Chapter Five:
"Good morning, Ms. Walker."
Stifling a yawn, Nicole gave Sami's secretary a tired smile as she passed the woman's desk. "Hi, Denise," she said wearily. "Is it okay if I go on in?"
"Of course, Ms. Walker," Denise answered with a pleasant nod. "Would you like me to bring you some coffee?"
"Yes, please," Nicole replied in relief.
"I'll bring it in shortly, then."
"Thank you," Nicole said over her shoulder and then gave a sharp knock on the smooth black door looming in front of her.
"Come in," a familiar voice called from inside, slightly muffled by the thick door.
Turning the silver handle, Nicole pushed the door open and stepped into the office to find her future sister-in-law seated in her big, black leather chair, busy looking over what appeared to be the latest sketches for the summer line.
"Hard at work already?" she asked with a smile.
Sami chuckled, lifting her head to meet Nicole's gaze. "Someone has to actually do some work around here," she replied jokingly, setting the sketches aside. "How was dinner with Brady last night?"
"Not nearly as nice as breakfast with him this morning," Nicole retorted, smirking in satisfaction.
"Not another word," Sami warned, rolling her eyes. "There's a limit to how much information I can take about my little brother's love life."
"What?" Nicole asked innocently. "I was referring to the pancakes he made for me."
"Uh huh," Sami said wryly. "Sure you were. All set for another hour of torture this morning?"
"I'm starting to wish you would just hire stand-in models for fittings," Nicole groaned, dropping unceremoniously into one of the comfortable chairs in front of Sami's desk. "I swear if Donavon sticks me with one more pin, I'm going to wring his neck."
"No, you won't," Sami replied calmly. "But you have my permission to stick him with one of his own pins if it makes you feel any better."
"Really?" Nicole asked eagerly.
"Sure, as long as you can find someone even better to take his place when he quits," Sami deadpanned. "Just suck it up and imagine hitting him with blunt objects in your head, Nic. It will be over before you know it."
"Easy for you to say," Nicole grumbled. "You're not the one he's using as a pincushion for an hour."
"Thank God," Sami said, grimacing at the thought.
"Some friend you are," Nicole accused lightly.
"Hey, I introduced you to your fiancé, remember?" Sami shot back. "And not just anyone is good enough for my brothers, so you should be flattered."
In truth, she was flattered, it meant a lot to her that Brady's family not only accepted her, but they all seemed to genuinely like her, as well. She'd never been too worried about Sami's approval, though, because Sami had been the one to introduce her to Brady. She had only been modeling for Basic Black for about a month, but she had made friends with Kate's daughter-in-law quickly, so when Sami had asked her if she wanted to go to the Blue Note for drinks after work one evening, she hadn't thought much about it.
Of course, the Blue Note just so happened to be owned by Victor Kiriakis, Kate's husband, and managed by his grandson Brady Kiriakis, who just so happened to be Sami's half-brother.
In hindsight, Sami had probably been plotting that first meeting for weeks before it happened.
Not that she was complaining, of course, that night had been the start of a wonderful romance with Brady, they'd talked the whole evening and then he'd asked her out to dinner the following weekend, and now, two and a half years later, they were engaged to be married.
"Speaking of your brothers," Nicole cleared her throat, venturing towards a touchy subject. "Brady told me the news about your mother. How are you holding up?"
Sami sighed heavily, rubbing her temples. "Honestly? I'm just trying to focus on my family right now. I still feel numb, you know?" she explained. "It hasn't really sunken in yet that this is for real, that she's actually lucid and coming home in a few days."
"Brady's wrestling with it, too," Nicole told her solemnly, remembering her fiancé's tortured expression the night before as he spilled out all his uncertainties and fears to her listening ears. "We talked for a long time last night once we got back to my apartment, and he's pretty confused about how to react."
"We all are, this came out of nowhere," Sami murmured, biting her lip. "I mean, it took us a long time to adjust, to accept that Mom wasn't going to ever be the same, and now they're telling us that she's going to be okay? The past three years of our lives have been overshadowed by her illness, and now that's she's better... I don't think any of us, my father included, know what to do."
