"You want some of my noodles?"

Mercedes glanced up from her white take-out box and looked up to see a pair of chopsticks with noodles entangled in them at the end of her nose. She gave Sam a small smile before opening her mouth and allowing him to feed her.

"Mmmmm, those are really good." She chewed the noodles appreciatively and leaned back on the arm of the couch. Sam shot her a grin before balancing his box on top of her legs that were currently laid across his lap. He rubbed his hand from her knee to her ankle and he repeated the motion several more times.

"I must say, I'm a fan of this particular brand of pantyhose." Sam said with a smirk.

Mercedes giggled before leaning forward and nipping softly at Sam lips before whispering, "I know, that's why I bought them." She gave him a slow wink before leaning back against the arm again but she didn't get to stay there long before Sam looped his arm around her waist and jerked over to straddle his lap. He grabbed the box out of her hands and placed it on the side table next to the couch where his own take-out box was sitting. He ran his hands over her stocking covered thighs before moving them up her hips and towards the tie that was keeping her wrap dress together. He tugged on the material until it unwound and the sides of her dress fell open. Sam's eyes ran hungrily over the fire-engine red panty and bra set that he begged Mercedes to wear that morning. He leaned forward and ran his nose down her cleavage before moving over to her right breast tugging at her nipple through the red lacy material.

"Sam..." Mercedes hissed out as she wove her fingers through the dark blonde hair at the nape of his neck, "we can't do this here."

Here was Sam's office and the two of them were currently on their lunch break.

"Why not, we've done it here more times than I can count." He murmured against her chest.

"Yeah, and we've almost gotten caught more times that I can count too." Mercedes tried to be firm but it was so hard to do when Sam kept running his big, plump, moist lips all over her neck and breasts. They had been officially dating for five weeks now and they were definitely still in their 'honeymoon' phase. Sex in the office, while completely unprofessional, had become an almost every day thing for them and while the idea of getting caught was thrilling Mercedes quickly found that almost having it happen was mortifying.

"You know you don't want me to stop," Sam growled against her skin.

"That's not the point," she breathed out, "Do you really want to scar Mrs. Halbright for life?"

"She'd probably enjoy the show..."Sam said as he licked Mercedes neck. She groaned out plaintively and tried desperately to remember why they needed to stop.

"Sam..."

"Shhhh, nobody is going to catch us, I promise." With those words Sam took his right hand off of her hip and reached up and flicked open the front clasp on her bra. Her breasts spilled out into his hands and his eye widened in delight. Mercedes moaned loudly at the feel of Sam's tongue circling her nipple. She threw her head back and was ready to throw caution to the wind but then she heard the unmistakable chime from the elevator.

"Shit!" She yelled out startling Sam and causing him to jerk away.

"Did I hurt you?" He asked in a confused voice.

"No!" Mercedes hissed at him, "Didn't you hear the elevator?" She scrambled off his lap and frantically started trying to put her clothes back in order.

"Fuck! Are you sure? I told Mrs. Halbright not to disturb us during our lunch brea-"

Sam's words were cut off by the sound of the phone and he grimaced as quickly tried to adjust himself before getting up and grabbing the phone off the hook.

"Yes?" He barked curtly, "Mrs. Halbright? I thought I told you...it's Stevie?"

Mercedes watched as Sam's features darkened at the mention of his brother's name. He ran his hands over his face and gave Mrs. Halbright a curt thank you and goodbye before hanging up the phone. Sam turned back towards Mercedes and gave her a regretful look.

"It's Stevie," he repeated unnecessarily.

Mercedes nodded jerkily before smoothing her hand down her dress one last time as she prayed she looked presentable. A second later she heard the elevator ding again as it signaled the arrival of Stevie. Before long there were two sharp raps at the door before he opened the door and let himself in. The thunderous look on his face turned to one of surprise when he found Mercedes standing in the room.

"Hello, Mercedes, how are you today?"

"I'm…I'm good," Mercedes stammered out, "how are you?"

"Pretty good, I hope I wasn't interrupting anything?" His tone was deceptively light but Mercedes could still swear that he knew exactly what was going on.

