Hey everybody! thanks for the wonderful reviews! I can't believe how much this story as evolved! After this chapter things SHOULD pick up! I'm going to be working alot more now until the end of the month so I can have enough money for when i go out of town for a week! I'm so excited for my trip is not even funny...Anywhooooo... I hope enjoy this chapter...thanks for reading and your feedback is greatly appreciated! as always i don't own glee! thanks- Candace.
Sunday after church, she stayed at home and waited for David to drop the kids off. When they finally arrived, she was surprised to see his girlfriend, Olivia standing at the door with her kids.
"Where's David?" She asked, instead of greeting her.
"He had to go into the office today." She opened the door so Landon and Amaya could come inside. Amaya looked up at her mother and Mercedes' eyes almost popped out of her face.
"What the hell is on your face?" She heard Olivia giggle as she stood outside the door..
"It's just a little make up. Isn't she gorgeous?" Mercedes gently cupped her daughter's face. She had on bright purple eye shadow and bright red lipgloss. She could almost feel the steam pouring out her ears. She closed her eyes and deeply exhaled before she blew up in front of this woman.
"Please tell me you did not let her go out in public like this." Olivia rolled her eyes.
"Oh my God, lighten up. It's just a little make up. I think she looks adorable! You should think about putting her in pageants."
"Look, when you have kids, you can do whatever you want to do with them. But, you will not have my child going around looking like a clown." The woman sighed and shook her head as she looked at Mercedes.
"Whatever, look I'm really hoping we could try to be friends."
"You should have thought about that when you decided to sleep with a married man. Goodbye Olivia." Before Olivia could open her mouth to speak, Mercedes shut the door in her face. She turned back to her children.
"I told her you wouldn't be happy about the make-up mom." Landon said, shaking his head.
"Yeah, well she isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, now is she? Come on Amaya; let's clean this mess off your face." She pulled her daughter into the bathroom, while Landon went up to his room. She smiled to herself, knowing that he'd get a nice surprise once he stepped foot inside. She picked Amaya up and sat her on the toilet. Amaya sat quietly while her mother wiped the ridiculous make-up off of her face when they heard Landon call out for his mom. She looked up to see her son at the door, smiling with his brand new guitar case in hand.
"Hey mom! Where'd you get this?"
"The Guitar Center from around the corner. Do you like it?"
"Yeah, how did you know which one to get?"
"Uh, I actually ran into S-Mr. Evans there and he helped me pick one out. He said it'd be easier for you to carry with all of your books."
"Man, this is great. Thanks mom."
"No problem, sweetie. Please be careful with that thing while at school."
"I will! We're still gonna watch the game tonight right?"
"I'm frying up some chicken and Santana's bringing her chili dip." He threw out a fist pump and headed back to his room.
When Santana and Brittany arrived, Mercedes was in the kitchen frying her chicken wings, while the kids watched the pregame show. They both greeted the kids and Santana headed towards the kitchen with Mercedes.
"So, Mercy, you never did tell me how your coffee date went."
"It wasn't a date, Santana."
"Did he pay for your coffee?"
"That is beside the point the point, Santana." She said, trying to avoid the question. Her best friend laughed.
"Bullshit. I already know, just from how he paid for all of our drinks Friday night. Now, how was it?" Mercedes couldn't fight the smile that was forming on her face.
"It was really nice." Santana studied her face. She noticed something in her that she hadn't seen in well…ever.
"Mercedes?"
"Huh?" Mercedes said, snapping out of her "Sam" daze" Santana had a mile wide smile on her face as she asked,
"You like him don't you?" Mercedes stared back at her and then deeply exhaled.
"Aww hell, does it show that much?" Santana snorted and nodded.
"I've never seen you blush this much." She plopped down into a chair at the table.
"I've never been so attracted to a man so fast. Hell, it took 3 years for David and I to get together.
"It happens like that sometimes. So, what are you going to do?"
"He's Landon's teacher, Tana."
"And? There's no law that states that you can't date teachers. He just happens to be a man who teaches at your son's school. You two are grown ass people."
"I just don't want Landon to be uncomfortable, though." Santana paused and sat down at the table with her before speaking.
"Well, you have point there….but, Landon is at that age where he's able to handle these types of situations. When the time comes, maybe you could talk to him about it. Because, it's evident that there's an attraction between you two. Things will work out, Trust me."
"Damn Santana, since when did you become so…."
"Soft?" Santana finished for her.
"Yes!"
"Let just say that seeing you this happy after seeing you hurt so badly has made me turn a new leaf." She shrugged.
Mercedes finished the chicken wings right before the game started and they all enjoyed the rest of the night with food and football. The next morning when Mercedes arrived to work, she was bombarded by her coworker and longtime friend, Kurt Hummel.
"What is this I hear about you having a date over the weekend?" Mercedes sat at her station and rolled her eyes.
"I am going to beat Santana's ass! Where is she?" She started looking around the office for her best friend. They all worked together at a very successful advertising agency. Mercedes and Santana got the job after taking classes and getting her associates at the local community college a couple years after Mercedes had Landon.
"Oh she's around here somewhere. Now, tell me about the guitar god/ chemistry teacher."
"Why are you asking me when Santana has probably told you everything?"
"Because I want to see if you blush as hard as San says you do." She laughed and turned to her computer and turned it on.
"Oh my god! Get to work , Kurt!"
At 2:15 on the dot, Landon had walked into Mr. Evans' class room. He had given Sam his guitar earlier so he could tune it while he attended the rest of his classes. Landon found his teacher plucking a few notes on his guitar as he got closer to him. Sam looked up at the boy and smiled.
"Hey Landon, how'd the rest of your day go?"
