Nicole drove Jan to Sami's apartment building, showed Jan the way to Sami's apartment, then stepped back to let Jan do the rest. Nicole didn't mind doing a little bit of work to help reunite Sami and Lucas because for one thing, Sami had proved to be tolerable and even fun at times, and for another thing, Jan wanted to get them back together. After all the favours Jan had done for Nicole, Nicole knew it was only fair to give a little bit back every now and then.
After knocking several times, Jan was met with silence from Sami's side of the door. Jan gave an impatient huff and rapped her knuckles against the door more noisily.
"Sami, why won't you open the door?" Jan called, "Don't you want to see us?"
Another short stretch of time went by before a muffled voice responded, "No, I don't. Go away."
"No," Jan replied, checking to see if the door was locked. It was. "We just want to talk to you and we're not going to leave until you let us."
Minutes passed, but finally Sami opened the door slowly, "You are annoying. If having two bisexual boyfriends can't keep you preoccupied enough to stop you from bothering people, then I don't think anything can."
Jan chose to look past the scowl contorting Sami's face and looked into Sami's eyes instead. The deadness in Sami's gaze made her look as if she was closed off from everything, as if she didn't care anymore. Just looking at the expression on Sami's face let Jan know that she must have underestimated the brutality of the fight Lucas and Sami had engaged in.
"We don't want to bother you. We just want to know what's happening with you and Lucas." Jan stated, peering inside at the flickering television screen, "Hey, what are you watching? Is it porn?"
"No." Sami replied, shooting Jan a disgusted look.
Visibly disappointed, Jan sighed, "Okay, then I don't want to watch."
Jan slid past Sami and walked over to the couch. She sat down, making a big show of ignoring the television screen .
"Now you need to explain to us why you're so upset." Jan instructed Sami.
"It's nothing you need to worry about." Sami tried to laugh, to make it look like she wasn't hurt. "I've never felt better. I don't need Lucas anyways. There are plenty of other people I could have."
"Oh, please. Maybe you could get your little sister, Belle, to buy that but we're not stupid." Jan spoke up, looking down at Sami with disdain, "I'm sure you'll feel less shitty once the three of us give you advice."
"I doubt that, but fine." Relenting, Sami proceeded to tell them what had happened. She filled them in on the details calmly, carelessly, as if she had been an outsider simply watching the argument.
"So, he wouldn't quit his job. He got mad and said I didn't trust him. I lost my temper, started yelling, called him a slut and left." Sami finished, her throat suddenly feeling tight. Even though she had told the story in a completely objective and unmoved way, she still felt raw and exposed and she hated it.
Jan, Nicole and Crystal didn't speak for a few minutes and Sami was thankful for that. Then Jan's voice sliced through the air with one piercing question.
"What are you going to do to get him back?"
Sami made a frustrated noise and threw her hands up in the air, "Did you hear a word I just said? Lucas is the one who won't quit his job because he doesn't even try to see how I feel about it. He doesn't get that I feel like I'm not the only one who he's giving himself to when he gets on that stage. He hurt me. I'm not going to go back to him and make some sort of compromise that will make me feel like I've been cheated out of something in the long run." Her eyes turned liquid and she turned her head to the side, not wanting them to see her cry.
"But I'm sure you hurt him too." Jan reminded her.
"I don't care," Sami sniffed, "That wouldn't have happened if he hadn't hurt me first."
"You both hurt each other," Jan concluded, "That's what happens when you're in love with someone. People in love hurt each other sometimes but then they go back and make it all better and everything feels perfect again. They fight over stupid things, like Belle, then they realize they shouldn't be fighting and make up and start giving each other head..." Jan trailed off dreamily, losing herself in her own thoughts for a moment before returning to reality and to Sami's dilemma.
"First of all, don't compare me and Lucas to Phillip and Shawn" Sami's voice shook with her next words, "Second of all, I only let people hurt me in moments of weakness. I don't like feeling weak. I'm not going to let Lucas degrade me like that ever again. If he wants to keep his job, then fine, fuck him."
Jan didn't know how to respond to that and Nicole and Crystal didn't make a move to help her.
It didn't matter to Sami though. She surged forward like a bulldozer, "His job should not be more important to him than I am. His job is disgusting and wrong. I refuse to be with someone who works there. Anyone who can strip there and even consider having a relationship with a woman is despicable. And any woman willing to try and have a long-lasting, dedicated relationship with a stripper has no dignity or values. I don't want to lose either of those things, so until Lucas quits his job, I can't take anymore chances."
Without speaking, Jan rose from the couch and walked out of Sami's apartment. Nicole and Crystal turned to face Sami distastefully after they had finished watching Jan leave.
"Good one," Nicole shook her head, "Insulting Jan when she was trying to help you was a really smart thing to do, now wasn't it?"
"I didn't insult her."
"Yes, you did." Nicole shot back, "If you think women who date strippers are horrible, then it's obvious you have a pretty low opinion of Jan. She's in love with two of the strippers at Unzipped."
"She should have known I wasn't talking about her. I wasn't even thinking about her when I said it."
"You still said it and you're wrong," Nicole responded angrily, "Even if Jan's values are as twisted as yours and mine, they're still there. You owe both her and Lucas an apology."
"I don't owe Lucas anything." Sami said.
"I'm not arguing with you about this," Nicole's eyes narrowed, "Maybe you don't owe Lucas an apology for wanting him to quit his job, but you do owe him one for calling him a slut. We'll work out the rest after you finish saying sorry to Lucas and Jan."
"I don't have to do anything you tell me to do." Sami snapped haughtily.
"Look, I know we haven't always gotten along very well," Sami snorted at the understatement, "Then you kept sitting with us at the club and it really wasn't that bad. You were actually pretty easy to be around, surprisingly enough. Since we kind of became friends, I want you to make up with Lucas. I don't want you to keep sulking inside this apartment and watching television that isn't even porn, because that's a depressing way to live your life. Come back to the club with us. Talk to Lucas. Maybe you'll even find a way to convince him to quit tonight."
"Good luck trying," Crystal spoke for the first time since entering Sami's apartment, "See, this is why I'm with Nicole. Women understand each other better and know what other women need. It's easier not to fight with women."
"That's true on most occasions," Nicole agreed, "But I'm a woman and I still don't understand Sami."
Crystal's face fell, "Does this mean we can't give her pity sex?"
Sami squirmed under Crystal and Nicole's calculating stares, "I don't think we have to understand her to give her pity sex." Nicole decided.
"I just wouldn't accept it." Sami mumbled, scooting away from Nicole and Crystal.
"Oh, that's right. I forgot you were straight for a minute there," Nicole sighed, "You and Lucas really do need to wake up and smell the bisexuality, Sami."
"Maybe some other time," Sami stood up. Very uncomfortable with the topic at hand, Sami searched desperately for a distraction, "So, are we going to the club or not?"
The words flew from Sami's mouth before she had a chance to stop herself. As soon as she said them, she froze. She couldn't actually go to the club. She couldn't be in the same room with Lucas yet. She couldn't talk to him again after what had happened that morning. It was too soon; she needed time to pull herself together, to let go of more of the pain still lodged in her stomach. She needed at least a week. Actually, a month sounded even better.
Nicole and Crystal had also stood up and were leading Sami out of her apartment. Sami's feet moved numbly while her mind screamed at her to stop. She tried to force her protests out of her mouth but they stayed trapped in her chest. She couldn't do anything but move forward as Nicole and Crystal walked with her towards the door to her apartment.
