Worth Fighting For?
Mercy
"He's not listening to anything I say any more" Mercy sat telling Tina on their usual coffee Thursday morning
"What do you mean?" she asked looking concerned
"What I said, sometimes I sit wondering what the hell we ever had in common, we're incompatible"
"That's not true" Tina grabbed her hand saying "This is Sam and Mercy we're talking about here"
"Actually, your thinking about Sam and Mercy Evans, I'm talking about Mercy Jones and Sam Evans"
"One in the damn same" she snapped at her "Stop fucking around Mercy and sort this shit out, I'm fed up with you two going on like you're fucking strangers"
"Are you hearing what I'm telling you, I've lost him"
"What's changed in a week?"
"I told you he doesn't listen to me anymore, I mean really listen to me"
"Might he not just have shit going on himself, have you even asked him?"
"If I could get the damn chance to ask that would be a great conversation piece, as soon as I even look like I want to talk this thing out, he's got something to do outside the house, he literally runs out the fucking house, I'm telling you and I'm not exaggerating, it's over"
"But has it passed the point of no return?"
"I don't want to think it, but it feels like it has, he said the D word" she told her as the room seemed to go quiet
Sam
Sam sat looking into space, waiting for Blaine to pass by, he was in the garden the view was breath taking, but his world was falling down around him, he'd called Blaine and asked him to come round while Mercy was out doing whatever the fuck she did now a days, he heard the door and ran to open it "Hi" he smiled at Blaine widening the door for him to come in "Thanks for coming" he followed him into the house "I'm in the garden" he told him as Blaine led the way through "Drink?"
"I'll have a beer" he told him watching as Sam grabbed one from the fridge and made his way to the patio
"I can't believe this is happening to me, to us" Sam sat down telling him
"What's happened?"
"She came home about 4 days ago in a really bad mood, I waited like I usually do for her to get whatever it was out of her system and tell me, but she didn't" he raked his hand through his hair "She was emotional I knew that, and everything I said seemed to offend her so I stopped talking"
"Stopped talking?"
"Well yeah, she was really aggressive, nagging at every little thing and to be honest she's driving me crazy"
"So?"
"I stopped listening to her shit, blocked her out most of the time and to be honest life got better for me"
"Better?"
"Yeah I started to like life without her drama, didn't want to be around her and right now I can't see a reason I'd want to go back to that"
"So what are you saying, you stopped loving her?"
"I think that's what's happened, there's only so many times you can take rejection before you get the message, I think she left before I made my mind up to"
"Please don't tell me you said the D word I can't see that for you guys"
"I can't see anything else right now, I mentioned it"
Sam & Mercy
They'd been married for nearly 10 years, they were both so successful in the music industry they hadn't found time for children it wasn't something they'd ever found time to talk about, and then one day it wasn't on anyone's mind anymore and it was kind of unspoken it wasn't going to happen.
Sam had been in Nashville at the CMA 2 weeks ago, he'd just bagged himself the Entertainer of the Year Award, Mercy had flown in for the night, they'd had a great time before she left the following morning to get back to do her gig in California. He'd stayed in Nashville for another 10 days he'd got gigs booked
Mercy was busy recording, she was working on another album having just had eight top ten hits off her last album, after nearly two years of making video's and promoting songs, she'd call this stage in her life slowing down.
There was no apparent warning for this recent slump in their marriage, she'd been home for a few hours, Sam finally wound things down in Nashville and got there, expecting as usual the romantic meal, shared bath and hot night when he got in. Instead Mercy lunged at him shouting about him being thoughtless, life being fucked up and everything that was wrong, that she wouldn't elaborate on, being his fault. He assumed something had gone wrong for her and called Brian; her Manager, but he had no clue so he decided to wait it out.
Their conversations got progressively worse "Get the fuck out my face" she shouted when he tried to stop her from leaving the room in another attempt at getting something out of her
"What?" he stepped back wondering what the hell was happening, they never spoke to each other like that
"This isn't working Sam when the fuck are you going to wake up and see that?"
"What do you mean, what happened?"
"I can't be here I can't be with you, I just can't fucking do this anymore" she got angry telling him "And it's like you don't fucking see or you just don't fucking care that this isn't working"
"I don't even know where the fuck this is coming from, we were together in Nashville you said nothing"
"Because it was your fucking night Sam, that's why" she laughed sarcastically "You didn't even notice then"
"We made love" he looked at her saying "You told me..."
"I told you what you wanted to hear Sam, I wasn't even there" her eyes rounded on him the word she wanted to say was pathetic "Just keep out of my fucking way" she pushed past him, leaving him taking in what she'd just told him
Things didn't get any better, leading Sam to believe that the problem really was him and not some make believe pressure from somewhere he'd dreamed up. It took him a few days to come to the realisation that Mercy had fallen out of love with him, it wasn't somewhere he'd ever thought they'd be. They'd got together just after finishing college, they'd auditioned for some comedy they soon weren't feeling, and although they got a second audition they ran off together and found themselves in a restaurant. They chatted the night away and had so much in common they agreed to meet again and pretty soon they were significant others, engaged after 2 years of courtship and by the age of 27 they were married, established in their careers and setting up home in California. They understood each others life, made no demands when it came to work and they were happy, so he thought until this blip that was turning out to be the biggest blemish ever
"Stop fucking nagging me, that's all you ever fucking do is nag for fuck sake just leave me the fuck alone, that's all I'm asking leave me the fuck alone, can you do that?" he finally spun round telling her fed up with hearing her feelings on his insecurities that had just suddenly appeared after nearly 15 years
"Can I leave you alone?"
