Chapter 25
XXXXXXX
"Agent Spade?"
Sam looked over to see Carol, the assistant to the U.S. Attorney, walking in her direction. She met the petite woman half way and replied, "Yes."
"We are running a little bit behind schedule today so if you wouldn't mind taking a seat," she gestured to a bench outside the courtroom doors, "we hope to have you take the stand within the hour."
"Okay," she replied with a heavy sigh. She didn't want to waste an entire hour waiting around to testify but knew she had no choice. She walked over to the bench and sat down. Carol gave her a small smile before disappearing back into the courtroom. She leaned back, wishing she had thought to bring something to read while she waited. Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled out to read a text from Elena asking if she had a chance to look at the bride's maids dresses she was considering. With quick fingers, she text back that she liked the satin blue one. With a grin on her face she hit the 'Send' button. Before she left for Los Angeles Elena had asked her to be her maid of honor and since then every other text from her had been about some wedding detail.
XXX
"Please tell me that's the last box," Danny whined as he hopped up to sit on the kitchen counter. "My back is killing me from packing up all your stuff."
"Pobresito," Elena soothed as she walked over and kissed him. "Big strong man is so tired from packing…" she stepped back and started opening cabinet doors. "Meanwhile, Sam and I packed most of the boxes and you don't see us complaining."
Danny struck a body builder pose and said, "Yeah, well, I had to do all the manly heavy lifting."
Elena and Sam both rolled their eyes and laughed.
"Don't worry, this is the last box, Mr. Manly Man," Sam said from where she sat on the floor wrapping her wine glasses in newspaper. "Ugh, I hate moving. You never realize how much crap you've accumulated until you pack it up in boxes."
"The good news is that it forces you to get rid of stuff you don't need," Elena said ass she moved around the kitchen opening up drawers, double checking that they didn't miss anything. She paused at one open drawer and pulled it out. "Por ejemplo, I'm pretty sure you won't want to pack up and take all of these soy sauce, ketchup, and hot sauce packets."
Sam looked over at the drawer stuffed with take-out menus and condiment packets. She paused, pretending to scrutinize the items. "I don't know. Can I be sure they will have those things in LA?"
"Let's be crazy and assume they do," Elena joked as she tilted the drawer over, dumping all of the items into the trash.
Sam finished wrapping the last glass and said, "What am I going to do without you guys?"
"Be bored," Danny replied as he chugged his bottle of water.
She closed the flaps on the box, holding them down with her hands as she reached for the packing tape. "I'm serious. I'm really going to miss hanging out with you guys."
"We're still friends, Sam," Danny replied. "You're moving, not dying."
"I know but we won't get to see each other very much," she replied as she scratched at the roll of tape to try and ply the strip loose. "It's just that a lot of people say they are going to keep in touch but never do."
"We are definitely going to keep in touch," Elena said as she moved to stand next to Danny. "Besides, I'm going to need my maid of honor to help me with all the wedding plans."
Sam stopped what she was doing and looked over at her friends. "What did you say?"
Elena shared a look with Danny before setting her dark brown eyes on Sam. "Will you be my maid of honor?"
"Of course!" Sam replied, standing up to go hug her friend. "So have you set a date?"
"June 15th," Elena replied pulling out of the embrace. Her smile faded and she said, "But I think you should know something."
Danny and Elena exchanged a nervous look before Danny said, "I asked Martin to be my best man."
Elena must have noticed her stunned expression and quickly said, "I will understand if you don't want to be my maid of honor if it makes you feel uncomfortable."
Sam quickly recovered and stammered, "No, this wedding is about you guys – nothing else."
"See I told you it will be fine," Danny told Elena as he tugged on her hand. He smiled over at Sam and said, "Martin said the same thing."
"You're sure?" Elena asked, still unsure.
"Yeah, of course," Sam replied, pulling her friend into an embrace. Once she let go she felt an urgent need to have a moment alone. She held up the roll of packing tape and said, "This thing is driving me crazy. I'm going to need the scissors."
Danny pointed towards the bedroom and said, "I saw it on a box near the bathroom door."
