Chapter 11: Separate ways
Sam parks Jack's truck on the street outside her house and just sits there. She was so angry when she left Jack's house that she just drove, she didn't know where she was going and doesn't remember driving home. She was worried this weekend was going to be bad, but she never imagined any of this would happen. How could Onica have been engaged to Jack? She knew he had been married before, she even ever so briefly met his ex wife, so why had he not said anything about having been engaged before? The more she thinks about it the madder she gets, though she's not really sure who she's madder at. She's mad at Onica, she should have said something, how could she have kept this to herself? She's mad at Mark for being judgemental about her relationship and for starting a fight with Jack. She's mad at Jack for not telling her about his past. She's even mad at this stupid truck for belonging to Jack.
With that last thought, she opens the driver door and gets out, she slams the door shut and kicks the tire and shouts, "Stupid truck!" for good measure at the top of her lungs. Surprisingly, she feels better.
Sam walks inside her house and drops Jack's truck keys on the table in the hallway. Then she sits on the couch, a few seconds later she gets up and walks to the kitchen, then goes back to the couch, then repeats the routine. She feels restless and can't seem to sit still. She knows she needs to think, it's going to take so long to process everything that's transpired today but she just can't seem to get her thoughts in order.
Sam is on her 6th round to the kitchen when she hears the front door to her house open and close. She alters her path and goes to the hallway to see Mark and Onica.
Feeling irritated at seeing them, Sam asks, "What are you doing here?"
Mark looks at Sam with an 'are you kidding me' look and says, "Where else are we supposed to go? We certainly couldn't stay at your ex boyfriend's house."
Taken aback, Sam huffs, "Excuse me? Who said he's my ex boyfriend?"
Mark shakes his head and gestures erratically and says, "You can't stay with him Sam, not after all this."
Sam walks over and stands right in front of Mark and challenges, "And who are you to decide that huh?"
Mark takes a step closer so that they're nearly nose to nose and replies, "He was engaged to my wife Sam, ENGAGED! You are not staying with him and that's final."
Sam is now outraged, how dare Mark decide something like this for her. Yes, she's mad at Jack, but she still loves him, and quite frankly, it's her choice as to whether she wants to continue the relationship or not.
Sam is so mad that she turns around and walks a few paces towards the kitchen then she turns back around and calmly tells Mark, "Get out."
Now Mark is taken aback as he says, "Excuse me?"
Sam looks him in the eye and says slowly and deliberately, "Get. Out. Of. My. House."
Mark huffs and looks between Sam and Onica before saying, "Fine, I don't want to be here anyways."
"Where are we going to go?" Onica asks from her spot in the corner by the door.
Mark turns to her and waves his hand back and forth between them and says, "We're not going anywhere, I'm going to go see my buddy in Denver. You can stay here."
Onica takes a step towards him and says, "Mark, please, can't we talk about this?"
"We'll talk when we get home, right now, I just need some space." Mark replies.
"You're not going to talk to me the rest of the weekend?" Onica asks, sounding really hurt.
Mark shakes his head and says, "We're leaving tomorrow so I'm going to change my flight and leave out of Denver. Besides, I don't even know what to say right now."
Onica covers her face with her hands and starts crying as Mark moves away, no doubt to go pack his things.
Sam watches him go and looks at Onica, she studies her a moment before saying, "I'm going to leave too."
Onica slowly uncovers her face and looks at Sam and chokes out, "Sam, please, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. Please talk to me."
Sam backs up a step and says, "I"m sorry Onica, but I can't right now. That's the one thing that I can agree with Mark on, I need space and time to think. I can't do that with you here, knowing that you and Jack…" Sam shakes her head and continues, "I just can't. You can stay here, I'm going to a friend's house."
Sam walks to her room to collect a couple items and emerges at the same time Mark does, they look at each other but don't say anything.
As they get to the door, Sam says to Mark, "Where are my car keys?"
Mark pats his pocket, and Sam holds her hand out for them.
"What, you want them back?" Mark asks.
"Yes, Mark, I want my keys back." Sam replies.
Mark throws the keys at her and demands, "Give me a ride to the car rental place."
"No." Sam says as she turns to leave.
