Chapter Seven
"So, what did you want to see me about?"
The sudden question caused Sami to bring her focus back into the present situation and out of her thoughts. She crossed and uncrossed her legs as she sat stiffly on the chair in her mother's office. Her utter confusion over her current feelings for Lucas was what had finally driven her to go to her mother for help. She had been sitting in the office for about five minutes and had still not gotten around to telling her mother about her problem. That was probably because Marlena seemed so distracted, rolling a letter opener around in her hands with a far-off look in her eyes.
"I need your help." Sami confessed, wishing she had found another way to solve her problem. Her pride was so important to her and she hated having to turn to her mother for assistance. It made her feel weak, especially when she knew all too well of the mistakes Marlena had made in her own love life.
Marlena arched one eyebrow curiously, "Go on."
Sami took a deep breath before continuing, "I have to make a decision about something and I don't know what to do. I have a lot to lose either way and I don't want to have to make this choice."
"What kind of choice?"
"I have to choose between someone I really care about and enough money to ensure that I never have to work again." Sami explained.
It had been several days since she had helped make the cake for Belle and with every passing day, Sami grew more torn between Lucas and the money she would receive if she won the bet. She was amazed at how sweet Lucas was still being to her. He was so patient, he was still putting up with her, for lack of a better way of describing it, screwed-upness. Without judging or condemning her, without constantly asking questions. He was incredible. And the more days that went by living with him, the more she wanted to drag him into her bedroom and have her wicked way with him. She wanted to run her fingers through his hair, to kiss him and feel his hands running all over her body. More importantly, she wanted to be able to tell him how she felt without holding back because of Brady and the horrible prospect of marrying him looming over her head.
"In what way do you care about this person? Do you love them?" Marlena inquired, tilting her head thoughtfully.
"I think so." Sami said quietly, looking at the floor.
"Then the answer is simple." Marlena replied, "Sweetie, there are lots of people in this world who have money and are very unhappy. To choose something like money over love...... well, it's really your decision to make but I think you know what the better choice would be."
"It's more complicated than that." Sami told her, "I could lose a lot more if I try and choose this person."
"I don't understand. What else could you lose by choosing this person over the money?" Marlena asked.
"I can't tell you any more." Sami said, remembering her promise to keep the bet a secret from everyone. All she knew was that if she did try and choose Lucas instead of sticking with the bet, she might lose both the money and Lucas. Especially if Brady wouldn't let it go, "I just need some advice."
Marlena shook her head sadly, "I can't really help you, especially when you know so much more about the circumstances than I do. I think you should follow your heart."
"Follow my heart?" Sami repeated, unable to keep disgust from edging into her voice, "Is that the best you can do? God, if I were one of your clients, I would demand my money back if you gave me advice like that." Sami stood up and walked towards the door in a huff.
"Well, don't come back for my help unless you're willing to treat me with more respect." Marlena called to her daughter, who was already out the door of the office. Smiling sadistically, she clenched the letter opener tightly, "Good, she's finally gone. Now, back to trying to find a way to kill Shawn."
Sami left the hospital and quickened her pace as she made her way down the crowded sidewalk. She was still trying to figure out why she had been so rude to her mother. It wasn't Marlena's fault she had gotten herself into this mess, she reminded herself. But she had needed help and Marlena telling her to follow her heart had been useless. Sami needed to think logically about this, not use her heart to help her decide.
She was so busy grumbling to herself, she ended up running into someone who had been walking in the opposite direction of her. The impact of hitting the person caused her to lurch backwards a few steps.
"Sorry." she muttered, looking up to see who see had run into. Bart regained his balance and smiled winningly at her.
"It's alright." he suddenly noticed the frustrated and angry expression on her face, "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Nothing." she returned coolly.
"Aw, come on now, Sami. Denial is not simply just a river in....." Bart scratched his head, as if deep in thought, "The country that it's in. You can tell me about it."
"If my mom can't help me figure this out, then I really don't think you'll be able to give me any helpful advice." Sami responded.
"Just give me a chance. I give people great advice all the time. In fact, some of my friends call me the 'Advice Guy'." Bart grinned at Sami and led her over to a bench at a bus stop, "Now, go ahead. I'm listening."
Sami sighed reluctantly, realizing she had nothing to lose, "Fine. I have this friend and she has to pick either a huge amount of money or the guy she thinks she's in love with."
"Friend?" Bart asked skeptically, "How does this guy she thinks she's in love with feel about her?"
"I don't- she doesn't know." Sami corrected herself.
"Well, if she doesn't know whether or not he loves her and if she doesn't even know whether or not she loves him, then that's kind of risky. Wouldn't it be safer to stick with the money?" Bart mused, his eyes crinkling at the corners like he was thinking really hard about the dilemma.
"Probably." Sami agreed, "It's probably just her imagination or some silly fantasy that this guy loves her. But it's a wonderful fantasy and if she has a chance to make it come true, then the money wouldn't matter as much."
Bart nodded slowly, "I see. Just give me a minute to think about this." he stared off into space for a good two minutes before turning his attention back to Sami.
"I know what your friend should do." he told her.
