This Is The Right Time
The Palace
Day 5
03:00
"Totally exhausted" Sam sat in the plane more than ready for the ride home, they sat listening to the performers chatter about life on the road, Bree and Mercy had a bit of a sing with Beyoncé, it was only a few lines but enough to say they'd duetted to the grandchildren
"So you won't be interested in your official audition later today then?" Dwight turned around to ask him
"Yeah right" Sam smiled not even bothering to lift his head off the rest
"He's right, we couldn't do the band justice alone" Mason told them
"Okay" King pipped in "But it's a once in a lifetime opportunity" he told them
Sam sat up at his voice "Is this for real?" he asked looking from his Dad to King
"Absolutely, 3pm tomorrow, you have an audition to get on my label" King told him, Sam looked at Mason wide eyed, Mason knew what he was thinking, how the hell were they going to do this without the rest of the band there
"We'll be ready" Mason told them
"We will?" Sam looked at him shocked
"We will" Mason smiled "You're better than you think Evans" he tapped his shoulder
"I have to agree with that actually" Mercy smiled squeezing his hand, Dwight and King looked at each other
It was only 40 minutes but they still managed to fall asleep on the journey, woken by the silence of the engine when they landed on the field not far from the house, and got on the coach for the short drive to the front door
"Hey" king called his daughter as they walked off towards her quarters "A word with you two" he looked at Sam. They looked at each other and walked towards him, Mercy grabbing Sam's hand when her Dad turned and walked off towards his study, they followed him in, watching as all their parent piled into the space
"What's going on?" Sam looked around asking
"Surely you didn't think you're little announcement was going to go down that easy" Dwight told him
"You're not going to change our minds" Sam told his Dad, his attitude telling him he wasn't backing down on any of it
"Okay you want it straight" King sat in his chair watching everyone sit down "I have four things to say" he looked at Dwight "One" he held a finger up "I'm everywhere" he smiled at him "Two" another finger went up "You hurt her, we will clash" he smiled at Mercy who wasn't finding all this funny "Three" another finger "She's my Princess, not your conquest" he looked into Sam's eyes telling him "And four, I will go back to prison for her" he pointed at his daughter "Dwight" he looked across at him
"What questions do you need to ask her?" Sam asked his Dad, he wasn't happy about that at all especially as he'd never heard of Kitty getting any questioning
"So what, Mercy can't talk for herself now?" Dwight asked him
"I can" Mercy told him, her eyes still on her Dad, wondering where this was going
"Do you guys have feelings for each other?" Dwight asked, looking at Mercy
"Did you ask Kitty that?" Sam butted in
"We do" Mercy grabbed Sam's hand tighter and looked at him smiling
"Look it's 3am" Sam huffed at not getting a response "I have an audition tomorrow, nothings prepared, we're both tired and... can we do this tomorrow, after audition?" he asked
"I guess" Dwight looked at King, he knew before he'd started Sam wasn't going to allow it, he watching them get up to leave the room
"Hold up" Mary called after them "Contraceptives, are you guys using anything?"
"We..." Sam started to reply
"Yes" Mercy interrupted him telling her "We're careful"
"We'll talk tomorrow after the audition" King told them "Goodnight" smiling as they left the room
"Goodnight" Mercy smiled, this was maybe the first night she remembered not kissing her Dad goodnight while he was in the house, but she had other things on her mind, they'd told the parents, and now, it was time to go all the way with this relationship
"What?" Sam looked down at her, looking at her arms wrapped around his
"We're going to get our moment" she grinned
"About that" he stopped walking to look at her "We have this audition tomorrow, we don't have a clue what we're going to perform, it has to be right, I think it's going to be an all nighter in the studio for Mason and me"
"Seriously?" her shoulders dropping with the disappointment
"This is a big thing for us" he turned to look at her "Sorry"
"I know it's big, I just thought for a second we were bigger" her hands dropped off him "It's fine, I understand"
"Do you?" he lifted her chin for her to look at him "Really?"
"I do, honestly" she smiled closing her eyes for his kiss on her forehead "I guess it will come naturally, when it's the right time"
"It will" he put his arm around her "I can't believe doing that was that easy, what were we sweating about?" he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and walked towards the east wing
The Parents
"What did you think of that?" Clara asked clapping her hands
"Did you see how he spoke to you, defending my princess?" King asked Dwight laughed
"I told you he could be stubborn, he's not going to let us ask Mercy anything, you know that don't you?" Dwight laughed
"Unless she says it's alright" Mary told them "I'm amazed she was the one that lied about the safe sex thing"
"Maybe it's on the cards" Dwight suggested
"Not in this house" King told him
"Do you really think all the rest of them are not at it?"
"I'm only bothered about Princess" King replied
"What do you think's going to happen when they move to America?" Clara asked laughing
"Can we go back too" he looked at his wife, with real tears in his eyes
"We talked about this" Clara looked at him
"That's a good question" Dwight pipped up "I didn't think they'd be ready to move out so quick, what if they decide not to come back home after they finish studying?"
