Love and Marriage

Chapter Fifty-Two

Sam headed to the elevator on her way to visit someone. Approaching the elevators, she saw that person enter into an empty one. She quickly picked up her pace so that she squeezed into the elevator before the door closed. "Hello." She greeted with a smirk.

Bethany looked over at Samantha and gave a nervous smile. "Hi." She didn't want to be stuck alone in an elevator with Samantha. But she consoled herself by realizing that it was only a short elevator ride and then they could go their separate ways.

"You know I was actually just coming to see you." She continued giving Bethany that fake smirk. She could tell that Bethany was nervous to be around her and was glad. She should be nervous to be around her—nervous and scared.

"Oh really?" Bethany asked. "Two visits in two days? Wow. I feel special now."

Sam chuckled politely at the attempt of sarcasm Bethany had used. "You should feel special. There are few people in this world that can anger me the way you do. It's almost like a gift."

The elevator had started to move and Sam knew that this was her best chance to talk to Bethany alone and without the prying ears of the office gossip mill. She didn't want to waste such a golden opportunity. So she reached over and pressed the stop button, causing the elevator to abruptly come to a halt.

"What'd you do that for?" Bethany exclaimed. She moved to press the button and get the elevator running again, but Samantha blocked her path.

"Don't even think about it." Sam warned, smiling sweetly. "I just want to have a little girl talk with you and what better time than now?"

"About?" Bethany already knew what it was about. She was obviously upset about the fact that she spread the news of her night with Martin around the office. Of course that was the point. She wanted to make Samantha upset and was glad to see her plan was working—maybe a little too well.

"Still playing the innocent card? You might want to stop that. It's not effective anymore." Sam chuckled. "You know what I want to talk to you about. Why do you feel the need to spread such garbage around the office?"

"Looks like you're still playing the denial card." Bethany chuckled. "Maybe it's time you stopped that. It's not garbage. It's the truth." Bethany defended. "Martin and I spent the night together and, whether or not you want to believe it or not, we slept together. So deal with it."

She rolled her eyes. "Ok. Let's say for a moment that Martin actually did sleep with you." She decided to humor Bethany for a moment. "How sad is it that he had to be doped up on pain medication and drunk in order to touch you?"

Bethany didn't really have an answer for that so she stayed silent.

Sam smirked. "What's the matter? Did I strike a nerve?"

"No." Bethany grinned. "I was just thinking about how great it will be once you take that job in Houston and leave Martin here all by himself. He's going to need someone to look out for him."

"Martin isn't a little kid. He's old enough to take care of himself and doesn't need someone like you taking advantage of his niceness. He's a good guy—one of the very few that are out there in this world. He's nice to everyone and has a big, caring heart. That's probably one of the things that have attracted you to him. But somewhere along the way you've misread that compassion that he has for everyone with a romantic interest in you." Sam calmly explained.

"No matter what may have happened that night, no matter if I take that job in Houston and move there without him, no matter what happens with our marriage, he doesn't like you as anything more than a friend and never will—especially now that you're so actively pursuing him. If I were you I would focus on someone who is actually single and is available."

"Well the next time I feel like taking dating advice from you I'll just buy your book. What's it called?" She pretended to think for a moment before grinning. "Oh yeah. It's 'How to be a Cold-Hearted Bh'."

Sam couldn't believe the nerve of this woman! How dare she! It took every single ounce of willpower she had to stop herself from causing Bethany serious bodily harm. Instead, she channeled that energy into a huge smile. "You think you're funny, don't you."

Bethany smirked. "Perhaps."

"Well let me tell you a little secret." Sam leaned in closer to her. "You're not. And you know what else you're not? You're not Martin's type."

"Neither are you." Bethany replied.

Sam had a very witty comeback to that but felt a wave of dizziness come over her. She stumbled back and grabbed onto the side of the elevator in order to steady herself. She wasn't sure what had caused her dizziness. But it left just as quickly as it came. She looked over at Bethany, who didn't look concerned in the slightest. "I'm fine thank you for asking."

"I don't care." Bethany smiled, using this opportunity to brush past Samantha and get the elevator moving again.

Sam was still trying to recover from her bout of dizziness and decided to let Bethany go—for now. But this wasn't over.

The elevator opened and Bethany was the first one out. She was glad that she made it through the elevator ride without being physically harmed and decided to make it a priority to stay away from Samantha from now on.

Danny walked away from the guy he was talking to and headed straight for Martin's desk. "Did you really sleep with Bethany?" He asked without any kind of preamble.

Martin looked up at him. "Where did that come from?"

"Answer the question." Danny commanded. "Did you sleep with her?"

"I don't know." Martin admitted. "I don't remember much about that night. I passed out at some point and then all I remember is waking up in her bed. She claims we slept together but I don't think so. And why are you asking me that anyway?"

"Because there's a story going around the office gossip mill today about how you and Bethany spent a wild, passionate night together." Danny explained.

"She's doing what?" He exclaimed, furious that she would go around telling everyone about something that most likely didn't happen.

"Apparently everyone seems to know about it." Danny told him.

"I can't believe the nerve of that woman." Martin shook his head. He was angry with her for spreading that around the office because that was unprofessional and rude. But he was also mad at himself for putting himself in a position where this could happen. Sam wouldn't be happy about this when she found out through the gossip mill.

Danny threw his arms up. "I knew I shouldn't have left you alone with her!"

"It's not your fault." Martin assured him. "It's my fault for mixing pain medication with beer. It wasn't a good idea and only landed me in trouble."

"You're lucky to be alive then." Danny commented. "That combination can kill you."

"I know." Martin nodded.

He sighed heavily. "How's Sam handling all of this?"

"I don't know." Martin shrugged his shoulders. "She only partially believes me. I think this whole thing with Bethany really pushed her to accept the job in Houston."

"So she's really taking the job then?" He didn't want to see his friend go and didn't want to see their marriage fall apart, but maybe it would be better this way. Who was he kidding? Of course it wouldn't be better this way. Martin without Sam was like having a peanut butter sandwich without the jelly. It just wasn't the same.

"Yeah." He looked at his watch. She had told him that she would be talking to Van Doren as soon as she got to work. "She's probably already talked to Van Doren about it."

"So are you two…" Danny let his question trail off, not wanting to ask outright if their marriage was over.

"We're taking a break." Martin explained. "She's gonna go down to Houston, get settled, and then we'll probably try again."

"How long of a break are we talking about?"

"I don't know." Martin hoped it wouldn't be for very long. "She's going to take Claire with her."

"How's Claire taking the news?" He imagined that it would be rough on his goddaughter to move to a new state without her father.

"We haven't told her yet." Martin stated. "We're putting that off until it's absolutely necessary to tell her."

"Good luck with that." Danny slapped his friend's shoulder in encouragement.

"Thanks." He had a feeling they could use all the luck they could get.