"Yeah, and that was my last conversation, if a divorce is what you want fuck it, take it, I'm out I've had enough, I'm so fucking sick of this shit" he grabbed his jacket and walked out the house leaving her to think
That night the table turned, instead of Mercy being in a constant mood he was, he didn't get home as often as he could, he didn't call her every day like he used to and even some events they usually attended together he didn't even tell her about, he went alone. His life changed within two weeks, he became a single man within himself most of it was about accepting that his wife didn't love him anymore, at first he was bitter, angry and even vengeful, he was unsure when that turned to free, relaxed and happy, which scared him a bit, but if this was what life was offering him, he was going to take it. Speculation was all over the TV and a close friend supposedly leaked some news to the press saying their marriage was in trouble, they had one go to each, Mercy had Tina and Sam had Blaine and they were the only one's who knew anything about them or their relationship in any depth, they trusted them with their lives, they both fled to their go to.
Tina & Blaine
"Hi" Tina smiled at Blaine as he walked towards her "Thank you for coming" she told him sitting back down after their hug
"My boy's gone crazy I have to do something"
"Your boy's gone crazy, my girl is tripping big time"
"What are we going to do?"
"Bang their heads together?" Tina suggested
"She hasn't been home for three days"
"She's been drinking, she's at mine" she assured him "I think it's gone a bit further than she'd ever imagined, I guess she thought he'd always take her shit"
"They both said some pretty hurtful things, that's not them"
"I don't even want to mention counselling to Mercy, she'll flip and those people don't even know how to keep their damn mouths shut" Tina put out there while Blaine sat nodding his head agreeing with her
"That's out"
"I think we're too close to have any impact"
"I agree" Blaine sat up saying "What about Mercy's Mom she listens to everything she says"
"That might work, but do you think we're jumping ahead of ourselves doing that?"
"They mentioned the D word, how much further do we need this to go?"
"If we're doing it we do it together" Tina warned taking her phone out "No time like the present" she dialled the number and put the call on loud speaker "Mrs Jones, it's Tina"
"Hi Tina, what's up with Mercy?" she asked concerned
"There's some truth to the story in the news I'm afraid" she moaned "Blaine's here it's that serious"
"Hello Mrs Jones" Blaine butted in
"Hi Blaine, strength in numbers or behind her back?"
"The latter I'm afraid, we're actually scared for where this might go" Tina answered
"Give me a day to sort things out and I'll be there" she told them talking some more about themselves before they closed the call down
"Okay we did it" Blaine looked at Tina smiling
"And I feel better for it, I couldn't sit back and not give them every chance to work this out"
"Me neither" Blaine replied chatting and drinking their drinks before parting company, happy with their intervention
The next day Mrs Jones turned up and all three sat in the café while Tina and Blaine filler her in
"I'll go speak to Mercy she's at the studio, I'll grab her there" Mrs Jones pushed her cold coffee aside and got up, hugging them before she left to find Mercy
Mrs Jones & Mercy
"Mom" Mercy shouted when her Mom walked through the studio door, tears burst uncontrollably as she ran towards her, she didn't even know she was so emotional "How did you know I needed you right now?" she asked her face buried into her Mother's neck
"A Mother always knows" she smiled "I heard something on the news and I thought, there's no smoke without fire my baby needs me"
"I can't talk here Mom" she wiped her eyes saying while she looked around "Let me finish this and we can go talk" she told her walking back into the booth to finish off her unplugged version of 'Every Little Bit Hurts' by Alicia Keys her Mom sitting smiling proudly at her talented daughter
"Okay we'll take that one" Lenny shouted smiling at a crying Mercy he gave her the thumbs up, she took a while to compose herself before she finally got off the stool and went to her Mom for a hug
"Let's go talk" her Mom said smiling at everyone as she walked out with Mercy in her arms, they just about sat in the car before Mercy blew out about her situation with Sam right now
"I shouldn't even be moaning I started this" she admitted
"Why did you start it?"
"I..."
"And don't even think about lying about this" her Mom warned her
"Regrets I suppose, on my part, but I feel like he didn't even push it, didn't even put it on the table and now... well now it's too late and I guess ... regrets" she sunk telling her
"You wish you guys had talked about children?"
"I know you told me to put it out there back then, but we had everything going for us and well, we were happy I couldn't see anything coming in front of that for me back then"
"But now?"
"Now I know I love him, but a few weeks ago I just felt like that wasn't enough for me, we were stuck in some fake world we'd created for ourselves too scared to talk about real issues, I mean we didn't even discuss children, what kind of relationship is that?"
"But that wasn't just his fault, you didn't talk about it either, what did you expect him to do read your damn mind?"
"No" she giggled "I'm my own worst enemy, we know this"
"And Sam's the most patient man I know" her Mom hugged her saying
"I think he's past patience with me, he mentioned divorce and although I smiled at the thought at the time, I'm scared he might go through with it"
"So I'm hearing you want him back"
"Of course I want him back, he's the love of my life, I just had a wobble"
"Okay I have a plan, but every bit of you needs to want to save your marriage"
"If Sam wants to I want to"
"Baby this is hard to hear" her Mom grabbed her hand telling her "But Sam doesn't want to, you have to think that way" she focused on her eyes "This is something that you need to want to do regardless of what Sam thinks, feels or wants"
"I want to" Mercy looked into her Mom's eyes telling her "I really want to"
"Then we'll give ourselves 10 days, to bring that love back for the both of you, and it will get hard baby, but if it's what you want you'll make it work, I'll send a text every other day, work on that with him, but you can't force it you have to let things happen naturally and use that power of prayer we taught you"
"I've forgotten how that works" she smiled "If God still exists he's not interested in my problems"
"He never forgets, even when you do, find him, you need him right now"
"Okay" she smiled excitedly
"But you have to understand if it's not what Sam wants, you have to prepare yourself to let him go"
"I can't even think that"
"You have to think that, you have to have a plan B Mercy, everyone needs a plan B"
Sam & Mercy
Sam had been frustrated Mercy had been missing for three days, he was too busy pretending not to care to call Tina to find out anything about her, this avoiding each other thing was getting ridiculous, he knew that but he couldn't allow her to hurt him any more than she already was. Angrily he'd whipped his wedding ring off and put it in his pocket, threw himself on the couch and sat with his eyes closed taking in what that action actually meant It was so quiet in the house he couldn't stand being there, so he turned the music up to drown out the quiet, closed his eyes and pretended she was there shouting her damn mouth off at him and he was drowning it all out shouting whatever tune was coming out the player, finally making his mind up this was it, he wasn't doing this anymore.