"I thought they were living together after they finished studies" King's ears came to attention
"That's not what I heard" Mary told him "I'm sure he said they were going to be in America in his apartment"
"I heard that but wasn't that after they finished studies?" King confirmed
"I don't think so" Mary told him looking at Dwight for support
"I heard him say something about her being able to study Management anywhere but..." Clara
"I heard that too" Dwight told her
"She just got a boyfriend, she's doing well where she is, I'm not ready for all this" King sat back in his chair heavy
"Look on the bright side, we'll get some us time back" Mary linked arms with her husband telling him
"Back to being 22 again" he smiled
"In a 42 year old body, right" Mary rolled her eyes laughing
"I really don't want to be 25 again" King sat shaking his head in dismay
"Is everything alright?" Steve popped his head round the door asking
"Yeah, sure come on in" King told him "We were just trying to figure out what happens next, now I'm being told my baby girl is about to fly the nest" he looked at Steve "Did you hear Sam say they were leaving Ghana?"
"I think so, yes"
"I don't know how he got that past me" King told them
"We'll be busy planning a baby shower" Kate told them excitedly "And logically I guess after the baby's born, they'll want their own place, we'll need to start looking" she told her husband
"I guess we have time before we have to plan a wedding" Clara dropped in
"Do you actually see that?" King asked "Because the way I see things now, we could be doing a baby shower, wedding and funeral all at the same time" he huffed "This is going to kill me"
"Don't be such a drama king, and you say Princess gets it from me" Clara laughed
"I could maybe get busy planning another reception for Stacey and Kitty" Mary nodded telling her "Along with Sam and Mercy's"
"I guess parenthood never stops, it just changes into something else" Kate looked at Steve "Looks like we're fast becoming our parents"
"I was so looking forward to you being the sole recipient of my attention again" Dwight told his wife
"Did we just find ourselves work without actually looking for it?" Steve asked laughing
"Sorry the maid told us you guys were in here" Don popped his head round the door
"Don" Steve's voice full of surprise at seeing his Brother-in-law
"And me" Linda's head made an appearance
"What are you guys doing here" Kate and Mary went running to their sister
"Apparently there's an audition tomorrow and some boys just needed to be here, thanks" she smiled at King behind them "For giving them all this opportunity, I know how much it means to them"
"You knew they were coming?" Dwight asked taking the kiss and handshake from his in-laws
"Whoever heard of an audition with half a band" king laughed
"Happy holiday?" Don asked, frowning when the room went quiet
East Wing
"That's Ryder's voice" Sam looked at Mercy letting go of her shoulder to push open the door "Dude" he laughed letting Mercy in before walking over to his cousin "What are you doing here?"
"An audition I hear" Ryder told him taking the hug
"So you knew about this?" Sam asked looking at Mason, watching Ryder say hello to Mercy
"No I got the call asking if we were serious about this band, of course I said yes and the next thing I know, Dad's telling me about an audition"
"At least there's three of us" Sam tapped his shoulder pleased to see him
"The rest of the crew are here" Ryder told him "They're sorting rooms out" he pointed at the door "But never mind all that, I hear you two are official" he smiled
"New news to you guy" Sam laughed hugging Mercy into him "You can forget jetlag, we got to get on this, it's got to be perfect"
"Dude give us at least three hours, that was a trip and a half" Ryder laughed "Don't tell me the honeymoons over already?"
Sam looked down at Mercy smiling "7am sharp, no messing" he told them walking through to say hello to everyone else, in Marley and Jake's room
"Feels like an age since we were all together like this" Jake told them
"Yeah" Sugar told him looking at Joe
"Have you got a song for us?" Joe quickly asked, looking at Sam
"Dude I have no idea" Sam told him "I wanted to go through the night but Ryder wants some rest"
"I actually agree with the rest" Jake laughed "Start at 8 in the morning"
"No 7 I'm afraid" Sam told him
"So get out of here" Jake told them falling onto his bed, everyone quickly said their goodnights, there was a day of work ahead, in less than three hours
Sam & Mercy
"At last" Sam closed the door and leaned on it "I didn't think they were ever going to stop"
"Time on my phone tells me we have just under three hours" she jumped on the bed telling him
"I pictured us in bed for the entire day, breakfast, lunch, dinner the lot in bed"
"Well we get three hours and you're wasting time" she patted the bed telling him to sit beside her "We could be even closer," she whispered in his ear.
