Sam threw the glass of whiskey back, hissing at the stinging sensation as he sat it back on the tray, asking for another refill. Tonight, he wasn't in the mood for this engagement party. He looked over to his future wife, a spoiled brat indeed. She started off as a good friend of the family, someone who he didn't see more than that but fell victim of their mothers interference and nagging. He wasn't going to engage into the foolery, but he prematurely proposed to her under the influence of alcohol and pure horniness. He wasn't going to lie, he tried to get out of it but only gave up the fight due to belief that it wouldn't be that bad. She wasn't a bad girl, but there just wasn't no romantic feelings nor love there. It was more of a long distance friendship type of love but even that was a reach.

"Here you go, Mr. Evans."

Sam came out of his thoughts when the woman appeared with him a new drink, downing that immediately and sat it on the tray before picking up the second glass as well. He looked at her and smiled, "Keep them coming, sweetheart."

"Will do."

He turned his attention back to the guest, who were mingling, when he caught his mother's eyes. He forced a smile once she sent one to him, she was his mother, so she probably knew that it wasn't a real one but then again, she had been busying herself with her future daughter in law and the wedding planning. This was going to be a long night. Feeling someone come beside him, he knew who it was without even looking, "I'm surprised you showed up, Sarah."

"Almost didn't." The woman spoke as she moved her straight brunette hair back behind her right ear, "It's not too late to call this sham off because you and I both know she's not the one for you and you're definitely not in love like you're pretending to be."

"How you know I'm not?"

"Please Sam." His sister said without another fit of explanation, picking up the champagne flute and thanking the man with a smile before she began to scan the room, "How they are isn't even close to how we are. That bitch and her family are no good."

"Don't be like that. She's a sweet girl."

"If that lie doesn't keep you up at night, why should it for me?" Sarah chuckled as she pressed her lips against the glass, shaking her head before walking off, "Mark my words, this thing won't go beyond this tonight. Just wait, big brother."

Back in the kitchen, the caterers were busing around getting trays of drinks and hors d'oeuvres out for the crowd in their normal routine, but for some reason tonight, they were a tad bit more busier with the alcoholic drinks going out.

"Who's in charge?"

The woman, who sitting the glasses on the tray for one of the severs, turned her head towards the entrance door of the kitchen, raising a brow at the woman, "I am."

The rich woman stared at the girl, giving a cold glare for no apparent reason other than the fact that she could, "Don't send anymore appetizers out. The main dishes need to be prepped and out in the next thirty minutes. No guest should have anything cold on their plate."

"Do I hear a please in there? Matter of fact your rudeness needs to be cut from the tone you miserable bit-" A boy mumbled, causing the woman next to him to distinctly step on his foot, prompting him to speak in the full volume of his voice, "Ouch Mercedes."

Mercedes gave him a look before her eyes turned back to the woman, giving her a respectful nod. Usually she didn't take anyone talking to her in the way she did but her boss told her that this particular job tonight, she needed to bite her tongue because they were all going to get a healthy bump in their paycheck. She didn't put money before verbal aggression but in this case, she would because she needed it.

"Miserable Bitch." He said loudly once the woman was out of sight, "That's what I was trying to call that hag. I try to respect my elders and never call women out of their name but she's been pushing it all night. And plus, she's acting like she's the one who's paying us."

"I know, we only have a few more hours." Mercedes reassured the youngest of the staff, watching as he huffed out before picking up the tray and heading back out, "Hang in there baby."

Zachary, Mercedes' best friend and colleague, met him coming into the kitchen, heading over to her, "All I know is that we better be getting a good bonus because I have bit my tongue so much, I might have to go to the ER."

Mercedes gave him a sympathetic look before setting the glasses on two more trays, "Yeah, I'm about ready to go at this point, but I need the check bad this month. Things haven't been good."

"I know you don't want to ask your family, but you know you have me and Kels, right? Put the pride aside, we got you."

"I know." She told him with a small frown, "I'm grateful but I can't because you guys have your own family."

"Shut the hell up with all that." Zachary said in a way he told her all the time when he saw her stressed and refused help. Him and Mercedes have been friends since they were in pampers, and every since he has known her, she has always had to stubborn, independent stance within herself. He hated it, "We got you. End of discussion. What's ours is yours, you know that. Now give me the damn tray."

