Thank you guys for the great reviews, we are so excited that you love the start, as we do too. While she is writing for Sam I am writing for Mercedes, but together we are having so much fun with this. Let us know what you think of this new installment and look out for Chapter 3 soon.
Grabbing Mary's coffee, she picked up the files and walked towards the door, knocking before walking in.
"Good Morning Ma'am, I have those files I proofed last night and your morning coffee."
Walking further into the office she smiled at her boss but stood frozen as brown eyes met the familiar pair of green eyes staring back at her.
Mary beamed as Mercedes walked in. "Mercedes, dear, great you are here." She moved closer to the younger woman and embraced her as she turned to Sam.
"Samuel this is Mercedes Jones the best thing, well other than your father and I, and you, to grace this place. Mercedes." She said turning to a nervous face, "This is my son Samuel Evans, I know he was supposed to take over next week but due to scheduling conflict of mines, he is here now."
Sam's eyes zoomed in on Mercedes and couldn't believe it was the little spit-fire from this morning. He cooled his expression before the smile that was just under the surface could appear. His eyes looked her over from head to toe before he even realized he was doing it.
"Oh, we met mother. This is the little ticking time bomb that didn't watch where she was going and ended up spilling her coffee." He said to his mother without taking his eyes off Mercedes. "So you're my new assistant huh?" He glanced at his mother before glancing back to Mercedes. "Do you make it a habit of being late, or is this a one time thing? Because if so, them maybe you should leave your house earlier in case you have anymore coffee accidents."
Mercedes stared at the man in front of her who Mary introduced as her son. Mercedes was about to say something, but Sam beat her to it. She laughed bitterly shaking her head.
"This has got to be a joke. First of all, had you not bumped into me, scolding me with burns from the hot drink spilling all over myself and my clothes, I would have been on time." Her words were full of attitude and bitterness, though she smiled as the words dripped from her lips. "I may come in at nine on most days, but I can assure you, you don't have to worry about the work, It will get done, and there will be no complaints."
Mary didn't mean to be amused by the scene in front of her, she had a feeling the two would be like oil and water, only because as well as she knew her son, knowing his tendency to be very stubborn, she had noticed that trait in Mercedes as well. Instead of interjecting, she stood by listening to them bicker.
"On most days?" Sam didn't like the sound of that at all. What was so hard getting here at nine? But Sam didn't say that. He cut his eyes to his mother before looking back at Mercedes and moving in front of his desk leaning on it, arms crossed.
"Look, we got off on the wrong foot and this morning wasn't the best. My mother seems to think highly of you. So just do your job, get here on time, and we won't have a problem. Now can you make me a cup of coffee?"
Mercedes wanted to say something more, but even she knew that talking back to the boss was not going to help her and she could end up losing her job. This was the best job that she had ever had, so if dealing with her new boss, was what she had to do to get by, they that is what she would do. Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, she nodded. "Yes, sir, how would you like it?"
Sam smiled before telling her, "Just make it black. I'll bring in my preferred coffee choice tomorrow."
Mercedes chewed the inside of her lip, this was not going to be easy, there was just something about him that, she didn't even know what it was that it did to her, but she didn't like it. Turning to Mary she held out the cup of coffee.
"Here is yours, I guess for the last time." She said sadly, really realizing that Mary would be gone now for the most part. "And I will get your Coffee now, Mr. Evans." She said as she glanced at him once more before leaving the room.
Mary smirked taking a sip of her drink. "Well, now that was very entertaining. I don't think I have ever enjoyed two people meeting, as much as I enjoyed that."
Before Sam could catch himself, he was staring at Mercedes ass as she walked out of his office. His mother's voice quickly brought him to his senses.
"I don't know what you're talking about." And he decided to just drop it there. He didn't need his mother getting any crazy ideas. "Anyway, shouldn't you be on your way enjoying your new found freedom and not harassing your son at his new job?"
Mary watched her son's reaction, she didn't know what would happen in the future but she knew that Mercedes would keep Sam on his toes, and maybe even teach him to be a little bit more compassionate to the people he worked with, she was even sure Mercedes would gain something from him as well.
