Hell To The No
Cotton wool is not as good a protector as love
"That sounds bazaar"
"It was a setup; the whole thing was staged" Mercedes sat telling them
"Why don't we go through this again" the officer smiled
"Again?"
"Yes"
"Where were you at 06:20 this morning?"
"I was home alone, my husband's away on a trip"
"So why did you leave for work so early?"
"I told you, I was heading up to Tina's office because I'd had a call from her the night before asking us to meet her there before work, so I thought I'd grab some breakfast on the way over"
"What did you grab, did anyone see you?"
"I stopped to get bagel's and coffee for the three of us, so I guess someone did, I mean I paid"
"So, what happened next?"
"I got out the elevator, and Tina was pointing at her office door, I could see she was crying, she looked frightened, it took a second for me to take it all in"
"And then what happened?"
"It all happened so fast, one minute I was walking towards Tina trying to find out what had happened, the next there was some woman screaming, running across the room with something in her hand towards us"
"And then what happened?"
"Tina screamed, I held my hand up to stop her from hitting at us, the elevator door opened, and Brittany was stood there" Mercedes told them
"And then you hit her?"
"No, I didn't" Mercedes snapped at the officer "I've said that so many times" she huffed "As I looked at the elevator to see who was coming in I heard something bang, I looked in the direction of the bang and saw that the damn woman had fell on the glass table in front of us, and then I saw blood" her eyes filled with tears "I don't remember much after that"
"Before she totally blacked out she said you hit her"
"I was nowhere near her"
"So where did you put the breakfast?"
"On the table in front of us"
"In front of who?"
"Tina and I" she sat back weary, it had been nearly ten hours since she'd been frog marched into the station, almost thrown into an interrogation room, and accused of assault before the barrage of questions descended. "I'm not answering anymore questions until my lawyer gets here"
"Well Miss Cohen Chang…"
"Didn't see anything different, because that the truth" Mercedes finished off the sentence for the officer
"Mrs Lopez Pearce, I'm representing Mrs Evans" Santana burst into the room telling them "And she has nothing to say" she walked over to the desk Mercedes was sat at, and rested her briefcase on it "Could I get some time with my client please?" she asked politely while they both sat watching them leave
"Santana" Mercedes gasped with relief "Thank God, have you seen the others?"
"I've seen Brittany, she's fine a bit shaky but she's waiting for T" Santana grabbed Mercedes shaking hand "I left the guys first thing this morning, there were no more flights until this afternoon, and they both thought it was best I get here, so Sam's on his way, should have left… two hours ago" she looked at her phone
"So, what's happening?"
"T said she heard noises in the office as soon as she walked in, whoever it was they were throwing things about and slamming the desk draws, screaming profanities"
"She must have heard me when I arrived, I did shout, I was concerned for T" Mercedes told her
"Did you hit her?"
"No, I wished I had, but she fell before any of us could get our hands on her" Mercedes clasped her hands together "Did you find out how she was?" she asked "I can't believe I care"
"There's some swelling on the brain so they've induced a coma" Santana frowned
"And T?"
"A bit shaken, but she's fine"
"What a week" Mercedes rolled her eyes
"Well, it seems you three were having a more adventurous week than us" Santana laughed, opening her briefcase and throwing some paperwork on the table "So what's the story?"
"No story really, as I said walked into T's office, she was scared some woman rushed into the room, fell over the coffee table and knocked herself out, and for some reason she wants to blame me"
"Well, they can't confirm her story until she wakes up, until then it's you and T against her, so I don't think they'll charge you with anything, hopefully you'll be free to go"
Sam, Mike, and Santana had thrown their funds together a few years ago and started to build their reputation in the Construction industry, which had worked well for them so far.
They all brought their specialisms Santana was a Lawyer in a previous life and dabbled sometimes but nowadays she was more familiar with being the Design Manager in the business, responsible for bringing together the architects, creating designs ad preparing tender documents. Her wife of eight years Brittany owned a lucrative dance studio, choreographing for some of the more famous names in the business.
