Love and Marriage

Chapter Forty-Eight

That day, Sam took the girls out to lunch and then to the zoo before taking Sarah back home. But when they got there, Claire and Sarah double-teamed her and Sarah's mother, convincing them to let Claire spend the night there. Originally she wasn't going to let Claire spend the night at Sarah's but couldn't deny her that since they'd be moving away soon. Claire should get to spend as much as time as possible with her best friend before they moved.

She had called Martin to tell him that and to also tell him that she was going to go run some errands before returning. He seemed glad that Claire was spending the night at Sarah's and she couldn't help but wonder why. She sincerely hoped that they weren't going to have another long talk about why she shouldn't move to Houston. She didn't have the strength to fight with him right now, especially considering the confrontation she had just had with Bethany.

Sam drove up to Bethany's apartment building and found a parking spot close to the entrance. She took that little bit of good luck to mean that coming here was a good idea. Getting out of the car and approaching Bethany's apartment, she took a deep breath before knocking.

"Just a minute!" Came the reply from inside the apartment. Bethany opened the door with a huge smile on her face and her wallet in her hands. "Oh. You're not the pizza guy." The smile on her face faded when she saw Samantha standing there.

"No, but I did come to deliver a message to you." Sam smirked.

"Oh really?" Bethany asked, acting innocent. "What could that message possibly be?"

"Stay away from Martin." Her voice was dark and threatening.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about." Bethany lied.

"I know that you were with him last night. I know that he was here instead of at home where he belonged." Sam explained.

"Yes he was here." Bethany smiled, crossing her arms across her chest. "But I made sure that he felt right at home here."

"Oh I'm sure you did." She gave her a fake smile. "You're been after my husband for a very long time now. I'm actually surprised that you've managed to be so patient. Most people would've given up after a year, but I guess you just have no pride or morals."

"I'm just persistent. When I see something I want, I go after it and I don't stop 'til it's mine." Bethany explained.

"Just like a dog with a bone." Sam commented sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes at Samantha's comment. "But my persistence is finally paying off." Bethany gloated with a huge smile on her face.

"You have to know that he doesn't want you." Sam pointed out.

"He did last night." Bethany grinned. Messing around and playing games with Samantha's head was fun and she decided to have a little more fun. "More than once actually."

It took every bit of reserve within her to keep from punching Bethany and she was glad that she didn't have her gun with her or else she would probably end up on trial for murder.

"You know, last night was amazing—probably the best sex of my life." Bethany knew that it was dangerous to keep lying about having sex with Martin. But it was much more damaging to his marriage than the truth, which was that he passed out in her car and only woke up once during the night. During his moment of consciousness the story behind Samantha moving to Houston spilled from his lips, spreading hope for her that she could maneuver a place in his life once his wife left. After he shared that information with her, he passed out again—this time not waking up until the next morning.

His incapacitated nature had provided her with a golden opportunity though. She had undressed him and left little clues to suggest something had happened between them—like tearing off one of his shirt buttons and smearing lipstick on the collar of his shirt. She had to make it believable since she wanted to make it look like there was evidence of a romantic tryst that never actually occurred.

As angry as she was, Sam couldn't help but laugh at Bethany's statement. "That's funny. It obviously couldn't have been that good because he doesn't even remember it." She continued to laugh even as Bethany was obviously getting angry. "You must not have been as good to him as I am because I'm sure he remembers every single time we've been together."

"Why are you here?" Bethany asked, not in the mood to gloat anymore.

"To tell you that you need to stay away from Martin." Sam growled.

"Why do you care? Aren't you moving to Houston soon anyway?" Bethany asked, hoping to catch Samantha off-guard by bringing up information that she knew this woman didn't think she would have.

"How did you know that?" Sam asked, curious about how Bethany knew about the job in Houston.

"Martin told me last night." Bethany explained. "But let me assure you that it was the only time he mentioned you."

She couldn't believe that Martin had told this woman about the job in Houston. Deciding that didn't matter right now, she recovered from her confusion quickly. "It doesn't matter if I move to Houston or stay in New York. I want you to stay away from Martin or else…"

"Or else what?" Bethany chuckled. "Are you threatening me or something?"

"Or something is more like it." Sam replied, crowding her personal space and getting into her face. "Let's just say you won't like what happens if you keep messing with him. I've been way too nice to you for way too long and I'm getting tired of being nice. So I'd watch out if I were you because you're gonna get what's coming to you. I don't know when, don't know where, and don't know how, but I do know this. Karma is a bitch." She gave Bethany one last fake smile before turning and leaving.

Even now, as she was on her way home, she wasn't sure what drove her to go visit Bethany and confront her. Maybe it was some instinctual possessiveness that she felt over Martin, maybe it was her way of expressing the anger that she was afraid to show towards Martin for his idiotic behavior last night, or maybe she was finally just so pissed off at Bethany that she had reached her breaking point. Maybe it was all three reasons combined. The fact remained that she had gone over there and confronted Bethany. Perhaps it wasn't the best thing to do though.

Some of the things Bethany had said to her were upsetting. Although she knew that there was a very good chance that she was lying about sleeping with Martin and that it was possible he had passed out before anything had happened between them, she still couldn't help but feel betrayed and also confused about why Martin would tell Bethany about the transfer to Houston. She could understand telling Danny because he was a mutual friend and would try to help them. But Bethany? Why her? She decided to believe that he had told her that because he was drunk—not because he was trying to show Bethany that he would be available soon. Despite everything that's happened between them, Martin still loved her. She had to believe that. It was too painful to think otherwise.