Sami rolled her eyes, "If you give me some corny, fortune-cookie advice about following my heart, I am going to hit you over the head with my purse."
Bart shot her a funny look, "Are you insane? That never works." he reached into his pocket, "No, the only thing you can do if flip a coin." Sami didn't even realize he had figured out that she was talking about herself and not a friend as she watched him take a quarter out of his pocket. He handed it to Sami.
"Here's how it works, heads you go for the guy, tails you go for the money." Bart explained.
Sami looked at the coin in her hand doubtfully, "Are you sure this is going to work?"
"Of course it's going to work." Bart said enthusiastically, "This is how I make all the important decisions in my life. The coin never lies. And let's say you get heads and you want to do two out of three to see if you'll get tails, then that means you actually want the money more than the guy."
"That makes sense, in a really messed up way." Sami looked down at the coin again and Bart huffed impatiently.
"Can you not keep me in suspense here?" he asked, his eyes trained on the quarter. Sami threw the quarter up in the air and then caught it. She moved her hand to see what the coin had landed on and her lips curved into a satisfied smile.
The coin had landed on heads.
Sami tried to give the quarter back to Bart but he shook his head, "No, keep it. It can be your lucky quarter. Whenever you don't know what to do, then flip the coin. It's never wrong."
"Okay." Sami smiled at Bart, "I have to go see someone. Thanks for the advice."
Bart nodded, "And good luck with Lucas." he added. Sami froze at his words and turned back around.
"How did you know?" she asked.
"It's all part of being the amazing, all-powerful advice guy." Bart told her.
Sami laughed, "And to think my mom is the one making a living out of telling people how to live their lives. Have you ever considered becoming a psychiatrist?"
"Nope. Because I'd be so good at it that everyone would come to me and I'd put all the other shrinks out of business." Bart replied confidently and Sami laughed again. She left Bart and headed back to her apartment building.
When Sami returned to the apartment building, she opened the door to Lucas' apartment and walked in without knocking. She found Brady and Nicole sitting on the couch, Nicole lying underneath Brady while he kissed her neck. Sami felt a sudden twinge of uncertainty. Brady looked like he was so close to losing the bet and once he did, all that money would be hers.
She smothered the idea quickly. There was a possibility that she could manage to get both Lucas and all that money but it was too dangerous. She didn't want to try and win both if in the end she ended up losing Lucas, who she realized mattered a lot more to her than any amount of money ever would.
"Brady, do you mind? I need to talk to you about something." Brady jumped when he heard Sami's voice and he made a loud thumping sound when he fell off of the couch.
"Well, make it fast. I was on my way to work before Nicole grabbed me and started trying to seduce me." Brady explained, as if making up an excuse for being in such a compromising position with Nicole.
"I'm sure that's how it happened." Sami said sarcastically, then got right to the point, "Brady, I have to talk to you in private."
Brady looked up at Sami innocently, "There's nothing you need to say to me that Nicole can't hear."
Sami glared at Brady before replying, "Fine. I'm not going to do it anymore. It's over."
"What's over?" Brady pretended not to know what she was talking about.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Sami shot back, her irritation with Brady increasing.
"Oh, that." Brady looked so arrogant at that moment, Sami had to dig her fingernails into her skin to resist going over and giving him a black eye, "Why? Is it getting too hard for you to resist Lucas' charms?"
"No." Sami snapped, going over to Brady and pulling him away so Nicole couldn't hear what they were saying, "I'm sick of him living in my apartment and I want my own personal space back. That's all. I can handle the not falling for Lucas part, I just can't handle the living with him part." she lied.
"And what I am supposed to do about that?" Brady asked, his face blank.
Sami didn't look at him, "I was hoping you'd call off the bet." she replied.
Brady frowned, "If you want to call off the bet, I'm all for it. But you still have to marry me."
"What?" Sami exploded, staring at Brady in horror.
"If you forfeit, then I automatically win, meaning you have to marry me." Brady added, crossing his arms over his chest, "So, what's it going to be, Sami? Are you going to stick it out and see if you can worm your way out of marrying me? Or are you going to give up and become Mrs. Brady Black?"
"You're disgusting and I hate you." Sami said, her face turning a violent colour. She didn't need to flip a coin to know what choice to make this time, "I will not marry you. Ever. I guess I'm just going to have to put up with Lucas for the remaining five weeks because I'd never give you that satisfaction."
Sami hated knowing that she had thought about it so hard and finally reached the right decision, then ended up back at square one. She was going to have to go another five weeks without Brady knowing that she was falling for Lucas. As if the first three weeks hadn't been bad enough. But she marched out of the apartment purposely, determined not to let Brady win this bet.
Brady smirked at Sami's retreating figure. He knew he was sort of being a jerk but he couldn't help it. After Sami had spent the past few weeks insulting him and treating him like crap, he wasn't going to do her any favours. Besides, despite his growing attraction for Nicole, he knew he could win this bet. Then Sami would marry him and he would have the chance to make her even more miserable. For the time being, he was content with pissing her off whenever their paths crossed in the apartment building. And if Lucas was unknowingly helping him inflict torture on Sami, then Brady wasn't going to complain.