Mike was the Commercial Manager, in charge of financial management of projects, making sure stakeholders fulfil their obligations, he was also managing the accounts department. Tina had joined the team as the Finance Manager about a year after they'd set up and worked with them for nearly 18 months before Mike finally plucked the courage up to ask her out, they'd been official for nearly a year now and things seemed to be getting serious for them over the past few months, everyone was on tender hooks waiting for the announcement.
Sam was the front man for the business, as the Construction Manager as well as overseeing all projects he was responsible for making sure no deadlines where missed and the hiring and firing of staff. He'd been married to Mercedes for nearly six years, she sang successfully, but she also found time to head up the HR department, which Sam would jump in on when she couldn't.
This week Mike, Santana, and Sam had been in Texas, having worked on a few projects over the last six months, they were in a position to close, so they'd set themselves a personal task to get all three deals closed in less than four days, and if successful, as a congratulations, they'd set up a weekend for all of them to meet in Mexico. But, at the beginning of the week Brittany had broken her toes and had to keep off her feet for a few days, worse still she'd neglected to tell Santana how bad it was for fear of messing up the deal. Then, of all the things to hit out of the blue, the auditors had announced they were spot checking and Tina needed all hands on deck to make sure everything was as it should be in time for their visit in less than a week. Then to top it all with only three days into their trip they were hearing that Mercedes and Tina were held up in the local police station, and some woman was in hospital.
"I just can't believe this" Mercedes threw her hands up in the air, fed up with talking about it "I've actually been arrested the press are going to have a field day on this"
"Surely nothing else could go wrong this week" Santana widened her eyes with disbelief
"Did you guys get all the deals done?"
"Silly question" she laughed "I left Sam signing up the last one late last night, it was like we knew something was up" she told her friend "I was stressed about Britt I knew she was playing it down, Mike was having kittens about the audit, we should have just left things and come home, T wouldn't have been first in the building if we'd have been here"
"We could work through all the different what if's, but it's happened, unfortunately the woman hurt herself, but it wasn't down to us, and when she wakes up… did you get a name?"
"Lauren something beginning with Z"
"Sounds familiar" Mercedes sat wondering "Check the bookings, see if she's worked for us before, I need to know what she was after in that office"
"No need" Santana smiled at her "As soon as my plane hit the ground Sam gave his instructions, he'll probably arrive telling us more than the police know"
"That's true" she smiled "He's such a worrier"
"Mercedes, you're in a police station" she reminded her
"I know but I'm innocent"
"Let's get them back in here and sort this out" Santana looked up at the window nodding, Mercedes leaned back in her chair ready for another hour of questioning "To my knowledge Miss Z…"
"Zizes" the officer told them
"Isn't awake enough to confirm her accusation, so have you actually got anything to charge my client with?"
"Not yet" the officer frowned at Santana
"So, she's free to go?"
"Yes, but don't leave town Mrs Evans" he looked at Mercedes
"Can the same be said for Miss Cohen Chang?" Santana asked
"Yes" the officer threw the paperwork he was using to intimidate Mercedes on the table and watched them get up and walk out
Tina was leaving the other interrogation room at the same time, they hugged, grabbed their belongings, and made their way to the exit in silence "I need a fucking drink" Tina snapped
"There's a café…"
"I mean a drink Britt" Tina held her hand up stopping the conversation
"You don't drink" Britt reminded her
"There were a lot of things I didn't do up to this damn day" she held her chest as if she was having difficulty breathing "Today I need a stiff drink"
"Walking out of there I feel like Alice out of that film we watched the other day" Brittany laughed
"Except our husbands didn't rob a bank" Tina laughed
"Or, god forbid, get killed trying" Mercedes frowned
"And can I add a little fact?" Santana asked looking at the expectant faces "We're not guilty"
"Okay it's nothing like it" Brittany laughed "But for a second…"
"No" Mercedes giggled waving her finger at the girl as they went to get into the car "It's Sam" she held her ringing phone up and stood outside the car talking to her worried husband, watching Tina obviously going through the same conversation with Mike before getting in the car to wait for Santana who was also taking a call "Was that Sam?"
