Chapter 7

Amanda fowler was just about to leave the house when her mother stopped her;"What is going on between you and sam lately?"

"I've already told you that it's none of your business,mom!"warned Amanda her mother irritated;"I don't want to talk to you about my marriage."

"I just want to help you and sam,because everybody can see that you two are having serious problems."said she slowly;"You're pregnant with his baby,Amanda,I don't want to see you two getting a divorce."

"Why not,mom,you were against me being with sam from the moment you found out,so I would think that you would be praying for us to break up."

"That isn't fair,Amanda,I know that I was against you two seeing eachother at first and that I wasn't all that happy when you two got married,but once I got to know sam better and saw how happy he was making you I wasn't against your relationship anymore."

"It's my life,mom,I don't need your advice or anybody else's."answered her daughter angry and opened up the frontdoor;"So,just leave me alone."

"That went well."said mack as he came into the hallway just as Amanda slammed the door shut behind her as she went outside;"I take it that she didn't really care too much for your advice,Rachel?"

"That girl is so strongheaded,mack,I really don't know how to get through to her."

"Who do you think she gets it from."smiled her husband teasing and put his arm around his wife's shoulders;"Just let her calm down and I'm sure she will work it out with sam again,honey,so don't worry so much."

"How can I not worry,mack,when I'm seeing that they are heading towards a divorce?"answered Rachel tired;"I just hope Amanda doesn't do anything stupid."

Around one that day chad was sitting in his room when somebody knocked on the door and when he opened it up he saw Cheryl standing there;"Please,don't be angry at me,chad,I had to come."

"Why would I be angry at you?"asked he surprised and pulled her into his arms as he closed the door;"You should know by now that I could never get angry at you for anything."

"I had to come and feel your arms around me,chad,I have never felt so bad in my whole life."answered Cheryl as she began to cry;"I wish that we could just tell everybody that we're together because then we wouldn't have to sneak around anymore."

"I would love to be able to tell everybody that I love you,baby,but you know how your family would react."said chad and kissed her gently;"They wouldn't accept it,because they still think that I was the cause of adam and m.j.'s break-up and they don't trust me."

"I know,chad,especially paps would hate the idea of you seeing me."started she softly;"He keeps blaming everybody for what happened except for m.j. herself."

"You shouldn't blame your sister for what she did,Cheryl,I talked to her a lot after her break-up with adam because of her past and she was really broken up over losing adam that when you guys found out about kathleen's death or atleast thought she was dead she just lost it and blamed herself for that too."answered her boyfriend;"That's when she probably saw no other way out then to disappear."

"I don't really blame m.j. for leaving like that,but I just wish that we could be honest about our feelings for eachother."

"We will soon enough,baby,I promise."smiled chad and kissed her again;"I love you and I'm not gonna let you get away from me,no matter what anybody thinks."

"I'm glad that you told me the truth about your past and about the things that you did."said she as she lay her head against his chest;"That showed me just how much you love me,chad."

"Ofcourse I told you about that,Cheryl,because you had a right to know."answered her boyfriend;"I have done some terrible things,but I'm not that man anymore."

At mary's place ben and jake were standing behind the counter when Vicky came in with her twinsister and sat down at a table.

"Why did you wanna come here for lunch,Vicky?"asked marlee and seemed annoyed;"Why not at tops?"

"Because I don't wanna go there for lunch everytime,marlee."answered her twin slowly;"Is it hard for you to see jake?"

"Ofcourse not."said she;"I'm all over jake and I couldn't care less about him."

"How would you feel if he was seeing somebody new?"started Vicky hesitating;"Would it be difficult for you?"

"No,I would only feel sorry for his new victim."said her twinsister irritated;"What's all this talk about jake about,Vicky,I thought that we came here for lunch together?"

"Ofcourse we are,marlee,I was just a bit curious."answered she as she quickly looked up at jake,who was staring at them with an unhappy look on his face;"That's all."

"Hello,ladies."smiled ben and came up to them;"What can I get for you two lovely ladies?"

"Just a sandwich."answered Vicky;"And some tea."

"I thought that you were starving."started her twinsister surprised;"Is that all you're having,Vicky?"

"Yes,I'm suddenly not so hungry anymore."said she and got up when she saw jake going towards the bathrooms;"I'll be right back."

"Sure."answered marlee as Vicky walked away and turned towards ben to give him her order.

"Jake!"called Vicky softly out to him as soon as she got far away from her sister and grabbed his arm while she pulled him into a corner out of everybody's sight when she saw that sad look in his eyes again;"Don't look at me like that,jake,I don't like this anymore then you do."

"No?"asked he tired and pulled away from her;"Do you know how hard it is to see you sitting there and not being able to kiss you or tell everybody that I love you?"

"What?"said his girlfriend surprised and put her arms around his neck;"That's the first time that you've said that you love me since we got back together again."

"So?"answered jake confused about the way she was suddenly acting;"What's that got to do with anything?"

"It's everything to do with this!"smiled she happy and kissed him again;"I will tell my family soon,jake,I promise."

Susan was having lunch in her office when Jamie walked in;"Why are you having lunch all alone?"

"Because adam left for new York about an hour ago."answered she looking up;"What's your excuse?"

"I don't really have any time to go out to lunch."laughed the young doctor and turned serious all of a sudden;"How did adam seem to you today?"

"A bit distracted and not himself.""said susan surprised;"Why are you asking me this?"

"Because of today,susan,that's why I'm asking you this."

"What's so special about today?"asked she confused;"He's just going to new York for a little while,Jamie,he'll be back soon enough."

"You really don't have any idea,do you?"started Jamie hesitating;"Today was suppose to be his weddingday,susan,if he hadn't called it off two years ago."

"Oh,my god,I had no idea that was today."answered his friend a bit shocked;"I knew that there was something going on with adam this morning,Jamie,but he kept saying that I was being too worried and there was nothing wrong."

"Maybe he just didn't wanna leave you behind being all worried about him."

"Or maybe I was right about the fact that he's still not really over his ex."said susan softly;"Maybe that's why he didn't tell me."

"Don't do this to yourself,susan,you will only drive yourself crazy if you keep thinking like that."warned he his friend;"Just let it rest until adam gets back and then you can talk to him about it."

Sam fowler was working in his office at brava when his father-in-law walked in;"Your secretary told me that you just got in."

"Yes,I'm sorry about that and it won't happen again,mack."answered sam looking up;"I had a bit of a rough night."

"So I heard."said he slowly;"That's not why I came,sam,I came to talk to you about your wife."

"What about her?"asked his son-in-law irritated;"The problems between us aren't all my fault."

"Stop being so defensive,sam,I didn't come here to blame you for anything."answered mack;"I only came to talk to you because I'm worried about Amanda and about what's going on between the two of you and I can't talk to her about it because her mother has already tried it a few times and she won't listen."

"I don't want things to be like this between Amanda and me,but I don't know what to do anymore or how to get through to her without getting into a fight with her,mack."

"Why do you two keep fighting then,sam,what is it about every time?"

"It's mostly about us getting a place of our own or about her being more carefull right now with being pregnant and all,because I don't want her to lose the baby again."

"Maybe you should take your wife away on a vacation or something."suggested his father-in-law;"Maybe you two can slowly work your way back to eachother away from here and all the problems."

"I doubt if that would help right now,but I'm willing to try anything."answered sam tired;"I can't keep this up for much longer."