"Much closer," he agreed, touching her loose curls while he looked into her eyes. He knew she was tired but her eyes were bright with desire and wide with expectation. Her semi parted lips moved towards him, she pulled back as his eyes closed in anticipation "Is this our moment" she asked
"It is" he smiled without opening his eyes, his hand pulled her to him "Stop talking" his lips found hers and kissed her until she moved into him, her hands started moving down his body, she was eager to get started, undoing his jeans she pushed the unzipped parts aside and grabbed hold of him "Fuck" he hissed as if he wasn't expecting it
"Did I hurt you" she let go of him
"No" he quickly replied "It was a memory" pulling her back to him "You're going to make this fast" he grabbed her moving hand, she looked up at him and kissed his neck, chest and then her tongue licked his seeping shaft "Fuck" he trembled at her touch
"We're getting there" she giggled before covering him with her mouth again, he sat moving her hair out the way looking down at her giving him this indescribable feeling, she must have felt him watching her because her head suddenly turned and smiled at him, she took his lips again and left her hand to do the job while they got lost in a kiss
"Mercy" he gasped his body moving to her rhythm "I'm…" he looked down as she'd suddenly stopped, leaving him hanging
"Get undressed" she sat up telling him, he couldn't get his clothes off fast enough, he needed to get this out, she'd stopped touching him but the cold air mingled with her saliva on him kept the mood going. He was stood in front of her naked, a bit embarrassed but wanting to finish this off, he was on the edge "Come here" she smiled when she felt he'd waited long enough. She pulled him to her, her lips taking him back in licking, stroking and sucking until he cried out his release and pulled her up his body
"Fuck Mercy" he hissed at her satisfied, wanting to do more but not possessing the tools right now. He grabbed her lips, his tongue quickly requesting access, smiling to himself as she let him in. He slid his two hands down her body pulling her dress up to dive into her panties, before she could react to his touch on her skin, his finger had slid inside her, she reacted by kissing him deeper as she moved to a rhythm she found fast as her body rocked to his strokes and her needs
"Fuck Sam" she gasped falling onto him, the air had suddenly started making it's own noise, it was like an awakening, she could hear, feel and sense everything as if out of her own body.
"You like that?" he asked at her moan, rewarding her response by easing in another finger, she lifted her head with the grunt as if she was in plain, but her lips searched for his and in finding them she consumed him moving up his body with urgency. He felt her buckle and knew she wasn't far from reaching her goal, he moved his mouth from hers and offered his neck, he was getting aroused again, he needed a distraction, but her noises weren't allowing him to get away from it
"We can do this standing or laying down, all I know is we need to do it, soon" she told him
"Not so fast" he kissed down her neck "Take your clothes off" he stepped away from her and stood watching her get undressed, now it was her turn to stand there feeling embarrassed as he memorised very part of her "Your beautiful" he gasped "Promise to be mine, and only mine, for the rest of our lives?"
"I promise" she smiled
She stood feeling him as he kissed her forehead, down her face, lingered at her breasts, leaving them hard and aching. His wet lips circled her navel before continuing down, she flinched at his breath hitting her thigh, trembling when his lips touched her pubic hair, his face was so close to her she blushed, wondering if another wash should have been a priority before this "Open your legs" he told her smiling at her noise when his fingers invaded her again. She didn't expect it when his tongue popped out and licked her, he moved her leg to put her right foot on the bed and his head buried between her legs. Suddenly she was getting a whole new view on what it surely felt like to be in paradise, she hadn't anticipated this level of pleasure, he had her moving viciously on his mouth
"That feels..." she didn't have the words, she grabbed a clump of his hair in her hand and held him there
"No" he pulled away from her "That's not happening" he smiled standing up "Do you want to lay down?"
"I guess I should, this is going to hurt a bit isn't it?"
"I guess" he smiled watching her looking at his erection "Are you alright about this?"
"Yep" she stretched across and grabbed some protection out her draw "Here" she gave it to him and sat watching him put it on
"This will be your job in future" he told her
"Check it for splits and stuff" she smiled at him
"You check it" he waved his dick in her face laughing, he regretted asking her, when she teased him for a while before finally laying down, he was fit for bursting "Ready?"
"Yeah" she lay down and opened her legs wider "This is the right time"
He kissed her lips lightly, looking into her eyes as he lifted himself over her, first there was pressure, then pain, them a scream followed by silence as they sat waiting for the pain to go away. The second wave was easier as they started with small movements, and then suddenly she needed to be filled, her legs wrapped around him pulling him in. They held onto each other, as if, should they let go they were going to be lost for eternity. There was inaudible conversation as they discussed feelings, pain, comfort and then they were both slamming, crying and kissing in unison as they burst into the world of adulthood
"God" Sam wiped his face "I don't even know why I'm crying" he laughed through his tears
"Me neither" Mercy giggled as they lay looking at each other, even now in the aftermath not wanting to let go of each other "I didn't expect it to be so.. I don't know the word" she looked at him
"Was it alright?"
"Past alright" she kissed him "I forget to ask" she looked into his eyes
"What?"
"Promise you'll be mine, and only mine, for the rest of our lives?"
"Promise" he kissed her nose "Give me ten minutes and I'll seal that"
"Haven't you got to get up in like... just under two hours?" she looked at her phone
"I can do without sleep"
"No not before the biggest audition of your life you can't"
"Spoilsport" he frowned at her
"Tomorrow night, all night if we want, I promise"
"I'll be there for that party" he laughed "When are you coming to America?"