"Yeah" Santana smiled
"What did he say?" she asked
"He's gone into boss mode, which means things are serious" Santana rolled her eyes "I've got orders to get us all to yours" she looked at Mercedes "And wait for them to get back" she looked at Brittany "The office should have been cleaned by now and of course security has been stepped up, we still don't know how she got in"
"Or why" Tina looked at Santana
"The name rings a bell for me, but until I actually see the face, I won't be able to place her" Mercedes told them watching the car move off
"Do you think it's someone Mike's messing with?" Tina asked out the blue
"Do you?" Brittany asked shocked
"No" Tina shook her head "I'm just trying to make sense of it all"
"And that's what you came up with?" Santana looked in her mirror at her
"For a second" Tina frowned wondering why she'd gone there
"There's no point in investing if there's no trust" Mercedes warned her
"There's trust, I'm just overthinking on this thing, I mean, what was she looking for, there are only files in there, no money, nothing of value, I don't get it"
"Sounded to me like she was just smashing the place up" Mercedes sat reliving the moment "Could we stop off at the office, I need to get my laptop and stuff"
"Sorry girl, Sam said straight home, you know how he is" Santana replied
"Was he that mad?" she asked wondering why her calm conversation with him had seconds later turned to angry orders for Santana to implement
"You can never tell with him, I'd say he was maybe upset" Santana took a guess, all the way home the conversation was conspiracy theories springing from Tina's original thoughts, by the time they got to Mercedes 's place they'd got the woman as some international spy, looking for some sort of priceless plan that was worth millions.
"Hi" Mercedes smiled at the strange man opening her front door "And you are?" she stopped outside to ask, the day had already been strange enough
"Shane Tinsley Mrs Evans, your husband is on the line" he handed her the phone
"Hey" she smiled at the familiar voice, listening to what he had to say before handing the phone back to the man "I guess we have guards now, a bit excessive don't you think?" she asked Santana "You know more than you're letting on" she thinned her eyes at the woman
"I know as much as you, we're always harping on about you three being our most valuable asset, maybe the treat became real for them today, who knows" Santana smiled looking across the room at Brittany "Which if you'll excuse me, reminds me I have a valuable asset to talk to too myself" she walked by Brittany and nodded for her to follow her, Brittany rolled her eyes and got up to follow her wife
Santana & Brittany Lopez-Pierce
"I think you know where this conversation is heading" Santana turned on her heels when they closed the patio doors and walked towards the pool
"Sorry" Brittany's voice filled with genuine regret "I just knew how important this deal was to you guys and I knew you'd be on the first plane home if you knew I was really hurt"
"Damn straight" Santana huffed "We agreed nothing came before us, not even work"
"You guys have been talking about this deal for months"
"And I've been married to you for eight years, why would you even think I'd put you second?"
"I made a choice, I didn't want to be put first this time, I can do that can't I?"
"Babe you have to let me make my choices too, you could have just told me, we could have talked it through, who knows, maybe I wouldn't have come home"
"Don't even try and shit me with that one, I tripped over a plank, and you left your first deal to be with me for a stubbed toe" Brittany laughed
"At the time it was important" Santana smiled
"It was important to me that you got these deals, and I did what I needed to do"
"It's the lying, that's not who we are with each other"
"I didn't lie, I was just very careful with my words"
"How are your toes?"
"Fine now your back" she smiled walking towards her wife "Can I get a proper hi now?"
"Hi" Santana smiled looking at her wife like a naughty child before their lips met "I love you to the moon and back you know that right?"
