Title: Safe Bet
Chapter:
Of phone calls and to-do lists.
Summary:
Sam licked her lips, not at all sure
she wanted to get into this conversation in the middle of a mall...
Spoilers:
None
Disclaimer:
No, the show and the characters do not belong to me.
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It was still early when she woke the next morning, and the sun was just barely peaking over a breath-taking pink and orange sky. The first thing that she did when fully awake was start a pot of coffee and then head out the back door and onto the porch, to watch the sunrise. It was the perfect way to begin her downtime.
When the sky began to turn pale blue and the sun started to shine down furiously on her bare arms she went back into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. After her caffeine craving was quenched she headed for a quick shower before she officially started her day; spending no more than seven minutes under the warmth of the water.
She dressed casually: jeans, a t-shirt, and her leather jacket to top it off. She was, by the way, going to use most of the day up by driving around on her bike. What she would then do with the rest of her downtime was still an unknown factor. Maybe she would just return home and read some more... or maybe she would get started with her spring cleaning. It was about time for that, anyways.
It was nearing 0715 when she brought her bike around from the backyard. Deciding that life would be much, much easier if she had a house with a driveway and a garage she started up the motorcycle and took off down the road; in search of somewhere good for breakfast.
Not long after that she pulled into the parking lot of an IHOP, deciding that pancakes would be alright for breakfast. Since it was still very early and a week day the restaurant was pretty much empty and she was seated immediately. Forgoing another cup of coffee she settled on orange juice and simply ordered two pancakes and a side order of bacon. She wasn't in the mood for something fancy, and she wanted to get on the road as quickly as possible.
Sam was in and out of the IHOP in twenty minutes, leaving a tip that was way too high for the small bill. Not that she cared, money was like time-- all relevant. Ann extra few dollars spent wouldn't hurt her any, and it wasn't like she was blowing it all off on a pair of shoes. Or worse, a purse.
As she was preparing to take off once more her cell phone rang from its place in her pocket. With a heavy, annoyed sigh she answered, not even bothering to check the caller ID. "Carter," might as well be professional. She never knew who would be calling her phone.
"Sam, hey." It was Daniel. "You're up already..."
"If I hadn't been, I would be now." Which translated into 'What on earth, or any other planet, are you doing calling me so early in the morning?' "What's up?"
Daniel hesitated; should he tell her that he was calling to check up on her? ...Probably not... "We got word from the Tok'ra, they accepted the new alliance." It was the truth, but also something she didn't necessarily need to hear at that hour of the day.
Sam had already knew they would, "Oh... alright then. Is that all?"
Another pause, "...Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Daniel," she assured him. "Ready to get on my bike, but fine no less."
"Oh," the man replied, catching on. "I'll let you get going then. Talk to you later-- call if you need anything. Or want to talk about Jack..."
"I will," she promised. "Bye, Daniel." She hung up, turning the ring to silent and then putting on her helmet. She took off out of the parking lot, not going anywhere in general, but getting there pretty darn quickly.
XXXX
The sun was high in the sky by the time she pulled off the interstate to fill up on gas. The station she used was an older one, carrying only three, one-nozzle, regular unleaded gas, pumps. It was nearing 0930, she noted, as she paid inside the small 50's style building, when she glanced around, half expecting to see a soda fountain. She still had no clue where she was going or even if there was a specific place in her mind, but she didn't care much, all she had set out to do was drive.
When she finally stopped again it was at an empty scenic overlook, high up on the mountains. It was just after 1000 hours, so she decided to stay awhile and enjoy the view, something she had learned to appreciate in her years at the SGC; the beauty of earth. Lately she hadn't been able to do it enough, although she had plenty of time to see the beauty of other worlds. Leaning her arms on the railing, her eyes scanned the area in front of her. The mountains here were beautiful, but she suddenly found herself missing those of North Carolina, where she had lived for nearly a year while a teenager. The atmosphere there was different; being higher up in altitude, to the point of touching the clouds at times. Here there was no mist to brush against her face or cling to her hair, but it was still amazingly breath-taking. After a few minutes of watching the few wispy clouds above pass over the sun she climbed the steps to the highest overlook, and sat down on a bench facing the same direction she had been looking only moments prior, thousands of thoughts running through her mind. With everything that was going on with her life lately, it was a wonder she could even think at all.
Everything she and her father had talked about flashed briefly in her memory, before the conversation with Daniel took over, and then the phone call from Pete the night before. He was a nice guy, she was having a hard time figuring out how exactly to let him down gently. She almost started to doubt her decision to break things off, before another person tore through her thoughts, causing her stomach to fold and her throat to tighten.
"That fear, Sam... that knot in the pit of your stomach, the lump rising in your throat– that's love."
Daniel was right. She loved Jack. There was no doubting that, so there was no possible way she could continue things with Pete. She didn't even want to, it was only her nerves. She hadn't ever had to let a man down gently before. Every other time the guys had either turned out to be jerks or... died, to put it simply. Nice breakups weren't exactly her forte. How would he take it? Would he be able to accept her excuses and break away clean, or would he argue with her, try to talk her out of it?
Sighing heavily she leaned forward, resting her elbows on her thighs and rubbing her aching temples. She shouldn't dwell on how he would take it, no matter how much thinking she put into it, none of it would change his reaction. Instead, she should be enjoying the short amount of time she had away from work and the other stress-causers in her life. A snort escaped her throat, surprising her slightly, and she stood up from the bench. If she continued to sit there, she would do nothing put think. She needed to get back on her bike and begin the nearly two hour drive back into town... maybe shopping wasn't that bad of an idea, after all.
