Author's Notes: So, I lied. This was going to be the last chapter, but I had to leave it where I did. So the good news is, you get one final chapter. I hope you enjoy this one and don't want to throw too many tomatoes at me. All will be explained in the finale, I promise.
Disclaimer: The show Flashpoint and its characters were created by Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern and belong to them and its respective networks. I am making no money off this story and it is for entertainment purposes only. However, this particular story is my creation and should not be used without my express written permission.
Christmas Green…with Envy
Chapter 5
The ride back to the hall only took a couple of minutes. Jules pulled into an available space in the lot closest to the building. She shut off the engine but before she could open her door, Sam's voice pierced the silence that had dominated the short ride.
"Heather, you go on in; I need a moment with Jules."
The redhead frowned. "Sam, we're running late as it is. I know that's mostly my fault but we should go in before your mother…"
Sam locked his eyes on her, his expression dark. "Then you'll offer my apologies to her when you see her. We won't be long, or we won't be if you'll go ahead and go inside."
Heather looked like she wanted to protest more but instead opened her door and stepped away from the vehicle. She glanced back every few steps before disappearing inside. For her part, Jules turned to look at Sam in the backseat.
He shook his head. "I told you; I want to go in that door with the most beautiful woman on my arm. I want every eye in that room to turn around and be as blown away by your beauty the way I was when you stepped out of the bathroom at the hotel earlier. I want to hear a buzz settle across the room as everyone tries to figure out who you are and how I got so lucky to be your escort for the evening."
"And you don't think that would happen if we walk in with Heather?"
Sam leaned forward so that his face was almost touching hers. "I don't care about Heather. We picked her up because Mom said I had to. That's all I was required to do. You are my date and you are the one I'm going to enjoy the evening with. At the end of the night, you are the one I'm taking back to the hotel and you are the one I'm going to make love to."
Jules felt a warm flush come over her. While Sam never failed to make her feel loved, he wasn't usually as vocal in his feelings as he was currently being. She wondered if he'd picked up on just how much Heather's presence had shaken her normally healthy confidence. She kissed him lightly and then pulled away. "I like the sound of all that. Just remember though, you promised me a foot massage once we get back too."
Sam grinned. "Foot massage, back massage, anywhere you want massage."
"So how long do we have to stay to be polite?" Jules asked, her voice sounding a little breathless.
Sam waited until they were walking down the sidewalk toward the entrance to the hall, his arm tightly around hers, before answering. "I'm pretty sure I'll never hear the end of it if we don't stay at least a couple of hours. But hopefully the time will go quickly."
An attendant took their coats just inside the door and Sam linked his arm through Jules's as he led her toward the entrance to the ballroom. He'd have expected to see Heather lingering in the foyer waiting for them, so he was pleased she wasn't standing around. He'd imagined the moment they walked into the room to happen exactly as he'd described it to her because he knew he'd stop whatever he was doing just to watch her enter the room. Therefore he was acutely disappointed when their entrance into the hall went largely unnoticed.
Jules normally didn't mind crowds but there was something a bit daunting about the number of dress uniforms that filled the room. She tightened her own hold on Sam. She couldn't quite explain it but she almost felt like if she let go of him for very long some of the brass in the room would snatch him away from her and send him back for another tour of duty. She saw Heather out of the corner of her eye talking to Sam's mother over by the refreshments. Though the redhead seemed to be involved with her conversation, Jules was well aware of the fact that her eyes had never left Sam since they had entered.
"Wanna dance?" Sam asked, his breath warm on her ear. She nodded as he led her to the middle of the room where several other couples were dancing to the upbeat music provided by a festively dressed jazz band. She was a little surprised; she loved to dance but usually it took more prodding to get Sam to join her on the dance floor, especially on faster songs. Sam was a great dancer and she'd always suspected he put up a fuss just to mess with her.
The upbeat tune of Jingle Bell Rock transitioned into a Christmas waltz and Sam pulled her even closer. They swayed in time with the music and for the duration of that song, nothing else in the room mattered or even existed. When that song ended, Jules expected Sam to lead her off the dance floor but instead he seemed content where they were. Whatever worries they both might have had about the party seemed to evaporate with each subsequent dance.