Mercy felt a bit better when she finally went home that night, she'd made plan A and she was determined it was going to work, sure if she got to day 10 and it wasn't working she'd take her Mom's advice and get a plan B in place, but she was confident. she walked into the house to hear music playing rather loudly, she smiled as she pictured Sam dancing around the room, strumming his make believe guitar and miming the Freddy Mercury song that was on. She opened the door shocked to see him sitting on the couch, his head flung back, his arms spread across the top of the couch, he looked like he was sleeping or worse
"Sam" she shouted a chill running through her body
"What?" his jumped up as he looked around the room
"Oh I thought..."
"No" he spun snapping "I'm not dead and don't worry you'd still get everything"
"I wasn't..." she trailed off as she saw his ring finger was empty "You've took your ring off"
"And?" he jumped up asking
"I..."
"Whatever" he threw the cushion down on the couch saying before he left the room
Mercy finally got round to turning the music off and sat looking at her ring still on her finger "God" she looked up before closing her eyes "I need help" she flopped on the couch helpless and lost "Tell me what to do" she begged, she spent the night praying and fell asleep on the couch waking early morning and making her way to the bathroom to freshen up and leave for work. Sam was asleep when she went into their room but by the time she'd come out the bathroom he was out the room, she found him downstairs on the patio, door shut he didn't even turn at the noise she made as she went about getting herself something to eat before she left, she stood at the door looking at him reading messages on his phone and sipping whatever he'd made himself for a moment before she left the house
Day 1 & 2
Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry
Mercy smiled when she saw her Mom's name come up on her messages, this plan she had hatched for them was going to come into play, she opened the message and saw a puzzle "What the hell does that mean?" she asked herself as 'James 1:19' jumped out at her, rolling her eyes for her Mom forcing her to let God in, she smiled as she tapped the details into her phone to find out what that was all about "Okay" she looked around clueless as she read it "Mom I said I'd try it so I will but no more riddles please" she told her phone before she carried on with her day
"Tina" she huffed as she sat down on her couch later that day "I need help" she took her phone out saying Mom sent me a message it said 'Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry' what do you make of that?"
"Listen I guess, don't snap back" Tina looked at her slyly "Is this about Sam?"
"Would it be about anyone else?"
"I guess not" Tina laughed "So you guys are trying to work this out?"
"Well I guess I broke it, I'm trying to put it back together so wish me luck" she jumped up saying
"Good luck" Tina jumped up and followed her to the door
"Thanks, bye" she leaned in to kiss her
"Bye" Tina stood at the door watching her leave, she was praying harder than Mercy that their relationship lasted
"Right" Mercy told herself as she parked outside the house, closing her eyes for prayer before she took on this task "Listen" she confirmed before she turned the key and went in, the music was pumping loudly again, she opened the door quietly and stood watching him sitting on the couch, his arms splayed across the top of the couch, his head back, eyes closed and his face expressionless, just like before. She got herself a drink and sat in the chair opposite him just watching him, she could really have done with climbing on top of him, call it rape, but she had thoughts that made her smile
"Mercy" he suddenly sat up saying, looking around the room to see if anyone else was there "Twice in a week something wrong?"
"Nothing" she said her voice soft
"So why are you here?"
"I live here" she smiled
"I'll get out your way" he got up telling her
"That's fine" she jumped up and walked past him "You carry on, I'll leave you to it" she grabbed the door
"Hold up, could I get to say something?" he asked "Without us bursting into an argument?"
"I'm all ears" she walked back towards the chair she'd been sitting in and sat down 'Listen, Listen, Listen' running through her mind
"I think..." Sam sat down saying his hand raking through his hair telling her he was nervous "I think we've been skirting around this for a while now and it's frustrating, so I guess what I want to say if things are going to change for us one of us has to start this change, I'll move out if you want but we can't both be here, if this is it I need time to adjust before it's totally over"
"I can go stay at Tina's if you want, you have more to move than me" she told him, her heart was breaking inside but she couldn't express that without blowing and the scripture of the day said listen, not just listen but hear and don't get angry
"Really?" he asked shocked that she'd agreed, he'd expected more of a fight about it
"Really I get it, you need space, I'll come here but I won't stay here if that's alright, you know I'm a bit personal about my stuff"
"Yeah" he looked at her his mind doing overtime at what was happening for her right now "Just come by"
"I'll try and make it about 10pm every night"
"You don't need to do that, you come when you want, I won't be bringing anybody here, this is our home"
"Okay" she jumped up "Was that it?"
