Chapter 2: Girlfriend

The days were dragging by, but to Sam, she barely had time to catch her breathe with all the work she had to do. The cases seem to be flying in so fast that Sam wondered if there was something in the water supply, because it seemed everyone was a homicidal manic these days. Ten new homicide cases in the past week, most of them with multiple victims. That, added to the dozen or so rape cases, and life at the Manhattan Crime Lab was hectic. Everyone was working on overdrive, and tempers were flaring. Even Stella and Mac, the calm and collected of all of the CSIs, were at each others' throats.

But by the middle of the next week, the cases seem to slow down, and Sam went back to working at her normal pace, but not with the person she normally worked with. Adam was helping Mac with a special case, so Lindsay was replacing him. She had recently come back from a ten week maternity leave, after her baby girl was born. Sam oohed and ahhed over the baby's pictures, telling Lindsay how cute the baby was, and then the women got down to serious work.

Sam tried to concentrate, but seeing Adam moving down the hallway caught her attention. She watched him walk up to a petite brunette holding a small package out to him. She was very pretty, and dressed impeccably well. She looked like she belonged on the runways of Milan, not in their small little lab of horrors. They embraced, and Sam felt her temper flair up. The normally calm and collected blonde felt the infamous Irish temper that her family was cursed with get the best of her.

"You…okay Sam?" Lindsay was looking at her, with an all-knowing look on her face that told Sam she knew exactly what was going on.

"I'm fine, just got a bit distracted is all. You know me, I swear I'm ADHD, I see something shiny and there goes my attention span!" Sam tried to laugh it off, although she knew that Lindsay had seen it all, but she also relied on the fact that Lindsay wasn't the type that pried.

Lindsay laughed and shook her head, conveying to Sam that she understood and promptly dropped it. The two women went back to working in silence, occasionally talking about themselves, Lindsay's baby, Danny, and movies the girls had seen in the last two weeks. Sam looked up after a bit of time, and noticed that Adam was still talking to the same woman as before. She ventured to ask Lindsay who she was, knowing that Lindsay would keep her opinion to herself, and would also not ask questions.

"Linds? Do you have any idea who that woman is? The one talking to Adam?" Sam tried not to show too much interest in what she was saying, instead concentrating on the sample in front of her.

"Oh, you mean Sara? That's Adam's girlfriend…" Lindsay said with a sneer that surprised Sam. She knew that Lindsay wasn't the type to not like someone without a valid reason, and Sam could tell that the usually easy-going brunette did not like the gorgeous woman talking to their co-worker.

"Wow, I take it you have met her before, and judging by the look on your face, you don't like her much…"

"Yea, well, Adam brought her to Flack's birthday a couple of months back, before you got here. She is a complete airhead; she thinks she's better than we are, all because she modeled for some huge designer in Milan, and she thinks that she is soooo much classier than we are. I swear, I have no idea what Adam sees in her. She says stupid things that tell you exactly how educated she is…which isn't saying much, let me tell you," Lindsay said in one breath, with a look of disgust on her face, as she walked away to deliver some results to Stella and Danny.

"Score one for me…Lindsay doesn't like her, so chances are Stella doesn't either…hmmm, this might be easier than I thought. On the other hand, one must never underestimate the competition…especially if the competition is a model in Milan…" Sam thought as she watched the object of her affections embrace his girlfriend and then kiss her deeply. As she watched Adam kiss his girlfriend, she wanted nothing more than to be the one kissing him at that moment, to rejoice in the feeling of his lips on hers, longing to be the one tasting his tongue with hers, to feel his stubble on her face, to run her fingers through his red-tinted sandy hair and lock her arms behind his neck and never let go. He finally let his girlfriend go, and she walked away with an air of indifference. He looked at Sam, and shyly smiled at her as she plugged her earphones into the computer and began playing her music, because she knew Adam was coming into the lab, and she didn't want him to see the look of longing and disappointment on her face.

"Hey stranger, I feel like we have barely talked to each other in the past week. I miss working in the lab with you," Adam said as he entered the lab. When she didn't answer him, he removed one of the buds from her ear and said, "Hello? Earth to Sammi…Calling you from your world of annoying music…what the hell are you listening to anyways?"

"I'm listening to this." Sam pulled the earphones out of the computer and the sounds of "Girlfriend" filled the air.

I can see the way, I see the way you look at me
And even when you look away I know you think of me
I know you talk about me all the time again and again…

So come over here and tell me what I wanna hear
Better, yet, make your girlfriend disappear
I don't wanna hear you say her name ever again…

She's like so whatever
And you can do so much better
I think we should get together now
And that's what everyone's talking about

Hey, hey, you, you
I don't like your girlfriend
No way, no way
I think you need a new one
Hey, hey, you, you
I could be your girlfriend

Hey, hey, you, you
I know that you like me
No way, no way
No, it's not a secret
Hey, hey, you, you
I want to be your girlfriend

In a second you'll be wrapped around my finger
'Cause I can, 'cause I can do it better
There's no other, so when's it gonna sink in?
She's so stupid, what the hell were you thinking?

