A Fresh Start
Chapter Thirteen
Lying down beside him, Sam lays her head on his shoulder with one arm across his stomach as he leans over and kisses her forehead. There are several minutes of silence before Sam asks. "What are you thinking?"
"I was thinking about the last night in St. Petersburg. I think I feel closer to you now than I did then."
"I know."
They lay there for a few more minutes until she moves closer to him and he feels her begin to shake. "What's wrong?" He asks looking down he sees the tears on her cheeks. "Why are you crying?" He asks, turning so he can look at her.
"I was thinking about all the time we lost, and about you after I left, thinking I was dead." She says, through her tears.
"Shhh." He says, pulling her to him and holding her. "It's okay."
"But we lost so much time." She says, sitting up
"And we found each other again." Jeffrey says, sitting up and reaching over to wipe away her tears. "We can make up for the time we lost."
"I don't ever want to let you go. I won't let you go again." She says, hugging him tightly.
"I'm not going anywhere." He says, holding her as she sighs deeply.
"And neither am I. I promise nothing will take me away from you again."
Lying back down, she lays her head on his shoulder while he puts his arms around her, pulling her to him. There are several minutes of silence before he asks "You're okay?"
"I'm fine. But I like this. I feel safe again." She says, leaning up and smiling down at him.
"I will never let anyone or anything hurt you." He says, smiling up at her.
"What are we going to do this weekend?" Sam asks, lying back down.
"Umm, well let see. We can do more of what we just finished doing." Jeffrey replies, rolling to his side and pulling her closer to him as he props himself up on his elbow to look down at her.
"We can't spend the whole weekend in your hotel room."
"Why not?" She looks at him for a couple seconds before he finishes "Well, Lizzie did ask me to play at Jon's Bar tomorrow night."
"And what about the rest of the time I'm here?" She asks, looking up at him.
"The rest of the time we can spend it here."
"You really want that don't you?" Sam says, slowly her finger down his chest.
"Spending the weekend, just you and me, alone, I can't think of a better way to spend a weekend than that."
"So we'll go to Jon's Bar, and whenever you want you can signal me and we'll come back here and make love." Sam says, idly drawing patterns on his chest.
"I can do that?" Jeffrey replies, reaching for and holding her hand still.
"I know you can."
"And if we get bored."
"I can't see us getting bored. We have a lot to make up for." Sam says, looking up at him.
"I think we need to do some more making up." Jeffrey says, leaning down and kissing her.
"Jeffrey." She sighs, pushing him to his back and moving to straddle him.
Wrapping his arms around her, he pulls her down until she is lying against him. They kiss for several seconds before she moves to his jaw and up to his ear, nibbling as she goes. Her breath feels hot against his neck as he turns and kisses the side of her neck, nibbling on her ear as he reaches up, running his fingers through her hair.
"I know what you want." She says, moving down his neck, leaving little kisses.
"What do I want?" Jeffrey whispers as he tries to move her farther down his chest but she refuses, moving to his other ear.
"Sam." He sighs, reaching up and burying his fingers in her hair, he holds her mouth in place for a couple seconds, feeling the heat of passion building inside him.
She can feel the rhythm of his pulse beating against his neck. Kissing him as she runs her hands down his chest, softly scratching him. He feels goose pimples pop across his chest. Kissing him, she moves down from his neck.
"Oh, Sam." He sighs, as she begins to nibble on his chest, licking at his nipples as he arches his back, reaching for her, running his hand down her back and around till he reaches her breasts, gently caressing her. He smiles when he feels her shiver.
"Is that what you want?" He asks, sitting up forcing her to move back, leaning over, his mouth closing around her nipple as she moans softly.
"Jeffrey." She sighs, as she arches her back, pressing her body against him. He feels the heat from her pressing against him, closing his arms around her; he pulls her against him as she begins rock.
"I feel you." He groans, moving to kiss her, listening to the rhythm of her breathing deepen.
"Touch me." She pleads. Breaking the kiss and leaning back, opening her body to him.
"Sam." He groans softly, slowly running his hand down her body. Reaching for her as he whispers, "You like that?"
