Chapter 3
The day had passed uneventful, but when Danny returned to the office he felt like he hadn't slept in at least 24 hours. The meeting with NYPD had been successful. He could provide them with some important information concerning the case they had to deal with.
Martin had gone home from there and decided to collect his stuff tomorrow. Danny worried a little about his friend. He had been through a tough two days and the emotional turmoil had left its traces on him. He had looked weary and tired when he had left and Danny knew that there was nothing he could do about that. But he was an optimist and he was certain that his friends would solve this problem. He had to admit that he never really understood the problem between Martin and Sam. It was obvious that they loved each other, but there was always something that was keeping them from getting together again.
Danny sighed and silently hoped that he would never get into such a situation. But it was very unlikely, because he was very straightforward and always knew what he wanted.
"Hey." It was Elena still sitting in front of her computer.
"Hey, I didn't expect anyone to be here. It's past ten."
"I know. I just needed to finish this. But I'm almost done."
"Okay." Danny said heading towards his bullpen to get his things. He stuffed them into his bag and walked towards the elevator.
"Good night." He called over to Elena.
"Danny? Could I ask you something?" Elena asked when she noticed that he was just about to leave.
"Sure. What is it?" He headed back to her.
Elena was feeling slightly uncomfortable and Danny couldn't think of anything she could possibly ask him that would leave her so uneasy.
"I was thinking about Sam..." She began, "Is there something between her and Martin? It's just that I overheard the conversation this morning and it was a bit strange not knowing what was going on, because everyone else obviously did."
Danny couldn't help smiling which made Elena feel even more uncomfortable. She was beginning to regret she ever asked and was about to say that when Danny decided to relieve her from her unease.
"It's a complicated story, but yeah, there is something between Martin and Sam."
"Oh, okay that explains a lot. I was getting a little confused about that seemingly random talk this morning. Thanks for clearing this up for me."
Danny grinned at her.
"Glad to be of service."
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Martin was sitting on his couch watching basketball when his phone ran.
He had played with the thought of calling Sam a lot of times since he had got home, but he hadn't had the guts to do it yet.
When his fingers pressed the answer button he noticed that his hand was shaking. He held the phone to his ear.
"Fitzgerald." He said and tried to keep his voice from sounding too excited. "Oh, hey mum. No, I wasn't expecting anyone else's to call. I'm fine... No, not disappointed. I've already told you that I didn't expect anyone else to call. Just watching basketball."
It wasn't Sam. He should have known, but he couldn't banish all of the frustration from his voice. Even his mother who usually was too cheerful to see that there was something wrong with him had noticed.
When he had ended the call with his mother he leaned back on the sofa and took a deep breath. It couldn't go on like this. He had to do something even if he knew that it wouldn't have any effect. So he picked up the phone again and dialed Sam's number.
There was one "beep" and then another one and again another. She wasn't at home or didn't want to talk to him. But he wouldn't give up that easily this time.
When he got the answering machine he said:
"Hey Sam, it's me, Martin. I..." He paused for a moment to consider his words carefully. "I would really like to see you to talk about how it's going to go on between us." His voice broke. He tried to sound as casual as he could under the circumstances. Another deep breath was needed before he could continue. "I don't know if you're at home or not, but why don't you just give me a call when you're ready to talk. I...erm... Good night then." He couldn't say any more and he wasn't sure what he could have added. He wanted to say how much he missed her and how much he wanted her to be there right now, but that seemed hardly appropriate at the phone and probably wasn't a good idea considering that he had no idea what she thought about him just now.
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Sam had heard him speak and was now lying in her bed silently crying herself to sleep. She wanted to talk to him, but she didn't know if she was ready to take the step. What if he didn't want her? She didn't want to take the risk just yet.
It took her more than two weeks to give him the call he had been waiting for for so long.
Martin hadn't been feeling very well in that time, but he tried to hide it when he was at work. The only one who could guess what he went through was Danny, but he kept it to himself. He had stopped asking Martin, if he had found the opportunity to talk to Sam, because every time he had done that he had seen the look of sadness appear on Martin's face.
So everything ran rather smoothly at the office at least outwardly.
They had solved the case of an elderly woman who had gone missing that day and Martin was glad when he finally got home. He stretched out on he couch too tired to even get himself something to eat. It wasn't very late yet, but had been woken up very early when Danny had called him to the place where the woman had disappeared.