"No, we had a lunch meeting but it's finished now." Sam barked out curtly.

"Hmm, I bet you did." Stevie retorted back confirming Mercedes' worst nightmare. Her face was on fire and she thanked her lucky stars that her dark complexion hid the heat that was blooming on her cheeks. She shot a worried glance in Sam direction but he was too busy glaring at his brother to notice her distress.

"What are you doing here Stevie?"

"You've been blowing up my phone for weeks now, what do you think I'm doing here? I came to find out what you wanted since you could never be bothered to leave any messages."

"You are the Co-CEO of this business Stevie, I shouldn't have to leave you any messages. I shouldn't have to track your ass down every time you up and decide to take off for weeks at a time. You're not a little kid anymore, when are you going to pull your head out of your ass and own up to your responsibilities?"

"Probably around the same time you get off my fucking back!" Stevie yelled in response.

Mercedes blanched at Stevie's tone and tried to think of a way to extract herself from the situation without drawing any attention to herself. Ever since that night at the restaurant Stevie had been a very sore subject for Sam and it was clear that their issues were nowhere near resolved.

"We are not talking about that right now," Sam said mysteriously, piquing Mercedes interest, "this is purely about business."

"Why don't you handle it yourself, Superman?"

"Don't fucking tempt me," Sam growled, "if it weren't for Dad's will you would have been out on your worthless ass a long time ago."

"Ah, we've come back to this yet again, I see." Stevie laughed darkly, "The Golden Child never misses an opportunity to let me know what a disappointing, worthless, piece of shit Dad would think I'd turned into."

"If the shoe fits…"

"Sam," Mercedes gasped out in disappointment, she knew he was angry at his brother but she still felt as if that was a low and unnecessary blow.

"It's fine Mercedes…really its fine." Stevie shot her a smile that didn't meet his eyes, "Sam's way of building himself is to break me down. It's always been that way, hasn't it bro?"

"Don't start trying to change history Stevie, you know why I feel the way I do."

"Yep, and you're never going to let me forget it, are you?" Stevie asked almost sadly, "A day can't go by that you don't remind the fuck-up that he's a fuck-up, right?"

Sam stared hard at his brother but he never responded and finally Stevie sighed and asked, "So what is it that you want me to do?"

"We have several ad campaigns that we want to go forward with but I wanted your opinion on them first. You assistant has all the information and all you have to do is review and let me know. Can you do that?"

"I think I can handle it," Stevie snapped sarcastically, "Is there anything else, sir?"

Sam narrowed his eyes, "Yes, but we will get into that later." He shot another sketchy gaze in Mercedes direction that had her spidey senses tingling. It was clear that he was hiding something but she couldn't imagine what it was. She tried to push it out of her mind because it was their business and not hers. Even though she didn't like the idea of Sam hiding things from her she didn't feel as if it were her place to demand that he come clean about something that was between him and his brother.

"I already told you what I felt about that situation," Stevie practically growled, "nothing you can say is going to change my mind, so drop it. It's none of your fucking business anyway."

"Get out, I'm done with this today," Sam muttered, clearly over the conversation, "but we will be talking later."

"Whatever." Stevie shot one last dirty look in Sam's direction before sending a quick head nod in Mercedes' direction as he went out the door.

There was almost an entire minute of silence after the door shut behind Stevie before Mercedes got up the nerve to say something.

"Are you okay?" She asked timidly.

"Yes...no...fuck, I don't know." Sam sat back down on the couch and ran his hands through his hair. "I don't know how to talk to him anymore, all we do is fight. He's just so fucking frustrating! He's a grown ass man who's supposed to be helping to run a major corporation and all he can think about is the next piece of ass he can get. He has no respect for me or our father or the legacy he tried to build for us. I'm tired of carrying him, he's nothing but dead weight."

"Sam, I know you're angry but do you really feel that way? I mean he might be a little immature but he's still your brother."

"A little immature?" Sam gave a harsh laugh, "Calling him immature is too kind. He's selfish, destructive, and he doesn't give a shit about anyone but himself. A little immaturity I could deal with but this person that Stevie has turned into, I don't know who he is and I don't want to have anything to do with him."