"Umm." Sam whispers, sitting up and kissing the side of his neck as he caresses her, slipping inside as she continues to rock, reaching for him, closing her hand around him, caressing him.
"Sam." He groans, feeling her fall into rhythm with her hips. He feels his body surrendering. "I need you, god I need you." He says, laying her back as he leans over her, slipping inside her.
"Jeffrey." She cries, arching her back and taking him deeper
"I love the way you feel." He groans, thrusting deeper.
"How do I feel?" she asks, kissing the side of his neck as she wraps her arms around him.
"Hot and tight." Jeffrey groans, feeling her body close around him, holding him deep inside.
"I love the way you fill me up." She sighs, as he thrusts.
He feels her nails digging into his hips. They both feel the passion building inside them, pushing them higher. Arching her back, she closes her eyes, savoring the feel of their bodies connecting as completely as two people can be
"Jeffrey, harder." She moans, arching her hips, taking him deeper
"Umm." Jeffrey groans, moving faster he feels himself spinning out of control. Leaning down, he kisses her, slowing down as he struggles to hold on.
"Please!" Sam groans, arching against him as he struggles for control. He feels her closing around him, holding him tightly
"Sam, give… me… a se…" Leaning up, she kisses him, her tongue slipping inside to play with his. "Sam." He groans.
She knows she is tempting him as she slips her hand between them, caressing him. "Do you really want to wait?" She whispers, looking up at him
"You're driving me wild." He groans, rocking against her as she smiles up at him.
"Good." She whispers, as she begins to rock, pushing against him.
"You're… bad." He groans, thrusting hard against her driving hips until he feels the tension snap inside him "Sam." He groans, as she arches her back, surrendering and taking him as deep as she can. She feels their passion flooding her body as she buries her hands in his hair and he collapses in her arms, gasping for breath.
Olivia is standing outside Jeffrey's room when she hears Sam's cry, turning she walks back downstairs and directly to her office. Pulling open the top drawer of her desk, she pulls out an eviction notice. Laying it on her desk, she stares at it for several seconds before she reaches for her pen as she hears Sam's cries again.
Rolling to his back, Jeffrey struggles to catch his breath as Sam moves over beside him.
"That was beyond amazing." She says, laying her head on his chest as she stifles a yawn.
"Come on." Jeffrey says, moving off the bed, he pulls the covers back helping her in and then slipping in behind her.
Putting his arm across her waist, he pulls her back against him, kissing her shoulder and then softly begins to hum in her ear until he feels her breathing deepen. Smiling, he kisses her shoulder again and then he lies down behind her, sharing the pillow as he falls asleep. Around three A.M. Jeffrey rolls to his back slowly opening his eyes because something woke him up from the soundest sleep he's had in a long time. Looking around the room, he spots a dark figure standing in the door way.
"Who's there?" Jeffrey asks, pushing the covers back.
As the person turns, the light from the hallway lights up half of the woman's face and Jeffrey stares for a couple seconds. "Olivia, what are you doing?" He asks, as Sam moves beside him, sighing softly.
"Jeffrey." She whispers, slowly opening her eyes.
"Go back to sleep, Sam." Jeffrey says, pushing the covers back and reaching for his boxers as Olivia turns and walks out of his room, pulling the door closed behind her.
"What's going on?" Sam asks rolling to her side as Jeffrey walks to the door.
Pulling it open, he looks outside but Olivia is gone. Turning around, he pushes the door closed, locks it again and then walks back to the bed as Sam sits up.
"Jeffrey." She asks, reaching up to wipe the sleep from her face. "What's going on?" she asks as he slips back in bed after pulling his boxer off. "What's going on?" She asks again, when he doesn't answer her.
"I don't know." Jeffrey says lying back down as he looks at the door one more time. "Something woke me up and when I looked over at the door it was opened and someone was standing in the doorway.
"Someone was standing in the doorway!" Sam says, looking over at the door.
"Yes."
"Did you see who it was?"
"Yes." Jeffrey replies, glancing at the door.
"Well, who was it?"
"Olivia." Jeffrey replies, without looking over at her.
"Olivia, who's Olivia?"