"I'm coming with you guys" she looked up at him "That's alright isn't it?"
"Yeah" he hesitated "It's just, maybe we should have told the parents that you're leaving in less than 48 hours"
"It's fine Roz will pack for me, we can tell then an hour before we leave" she leaned up telling him
"You are joking?" he asked
"Of course I am" she giggled settling back in "Get some sleep, I'll tell them after your audition"
"I don't want to sleep" he turned to her taking her lips again, she didn't even try to resist
06:45
"Come on wake up" Sam nudged Mercy smiling at her sleepy eyes "I thought you were following me into the shower?"
"What time is it?" she lifted her head asking
"You've got ten minutes, then we're late"
"Why didn't you wake me up" she jumped out of bed and ran across the room to the bathroom.
"You were awake when I went in" he laughed, checking his hair in the mirror, he was ready for work
She came out less than five minutes later "Quickest shower ever" she laughed tying her hair back as she walked towards him "Morning" she grinned leaning on his chest to kiss his lips
"Morning" he giggled pulling her back in for a longer kiss "It's only been fifteen minutes since you closed your eyes" he laughed
The night had gone to plan, very little pain and lots of pleasure, if anything, the only gripe was that the sessions were short in the beginning, but as they got used to each other, time was going by at a slowing pace. They'd felt love for each other from the beginning, but last night had brought with it a closeness they weren't familiar with. Somewhere between 4am and now they'd lost all their inhibitions with each other, talked about all sorts of sexual fantasies, and now craved to be intimately touched, they stood in the mirror, looking at love differently, because of course, they knew they'd sealed a lasting relationship.
"Let me get dressed, you're going to be late" she jumped up to make a call to Roz, telling her breakfast was expected in the studio in the west wing, before quickly putting on some underwear and jogging suit, sitting on the bed to tie the laces on her matching yellow trainers "How do I look?" she stood up showing him the finished article
"Come here" he stood up to pull her to him "Don't ask me that question again, your ass is fine" he kissed her lips lightly
"Your ass is fine too" she giggled, grabbing her phone ready to leave "Do you think they'll be able to tell?" she stopped at the door to ask him
"Who gives a rats ass" he laughed opening the door to make their exit
07:00
"On the dot" Ryder smiled, watching as Sam and Mercy went around saying Morning and giving hugs "Well done" Ryder whispered in Sam's ear
"It was" he laughed, ending that conversation "Breakfast is down at the main studio, we need to get started" he grabbed Mercy's hand
"Hold up" Jake called everyone's attention "I know this is maybe embarrassing for Sam and Mercy, but we've all waited a long time for this to happen to our friend, we just wat to say, we're happy you guys finally found your one"
"Thanks" Sam smiled, he really didn't care who knew hat right now
"I have a special present" Jake told him
"You do?" Sam asked puzzled
"Well it's kind of personal to you, I know you didn't write it to sound like this, but.." he sat at the piano
"Dude, you wreaked one of my songs?" Sam asked walking towards him, stopping as Jake started playing 'Circles' by Wyn Starks on the piano, Sam didn't recognise the music but when Jake started singing the lyrics were his "Dude" he smiled looking back at Mercy "This is for you"
"That sent chills" Stacey told him when the song finished
"I bet you had some way out tune ready for that didn't you?" Joe asked Sam laughing
"It wasn't going to sound like that" he looked at Jake "I love it"
"I'd say that was definitely my next hit, with your permission" he looked at Sam asking
"One condition" Mercy butted in, Sam looked at her smiling "You sing it at our wedding"
"My fiancé has spoken" Sam laughed
"Done" Jake laughed
"Food" Joe called
"Yeah, now you're talking" Mason rubbed his belly smiling, everyone made their way to the west wing
The Parents
They were planning a day of sleep and rest, what with catching up with the events of the holiday. Linda was more upset than Kate at the revelation of Bree being pregnant and all she could keep repeating was history was repeating itself. Dwight's bombshell about Stacey and kitty being married brought anger to Don, she was no doubt his favourite niece, he's always made it known, so the double whammy of sexuality and marriage was hard to swallow.