"Hey I am enjoying it, alot. I am thinking of taking the rest of the morning just sitting here watching you two." She looked at her watch. "But unfortunately I have to meet up with your father so this is where I leave you."
Moving closer to her son, Mary linked her arms with his and kissed his cheek. "I love you, can't wait to do dinner with you and Quinn next week and please be nice to my staff, well your staff."
She moved away from him as Mercedes walked back into the room. Moving to the younger woman, Mary hugged her briefly, before the two shared a hip bump. "I am going to miss you, please if you need anything, anything you call me. And keep sending me pictures of the twins, I just can't get enough of them."
Mercedes nodded and with that, Mary walked out the room. Setting down Sam's coffee she smoothed down her dress looking at him. "Will there be anything else?"
Sam walked around his desk and sat down before responding. "I want to have a staff meeting in an hour with everyone. Is that doable?" Sam knew that most meetings he would conduct would just be with department heads, but Sam wanted every employee at this one so he can tell them what is expected and just see everyone. "It won't be long, maybe twenty minutes.".
Mercedes nodded. "Yes it's doable, I can get the email out now and make sure everyone meets you in the main conference room." Going to Sam's desk she grabbed a pen and sticky note. Jotting down the meeting time she looked back up to him. "Will there be anything else?"
"Well that was easy. But no, nothing else. Just get that done and meet me in the conference room in an hour. I need to leave early today to make a reservation, so today will be more of a laid back kinda day."
Mercedes just nodded as there was nothing else she could say. Turning to leave Sam's office she went to her desk and sent out the memo to everyone, making sure that no one was left out in meeting their new boss. What everyone thought of him? She was eager to see.
As the day winded down, Mercedes checked the time, Kurt picked up the dry cleaned uniform and so Madison was squared away, but she would never forgive Mercedes if she missed the cheers. The meeting with the new boss wasn't as bad as she thought, Sam seemed a bit of a hard ass, like someone who was just looking to make a name of himself and establish he was numero uno around here. He should have known that wouldn't fly in the office but he is like every man in his position, if they have power, they will wield it.
As Sam was packing up to leave for the day, he checked his phone, and sure enough he had three missed calls and four text messages from Quinn. He knew he was running late, and that if he didn't get there fast, she would blow a gasket. After locking up his office, he sent Quinn a quick text to let her know that he was on his way, and he headed out to the garage to his car.
His story with Quinn was one he's sure people have heard a million times. It wasn't an epic love story. It was basically an understanding. People of status belong with other people of status. And Sam wasn't really complaining. Quinn was every definition of gorgeous. Blonde hair, green eyes with a hint of hazel, tall, smart, and classy. She was the type of women that everyone either wanted to be with, or wanted to be, and he was the lucky man that would spend the rest of his life with her. Well at least that was the plan.
Sam pulled up in front of the Biltmore Hotel, and took a breath before getting out and giving his keys to the valet. Their reservation was at Palme d'Or, one of the best restaurants in the city. He didn't know why she insisted that they go out to dinner tonight, but when it came to Quinn, he always caved. He gave his name to the maître d' and was taken to a table where a slightly pissed off Quinn was waiting, a scowl etched on her beautiful face.
"Hey gorgeous." He gave her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down in front of her. "You are far too beautiful to have a scowl on your face."
Quinn should have been surprised when Sam strutted into the restaurant almost forty-five minutes late, but she wasn't, when it came to work, Sam lost track of time, this was one of the few things, on a short list of things, that she planned on changing about Sam. Her mother said it best, the myth about not being able to change a man was simply untrue. With the right motivation, any man can be trained. And Quinn with all of her assets had the right motivation.
She loved mostly everything about Sam, he was one of the few people who she felt actually matched her level and speed of life. He was everything she ever wanted in a man, successful, handsome and good to her. She was under no notion that they shared a love like those in the romance novel, Sam hadn't swept her off of feet, but that didn't mean the love she felt for him wasn't real. She loved him, loved what they could be together and couldn't wait for the future.
"Samuel I swear, I am going to start telling you times an hour earlier than the event just so you will make it on time." She stood, kissing him softly before returning to her seat. "This dinner is for you after all, how was your first day?"
