Chapter 8
Tony leafed through his mail at his desk and a gilt envelope caught his eye. It was from the Raine Gallery in New York. He opened it and pulled out the invitation scanning to the end and reading Leine's handwritten note. "I can't wait to show you my world! Yours truly, Leine." He smiled as he noticed that even her curvy script, seemed polished and graceful. "Why not?" he thought as he marked off the date on his calendar and picked up the phone to ring Erin and ask her to RSVP for him. But then he suddenly thought better of it and dialed the New York phone number himself. A silky voice answered the phone. "Raine Gallery, Madeleine speaking." "Leine, it's Tony Dimera." He said, surprised to find himself a bit nervous. "Tony, this is a surprise." Leine said, pleased that he'd used her nickname. "How are you?" "Well I'm just fine." He said. "I actually just opened up your invitation, so I thought I'd RSVP." "Oh, good!" Leine exclaimed, "I'm so happy that you'll be able to come! Although I must admit that I'm surprised you called yourself. Most people just have their assistants do that." Tony blushed slightly; glad she couldn't see his face "Well I'm not most people." He said smoothly, recovering himself. "I'm beginning to see that." Leine countered. "I hope that your trip to New York will give us the opportunity to get to know each other even better." "So do I, Leine. So do I." And he found surprisingly, that he really meant it.
Sami sat down to dinner and looked anxiously at the door. Lucas had come home the other evening and had apologized to her for his behavior, promising that it wouldn't happen again. She'd been so pleased that she hadn't even asked him about the missing wine bottle. But although they had made their peace and he had loved her passionately that night, he'd been coming home later and later in the last few days. It almost seemed to her that he was avoiding her, in order to avoid a fight. As another hour sluggishly went by, Sami finally got up and put the now cold dinner away and went to bed.
It was well past midnight when the bedroom door opened and Lucas crept in. Sami sat up and flicked on the light, causing Lucas to jump slightly. "Hey you!" He said "What are you still doing up?" He asked as began to undress. "I couldn't sleep." Sami said, trying not to sound irritable, but failing. "I was waiting for a call from my husband telling me that he was going to be late again." "Oh." Lucas said casually "Sorry hon I …" "Got hung up at the office. I know!" Sami said, finishing his sentence for him. "But you know, there is this amazing new device! It's called a telephone, everybody's doing it nowadays." "Ha, ha, that's funny!" Lucas laughed and climbed into bed. He leaned over to kiss Sami, but she turned away from him, so he kissed her shoulder instead. "Aww come on sweetie." Lucas said, as he put his arm around her and drew her closer. "Don't be mad." Sami turned around abruptly, and glared at him. "It's not just tonight Lucas!" She bit out. "It's been happening more and more and I am not putting up with it!" Now it was Lucas' turn to get angry. "Would you lower your voice, Will is sleeping." He said. "And I said I was sorry." "No you didn't! Sami said in a slightly lower voice. "You said "don't be mad" He frowned at her mocking imitation of him. "You know what I meant!" He said fiercly and then in a quieter tone, "Look I am sorry! Really sorry and I promise that I'll call next time, ok?" "But that's just the problem, " Sami said, the heat going out of her as well "The fact that there is going to be a "next time" I miss you! I feel like you're avoiding me or something and it's killing me" Lucas sighed and stroked her face. "Honey, why would I ever avoid you? I love you!" He kissed her gently. "Well I love you too, and I want you here." Sami said "Look honey, there's not much I can do about the next time thing. I mean, I have to work, don't I? The most I can do is promise that I'll call from now on." Sami looked at him a bit dejectedly and took a minute before asking him, "Promise?" "I swear!" Lucas said, kissing her again. This time the kiss deepened until they were both moaning and grinding against one another, until finally he was deep inside her taking her sweetly!