"Yes sir." Mercedes mumbled as she handed one off to him then the other server, watching as the walked out.


The next hour had went by without a hitch, thankfully, for the the crew. Mercedes was leaned against the wall, watching as the speeches were made and the interactions between the couple. Usually, after dinner was served, this was her favorite part. Seeing the love between others always brought a smile to her face, but tonight, something felt so inorganic this time around. The groom for one seemed uninterested in everything, and the bride was too busy showing off her ring to everyone more than anything else. Most couples couldn't be apart from one another on this joyous occasion. It just felt wrong. Hearing the applauses, she saw the groom's sister come and announce that she had a special video for the couple.

What started off as innocent pictures of them from their childhood, turned into something unimaginable. Mercedes' mouth went wide as she stared in horror at the video, her eyes traveling to find to Zachary, who was standing next to her in the same position, then the groom, who's face was unreadable.

You couldn't hear a pin drop when the video finally shut off. On it was photos of the bride, which looked taken by a PI, making out with some man numerous times that was obviously not her fiancé. What made it even worse was that the same man was here, due to the picture of her dressed in what she was now. Lily, Sam's fiancée, looked at him in horror, making her way to him, "Babe...it's not what it looks like."

"Oh, it is." Sam glared at her before moving away, a mixture of joy, anguish, and pity in the eyes of the guest, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear, "Party's over. Engagement's off. Everyone have a great night."

Mercedes watched as he walked out the room, his ex-fiancé and their parents following closely behind as well. The mumblings about what just happened rose amongst the guest as the started to file out of the venue. She came out of her thoughts when she heard one of her colleagues speak.

"Guess it's a short night for us. Let's get to packing up."

Mercedes started to head to the back, busing herself to get things in order so they could leave expeditiously and that they did within the hour. Her and Zachary were the only ones left, finishing up the last of the kitchen, which wasn't much.

Zachary looked at his watch and eyes went wide, "Shit, Kelsey's going to kill me. I was so wrapped in this drama."

"Go, I can manage the rest."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

Zachary kissed her on her forehead before heading out, "I love you."

"Tell her I said hi." She called after him, shaking her head when he told her he would and was going to tell about her situation. She shook her head as she moved the dolly towards the counter. Turning back around, she gasped when she ran into someone, eyes going up and seeing it was the man of the night, "I'm sorry, Mr. Evans."

"Sam, just call me Sam and there's no need to apologize." Sam told her, making his way to the other side of the counter, grabbing a paper towel to dry his hands. Truthfully, Sam was hoping that everyone was gone and had accidentally left a bottle of anything brown down there.

Mercedes eyed him carefully before gathering up the cork screws and placing them in the bag.

Sam's attention was on her. Seeing the uniform, he took obvious note that she was part of the catering crew. He had used them last year but has never seen her before, "I bet this was one of the most entertaining receptions you've ever worked."

"Nothing's entertaining about what happened." Mercedes told the man truthfully as she threw the unusable cling wrap in the trash, "You didn't deserve that."

Sam watched her movements closely, seeing her at ease as she quickly straighten up the counter. She then moved over to grab the leftover, never opened champagne bottles, stopping her, "Leave one."

Mercedes glanced at him and nodded, sitting one of the bottles down before she grabbed four, a talent in Sam's eyes, and placed them in the box.

Sam grabbed two champagne flutes from behind him, sitting them on the counter before swooping the bottle up. He opened the top, somehow avoiding the dramatic spill that comes along with it and poured the liquid into the flutes. He looked at Mercedes once she turned back around, picking up one and gesturing to her, "Have a drink with me."

"Mr. Eva-urm, Sam." She corrected as she shook her head, refusing the drink, "I'm still at work."

"I'll handle Laura if she so happens to pop up." He sent her a lopsided grin in reference to her boss, pleading eyes, "Please, for a poor man whose heart just got broken."

Mercedes pursed her lips and raised a brow, muttering and not realizing that she was that loud when she spoke, "You're not torn up about it like one would expect."

Guilty. Sam stared at her seriously, speaking honestly, "Maybe I just want to have a drink with the one genuine, beautiful soul I have met tonight. Who, may I add, have been nothing but nice and professional for the past ten minutes. Hard work pays off and this is your pay off."

Mercedes rolled her eyes at the guilt trip, mumbling but not admitting how his words made her feel some type of way, "Fine."