Mercedes sat next to Sam on the couch and pulled his hands out of his hair and cupped them in her own. After playing with his fingers for a few seconds she lifted his hands to her lips and placed a small kiss on them.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I wish things were better between the two of you."

"Yeah...me too."

Later that evening Mercedes lounged on a love seat at Sam's penthouse as she stared down at her iPad and scrolled through various listings on a realtor site. She was so immersed in her research that she didn't notice Sam had sat behind her on the head of the loveseat until he started speaking.

"What are you looking at?"

"Oh shit! You scared the hell out of me!" Mercedes shot at glare at Sam and he just gave her an innocent look back. "How in the hell did I scare you? I've been behind you for like five minutes now."

"Oh...sorry." She said sheepishly, "I wasn't paying any attention."

"Clearly." He responded sarcastically, "so, you didn't answer my question, what are you looking at?"

"Apartment listings, the lease is up on my apartment soon. I was just going to renew it but since I'm making a lot more money than I was before I figured I might upgrade."

"Hmmm..." Sam muttered, noncommittally, "So what have you found so far?"

Mercedes lifted up the tablet so that he could see it and she pointed out her favorite ones and then looked at him expectedly to get his opinion.

"Well?"

"Honestly? I think they all suck and you can do so much better."

"What?" Mercedes asked loudly. She knew none of them were penthouses but they were far from 'sucking' as Sam so eloquently put it. "What's wrong with all these places?"

"Well, for one they're all clear across town."

"So?"

"So, you should think about the commute to work and how much gas you will be wasting on a daily basis."

"Sam—"

"Also, the area you picked is not the greatest. As a matter of fact I'm pretty sure the crime rate in that area is extremely high."

"No, it's not—"

"Plus," he interrupted again, "I don't like any of them."

"So?" Mercedes asked angrily, "you won't be living there so why do you have to like it?"

"Oh really?" Sam asked coldly, "well that's good to know." He pushed the iPad back in Mercedes' hands before hauling himself out of the loveseat and stalking towards the kitchen.

Mercedes looked around in confusion before tossing the iPad on an ottoman and rushing behind Sam.

"What the hell is your problem?" she asked the second she made her way into his massive kitchen. Sam was busy pouring some scotch into a small glass so all he did was shoot her an annoyed glance.

"Sam? I know you hear me talking to you."

"You made your feelings on the matter perfectly clear so there is no need to continue discussing it." He tossed back the scotch as Mercedes fumed. They were not in the boardroom and she was not one of his clients so she would be damned before she let him dismiss her with business talk.

"Why are you acting like this? Are you mad that I'm apartment hunting?"

"How long?"

"How long what?"

"How long have you been looking for apartments?"

"For a few weeks now, why?"

"Since we've been together?"

"A little bit longer...why?" She pressed.

"So you've been looking for places for as long as we've been together and you never felt the need to mention it to me?"

"Why would I? I wasn't aware that I needed your permission to move."

Mercedes didn't want to fight with Sam but she could literally feel her blood pressure rising. He had no right to get an attitude about her not telling him about the moving thing. It wasn't a big deal or some massive secret so she wasn't going to allow him to make her feel bad.

"You don't but I would think that after professing your love for me that finding a new place to live would be something that you'd want to share with me. If I were looking for another place I would ask your opinion."

"So that's why you're mad? Because I didn't get your advice a little sooner?" Mercedes asked in disbelief. "Well if that's the case then I'm sorry, I didn't realize that something like that meant so much to you."

"God, you don't get it, do you?"

"What, Sam?" Mercedes screamed out in frustration, "I don't want to fight but I don't read minds either so if you don't tell me what's bothering you then we're just going to go around in circles all night."

"It stupid..."he hesitated, "I just...I just assumed that whenever you moved, it would be somewhere with me."

Mercedes blinked as she felt all the air whoosh out of her lungs. Out of all the things she expected to hear something like that never crossed her mind.

"You want us to live together?"

"Yeah...I mean, I don't know...hell, aren't we practically doing it now anyway?"

