Title: Stay Anyway 22/?
Author: Amber (Ambino1111@prodigy.net)
Disclaimers & other notes in Part 1
Previously, in Stay Anyway...
Sam sees his ex-fiancée Lisa as she takes a tour of the White House with her son Alexander. He talks with her and they decide to go to dinner the next night. A political snafu pops up before their dinner, and they end up eating with Josh and Donna in the White House. Lisa vows to hook up Josh and Donna, the latter becoming a new friend. Sam encourages Lisa to stay so they can talk about what happened between them, and as she is singing her son to sleep in Josh's office, Sam talks with Josh and Donna. He goes ballistic when Josh asks if he still loves Lisa. Sam and Lisa decide not to talk about what happened, although Lisa rhetorically asks "How did we get here?" Flashbacks: Lisa is a dentist and first meets Sam at an appointment. Fast forward to Sam and Lisa living together. A misunderstanding occurs when Sam's plans for a surprise party make Lisa suspicious. She tracks down the woman she thinks he's having an affair with, and discovers it was Josh, who had been helping Sam plan everything. At the party, she and Josh, realizing who they are, react strangely when introduced, which makes Sam wonder. He confronts Josh, who tells him the truth. Sam tells Lisa it was all just a misunderstanding and they drop it. Back to the present, where Lisa informs Sam that she and Alex are moving to DC He offers to let her stay at his apartment until hers is ready - she says she'll think about it. Instead, she accepts Donna's offer to live with her and refuses to call Sam and tell him. Sam and Josh have a heart-to-heart about women, and Josh learns about the office-wide pool betting on when he and Donna would admit their feelings. Meanwhile, at Donna's, Lisa comforts Donna, who admits that Josh treats her like a platonic wife. Josh shows up at her apartment, drunkenly informing her of his love, and Donna makes him leave. While waiting for the cab, Josh tells Lisa that Sam still loves her. In the middle of the night, Sam comes over to Donna's and demands to know where Lisa is. He and Lisa have a huge fight that ends with Sam yelling that he loves her. Later that day, Lisa calls Sam and tells him it's over - they shouldn't even see each other anymore. At lunch, Sam decides to ask Ainsley out to dinner and she agrees. Fast forward to Lisa and Alex waiting in the mess to eat lunch with Donna. Before she arrives, Lisa meets Ainsley, who is waiting to eat with Sam. An awkward situation ensues, in which both Sam and Lisa pretend to not know each other. That Friday, HR 206 passes, and everyone is happy. Sam and Ainsley decline the invitation to celebrate with Josh, Donna, Toby, and CJ, and instead go to dinner. After dinner, Ainsley offers to cut Sam's hair. They go to his apartment, where they both change out of their rain-drenched clothes into sweatpants. While Ainsley is cutting Sam's hair, he leans forward and kisses her. A knock at the door interrupts them. It's Lisa, who has just found out that her dad died. She can't get in touch with Donna and feels overwhelmed. She takesAlex on a walk in the rain and winds up at Sam's building. Lisa admits she never stopped loving Sam. Then Ainsley opens the door to see if everything is okay, and Sam admits that Lisa is his ex-fiancée. Lisa mumbles that she's sorry and leaves. Sam is torn between staying with Ainsley and running after Lisa. He decides to stay, and Ainsley wants to know what happened.
*****
"Loneliness is everything it's cracked up to be." – Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce, M*A*S*H
*****
Stupid Ainsley. Stupid Sam. Stupid Me.
God, what was I thinking? If Sam wasn't out celebrating with Josh and Donna, then of course he was at home celebrating with Ainsley. And she even came to the door in a robe!
Oh man.
This is so monumentally bad. I shouldn't have gone over there tonight.
The only problem is, I don't know where I should have gone instead. I don't know where I should go now, either. I'm starting to feel lost, and for the first time I'm noticing how cold it is and how far apart the street lamps are.
I haven't felt this alone since Mom died. But even then, even then I had Dad. And now...
Shifting all other thoughts out of my head, I focus solely on getting back to familiar territory and getting Alex and myself warm and dry.
A thought pops into my brain from out of nowhere: Alex needs cough syrup. Yes, I remember that now. I was going to go get some when I came out in this storm. How easily the mind forgets.
"Mommy?"
"What, sweetie?"
"I'm tired."
"I know, honey. We have to stop and get some medicine, and then we'll go home. I promise Mommy will stop acting so crazy."
This satisfies Alex, and he settles back into the stroller. We cross another street, and I suddenly recognize our surroundings. If memory serves me right, there's a convenience store a block ahead.
Sure enough, a blinking neon sign indicates that Buy N Save is open. I open the door and pull the stroller in behind me. We make a beeline for the medicine section, and I put a box of Robotussin on top of Alex's stroller.
The black man at the counter smiles at me as he rings up my purchase. "Five thirteen."
I dig through my purse for a ten, but, finding none, hand him a twenty. "For future reference, would you happen to know where the nearest pharmacy is?"
