Hey guys thanks for the great reviews, things are starting to come into place and i think you will quite enjoy how. Stay blessed and review.
Sam woke in a tangled mess, sprawled face down on the sheets. The uncomfortable sensation in his lower body was a harsh reminder that he had been without a woman for too long. He's dreamed of a woman last night, but he hadn't been able to get her either.
One eyelid lifted, then quickly shut as bright sunlight streamed through the windows. Grabbing around he found a pillow and pulled it over his head. There had been something oddly familiar about the dream woman who remained just beyond reach, no matter how desperately he tried to touch her. Turning over on his back he sighed as he pulled the pillow away from his face and stared at the ceiling/ He couldn't get this mystery woman off of his mind. He couldn't remember if she had been short or tall, slender or voluptuous. Dark or fair, the only thing he was sure of was that she was definitely able to take care of the aching need of his body.
Since he was so sure of it, she was probably someone from his past, except he didn't have any sensory memory of the woman. After making love to a woman over a period of time you learn her body… the taste, the feel, the scent of her, sounds she made when she reached her peak.
But last night he drew a blank, just like he did in real life.
Aware that sleep was impossible, he looked at the small clock next to the bed. Rolling his eyes he got out the bed and headed to the shower. Thinking of his mystery girl, time had gotten away from him. Instead of daydreaming about some woman, he should have had his mind on the restaurant. The cleaning crew was due to arrive at 10 along with the first shift. The restaurant opened at 11 and since today was Sunday they were would be busy from the time the door opened to the time it closed.
The black marble tiled shower with its glass exposure was large enough for three people, or two people who had the desire to please each other. Switching the water to cold her tried to take his mind off of women. He wouldn't be able to make it through this week if he couldn't take his mind off of his dream woman and how much he wanted her.
Less than ten minutes later he was dressed in his usual blue jeans, Henley shirt and boots and took*-
long strides towards the front of the hotel. As he walked through the lobby he was stopped by a man in a light grey suit rushing towards him.
"Mr. Evans. These are compliments of Ms. Jones. She left them for you." The man with the name tag Figgins offered him a handled bag with MESA on it which was the name of the hotels restaurant was printed in bit red letters. "Enjoy" Figgins said and made his way back to his post. Sam opened the bag and his mouth watered immediately. The aroma of fresh baked breakfast pastries filled his nose. She must have had Henri make them, he was her executive chef who baked to relax. Sam had been trying to steal him for his pastries alone. There was a thermos inside filled with Blue Mountain Coffee which was basically called liquid gold because of the price but once you tasted it you knew why it cost so much.
"Mr. Figgins, do you know where she is?"
The older man shrugged as he kept walking. "At this point in the day she could be anywhere on the premises. She works harder than any two people I know. No task too small and she always does it with a smile." Figgins pulled out her phone. "Shall I call her?"
Sam shook his head, "No, but if you see her please tell her I said thank you and that I will call her later."
"Yes sir, have a great day."
"Thanks." On the sidewalk he made his way to the restaurant. It was 9:52 and the streets were already crowded with summer tourist. He decided to leave his car in the garage behind the restaurant and walk to the hotel and just shy of five minutes later Sam rounded the corner of his place. He noticed his brothers and sisters car immediately, but what made his blood run cold was the police car.
Moving at a faster pace he made his way to the doors of his restaurant unsure of what he was going to find. Please let his family be okay. He said as he walked inside. He noticed Quinn, Mike, Simon, Marley, Stevie and Stacy sitting at the table. He moved closer, his heart stopping when he saw Stevie's head bowed.
"Is mom? Dad? Are they okay?"
Stacy jumped up looking at Sam. "Where have you been?!"
Sam looked around as everyone crowded around him. "Guys! Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"
Simon shook his head moving to Sam. "Mom and Dad are fine it's you we were worried about."
Stevie folded his arms. "And pulled me from very nice company."
"Looks like I am not needed here. I am closing the case on this Stacy."
The officer said walking towards the door. "Thanks Jake." Stacy said with a smile. That smile turned to a glare when she looked at Sam. "If someone would have had his phone this wouldn't have happened Samuel."
Jake laughed looking at Sam. "Dude you are so in for it now. Stacy looks pissed. I wish I could stay to see what she does but duty calls."
Simon shook his head, "Thanks again Jake for coming out, Dinner's on us tonight."
Jake nodded walking out the door.
"Explain Now!" Stacy said moving closer to Sam.
Sam rolled his eyes shifting the bag in his hands. "Mr. Hummel had to cut off the water, so I stayed at Casa de Serenidad last night. Cam and Duncan checked out so I took their room."
Stevie turned towards Stacy, "I will never, ever let you forget you did this."
