After several blissful minutes of watching Shawn's sexy stripping show, Jan felt a hand grab her arm, bringing her out of her special Shawn zone. Jan turned and almost jumped out of her seat when she saw that the hand which had just taken hold of her arm belonged to none other than Sami Brady.
"Why are you here? You're supposed to be getting some hot Lucas action right now!" Jan exclaimed without giving Sami a chance to speak.
"Is that the result you were aiming for?" Sami put her hands on her hips, her mouth tight with anger, "I hate to disappoint you but your little scheme, whatever the hell it was, had the exact opposite effect. Now Lucas and I are worse off than we were before, thanks to you three."
"That's impossible," Jan's mind reeled with Sami's announcement, "Our plan was impossible to screw up. How in the world did you manage to mess things up so quickly? You and Lucas must have more issues than I thought."
"I don't have enough patience to listen to your criticism at the moment," Sami told the younger woman. "What I do want is for you to get your ass outside and tell me exactly what you did."
Jan turned to the two empty seats beside her wistfully. Nicole and Crystal had abandoned their chairs to get drinks at the bar earlier that night. Jan twirled around so she was facing the bar, checking to see what the two of them were doing. Both of them looked very distracted, Crystal in particular, who was happily doing body shots off of Nicole. Relenting, Jan decided to let them be and deal with Sami on her own this time.
"Let's go then," Jan stood and began heading towards the doors.
Once outside, Jan tried to calm Sami down, "First of all, you shouldn't be upset with us. We were only trying to do you a favour."
Looking only a tiny bit mollified, Sami responded, "If you say so. I just want to know what you had to do with what happened tonight."
"It wasn't that big of a deal," Jan said modestly, "Nicole, Crystal and I just bribed Bonnie to fire Lucas. Then we phoned you and told you. That's it."
"You made it sound like he quit," Sami accused.
"That wasn't intentional at all," Jan lied, coughing into her hand guiltily.
Sami glared at Jan for a few more minutes, "Whatever. You just- you just shouldn't have done it."
"Why not?" Jan asked, "What went wrong? Our plan was perfect."
"Not with Kate around," Sami held her forehead in her hand, looking more sad than angry now, "She managed to convince Lucas that I don't trust him at all. She told him I talked Bonnie into firing him. Lucas doesn't want to have anything to do with me. But I can't lose him, I can't. I have to find a way to make him see that I trust in our feelings for each other."
"Do you know how you're going to do that?"
"No," Sami returned in a strangled voice, "I don't know what to do at all. It feels hopeless. He was only going to believe that I trusted him if I tried to make things work with him while he was working at Unzipped."
"Then it was hopeless from the first night you saw him on stage in his sexy little g-string," Jan stated reasonably. "From day one, you wanted him to quit his job and always made it clear that you wouldn't date a stripper. You have never trusted him with his job."
"It isn't just about not trusting him," Sami shot back, her eyes filled with desperation, "I can't stand knowing that all those women are seeing him in the same way I see him. They might as well be looking at everything he physically has to offer. Nothing about him is mine when he dances in this damn club. It isn't fair. None of those other bitches are in love with him, they shouldn't get to see him when he's undressed." A well of emotionally distraught tears overflowed and once Sami felt the wetness sliding down her cheeks, she sank to the ground, propped up against the wall of the building for support.
Jan knelt down next to Sami and touched her shoulder, trying to console her, "Maybe you just need to look at things from a different perspective."
Wiping her eyes with a quavering hand, Sami peered up at Jan with a liquid gaze, "How do you do it, Jan? If you really are in love with Phillip and Shawn, how can you stand watching them strip night after night when you know that all those other women are seeing all the same things you see, the things that only you should get to see?"
Jan took a moment to find the perfect wording, then answered, "No matter how much everyone else gets to see, I know they don't get to touch Phillip and Shawn, and I know Phillip and Shawn don't want to touch anyone but me and each other. It feels good to be the one going home with Shawn and Phillip after one of their shifts, because I know that there are many others that want what I have."
Sami rubbed her eyes and sniffled, "I never thought about it like that."
"You should have seen it this way from the very beginning," Jan told her. "Think of it like this: there was this one really expensive car that a lot of women walked by and wanted to have. But no one but you had what it took to afford the car."
"That's stupid. Lucas isn't anything like a car," Sami retorted contradictorily, "He's a human being, not something I want to own. I want to be with Lucas for more than just his looks. I also want to be with him because he is the sweetest, most wonderful man I've ever known. No one understands me the way he does, and I know it's the same for him with me."
"Then that's just one more thing you have over every other woman in Salem. You know exactly how amazing he is on the inside." Jan took a deep breath, "Are you ready to trust Lucas completely?"
The idea of trusting Lucas completely was enough to jar Sami out of her hopeful state of mind. She had trusted Lucas for the last few months, but it had been years since she had trusted him, or anyone else, whole-heartedly. Lucas had hurt her many times in the past, but she knew he loved her now. All he wanted in exchange for his love and trust was hers. She had to give that to him if she wanted to hold on to him.
"I- I think so," Sami stammered nervously.
Jan faced Sami, her normally mischievous and playful expression now totally serious, "Don't think. Know. Honestly, Sami, you can look at him when he's looking at you and see how much he loves you in his eyes. You can't possibly believe he wants anyone else when he feels the way he does about you."
Sami knew Jan was right. She managed a genuine smile before replying, "You're right. I do trust him. I trust him with my whole heart."
"Good," Jan looked at the club's entrance meaningfully, "Then you know what you have to do to show Lucas that, don't you?"
Sami followed Jan's gaze to the doors. She could see the lights flash and hear the music blaring through the walls. She knew what Jan wanted her to do. Even though she trusted Lucas, every atom in her body cried out in protest when she thought about carrying out the plan Jan wanted her to carry out.
"Isn't there another way I could get him back?" Jan and Sami's eyes met again, and Sami could tell Jan understood right away.
"It's the best way," Jan answered, making Sami recall all of Jan's assurances from that night to help her make her decision.
"It is the best way," Sami finally agreed, knowing Lucas would be worth the sacrifice she was going to make, "I have to do this."
After Jan stood up, she helped Sami to her feet. "Good. We can get Nicole and Crystal, then go find Bonnie right away."
Jan and Sami went back in through the club's entrance, but Sami stopped Jan before she could go any further, "Jan?"
"Yeah?"
Sami smiled at her gratefully, "Thank you."
Jan returned the smile easily, "That's what friends are for," she replied warmly before walking further into the club to find Nicole and Crystal.