Sam was right ever since that fateful day five weeks ago the two of them had been inseparable. They spent all day at work together before deciding which one of their places they were going to spend the night at. They ate, slept, worked and played together and for the most part it had been effortless, but Mercedes imagined a lot of that had to do with the fact that they didn't put any labels on it. Yes, they chose to spend every moment with each other but at the end of the day they still had an out if they needed one. If things went south he could go to his place and she could got to hers and they could get some much needed space. But if they lived together they wouldn't have that option and they would more or less be stuck. That might be fine for down the line but at the moment their relationship was still new and it still had a fragile quality to it that still made it seem as if it could be shattered at any moment. Mercedes loved Sam, she really did, but she wasn't ready to risk shattering their new relationship by rushing into something that they weren't ready for.

"Sam, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" He asked stubbornly.

"We've been dating for a little over a month and we've only known each for a few weeks longer than that, so moving in together would be ridiculous."

"So, you're saying that living with me would be ridiculous?" Sam asked in a low voice.

"No, that's not what I'm saying, quit twisting my words around." She said in an exasperated voice, "If this thing we have works out then the moving in option will still be there down the line."

"If this thing we have does work out?" Mercedes tried not to flinch at his angrily emphasized words, "you don't seem too confident in the prospect of our thing working out."

She sighed, "That's not what I meant Sam and you know it. I just don't want to rush into something that we can't easily get out of. What we have is good—real good, why would we rock the boat if we don't have to?"

"Why shy away from something great if we don't have to? He countered, "Look I know it's fast but I know how I feel about you. I know that I love being around you and I know that I miss you when you're away."

Mercedes felt herself start to soften but she fought against it because she didn't want to let pretty words lead her into a bad decision.

"I love being with you too, but there's a difference between staying over and living with someone. We do the whole sleepover thing well but I don't know how the whole cohabitation thing would work out for us."

"We've been 'cohabitating' for weeks, now and you know it."

"No, we haven't. You have closet space and toothbrush over at my place and I have the same at yours—that's it. At the end of the day this is still your place and other than that purple toothbrush in the bathroom and a few shirts in the closet there is nothing here that belongs to me."

"So, why don't we change that?"

"Because we're not ready! We have something good, why are trying to ruin it?"

"Why do you think it would be ruined?"

"Ugh!" Mercedes gave into her frustration and screamed. If Sam kept on playing 20 questions with her then she knew she would be pulling her hair out soon. "Have you ever lived with someone other than your parents and your brother?"

"No but I-"

"So you have no idea what sharing your space with someone else actually entails do you? It's more than spending the night and 'playing house'."

"I know that Mercedes," he retorted angrily, "despite what you apparently think I'm not a fucking idiot."

"I never said..." she sighed heavily, this was getting completely out of hand, "I just don't think you've thought this through."

"Haven't thought this through?" He laughed harshly, "You really don't get it, do you? All I do is think about you. All I do is think about our future together. I'm not the type of person to make hasty decisions, I can't afford to be. Everything I do, every decision I make is well thought out and I weigh all the pros and cons. I love you and I want to share my life with you and I can't imagine living without you. It's as simple as that for me."

Mercedes stared at Sam with her mouth agape. She had no idea what to say to any of that. She had thought about their future as well but it had always been some far away, distant thing that would happen one day. One of the main reasons she never allowed herself to think about their future was because she was sure he wasn't interested. She knew he said he loved her but she always felt as if it were something he said because he felt pressure since she said it first. She loved hearing it but truth be told she never allowed herself to believe that he actually meant it. She told herself that she was just protecting her heart because eventually when he decided that he didn't really love her and he broke things off it wouldn't hurt so bad. But now she didn't know what the hell to think. Looking at Sam's earnest, shining green eyes it was impossible to doubt the honesty behind his words.

"Say something Mercedes, you're freaking me out," Sam said nervously.

"I...I don't know...I don't know...are you sure?"

"That I love you?" Sam smiled softly, "yeah, I'm sure. I didn't mean to scare you but I really wanted you to know." As Sam was talking he made his way around the counter to where she was standing and gathered her in his arms.

