Thank you for your continued interest and support. I do not own Glee or the characters, neither do I own Reaper's Legacy.
MERCEDES CONT'D
"Mercedes, I'm so sorry, but Dr. Bannister is still running late. Can you stick around a little longer, or should I see if he can reschedule? I hate to pressure you, but he's really hoping to make a decision tonight, and you're the last interview... We're pretty desperate."
"No problem," I said, smiling brightly at the flustered hygienist behind the counter. Although it was a big fucking problem.
Bray would be out of school in an hour and I needed to be there to pick him up. But I also needed to be able to buy food to feed him, too. And after the first three months, this job came with health care and sick leave...
Not to mention...dental care. And I hadn't had my teeth checked in four years.
"Are you sure?" asked the hygienist. Her name was Tammy Jennings, and for the past hour I've been sitting in the waiting room, watching her juggle patients and the phone.
Apparently, their old receptionist left without giving notice because of a family emergency, the temp was a no-show, and the doctor's assistant had gone home at ten that morning throwing up.
A mother with two kids sat next to me, obviously impatient. She'd been waiting nearly forty minutes for her appointment to start and things were getting tense.
"I'll make a quick phone call," I told her.
"Sounds great," she said. "Mrs. Saunders? Are you ready?"
The woman beside me stood and corralled her children, herding them into the back. And I stepped outside the office, which was in a low-lying, mixed-medical building.
Kind of like a mini-mall for doctors, although classier, with fancy landscaping, cedar siding and covered walkways.
I tried Emma first.
No answer...
I tried Marley next.
Nothing...
I called the school to see if Bray could go to the after-school program for a day, only to learn he needed to be formally enrolled to participate, something I'd have to do in person at the district office.
That left me with the girls from the club or Sam...
And the girls from the club weren't authorized to pick him up at the school either. I could change that, of course. All I had to do was fill out some paperwork at the school office...
In person.
That left Sam.
I hadn't had any communication with him since Sunday morning, aside from that one text asking if I was okay. However, I punched his number and waited...
The phone rang long enough that I thought I'd get voice mail. Then he answered...
"Yeah?"
He didn't sound particularly friendly or welcoming. More like the old Sam, the one who looked through me like I was furniture.
I suppose that's what I wanted. But it didn't feel good.
"Um, hey," I said. "I'm really sorry to do this, but I have a favor to ask. For Bray."
"Yeah, you always have favors to ask," he said, his voice almost a growl. "Yet I still answer the damned phone when you call. Tryin' to figure out why."
"Are you working this afternoon?"
"Yup."
"Any chance you could duck out long enough to pick up Bray from school? They keep moving back my job interview. If I have to leave, I'm probably going to lose my shot here."
He sighed.
"Yeah, I can move things around here," he said. "How late do you think you'll be?"
I paused, hating every second of this.
"I don't know," I finally said. "At this rate, it might be towards the end of the day. I need to meet with the doctor. He had some sort of emergency earlier and now they're running behind. But he's just trying to fit me in between patients at this point."
"Okay, I'll take the rest of the day off and bring him back to my place."
"Thanks, Sam."
"It's what I do," he said, hanging up. And I looked down at the phone, wondering how such a great guy could be such an asshole slut at the same time.
Then I pasted my "Hire me, I'm friendly and competent!" smile back on and returned to the waiting room.
By four thirty I still hadn't done my interview. And I'd pretty much given up on it, because there'd been a second emergency...
A high school girl knocked out half her front teeth during soccer practice.
She'd been hysterical when her coach rushed her in, bloody towels pressed to her face. And the other patients watched in fascinated horror as Dr. Bannister himself came out to fetch her, bustling her back into the treatment room.
Forty-five minutes later he reappeared...
"We're going to have to reschedule everyone," he announced to the room, looking exhausted. "I'm so sorry. I don't have anyone here to help you right now. We'll need to call you tomorrow."
There were several frustrated sighs, but it wasn't like people could complain, given the circumstances.
Then Dr. Bannister's eyes caught on me...
He was a handsome man, although older than me. Probably in his late thirties or early forties?
"Are you one of my patients?" he asked. "I don't recognize you."
"I'm Mercedes Jones," I answered, straightening the scarf I'd tied around my neck. "I'm applying for the job as your receptionist. I'm guessing that interview isn't going to happen today?"