"No?" Mark parrots.
"You heard me Mark, I'm not taking you anywhere." Sam says and walks out the door.
Mark huffs as he follows and says, "Then how am I supposed to get there?"
"I don't know Mark, and I don't care." Sam says as she gets in her car, starts it, and drives away.
Mark stands there with his mouth open. He can't believe his sister just left him here. He shakes his head angrily and pulls out his phone and calls the cab company that he had used earlier. After giving them the address and being told that it'll take at least 20 minutes for a car to get there, Mark heads back inside. He really doesn't want to talk to his wife, but she is just that, his wife, so he goes back in.
He finds Onica sitting on the couch with her knees up to her chin. Under normal circumstances he would feel the need to comfort her, but he now can barely look at her.
She straightens up when he enters the room and says hopefully, "Mark, I, I thought you'd left."
"I'm waiting for a cab to come." He replies quietly.
"Oh." Onica says sounding disappointed, she looks at the floor.
For a while neither of them speaks, finally Mark says, "You could at least take it off."
Onica looks confused and says, "Take what off?"
Mark sighs heavily and says, "The necklace, the necklace that he gave you. I find it very insulting for you to still be wearing it."
Onica fingers the necklace and says, "Oh, you're right, I'm sorry."
"I can't believe you've worn it all these years." Mark says, clearly upset, then spits out, "You even wore it to our wedding. You wore another man's declaration of love to our wedding."
"It's not..." Onica starts, grabbing the necklace again.
"Don't tell me it's not, I'm no jewelry expert but a heart shaped jewel screams love so don't lie to me anymore." Mark says, interrupting her.
Onica takes her hand off the emerald and looks down to the floor and says, "You're right, I'm sorry. I'll take it off."
"And give it back to him." Mark demands.
Onica takes the necklace off and holds it in her hands, she's had this for so long, the thought of giving it back is actually painful. She had waited so long to hear Jack tell her that he loved her, and he gave her a beautiful emerald as he finally said it. This necklace had meant so much to her, it became a sort of symbol that she had broken past some of his barriers. Even though he didn't say the words 'I love you' very often, she had this necklace to remind her that he did indeed love her. She had forgotten she was wearing it the day she left, she only noticed after she went to shower that night. She knew she should have given it back, she had a key to Jack's apartment, and she knew his schedule, she could have snuck in and left it. She had run away to Michael, the guy she had met, and was mortified to find that he had a girlfriend. After that experience, she was too ashamed and embarrassed to go back to Jack's place to leave the necklace, plus she liked it, and she was still in love with him. Everyday she wore the necklace to remind herself that she had been an idiot, she had a man that she loved and that had loved her in return, she did not want to make the same mistake again. Now, though, as she looks at Mark's solemn face, she suddenly realizes that she has made that mistake again. She's lied to the man she loves, and she might lose him over it.
Some tears fall down her cheek and she nods and says, "I'll give it back."
They both look over at the window as they hear the sound of a horn, Mark says, "The cab is here."
Onica looks at Mark as more tears fall and says, "I'm so sorry."
Mark nods and says, "We'll talk once we're home." He turns and starts for the door, then turns back and looks at his wife and says quietly, "I still love you, you know."
That causes Onica to sob even harder, as she says between sniffles, "I...love...you...so…much."
He should go to her, tell her that it's all going to be alright, but he can't. He can't wrap his mind around the fact that she was engaged to Jack O'Neill, that for years she's been wearing a necklace that he gave her. Mark wants to work things out, they have 2 kids to think about after all, plus he really does love her. Though if Sam doesn't end her relationship with Jack, Mark isn't sure what will happen. All Mark knows is that both couples cannot stay together, it's too awkward and too weird, and he really doesn't like the idea of his sister being with a man who was also with Onica at one time. He won't admit that he's really afraid that if Jack and Onica spend too much time together then their old feelings will resurface and she might leave him in favor of rekindling things with Jack. He can't think about that right now, he has to get out of here and get some perspective. His ole buddy Pete is just the guy to help him out. Mark looks over at his wife one more time, then turns and walks out the door. They'll talk and find a way to work things out once they're home, he's sure of it.