Stacy waved him off and rolled her eyes. "Carmella needs to learn that she has to work harder to be solely in her power. Plus this will make her want you more."
A slow smile played on Stevie's face. "You are forgiven."
"I am glad you are okay Sam, we were all worried." Marley said.
"It's a wonder Jake didn't give Quinn a ticket. She was driving like a madwoman." Mike teased her.
Sam laughed, he wasn't surprised they all rallied together, they had always been a tight family. "Please tell me you didn't call mom and dad."
"Si said not too. He said if you were breathing, you would be here by ten to let in the first shift." Stacy said,
Sam glanced and saw two of the staff behind the bar and another working on the condiment container. The cleaning crew were setting everything up. Sam sighed. "I tried to get here as fast as I could."
"Seeing your car here and knowing how you would rather drive than walk across the street made us worry." Quinn Said, "Next time just call okay."
"Yes Mother dear." Sam said and laughed as the others joined in, It was nice to see the mood had shifted.
"So what's in the bag?" Stacy said pulling at it.
Sam pulled it out of reach, Stacy might have been small, but she ate like a freaking trucker. "These are mines, you already had breakfast I am sure."
She folded her arms and Sam ran his hands through his hair. "So what time did you start calling?"
Stevie shoved her hands in her pockets. "Not until nine, since you not a morning person."
Simon smiled. "I got the call at nine nineteen."
"Nine Thirty." Quinn said raising her hand.
"Nine thirty seven and at a very inopportune time might i add." Stevie said. "And what were you doing at that time?"
Sam thought of the dream and tucked his head, It came up when Stevie gave him a playful shove. "You were with a woman? After all that talk of staying single and not dating?"
Stacy grabbed the bag, "You had me worried sick and you were with some woman? This is mines now."
"I wasn't with a woman!" Sam said as he accepted skeptical looks from everyone. "Come on and ist down guys and i will tell you."
They all moved to the back of the restaurant to the table that was reserved for family. They slid in and Sam grabbed a plate and a few of the cups by the table. When he returned Stacy had already opened the box and was munching on a flaky croissant. A quick look in the box confirmed there was one.
"You could have waited."
Stacy shrugged, "You would have given it to me anyways, I just saved you the trouble."
True Sam thought, all of them were putty in her hands, because she was the youngest. Sam sat down. "You better have saved me some of that Blue Mountain I am so serious."
Quinn and Simon's ears perked up. Everyone loved the stuff. As everyone started to dive into the goodies Sam sighed heavily grabbing a drink.
"So I wasn't with a woman last night, but I did have a dream about her. That's what i was thinking when you asked, I was thinking about the woman i had a dream about."
Stevie raised an eyebrow. "But last night you said you were not interested in any woman. God my days are really numbered aren't they?"
"There isn't a woman Stevie. She was just a woman in my dreams. I couldn't see her but there was something so familiar about her. Like I knew her somehow. I lost track of time because I was trying figure out who she was,"
Stacy sighed sitting back in the seat, "You scared me...again."
"Same here." Stevie said taking a pastry. "I don't think I have ever dreamed about a woman."
"Capital assets and gains would be more your style." Quinn said with a laugh."
Stevie shrugged. "More challenging if you asked me and mysterious."
"On behalf of women everywhere I would have to disagree." Marley said.
Mike took Quinn's hand and kissed it. "Quinn was both and so much more."
Quinn laid on his shoulder. "I didn't mean to be, and it still scares me sometimes to think of what my life would have been like if we hadn't fallen in love."
Mike held her close kissing her forehead. "I don't want to think of a time without you."
Marley put her head on Simon's shoulder. "You guys just wait, she's out there waiting for you all and he for Stacy, you will see,"
Stevie scoffed. "She will have to catch me first. Speaking of which… I gotta go goodbye."
Sam watched Stevie leave. "The woman hasn't been born yet who could make Stevie a one woman man."
"Then I am safe." Stacy said as she finished the croissant, "Well I have to pick mama up and take her to Church."
Sam nodded. "I will see you for dinner right?"
"Hey I never said you were forgiven you.. But yes I will see you later." After she left, everyone else followed suit.
As soon as his family left, Sam went through his daily routine of speaking to each employee and checking to make sure everything was in place. If there was a problem either personally or with supplies he wanted to know upfront. He truly prided himself on customer satisfaction and he believed that was tied to happy employees. After he made sure that everything was in order he went to his apartment and first thing he did was check the damp baseboard. He sighed praying still it was a minor problem.
He sighed standing and plugging in his phone to let it charge and went to his closet. When he bought the restaurant five years he was pleased to see the two story building was in the best place to make money. He didn't care where he slept and he wanted to be able to get to the Restaurant in a moments time so converting the top to an apartment was a genius move. He saved on have two mortgages and utilities and could spend all of his extra money on buying the best equipment for his place. It also allowed him to go to the kitchen when he couldn't sleep and developed new recipes for his place.