"You remember when I told you about how I came to be in the agency."
"Yes, you were accused of rape in San Cristobel and to keep the authorities from arresting you, you joined…"
"Forced to join."
"Okay, you were forced to join the agency. What does that have to do with this?"
"The woman I was accused of raping was Olivia." Jeffrey replies, looking over at her.
"You mean the woman you were accused of raping is here in Springfield, The woman that was just…" Sam points at the door.
"Yes."
"Why would she walk into your hotel room in the middle of the night? Unless…"
"No, no. it's not that!" Jeffrey says, realizing where she was going. "We're not involved now." He says, sitting up and turning to her
"You mean you were involved with her."
"Yes, for a few weeks, but it was never more than a few dates."
"You were involved with the woman you were accused of raping." Sam says, staring at him in shock.
"Yes, it's a long story."
"We have all weekend."
"Okay." Jeffrey says, taking a deep breath. "Last year I ran for Mayor of Springfield. When the agency found out that I was running, they threatened to expose my past if I didn't withdraw from the race, I refused. During the election someone had set up a website called Springfield Burns and they were posting all the little secrets that Springfield didn't want told. Nothing about my past came out. On Election Day Olivia was on Main St and she recognized Ditkins in the crowd as the man she had talked after the embassy party in San Cristobel and she confronted him. He told her that I was the one that raped her that night.
After the election, it came out who was running the website called Springfield burns. It turned out to be my opponent Blake Marler. The election was really close but she won. But before she could take office, Ditkins poisoned her, trying to get to me, and I was declared the winner by default, until Olivia accused me of rape. She went to Doris Wolfe and Doris called the governor and he withdrew the office."
"But I thought you are mayor of Springfield."
"I am. He reinstated me last week. I apologized so many times for what I did."
"But you told me that you didn't rape her."
"I didn't, Edmund Winslow did."
"Edmund Winslow? Is he related…?"
"He's Richard's half brother. But in a way I am still guilty. I had every intention of taking advantage of her that night, if she hadn't've passed out." Jeffrey says, sounding sheepish. "After she passed out, I left her alone for about an hour, that's when Edmund raped her. When Ditkins confronted me that day in San Cristobel he had me convinced that I did rape her even though what I remember was completely different than what they said. I apologized again and again. We even took a trip to San Cristobel to try and find out exactly what happened that night, but nothing was settled before we came back to Springfield. Before we went back to San Cristobel, I found out that I am a father." Jeffrey says, looking over at her.
"A father! how?"
"While I didn't rape Olivia that night, we were together."
"You slept with her, but you said she was underage."
"She was, but I didn't care, not back then. I wanted her. Anyway, over the last few months I tried everything I could think of to get Olivia's forgiveness, I even promised not to have anything to do with my daughter, although that didn't work out because Ava insisted that we have a relationship, no matter how much it irked Olivia."
"So, how did you become a couple?"
"A few weeks ago, I found her at the light house crying. At first we started to fight like we always do and then she admitted that she had started to see me in a different light that she didn't think of me as the man that raped her. She was engaged, but…"
"You didn't take her away from her fiancé!"
"No, of course not, she broke up with him before we ever started."
Sam sits there staring at him for several moments before she says. "I have no idea what to say." Pushing the covers back and slipping out of the bed, she begins to pace. Jeffrey didn't want her too but he knew her enough to know he had to let her put some distances between them. So he sat there letting her process everything he just told her. "So, why are you not with her?" She asks, turning to look at him with her hands on her hips.
"Because no matter how much she said that she didn't see me as the man that she thought raped her, every time we got close she would pull away from me. She would come up with an excuse, usually using her daughter Emma. And I felt like I had to prove myself over and over again. I couldn't do that anymore. And then I over heard her attacking Cassie about calling me about Will and William and that was it. I was finished. So I broke up with her."
"I don't know what to say."
"Please tell me you're not going to leave." Jeffrey pleads, looking scared that she was too freaked out to stay.