Linda had told them how Ryder and Jane were planning on making a life for themselves in the high flying city, apparently Broadway was where they belonged. While Marley and Jake's drama had only just calmed down "She's got this thing about trusting him" Linda told them
"It's pretty recent, they'd been happy before" Don told them
"Then I got it out of her, apparently he'd kissed some girl, of course she'd found out" Linda told them
"They split up for a while, which we didn't even know" Don butted in
"Yeah but I think her heart's ruling her head so, she doesn't trust him, she should walk away, but she loves him" Linda shrugged her shoulders
"Poor Jake's walking on egg shells" Don told them
"Relationships" Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head at the drama the children were bringing
"And don't forget Sam and Mercy" King dropped in, it seemed like the men were more gossip mongers than the women "He came in earlier on asking for Mercy's hand, well technically I think she asked for his"
"What?" Don gasped
"You had to be here, he gave a speech, more or less telling us, he was taking her, just before you came he more or less told us to shut up, and he'd be ready to talk when he was ready" Dwight told him
"That's not the same Sam" Linda shook her head refusing to believe it all "He'd never be rude"
"He wasn't rude about it, just firm" Mary told her side eying Dwight "Apparently they're going to live together, when they finish studies I think"
"I don't know that's what I heard, I think he said like now" Clara told her
"Anyway they've got enough on their plates with this audition, we'll talk afterwards"
"Gosh it's nearly 7am, breakfast and then bed?" Clara looked at King
"Works for me" he smiled
"Works for us too" Dwight smiled
"That's agreed then, I'm going to make use of the facilities in the house today" Kate told everyone
"Auditions at 2pm remember?" King reminded everyone before they went to the dining room to have breakfast before bed
The Studio
The guys were talking music even before breakfast finished, Sugar the first one to roll her eyes got up "I guess that's my cue to leave" she looked at Joe smiling
"Sorry" he held his hand up apologising "Pressure you know?"
"I know, it's a big deal" she got up
Mercy sat watching them in action, this was work, she'd have to get used to his creative time "I'm going to take some time out with the girls, catch up" she whispered in his ear
"I don't" he pulled her back "I don't want you to leave me today" he kissed her neck telling her, but she knew his mind had to be somewhere else now and so did he.
"Miss you already" he kissed her lightly and watched her leave the room
"Right work" Mason clapped
"You're unusually enthusiastic" Ryder looked at him wondering what was going on there
"Dude it's the first big break I've had all year, and I intend on making use of it, let's rock this"
"So given that you're practically the son-in-law to King Jones, don't you reckon we've got this in the bag?" Jake laughed
"I wouldn't even take that as a given, I don't really know how he feels about us yet"
"So what do we do?" Joe asked defeated
"Our best, it's always been good enough in the past" Ryder suggested
"But that was for stupid gigs, this is for a proper contract" Mason jumped in
"Listen" Sam stopped the conversation "We've all got at least 18 months left for study, we can try again"
"This has to be it for me" Jake told him "None of my family have ever failed"
"Let's use this energy productively" Sam told them strumming his guitar "Ideas?" he looked around the room
The Pool
"It's really good to have everyone here" Mercy smiled walking into the pool area with a towel wrapped around her
"This sun is hot" Marley smiled covering her eyes from the glow
"It's winter" Mercy laughed sitting next to her "How's study?"
"It's not going as good as we'd want" Marley confessed "Condoms and books, we've decided that's the way to go" she smiled at "What about you and Sam any luck yet?"
"Luck?"
"Yeah, you guys are official now yeah?"
"Yeah" Mercy smiled
"Busting that cherry, Jake said, I assumed that's why he came all the way out here"
"The family came for Christmas" Mercy kept it short, smelling a rat, she couldn't make out if she was being a bitch or trying to tell her something
"So what, it's not like that between you two?"
"No" Mercy lied, she wasn't about to tell her business to this girl
"Thank God" she held her chest "I thought... never mind" she shook her head "He went on a date with Samantha a month ago, that girl is still smiling" she grinned "I thought he was playing you"
"Is that Sam?"
"Not really but Samantha, my friend, said..."
"He never told me about any Samantha"
"She's a friend of mine, we linked again at Uni, she came to my birthday party, they seemed to hit it off"
"That's his business" she felt like walking into that damn studio and calling him out on it, but she knew she was never going down like that, no matter what
"Mercy come on in" Jane shouted from the pools edge, she didn't much feel like going in, but right now anywhere was better than sitting next to the friend of the girl that had her lips all over her man
"Coming" she got up and left Marley to herself
"What was she saying to you?" Sugar asked as they got to the other side of the pool, looking back at smug face Marley
"She was going on about her friend Samantha wasn't she?" Jane asked
"She mentioned someone" Mercy admitted
"Listen, just remember how these bitches were when you were there" Sugar reminded her
"Yeah" Mercy smiled remembering everyone coming to a stop when he walked into the room, talking to Stacey like she was his secretary, Maddie blackmailing them, just to hang on his arm
"That shit still goes on, but he's been honourable, I swear, Ryder would know any different about him"
"Can I get a word Marley?" Stacey popped her head out the door asking "Mercy" she dragged her eyes off Marley "An you facilitate this for us?"
"Sure" she got out the pool "What am I doing?"
"I've asked Marley for a meeting, to clear the air"
"I haven't got anything to clear with her" Mercy told her
"Not you, me with all this Jake stuff" Stacey told her, watching Marley walking back into the house "I said in the studio is that alright?"
