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chapter thirty-one
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you flutter your eyes and you toss your hair
i have to say that it is kind of unfair
let me tell you baby now what's in store
you win the battle, but i'll win the war
-Jamie Cullum, "Get Your Way"
xx
August 29, 2003
12:30 pm
The Friday before Labor Day, the afternoon sun shone brightly and carried in to light the entire floor of the Missing Persons Unit. Samantha sat at her desk and scrawled the details of her last case in her case report, enjoying the warmth that radiated in from outdoors. Across the bullpen, she saw Naomi and Jack bent over one of the tech computers, looking through old security videos to shore up one of their cases that would be going to trial shortly. Naomi cast a glance over her shoulder and met Sam's eyes, and Sam found herself once again grateful for the friendship and honest advice that Naomi was willing to give out. It was Naomi, after all, who had been spot on in calling her on her fears about the upcoming weekend with Martin and his family...
Sam sat with Naomi in the small enclosed patio of an outdoor café, not too far away from the Federal Building. While Naomi ate her sandwich, Sam picked and nibbled at her Caesar salad. She was still reeling from her therapy session with Lisa that morning, and from her conversation with Martin the morning before.
She found herself torn between wanting to go with him and wanting to protect herself from whatever fallout might come, and her anxiety formed a knot at the pit of her stomach.
"Okay, enough of this." Naomi said emphatically, wiping her hands on the napkin in her lap. "The trip to DC was supposed to be good for you. What the hell happened? You've been in a daze since I met you to head to the airport."
Sam lifted her fork to her mouth and bit off a small piece of lettuce, chewing deliberately. "Nothing happened."
Naomi raised an eyebrow in disbelief, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "So much nothing happened that you were in with Dr. Harris for over an hour, instead of coming running back after thirty minutes like you usually do?"
Sam took a long drink from her iced tea, crunched an ice cube between her teeth, and said softly, "He wants me to come to the Vineyard with his family for Labor Day."
Naomi's eyes went wide as she fought back a laugh. "And this is a bad thing?" She asked incredulously.
Shrugging her shoulders, Sam replied, "I don't know."
"What's there not to know about? It's not like you don't already know his family, anyway."
"Yes, but not as his girlfriend..." Sam paused, lifting her drink to her lips once again. "Even in the hypothetical scenario where his family approves of me, if I go, then there's really no way we can keep this a secret anymore."
Naomi tilted her head and fiddled with the crust of her sandwich and said, "Sam, you do realize that you can't keep this a secret forever, right? Put your FBI training to good use here and think logically."
Sam frowned. "Yes. But once everyone knows, there isn't anything I can do about it. He's got advisors and his office staff and his family, and I've got ..." She trailed off, picking up her fork to push one of the small cherry tomatoes off to the side of her plate.
Naomi reached across the table to run her hand across Sam's forearm. "You've got me," she countered, "And the rest of the team. And you've got him, too. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is a new situation for both of you, and I don't think that someone who wants to be open with the public about your relationship is someone who's going to drop you to the curb at the drop of a hat... So, what are you afraid of?"
Sam closed her eyes and swallowed hard before getting up the courage to whisper in response. "I don't know."
"Listen," Naomi said intently, leaning forward against the glass table top. "This doesn't mean that you have to move across state lines or marry him or anything yet. But I know that you like him a lot, and you're going to hate yourself forever if you don't try. Just … trust me."
xx
Samantha double clicked on the secure internet icon, opening the window on her computer screen. She signed into her email account and smiled, finding three unread messages.
She deleted the first without opening it, a mass Bureau email with a subject line reading "Important Memo Re: Parking on Monday", and she smiled to herself, knowing that she would have no reason to be reporting in on Labor Day.
The second was from Caroline, and she glanced over that one quickly for the directions to a café close to the vicinity of St. Michael's hospital where they had planned to meet before making the drive that evening. Two weeks ago, she had received a call from Caroline that they were going out shopping to pick out dresses for the night out while they were away. She found herself thoroughly enjoying Caroline's company, seeing in her many of the same qualities she admired in Martin. In the two weeks that followed, she and Caroline had been emailing and exchanging the occasional phone call and discovering that Martin's serious, professional, Type A Personality older sister was also extremely sweet and easy to talk to once you got to know her a little.
The last message was from Martin's personal email account and the subject line read "(No Subject)". She clicked 'open' and smiled to herself as she read the brief message.
Sam-
Everything is set for this weekend. Can't wait to see you later.
M.
PS: I still have your earring. I promise I won't forget it ;-)
Sam shook her head and grinned, remembering the conversation when she had told him she wanted to come to Cape Cod with him for the weekend.
Sam stepped out of the shower and immediately reached for her bathrobe. Tying the terrycloth tightly around her waist, she began to towel her hair dry, feeling markedly more calm and relaxed after her dinner with Naomi.
As she finished wringing the last water droplets from her blonde mane, she heard the familiar beep from her speaker phone as her answering machine picked up.
"Hey," she heard Martin's voice carry, soft and uncertain and frowned to herself. Martin never called her land line. "I, uh, I found your earring this morning..."
She shuffled quickly into the bedroom and picked up the phone. "Hey, Martin," she said. "Sorry, I was just getting out of the shower."
"Oh, hey," he replied, obviously surprised that she had answered. And instead of adding some suggestive comment about her getting out of the shower, he remained silent.
She recognized the silence for the nervousness that it masked, and she felt her heart ache at his subtle disquiet. "How are you?" She said, trying to sound upbeat.
"Good, good," he replied. "I, uh, did you hear? I found your earring this morning. It must have fallen out while we were ... I found it on my desk."
She giggled in spite of herself. "Oh."