"I'm sorry I freaked you out, but I'm not sorry for letting you know how I feel." He whispered against her hair, "I know it's fast but...I'm sure."

Mercedes blinked back the tears that had suddenly popped into her eyes and she buried her face in his chest.

"Are you crying?"

"No..." she sniffled quietly.

He laughed and kissed her gently on the head. He put his hand underneath her chin and raised her face up towards his.

"I love you Mercedes," he said simply, "but if you still need your space, then I understand."

"I love you too Sam, but we can't move in with each other right now." Mercedes tried to ignore the way her heart clenched at the crestfallen expression on Sam's face, "but I think we can compromise."

"How?"

"Well, I still need my space and despite what you say I think you still need yours too."

"I—"

"Let me finish, please."

Sam made a show of closing his large lips and locking them with a key that was promptly thrown away.

Mercedes gave him a smile before continuing on, "I will find an apartment in the area that offers a 6 month lease, so that we'll have a little more time to have our safety nets while we get to know each other. And if six months from now we still feel the same way then we will have this conversation again. Does that work for you?"

Sam regarded her quietly for a few seconds before a wide smile crossed his face, "yeah...that works for me."

He leaned down and gave Mercedes a loud smacking kiss before dragging her back towards the living room where she left her iPad.

"Whoa, slow down Sam! What's the rush?" Mercedes squealed as Sam practically dragged her down the hall behind him.

"You said you only had a few weeks left on your current lease, right? Well, we don't have time to waste and I know a lot of great apartments in the area that I think you'll love."

Mercedes couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm, "Ok fine, I'll take a look but remember some of us are on a budget. Your affordable and my affordable are two very different things."

"They didn't have to be, you know..." Sam told her as he reached the love seat and dragged her down on top of him.

"Are you giving me a raise?" She teased praying that the conversation wouldn't continue down the path it was currently on.

"You know that's not what I meant."

She sighed, "Yeah I know, but I was hoping that one earth-shattering future talk was enough for one night."

"Ok, I let it go...for now." He gave her a look that was full of promise, "but in six months we're going to be talking about all kinds of things, okay?"

"Okay." She whispered quietly.

Sam leaned towards her and gave her a small kiss, "don't look so worried baby, I promise to make it worth your while." He gave her a quick wink before reaching towards the ottoman and picking up her discarded iPad.

"So, you looking for a one bedroom or a two?"

A few hours later bedrooms, apartments, and dubious happily-ever-afters were the last thing on Mercedes mind as she vomited violently into Sam's very expensive toilet.

"Ok, that's it I'm taking you to the emergency room." Sam tried to sound firm but the nervous way he paced behind her gave away his anxiousness. "You've been throwing up for the better part of an hour Mercedes, this can't be good for you."

"I'm fine," she croaked out.

After apartment hunting for a few hours they ate a quick dinner they threw together before sharing a shower and heading to bed. All seemed fine until around 4 a.m. when a cramping in her stomach woke Mercedes up. She tried to ignore it but the sudden uncontrollable need to vomit had her leaping out of bed. Luckily for her the bathroom was on her side so she had a straight shot to a toilet, and she made it with no time to spare. She tried to be a quiet as possible but vanity soon took a back seat the longer she threw up. It didn't take long for Sam to hear her and come rushing in and even though she tried to feebly push him back he just batted her hands away and kneeled down on the floor beside her. For the next hour he rubbed her back while alternating between begging her to go to the doctor and cursing the Chinese restaurant that he was sure was the culprit.

"I swear I'm going to sue the shit out of that place," Sam practically growled.

"It's not the food, you ate the same thing I did remember?" Mercedes groaned out, "I think I just have the stomach flu or something, I've been feeling weird the last few days."

"Why didn't you say something?"

"Because it wasn't a big deal, and it still isn't. I just want to go back to bed okay?"

"Fine, but you're not going in to work today." He said as he helped her stand up. Mercedes wanted to argue but she barely had the strength to open her mouth and plus she knew he was right. If she did have the stomach flu going to work and spreading her germs and getting everyone in the office sick would just be wrong.

