked her head up, to see Sam's sister, Stacie, standing on the other side of her cart.
She liked Stacie, but she could have lived without the tall, beautiful blonde, witnessing her descent into the Lonely Friday Night Syndrome.
A girl like her, was probably on her way to some swanky party and had stopped at Walmart for breath mints.
It was obvious from Mercedes' shopping cart, that she was here to stock up for a long weekend.
When Stacie picked up the king-size Cadbury chocolate caramel bar, from Mercedes' cart and lifted a brow, Mercedes grabbed it back.
"Back off, that's the last one and I'll fight you for it," she warned in a teasing tone.
Stacie smiled.
"It's all yours. So...no plans tonight?"
Mercedes gave her a sarcastic smile in return.
"What gave it away?"
Instead of answering immediately, Stacie studied her for a moment before asking,
"Do you want to go somewhere and have a drink? I was planning to buy a bottle of wine and head home, but I'd rather have some company."
"Er...sure. That sounds good."
Actually, Mercedes was about as excited over the prospect, as she had been, over her root canal, but they both knew, she had no other plans.
Maybe it would be better, than going home and gaining five pounds in one evening.
Like her brother, Stacie was generally reserved, but tonight she looked as lost as Mercedes felt.
There were cracks showing in her cool veneer, and Mercedes was just curious enough, to want to find out what was going on.
Stacie pointed to her cart.
"Do you need to make your purchases first?"
Feeling guilty, Mercedes looked around to see if the coast was clear, before she slid her cart against the wall on the next aisle.
If she was lucky, it would still be there, when she came back after her drink.
There was no way she could unload a hundred dollars' worth of food and movies, in front of Stacie.
Luckily, other than the knowing grin that twisted her lips, she didn't comment.
"Should I just meet you somewhere?" Mercedes asked.
She really didn't want this bonding experience, to include a car trip together, if she could avoid it.
She could just imagine the look on Stacie's face, when she saw the less than perfect condition of her car.
It may have been a few months...or years...since she last cleaned it out.
"Harvey's is just down the block. Why don't we walk?" Stacie suggested.
'Even better,' Mercedes thought to herself.
As soon as things became too awkward between them, she could escape back to Walmart, grab her shopping cart and continue on with her miserable evening.
'Perfect.' She was actually grateful, that she hadn't been home to change yet and still looked reasonably respectable.
Conversation was difficult, due to the traffic rushing by, so Mercedes decided to forgo any small talk, as they walked to the restaurant.
When they were seated at a table and had ordered drinks, she found herself shifting uncomfortably, under Stacie's curious gaze.
"So...um...do you come here often?" Mercedes asked.
And then,
'Oh my God, did I really just ask her that? It sounds like I'm trying to pick her up. Why does she make me so nervous? Just think of her as Sam with a vagina.'
Looking amused, Stacie said,
"No, not really. Artie and I usually go to a small Irish bar, close to my place, when we want a drink."
"Was he busy tonight?"
Stacie looked down, drawing circles on the smooth tabletop with her fingers.
"He's always busy now. I should know that life moves on, and so has he, it seems."
Mercedes wasn't sure how to respond.
The other woman seemed so sad, that she felt compelled to offer some comfort.
She reached out and squeezed her hand.
"I'm sorry, Stacie. Were you...Did you break up?"
Stacie looked surprised by the question.
"There was nothing to break up. I never let us start dating. Artie is too good for that."
Confused, Mercedes asked,
"Too good for what?"
"Me," Stacie whispered. "He's too good for me."
Mercedes was too surprised to comment.
As she was thinking of a reply, Stacie shook her head and locked her blue eyes on her.
"So, you and Sam?"
Words of denial sprang to Mercedes' lips at once, but then, she dismissed the notion just as quickly.
Why bother?
She doubted that Sam was giving his sister a play-by-play of their relationship status, but Stacie was far from stupid.
She had to know that something was going on.
Besides, it might be a mistake, but she needed someone to talk to.
Blowing a wisp of hair inelegantly out of her face, Mercedes said,
"Yeah, I guess you could say that."