"Sorry Quinnie Poo." Sam knew using that name almost always got her to not be mad at him. And when he saw the beautiful smile grace her face with a fond shake of her head, he considered that a win. "It was my first day and I was getting acquainted with the employees, and lost track of time. But I do thank you for this great dinner." He smiled at the waiter when he came with the wine list. "Thanks, but we really don't need-"
"Thank you, just give us a minute to decide which wine we will be ordering." Quinn interrupted. The waiter nodded his head and waited. "Honestly Sam, this is a celebration, and we are going all out." She turned back to the waiter, and gave her order. "Give us the most expensive wine on the list."
"Babe, you know I'm not much of a wine drinker. A scotch will do just fine."
"What part of celebration don't you understand? You can have a scotch anytime. I can't believe you're giving me shit when I'm doing all of this for you."
Sam was beginning to get annoyed. "I'm not giving you shit Quinn. If this is for me, then I should be able to order what I like."
"Can we just classy it up a bit? Just for tonight? And then you can go back to your beer and scotch." She turned to waite, who for whatever reason was still standing there. Sam wanted to know why? Most waiters take the order and go, then come back an hour later. Sam figured that he knew that they would change their minds again. Quinn's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Sorry about that. Give us your most expensive wine…" Something caught Quinn's attention. "Wait, give us the 6 course tasting menu, and you can pair the wine with that."
"Yes Madam. What would you like your first course to be."
As Quinn continued to order, Sam began checking emails, and text messages. He loved her, but sometimes when she gets like this, it's hard to take. He didn't know when he got to a point that he was letting her order for him. He does appreciate the whole gesture, so he guesses he should be thankful. But this is a bit much.
As he was scrolling his text message, he sees one from his mother asking about his first day and his opinion on Mercedes. He chuckled at his mother knowing she thought that he would fire her favorite assistant, and told her that the little spit-fire was kinda impressive. And she was. But he doubts that would be a daily thing, because everyone is on their best behavior the first day.
"What's so funny?" Sam noticed that the waiter left and Quinn was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh nothing. Just talks with my mother."
"Oh, Okay. Is she still up for dinner next week."
"That's what she said."
"Hopefully you'll be on time for that."
"Quinn, get off my back. I'm running a company now. I can't just up and leave when I get ready."
"Babe, you're the CEO. Nobody is higher than you. You can up and leave whenever you want. This is why you have department heads and assistants. To pick up the slack when you can't." Quinn loved him, but sometimes he needed a push and she was that for him. She was the person to keep him focused. And she was damn good at that.
Sam knew she was right. He was the boss and could leave when he wanted. But he was also a perfectionist, and felt that no one could do something the way he could, so why let them. His father always told him, if you need something done right, do it yourself. But of course he can't say that to Quinn because he didn't want another argument.
"You're right Quinn. I'm the boss, I can do what I please." Thankfully their first course was brought to them and Sam was able to eat and nod for the rest of their conversations like he always does. It's not that he doesn't enjoy talking to Quinn, he does, they have similar personalities and get along great. He just doesn't want to make things more tense and stressful tonight.
Mercedes was tired by the time she made it out of the office, but there was no time for rest. She raced over to the field just in time for the second quarter of the peewee game to begin. Moving to the bleachers, she smiled seeing Miles sitting next Brittany and Kurt, as the girl's started cheering on the boys. Moving to sit next to him, she cheered loudly, so that Madison would know she was there.
Kissing her little brother on the top of his head, she leaned over to hug Brittany then Kurt. Kurt smiled at her.
"How are you feeling after this morning?"
Mercedes laughed shaking her head. "Well, let's see I was late getting to work to meet the new boss because of that jerk. I get to work and because the universe loves me so much, they made him my boss." she said, still annoyed at the situation.
"Wait- The universe is your boss? I thought Mary was?" Brittany said looking at Mercedes. Mercedes shook her head smiling softly. "No this guy spilled coffee all over me this morning at Kurt's shop and when I got to work, he is Mary's son, my new boss."
"That is wild, did he at least apologize?"