"You know that" Brittany smiled
"I do" Santana laughed "I think I said that before" she giggled looking up at the sky "Let's go support our family" she watched Britt hobble back inside on the sticks "I wished I could stay mad at you for longer"
"I love getting you mad" Britt laughed "Makes for adventurous sex"
"I always bite" she giggled
"At the right times"
Back Together
"Where's Mercedes?" Santana looked around the empty room concerned
"She went to the bathroom" Tina sobbed "Sorry I think it's all just catching up on me"
"It's fine, you get it all out" Brittany quickly sat beside her, consoling her
"It happened nearly fifteen hours ago; this is ridiculous" Tina attempted to stop her hands from shaking "I'm not this woman" she pressed her hands into her lap trying to get them to stop shaking
"Anything could have happened, thankfully nothing did, but you've a right to be shaky about it" Brittany assured her
"Is she alright?" Mercedes walked back into the room to see the three of them huddled together
"She will be" Santana smiled "Just a bit shaken"
"T" Mike's voice attracted everyone's attention, she didn't answer, she sprung up and made a B-line for him, all she wanted was for him to hold her "It's okay" he hugged her closing his eyes for the relief of it
"Where's Sam?" Mercedes asked looking at the door
"He went to the police station, he's not about to stop right now" Mike told her "He's been mad all damn day, actually the station might just be the place for him right now"
"He's not about to do anything stupid is he?" Mercedes asked
"We got pictures of the damage he looked at one of them and flipped, he's not talking so…" Mike shrugged his shoulders
They were all used to this version of Sam, when things weren't going the way he'd planned, or the way he'd asked for them to go, he'd go into his someone's up for it mood, it was reserved for work, so she knew if he couldn't shake it off he wouldn't be home for now.
"We decided we'd all stay here tonight, give the team time to secure our houses over the next two days, we've had things moved over, usual rooms" Mike told them "And Mercedes" he stopped to get her attention "Sam said he'll wake you when he gets in"
"Why is he sending messages with everyone, why doesn't he just call me?"
"Sorry I can't give you an answer, but I need to deal with T" Mike smiled at her
"Sorry T" Mercedes smiled, sorry for making it all about her "You'll be alright"
"I've got her" Mike smiled leading her towards the stairs
Mike Chang & Tina Cohen Chang
"I thought I was going to die" Tina burst into tears before they got to the bedroom door "I thought…"
"But you didn't thank god, and Mercedes was there to defend you"
"What if something had happened to her, I would never have forgiven myself, God Sam would never…"
"Don't even think about it" Mike stopped her, knowing he'd come close to having that conversation a few times today "What happened?"
"I don't know really, we'd just about got everything sorted for the audit, I'd checked everything over last night and we were good to go" she huffed "It was 3am and I didn't see the point in going home, so I went to your office and slept on the couch for a couple of hours, after telling the girls to come round early for a breakfast celebration" she smiled knowing he was thinking she did the most ridiculous things "I went to the bathroom in Santana's office to freshen up, got myself some water, and came back up to that noise going on, I thought it was Britt at first but when she started swearing and throwing things about I just froze, I didn't know what to do" she cried "And then Mercedes turned up and saved me"
"Did any of you hit that woman?"
"No" she snapped "She fell over the table in reception"
"We think she might be someone who we've done business with before, maybe they didn't get the deal they wanted, or something, I think that's why Sam's gone back to the office"
"So, they're going to smash the place up for what?" she asked shocked
"You'd be amazed at what some people will do when they don't get what they want" he told her "Come on let's get you in a hot bath, let those bubbles do their work" he crossed the room to the bathroom to get things set up
"Hey" she called after him "I think you know how to do that work better" she smiled at him
"After that journey I could do with some bubbles too" he smiled before stepping into the bathroom
Back Downstairs
"What's wrong with Sam?" Mercedes spun round asking Santana "He's not answering my calls" she held her ringing phone up
"I don't know, he's been abrupt all day, you know he doesn't talk" she answered
"You know something" she looked at her suspiciously "What did he say earlier?"
"Just that I should be the one to come get you guys out"
"So, he hasn't been telling you what he's finding out?"
"No" Santana looked at Brittany for help
"Does he think this is my fault?"
"No" Santana snapped shocked at the question "How could all this be your fault?"