"Fine" Mercy rolled her eyes thinking about all the drama she was going to witness right now
Stacey, Marley & Mercy
"So" Stacey closed the door and sat in the chair nearest the door "I know you don't know, but Bree sort of let everything at out the bag while we were having an argument the other day, so everyone knows"
"What my parents?" Marley stood up angry already
"No, just us" she looked at Mercy
"I'm going to kill her, after that baby's born" she hissed
"The thing of it is" Stacey told her "We've never really talked about it, we did a lot of shouting, some stuff was said that I really didn't mean, and I just want to clear the air between us"
"How do you suggest we do that, you got pregnant by my boyfriend?"
"I know what happened Marley" she rolled her eyes with frustration "Look, we've never got on, I really don't know why that is, but we are family"
"Family who fuck each others boyfriends" Marley hissed
"That happened, once" Stacey snapped at her "I was in a bad place, I'd just finished with Kitty because I was refusing to come out to my parents, I was scared to death of hurting them and I guess in my mind, if I could be straight, then everything I was dreading would go away" she looked at Mercy for a second "Sorry, but Jake just happened to be there, there were no feelings before, during or after, in fact he was more upset than me"
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Marley asked
"Not better, but I'm trying to explain why"
"That doesn't do anything for me" Marley got up to leave
"Marley" Mercy grabbed her hand "Stacey will you leave us alone please" the watched Stacey leave the room before Marley sat back down "I get the impression this is about making Jake and Stacey pay, do you still love Jake?"
"Of course I do, otherwise this wouldn't hurt so much" Marley told her
"Then you have a decision to make, not Jake or Stacey, you" Mercy looked into her eyes "Is this something you can live with, as in never bring it up again and start rebuilding your life with Jake, or is it something you're going to use against him every day until he does it again, just to get away from your constant bitching"
"I'd kill him"
"If you're going to stay in this relationship, you need to start forgiving"
"But I can't..."
"I didn't say forget Marley, I said forgive, both of them and move on"
"What if this were Sam?"
"I'd be asking myself the same questions" Mercy told her
"But I don't know the answer"
"It's simple, do you love him enough to carry on?"
"Yes" she gasped, shocked at finally admitting t to herself
"Should I ask Stacey to come back in?"
"I'll try" she watched Mercy get up and leave the room, her attention drawn to the door when Stacey appeared. The cousins sat talking, for a while, both leaving the conversation knowing there were going to be a lot of bridge building, and that they were willing to at least give it a try
12:00
Everyone had sort of guessed what the mediation was about, they sat poolside waiting for the fall out, smiling when Stacey came out unscathed. Less than ten minutes later Stacey went back in and everyone held their breath, smiling when Marley came out announcing she had a song "Will you play 'Bad Enough' by Kate Stewart for me please?" she asked Sugar
"Sure" she grabbed a piano and stated playing everyone stood around listening to Marley sing what was in her heart
Should I stay? Should I go? (Hey) Saying yes, feeling no (Hey) I just can't make up my mind (My mind) Boy you treat me badly, but it ain't bad enough, boy you treat me badly, but it ain't bad enough...
"Are you sure?" Mercy asked when she finished
"Positive" she smiled taking her hug, Stacey and her shared a moment, they'd turned a corner
"Right, we have half an hour to lunch" Mercy spun round telling everyone, they rushed around getting ready for an afternoon of nerves for the guys, walking quickly towards the dining room
"Mercy can't you put a word in?" Bree asked
"And say what?" she laughed "Dad's never followed anything I've ever said when it comes to his music, it would do more harm than good"
"I think they'd be more respected doing this off their own merit" Stacey told her
"They're good, any fool can see that" Kitty added
"Sam knocks a song out in a second, that's talent" Bree reminded everyone
"I just pray they don't come out with that stuff you can't move to" Marley commented to looks from everyone "I just mean, it needs to captivate their audience"
"It's an audition" Mercy gave her a look "A little more faith please Marley"
"Princess" Roz called walking towards her "Your Father has instructed you and your friends have lunch in the orangery, the BBQ is fired, Master Sam and the others are out there already" she smiled knowing what was coming next "He's conversing in the dining room, business"
"Okay" she walked off towards the orangery
"Wow" echoed around the room as everyone walked into the space, a 65inch screen demanding attention on the wall, two six seater arched couches on the left and right of the room, doors open on all three sides, letting a cool breeze wonder through the room and the smell of BBQ along with the noise of hungry men coming from outside. The whole area adorned in cream and bamboo with tropical plants scatters around the room, fans in the ceiling, glass top roof showing the clear blue sky above.
"Mercy this is beautiful" Bree told her "I can't believe there are still parts of this house we haven't seen yet"
"It can get boring seeing room after room of the same thing, but we might do it later"
"Hi" Sam turned smiling at hearing her voice "I missed you" he held his hand out watching her walk towards him
"I missed you too" she grabbed his hand and sat on the side of his chair before kissing him
"I thought you two...?" Marley started to ask
"Marley was filling me in on your newest love interest" Mercy told him
"What? who?"
"Samantha" Mercy told him
"Who?"