The phone started ringing...
Again...
Then the door opened and a UPS deliveryman came in, followed by a woman with three children.
"Hey, Dr. Bannister!" she said. "We're all ready for our checkups. How are you doing?"
"Great," the doctor replied, offering her a pained look. "But we've had a little complication in the scheduling today. This is our new receptionist, Mercedes. She'll take care of you."
And just like that, I had a job.
I felt proud of myself when I turned the car down Sam's drive that night.
I had jumped right in at work, and while I didn't know how to use the scheduling program, I still managed to look up the last two patients for the afternoon and call them to cancel.
I'd also handled the phone and even talked to a potential new patient. I still needed to fill out paperwork, but Dr. Bannister had been thrilled.
Just having an income source changed everything...
And the fact that it came with benefits, sick leave, and vacation? Amazing.
I'd never had a job with paid vacation before.
Of course, that good feeling ebbed as I pulled up to the house.
I hadn't seen Sam since I'd snuck out of his room three days ago. And I wasn't sure what to expect from him.
But I expected something...
This silent acceptance of what I'd done, after what a huge deal he'd made about "owning" me? That made me very nervous.
Making matters worse, he'd saved my ass this afternoon...
Again...
That meant I owed him even more than before. Just one more complication to our already twisted relationship.
I knocked on the door but nobody answered. I had texted Sam around four thirty to give him an update and he'd replied that he and Bray had gone fishing, so I walked around the side of the house to his deck and made myself comfortable at the table to wait.
Well, as comfortable as I could, given our recent interactions...
I still had my key, but using it felt wrong under the circumstances.
It was a little after six already. And I hoped he'd be back soon, because Bray would need dinner and a bath before bed.
Ten minutes later, I saw them walking up towards the house across the meadow from the pond, the big man and little boy looking like something out of a country-living postcard.
Sam carried the fishing gear and Bray bobbed along next to him like a puppy, holding a string of three tiny little fish.
"Mom!" he yelled, spotting me, and took off running towards the house.
I met him at the bottom of the steps, where he jumped at me and then I was holding him as the fish slapped against my side in all their slimy glory.
Eww...
"Mom, I got three fish," Bray told me, eyes wide with excitement. "Uncle Wringer and I went to the pond and we even got to dig up some worms and they were really, really squirmy!"
"Wow! That sounds like fun," I told him, wondering if I'd be able to get the fish smell out of my interview outfit.
I couldn't get upset about it, though, not with him so happy.
Sometimes I forgot just how much I loved my little boy, because seeing him again after a long day apart nearly made my heart explode.
"I have good news, too," I told him, smiling big.
"What?"
"Mama got a job!" I said. "I'm going to be working at a dentist's office right by your school. So I'll be able to drop you off every day, and then I'll pick you up from the after-school program. No more working at night! What do you think of that?"
"That's fuckin' great, Mom!" he said, eyes bright.
My mouth dropped open...
"Bray! Do we use that word?"
His face fell and he shook his head.
"I'm sorry," he said. "Uncle Wringer told me not to say it in front of you."
At that, Sam set the fishing gear down under the deck and I turned to him.
"My son says you told him not to curse in front of me?" I asked, raising a brow.
"Long story," he replied. "And I'm not gonna get into it with you, so you can either let it go and enjoy some grilled fish with us for dinner or get all worked up. The result will be the same."
I glared at him even as Bray started wiggling to get down. I let my boy go and he held the string of fish up, so proud he practically glowed.
"Uncle Wringer and I are going to cook dinner," he declared. "We're eating my fish. And you can share!"
I glanced down at the three tiny little rainbow trout, smaller than could possibly be legal. Then I looked up at Sam, questioning.
He shrugged.
"I've got some salmon marinating in the fridge," he said. "I'm going to grill it with corn."
"I brought Bray his favorite macaroni and cheese," I replied. "Want me to cook that up while you get the grill going?"
"Sounds great."
Dinner was a little awkward, but not as bad as I thought, under the circumstances.
I'd busied myself doing the macaroni and prepping the veggies while Sam and Bray cleaned the fish.
I wouldn't have trusted my son with a knife, but Sam guided him carefully, explaining each step as he slit the fish open, gutted them, and then rinsed them out.
After that, we'd wrapped everything in foil and threw it on the grill while Bray ran off to play and I set the table.