"Certainly, ma'am. It's two and a half blocks southeast from here."
"Ah. Thank you." I make a mental note as I shove the change and the box in my purse and smile at the man before leaving.
Outside, the rain has let up ever-so-slightly. I pick up the pace and manage to get Alex and myself home before the next torrential downpour.
As soon as we're in the apartment, I take Alex out of the stroller. My jacket has managed to keep most of the cold water off of him, but he's still soggy. I take him to the bedroom to get some warm, dry clothes, and then head to the bathroom.
He's awake by the time the bathtub is filled with warm, sudsy water. "A baff!" He exclaims happily as I plop him in the midst of the bubbles. Usually, I love giving him baths as much as he likes taking them, but tonight there's something mechanical about my approach. I hand him his rubber duck and put a bubble on his nose. He giggles, then coughs. It tears at my heart. The poor kid.
Half an hour later he's warm, dry, and tucked cozily in his bed. Thankfully, he fell back to sleep before I could even finish dressing him. Alex is so worn out from this sudden onslaught of a cold that it makes me worry.
I don't stop worrying when I grab a sweat suit, socks, underwear, and slippers and take a long, hot shower. I hear the phone ring in the living room, but I make no move to answer it; I merely hope it doesn't wake Alex. It doesn't.
For some reason, I still can't get warm. Despite my layers of clothes, I'm still shivering. I make a pot of coffee, figuring sleep and I aren't on speaking terms anyway, and settle into the couch.
Snatching up the phone, I make two impromptu calls: one to my new work to tell them there's been a death in the family, and I'll need a few days off, and the second to Alex's preschool, to relay essentially the same message. Then I dial the all-too-familiar number of the Institute and wait to be patched through to a human. It takes a few minutes before I hear a female voice say, "Hello. Darcy speaking. How may I help you?"
"Hi, this is Lisa Prescott," I start, already on autopilot. "My father died earlier tonight and I was wondering what the, uh, correct procedure is. In this case."
I listen attentively as Darcy explains what had happened and what should happen. She instructs me to come in tomorrow, and I set up an appointment for four o'clock. Then she informs me how sorry she is for my loss and says goodbye.
I hang up the phone, then turn it back on and wait for it to be off the hook. Then I throw it to the other side of the sofa. I know I should call my parents' friends and distant relatives, but right now I simply don't have the energy to do the polite thing.
Instead, I curl up into a ball and, shaking, start to cry.
TBC
Author: Amber (Ambino1111@prodigy.net)
Disclaimers & other notes in Part 1
Previously, in Stay Anyway...
Sam sees his ex-fiancée Lisa as she takes a tour of the White House with her son Alexander. He talks with her and they decide to go to dinner the next night. A political snafu pops up before their dinner, and they end up eating with Josh and Donna in the White House. Lisa vows to hook up Josh and Donna, the latter becoming a new friend. Sam encourages Lisa to stay so they can talk about what happened between them, and as she is singing her son to sleep in Josh's office, Sam talks with Josh and Donna. He goes ballistic when Josh asks if he still loves Lisa. Sam and Lisa decide not to talk about what happened, although Lisa rhetorically asks "How did we get here?" Flashbacks: Lisa is a dentist and first meets Sam at an appointment. Fast forward to Sam and Lisa living together. A misunderstanding occurs when Sam's plans for a surprise party make Lisa suspicious. She tracks down the woman she thinks he's having an affair with, and discovers it was Josh, who had been helping Sam plan everything. At the party, she and Josh, realizing who they are, react strangely when introduced, which makes Sam wonder. He confronts Josh, who tells him the truth. Sam tells Lisa it was all just a misunderstanding and they drop it. Back to the present, where Lisa informs Sam that she and Alex are moving to DC He offers to let her stay at his apartment until hers is ready - she says she'll think about it. Instead, she accepts Donna's offer to live with her and refuses to call Sam and tell him. Sam and Josh have a heart-to-heart about women, and Josh learns about the office-wide pool betting on when he and Donna would admit their feelings. Meanwhile, at Donna's, Lisa comforts Donna, who admits that Josh treats her like a platonic wife. Josh shows up at her apartment, drunkenly informing her of his love, and Donna makes him leave. While waiting for the cab, Josh tells Lisa that Sam still loves her. In the middle of the night, Sam comes over to Donna's and demands to know where Lisa is. He and Lisa have a huge fight that ends with Sam yelling that he loves her. Later that day, Lisa calls Sam and tells him it's over - they shouldn't even see each other anymore. At lunch, Sam decides to ask Ainsley out to dinner and she agrees. Fast forward to Lisa and Alex waiting in the mess to eat lunch with Donna. Before she arrives, Lisa meets Ainsley, who is waiting to eat with Sam. An awkward situation ensues, in which both Sam and Lisa pretend to not know each other. That Friday, HR 206 passes, and everyone is happy. Sam and Ainsley decline the invitation to celebrate with Josh, Donna, Toby, and CJ, and instead go to dinner. After dinner, Ainsley offers to cut Sam's hair. They go to his apartment, where they both change out of their rain-drenched clothes into sweatpants. While Ainsley is cutting Sam's hair, he leans forward and kisses her. A knock at the door interrupts them. It's Lisa, who has just found out that her dad died. She can't get in touch with Donna and feels overwhelmed. She takesAlex on a walk in the rain and winds up at Sam's building. Lisa admits she never stopped loving Sam. Then Ainsley opens the door to see if everything is okay, and Sam admits that Lisa is his ex-fiancée. Lisa mumbles that she's sorry and leaves. Sam is torn between staying with Ainsley and running after Lisa. He decides to stay, and Ainsley wants to know what happened.
