FIVE
"It's nothing special really." Martin opened the door for Sam, who entered his dark apartment slowly before he flicked the light switch.
Sam cast her eye over the apartment, as though she was investigating Martin for some reason or other. It was plain, all the walls where white, there was little furniture, but on the few pieces of furniture, such as the coffee table, the mantelpiece, and the desk against the side wall, there were numerous photo frames.
"Martin what's the real reason, Agent, Vivian wanted me to stay here?" Sam turned to look at him. It was the first time she had really spoken since they left the Federal Building.
Throughout the drive to Martin's she had blankly looked out the window, trying to force herself to not believe all the evidence that the MPU had discovered concerning her husband. It was all too much.
"The real reason is that Rodriguez called you, knowing where you lived, your name, and he threatened you. We just want you to be safe." Martin responded matter-of-factly, entering the kitchen and serving the Chinese he'd picked up on his way home.
"That's it?" Sam asked him, looking at one of the photos. It was with him and two other women, who she assumed, judging by the smiles, where his sister's.
"Well, Vivian has her parents in-law staying plus she has a teenage son; Danny, well, it's a wonder he has so many girls; Michael has three young kids, and Kelly lives with a couple of college friends who are completely plastic. She set me up with both of them." Martin added seeing the look on Sam's face. "Me and my sister's, Angela and Olivia." Martin said to Sam when he saw her looking at the photo.
"I noticed; their smiles are the same as yours." She felt her cheeks redden as she spoke.
"Yeah that's from my mom. All the looks are Mom's. Don't really know what I got from Dad, maybe my ears." Martin chuckled. Sam looked up at him.
"Can I use your bathroom?" She asked quietly.
"Sure, first on your right down the hall." Martin looked at her, feeling himself get lost in her eyes for a second. Sam blushed slightly before hastening in the direction Martin had given her.
"Martin Fitzgerald, she might have just learnt that her husband's a bad dude, but she's still married." He said to himself quietly, when he assumed she was out of earshot.
As Sam entered the hallway, opposite the one she had entered from, instead of heading for the room Martin had directed her in, she found her feet carrying her to the end of the hallway where she could see the end of a bed. She pushed the door open slightly revealing a room that had a little more character than the rest of the apartment.
The carpet was now a dark blue, but the walls where still white. The curtains were drawn and one window was open allowing cool air to flow through the room. On one side of the door was a large chest of drawers, and on the other a wardrobe. Without thinking she found herself opening the wardrobe, looking through his clothes.
Martin was sitting on the sofa, feasting on the lemon chicken that they had ordered double of because they both loved it. He was about to start on the black bean beef when her realized that Sam had been gone for a close to ten minutes. He stood, placing the box on the coffee table and headed for the bathroom. He was about to knock when he noticed his bedroom door was wide open.
Slowly he walked down the hallway, stopping when he reached the doorway. Sam was sitting on the bed, her back to him, looking out the window. From the muffled sounds that were coming from her, he realized she was crying.
"You okay?" He asked quietly.
At the sound of his voice she jumped up and turned to face him like a stunned animal. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean," she began quickly.
"Don't worry about it." Martin smiled, waving his arm. "I've got nothing to hide."
Sam looked down, not truly believing that he was okay with her going through his bedroom, or clothes, especially given that she was holding one of his suits.
"I, um, Jack has the same suit. Of course yours is smaller, but, I was just looking at it, and, I'm sorry I was looking through your clothes, but, this was Jack's favorite, at least one of his favorites and I was looking at it and I realized, that whenever I next see him, all I'll want to do, is kill him." She looked up at Martin who had taken a few steps towards her, standing on the opposite side of the bed to her.
"That's an expected reaction." Martin said quietly, not wanting to upset her.
They stood there, facing each other, in silence for a few minutes. "Do you want to come and eat now?" Martin asked pointing over his shoulder.
Sam nodded weakly. "I'll put this back." She said quietly, walking past him.
Martin watched her before leading her back to the main room where they eat their Chinese and watched some TV for a couple of hours.
"You have two options." Martin sighed as he re-entered the room after cleaning up. Sam was lying back on the sofa, obviously tired. "You can either sleep in here on the couch, or you can sleep on the extremely uncomfortable bed, at least I say is uncomfortable, but one of my college buddies says is extremely comfortable." Martin sat on the couch beside her.
Sam nodded in understanding. "I know this is going to sound intrusive but I don't think I can handle being alone tonight." She whispered looking at him.
Martin looked down at the couch, at the space between them. "Okay." He looked up at her slowly after a few moments pause.
"If you don't want me to I'll sleep on the couch." Sam spoke at her usual tone.
"No, no, it's okay. I'll let you get changed first though." He smiled weakly standing to get her some clothes.
"I have nothing of mine though." She watched him curiously as he stood.
"I have a hundred old shirts and sweatpants that you can wear." He smiled at her. "Someone will go round to your place tomorrow to get you some clothes for as long as you'll be staying here." Martin said trying to make her feel better.
Sam watched him leave the room. She really could handle sleeping on the couch, but a part of her just wanted to feel safe, safe with him. Part of her wanted to get back at Jack for his deception.
Martin was tall, handsome, and had a pair of stunning blue eyes that she wouldn't mind waking up to on a regular basis. Wait, Samantha Spade has feelings for a man she's only just met? No, she thought, that can't be happening.
But as he re-entered the room with the pants and shirt, she knew that the flutterings in her stomach weren't fear or dread, they were the flutterings a woman usually got when she was in high school and talking to the guy she liked.
"You can change in the bathroom off the bedroom." He smiled handing her the clothes.
She couldn't look at him, knowing that if she did, her cheeks would go bright red. She quickly walked into the bathroom, shutting the door and leaning against it breathing heavily. She heard Martin enter the bedroom and the unmistakable sounds of him getting changed.
Her mind started to run wild as she listened to him through the door. "Why is my brain doing this?" She whispered to herself, trying to get changed and not have images flash through her brain as she heard the sound of a zipper.
She somehow managed to get changed when the sounds of him died down. When she had changed she looked at herself in the mirror, trying to work out how to wear her hair. She dropped her hands to the bench trying to stop herself from impressing a man when she was married.
With one last deep breath, composing herself, she grabbed hold of the door handle and entered the bedroom.
Martin looked up at her as she entered, smiling weakly. She found it hard to look at him with a straight face without the images that had been racing through her brain so vividly a few minutes earlier returning.
Martin felt his breath catch in his throat. He hated being attracted to a woman who was married; that was the ultimate no-no in his love and relationship handbook. The shirt she was wearing was from his first year of college, and since then he had grown, a lot. The shirt, even though it was too big for her, still allowed him to see her features, and it was long enough that she almost didn't need to wear to pants.
But it was a cold night and he didn't want her to freeze. Maybe if they had been dating for a couple of months she wouldn't be wearing the pants.
She placed her clothes on an empty chair that was sitting beside the door, approached the bed, and covered herself in the blankets and sheets.
She looked up at Martin, trying to ask him with her mind to hold her, but knew that that was only wishful thinking.
"Goodnight." Martin croaked trying to compose himself. He reached for the light beside him and clicked it off.
"Goodnight." Sam whispered, closing her eyes as the room went black, still wishfully asking Martin to hold her, even though he had his back to her.