"I can ship it to you if you need it right away, or if you want I could --"
"Martin!" She interrupted, before she was even aware of what she was saying. "Why don't you keep it for a few weeks. You can give it back to me over Labor Day."
This time, the silence on the other end of the line held a far more hopeful, animated quality. "So you mean ...?"
"Yes," she said assuredly, smiling to herself. "I do."
xx
Sam felt a hand along her shoulder, and she turned her neck around to see Danny trying to peer at her computer screen.
She minimized the window and, with fake sweetness in her voice, said, "Can I help you with something?"
"Oh, no," He smirked and backed up until he was leaning against the conference table. She rotated her chair around in time to hear him wave his hands in her direction and say, "So you seem ... something."
She laughed at his poor attempt at subtlety, just as Vivian walked up to join them.
In her best sarcastic but motherly tone, Vivian advised, "I think the word you're looking for, Danny, is 'happy.'"
Sam grinned and winked at Vivian and teased. "Yes, it is. And yes, I am. What's it to you, Agent Suave?"
Danny scratched his cheek, suddenly looking very serious as he said, "It's a good thing, Sam."
Sam turned her chair back around and, to no one in particular, repeated. "Yes, it is."
xx
4:45 pm
Martin sat by the reception desk on the twelfth floor of the Federal Building, bouncing his knee up and down in anticipation. Not even the ditzy receptionist, who sat chewing gum and staring as though she recognized him but couldn't quite place him, could faze him right now.
He felt like he had literally been floating on cloud 9 since the second he had realized that she had agreed to the trip. As the date approached, he was afraid she would become tentative and unsure, rethinking her decision, but instead, it had been just the opposite. Apparently, after voicing his fears to Caroline, his older sister had taken matters into her own hands and, in a burst of spontaneity unusual for Caro, took Sam out and bonded over how much they both hated shopping for formal dresses. It gave him a thrill to know that Sam and his sister were getting on so well of their own accord.
He looked up as he heard footsteps and harsh voices carrying down the mostly empty hallway. He studied the two figures intently as they approached, recognizing one as Jack. The woman, however, he had never seen before. She was a relatively short brunette who carried herself with straight, professional posture but did not have an FBI ID Badge. Both Jack and the brunette gave off intense vibes of anger and irritation, and Martin knew immediately that this must be Maria: Jack's soon-to-be ex-wife.
"... I don't care how much you want to punish me, Maria," Jack said angrily. "But I'm their father. I should at least get to see them the weekends when I'm not working!"
"Right, Jack," Maria rolled her eyes, her arms crossed and her voice dripping with bitterness. "You're their father. How could I forget?"
Jack and Maria almost reached the end of the hallway before they noticed him, sitting alone by the entrance to the bullpen. Immediately dropping their heated conversation, Jack approached him, reaching out to shake his hand. "Senator Fitzgerald," Jack said. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
Martin stood, holding out his hand to Maria. "Martin Fitzgerald," he introduced himself, trying to dissolve some of the awkwardness that hung open in the air that would likely increase exponentially when Jack realized the purpose of his visit.
"Maria Malone," Maria took his hand and gave him a tight smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Senator."
"Thank you," Martin replied, dropping his hand back to his side. "And please, it's Mart--"
"Martin!" The ladies' room door swung open, and Naomi appeared just in time to interrupt his encounter with Jack and Maria Malone.
"Hi, Naomi." He greeted her warmly, as she was the closest thing to a member of Sam's family that he assumed he would be meeting for a long time.
"Hey," she replied, walking up to the group as Jack and Maria looked on questioningly. Naomi continued in a matter-of-fact tone that told Martin that she either did not know about Sam's history with Jack, or did not care, and explained, "She's downstairs in the filing room with Danny. She should be right up." Naomi continued down the hall for about twenty feet before turning around to call over her shoulder. "And don't let her leave without saying goodbye, okay?"
He shook his head laughingly, and then realized that Jack and Maria were still standing wordlessly in front of him and the receptionist was now gaping in earnest, having put the pieces together and properly identifying him.
After a few seconds' increasingly awkward silence, Jack and Maria turned to enter the bullpen just as the doors of the elevator just down the hallway opened, and Sam and Danny stepped out.
Sam and Danny were laughing and teasing each other, and it was Danny who noticed him first, elbowing Sam in the ribs.
"Agh, Danny!" She groaned, before raising her eyes forward as Danny motioned towards where Martin stood.
Martin shuffled forward to meet her halfway. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her but, aware that they still had an audience, opted to reach out and grasp her hands instead.
"Hey," he whispered softly enough that only she could hear. "Surprise."
Her brown eyes widened as they met his, and, entwining their fingers, she asked, "You skipped out on committee?"
He shook his head, grinning, "Nope."
She bit her lip, thinking for a minute before he saw realization cross her face. She rolled her eyes, "You and Caroline!" She exclaimed indignantly. "You two are supposed to be the sweet, innocent ones."
His hands fell to her sides and grazed her hips as he quipped, "Nah, not really. Becca's just a lot louder about it, so you never suspect us. But Caro is the mastermind."
"Of course she is," Sam replied in kind. "Anyway, I'm all done here. I'm just going to go grab my things and say goodbye to Naomi."
"Sounds good," he nodded. "Oh, and before I forget --" he reached into his jacket pocket, "I believe I have something that belongs to you."
She laughed as she accepted the pearl stud he held out to her, and said, "I think I'm going to need a new back for this one."
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A/N: I know, I know! I've been terribly behind in getting all of these updated, I've been mainly just updating at Destined. I promise I will be better about updating here as I write instead of forgetting and just adding everything all at once.