TEN
Sam sat at the bar a block away from Martin's building. The moment he had told her he was taking a shower, she had slipped out.
Since her admission, things between them had been, well, strained. He wouldn't look at her straight, yet whenever her face was turned she could feel his eyes on her.
She looked into her Martini glass, which was half full, like a psychic looking into a crystal ball. She wanted so much to wake up with Martin every morning, in the same way as she had woken up this morning, except without the neighbours alarm sounding.
"Rough day?" The barman asked her, taking her empty glass.
"You could say that." Sam looked up at the barman, smiling weakly, before returning her gaze to her martini.
They were amazing things martinis. She looked into the clear liquid, which still contained the olive, sighing inwardly that life couldn't be as simple, if a martini was simple.
She knew she was an attractive woman, and knew that there was a number of men in the bureau who would say that Jack was a lucky guy. She hoped Martin was one of those guys, but the messages she had been receiving from him confused her.
One minute he seemed to like her; want to kiss, touch and hold her. The next minute he was against the idea of her touching him. Maybe it was a domination thing, or a 'who made the first move' thing. Maybe he was just a guy who was traditional, he had to make the first move, and if she was too forward then she wasn't his girl.
Yeah that must have been it.
"Samantha?" A voice she recognized but couldn't remember where from spoke to her from beside her. She turned her head to find a Latino guy looking at her curiously.
"Danny Taylor?" She asked him remembering. He worked with Martin.
"So you are Samantha." Danny smiled, taking a mouthful of his water.
Sam smiled looking away, not knowing why this guy was here if he was drinking water. "Pardon my asking, but you're in a bar and you're drinking water?" It was Sam's turn to show the confused look.
"I have a tendency to start drinking and never stop." Danny shrugged simply. "Haven't had a drink in, about two years, five months and 6 days." He narrowed his eyes remembering.
"Wow." Sam exclaimed quietly. "That's, ah, that's well done, especially in this business." She sighed, taking a sip of her martini. "You don't mind do you?" She asked realizing what she was doing.
Danny held up a hand, waving it aside. "Would I be in a bar if I wasn't?" He asked her simply, looking back at her.
Danny didn't know what it was about her, but anyone else he would have been dropping lines furiously by now. Maybe it was the marriage factor, or because she worked in the same building, but when had that stopped him? He smiled inwardly at the memory.
Whatever it was, there was something holding him back with this woman. Maybe it was because he knew Martin too well, or maybe it was simply not attraction. But even that confused him.
"So what is a guy who only drinks water,"
"And soda." He interrupted, pointing at her.
"And soda, doing in a bar?" Sam asked him.
"Pick-up girls." He smiled wickedly at her. "You know I never really thought about it. Maybe it's seeing what I used to be, or making sure that people who are under certain forms of care are okay." He finished, his tone changing slightly and the look he was giving her changed too.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Sam tried to sound innocent, gulping down the rest of her martini.
"Martin called me, and lucky for him, I live a bit further uptown, and I also happen to know all the bar's and clubs in this town." Sam knew she was busted.
"He called me, asked me whether I'd left the office yet, and if I had and was in the area, could I check out some of the bar's around his area. He went left and I went right." He added, realizing that it sounded like Martin didn't care.
"I don't see why he cares." Sam said bitterly, eating the olive.
"Like another one miss?" The bartender asked her, taking her now empty glass. Sam shook her head, holding up her hand and searching her pockets for her wallet, before remembering that she'd left it at Martins.
"Don't worry about it." Danny shrugged, reaching for his wallet. "How many did you have?" He asked her, not looking up.
"Two martinis." Sam sighed, rubbing her forehead. The volume level had increased dramatically since she'd arrived, and that, combined with constant tiredness, although she didn't know why, was giving her a headache.
She watched as Danny dropped a twenty on the counter in front of her, putting his wallet back in one of his pockets, and taking another mouthful of his water. Over his shoulder she could see the door, and watched as Martin entered, immediately seeing her and joining them.
"You okay?" He asked her as he reached them.
"I'll see you guy's later." Danny nodded, getting off the stool he was on and walking out.
Martin and Sam both said goodbye, simultaneously, as he left.
Hesitantly, Sam looked up at Martin. "I'm sorry about what happened today." He whispered, taking her hand and leading her out of the bar.
"Don't worry about it." Sam breathed as they reached the street. "I shouldn't have said anything." She continued.
"No, there was something I didn't tell you." Martin cut her off. She looked up at him confused as he led her back to his apartment building. "I didn't tell you that the feelings are mutual, I care about you too Samantha." He saw her eyes begin to dance as they stopped before crossing the street.
"I care about you so much, that waking up with you this morning was one of the best things that has happened to me in a long time. Cooking you breakfast, I hardly ever do that for people, unless I care about them greatly. Not even my mother is dealt with that kind of treatment." He added as they crossed the street.
"My main concern, is that we'll catch Jack and Rodriguez, this whole thing will pass, and we will both feel like I took advantage of you, and that, whilst it will hurt me because I'm not that kind of guy, I know that it will hurt you more, and the last thing I want to do is hurt a woman that's as beautiful, smart, intelligent, and knows how to use a gun." He added smiling.
She looked up at him beaming, although the light surrounding them would have made it hard for him to see.
"You couldn't possibly hurt me." Sam breathed, stopping him a few doors from the main entrance.
"You say that now." He retorted, taking a step towards her.
"I know, but you can't possibly know what it feels like to have someone use you, take advantage of you. I have, Jack did it all to me. He used me as a cover for his i real /i job, knowing that someone who worked so closely with him and knew nothing about what he really did like I do, he couldn't possibly get caught. Have you ever heard the expression love is blind?" She asked him changing her tone dramatically. She saw him nod.
"I was blind to Jack. I refused to allow myself to see what was really going on because I loved him too much. Loved being the figurative word. I don't love him anymore, it's as simple as that." She smiled.
"I just don't want to hurt you." Martin whispered.
For the second time that day, Sam took his face in her hands, holding it firm, this time leaning up and kissing him softly. "You couldn't hurt me." She smiled, biting her lower lip.
Martin smiled with her, once again leading her to the apartment building doors, and then in and off the street. Neither one of them saw the man following them, from the bar to Martin's building. He maintained his presence in the shadows, keeping an eye on the light on the street, watching them intently, watching her kiss him, then him lead her into his building.
Once they had entered the building, he slowly walked his way up to the doors. He looked over the list of names on the door, settling on the Fitzgerald. The FBI Deputy Director was a Fitzgerald, so he only assumed that this was the guy she was staying with.
He glanced in through the doors, dropped his cigarette on the ground and walked back in the direction he had just come from.