"The girl at the party, Samantha" Marley reminded him
"Oh" he laughed "Did you set her on me?" he asked Marley "Wrong move" he warned her
"Sorry I was just..." Marley looked at him embarrassed
"Pushing your nose in where it's not wanted, I know, I told you to let that girl do her own talking" Jake's told her
"It's fine" Mercy laughed "I'll have a word myself when we get back" she sat raking her fingers through Sam's hair "Did you get a song?"
"We slimmed it down to two" Sam told her watching Marley get up to follow Jake, she'd been told off, she was pissed "Should we get something to eat and have a walk around the garden?"
"If you like" they got up "I missed you today" she grabbed hold of his arm as they walked
"I wrote about you all day" he laughed "I wanted last night to last forever"
"Me too, but you promised tonight" she spun herself into him, stretched up and pecked his lips
"Tonight?" he asked "We're going straight back to bed after this audition"
They didn't get far into the garden before they found a bush to hide behind and stood making out "Sam" they heard a voice disturbed them
"Coming" he let go of her lips to tell him
"It's time" he told him
"This is it" Sam looked at Mercy wide eyed "Make or break, we really want this"
"You're ready, kill it" she kissed him one last time before they made their way back
15:00
"Wow" Jake laughed as they walked through a door they'd never even knew was there into what looked like a mini auditorium, they recognised the girls, their parents, and one or two people from the airport in America, but there were a lot of people sitting out there
"We'll give you five to get ready" King called down to them, they just waved and got on with it
"Okay" Ryder finally looked at the crowd, telling the band there was no more time "We decided on this song, because we all brought something to it" he smiled looking at Sam, he nodded at Mason who started the beat to "When You Love Somebody' by Robin Thicke"
Chorus All:
Cause when you love somebody, and need somebody, no need to fight it, so help me help you, love somebody, and need somebody, we'll be somebody, so help me help you, Love, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, any time, any place, anywhere. don't it sound like a sweet romance? Ooh-wee-wee
Sam: It's the fire, it's the rain, heaven knows, we don't know what to call it, I was already flying for you fore I knew I was falling Jake: You make me want this night to last forever, swee-dee-dee, yeah, yeah Ryder: And I've been waiting for so long for something re-re-real, yeah, yeah
Chorus All:
Joe: You make me feel like a fire side, summer time, where everyday is Friday or Saturday night, Jake: Pool party, moon light, Chardonnay, make us feel some type of way
Mason: You know I really want this night to last forever, swee-dee-dee, yeah, yeah Sam: So take a chance with me and I'll give you something re-re-real, yeah, yeah
Chorus All:
Mason (Jake): Oh oh (No love is never easy) oh oh (your love I'm never leaving) Jake (Joe): Oh oh (No love is never easy) oh oh (your love I'm never leaving)
Sam: When you love somebody, Ryder: when you love somebody
There was silence while they performed, but the applause they got afterwards told them something had gone right, they were basking. King looked at his daughter clapping hard and smiled, this boy meant something to her "That was alright" he waved at them as the lights came back up telling them they'd had their time "We'll get back to you by the end of the day" he told them getting up with what seemed like his army, exiting the auditorium leaving the girls sitting waiting for the door to close before they made their way to the stage
"What did you think?" seemed to be the first question everyone was getting, everyone stopped talking when Mercy came back at Sam with
"I thought you held back"
"I did" he told her laughing "I was finding it hard with you in the room" he whispered in her ear, pulling her into his lap "This has been torture we need a room" laughing when she jumped off his lap and headed for the door
"Dinner everyone, see you then, just call Roz for whatever you need" Mercy left shouting back at the others
"Not being sociable today then?" Ryder asked smiling at Sam's narrow eyes
Ryder & Jane
"You need to have a word with Marley" Jane told Ryder as they walked away from the others, through the garden and towards the maze "She's stirring things between Sam and Mercy"
"What do you mean?" Ryder stopped walking to take notice, he hated that shit and Marley knew that "She knows better than that, we had this conversation before we went off to University"
"She told Mercy about that Samantha girl at her Party a few months back" Jane told him
"But nothing happened" he looked at her puzzled
"We know that, but I think that girls got something on her"
"I wonder what's going on" he asked, his mind ticking, Marley didn't fall for that stuff "I'll have a word" he grabbed Jane's hand and carried on walking "Can we just get lost in here and talk about tree, flowers, plant and us for a while"
"Sure" her other arm wrapped around his arm she had a hold of as they walked into the maze "I can't wait to be living and working in Broadway" she jumped in front of him "Have we ever literally done it on an edge before?" she asked giggling as she undone his trousers
"Under a bush, but I don't remember literally on an edge" he left her busy hands to do what they were doing while he grabbed her face and took her lips again "Do you think they might have cameras up there?"