"Yeah I guess for now anyway"
"Okay I'll just grab a bath and some stuff and I'll be out your way"
"Okay" he sat watching her walk to the door again, this time she didn't look back she opened it and walked out, he sat wondering what he'd just done, he'd just started the divorce proceedings just like that. The next evening they talked about the custody of the dog and talking to their parents about the pending situation, Mercy sat listening and agreed with everything he'd got to say. That evening he'd even poured her a drink, she made sure she thanked him for it because she was actually enjoying him being the decision maker in the relationship and life was so much easier when she just danced along merrily. In a past life she might have accused him of trying to take over her life, not letting her breathe or just plain being a bastard, but she was learning that this was his role within their relationship, within her life and there was a lot to be said about James 1:19
'How did that go?' her Mom texted at the end of day two
'He talks and I listen and that works well, but we're still talking divorce' she texted back
Sam was sitting on stage with Blaine talking about the developments in his divorce with Mercy "She's being super reasonable and I think that might be because she's planning something, I need to keep one step ahead of her"
"She might be genuine"
"This is Mercy we're talking about" he laughed
"And?"
"She's never fucking reasonable, she does that humble shit for a living, she got me believing there was a fucking marriage going on for 10 years"
"Why do you think she's not being genuine, what did she do?"
"First she said yes to me having the dogs, one I could maybe deal with but both of them no way, she's bending over backwards to accommodate me"
"What if she doesn't want them to be separated"
"Bullshit" he laughed "Then I tested her again, I told her we need to tell the parents, we never tell the parents right?"
"Right" Blaine told him, knowing that to be a fact
"She said yeah, like it wasn't even a fucking problem" he looked at Blaine telling him "First thing tomorrow I'm getting a Lawyer"
"A Lawyer?" Blaine almost chocked on his juice "Do you think that's necessary?"
"We already agreed to a divorce, I guess I'm good with that now, I just don't like all the damn games"
Day 3 & 4
Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other just a Christ forgives you
'Now mix that past two days of learning with the next verse' her Mom had wrote when she woke up to a message alert, reading another message 'Ephesians 4:32' "Okay" she smiled as she read the verse "I can be kind" she smiled as she went to work that morning. The evening she sat outside the house praying about the situation, a smile on her face as she walked into the house, he was pleased to see her, he never said it but she knew it. "Hi, I'm just collecting some stuff" she popped her head round the door telling him "I won't be too long"
"Okay" he smiled, his face turning to ice when she left the room, he hated games and he thought she did too, how little he really knew this woman he called wife
An hour later she came down, her clothes changed and bags in her hand "I'll see you tomorrow" she popped her head round the door saying, not waiting for a reply before she shut the door again and he sat listening to the front door bang shut
"What the fuck is she playing at?" he sat wondering, deciding it wasn't worth stressing over before he jumped up to pour himself another drink and turn the music up. He was taking a break from his touring, but with all this going on he'd booked a short gig for the coming weekend, to occupy his mind. After this he'd be at home for a good four weeks and maybe he'd look at some more changes, get her to agree to some more stuff before the bitch in her came out. Finally deciding on bed he went up to his room "What the fu..." he stood saying seeing his favourite threads sitting on the clothes rail in the middle of the dressing room, that was where they always set their clothes out for the following day "Now she's telling me what to fucking wear" he walked over and put the clothes back where they were, grabbed a bath and finally found sleep
Mercy was seriously messing with his head, she was being way too nice, quiet and reasonable and it was totally freaking him out, he took care not to wear anything she'd left out finally getting dressed in something he didn't even feel comfortable in just to prove she didn't know him and called Blaine "Can we meet up, I need to talk?" he asked, of course Blaine was there for him
Mercy was getting some funny vibes from Sam, she didn't know how he was taking this new, improved Mercy Evans and needed to talk to someone of course she found her go to "Tina can we have lunch?"
"Twenty minutes" Tina replied excitedly, hoping to get good news about where Sam and her were right now
"I'm a bit out of my comfort zone at the moment" Mercy told her as they sat opposite each other sipping a latte and eating salad
"Why what's happening?"
"Mom came to see me as you know a few days ago and she's got me doing all this bible stuff, it's not me but" she drew in breath "It's actually changing me, I mean I want to be that woman you know listening to my man, letting him make all the big decisions, do something nice for him" she pushed food around the plate
"So what's the problem?"
"Well this isn't a little argument is it, I mean we're talking divorce, I feel like I need to do something drastic, underhanded even, I feel like he's about to set a Lawyer on me or something, the looks he gives me sometimes"
"Has he mentioned a Lawyer?"
"No he hasn't, not yet anyway" she huffed "I'm not even stressed about that shit, he can have whatever he wants, we're both of the same worth, and I want him to be happy"
"With you?" Tina looked at her begging the answer
"Of course with me but... If he choses to leave, I won't stop him, he has to at least love me back"
"I guess I hear that" Tina started pushing her food around her plate telling her
"Stop worrying Tina, I'm doing my best, plus I've for Mom on my side, if everything else fails I'll set her on him" she laughed
Blaine and Sam were at the studio chatting about how he felt "She actually went in the closet and set me out some fucking clothes" Sam told him like he couldn't believe what she was doing
"I don't actually see anything wrong with that Bud" he replied
"Invading my space, getting in my head, still trying to control me?"
"No I don't see it" Blaine looked back at him his eyes slit trying to catch where Sam was coming from
"What do you take out of it?"
"Maybe you were looking rough to her and she got them out to sort of direct you into looking better, without the confrontation"
"Maybe" his eyebrows came up as he got the picture "But why would she care what the fuck I looked like, we're getting a divorce?"