Stacie surprised her again, when she gave her a satisfied grin and said,
"That's good. I'm glad. He's been alone for too long. He was never good at that, no matter how much he tried to convince everyone, including himself, that he was fine. Sam was meant to be married and have a family. He shouldn't have been saddled with so much responsibility so early on. Our parents were irresponsible and the old man...our grandfather, was a sadistic bastard."
Despite herself, Mercedes was intrigued.
Other than throwing out bits of information here and there, Sam wasn't the type to disclose a lot of personal stuff.
She knew that his parents were killed in a plane crash and that his grandfather had raised them afterwards.
She also knew that Stevie had been the wild child and had enlisted in the military at eighteen.
"So...um...your grandfather was tough on you?"
Stacie's laugh, was devoid of any real humor.
"He didn't care enough to be tough. Yeah, he expected certain things...certain behavior, but mainly, he just wanted us to stay out of his hair. His household staff raised us. Of course, we were all teenagers when we came to live with him, so it wasn't like we were in diapers and dependent upon someone, for all of our care. What we were, was traumatized, but he never considered that."
Mercedes felt tears prick her eyes and hastily wiped them away, knowing that Stacie wouldn't appreciate the show of sympathy.
"I'm sorry," she offered, not knowing what else to say.
Stacie looked at her blankly for a moment, before draining the last of her drink and standing abruptly.
"I've got to be going if you're ready," she said.
Mercedes stood and followed her out. And they made their way back to Walmart in silence.
However, Mercedes had lost the urge to go back inside for her shopping cart, full of sugar and movies.
Suddenly, this seemed more like a bottle of Jack Daniel's kind of evening.
When she stopped at her car, Stacie turned and gently squeezed her shoulder.
"I meant what I said. Sam needs you. Don't let him push you away."
Then, with those words, she was gone.
Mercedes drove home more confused than ever.
Her cell phone started ringing, just as she close her apartment door behind her.
She saw Sam's name on the ID and smiled. Apparently, she was irresistible to the Evans siblings tonight.
"Hey you," she answered.
A moment of silence followed her playful greeting, before he said,
"Hey...Merce." At that, Mercedes thought he had been close to using a term of endearment, but had settled for shortening her name. "Where are you?"
"I just attempted to gorge on chick flicks and chocolate at Walmart, but was saved by your sister. I'm home now."
Sam chuckled that sexy laugh, she loved so much.
"I don't even know what that means, but I'm glad you're safe. So you saw Stacie?"
"Yep, I ran across her in the store and we went for a drink. I...I don't think she was having a good evening."
"Why not?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.
"I'm not sure, but I think it has something to do with Artie and his new girlfriend."
"Shit," Sam sighed. "I figured that was going to hit her hard."
"I'm confused about that situation," Mercedes admitted. "If Artie cares about her and she obviously cares about him, then why can't they just admit it?"
"It sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Artie has never made a secret of how he feels for my sister, but she hasn't been able to accept it. I know you've heard enough to know, that she had something happen to her, when she was younger. She was...raped by her prom date. I don't want to go into everything that happened afterwards, but I will say, that Artie found her and a bond was formed between them. My grandfather handled everything terribly and Stacie has spent the years ever since then, angry and grieving."
"Oh my God," Mercedes breathed. "She said that Artie was too good for her. She blames herself, doesn't she?"
"Yeah," Sam bit out. "Everyone made damn sure of that. The bastard who did it, never faced any consequences. I know, regardless of what she says, she has done nothing, but look over her shoulder since then. Luckily, Artie will always watch out for her, even if he isn't with her."
They ended up talking for hours that night, before finally giving in to the need to get some sleep.
That evening started a pattern, that continued every night while Sam was away.
Mercedes spoke to him a few times during the day, on business matters, but at night, it was all personal.
They shared their earliest memories, all the way up to the present.
There was also a point each evening, when their words turned teasing and sexual.
Mercedes had never had phone sex, but when Sam asked her to touch herself and imagine it was his big hands sliding through her slick folds, she hadn't been able to resist.
Their calls always ended with a release for them both.
And somehow, it felt like she was falling for him even harder, during these regular nightly phone calls.
When they were finally together again in person, she didn't think she would be able to resist ripping his clothes off, regardless of where they were.
God, she was so ready to have him back home.
Stay safe!