A Fool To Think
Chapter Eight
For the next month, Sam did her very best to avoid Martin at all costs. She didn't like the fact that she was starting to doubt his guilt and figured that avoiding him would prevent her from second-guessing her past actions.
Because what if she was wrong ten years ago? What if, by some miracle, Martin was somehow innocent? That would mean that she was a fool and that everything she's been through has been in vain. She wasn't sure that she could handle that. So avoiding him and putting up a defensive wall against him was the best solution. But what if?
She wasn't even sure if it was possible for Martin to be innocent. Although she didn't catch him in the act, she saw the proof and it all added up. Everything pointed to him. The only thing that didn't make sense was why? Why would he do something like that to her, especially since he knew what her step-father did to her and what Alex tried to do to her?
The only reason she agreed to go out for drinks with the rest of the team after the end of a hard case was because Danny convinced her to go and try to relax. She didn't want to spend time outside of work socializing with Martin, but Danny was very convincing. So she was at a nearby bar with everyone. She was still nursing her first beer, while Martin, Vivian and Jack were already on their second drink. Danny was on his third water.
Jack looked over and noticed that Sam hadn't touched her beer. "Sam, how is it that Danny's on his third water, and the rest of us are almost ready for a third round but you are still on your first of the night? Are you just not a big drinker or can you not hold your alcohol?"
"A little bit of both." Sam nervously replied, unable to keep from glancing over at Martin.
When Jack asked Sam that question, Martin couldn't help but look at her and wait for her reply. He of course knew the answer. Sam rarely ever drank, and if she did, it was in the privacy of her own home with people she trusted. That incident with Alex made her think twice about drinking at any type of party or large group.
He could understand why though. She had a bad habit of being a target for creeps. Her father left her when she was six, her stepfather was a horrible man who finally ended up in prison where he belonged, and then Alex was terrible.
It occurred to him that Sam would probably put him on her list of creeps even though he was nothing like the men in her past. That bothered him because he thought that she knew he was nothing like them. Apparently though, he had done something to her so bad that it caused him to be on her creep list.
His gaze met with hers as she answered Jack's question and he knew that she was thinking about that whole incident.
Martin tried his hardest to find out the identity of the mystery woman from the party, but it seemed like no one knew who she was. By Monday morning he had almost given up any hope of finding her. That was until he went to his criminal evidence class.
Usually he was late to that class and just sat in the back. Today he was actually a few minutes early but he still sat in the back. While he was opening up his notebook so that he could pretend to take notes, he saw a girl walk into the classroom. He noticed that he had blonde hair, but he didn't look twice at her because she had her hair in a bun and wasn't dressed in 'cool' clothes.
She didn't seem like the same type of girl who was at the party Friday night. It wasn't until she turned and he caught a glimpse of her face that he realized it was the same girl. He'd recognize those brown eyes anywhere.
He was about ready to get out of his seat and go talk to her when the professor entered the room and started lecturing. With a sigh he realized that he would have to wait until class was over to talk to her. He found it difficult to pay attention to the professor while he was talking. His full attention was focused on the back of the mystery girl's head as he tried to think of a good way to approach her.
The fifty-minute class seemed to last for hours, but it eventually ended and Martin quickly gathered up his books so that he could go talk to the girl. Luckily for him, she was still packing up her notebook and stuffing her pen into a zippered compartment of her backpack. When she stood up and saw him standing there, she froze.
She wasn't expecting to see him standing there. Of course she had known that he was in her criminal justice class, but she didn't expect him to come over and talk to her. She bit her lip out of nervousness and waited for him to say something because she wasn't sure what to say in this situation. Maybe some kind of thank you?
"Hey." He greeted with a small smile.
"Hi." She greeted back, not returning his smile. Her ability to talk returned. "I probably should thank you for what you did Friday. I really do appreciate it."
"It was no problem." He assured her. "I just didn't want to see you get hurt. I was hoping that I would get a chance to make sure you were ok, but you left in a hurry."
"I just wanted to get out of there." She told him.
"I guess that's understandable." Martin nodded.
"Well I have to get going." She moved to pass him.
"Wait!" He called out, making her stop.
"What?" She turned around to face him.
"Do you have to leave right now?" He was hoping that he could talk to her a little more. Even though he didn't know her very well and didn't even know her name yet, he strangely felt connected to her.
She knew that she should say yes. She should just leave right now and avoid men for the rest of her life. Maybe join a convent or something so that she wouldn't subject herself to more heartbreak.
But something about this guy made her never want to leave. Perhaps it was the eyes, or his smile. Whatever it was, it made her feel nervous—in a good way. "Why do you want to know?"
"I was hoping that maybe we could go somewhere and talk." He told her.
"Talk about what?" She asked, still slightly suspicious about him.
"Well we could start with exchanging names." He grinned.