So when his phone rang he sighed deeply, let it ring a moment longer and finally stood up to answer it.
"Fitzgerald." He said sounding a bit annoyed, because somebody had disturbed him while he had tried to relax.
There was a short silence at the other end. The person calling obviously seemed to be taken aback by the way his voice sounded.
"Erm...Hey, it's me. I'm sorry if I picked a bad time."
Martin was glad that the couch wasn't far. He let himself fall back onto it and had to concentrate so he wouldn't stammer when he answered.
It was Sam. He hadn't expected her to call at all.
"Oh hey, sorry, I just got back from work and...," He stopped for a moment, "But you didn't pick a bad time at all."
"Okay, I just wanted to ask you... if you've got no time or anything now it's okay... but I just wanted to let you know that I think we should have the conversation you suggested we'd have and I'm ready for it."
Martin was stunned, but only for a couple of seconds. Then he had to smile to himself. He felt so relieved that this was finally getting somewhere. Although he didn't know what she was about to tell him and whether he would like it or not he would at least know where they stood and go on from there.
"Good. I mean that's fine with me. Should I come over then?" Martin didn't feel tired anymore on the contrary he suddenly was wide awake.
"If you would do that. I...sorry this just feels a bit strange now. You come over now then?"Martin nodded before he realized she couldn't see him.
"Yeah, I'll be there in a bit." He could understand why she thought this felt strange somehow. He felt the same way. Talking about coming over to talk and not knowing how it would end made him feel very nervous.
"See you then."
"See you."
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The ride with the cab from his apartment to Sam's seemed to take ages. Martin tried to imagine what it would be like to talk to Sam about what had happened between the two of them. He hadn't noticed that he was playing with his fingers, but when he saw the taxi driver smiling in the driving mirror he felt caught and tried to keep his nervousness under control.
"You seem to be quite tense." The driver stated.
Martin was used to that kind of curiosity among cab drivers and he often welcomed small talk, but tonight he just wanted to get to someone he really cared about and he feared that every interruption of his thinking would make him forget what he wanted to say to her. But he didn't want to seem impolite.
"Yeah, you could say that."
The driver grinned once again.
"I remember when I proposed to my Lisa I was almost as nervous as you are now. Luckily she accepted me."
Martin relaxed a little and even allowed himself to smile.
"Lucky you."
"Indeed I am. She is a great wife. Those ladies bring up feelings in us..." He snorted with amusement.
Martin knew that the driver had figured him all out.
"My name is Stan by the way."
Martin didn't get the chance to answer, because the cab stopped.
"There we are. Good luck with your lady then!"
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Counting the regular beats of her heart helped her keep her emotions in check.
851...
She felt sick, but couldn't determine whether the origin was hunger or nervousness. Actually the two things went hand in hand, because she was too nervous to eat, which made her even more sick.
When she had picked up the phone and dialed Martin's number she had thought she was ready, but now she would do anything to turn back the time and make it undone.
Maybe it is a good thing I can't otherwise this thing will never be sorted out, she thought.
Because she was sure she would have taken the easy path if she could, but that wouldn't make her feel any better. On the contrary the uncertainty she had lived with for the last weeks had made her feel more miserable than she had been in a long time, but every now and then she had caught herself thinking that she didn't deserve to feel any better. This needed to be talked about and she knew it.
945...
She had to get up from the couch. Every muscle in her body screamed to be moved and for a moment she thought about locking the door so she wouldn't have to see anybody.
This is so ridiculous, she heard the voice in her head trying to talk reason.
She got up and felt that her body was stiff from all the sitting in front of the phone not daring to pick it up and make the call. It must have taken her hours to overcome her fear.
1032...
She stretched and wandered about her apartment. Her legs lead her into the bathroom.
A quick look in the mirror made her see the traces of three weeks nervous torture. She knew that Martin probably wouldn't care about the way she looked, but her pride forbid her to get into his sight like this. She turned on the water and let her face welcome the cold fluid.
1456...
She let herself fall back on the couch and couldn't help yawning. Sleep hadn't really been a regular guest. She pulled her legs closer encircled them with her arms resting her head on her knees. The beating of her heart was still fast until it suddenly stopped for a second.
1768...
That was the exact number of heartbeats she had counted before somebody knocked at her door and she knew exactly who it would be.
End Chapter 3...
A/N: Tada...;) I just wanted to thank the loverly people who took the time to review this story! Thank you guys! This really means a lot to me...