"Okay..." She finally managed to croak out as he helped her crawl into bed. He covered her with the duvet before leaving the room. He returned a few minutes later with a bottle of water and a cold, wet, towel for her to put on her forehead. He made her sit up and take a few sips of the water and once she was done and situated back under the covers he covered her forehead with the cool cloth.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?"

"I'm sure."

"Are you sure I can't sue that restaurant?" Mercedes smiled at Sam's question, she knew he said it in a joking manner but if she gave him the okay he would sue that restaurant in a heartbeat.

"I'm fine, but thank you."

"You're welcome baby, now get some rest."

He kissed her gently on the cheek before going over to his side of the bed and climbing under the covers. Within a few minutes his breathing evened out and Mercedes knew that he was asleep. As she lay beside him and listened to his even breaths she finally let the thought that had been ringing in the back of her mind get her full attention. She knew she didn't have food poisoning and she was almost positive that she didn't have the flu, so that left one more alternative. However, it was an alternative that she had pushed out of her mind completely five weeks ago and she wasn't trying to go through that emotional rollercoaster all over again. As sleep overtook her Mercedes once again pushed the idea out of her head as she tried to convince herself that she was just being paranoid and there was no need to freak out until she was sure.

A week later she was sure. After a missed period, seven consecutive days of queasy mornings and feeling more and more fatigued as the days went by, Mercedes was almost a 100% sure she was pregnant. She didn't know whether to be happy or to be scared or to be pissed off that Plan B ended up being a complete waste of money. Her emotions were all over the place but one thing was for sure, she couldn't wait to tell Sam, but unfortunately, it was going to have to wait. Sam left early that morning for a two-day trip in LA to meet with a potential client. Stevie was supposed to have done it, but like always he was nowhere to be found. Sam wanted her to go with him but she declined, one because she didn't know how her stomach would handle the flight, and two, because she needed to finish packing. Her apartment was currently littered with boxes and she was almost completely finished packing up all of her belongings. Now with the almost certain pregnancy Mercedes wondered if she should change her plans. Her lease for her current apartment would be up in a little over a week's time but she planned on moving into her new apartment on the upcoming Saturday which was just a few days away. She knew she had made a huge fuss about them not moving together but now with a baby more than likely on the way did she really feel like doing the whole moving thing when she was 7 months pregnant? She hadn't signed the lease on the new place so she wasn't bound by any contract yet. She already knew Sam's stance on them living together but she wondered how he would feel when he found out that not only would he have to make room for her but he'd have to make room for a baby as well?

Mercedes shook off the doubts that were already creeping in and instead chose to focus on finding out for sure whether or not she was pregnant. She had bought a pregnancy test at the local pharmacy before coming to work that day and it was currently burning a hole in her purse. From where her bag was stashed under her desk she could see the little purple box peeking out from it and it took everything in her not to snatch it out of her purse and run to the bathroom and take it. She was in the process of reaching for it when she heard the elevator give a sharp ding before swinging open and revealing Mrs. Halbright. The sweet older lady had an uncharacteristic frown on her face as she made her way in the office clutching an envelope in her hand.

"Hello, Mrs. Halbright. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Ms. Jones...uh, I was just wondering if I could put this on Mr. Evans' desk?"

"Uh, sure. Is there something wrong, you seem upset?" Mercedes asked worriedly.

"No, not upset just confused. This envelope was left for Mr. Evans' but it was taken to Stevie's office instead."

"Oh, okay." Mercedes didn't see why that warranted Mrs. Halbright's pinched expression but she guessed the woman just didn't like correspondence going where it didn't belong.

"So I'm just going to leave that on his desk, and he'll get to it when he returns."

"That's fine." Mercedes shot a worried look at Mrs. Halbright's back as she scurried into Sam's office. She made a mental note to ask Sam about letting Mrs. Halbright have some extra paid time off because it was clear that she needed it.

Once Mrs. Halbright dropped off the envelope she made sure to close the door securely behind her before giving Mercedes a timid wave and heading into the elevator. Once the frazzled lady was gone Mercedes turned her attention back to the purple box that was practically screaming her name. She reached into her purse and pulled out the box just as the phone start to ring shrilly beside her. She let out a large groan before dropping the box back into her purse and picking up the receiver.