"I don't know, it just feels like he's blaming me for something"
"He's not Mercedes, you're being paranoid now" Brittany told her
"I'm absolutely wacked, I need sleep" Santana stood rubbing the knot out of the back of her neck "I didn't get any rest on the flight" she pulled Brittany with her
"Goodnight" Mercedes snapped frustrated watching as they left the room and climbed the stairs
It was way past midnight and on any other day she'd be fast asleep in bed, but tonight Sam was at work, where less than 24 hours ago a mad woman was trying to attack her, she couldn't rest. She sat flicking through the channels on a TV she rarely watched, checking the news, listening for any reports on the events of the day, waiting for him to come through the door
Sam & Mercedes Evans
"Babe" she finally got up when the door swung open "Babe I was…"
"What are you doing up?" he snapped at her
"I was waiting for you, I was worried" she looked at his angry face "What's happened?"
"Go to bed Mercedes" he snapped at her
"What?" she asked taken aback for his demanding words
"Go to bed" he repeated looking into her eyes, his eyes burning with anger "Please" he looked away "Just go to bed"
"Well fuck you too" she snapped "And fuck me for caring" she got up and walked out the room, determined not to show him she was upset, her shower felt the brunt of her anger before she finally calmed down and went to bed. She heard him come into the room and had a mind to tell him to get out, but even under all the hurt she had going on, she knew something was wrong. She closed her eyes and lay listening to him moving around the room, getting in the shower, slamming the draws shut, and mumbling to himself
"I'm sorry" he slid into their bed and wrapped himself around her
She rolled her eyes she knew she was going to give in to him "It's okay" she turned to look at him "It's been a stressful day"
"I mean for the fact that I wasn't here to protect you, it's the one job I have, and I couldn't even do that, that just makes me feel like a shit husband"
"I'm alright babe" she held his face by the chin "I'm as fierce as a motherfucker when I need to be, you know that" she smiled "If she'd have touched any one of us I'd have knocked that bitch into next month, never mind hospital"
"I know but I still feel so responsible"
"Listen, you're protecting me now" she smiled "The house is locked down, our family is safe, your body's all over mine, that's all the protection I need"
"It's been the worst day" he breathed out hard "I spent the day trying to imagine a life without you in it" he buried his head in her chest "I couldn't live without you" he smothered his face into her chest, she lay holding him unsure what to say for comfort
Baby, it's been a long day, baby, things ain't been going my way, and I know I need you here, to clear my mind, all the time
And baby, the way you move me it's crazy, It's like a sea wave to me, make it dizzy, say believe me, you don't even have to try
No, no oh because you are the best thing, you are the best thing, say you are the best thing, baby ever happened to me
He looked up at her smiling down at him "Sorry" he finally lay on his back looking up at the ceiling "Our song" he smiled, closing his eyes at her hand stroking his face, as he lay listening to her silky voice singing 'You Are The Best Thing' by Sophie Faith
Baby, we've come a long way baby, you know I hoped, and I prayed that you believe me when I say, this love will never fadeaway, no because, you are the best thing, you are the best thing, you are the best thing, baby oh, that ever happened to me
"You believe me?"
"Totally" he smiled taking her kiss
Sharing a smile when he finally opened his eyes, "So" she huffed "Tell me about this bitch who's life a coffee table saved" she giggled
"Lauren Zizes, remember she went in on a deal with the Puckerman brothers and got ripped off, she was looking for the plans"
"We sent letters to everyone about that didn't we?" she looked in shock
"Yeah we did but obviously she wasn't having it" he laughed "I watched the CCTV, she'd been in there for a while, she talked, then she actually sang, and then started shouting, really built herself up"
"Sang?"
"Yeah" he laughed "Some shit about knowing what boys like, I took a snippet" he grabbed his phone and found the recording before pressing play "Thought I'd try and make you smile after the day you've had"
"Holy fu…" Mercedes covered her mouth to stop the swear "Hell to the no" she grabbed the phone off him and turned it off "No wonder she fell, someone needs to have a strong conversation with her, tell her a firm no" she giggled reaching across him to put his phone back down "But first I want a non-verbal conversation with you" she leaned in to kiss him again
"Can't do non-verbal babe, you're going to make noise" he laughed
"Promise?"
"See" he pulled her hair off her face "You're already talking"
"Okay" she giggled "You're playing the begging game?" she kissed him again
"Yep" he flicked her off him took control