"Just because you stop loving someone doesn't mean you stop caring"
"Doesn't it?" he looked back at him asking "I thought it meant exactly that"
Over the day Mercy made him a hot drink while she sat talking about a recent picture that had come out about their rocky relationship and how sorry she was that it had come to this, he'd took the drink double taking on her handing it to him unsure if she was aware of what she was doing "Take it" she laughed and waiting until he went to the airport before she left. The following day she cooked him a meal and left it in the oven with a sticker on the fridge telling him it was there, he'd done a gig that Saturday and took a flight straight home. he was literally starving and smiled at the note, grabbed the dinner and ate it all, he'd actually forgotten what his wife's cooking was all about "Thank you" he said to the silent house
Day 5 & 6
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal
"How's it going" her Mom's voice came over the phone as she sat in her car crying
"Not well" she sobbed
"Why what's happened?"
"I've never felt so far away from him, he doesn't look at me the way he used to, I think he really sees me as the enemy and I think this whole thing is pointless, I've lost him Mom"
"Has he told you you've lost him?"
"Not in so many words but he keeps on about this divorce thing that needs to happen, I think he wants me to take the first step"
"Which might mean he's not serious about it until you get serious about it"
"Do you think?" she perked up a bit asking
"Are you still wanting to carry on with this?"
"Yeah" she told her "I've started so I might as well finish"
"Okay so the next session is all about 1 Corinthians 13:1"
"Okay Mom, bye" she told her eager to find out what the next change was she needed to see in herself
"Bye" her Mom giggled "Have fun"
"Fun?" Mercy looked at her dead phone asking for a second before she started her search "Love him?" she asked reading the verse "I do that" she told the phone as she called Tina "T..." she got out
"Come to mine" Tina told her with a giggle in her voice
Ten minutes later they were sitting on Tina's patio sipping virgin martini's and trying to figure out what this next puzzle was all about "Maybe it's about finding the love again" Mercy suggested "And that would be good but surely two people have to be up for that and something tells me this shit is one sided right now"
"Maybe it's about falling in love all over again becoming Mercy Jones again" Tina sat up excited for her interpretation
"Maybe" she smiled "As always you've been my ear and you never moan" she finally got up kissing Tina as she made for the door "I'm sure we'll catch up soon" she jumped in her car, buckled up and drove off. She didn't actually know where she was going to start with but when she ended up at Sam's studio she smiled which got wider when she saw his car outside, she ran across to the shop, got back to the studio, brushed her hair straight with her fingers, ran her tongue across her teeth, closed her eyes and offered up a prayer before she pushed to the door. Sam was in the sound room when she finally found him, she stood watching him sing 'This Girl' by Hunter Hayes smiling as the words sunk in
"Mercy" he gasped when he saw her standing there "What's happened?" he asked concerned as he made his way towards her, his face as white as a sheet "What's happened?" he asked again when he got close
"Nothing I just wanted to..." she looked around at the people watching them "Could we go ..." she turned towards the door
"What's happened Mercy?" he pushed the door for her to get out and stood waiting for this bad news
"It's nothing bad I was just passing and well I thought you'd like these and I stopped and got you some" she held the jumbo bag of Doritos up at him saying
"Seriously" he blew out frustrated at her "A bag of fucking Doritos?" he asked
"I just thought you might like them and I was passing... sorry bad idea, I'll go" she turned towards the door telling him
"I never say no to Doritos you know that" a trace of a smile on his face when she turned to look at him "They're mine yeah?" he asked pointing at the bag of chips in her hand
"Yeah" she smiled handing him the bag
"Thanks" he smiled as she walked out the door, he stood holding the chips wondering yet again what her game was and why she'd come all the way to the studio to play it "She wouldn't mess with work" he told himself as he watched her walking, she didn't look back and something inside him missed that "Sorry guys" he smiled holding the bag of Doritos up as he walked back in "Munchies delivery"
He got home later that night to find a small tray of cupcakes on the kitchen table decorated with miniature puppies holding hearts, his favourite thing, he smiled as he went to make a hot drink to eat them with and found a new mug on the rack, decorated with pictures of significant times in their lives together. He stopped in his tracks and called Blaine "I think she wants me back" he sat telling him about all the things he'd found in the kitchen
"That's great news then"
"No I'm just starting to find my happy, I'm not going back to that life, I need a way to close this down, I don't need her thinking there's a chance here"
"Wait you've given up?"
"She gave up, I just finally accepted it I guess"
"Dude..."
"No Blaine we both said some shit and there's things you just can't come back from"
"I need you to be sure about this"
"I'm sure" he told him wondering at the uneasy silence on the other end of the phone "So I'll need you even more over these next few weeks, I'm going to instruct my Lawyer"
"I'm here" Blaine replied his voice sad for his friends revelation
The following night he walked in to loud music playing he knew straight away it was their wedding song, he opened the living room door to tell her she needed to stop this whatever she was doing that was totally out of character for her, and found just the music bellowing. He went over to turn the pod off and found it wasn't on he looked around at the old stereo system to see a vinyl spinning "Shit she did it" he gasped, it had always been something they'd said they wanted to do even before they got married get an original signed copy of their wedding song 'Perfect' by Ed Sheeran & Beyoncé Knowles they'd walked down the isle to. He smiled, for the memories that came flooding back basking in them for as long as the record played "She's not getting that record back" he finally stopped it, put it in it's cover and found it a pride of place on the already bursting music shelf
Day 7 & 8
So that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct
Mercy had a rough night, she'd woken up to no voice that morning, spent the whole morning in bed, she actually had to cancel a gig, and that always broke her heart. Sam had heard she knew he had but he hadn't called, texted or even sent a card for her, they were always supportive of each other regardless of what was going on in their lives. She sat on her bed in Tina's house trying to remember when the last time was that she'd actually done anything other than call him up and offered a weak hearted sorry
Her phone pinged, making her smile she was ready for day seven and eight '1 Peter 3: 1&2' she read doing her usual thing to find out what that was all about "My conduct, respect?" she looked at her phone wondering where the hell that had come from, and before she knew it she was praying about the pending challenge and how it would be received
That evening she passed by the house as usual, grabbed some things and popped her head round the door "Everything alright?" she asked her voice croaky her body language telling him she was interested in his answer
"As alright as it can be" he quickly turned his head telling her "You?"