"Hello, this is Mercedes Jones speaking, how many I help you?"

"Mercedes? Hi, this is Audrey."

Mercedes fought the urge to roll her eyes, Audrey was Stevie's new assistant and from the few encounters Mercedes had with her she was convinced that the girl was incompetent.

"What can I do for you?"

"Did Mrs. Halbright bring something by?"

"Yes, she just now dropped it off. Is there a problem?"

"No, but I'm not sure what the hell is going on. Some blonde chick named Quinn dropped the envelope off and said it was for Mr. Evans. She didn't specify which one so I assumed she meant my Mr. Evans but I wanted to check with Mrs. Halbright to be sure. I told her what had happened but instead of telling me what to do she just hung up on me and came storming up to the office. She practically ripped the envelope out of my hands and said that she would handle it from now on. I just wanted to make sure that the letter or whatever it is made it to Mr. Evans because I'm not trying to get fired over some shit that isn't my fault, ya know?"

"Yeah," Mercedes murmured as her mind went a million miles a minute, "What did you say the woman's name was that dropped off the letter?"

"Quinn. She was some rich looking blonde with a little baby bump. Do you know her?"

The baby bump was new, but at this point Mercedes would know Quinn Fabray anywhere.

"Yeah...yeah, I know her." Mercedes choked out.

"Oh good, then I guess that letter was meant for your Mr. Evans. I'll just call mine back and tell him it was a false alarm, he seemed a little freaked when I told him what happened."

Mercedes gave a few mmm-hmmm's as Audrey droned on but before long she couldn't take it anymore and she cut the rambling girl off.

"You did the right thing Audrey, your job is safe. Now, if you'll excuse me I have to get back to work."

"Oh, yeah right, me too. Maybe we should get together for lunc—"

"Bye Audrey," Mercedes said curtly before she hung up the phone. The second the receiver settled into the cradle Mercedes was out of her chair and heading towards Sam's desk. She knew it wasn't right to snoop through his personal things but she didn't really care at that moment. The second Audrey mentioned Quinn's name a ball of dread formed in Mercedes' stomach and it had been growing rapidly ever since, and now it felt like it was lodged in her throat and it was choking her. As she walked into Sam's office she instantly saw the stark white envelope that was propped up against his telephone. She quickly made her way across the office but once she was right in front of the envelope she was afraid to pick it up. That ball of dread had now become a pulsating mass inside her body that felt as if it were touching each and every one of her vital organs and just waiting to explode and kill every last one of them. She chided herself for being so ridiculous but somehow she knew that whatever was in the envelope was going to change her life. Call it instinct, call it paranoia, call it whatever you'd like but Mercedes just knew.

She picked up the envelope and flipped it over and saw Quinn's impossibly pretty handwriting scrawled over the front:

It's a boy, I know that you haven't exactly been excited about the life that we created together but I was hoping that this would change your mind just a little bit. I know that things have been weird between us for years and that's my fault and I take full responsibility for it, but our baby shouldn't have to suffer because of my mistakes. I love you and I think somewhere inside you love me too. Please, just please give us a chance. Give our baby the chance to have a normal life with two parents that love him. Please.

P.S. I've thought of the perfect name, Sean Elijah Evans. I figured he should have the same initials as his Daddy.

Mercedes turned the envelope over with trembling hands and opened the flap. Inside was a sonogram photo. Mercedes vision blurred as she stared down at the photo that was still partially covered by the envelope. For some reason she couldn't bring herself to completely pull out the picture of Sam and Quinn's perfect little baby boy.

She folded the flap back down and threw the envelope back on the desk. She had to get out of that room and she had to get out now because it felt as if she couldn't breathe. She spun on her heel and let out of shout of surprise when she looked up to find Stevie standing in the doorway.

"Do you make it a habit of going through my brother's things?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Mercedes bit back the harsh retort that immediately sprung to her mind and instead tried to walk past Stevie, she knew that she was disrespecting one of her bosses but in that moment she really didn't give a shit.