"So, you got the job today?" Sam asked, leaning back against the railing, a casual eye on the food. It was almost like things hadn't blown up between us over the weekend.
Okay. I could work with that.
Denial had always been an excellent strategy for me.
"Yup," I said. "It's a good one. They do full benefits after three months and I'll have a week of vacation starting next year. Thanks again for grabbing Bray."
"No problem," he said, shrugging. "It's not like he's hard to be around...if you can get him off the whole Skylanders thing. Does he ever get tired of that?"
"No," I said. And I saw a spark of humor in Sam's eyes and I smiled back.
At least we had Bray between us, no matter how messed up everything else was.
"You've done a hell of a good job with Bray," Sam said. "I want you to know that."
"Thanks," I said, startled. "What brought that on? I thought you were pissed at me?"
Shit! Did I just say that out loud?
Why did I have to go and stir things up, right when we were starting to get along?
He didn't jump all over me, though. Instead, he just gave me a slow smile, which was strangely worse.
"You'll figure it out," he said.
Crap!
He stepped over and rotated the corn while I studied him, suspicious. But he stayed quiet, pulling out his phone and checking his messages.
Yup, definitely worse.
At least when we fought I knew where we stood...
On the bright side, Bray's little trout were pretty tasty...all three bites. He'd turned down salmon to eat SpongeBob-shaped macaroni and cheese...no huge surprise there.
But Sam startled me by bringing out a bottle of sparkling cider to celebrate my new job. Of course, Bray was ecstatic, drinking half the juice by himself out of a real wine glass.
And I have to admit, I was touched.
After dinner, we cleared the dishes while Bray took off again, with a stern warning that we'd be heading home in ten minutes.
"You start work tomorrow?" Sam asked as I loaded the dishwasher.
"Nine on the dot," I replied, feeling a little rush of excitement. "It's perfect. I can't believe how things have worked out. Thanks again for helping today. You have no idea how much it meant to me."
"I noted you didn't follow up on the job at Top Shot," he said, cocking a brow.
I frowned and looked away.
"Um, I wasn't really serious about that anyway," I said. "I don't want to work for the club."
"Yeah, you made your feelings about the club clear," he said. And my mood deflated a little. "I've got something for you."
"That's a loaded statement," I replied, my voice flat. He smirked, and I felt better. Because it wasn't an angry smirk.
"You have a dirty mind, Merce," he said. "Seriously, this is important. Come into the living room."
I followed him, then sat in a chair. But he sat on the couch, then patted the seat next to him.
I shook my head. And he rolled his eyes. Then held up a thick, business-sized envelope.
"You don't get your surprise if you don't come over here."
"What makes you think I'll want it?"
"Oh, you'll want it," he said, clearly pleased with himself.
I got up and walked over to Sam slowly. He grabbed my hand, pulling me down and across his lap.
I gave a token struggle, but he handed me the envelope and curiosity took over, so I let him win.
Also, it felt kind of nice to sit on his lap. Yeah, I know. Stupid. But I'm only human.
I opened the envelope and saw cash...
A very large wad of cash...
My eyes opened wide and I pulled it out, shocked. I didn't count it, but it seemed to be all hundred-dollar bills...
There had to be three or four thousand dollars in here.
"What the hell is this?" I asked, looking at Sam. He gave me a grim smile.
"Child support."
"Holy shit!" I gasped. "How did you get this out of Shaun?"
"It's from Mom's estate," he said. "I paid him out and then he paid you out. In exchange, he gets to keep living. Everybody wins."
I turned to look at him, shocked.
"Are you serious?" I asked.
Our faces were about two inches apart, and his eyes flicked to my lips.
I licked them nervously and felt something stir under my butt, even as his arms came around my waist, holding me loosely...
Even as my nipples hardened...
Damn it!
"Pretty hard to get more serious," he told me. "An old friend tracked down Shaun for me in North Dakota, so I rode over there Sunday afternoon and got back early this morning. We had words... Then we went to the bank. I didn't give him the promise to let him live in writing...that's just a little side incentive. But I'll revoke it if he ever gets within ten miles of you or Bray again. My mom would've wanted this anyway. She never stopped loving him, but she sure as shit stopped trusting him."
I swallowed. I wasn't sure I wanted to know the details... But I couldn't feel sorry for Shaun. He'd earned everything he got and then some.