Sam smiled to herself, seeing the puzzled look on Adam's face, and felt thoroughly satisfied that she was the one that put it there. "Sorry, but I have some things I have to give to Sheldon, I'll be back in a bit," she said, specifically placing emphasis on Hawkes first name.

"Sheldon? Sheldon? Since when to you refer to Hawkes by his first name?" Adam asked with a suspicious look on his face. Sam smiled a shy smile that said nothing but at the same time said everything.

"I don't know, I guess I like the way it sounds…Sheldon…it's kinda cute, don't you think?" Sam loved playing around with Adam, and felt a thrill when she saw a look of jealousy on his face. She smiled on the inside, thinking to herself, "Ha! I saw that look on your face Adam Ross! You're jealous cuz you think I have a thing for Hawkes! Well, this should be fun…considering Hawkes is the only one who knows about how I feel about you…and he'd do anything for me…"

"Well, I need to speak with him anyways, so I'll come with you," Adam said with a suspicious note in his voice. She could tell from the way he carried himself down the hall, and the murderous look on his face that he wanted to see for himself exactly what it was that put that huge smile on the face of his lab partner.

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Sheldon Hawkes was piecing together a small plastic piece that was unidentifiable when Samantha and Adam entered his lab. He smiled when he saw the two together. He had worked a case a few weeks back with Sam when he discovered the crush the petite blonde had developed on her co-worker. He also knew that Adam was with someone else, but judging by the way he watched his friend, that relationship wasn't going to last long, as long as Sam was flashing her killer smile and charming blue eyes in Adam's direction.

"Hey Sheldon!" Sam said with a bat of her eyelashes. This instantly made him stop and look at his friend. They had become close in the past couple of months, but he didn't want her getting the wrong idea. He had his own romance outside of the lab, and that was where he wanted to keep it.

"Hey Sam, Adam. What brings the two of you to my lab today?" Sheldon said with an inviting smile. He noticed that the latter was sizing him up, and then it clicked. He looked at the beautiful girl in front of him, and she smiled and winked at him. "Ahh, she's trying to make him jealous. Well, if it gets rid of that witch he brought to Flack's dinner party, then more power to her!"

"Well, I finished running those samples for you, and I came to deliver the results for you. It seems your victim was heavily intoxicated as well as flying high as a kite the night he died. He had a BAL of 0.18, more than twice the legal limit, and he had trace amounts of cocaine and crystal meth in his system," Sam read from the official printout before she handed it to Hawkes. "Plus, Adam here said he had something to say to you, which is the only reason he tagged along," she said with a look that told Hawkes that his little theory had been right.

"Yea, I was wondering if you were finished with that sample from the Fines murder, because Stella needs it back before we can get an arrest warrant," the tech said with a nasty tone that was almost rude, which made Sam cringe.

"Yea, man I have it right here, everything you need. Here you go," Hawkes handed the younger man the official report off his desk, which Adam snatched from him, gave him a look of contempt and walked out of the lab.

Sam watched him go, and smiled and started to laugh before she turned to look at Hawkes with an apologetic look on her face.

"Girl, what are you doing to him? You're gonna drive the poor man crazy if you don't watch it…" Hawkes warned his co-worker as she had a giggle fit in the middle of his lab. "Why don't you tell him how you feel, and save us all of the trouble of having to dance around a potential relationship forever, like we had to do with Danny and Lindsay?" This sobered up Sam very quickly.

"Hawkes! How can you suggest I do that? Do you or do you not remember he has a girlfriend? I'd be stupid to say anything while he's with her. Besides, I'm not even sure how he feels about me, so why risk the rejection? I can't deal with it, not right now." Sam looked so sad, that Hawkes put his arm around her and gave her a small squeeze.

"He wants to be with you, he just doesn't realize it yet. He'll come around, Sam, believe me. How can he not like you? You two are a match made in heaven. Just watch yourself, girl, because if you don't take care, and you keep flirting with me, he will give up. No one can compete with me!" Hawkes teased. This put a smile back on the face of the Irish lab tech, and she walked out of the lab with a smile on her face, and Hawkes felt better that he had brought the smile to her face. She was like a little sister to him, and he wanted nothing more than for her to be happy, and Adam was what seemed to do just that.

"Oh you two…what are we going to do with you?" Hawkes thought later as he watched the two of them work together side by side. He wasn't sure what was going to happen to his younger co-workers, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't be long before he, and the entire Manhattan Crime Team, found out.