Nicole nodded silently, having heard similar sentiments from Brady the night before. She could only imagine what it must be like to be in their shoes, to have the past three years of your life be defined by such a tragic event. While she wasn't all that close to her mother Faye, or to her older half-brother Brandon Carver for that matter, she had no idea how she would have coped with having her mother institutionalized.
"Brady said you're going to visit her at the sanitarium today?" Nicole inquired.
"Yeah," Sami sighed. "I've been dreading it all day. I don't know what to expect from her, much less what I'm going to say. It's been three years... she's missed out on so much of my life, of Will's life. The last time he saw her, he was five years old!"
"He remembers her, though, right?" Nicole asked hesitantly. "I mean, he's told me stories about how she used to take him to the ride on the carousel, back before she 'went away'."
"He remembers her," Sami confirmed with a nod. "He's got five years worth of his own memories, and then we've all tried so hard to keep him surrounded by pictures and stories, so he doesn't feel like he only has one grandmother, but she's been sick for so long... he doesn't even refer to Kate as Grandma Kate anymore, just Grandma. I don't know how he's going to adjust to having Mom back again."
"What did he say when you told him?"
"We haven't told him yet," Sami replied, tapping her fingernails on the surface of her desk absently. "I'm going to sit down with Lexie after I visit with my mother and try to figure out how to explain this to him without confusing him too much. I guess we'll sit him down and tell him tonight, after we pick him up from Jack and Jenn's."
Nicole opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again as the door to Sami's office opened.
"Sami, dear," Kate Kiriakis said as she entered the room, her gaze glued to the files in her hand. "Do you happen to have the..." she trailed off as she finally looked up and saw that Sami was not alone. "Oh, hello, Nicole."
"Good morning, Mrs. Kiriakis," Nicole replied with a smile. "Um, I can leave if you want some privacy..."
"No, that won't be necessary," Kate assured her before focusing in on Sami. "Do you happen to have the Barron's account file? I wanted to check over something."
"Sure," Sami responded, pushing her chair back and turning it around to open the filing cabinet behind her desk. After searching through the tabs for a moment, she found the folder she wanted and pulled it out, handing the file to her mother-in-law. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes, everything's fine," Kate answered, her eyes skimming the file. "I just needed to verify some of these orders, that's all."
She handed the folder back to Sami, who returned it to its place in the filing cabinet and closed the drawer.
"Ms. Walker?"
Nicole looked up to see Denise poking her head into the office, a cup of coffee in hand. "Oh, thank you, Denise," she said, giving the secretary a grateful smile as she took the cup, taking a slow sip. "Mmm, I needed this."
"You're welcome," Denise said. "Mrs. Roberts, Mrs. Kiriakis, can I get either of you some coffee?"
"No, thank you," Kate declined.
"I'm fine, thanks, Denise," Sami added.
Denise backed out into the hall, closing the office door behind her, and Sami sighed, leaning back in her chair.
"Are you feeling okay, Sami?" Kate asked with concern. "You look tired."
"I didn't get much sleep last night," Sami explained wearily. "I had too much on my mind, what with Mom being released and all."
"Understandable," Kate commented, moving closer to lean over the desk and touch the back of her hand to Sami's forehead, a frown crossing her face. "You're a bit warm, maybe you should take some aspirin."
Nicole hid a smile behind her coffee cup, amused at the motherly scene she was witnessing.
"I'm fine, Kate," Sami protested.
"You don't feel fine," Kate retorted stubbornly. "I have some aspirin in my desk, I'll go get it for you."
"Actually," Nicole spoke up, grabbing her purse from the spot she had placed it on the chair next to her and unzipping it to pull out a small bottle of Advil. "Here you go, Sami."
"Thank you, Nicole," Kate said, taking the bottle from her and shoving it into Sami's hands. "You keep a water bottle in your mini-fridge under your desk, so get it out and take the pills."
Rolling her eyes, Sami did as she was told, popping the capsules into her mouth and washing them down with a long swig from her bottled water. "Happy?" she asked dryly once she'd swallowed.
"Very," Kate replied smoothly.
Nicole had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the two of them. They had such a unique relationship, one that had only grown stronger in Marlena's absence, but from what she'd been told by Brady, Sami had always had a good relationship with her mother-in-law, one that had been built upon their mutual love for Lucas.
"Now, then," Kate cleared her throat. "Lucas tells me that the two of you are going to visit Marlena this afternoon, is that right?"