"I'm Samantha." She told him, realizing that he didn't recognize her from all of the other classes that they had been in together.
"And I'm Martin." So Samantha was her name. It was a beautiful name and he was glad to have a name to go with a face.
"Yeah, I know." She saw the look of confusion on his face about how she knew his name and decided to explain. "We've had a lot of classes together the past couple of years."
"We have?" He didn't remember seeing her in any of his other classes.
"Yes." She told him, listing them on her hand. "Spanish, English, criminal investigation, criminal law, sociology…"
"Ok, I get the idea." He cut her off embarrassed that he didn't remember her. "I'm sorry that I don't remember you."
"It's ok." She shrugged it off. "I'm used to it. I'm a pretty forgettable person."
"I don't think that's true." He objected.
"You forgot me." She pointed out.
"True, but that was before I actually talked to you. Now that I've talked to you, I don't think I'll ever forget who you are." He explained.
She smiled and shook her head. This guy was different, she could see that already. He was genuine, and that was refreshing. She hoped she wouldn't regret this. "You wanna grab a coffee or something?"
"Sure." He smiled. They walked over to the student center and bought coffee from the little coffee shop next to the bookstore. He insisted on paying for her coffee while she found a table for them to sit at.
"Thanks." She said as he sat her coffee on the table.
"No problem." He said as he sat down across from her. "So how come I haven't seen you around much?"
"I'm not a very outgoing person. I don't go out and party a lot." She explained. "The only reason I was at that party was because my roommate dragged me there."
"Well I'm sorry that it ended so badly. Alex is a complete and total jerk. I wouldn't be surprised if you're not the first girl that he's tried that with." Martin vented. He was still angry with Alex and was looking in ways to get him kicked out of the fraternity.
"It was my own fault. I drank a little bit too much of the punch…"
"It wasn't your fault." He interrupted. The fact that she thought this was her fault made him upset. "It was Alex's fault. As soon as he heard you say that you didn't want to he should have stopped. That's what a guy who respects women would do. That's what I'd do."
"Well then I guess you're just special because most guys don't respect women." She sighed.
"I was just always taught that women should be respected and protected. They should be treated like queens." He told her.
She smiled. "I guess you really are special."
He smiled at that comment. The fact that she thought he was special made him really happy. "Please don't blame yourself because it really wasn't your fault." He hated to think that she would blame herself for Alex's actions.
"Maybe it was and maybe it wasn't." She said, not wanting to talk about this anymore. "So what's your major?"
"Criminal justice." He replied, realizing that she wanted to stop talking about that night. "And you?"
"Same." She replied. "What do you want to do with that degree?"
"I'm hoping to go into the FBI." He told her, expecting the usual oohs and ahhs that girls told him once he said he wanted to be in the FBI.
She laughed. "So am I."
His interest was piqued. "Really?"
"Yeah." She laughed again.
"That's so…wow." That feeling he had of being connected to her was only growing stronger every minute he spent with her. That day they spent the entire afternoon together, talking about themselves and laughing about silly things. He skipped a class just so that he could spend more time with her because sitting in the student center talking to her was the most fun that he had in months.
"Well, I guess this is where I call it a night." Sam sighed, getting up from her seat and placing some money on the table to cover her bill.
"Already?" The gang questioned.
"Yeah. I'm pretty tired." Sam told them. She was tired. That wasn't a lie, but she also just wanted to be alone for a while.
"Goodbye then." Everyone said their goodbyes.
She walked out of the bar and headed to her car. Since she'd only had half of a beer she was walking out to her car when she heard Martin call out her name.
He caught up to her and watched as she looked at him curiously.
"What do you want?" She asked.
"I…I just wanted…why won't you talk to me?" He asked. This was his first real opportunity to be alone with her and get her to talk to him in almost a month. He intended on getting at least one answer to all the questions he had. "Why do you keep avoiding me?"
"Because we're not friends anymore. We're just co-workers and that's all we'll ever be." She told him. It hurt her to think that they would never be anything other than friends, but it was true. She wasn't sure she could open her heart to him again.
"Why can't we at least be friends again?" He asked. He missed everything about her, but it was her friendship that he missed most of all. He missed the way they would stay up for hours talking in bed about their hopes and dreams. They'd talk about what they wanted out of life and how they wanted to achieve it. They'd laugh and joke around with each other, and usually the joking would result in a huge tickle fight. He missed that.
She had heard enough of his innocent act. Why was he so insistent on pretending that he didn't know what he had done? "Martin, just admit it! Just admit what you did! Stop playing dumb and just admit that you were the one behind the whole website!"
"What website?" He questioned. He'd never had a website. So what was she talking about?
"Agh!" She exclaimed angrily, walking away from him and heading to her car.
Martin was so intrigued by this new piece of information that he didn't follow her and press her to elaborate. So whatever she was mad about had to do with a website? He shook his head. This new info only led him to formulate more questions.