"Of course I'm not going to leave, but you were involved with a woman you were accused of raping, that's… that's twisted. And you have a daughter. That's a lot to process." Sam said, walking back to the bed and sitting down beside him
There are a few minutes of silence before she turns and asks, "If you broke up with her, why is she standing in your doorway in the middle of the night? And how did she get in here?"
"She's trying to get me to come back to her. As to how she got in here, she owns the hotel."
"She owns the hotel!" Sam says, moving to stand up.
"Yes. Where are you going?"
"I'm not staying here, not with her…" Sam says, reaching for her clothes.
"Sam, stop!" Jeffrey says, pulling her back down on the bed.
"Jeffrey, your ex owns the hotel where you're living. She was standing in your doorway in the middle of the night!"
"I know, and I'll talk to her in the morning about it, but it's four in the morning and I'm not letting her run me out of my room."
"Jeffrey, you don't have to…."
"No, it'll be okay." He says, wrapping his arm around her. "I'll talk to her tomorrow morning. But I'm not going to let you leave. If you leave I have to leave and where would we go its after 4 in the morning."
"So we can't leave." Sam says, sitting back down on the bed. After a couple seconds she asks "Where's your daughter?"
"She has a room a couple of floors above me."
"You're a father… that's hard to grasp." Sam says. "How old is she?"
"She's twenty five."
"Twenty five, that's five years younger than me."
"I know. Do you still love me?"
"Love you!" Sam says, looking over at him.
"Yes." He says, watching her.
"I…" She looks over at him and she can't deny what she feels, not with him there, beside her, not with the way they had connected earlier. Even with all the time that they had been apart, she knew the moment she shook his hand that she was still in love with him and all of this with Olivia and him begin a father didn't matter. "Yes, I love you." Sam says softly.
Reaching over, he kisses her softly before he leans back and whispers. "I love you too. Come on, let's go back to bed. We'll deal with this in the morning."
"If you haven't noticed it is morning." Sam says, climbing back into the bed.
"Okay, so we'll deal with it later." Jeffrey says, pulling the covers up as she lies down beside him, putting his arm across her waist. He kisses her as he moves in behind her. "I love you." He whispers.
"I love you too." She says, with a smile as she closes her eyes and falls asleep.
Around ten that morning, someone knocking on the door wakes them up. Glancing over at the clock, Jeffrey frowns as the person knocks again a little harder this time. Pushing the covers back, he reaches for his boxers as the person outside his room knocks a third time and harder than the previous two times. "Alright, alright." Jeffrey says, as he walks to the door as Sam sits up in the bed, holding the sheet to her. She watches him opens the door to one of the bell boys. "Yes." Jeffrey asks, "Is the hotel on fire?"
"No, Mr. O'Neill. Ms. Spencer asked me to deliver this to you." The bell boy says, handing him and envelop before he turns away as Jeffrey closes the door. Opening the envelop he pulls out a slip of paper as Sam walks up to him.
"What is it?"
"I don't know." Jeffrey says, as he shakes the slip of paper open and looks down and reads the order of eviction. "I don't believe she's actually…." Jeffrey says, dropping the slip of paper and walking back into the bedroom.
"Jeffrey, what is it?" Sam asks, as she bends over and picks up the piece of paper. Looking down, she reads what Jeffrey had read. "An eviction notice, she's evicting you." Sam says, walking into the bedroom.
"No, she's not." Jeffrey says, pulling on his jeans from the night before.
"Can she do that?"
"No, she can't." Jeffrey says, looking around for his t-shirt and spotting it lying besides Sam's. Picking it up, he pulls it over his head before sitting down on the bed, pulling on his socks and boots before standing up.
"Jeffrey slow down and tell me what's going on."
"It's obvious what's going on. She's trying to evict me because of you." Jeffrey says, grabbing the piece of paper out of Sam's hand and marching towards the door.
"Jeffrey, wait." Sam says, looking around for her clothes.
He stops and turns to see her reaching for her panties. "No, it's better if I talk to her alone." Jeffrey says, walking back to her and wrapping his arms around her. "I promise I'll be back before you know it." He says, kissing her.
"Jeffrey, if she's…."