"You ready to check out the food table?" Sam asked her as the seventh song they'd danced to started to wrap up. She nodded and let him lead her off the floor to the side where the tables had been set up with what seemed like an endless display of hors d'oeuvres and drinks. Sam picked up two glasses of champagne and handed one to Jules. They both would have preferred a nice cold beer but that would be too pedestrian for his mother to have at her party.
"Sam, I think your father is beckoning you over." Jules nodded across the room to where General Braddock was standing talking with General Isaacs and another heavily decorated officer. Sam frowned.
"That's Brigadier General Lawrence. He was one of my superiors when I was with JTF2."
Jules glanced over at him, her lips pursed. She knew part of his worry about coming to the party had been facing some of the demons from his past. "Friend or foe?"
Sam shrugged, finishing his champagne in one long swallow. "Neither and both on any given day. He could be your best friend or worst nightmare sometimes even at the same time. When I made my decision to leave, he was frustratingly neutral about the whole thing. I don't know if he was understanding or condemning of my choice."
Seeing him glance back at the table that held the filled flute glasses of champagne and knowing he was worried about facing his past, she handed him the rest of her glass, having only taken a couple of sips from it. She wasn't much of a champagne drinker anyway. As he downed what was left of hers, she gave his arm a squeeze. "They look pretty insistent on talking to you. Want me to come with you?"
Sam shook his head. "It's not that I don't want you to come but that I'd rather have you as my get-away plan. Do you mind?"
"Not at all." Jules nodded toward one of the tables of seafood hors d'oeuvres. "I'll take up my Sierra position over there. I'll have the solution if you need it."
He gave her a chaste kiss to the cheek. "You're the only solution I ever need."
The toes in her impossibly high uncomfortable shoes curled under and she returned the kiss, carefully not to leave a lipstick smudge on his lips. The last thing she wanted to do was give him a reason to be embarrassed. "You are the only person I know that can make even sappy statements seem hopelessly romantic. Just sayin'. Now get over there before your dad forgets he was starting to like me."
He grinned back at her. "I don't think that's possible. I've never seen anyone win him over as quickly as you have. My neck might be in the noose if I don't get over there, though. Trust me, I'll be back here as soon as I can because I'd much rather spend the evening in your company than theirs."
"I'll be waiting." She watched as Sam sauntered off to the other side of the room. There was another table with drinks set up and she picked one up. After one sip, she could tell there was a definite taste of whiskey in the drink which suited her just fine. She continued to sip it while sampling a few of the bite-sized morsels available. She kept one eye on Sam, pleased to see that even though he kept casting her apologetic looks, he seemed to be enjoying the conversation with the Brigadier General.
"I don't blame you, you know." Jules had been so focused on Sam that she hadn't even noticed Heather's approach. The redhead toyed with her own glass as she also watched Sam. "I'd be jealous too if I were you."
It was the first time Jules had been essentially "alone" with the woman and she resisted the urge to polish off her own cranberry cheer much the way Sam had the two glasses of champagne. She knew if she did, it would just show Heather that she was getting to her and that was the last thing she wanted. "Why should I be jealous? Sam's talking to a former SO, nothing to be jealous of there."
"I'm not talking about Lawrence. I'm talking about me. You've been jealous of me since the moment you saw me hugging Sam last night. Like I said, I don't blame you. It can't be easy seeing a man as good-looking as Sam with his first love. You never get over your first love you know."
Jules resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She'd gotten over her own first love about a month after the break up but that was just her. She took another sip of her drink. "Well, you have one thing right at least, Heather; Sam is good looking. As for being over you, I think Sam's made it more than clear to me that he's completely over you. So, thanks for your concern but it's not needed."
"Nice necklace." Heather commented, sounding sincere. "Gift from Sam?"
Jules nodded, finishing off her drink before setting the glass on a table that had been set aside for empty glasses. "Yeah, he surprised me with it before we came to the party."
"He always did have good taste in jewelry. You should have seen the diamond he gave me just before he left for his second tour in Afghanistan." Heather continued, a wistful smile on her lips.