"Great, I'll be right back." She started to the bedroom and glanced over her shoulder to see Danny and Elena taking intimately. She hurried her pace. She walked in and spotted the tape exactly where Danny had said it would be. She picked it up, pausing to stare at it, suddenly feeling overcome with emotion.
She sat down on the bed, tears welling in her eyes at the prospect of seeing Martin again. So many emotions swimming around inside of her: excitement, fear, longing, loss, sadness, and even some joy at knowing that she was guaranteed a chance to see him once more.
"Hey Sam!" Danny shouted. "Wanna order some pizza?"
She pressed her index fingers to her eyes, trying to prevent the tears from falling. She took a deep breath and replied, "Yeah, that sounds great!" She stood up; her legs slightly shaky but steady enough to walk. She headed back to the kitchen and said, "I want green peppers."
XXX
She heard the doors to the courtroom open up and she glanced over to see an older man in a suit emerge and walk in the opposite direction. Her cell phone vibrated again and she read the return message from Elena that she also preferred the same dress. She started to text back when a shadow crossed over her.
"Hi Sam."
She looked up and her breath caught in her throat at the sight of a very familiar figure. It took a moment for the words to move from her brain to her mouth. "Martin." She stared at him for a beat, caught off guard by his presence here in this courtroom in Los Angeles. "Wow, um, I didn't expect to see you here."
He gave her a smile, a look of trepidation evident on his face. "I didn't expect to be here."
He explained that he got a call yesterday that his videotaped testimony had accidentally been erased and had to take the red eye from Washington to Los Angeles. As he talked she tried hard to listen intently to his words but was too preoccupied by his close proximity. He looked the same as he did that day eight months ago when she saw him standing outside the restaurant and while there was a tinge of heart ache shading this moment, she was pleasantly surprised to find how happy she was to see him. Genuine happiness.
"I just hope that they nail this Kramer guy to the wall," Martin finished.
"He is pretty ballsy to try and fight the charges," she agreed. She gestured to the empty spot on the bench beside her and motioned for him to join her.
He hesitated for the briefest second before sitting down. She inhaled the musky smell of his skin and cologne mingling together. He looked nervous and awkward as he said, "Danny told me that you transferred to LA. It really seems to agree with you. You look…different." He realized how that sounded and quickly recovered, "I mean you look great. Happy."
She smiled at his words and said, "I am. It's taking some time to get used to the new terrain but I really like it." She could feel the tension of the reunion dissipating and continued, "The cases are just as interesting as in New York but the weather is warm year round and you can valet park at crime scenes. Solving cases is much better when you aren't freezing your ass off while looking for parking."
"Don't go rubbing it in," he joked. "It was snowing when I left."
She laughed.
He shifted to look at her and asked, "Do you like the team?"
Her heart thumped happily in her chest that after all this time and so much drama between them, that there was still this familiar comfort between them. "They're great. It's busy right now and probably will get even busier once Desiree has her baby and goes on maternity leave."
"I can relate to that," Martin replied, a big grin on his face. "I have one agent out with appendicitis and Chao is on paternity leave."
"Chao?" she asked, her brow furrowed, confused by his comment.
"Yes," he replied, playfully nudging her with his elbow, a gesture that filled her heart with joy. "He had a distant cousin back in China who died during childbirth. Her husband doesn't want the baby and since the odds of Chao and Mark conceiving on their own are slim they said they would take her." He laughed softly and she did the same. "They flew out to China last week to go get her. I saw a picture and she is a really cute baby. His aunt so excited, she's already offered to watch the baby while they are at work."
She smiled. "That's great. Be sure to tell them congratulations for me."
"I will," he replied.
She knew they couldn't dance around the topic much longer. This was the perfect time to diffuse any lingering tension between them before they both had to stand in Danny and Elena's wedding so she licked her lips and asked, "So, how's Rachel?" His lowered his eyes but didn't reply right away. She bumped his shoulder with hers and said, "Come on, I'm being the big person here – asking about the girlfriend. The least you can do is reply."