"If she sees you, she'll dig her heels in." Jeffrey says, releasing her and walking over to the door. "I'll be back." He finishes as he opens the door to the suite, closing the door behind him as Sam stands in the middle of the room.
Heading for the stairs, he reaches the lobby, looking around till he spots Olivia talking with one of the maids. Walking over, he takes her by the arm as he says, "Excuse us."
He leads Olivia towards her office as she demands "Jeffrey, what the hell do you think you're doing?"
He opens the office door and leads her inside, closing it behind them before he turns to her. "What are you trying to prove Olivia?"
"Prove?"
"The eviction." Jeffrey says, tossing the paper at her.
"I think that obvious, as owner of this hotel I have the right to evict anyone as I see fit." Olivia says, sitting down behind her desk.
"You have no reason to evict me!"
"You have an unauthorized guest in your suite."
"I don't have to have your permission to have a guest in my suite."
"According to your lease, I have the right to approve any guest you have and I have the right to deny access to my hotel any person I feel is unfit."
"And as an attorney I have the right to sue you for discrimination and anything else I can think of. And I promise you I'll win Olivia. You have no reason to evict me, except that you're jealous." Jeffrey says, leaning over her desk.
"I have no reason to be jealous."
"You have no reason to be jealous. Then explain to me why you were standing in the door way of my room this morning at 3 am, if you're not jealous."
"I was checking on a complaint about too much noise coming from your room.
"NOT WHEN I'M ASLEEP AND IT'S 3 AM IN THE MORNING!" Jeffrey yells. "WHY DIDN'T YOU KNOCK?"
"Would you have answered?"
"Probably not, I was sound asleep, so was Sam." Jeffrey replies
"So you admit that you…."
"Come to think of it, I'm sure that qualifies as breaking and entering. I think I'll call and tell Frank. At the very least, it's harassment."
"You have no right bring your whore…"
Jeffrey came around the desk faster than she had ever seen him move. "If you ever call her anything but by her name or Dr. Whitley I'll forget you're Ava's mother, do you understand Olivia? We're finished, if you try anything else I will sue you and when I win, I'll own the Beacon." Jeffrey says, taking the eviction notice over to the shredder, he turns it on and sticks the paper in. "If you excuse me, I left a lady upstairs waiting on me." Jeffrey says, opening the office door and walking out as the door hit the wall and bounces back closed. The staff quickly returns to whatever they had been doing as Jeffrey walks into the lobby. Walking across the lobby, he meets Sam as she comes downstairs and Olivia walks out of her office.
"What are you doing?"
"I thought I would talk to her." Sam says, looking over at Olivia.
"No, that will only make matters worse." Jeffrey replies, taking her hand and leading her back to the stairs. "Besides I took care of it." Jeffrey says, looking over his shoulder at Olivia before they go upstairs.
"Jeffrey." Sam says, as they walked into his room. "I don't want to cause you problems. Maybe I should go find a hotel."
"No, you're staying right here, with me. I took care of Olivia." He says, kissing her
"But she looked absolutely furious."
"She probably is, but I don't care." Jeffrey replies, walking over to the bar and pouring himself a cup of coffee from the pot that Sam had made.
"I care. I wanted this weekend to be perfect and if she's going to start trouble, maybe it's better if I find another hotel room."
"No, you're staying right here." Jeffrey replies, as someone knocks on his door. Walking over to it, he opens the door and finds Ava standing on the other side.
"What did you do?" Ava asks, as she walks in, noticing Sam standing behind him. "Hi." She says.
"Hi." Sam replies, turning away as Ava turns to Jeffrey. "I just got a call from Mom and she's absolutely furious at you. What did you do?"
"I called her bluff." Jeffrey says, walking over and putting his arm around Sam.
"You mean she's pitching a fit because you have a woman in your hotel room." Ava says, pointing at Sam.
"Yes, but she's not any woman. Her name is Dr. Sam Whitley and she's Rebeca."
Ava stares at him and then at Sam and then back at Jeffrey. "She's the Rebeca, the one that you lost." Ava says
"Yes." Jeffrey says, looking down and smiling.
"What does that have to do with my mother?"
"She's trying to get me back."