Sam smiled triumphantly as she took the flute, clinking his glass again hers before moving back and taking a sip.

Mercedes did the same, the bubbling alcohol stinging as it went down her throat. To be honest, she wasn't much of a drinker but she would indulge in the kindness of the client.

"Not a drinker, aye?" Sam took note from the features on her face, laughing a bit when she shook her head and sat the glass down.

"Far form it." She managed to get out with a snort.

"Maybe I should've ask if you're even old to drink."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Mercedes laughed a bit before resuming back to her work, "I'm old enough to rent a car then add seven more years."

"Wow." Was all he said, causing the woman to look at him with a raised brow, he shook his head, "A good wow."

Mercedes smiled as she leaned against the counter, "Is there anything..." she stopped when she heard her phone ring, grabbing from her pocket to look at the screen, "Excuse me for a second."

Sam watched as she left out, his eyes wandering over to the platters that was wrapped up. He took a seat and grabbed one, placing it in his lap and picking one. He haven't even gotten a chance to eat due to all the drama that went on. He powered through three of the delicious croissant sandwiches when Mercedes came, her phone call taking a littler longer than expected, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, my babysitter was just checking in." She said absently as she looked at him, seeing the surprised look on his face puzzled her, "What?"

"You have a kid?"

"Kids. Six month old twin girls, Bronx and Brooklynn."

Sam caught her smile get bigger at the mention of her daughters, watching as she showed him her lock screen. Present were two brown skinned, hazel doe-eyed, chubby cheeked little girls giving gummy smiles, "They're beautiful." Sam complimented, his eyes going back to her to ask a question, "Is the father in the picture...oh shit, I'm just all in your business, I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Mercedes giggled as tucked her phone back into her pocket, going back over to finish stacking the things on the dolly, "Their father was a cheating bastard. Slept with someone, who I thought was my friend, during my whole pregnancy and ended up getting her pregnant. He's with her now, raising their child and don't acknowledge my girls."

"That's...that's fucked up." Sam said bluntly, a frown plastered on his face. He had known this woman all of twenty minutes and was pissed that anyone would treat her and her innocent children like that.

Mercedes shrugged as she moved around, placing a few napkins in front of him so he can use, "It is what it is. I didn't and will never dwell on it. I'm just trying to make a living for me and my babies. It's hard, but I'm doing what I need to do."

"And from what I can tell, you're doing a hell of a job. Seriously. I commend you for it because having a child, let alone twins, is a lot."

Mercedes smiled at him, "Thank you."

Before Sam could respond and ask her some more about herself, he heard the sound of heels clicking against the hardwood, a familiar face appearing as her voice ran out.

"Mercedes, you were suppose to check in thirty minutes ago." Laura stopped when she noticed that Sam was in the kitchen too, "Oh, Mr. Evans, I didn't know you were in here. Hopefully Mercedes wasn't bothering you."

"She wasn't." Sam spoke before Mercedes could, giving the woman a pointed look, "Matter of fact, I was the one bothering her with my venting and held her up."

"Oh, well that's quite alright." She waved off, earning a side eye from Mercedes, "I'm sorry for tonight."

"Don't be." He pulled an envelope from inside of his suit jacket, handing it over to her, "Here's the rest of your payment, plus some extra for the staff for the snobbish attitudes that they may have encountered from her side."

"That's very generous of you, Mr. Evans. Thank you." Laura smiled at him before her eyes darted to Mercedes then him again, "And I'm sorry once more, but I kind of need my employee back so we can get going."

"No, it's okay." He pushed off the counter, grabbing the platter and champagne to take with him, giving Mercedes a smile, "Thank you for being a listening ear and feeding my stomach. "

"It wasn't a problem. You try to have a wonderful rest of the night, Mr. Evans."

"I kind of already did talking to you." Sam sent her a wink before heading out, leaving the two women alone.

Laura's eyes back to Mercedes with a raised brow, opening her mouth for a question but Mercedes beat her to it.

"I'm done in here." She grabbed the dolly and headed out, trying to avoid any questions that the woman may have had for her.


Mercedes mumbled as she headed through the crowded grocery store, cursing at there literally being no baskets left. She didn't know why she just didn't do this earlier and was regretting not bringing the stroller with her, prematurely thinking that she would've had a basket for the two girls occupying both sides of her hips. She sighed as she looked at them, "Looks like Mommy is going to have to just come back tomorrow."