Mercedes laughed bitterly. "As if, he actually went on about me being late, even after he knew he caused it."
Sitting back she sighed looking down to Miles, who instead of enjoying the game had his nose in his latest Captain Underpants book.
"Hey MJ how was school."
"It was fine, Mr. Clark made a mistake on the whiteboard and I had to correct him. Which got me sent to the principal's office again, but she was okay with it."
Mercedes laughed shaking her head. "Miles we had this talk, you can't go embarassing the teachers."
"It's not my fault he wrote the equation wrong. I mean you send me to this mediocre school with less than average teachers, it was bound to happen."
Mercedes sighed, Mary had offered to get them into the school her children attend but Mercedes couldn't afford it even with the scholarships they were offered. But a better school was needed, because she could see just how bored Miles truly was with his education.
"Duly noted MJ, how is Maddie doing?"
"She's fine I suppose, though to be fair, cheering isn't' really an olympic sport."
Mercedes shook her head looking over at her little sister, Miles may have gotten their father's brain, but Maddie certainly got her charisma and charm from their mother. It was like she was raising mini me's of their parents.
The rest of the game went on without a hitch and even though she was tired, she and the twins joined Santana, Brittany and Kurt for dinner out at Cracker Barrel. One of the kids favorite places to go. On nights where neither kid had anything to do, they stayed in and Mercedes made dinner, but when they were out they nearly always went out with the gang.
Santana and Brittany met Mercedes and Kurt in middle school, and they were inseparable since then. The girl's even had a girl group in high school called "TroubleTones". It was one of those things that they just enjoyed doing, so they sang at every talent show and even the Pep Rallies. While Mercedes and Santana slayed, musically, Brittany always came up with the best dance routines. Its why she was encouraged to open her own studio.
She may have been a free spirit, but it seemed that Santana got her in ways others didn't. Santana, while coaching PeeWee girl's Cheerleading, handled the finances of P & L Dance Studio, Brittany handled the dances. Girls and boys from all over the city came in to learn from Brittany and her staff. They entered competitions and soon she was known as one of the best.
Though when the four of them graduated the goal was to go to college, have fun and worry about the rest later. One semester, that's all Mercedes had. And she had to pull away from the life she truly wanted. Kurt and Santana went on to earn Business degree as Brittany honed her dancing skills. They helped out as much as they could, offering comfort, places to stay and much needed stress relievers to help Mercedes deal with her loss, and help raising the kids..
As she listened to Miles and Kurt talk comics, Kurt as always just nodded like he knew what the boy was talking about. Brittany and Maddie were talking about their upcoming competition. Her mind was off somewhere when she felt a nudge from Santana.
"Girl where were you just now? Cause you have been staring into space for about five minutes now."
Mercedes shook off her thoughts. "Just thinking. Not looking forward to tomorrow."
Santana laughed. "What I don't get is, how did you not know you were cussing out your bosses son, aka your boss?"
Mercedes laughed. "Well Sam has been away at school ever since I started at the company and the pictures I saw on her desk, it didn't dawn on me it was the same person. Plus, hot coffee down my new blouse and all I saw was red."
"So now that you know...what are you gonna do, cause you know I may have calmed in my ways but the truth is, i can pull out Auntie Snix in a minute."
"Santana the last time you did that, it involved a police chase, stolen identity and me explaining to the Port Authority you didn't actually mean it when you said you would….what was it?"
She smile proudly. "I would cut off his junk and mail it to his grandmother."
Mercedes shook her head. "To be fair it sounded better in Spanish."
Santana laughed. "Right?"
The evening winded down and Mercedes made her way home with the twins. Their nightly routine pretty much the same as always. Get their things together for the next day, catch up on one of their shows together and tuck both kids into bed, before she headed to her own. Her life was set in its way it seemed, for the long haul. The last ten years made her realize that as much as she loved her freedom, as much as she wanted more out of life, this was who she was now. A mother to her siblings. She couldn't afford to be anything else, she didn't think it was fair to have a relationship, talk about kids or marriage, anything that could make the twins feel unwanted. Once they were in college, maybe she could focus on her own life, until then, this was who she was and it was okay with her.