"How much money is in here?" I asked, flipping through the wad of cash.
"That's not all of it," Sam said. "That's just last year's. The rest is in transit. But dealing with that much cash gets complicated. It needs to be cleaned up a bit, and then we'll find a way to get it to you that won't leave an ugly trail. The trade-off is, we agreed on your current monthly rate, and it's not like you can take him to court to ask for more if he gets a great job or something."
"I couldn't even get him to pay what he owed already," I said. "Health and Welfare won't do shit, either. I don't think upward adjustments were on the table."
"Sort of what I figured," Sam replied. "So I'm real glad you got a job, but you won't be living paycheck to paycheck anymore."
"That's amazing," I whispered, looking back down at the envelope. "I have to ask... Is it going to come back on me and Bray? Am I going to get arrested?"
"You're good," he said. "But that's not enough cash to catch any IRS attention. And Stud is working on getting the rest of it to you, all safe and legal. He's a damned good accountant, and he'll work with our lawyer. But if Shaun ever tries to cause trouble about it, you call me and I'll make him go away."
His arms tightened around me, hinting at his strength, and I shivered.
"This is another case of you doing my dirty work for me, isn't it?" I asked softly.
"It's Bray's money," Sam said, his face serious. "This isn't about you, Mercedes. It's about Shaun taking care of his son. And it's not like it even came out of his pocket. That insurance settlement came out of nowhere. Bray has a right to this money, and my mom would scream if she knew Shaun was starving you guys out. So I fixed the problem. Don't think about it anymore, just use the money to take care of our boy, okay?"
I nodded my head, leaning my head against his chest. And he kissed the top of my head as he rubbed his hand up and down my back.
"So...Stud is an accountant?" I asked after a minute. "I find that hard to picture."
"I'd just as soon you not picture Stud at all," he muttered, and I smiled.
"Thank you," I whispered.
I've never seen this much money in my life...
Hell, at this rate we'd have the fancy macaroni and cheese all the time! And the rest? If I saved it, I'd be able to pay for Bray's college.
My kid would go to college!
I felt tears well up in my eyes, which bugged me because I hated crying.
"If you really want to thank me...you know how. But just in case...you can give me a blow job," Sam said, his voice full of amusement.
I straightened up and smacked his shoulder, and he burst out laughing.
"Why do you have to say things like that?" I asked.
"You were getting all soft and sweet," he said. "And when you get like that I really want to do you. But Bray's right outside and this is bad timing. So riling you up takes care of that soft and sweet crap."
"You're impossible," I told him, trying to get up. But he held me down. And riling me up clearly wasn't making him less interested in sex. Because the evidence under my ass was getting harder by the second.
"How about this," he said. "One kiss. Give me one kiss and we'll call it even."
"No," I told him. "You're up to something. You can't let me win, can you?"
He grinned at me.
"Yeah, you're right," he said. "I'm up to something. And I'm never going to let you win, so you might as well give up now."
With that his lips came down over mine in another one of those kisses that destroyed my ability to think.
He explored my mouth softly and I explored right back, wishing like hell that my son was with a babysitter.
Heroin...
The man was pure heroin...
'Heroin kills people,' my brain screamed.
But my body flipped off my brain and kept kissing Sam.
Finally, he let my lips go and pulled back, smiling and looking smug as hell.
"Like I said, you might as well give up, babe," he said. "Sooner or later I'm gonna win this little game of ours."
I sat up slowly, shaking my head. How did he do that to me?
I wanted him so bad I couldn't see straight, and he turned it off, just like that.
Bray ran up across the deck and looked at us through the window, pressing his mouth wide open against it and making a blowfish face. Then he started laughing wildly and ran off again.
Okay. That turned it off.
"If you want to keep your own place for a while," Sam said, touching my cheek softly. "I'll try to understand that. It's all happening fast...and that's scary. But you're still mine, Mercy. Don't think for one minute I've forgotten that or changed my mind."
"You planning to keep your dick in your pants at the club?" I asked bluntly.
"Well, I'm not planning not to keep it in my pants," he said slowly. "But I've told you...I'm not a one-woman man. And I won't lie to you or make promises I'm not sure I can keep."
"And there we have it," I replied, shaking my head. "Fuck off, Sam! I'm going home."
Stay safe!