"Yeah," Sami murmured, without much enthusiasm. "That's right."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
An irritated scowl crossed Sami's face, and Nicole winced, grateful that her wrath was not being directed at her. "Why does everyone keep asking me that?"
"Because it's a good question, that's why," Kate said evenly, not so much as blinking at the younger woman's tone. "And don't avoid the subject."
"No," Sami admitted with a sigh. "I'm not sure it's such a good idea, but I'm going to do it anyway. My Dad needs me to do this, and maybe I need to do it, too. And Lexie thinks it will help her adjust easier if she's surrounded by familiar faces and people who love her, so..."
"Lexie's right," Kate mused thoughtfully. "I think any mother would need to see her children in that situation. I know I certainly would."
"And what do I tell her?" Sami demanded. "Am I just supposed to blurt out that everything she thinks she knows about me is a lie? That I resent her for even thinking I would do some of the things she's convinced I did? That the hatred she dreamed up between us isn't real and that according to Lexie it stems from her subconscious jealousy of our relationship?"
"Why not?" Kate shrugged. "She's going to find out all of that eventually, you might as well be upfront and honest about it."
"Easy for you to say," Sami grumbled. "She's not your mother."
"But she is your mother," Kate pointed out gently. "And more than anything, she's just going to be looking for some kind of sign as to how you feel about her. She's a former psychiatrist, Sami, she's going to know that you and your brothers and sisters have mixed feelings in regard to her illness. All she needs from you is the truth. The sooner she's able to start piecing together her life again, the sooner she's able to start remembering."
Sami was silent for a long moment, her lips pressed together in a thing line, obviously taking in what her mother-in-law had just said, and then she glared at Kate weakly. "Do you always have to be right about everything?"
"Yes," Kate answered without hesitation. "It's a gift."
The corners of Sami's mouth tugged upwards faintly, and she shook her head in exasperation.
"I need to get back down to the fitting," Kate announced, leaning over to kiss Sami on the cheek. "You take it easy today, understand?"
"I understand," Sami promised. "I'll be down as soon as I finish writing up the suggested revisions to these sketches."
"Don't be too long," Kate warned. "Donavon has been at an all-time high today, I need you down there to keep him in line."
"I'll hurry," Sami replied.
"Nicole, your fitting starts in five minutes," Kate informed her on her way out the door. "Don't be late."
"No, ma'am, I won't be," Nicole responded. Once she was gone, Nicole raised an eyebrow at Sami. "I just realized, has anyone called Carrie, Eric or Cassie yet about your mother?"
"Dad's going to call them today and fill them in, but I don't know if any of them will be able to come back to Salem right now," Sami answered. "Mike and Carrie are so busy with the clinic in Israel, and Eric's schedule has been crazy, one photo shoot after another. And it's the middle of the semester for Cassie, she can't afford to miss class."
"That's a shame," Nicole said sincerely. "I know you and Brady miss them, and I think it would mean a lot to your father if they came home for a while. Especially now that your mother is going to be coming home, too."
"Yeah," Sami agreed. "It would be nice, and maybe in a few months they'll be able to, but right now, it's just not good timing. Mom's illness has already taken up so much of our family's life, it shouldn't take up any more. We'll take care of Mom, and when their lives are a little more peaceful, they'll come back to Salem to visit her. Hopefully by then she'll have her memories back, so they won't have to suffer the way the rest of us have."
You don't have to be so noble all the time, Sami, Nicole thought, but she didn't dare to say it aloud, knowing how much Sami prided herself on being the strong one. It's okay to resent them for not having to deal with Marlena's illness firsthand the way you have.
Instead, she rose to her feet, swallowing the last drops of her coffee, and threw the styrofoam cup into the trash can in the corner. "Well, I'd better get down to the fitting room before Donavon gets into an even worse mood and takes it out on me with those damn pins."
"Have fun," Sami drawled with a smirk.
"You're evil, you know that?" Nicole demanded as she headed for the door.
"So I'm told," Sami retorted, turning her attention back to the sketches on her desk. "Have a nice fitting, Nic."
"If you hear screams coming from the fitting room," Nicole told her dryly. "Don't call for help. It'll be me murdering your tailor."
"Alright," Sami replied. "Just clean up the blood when you're done."