"Right, that makes perfect sense considering the two of you dated as teenagers. That was, correct me if I'm wrong, years before Sam even joined JTF2." She picked up another drink; she knew the whiskey in the drinks would go straight to her head but at least Sam would be driving back to the hotel. She didn't drink hard liquor often, usually only beers with the gang and maybe occasionally a mixed drink or two, but she didn't think anyone would begrudge her this indulgence.
Heather giggled. "Oh is that what he told you? That we dated in high school? Oh, we did more than date though. Remember that story this morning about Jack Frosty? What we didn't mention was that half the times Sam was hauled in without his ID was because he'd sneaked out of the house to meet me. When we made love, he didn't care about anything else. It was horrible when they changed bases. But that teenage love was nothing compared to when we reconnected after he joined up and was stationed under Dad's command. Our relationship was much deeper that time; it bordered on perfection. It survived his first tour, and before he left for his second tour, he promised me that we'd get married when he got back."
Jules frowned finishing off her second cranberry cheer. She wouldn't go for a third one no matter how tempting it was. She made a point of glancing down at Heather's bare left hand. "That didn't work out so well for you, did it?"
Heather shrugged. "Only because he was so messed up from what happened to his friend. It killed me but I understood what he was doing; pushing away everything and everyone who made him happy because he felt like he didn't deserve to be happy. I thought about following him to Toronto but I decided it was better to give him time to work past his misplaced guilt."
Sam had made a point of saying what he and Heather had shared had been over when he was a teenager. He wouldn't lie to her; they didn't make it a point to discuss old loves but it wasn't something they kept secret if it came up. Heather had to be lying, just to get under her skin. "Yeah, well, I can assure you that while Matt's death still bothers Sam, he's 'worked past his misplaced guilt' as you put it. And if the two of you were together before he left, he's obviously moved on from you as well. So, really, you throwing yourself at him like you've been doing since we got here won't work. Sam's not into desperate."
Heather leveled her gaze on the shorter woman. "And how do you think you look? If you know Sam at all you know he's got this protective nature that he can't control. If someone he knows is in trouble, he'll do anything to help. He can't not get involved. My ex-boyfriend is threatening me and even though Sam could make sure I'm safe, he refused to do anything. I don't buy his excuse about it not doing any good. He only said no because he didn't want to upset you."
Jules bristled at the idea. "I didn't have anything to do with his decision. Besides, he's right; it wouldn't help in the long run if he did stop and talk to him."
"You didn't have to say anything; Sam could read you like a book, and so could I. He knew if he agreed to come back to Kingston with me, he'd upset you. That's fine; I'll figure out something else. I am curious though, how do you think Sam will feel if something happens to me because he didn't agree to help. I think his guilt would be pretty big and I'm pretty sure he'll resent you for it. Depending on how bad it gets, he might even hate you for it."
Without another word Heather slinked off to greet an elderly couple who'd just arrived at the party. Without really thinking about it, Jules picked up a third glass of cranberry cheer and took a sip. Then she looked at it with a frown. What was she doing? She was NOT going to get wasted simply because Heather managed to push a few of her buttons, even if the redhead seemed to be an expert in pressing them. She set the mostly full glass down on the discard table. She could put down the drink without a second thought but she had less control over the tears that suddenly welled in her eyes. Tears that she blamed on the two drinks she'd already consumed.
She glanced across the room to where Sam was still talking animatedly with the three men. The Brigadier General slapped his back good-naturedly and started in on what appeared to be a lengthy story; Sam looked back at her and mouthed the word "sorry" to her. She shook her head to let him know that it was okay.
"Julianna, is something wrong?" Elizabeth Braddock touched her arm, her voice full of compassion. Jules took a deep breath in trying to stem the tears from going any further than the wells of her eyes. She didn't want to bring attention to herself by dabbing at them with one of the napkins she'd picked up as she had perused the snacks.
"No, Ma'am. It's the alcohol; I think I drank it a little too fast." It wasn't a lie; she was determined that the festive drinks were to blame. "I probably should have eaten something a little more substantial than those delicious little crab cakes."