"We've always wanted to do a sex tape" she giggled grabbing his face again
Marley & Jake
We need to talk" Marley grabbed Jake's sleeve pulling him with her "Not here" she looked around the room "Through here" she led him past the BBQ and down the steps towards the large pool, it was quiet there "Here's fine" she let his sleeve go and sat down, watching him look around the place before sitting down himself
"What's up?" his voice telling her, he was way past tired of these conversations that never saw anything change for them
"I just wanted to talk about us" she told him
"Marley, I don't know how many other ways to tell you how much I regret what happened, I don't even understand how..."
"It's about that, but it's not about another apology" she covered his lips with her finger "Last night meant something to me, you know it did"
"I know you wouldn't have let me touch you if it didn't" he smiled "And I meant what I said"
"I know you did" she smiled "I had a bit of an intervention from Mercy this morning"
"Was that a good thing?" he asked looking suspicious
"And Stacey actually, they all know by the way, Bree spilt her guts when Stacey was being her usual mean self, everything"
"Ryder knows?"
"He hasn't said anything" she grabbed his hand "But the conversation ended with a home truth" she smiled "I love you Jake, I know that in my heart, I don't like what you did to us, but I don't want to lose you, I want to try and work past this, and in order to do that I have to learn to forgive, I'll never forget what you did, but if we've got any chance at all, it's with me not bringing it up at every conversation, so I'm going to promise not to bring it up again, and see where we go from there"
"God" he flung his head back and covered his face with his hands "This felt like it was going the other way, for a minute" he looked at her "Are we back?"
"Yeah, we're back" she smiled watching the smile widen on his face
17:00
"Mercy's messaging" Stacey looked at her phone
"She wants us in her room" Bree stopped eating to look at her phone
"Did Mercy message you guys?" Marley walked in asking
"Yeah" Jane came in straightening her clothes telling them "What's happened?" she looked at Sam walking back into the lounge
"I don't know, I was told to leave" Sam replied sitting with the guys to watch TV, forty minutes later, the TV went off and the music went up, the guys sat around looking at each other
"We thought you guys deserved a bit of a show after all the hard work you put in this afternoon" Mercy told them, she knew what she was smiling about, and so did Jane, Bree and Stacey. "So sit back and enjoy" she told them as the girls got ready to sing a very sexy version of 'Generous' by Amber Mark
Jane: Tonight I'm feeling generous, you're always catering to me so let me put you first, yeah I got, uh, yeah I got, uh, yeah
Marley: Generous feelings, whatever you desire, sit back and receive it, it's about you tonight yeah
Stacey: First let me give your eyes a taste, what's underneath this lingerie
Bree: So many reasons, to give you what you deserve, don't lift a finger, I'm gonna put in the work let me focus on you
Mercy: Feeling to get that 50 shades yeah, say what it is and I'll obey yeah
Kitty: I ain't seen you in like 7 days, I just wanna stay in for the weekend and get faded
Jane: Turning off my phone yeah, putting on some slow jams, taking off ya clothes yeah, it's on yeah, it's on yeah
Chorus All
Tonight I'm feeling generous, you're always catering to me so let me put you first
Yeah I got 50,000 ways to make your eyes roll back, have you talking to yourself like how she ride like that
Pop another Perignon I'm feeling generous, you look so good you make me wanna throw a million ones
Yeah I got 50,000 ways to make your eyes roll back, have you talking to yourself like how she ride like that yeah...
"Yeah" the guys laughed clapping at their efforts
"Is that enough rest?" Mercy asked sat on Sam's lap at the end of the song
"What you doing watching 50 shades?" he whispered in her ear
"We're actually going to be doing our own production tonight" she giggled
"We'll call it 60 shades" he laughed
It wasn't long after dinner that King demanded another song from the group, they stood in the studio singing Sam's alternative audition song 'The Least That I Could Do' by Plested "For you, I did a lot I shouldn't have done, but every time you touch me, I'm numb, and you can take the pain away, for you, I'd go out to ride with a gun, if you give me a shot, I won't run, I got to do whatever it takes..." he sang smiling at her laughing at their conversation he'd put to song, everyone sat rocking to the song as Sam seemed to be putting on a private show for Mercy "For you, there ain't a problem I wouldn't fix, I'd even stop the Apocalypse, if we could stay for one more day..." the guys joined in singing the last chorus
"That was alright" King told them "But not quite what I'm looking for" he told the shocked faces.
"So, what are you looking for?" Ryder asked pissed the man had let them go this far to say no
"Something different I guess" king told him
"We can do different" Jake told him banging the drum
"I've heard enough" King told him, Sam and Ryder stood looking at their Dad's, wanting them to say something to this man who'd just dampened their spirit
"Okay" Sam held his hands up "We'll take that" he looked back at his band members "Come on" he looed up at Mercy in the crowd, he could tell she was livid. She jumped up at his words and left the studio with them, the look she gave her Dad cutting, a smirk on her face, because he was going to get her revenge in the morning, when she announced she was leaving with Sam for America, then she'd see who was playing games. She'd seen him to exactly what he'd just done to Sam to so many other artists, h