A Fool To Think

Chapter Seventeen

"So how did it go?" Danny asked once Sam got back into the car.

"Ok I guess." Sam shrugged, rewinding the tape in the tape recorder and pressing play. She wanted to make sure that the machine recorded the whole conversation. When the sounds of her voice and Alex's filled the car, she turned it off.

"You recorded the conversation?" Danny asked, slightly impressed and curious at the same time.

"Yeah." Sam nodded, looking over at him.

"Why?"

"Many reasons, actually." Sam explained. "First of all, I now have a complete confession from him so that when I go to the police I have solid proof. Secondly, I wanted to show him what it was like to be tape recorded without his permission since he did that to me. And third, I wanted to have it for when I go talk to Martin. I figured that if he doesn't believe me then I can just play the tape for him."

"And just when are you planning on talking to Martin?" Danny asked. He knew that she was trying to put it off as long as possible because she was afraid of his reaction. He had told her about the proof on Friday night. It was now Sunday afternoon and she still hadn't talked to Martin yet.

"Today." Sam replied. "Do you think you could drop me off at Martin's building once we get back to the city?"

"Sure." Danny agreed. "I'd be happy to."

"Thanks." Sam smiled. Talking to Martin wasn't going to be easy. She just hoped that he would listen to her.

"It's not going to be easy." Danny told her once they were on their way back.

"I know." Sam nodded. "But I have to try."

He knew that it would be difficult for Sam to talk to Martin about what had happened and knew that it would be hard for Martin to hear about it. He just hoped that Martin wasn't too mad at her. After all, the evidence did point to him and not Alex. It was an honest mistake for Sam to make.

But would Martin see it that way? That was the question in both his and Sam's minds.

"Do you think he'll forgive me?" Sam asked after being silent for over a half hour. She had been going over what she planned on saying to Martin when it occurred to her that he may not forgive her for this. She left him at the alter, which must have been painful.

"I honestly don't know." Danny told her.

A few minutes later she asked him another question. "Would you forgive me if you were in his shoes?"

Danny chuckled. "I honestly don't know."

She snorted. "You're a big help."

"I'm sorry. I just am honestly not sure what I'd do in his position and I have no idea what he's going to do. He could be so happy that you're actually going to talk to him again that he takes you back without hesitation or he could push you away. There's a whole wide range of reactions he could exhibit."

"Yeah." She had to prepare herself for the possibility that Martin would want to have nothing to do with her.

"I didn't want to tell you this," Danny paused, "but Martin had a date last night."

"A date?" Sam was surprised, although she shouldn't have been. Martin was a very attractive man. He probably had a lot of women trailing after him.

"Yeah and he seemed pretty enthusiastic about it." He hated having to be the one to tell her about it but figured that she needed to know.

"Oh." She wasn't sure what to say about that. "Well thanks for telling me."

"I just didn't want you to be caught off guard if he told you about it." Danny explained.

"It's ok if he had a date." Sam tried to convince both herself and Danny. "I mean it's not like I have any claim on him. I can't stop him from dating someone."

"It's going to be ok." Danny assured her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah. Of course it will." Sam smiled, trying to believe what she was saying.

When they got to Martin's apartment building, Danny let Sam out in front and then drove off. It was now or never. She was already here and couldn't chicken out. This was important and she couldn't back down.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she climbed up the stairs to get to his third-floor apartment. She walked slow, partially because she was afraid of the reaction she might get from him and partially to give her more time to think of the best thing to say once she got there.

What should have been a minute walk up the stairs ended up being a five-minute trek, but she eventually found herself at his door, knocking and waiting for him to answer. When he didn't answer her first knock, or her second, she realized he wasn't home.

She stood there wondering what to do next. She could either stay and wait for him or just come back later. While still deciding what to do, she heard his unmistakable voice coming from the stairwell. It was accompanied by a female voice that she didn't recognize.

"I don't care what you say." Martin laughed. "That movie was good."

"I didn't say it wasn't good." Caroline argued. "I simply said that the special effects were horrible. The plot was interesting and the actors were talented. But the movie studio should have done better with the special effects. It looked like something that would have been made in the eighties."

"Ok. Point taken." Martin relented. "The special effects looked horrible. It shouldn't take me too long to change clothes and then we can head out to dinner."

"I'm sorry that I spilled my soda on you." Caroline apologized.

"That's ok." Martin laughed. "But I'm starting to develop a complex. This is the second time you've done that to me now."

"I'll try to also make it the last time." Caroline promised.

The last thing that Sam wanted to do was be standing at Martin's door when he came back with Caroline, but didn't really see anywhere for her to hide. Looking around, she didn't see anything that she could duck behind or any other way out of the hallway. There was going to be no avoiding Martin and his new girlfriend.

"So where do you want to go for dinner?" Martin asked as he led Caroline up to his apartment. He was getting his keys out of his pocket when he saw Sam standing by his door. "Samantha? What are you doing here?" She was the last person that he expected to see at his doorstep.

"I um…" She vowed not to chicken out of this. "I need to talk to you."

"I'm kind of busy right now." Martin pointed to Caroline. "Can't it wait until tomorrow at work?"

"No." Sam shook her head. "I don't think it can."

Martin looked at Caroline, who was looking at the two of them with interest, and then glanced back at Sam. "Um, Caroline, this is Samantha. She's a co-worker of mine."

"It's nice to meet you." Caroline smiled, holding out her hand.

Sam reluctantly shook the woman's hand. "Nice to meet you too."

"What's so important that it can't wait until tomorrow?" Martin asked impatiently. He didn't see why he should drop everything and listen to her now that she finally seemed like she wanted to talk. He had been wanting to talk to her for weeks now and she rebuffed him every time.

"I'd rather not talk about it in the middle of your hallway." Sam told him. "It's sort of personal."

"You know, Martin, why don't I take a rain check for dinner?" Caroline suggested. "Then that will give you and Samantha a chance to talk."

"Maybe I don't want to have to settle for a rain check." Martin told her. "I think whatever Samantha has to tell me can wait until tomorrow."

Caroline took one look at Samantha and shook her head. She was good at reading people and could read Samantha well. She could see that this woman had something important on her mind. "I think you should talk to her. We can go out to dinner some other time."

"Promise?" Martin grinned.

"I promise." Caroline smiled back, kissing his cheek.

"I'll call you later." Martin told her.

"I'd like that." Caroline replied. "It was nice to meet you."

"You too." Sam called after her, watching as Caroline disappeared around the corner and started walking down the stairs.

Once Caroline was gone, the smile that was on Martin's face morphed into a look of annoyance and anger. "Ok. Now that you've completely ruined my evening, what's so important that couldn't have waited until tomorrow?"

"You're not going to make this any easier for me, are you?" Sam guessed with a slight chuckle.

"Make what easier?" He asked.

She looked him straight in the eyes and said, "my apology for everything that I've put you through."