"Or not." A voice came behind her, causing the woman with the children to whip around, familiar green eyes staring back at her with a smile, "You can have mine."

Mercedes smiled at the man, who she last saw a month ago at his disastrous party, "Sam, hi."

"Hi." He had saw her when she first came in. He knew that the baskets were gone because he had grabbed the last one, "It's good to see you."

"You too and you don't have to give me your basket. I'm sure you have things to get too." She chuckled softly as one of her antsy daughter's, Bronx, started to wiggle in her arms.

"It's quite alright, you obviously need it more." He commented as he looked at the little girls, who were a tad bit older from the picture he saw last month, "So, these are the little cherubs that were on your lock screen?"

"Yes, the one who is trying to escape my arm is Bronx and the always so calm one on my left is Brooklynn." She watched as Bronx stared at the man curiously, a smile breaking out of her face as she leaned out of her mother's arm for him, catching the woman by surprise. She never did that for anyone, especially strangers.

"May I?" Sam asked first, watching as the mother nodded before he picked her up, "Hey there cutie pie."

Mercedes felt sudden relief of the extra weight being lifted but abandonment at the same time. She adjusted Brooklyn on her hip, shaking her head, "She usually doesn't like people."

"Guess I'm an exception." Sam laughed as his eyes went back to hers, "But really, the basket, you can have. I can wait."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Thank you." She told the man, shaking her head, "I'm sorry, how rude of me, how have you been?"

"Good." He responded as he walked forward a bit, sitting the little girl in the seat part of the basket, watching as a pout took over her lips but she didn't cry. He watched as Mercedes placed Brooklyn in there as well, thankful that this was the basket that was capable of sitting them both, "I'm going to be honest here, I'm glad I ran into you because I haven't stopped thinking about you since that night."

The keys that occupied her hand slipped but Sam was quicker, catching them before they fell to the ground. Her eyes were shocked at the admission, not knowing what to say, "Huh?"

Sam knew he caught her off guard but it was nothing but the truth. That night, Mercedes had made it worth the pretense of it all and he was really grateful that it turned out the way it did. Her presence drew him to her and he knew exactly why. This woman, only talking to her for the short amount of time he did, was the one. Something he didn't feel with any of his exes, "I fought for a whole month on whether to call Laura and ask for your number. Funny enough, today was going to be the day I did but look at fate interfering. I want to ask if you would like to go out on a date sometime."

Mercedes looked at him in surprise at his words, not believing that this was happening, "Me?"

"Yes you."

Mercedes gave him a skeptical stare, shaking her head, still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that this man was asking her out, "You can have any girl you want. You're in your prime, newly single, handsome, have a great job, and no children. I'm a single mother with twins, who gets paid minimal wage. Why?"

"Why not?" Sam watched as she ducked her head shyly, a smile tugging on his lips when he saw the realization on her face that she didn't have a comeback, "One thing you should know about me, I'm not like them. You're beautiful, smart, caring, real, hardworking and a great mother to your daughters. What more can a guy ask for?"

Mercedes lifted her head. No man, besides her father, had spoken so highly of her. And here he was. After that night, he left an impression on her and it was more than the act of him being so nonchalant about being cheated on. He was right, he wasn't like anybody there, snotty, nor belittled the staff, he treated her and she would guess everyone else as equals. That's what drew her to him, but she didn't act on it for the simple fact that he probably wouldn't see her in a romantic way. Deading that idea that night, she went on about her life, until those thoughts and feelings she had resurfaced in this moment. The sincerity in his voice and eyes was all she needed to know that he was serious and because of that, she was willing to give him a chance, "Okay."

The smile spread so wide on the man's lips, repeating her words, "Okay."

Mercedes couldn't help the heat of cheeks as she stared underneath his gaze, the only thing breaking their trance was her daughter reaching over and throwing the chips down, "Bronx, no."

The little girl looked at her and giggled, causing Sam to do so as well as he picked it up and placing it back on the shelf, "How about this count as a predate? While we're shopping, we'll get to know each other better. What'd you say?"

The smile couldn't leave Mercedes' face if she wanted it to, "I'd like that."

As she shopped, Sam stayed beside her every step of the way doing exactly what he intended to do. Get to know her and vice versa. This grocery trip was full of information and laughter between the two, and the unnecessary need for ease because it was already there.