"Yeah much the same" she stepped into the room as she answered him "That song you were singing the other day when I popped in, have you got any further with it?"
"Yeah it's going to be on the new album" he smiled
"It sounded really good by the way" she stood behind the couch he was sitting on telling him
"I heard you're on Maggie on Wednesday?"
"Yeah" she laughed "You need to get at least..."
"Two chats shows in a year" he finished off laughing himself "I meant to say it's about that time again, everyone's expecting us to make a mainstream duet, your team have been sounding my team out about it"
"Oh Andy didn't say anything, how do you feel about that?" she almost whispered
"We've got enough under our belts to get something out, depending on that voice" he looked up at her saying
"I've got Thursday, if you can get the time, I'll force my voice back?"
"Don't hurt yourself" he looked back at the television telling her
"Okay goodnight" she smiled turning before he could answer to leave the room
"Goodnight" he watched as she left the room, she was being so sweet
Wednesday came and Sam sat in front of his TV, he couldn't resist watching the show, they always liked to ask awkward questions and with the media being what it was right now he was interested to see how she dealt with the inevitable question of them splitting up. He had to admit she looked stunning when she walked on stage in her black Satin dress, detail going on at the neck, clutching at every curve as it fell down her full body, he licked his lips and smiled at the effect she could still have on him, if he was ever to let his guard down again.
He sat watching as the dreaded question came, Mercy smiled, there was tension in her face but maybe you'd have to know her as well as he did to even see that "I don't really like to talk about rumours, they can take you to a bad place" she smiled at Maggie as she spoke "Sam is a brilliant artist, he loves what he does and he's good at it, I know no one knows him the way I do, but he's got so much to say his music expresses his inner self, it takes a lot to get that out, and have it looking like something you'd want to share with the world, of course he needs time to get that out and I understand that about him because I'm the same" she smiled "So of course our life can look a little odd to those that don't understand it, but I assure you we're good"
"So what do you say to those that thought Sam Evans was coming off that shelf?" Maggie asked
"Sorry not sorry" Mercy laughed
Mercy called him several times that day asking about his working day, his opinion on what she wanted to do at work and it didn't stop when they finally got into the studio that Thursday, she surprised him firstly by asking "Which song did you choose?"
"I..." he replied totally taken aback
"I'll go with whatever you choose" she smiled as she rested her jacket and purse on the chair he'd just jumped up off
"Well we always do a love song of some sort, I thought we could do something different like rock or something"
"Rock?" Mercy asked laughing "It's your call" she rolled her eyes telling him
"Not really what about 'You Are The Reason' by Calum Scott & Leona Lewis?"
"That's always sounded good for us"
Sam got backing singers, everyone sitting around watching the couple trying to make the already perfect even more so for three hours "Right we're ready to go" he told everyone as Mercy stood watching, she loved that he was always so serious about his music and used to be her, at times she'd feel special to him but he mainly treated it like just another day at the office, they did two takes before he was happy to do the perfect third take, they stared into each others eyes so much it was hard for everyone to concentrate on what they needed to do, when they sung those words she was sure they'd meant them
"Sam" she almost whispered when they finished the final take "Can we talk, outside of the house I mean?"
"Yeah sure" he replied before his brain caught up, explaining the acceptance to Blaine later on as a moment of madness, telling him it was the worst mistake and all he'd succeeded in doing was building her hopes up where there were none.
"You don't mean that" Blaine laughed as he spoke
"Dude I really don't say things I don't mean she knows that, I told her I was out, I'd had enough, her bad if she really didn't believe me but in that second everything I ever felt left and what's come in it's place I like, actually I'm going to tell her at this meal thing, I've made my mind up I want a divorce"
"Sad to hear Dude but if that's where this is going..."
"It's gone" he told him to a silence before a quiet goodnight was muttered and the phone went dead
Day 9 & 10
Wife, you might be able to save your husband. Husband, you might be able to save your wife
Mercy was on hot bricks she'd finally got him to agree this night out, surely that was a move in the right direction, she was shocked when he said yes his unspoken language had oozed keep away, she knew there must still be something there if he's said yes. She couldn't wait for the night to be over she was sure there was no need to derive a plan B everything was falling into her lap
"Mom" she called over the phone when she answered "He's agreed to dinner, it's working"
"It doesn't work till it works" her Mom told her cautiously "Don't get too excited about this just roll with it, he might have things he wants to say too"
"I've listened, been kind, shown him love, respected him and I did it all with prayer and a good heart and to be honest I enjoyed doing it"
"What else did you get out of it?"
"I guess I found God again, and maybe remembered to put him at the centre of everything I do, this industry sort of makes you forget that at times"
"And?"
"Okay" she rolled her eyes laughing "Maybe it was me that was the problem not Sam and I just didn't want to accept that"
"Yeah" her Mom cheered "So now I guess I can give you this last verse?"
