Chapter 2

After walking for a few blocks and mentally dismissing each idea for where they should eat, Jack finally turned to Anne.

"Why don't you decide where we should go? Surprise me."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Jack regretted them. Anne, as he had already found out, had rather expensive taste. She wasn't the type of date who'd be happy with a hamburger or a small, family-run Italian restaurant. She was also the old-fashioned type of date who expected the man to pay for everything, all the time. His child support payment to Maria was due any time, and now that he was paying for his apartment with only his salary, money was tight.

Looking through the window of the bar they had stopped beside, Anne rapidly made her decision.

"Why don't we stop here for a couple of drinks, and then head back to my place. I can rustle us up some pasta. What do you think?"

Jack gave an audible sigh of relief. That would save him a fistful of dollars for sure. Feeling somewhat guilty at that thought, he smiled down at her.

"Sounds good to me. But if you don't feel like cooking, we can order a take-out."

"Oh Jack," admonished Anne, in mock horror. "Don't you know that stuff is bad for you? Anyway, I love to cook; it relaxes me."

"Well if you're happy, then I'm happy," replied Jack, as he quickly ushered her through the door before she could change her mind.

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Not too far away, Sam and Keller stood side by side in an over-crowded bar. Eric was waving his money in the air, trying to catch the attention of what appeared to be the lone bartender, and failing dismally.

Sam was thirsty, hot and cross. She also had no idea why she'd called Keller. Like most of the men she had dated, he was cute with a great body, but she had forgotten how limited his conversation skills were. He'd regaled her with a long-winded story about a friend of his that she'd only met once, and had no desire to meet again. Then he had droned on about a baseball game which had almost bored her to tears. The prospect of another few hours in his company was not overly appealing. Still, she had asked him out, so she'd better grin and bear it. Noticing the bartender finally making his way in their direction, she pushed herself to the front of the bar, made eye contact with him, and flashed him a sultry smile.

"A bottle of house red and two glasses please."

"Anything else?" the bartender offered, as he reached up for the glasses.

"Better add a bottle of water to that please," responded Sam, not wishing to repeat the process again.

Keller looked at her admiringly. "Well done, Sam. I thought we'd never get served. Remind me to come back as a woman in my next life."

With that, he picked up the tray and weaved his way through the hoards of people thronging at the bar, leaving Sam trailing in his wake.

Once they were finally seated, Eric looked questioningly towards Sam.

"So, I'm intrigued as to why you called me. It's been a while since we've done this. I thought you were seeing Fitzgerald now, or have you ditched him?"

Wondering how that information had become public knowledge, and livid that her private life was not so private anymore, Sam threw him an icy stare.

"Who told you about that, and why do you assume that I ditched him?"

Clearly bemused by her obvious hostility, Keller threw his hands up into the air in mock surrender.

"Whoah, Sam! Calm down. Danny mentioned it a while back. I was asking after you, and he told me to back off as you and Martin were seeing each other. Okay?"

Sam could feel herself softening slightly. Poor Eric, it wasn't his fault. But she really was going to have to kill Danny. How come he'd never told her that Keller had been asking after her?

"Look, I'm sorry, Eric. Can we start again? Yes, I was seeing Martin, but it didn't work out. And for the record, he dumped me." She gave him a wry smile, and settled comfortably back in her seat waiting for the inevitable barrage of questions.

Keller looked suitably dumbfounded at this revelation, privately wondering how anyone could end a relationship with someone like Sam. He had tried to get closer to her for years now, but had always found her to be infuriatingly elusive. He was so taken with her however, that he'd forgive her anything, even though it had crossed his mind on many occasions that she was probably using him.

"I can't believe that he would do that. Is the guy nuts or something?"

"Well, believe it or not, I have been ditched before, and I know that I deserved it this time," she replied ruefully. "Now, can we change the subject?"

Eric knew when to back off, and smoothly changed the direction of the conversation.

Sam started to relax and enjoy herself. When steered away from dull monologues, Eric could be quite amusing company. Nothing like Jack, of course, she thought with a momentary pang, but that was only to be expected, and it wasn't fair to compare them. Jack was older and had lived an interesting and varied life. He was also pretty much the only person that she'd truly opened up to. She was brought back to the present by Eric tapping the table to make a point.

"...so then I said to him that the only way I would..."

Keller's anecdote was suddenly interrupted by the insistent ringing of his cell-phone.

"Excuse me a moment, Sam," he murmured, quickly taking the call. After a few moments, he snapped the phone shut.

"I'm really sorry, Sam, but I have to go. That was my partner calling me in. There's been a major development in that case I was telling you about. We've located the suspect, and we have to go and bring him in. Do you want me to call you a cab?" He hovered expectantly, but Sam could see that he was anxious to get away.

"Don't worry about me, I'll find myself a cab," said Sam. "Go on, go. I'll be fine."

Looking relieved, and with his mind already switched to work mode, he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.

"It was great to see you again, Sam. I'll call you, and perhaps we can take up where we left off." Without waiting for an answer, he waved and headed towards the door.

"Sure," murmured Sam, towards his retreating back, although she had absolutely no intention of repeating the evening. She had come to the conclusion that revisiting old ground was a bad idea, especially if it wasn't with the man she really wanted. With a sigh, she rose unsteadily to her feet. Glancing at the near finished bottle of wine, she realised why. Eric had only had half a glass, meaning that she'd polished off the rest. Gathering up her jacket and purse, she walked out of the door, and started the walk home, hoping that the night air would clear her head.

tbc...