"But I thought she accepted the break up. I mean at Company the other day, she seemed cool with it."
"I know. I don't know what's going on with her. But last night I woke up at 3 am and she was standing in the doorway."
"She was standing in the doorway. Why was she standing in…? Oh." Ava replies, the realization dawning on her as she looks back and forth between Sam and Jeffrey.
"And then this morning, she sent one of the bell boys to serve me with an eviction notice."
"Eviction notice! She has no reason to evict you."
"That's what I told her and I told her if she continues harassing me I would file a lawsuit against her and that I would win and I would own the Beacon."
"She won't like you threatening her and she's not going to let that stop her."
"That's what I was trying to tell him." Sam says. "That's why I suggest that I find another hotel to stay at."
"You're not going anywhere." Jeffrey says. "I won't be intimidated by her."
"Maybe Sam's right, maybe she'll back off if she doesn't see you two together."
"Smart girl." Sam says, releasing Jeffrey and walking over to the bar for the coffee pot, pouring a cup for Ava and refilling hers.
"Alright, so what do you suggest?" Jeffrey asks "that we turn tail and run. Where's your rebel pride?"
"This has got nothing to do with rebel pride. This has to do with keeping the peace and I don't want to… I can't see you hurt." Sam says, handing Ava the coffee.
"Thanks, Olivia wouldn't hurt him."
"She tried to kill you…." Jeffrey says
"She tried to kill her own daughter." Sam says, looking over at Ava
"Yes, but it was before she knew I was her daughter." Ava says "Why don't you stay at the loft?"
"Loft, what loft?" Sam asks
"Jeffrey has a loft where he practices with his band. You could both be together and Olivia won't be a problem because she won't be there to see you." Ava says
"The loft isn't made for company. I don't even have a proper bed." Jeffrey says
"You have the couch, it's not the Beacon but at least you won't have to look over your shoulder every minute."
"We're not doing that now."
"Jeffrey, don't be so damn stubborn." Sam says, walking over and getting her suitcase.
"What are you doing?" He asks
"I'm packing. I want to see this loft." Sam says
"Alright fine, but I still say we should stay here. The loft is great for practicing for the band and sleeping over for a night here and there but it's not for weekend visits by my girlfriend." Jeffrey says.
"I'll be the judge of that." Sam says.
"Great, you guys go check out the loft and I'll see if I can keep Olivia busy."
"I don't want you in the middle of this." Jeffrey says, turning to Ava.
"I'm in the middle, simply because I'm your kid." Ava replies. "I'm going to go see if I can get my Mom to take me to breakfast or brunch." Ava says, walking towards the door. At the door she turns. "It was a pleasure to meet you Sam." Ava says
"Thank you and it was a pleasure to meet you." Sam says, with a smile as Ava opens the door "I'll see you later."
"Yes." Jeffrey says, walking over to it. "I'm sorry she drew you into this." He says, hugging her.
"I'm fine." Ava says.
"We'll see you later at Jon's Bar." Jeffrey asks.
"Maybe, is Mike going to be there?"
"No. It's just me and the guitar."
"Okay, I'll see you there." Ava says.
"See you there." Jeffrey says, closing the door behind her as he turns to Sam. "We don't have to do this. Olivia will back off."
"And what if she doesn't, I want this weekend to be perfect and it won't be if we're looking over our shoulders for her." Sam says, putting clothes in her suitcase.
"Alright, fine. If you'll feel better at the loft, we'll go." Jeffrey says, pulling out a duffle bag and putting some clothes in it.
When Ava reaches the lobby, she walks over to Olivia's office. She is on the phone when she walks in so she waits until she gets off.
"Hi. Did you see your father?"
"No, he didn't answer the door. I thought we could go to breakfast, maybe Company."
"Sure, just let me check…."
"Come on mom, what's he going to do?" Ava asks, walking over to the door and opening it.
"What are you up too?" Olivia asks, watching her.
"Nothing, I thought we could have breakfast together. We haven't done anything together in a few days." Ava says, standing with her hand on the door handle.
"Okay." Olivia says, standing up and walking over to her. They leave the office and the Beacon a couple minutes later.
13.12