"I guess"
"It's 1 Corinthians 7:16 and Mercy" she made sure she held her attention "Enjoy your meal"
"Thanks Mom, for everything"
"You did the work" her Mom laughed "Bye"
"Bye Mom" she wasted no time in finding the verse "Save him from what?" she asked herself reading the verse several times to understand it, offering a prayer up for guidance and encouragement, that night came quickly "Hi" she smiled when he walked in
"Hi" he smiled back, refusing to hug her and give the wrong impression he sat down "Haven't been here for a while" he looked around at other customers telling her
"Me neither, it's one of our places isn't it, doesn't seem right without you" she smiled at him, watching as he picked the menu up and held his hand up for the waiter refusing to let their eyes meet "Are you having your usual?" she asked trying to get him to talk
"Yes" he looked up at the waiter "A bottle of your 2017 Scharzhofberger please" watching as the waiter moved off to do as asked, when he returned Mercy did their order and they sat uncomfortably waiting for the food to arrive, they were well into their meal before he spoke again "That duet's coming out in two months time" he looked at her announcing
"Good" she replied without looking up from her meal "Sam" she suddenly threw her cutlery down saying, more irritated than usual "Is there something that you have on your heart that you want to say to me?"
"On my heart?"
"Yeah" she huffed "One word answers, uncomfortable silences this isn't us, just say what you want to say"
"I don't know what you want from me Mercy I don't know why all this is happening, I mean I'm talking divorce and you're buying me presents, bending over backwards to be involved in my life, you big me up every chance you get and don't think I'm not grateful but, I've changed" he put his cutlery down saying "I don't want us back, I'm fine with us being apart. Maybe I've clouded this by not moving out or allowing you to be at home, maybe I should move out, I don't mean to hurt you in saying this but we're over and no there is no one else I wouldn't do that, but we are getting a divorce" he told her, she sat in total silence taking in what he was saying
"Why?" she asked her voice soft, hurt, her face telling him she'd lost all her fight
"Mercy you've changed"
"How?" she looked up at him asking, he wanted to hold her, he'd never seen hurt in her face so apparent
"When we got married you were fun, submissive even, caring, and you loved me, I knew it I didn't have to ask, over time you've become hard, offensive, cold almost mechanical, and for a while now I've not known if there was any love there, we never said that stuff unless we were in bed just after sex, and lets be honest you could say that shit to a good one night stand at a time like that" he looked at her tears rolling down her face as she looked up at him to hear that last bit "We made each other feel like that, it's not healthy and I realised I wasn't happy when you finally threw this at me" he half smiled "I wasn't happy Mercy, none of us were and I don't want to go back to that" he grabbed her hand telling her "Maybe some day we could be friends again"
"You changed too" she looked back at him
"I never stopped lov..."
"You just said you did" she pulled her hand away from him "I accept my part in this, I became bitter" she looked in his eyes "I realised too late I wanted children, we'd never talked of it and when it popped in my head it was too late and that hurt, I guess I turned that blame to you because you never mentioned it either like you didn't want me to have your children"
"That's not true, I wanted children, it just seemed like it was never on your mind and we promised not to interfere in each others careers"
"I'm sorry" she grabbed his hand telling him
"For?" he looked into her eyes asking
"For not being what you needed me to be, for not seeing what you needed when you needed it, for not communicating properly, for blaming you, I could go on forever"
"I'm just as much to blame I ignored it too"
"I can't even remember what brought us together" she looked at him tears still falling down her face
"Easy Blaine with his big mouth, fed up of listening to me talking about you, walked over to you, tapped you on the shoulder, while I died with embarrassment and said..."
"I don't want to get involved..." she laughed
"Yeah right" he rolled his eyes laughing
"But my Bro over there thinks you're hot, go talk to him, he's much too shy to make the first move" she laughed louder
"He did not, that's not what you told me before" he laughed
"He did, that was exactly what he said, I was just trying to save you face" she giggled "And I'd been watching you so hard I didn't even let the last word come out his mouth before I was over to you"
"I remember you were out of breath" he chuckled "My, my, names... Mer..cy you gasped" he mimicked
"At least I got that out you never said a word"
"I don't think I'll ever love like that again" he smiled
"Me neither" they stared at each other for a while before going back to their meal "So" she finally said moving food around her plate "This is it, we're closing the curtain on Sam and Mercy Evans"
"Tabloids will have a damn field day"
"I know I can't dictate and I don't want this to sound wrong but please don't end up with any of those bitches you know I've always had issues with"
"I'm not even thinking that far ahead, I have no intentions of doing anything like that for the foreseeable future, I've grown so used to being with you I guess I've forgotten what that particular jungles all about"
"It will never happen for me either, I'm still in love with you" she waited for his eyes to find hers before she moved hers away
"I'm curious" his eyes smiled as he spoke "What have these last few days been about?"
"I spoke to Mom" she told him smiling as he rolled his eyes "No listen" she grabbed his arm telling him "I guess it started as me regretting what I'd said and getting advice on how I could get you back, but of course nothing comes straight with Mom as you know" she rolled her eyes
"You know this so I don't even know why you even went there" he laughed
"Of course she came at me with the prayer thing and I rolled my eyes, but I was up for anything, I was losing you" she smiled "She sent me a bible verse every other day to work on with you, and somewhere along there I realised she was working on the problem called me"
"I don't get it" he sat up telling her
"I was too argumentative, never had time to listen to you, was never kind, I mean never, I didn't even know the things you actually liked I was so wrapped up on you not doing things for me, and I never called you just to say hi or how are you, I wasn't even in this relationship I was being Miss Independent" she laughed "And that wasn't what either of us needed, everyone wants to feel needed and even wanted and I guess she changed me and made me see that"
"She's always talked about the power of prayer" he smiled "Every time she talks about church I think of our wedding day" he smiled
"I know" she grabbed his hand. playing with his fingers teasing his senses "Can we not just erase everything and start all over again?"
"Mercy" he pulled his hand away from her saying "I told you... and I guess being like this I know I still have feelings for you, you're my wife, but we can't work, we bring each other down"
"What if I'm willing to change, to try harder, to be a good wife..."