Taking the stairs down two at a time she headed back for her bike, pausing only momentarily to put on her helmet and zip up her jacket. When that was done she took off out of the parking lot for the overlook and headed back for Colorado Springs, and any sort of distraction she could find.
XXXX
She went straight for the mall, having not come up with a better idea along the way, and parked in front of Sears, which was by the food court. It was already after 1200 hours and she was beginning to get hungry once more, although it wasn't bad enough to where lunch was the first place she was headed. Sam had decided she would attempt to do the girly thing for awhile... although buying a purse was an absolute no. She had never liked the things, although a new pair of shoes didn't sound so bad. As long as they didn't have very high heals.
After nearly ten minutes of looking around (8 too many, she thought) she finally settled on a pair of black, strappy sandles. It would be getting warmer soon and at most she had two pairs of non-tennis shoes in her closet, and they were getting worn out. Then again, she really had no need for any other kind of shoe, she was almost always off-world or on the base lately. She bought the shoes, nonetheless, in hopes that maybe one day that would change.
It wasn't long after that before she found herself trying on skirts in the dressing room. Skirts were ok, she liked skirts, but dresses, for the most part, she didn't wear. Unless, she had a very good occasion for it, and even then it wasn't a choice. After settling on a cute, light blue, near the knee length skirt she checked out and headed for the food court, her hunger finally winning out.
As she was paying for her Chick-fil-A sandwich her cell phone began to ring. She ignored it for the most part, smiling awkwardly at the woman taking her order, and then went to sit down after getting her food. When she checked the phone she was relieved to see that it was Cassie who had called, not Pete-- or worse, Daniel.
She ate quickly and then went to a less crowded part of the mall to phone the girl back. Cassie picked up on the third ring, greeting her with a young, happy voice.
"Spring Break starts this Friday, you know?" she questioned after their initial hellos. "I was wondering if maybe you could get some time off from Jack... so we could spend some of it together."
"I'd love that," Sam told the girl, smiling genuinely. "I'll ask for a few days off, you can stay at the house, if you want to."
There was a slight pause, so brief that Sam almost missed it, "Will Pete be in town?"
Did Cassie not like him either? Well, that was a surprise to her, the girl had always been very nice around him. "No... I don't think he will, Cass."
"How are things in engagement land, anyway?"
Sam licked her lips, not at all sure she wanted to get into this conversation in the middle of a mall, "Not so well... I think I'm going to break it off."
"You think?" the girl repeated, not a hint of surprise in her voice.
"I am," Sam corrected. "As soon as he gets back into town."
"Which will be...?"
"I'm not sure, it's what... Wednesday?" she questioned, trying to remember the date.
"Yeah, I don't know if I want to be there when you break up with him..." Cassie confessed. "That's a bit personal."
"Well, how about you come over Sunday then? I'm sure he'll have been back and things will be done and over with by then."
"Alright," she agreed. "Sunday it is. Don't forget to ask Jack about taking some time off."
"Of course I won't," Sam promised. "I'll ask him tomorrow."
"Are you not at work today?"
"Well, no..." she replied. "It's a long story though. I'll tell you when you come over."
"Ok... well, I should head off for class then." There was a pause, longer than the previous one. "Are you alright Sam? Do you need to talk about anything? I can be late to class, my professor is cool about things like that if you're normally on time..."
"I'll be fine, Cass. Thank you for your concern though." Had it come from anybody else and Sam wouldn't have been so thankful. But Cassie was a lot like her mother in the respect that she was extremely easy to confide in. Maybe it was because of her innocence after all she had been through, or her understanding at a type of pain many people could never dream of. Sam wasn't sure. Perhaps, it was just a result of being Janet Fraiser's daughter, even if it had been for such a short time. "I'll talk to you later, get to class."
Cassie laughed lightly, "Alright, Sam. I'll call you tonight?"
"Yeah," she said. "That sounds great."
They hung up and Sam sighed, sinking into the soft chair she had been standing in front of. It was Wednesday, Pete would be home at least by Saturday, and that only gave her 2, maybe 3 days to figure out the best way to break up with him. But, on a lighter note, after that she would be spending time with her closest female friend, even if the woman was many years younger than she was. No matter how bad she would be feeling, Cassie would find a way to make things better. And besides, then maybe she could find the courage to finally talk things through with Jack, and see where she stood.
But first, she had some things to do. Sam picked up her cell phone once more and pressed number two on the speed dial, waiting for the person on the other end to pick up.
Which, he did after two rings. "Hello?" Not very professional... but it was Daniel she had called.
"Hey, Daniel... does the general have any big briefings today?" If she was right, he had one with Major Davis in roughly forty-five minutes.
"Um..." the man thought, before remembering the same thing she had been thinking. "Yeah, something to do with the Pentagon at 1400."
Good, she could sneak on base without him noticing. "Alright... I'll see you in forty minutes."
"Wait, Sam," Daniel called as she went to turn off the phone, "you're on dow--"
He didn't get the change to finish his sentence because she disconnected the call and once again turned her ringer to silent, then headed for the entrance she had come through and her ride to the SGC.
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A/N:
I don't say this often, but you guys are lucky to get this chapter today.
My laptop has died, after only four months, and I have to have it
sent off to be finished (thank God for warranties). Anyway, my
sister, who has her own computer, was out of town today so I stole
hers for a little while to write this one out for you guys. I don't
know when I'll get my laptop back, but next week I'll be gone
starting the 20th until the 24th, so if I won't
be updating then either... anyway, like I said, if Brandy hadn't been
out of town this probably wouldn't have been out today. I hope you liked it and please let me know
what you think.