Glancing at the family portrait next to his bed he smiled thinking of his parents. They always encouraged both he and his siblings to be the best they could and follow their passion. It was crazy but besides comic books Sam spent his allowance on cookbooks. Sam was always self sufficient and independent and he knew what he wanted and went for it. The best part was how Simon and Quinn helped him with a loan and his proudest moment was paying them back with interest at the end of the first year.
He sighed as his mind drifted once again to the woman of his dreams. Maybe she had dumped him and he was relieving that and maybe he was so fixated on her because she was safe and he knew that nothing could happen.
Grabbing the pastry box that he had carried to the room with him he grabbed a strawberry danish. He was the pastry chef at his restaurant since his last one married and had a baby. Its why he wanted to steal Henri from Mercedes, he knew that little french genius would send his place to the next level. Taking a bite he moaned shaking his head and grabbing the phone.
"Good Morning Casa de Serenidad, House of Serenity Hotel, may I help you?"
Sam quickly swallowed licking his lips before he spoke. "Ms. Jones Please."
"Yes sir, have a great day."
Sam leaned against his bed taking another bite. The day was looking up thanks to Mercedes.
"Good Morning. Mercedes Jones, how can i help you?"
Sam smiled, her voice always reminded him of sunshine on a beautiful spring day,. "Good Morning Merce, and you already have.. Thanks for the pastries and coffee. They were delicious even if I had to share them with the family."
"Thanks, that is high praise coming from you. You dropped by your parents house?"
Sam took another bite as he excitedly told her what happened. Adding that Stacy took the last croissant.
Her laugh made him smile. "I will ask Henri to make enough for both of you tomorrow morning. They will be waiting for you at the concierge desk after eight."
Her generous offer wasn't lost on him. "You make me almost think about stopping my attempts to steal Henri from you."
Mercedes laughed heartedly."Try all you want Henri will never leave me."
Sam knew it was true. She went above and beyond and so did her staff. "How about lunch or dinner? Whichever works for you."
She sighed sadly. "I wish I could but Sunday's can be hectic with so many people checking in and checking out."
He was surprised at his disappointment he felt. "Maybe some other time?"
"I would love to Sam."
Sam smiled brightly, then frowned. "SO I suppose a guest has already checked into my room?"
"He is due here late this afternoon."
"Well then he is one lucky man.." Sam thought about his room, then thought about how amazing the hotel was decorated and suddenly his outdated style was apparent to him, his mother had been saying it for years but he never let her help him decorate. "I can see why you have gotten all the accolades you have, Casa de Serenidad aka The House of Serenity is aptly named."
"Thanks Sam, I am glad you think so and I hope the plumbing problem is an easy fix."
"You and me both. I will call you and let you know. See ya."
"Bye Sam."
"Bye Mercedes."
He hung up the phone and looked around wondering why he felt off. His gaze fell to the bathroom and his question was answered. He was just annoyed with the inconvenience of no running water.
Mercedes took a seat in her executive chair and tapped her pen on her day planner. Sam had been raised right. He called her to thank her and then offered to repay her by inviting her to his restaurant like she knew he would, and it killed her to decline, but she knew seeing him would make him question her about why she was so unhappy last night.
He had always been able to read her. Once that had pleased her and now it made her uneasy. Perhaps it was the best way because no matter how much she wished she was his, she would never be, Sam would never see her as she saw him he would never see her with desire.
Mercedes accepted another hard truth. Sam meant well, but his life was as busy as hers. Before his party and last night she had seen him exactly twice in the last month. Once at the Opening of Mike's new studio and the other was when Mercedes had eaten at his restaurant. She sighed women flocked to Sam not just because he was handsome but because he had a wonderful soul and an amazingly caring saw him as wealthy, successful and gorgeous. He could have his pick of women.
On top of that Mercedes had no experience enticing men. For as long as she could remember boys and then men confided in her, they didn't lust after her. And because so many guys were her friends, girl's gravitated to her to get the guys, though she liked to think they stayed her friends because they saw something in her they liked.
After her mother left, she was pushed into the hotel business and between that and going to school, she didn't have time to date even if she didn't have a crush on Sam. Only recently had she been able to take days off, and that was spent to check on her brothers. She had already seen her father who was off with his new passion for cars. He seemed happy when he visited and he seemed to be getting back in the swing of things, when he found out that she got remarried he damn near lost it. He still loved her very much, but she, she loved another man.
Mercedes fingers ran over the family picture of happier times in the Jones family. She of all people knew the odds of a Jones finding love and happiness in a relationship, her family was cursed and she needed to face it, but she couldn't fully.