"Mercy" he got up almost angry for the pressure she was putting on him
"I'm sorry" she looked up at him "It's just that I didn't have a plan B"
"Plan B?"
"Yeah Mom said you might not want us to get back together and I should make a plan B, I didn't ... I didn't want to believe this"
"I'm sorry Mercy" he grabbed his coat and walked towards the door "You can have the house I'll stay at Blaine's until I get somewhere" he told her before walking towards the door and closing it after him
"Shit" Mercy sat looking around the room wondering if anyone was listening to them, she finally threw some money on the table and left
Tina & Mercy
She went straight to their house she really didn't want to see anyone, she was at this place she felt she had no place being, she'd done everything according to the Bible as her Mom had asked of her and she hadn't got anywhere with it "Who the fuck" she spat throwing a plate into the sink before falling to the floor as the pieces shattered around her, crying until her heart was numb.
"Mercy" she heard as the front door banged "Mercy let me in" she recognised Tina's voice "Mercy" she shouted again banging the door louder "If you don't open this door I'm calling Sam to let me in" she banged even louder telling her
"What?" the door sprung open, Mercy stood with shatter glass in her hair and small cuts on her hands
"What have you done?"
"Nothing" she raked her hand through her hair "Oh, broke a plate"
"I just heard what happened between Sam and you this evening"
"Blaine?" she looked at her asking, her eyes rolling at the same time
"I can't believe you didn't come to mine" she told her taking her phone out "It's not Sam" she told Mercy, who was looking at her in disbelief "Mrs Jones, it didn't work, Sam said no" she told Mercy's Mom as Mercy stood shocked
"You knew?"
"Blaine and I decided it needed an intervention when you guys started talking divorce" she held her hands up saying "I'm with her now she seems alright, I'll let you know as soon as anything happens but I've got her" Tina told her Mom smiling at Mercy. Tina put the phone down and hugged Mercy they sat on the couch for a few hours just letting the TV fill the room with noise to drown out her crying, eventually Tina saw her to bed and went to the bedroom next door to find sleep herself
Blaine & Sam
Sam stepped into Blaine's and felt quite pleased with himself "I did it" he punched the air as he announced his victory "I looked in her face and told her we couldn't be together and I think she accepted it"
"So what you split up?"
"Yeah I told her she could have the house we've got to stop this seeing each other every night thing"
"And honestly, you're alright with that?"
"I'm good stress over" he knocked fists with him saying
"Okay I'll get us a drink" Blaine left to grab some beers out the fridge and called Tina to fill her in, three beers in and Sam wasn't looking so happy "What's up Bud?"
"Nothing I just didn't expect to feel like this when it was finally over" he looked up at the clock "She'd be coming in about now, popping her head round the door to see if I was alright" he smiled his eyes still on the TV
"You miss that?"
"I should have brought my cup" he answered obviously thinking of other things, when his phone pinged '1 Corinthians 13:4-5' he read wondering why Mom Jones would send that to him, of course he ignored it "I'm bushed I'm going to bed" he eventually told Blaine getting up to do just that "Goodnight" he said throwing his can in the bin across the room and cheering quietly when it went in
"Goodnight" Blaine smiled after him, he knew the look of a man needing privacy to cry
Sam sat on his bed crying, he'd been his own worst enemy, he was a broken man trying to hide his hurt by hurting her back, he'd been strong all this time, refusing to see any good in her, he really wasn't ready to forgive her but to lose her, he'd never be ready for that. He'd looked in her face and told her he didn't want what she was offering and his pride had refused emotion access, there was nothing more he could have ever wanted than for her to admit she was at fault in some way and she had more than done that.
He finally got up to get undressed to go to bed taking his phone and change out of his pocket to put it on the side table, he remembered what Mercy had said about her Mom healing her and picked up the phone to look at the message again. He rolled his eyes not believing he was falling into her trap too, after laughing at Mercy earlier, as he checked out what words of wisdom the verse held for him
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs" he smiled at the fact that he'd just cursed himself for being all of that "Mom" he laughed throwing his phone and change in his pocket and leaving Blaine's
He walked into the house checking the main room and found it empty, he made his way upstairs to their bedroom smiling when he opened the door to see Mercy in their bed, it had been a long time since he'd seen that picture. "Hey" he said as her eyes opened for a second acknowledging that someone had entered the room "Hey" he smiled when he sat on the bed "Can we talk?" he asked as Mercy stirred
"What?" she asked still dazed, rubbing her eyes to establish whether it was a dream or reality "Sam?" she asked sitting up "What's happened?" she asked before he could answer the first question
"I have something to say" he smiled
"I'm listening" she looked up at him as his hand went up to wipe tears from her cheek
"Why are you crying?"
"Mistakes I guess"
"I need to ask you this one thing" he held her hand asking "Can we erase everything and start all over again?"
"Seriously?" she screeched, a smile on her face telling him her answer
"Can we... I mean I think we're worth fighting for?"
"We're worth fighting for" she nodded grabbing his neck and pulling him towards her, their eyes met, their noses, touched and their lips melted as they set about rekindling their marriage
'They're back together' Tina sent a message to Blaine and Mrs Jones ass he stood listening at eh bedroom door
'Thank God' Blaine replied
'God indeed' Mrs Jones replied
They woke up the next morning to a text from Mercy's Mom simply saying 'Job 22:27'
"What is that?" Sam asked looking over her shoulder as he picked his phone up "You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfil your vows"
"To carry love, to carry children of our own..." Mercy sang from their wedding song
"Finally" he smiled kissing her, punching the air as he did "A baby?"
"Please" she smiled kissing him back
"Now this was worth fighting for" he smiled
The End