*****
"Loneliness is everything it's cracked up to be." – Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce, M*A*S*H
*****
Stupid Ainsley. Stupid Sam. Stupid Me.
God, what was I thinking? If Sam wasn't out celebrating with Josh and Donna, then of course he was at home celebrating with Ainsley. And she even came to the door in a robe!
Oh man.
This is so monumentally bad. I shouldn't have gone over there tonight.
The only problem is, I don't know where I should have gone instead. I don't know where I should go now, either. I'm starting to feel lost, and for the first time I'm noticing how cold it is and how far apart the street lamps are.
I haven't felt this alone since Mom died. But even then, even then I had Dad. And now...
Shifting all other thoughts out of my head, I focus solely on getting back to familiar territory and getting Alex and myself warm and dry.
A thought pops into my brain from out of nowhere: Alex needs cough syrup. Yes, I remember that now. I was going to go get some when I came out in this storm. How easily the mind forgets.
"Mommy?"
"What, sweetie?"
"I'm tired."
"I know, honey. We have to stop and get some medicine, and then we'll go home. I promise Mommy will stop acting so crazy."
This satisfies Alex, and he settles back into the stroller. We cross another street, and I suddenly recognize our surroundings. If memory serves me right, there's a convenience store a block ahead.
Sure enough, a blinking neon sign indicates that Buy N Save is open. I open the door and pull the stroller in behind me. We make a beeline for the medicine section, and I put a box of Robotussin on top of Alex's stroller.
The black man at the counter smiles at me as he rings up my purchase. "Five thirteen."
I dig through my purse for a ten, but, finding none, hand him a twenty. "For future reference, would you happen to know where the nearest pharmacy is?"
"Certainly, ma'am. It's two and a half blocks southeast from here."
"Ah. Thank you." I make a mental note as I shove the change and the box in my purse and smile at the man before leaving.
Outside, the rain has let up ever-so-slightly. I pick up the pace and manage to get Alex and myself home before the next torrential downpour.
As soon as we're in the apartment, I take Alex out of the stroller. My jacket has managed to keep most of the cold water off of him, but he's still soggy. I take him to the bedroom to get some warm, dry clothes, and then head to the bathroom.
He's awake by the time the bathtub is filled with warm, sudsy water. "A baff!" He exclaims happily as I plop him in the midst of the bubbles. Usually, I love giving him baths as much as he likes taking them, but tonight there's something mechanical about my approach. I hand him his rubber duck and put a bubble on his nose. He giggles, then coughs. It tears at my heart. The poor kid.
Half an hour later he's warm, dry, and tucked cozily in his bed. Thankfully, he fell back to sleep before I could even finish dressing him. Alex is so worn out from this sudden onslaught of a cold that it makes me worry.
I don't stop worrying when I grab a sweat suit, socks, underwear, and slippers and take a long, hot shower. I hear the phone ring in the living room, but I make no move to answer it; I merely hope it doesn't wake Alex. It doesn't.
For some reason, I still can't get warm. Despite my layers of clothes, I'm still shivering. I make a pot of coffee, figuring sleep and I aren't on speaking terms anyway, and settle into the couch.
Snatching up the phone, I make two impromptu calls: one to my new work to tell them there's been a death in the family, and I'll need a few days off, and the second to Alex's preschool, to relay essentially the same message. Then I dial the all-too-familiar number of the Institute and wait to be patched through to a human. It takes a few minutes before I hear a female voice say, "Hello. Darcy speaking. How may I help you?"
"Hi, this is Lisa Prescott," I start, already on autopilot. "My father died earlier tonight and I was wondering what the, uh, correct procedure is. In this case."
I listen attentively as Darcy explains what had happened and what should happen. She instructs me to come in tomorrow, and I set up an appointment for four o'clock. Then she informs me how sorry she is for my loss and says goodbye.
I hang up the phone, then turn it back on and wait for it to be off the hook. Then I throw it to the other side of the sofa. I know I should call my parents' friends and distant relatives, but right now I simply don't have the energy to do the polite thing.
Instead, I curl up into a ball and, shaking, start to cry.
TBC