"Could you please let me pass?" She asked through gritted teeth once it became apparent that Stevie had no intention of moving.

"What were you looking at?" He asked, ignoring her plea.

"Nothing," she said evasively, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Hmm, I never took you for a liar Mercedes, that's more my brother's cup of tea."

Mercedes gave Stevie a suspicious look but she still refused to answer him. After what seemed like an eternity Stevie clearly got tired of the game and he pushed past her and headed for Sam's desk. Thankful for a clear way out Mercedes moved to leave the room but she was stopped short by Stevie's words.

"I was hoping you wouldn't find out about this."

Mercedes turned to face Stevie and found him staring down at the sonogram photo with a weird expression on his face.

"You're a nice lady Mercedes and you deserve better than my brother," Stevie continued on, "He's been playing you from day one and you fell for it hook, line, and sinker."

"No..." Mercedes said shaking her head back and forth, Sam may have lied to her about Quinn but she refused to believe that he lied about everything.

"You were something new and interesting, Mercedes. You were like some exotic animal in a sea of boring house cats. You were a challenge, and my brother likes nothing more than conquering a new challenge..."

"No..." Mercedes whispered again as she tried to fight the urge to cover her ears. Every word that came out of Stevie's mouth was like someone punching her repeatedly in her heart. All the old insecurities that she thought were buried came flying out of her heart and mind like bats flying out of a cave.

"He was always going to end up Quinn, even after everything she did my brother still loves her. Did you honestly think you could compare to her?"

"Why are you doing this?" Mercedes knew Stevie had his issues but she never thought he was cruel.

"Because you need to know Mercedes, you're too blinded by my brother's false words and promises to see that he's using you. He doesn't want you, you're not special. You're just another in a long line of assistants that have come and gone. Haven't you heard the stories of all the girls before you? The only one to ever resist him was Emma and that was just because she was like an older sister to us and he was never interested in pursuing her. He needed another notch on his belt before he took the plunge with Quinn and you fit the bill. He had to go out with a bang and he did. Congrats, Mercedes you should feel flattered to be his last piece of ass before he—"

Stevie's words were cut short by the stinging slap across his face.

"Fuck you...and fuck your lying brother too." Mercedes swiped at the traitorous tears spilling down her face and she spun on her heel and stalked back to her desk. She pulled up a new document on her computer and quickly typed out a resignation letter. It wasn't eloquent and it didn't list any of the real reasons she was quitting this job, but it was good enough to get her point across. Logically, she knew she was probably jumping the gun but it was hard for logic to have much room in her mind when all she could hear was Stevie's cruel words swirling around in her head. What reason did he have to lie? She had been warned more than once about how Sam would hurt her eventually but she ignored it all because she had convinced herself that he was a changed man. She honestly believed that he loved her and he wanted to have a life with her. She got caught up in some bullshit fairytale and now she was getting a crash landing back into reality.

After a quick proofread Mercedes printed the document and once it shot out of the printer she grabbed her purse off the ground and went back into Sam's office and slapped her letter of resignation down on his desk. Stevie was still in the room but he was staring out the window and rubbing his thumb absent-mindedly over the sonogram picture over and over again.

"Forgive me Mercedes," Stevie said quietly, "that wasn't about you."

"Go to hell."

"What should I tell my brother?"

"Tell him..."Mercedes blinked back tears, "tell him I'm done."

With those biting words Mercedes left the office and headed towards the elevator. She ignored the pounding in her heart and the overwhelming need to cry as she took the quick ride down the elevator before passing Mrs. Halbright in the downstairs lobby. The woman gave her a curious look but Mercedes refused to make eye contact and she quickened her steps towards the parking garage. Once inside her car she fumbled through her purse until she found her phone and she quickly dialed a familiar number. After a few rings the person on the other line picked up and hearing her clear, sweet voice was all it took to make Mercedes lose her tenuous hold on her emotions.

"Hello?"

"Mama?" Mercedes sobbed, "Mama, I need you..."

"Baby, what is it?" Her mother asked in a frantic tone.

"I have to come home...I have to...I can't stay here any longer."