He smiled and with his eyes on the water fountain across the hall from them he replied, "She's good. She's in Haiti right now."
"Haiti?" she repeated. "Why?"
Martin leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasped. "She is doing a tour with Doctor's Without Borders. They needed general physicians who spoke French so she volunteered."
"That's very noble of her," Sam replied while mentally thinking that she now hated this Rachel even more. Not only did Martin choose to stay with her but now, on top of everything else, she seemed to have a Mother Fucking Theresa complex. She added that to her already long list titled, 'Things I Hate About Rachel Chandler.'
Martin released a nervous laugh and said, "I was so afraid to come over here and say hi. I was afraid you might want to shoot me because of what happened."
This time Sam laughed and she put her hand on Martin's back. "You should know me better than that. I wouldn't do it in a court house." She slapped him gently on the back and in a low threatening voice said, "Too many witnesses."
He laughed.
"I don't want to hurt you," she said before leaning forward to mirror his posture. "I actually should thank you. You're turning me down forced me to really look at my life. I was ready for some serious changes and thanks to you I finally was ready to do something about it."
He nodded his head and looked at her gently, his blue eyes fixed on hers. "I want you to know I was extremely…flattered by what you did."
"'Flattered'?" she replied, laughing lightly. "I guess you're welcome…"
A blush crept up his neck. "That came out wrong, I just meant…"
"I know what you meant," she interrupted, putting her hand on his forearm. "It's okay."
Her cell phone vibrated again and she looked at it to see that Elena had now sent her a message asking if she could visit a website to check out the flower arrangements for the bouquets. She released a heavy sigh and decided to hold off replying. She tucked it back in her pocket and decided to change the subject to something lighter. "When Danny and Elena got engaged they told me it would be a simple ceremony and now it's become this huge extravaganza. Is Danny pestering you with all this wedding stuff too?"
"Sam, I'm just the best man. My only job is to plan the bachelor party and show up on time for the wedding."
"Boys are so lucky," she replied, shaking her head.
He leaned back on the bench. "Danny told me that they still want a smaller wedding but Elena's parents are really pressuring her for the big traditional Catholic wedding."
She leaned back, relishing this easy moment with Martin. It was completely unexpected but a wonderful surprise. "I think her folks are just happy that Danny actually got her to agree to marry him." She turned her head to face Martin, his head so close she could see the small laugh lines around his eyes. "This is the first thing she's done that is even remotely traditional in their eyes."
"Her father is pretty old school," Martin agreed.
The doors to the courtroom opened up again and they both turned to look as the bailiff exited and called Sam as the next witness.
She stood up, deflated by this interruption during her reunion with Martin. She brushed out the crease in her trousers with her hands in an attempt to stall for time. She wasn't ready to leave Martin just yet.
"It was nice seeing you, Sam," Martin said softly as he stood up.
She glanced back and forth between the waiting bailiff and Martin, her feet not wanting to walk away again. She licked her lips and said, "Um, when are you heading back? Maybe we could have dinner, catch up?"
"I am heading back right after I testify," he replied. She couldn't be sure but she thought she heard regret in his voice. "We're short staffed remember?"
"Oh yeah," she said. Behind her she heard the bailiff call her name again. She told him to hang on before looking back at Martin. "Well, I guess I'll see you at the wedding."
He smiled at her. "See you in June."
"Yeah," she uttered as she took a step back to move towards the courtroom. Her hands moved a fraction of an inch, an automatic gesture at wanting to hug Martin goodbye. She forced them back down to her side and said, "Bye."
She turned and started to the courtroom when she heard Martin call her name. She spun around and he said, "If you need any help with wedding stuff or maybe just vent about the burdens of being a maid of honor feel free to call or email me." He played nervously with his hands and added, "Maybe I can try and help you talk them out of some stuff or something. You know, since I am the best man with nothing really important to do and lots of free time."
She grinned, heartened by his offer. "I don't know…if Elena keeps texting me every day with random wedding questions I am going to have a lot of venting to do…"
He laughed. "I can handle it."
She smiled and waved goodbye before turning to walk into the courtroom.