"Then let's get you away from the bite size morsels and to the real food." Mrs. Braddock offered, linking her arm through Jules's. "Don't worry about Samuel; he'll be caught up with the guys for awhile longer."
Jules frowned, the alcohol loosening her lips as well as her tear ducts. "I didn't think you liked me."
Mrs. Braddock looked surprised. "My dear, of course I like you. You are a lovely young woman, what's not to like? Whatever gave you the idea that I didn't like you?"
"You seem to disapprove of mine and Sam's relationship." Why did she have to get that second drink? There was no way in her right mind she would have said a word. She busied herself putting food on her plate. She wasn't even really paying attention to whether she actually liked what she was choosing.
"I love my son very much. I want him to be happy. He was happy when he left for his second tour. I'm sure it had a lot to do with his engagement to Heather. After he came back, he was a different person. He didn't even mention her when he asked his father to help him get a new start away from the military. Then he starts telling me about you and I could hear the happiness back in his voice. I kept begging him to let me meet you but he kept putting me off. Finally he admitted that things didn't work out. He wouldn't say why but I knew it wasn't his decision. Once he gives his heart he gives it completely. He may be willing to give you a second chance but as his mother I have to be more protective of his heart. I won't deny that I think he'd be better off with someone else."
His mother was confirming Heather's story about the engagement. Was it because it was true or because she and Heather had cooked up this story together? Was she really going to be this paranoid. "And you think Heather is that someone else."
Sam's mother nodded. "She made him very happy and she wouldn't break his heart. I'm sorry, Julianna; it's nothing personal."
Jules nodded, wanting to discard her plate with the food uneaten. "Right, of course. Why would it be personal? Don't you think, though, that Sam should be able to decide who makes him happy?"
"He will. He always does." Her words sounded almost prophetic. Something caught her attention. "I'm sorry, dear, I really must speak to the Sorensons. Tell Samuel he's not too old to dance with his mother at least once tonight."
As soon as the older woman was gone, Jules disposed of her plate, no longer hungry or worried about the effect the alcohol had had on her. Feeling like the tears were about to slide unimpeded down her cheeks, she looked around for the ladies' room. Finding it she made her way to it. Locking the door behind her she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were red from the unshed tears and her nose was slowly starting to rival Rudolph's. She wet a paper towel and dabbed at her eyes and nose until she was reasonably sure the tears were no longer going to threaten her. Thankful that she'd put her compact in her purse, she pulled it out and tried to repair the damage she'd done to her makeup.
There was a knock at the bathroom door and she knew she'd hidden away as long as she could. Unlocking the door, she apologized to the woman whom she'd left waiting and made her way back to the ballroom. Her eyes went first to the spot Sam had last been standing but he wasn't there. With a frown, she glanced around looking for him. Her heart stopped momentarily when she finally found him standing at the entrance of the foyer under the twig of mistletoe that was standing there. He wasn't alone, however. Molded against him with her arms wrapped around his neck was Heather. The kiss they were sharing could only be described as searing.
The tears immediately stung her eyes once more and she picked up another glass of cranberry cheer and downed it in one long swallow. Mrs. Braddock's words kept running through her mind. Once he gives his heart he gives it completely. It couldn't be possible. Sam didn't have feelings for Heather. He loved her not Heather. She knew that. He'd never given her a reason to think otherwise.
He didn't tell you he'd once been engaged to Heather. Why hadn't he been honest about that? There was no proof that that story was even true. She wouldn't put it past Heather to make up such a story just to make Jules doubt him.
He's kissing another woman. He was standing under mistletoe; it was tradition to kiss someone when you got caught standing underneath it. It meant nothing.
If it means nothing, why hasn't he broken off the kiss yet?
She had no answer for the last question. She had to get out of there before she lost her composure. She refused to let anyone see her fall apart. Moving as fast as the stupid heels would allow her, she made her way across the room. Only after she passed the kissing couple and was almost out of the door did she hear Sam's voice calling her name. She didn't even bother to ask for her jacket before she ran out into the cold December night. The only thing on her mind was putting enough space between her and the image that was now seared into her brain.