"Pretty good….but I think it was only because I was ready for the day to end." He said with a shy laugh. Sam could see so much Mercedes in Landon he couldn't help but smile at him. He then removed the guitar from his lap and sat it on a stand next to another guitar.
"Well I can understand your excitement, but let's get this chemistry out the way before we begin any fun." They went over the homework he had given out for the day as well as other things that would be on the test that he planned to give at the end of the week. Sam had learned that Landon was a visual learner and understood things when they were broken all the way down. Very much like he was when he was in high school. Just like Sam stated in his after school plan, they spent an hour working on chemistry and for the last forty-five minutes, he helped him learn the basics of playing the guitar.
"So what kind of music do you like listening to, Landon?" He asked after he showed him the proper fingering.
"Some of everything, except country." Landon answered, making a face as he mentioned country music.
"What's wrong with country?"
"Aw, don't tell me you listen to that stuff, Mr. Evans."
"I grew up in Nashville! I grew up on that music." They both shared a laugh.
"Nah, it's cool. Don't tell anybody, but some of that is okay to listen to."
"You're secret is safe with me. So uh, what kind of music does your mom listen to?"
"Uh, pretty much the same stuff I listen to. Except for rap, she hates when I listen to rap."
"Yeah I don't blame her. Hey listen, I was wondering if it would be okay with you if I took your mom to see a friend of mine play this weekend."
"You want to take my mom out?"
"If that's okay with you." Sam watched Landon's face as he waited for him to get an answer. He almost regretted asking until he saw the bright smile on his face that reminded him too much of Mercedes.
"Yeah. I think it'll be great for mom. She hasn't really gone out much since…..she and my dad divorced."
"Okay, cool." Sam said, with a sigh of relief. For the rest of their time together, Sam helped him perfect the basic stages of playing his guitar.
Mercedes had picked Amaya up from school before she headed over to the high school to pick Landon up. She held Amaya's hand as she walked through the hallway leading up to Sam's classroom. When she peeked inside the classroom this time, She found Sam and Landon sitting across from each other, strumming on their guitars. Once again her son was wearing a mile wide smile. She smiled as she lightly tapped on the door. The both looked up and she could swear both of their smiles mirrored each other. Sam stood up, with his guitar still in his hand , and walked over to the door.
"Mercedes, hey."
"Hey Sam, how are you today?"
"Even better now." She laughed and he noticed that she had someone with her. He looked down and gasped,
"Well if it isn't Mercedes' mini me." Amaya let out a small giggle.
"Amaya , this is Landon's teacher Mr. Evans."
"Hi Mr. Evans." She greeted sweetly. Sam had crouched down to her level and took her hand.
"Why hello, my lady. It's not every day that I come across such beautiful princesses." Mercedes' heart had just about exploded at the sheer sweetness she was witnessing.
"Oh please don't put that in her head. She will go around telling everybody she's a princess." Landon said, from behind Sam. Sam looked back at Amaya.
"Well, we'll just have to keep that between us." He winked at her before standing back up. He opened the door more and motioned for Mercedes and Amaya to step inside.
"So, how'd the first lesson go?" Mercedes asked her son, who was carefully putting his guitar back inside of his case.
"Really good, Mom."
"Yeah, I think your boy's got a natural talent for the guitar…he's got the hands for it."
"Good, and the chemistry?" Sam and Landon both gave each other nervous looks and laughed.
"Well….he's getting there. He's definitely a visual learner. He'll get that grade up in no time."
"Well that's good, are you ready to go, Lan?"
"Uh, yeah. Just let me go get my jacket out of my locker. My My you wanna come with me?"
"Ooh yeah!" Amaya said brightly. Landon held out his hand for his sister to take and they walked out of the classroom.
"So Landon's got a knack for the guitar, huh?"
"Oh yeah, He got the finger positions pretty fast. Could be in the genes, seeing as how his mom is a singer an all." Sam teased as he leaned up against his desk.
"If you say so."
"So, do you have any plans for the weekend?"
"Well seeing as how it's only Monday, I can't say just yet."
"Well, I have an old college friend that has a show this Friday night. I would love it if you could join me." It took Mercedes a good 10 seconds to take in what Sam had just asked her.
"You mean like a date?"
"It doesn't have to be a date. But, I'm offering to pay for everything. We can just go as two friends looking forward to enjoying some live music."
"I don't know. I don't want to make Landon uncomfortable."
"If it helps, I already asked Landon if it was okay….. and he said it's fine." Her jaw dropped. He had asked her son for permission to take her out. HER SON! She laughed and shook her head.
"Unbelievable. You are something else Sam Evans."
"Soooo, is that a yes?"
"Well since Landon is okay with it, yes. I'll go out with you on Friday." Sam fought every bone in his body not to do a fist pump right in front of her.
"Alright, cool. So, you have my number. Just text me later so I can lock yours in and I'll give the details later. Is that okay?"
"Yep." Before they could say another word, Landon and Amaya returned. She noticed that Landon had come back without his jacket.
"Where's your jacket?" He shrugged,
"I guess I left it at home. I'm ready though." He flashed a toothy smile as he held on to his sister's hand. Mercedes scoffed and playfully rolled her eyes. She knew what her son was up to at the moment. She clutched her purse strap and walked towards the door to join her kids. She turned back at Sam and smiled,
"So I guess I'll talk to you later then."
"You bet. Have a good night Mercedes." Both Landon and Amaya had said their goodbyes and the three of them headed down the hallway and out to the car.
Once Mercedes had started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot, she looked over at her son and said,
"You knew, didn't you?"
"Knew what?" He asked innocently.
"Don't play coy with me Landon Christopher. You knew Mr. Evans was gonna ask me out today."
"Yes, He asked me if he could."
"I know that part. Why did you say he could?"
"Because mom, If he can keep that smile on your face, he can take you out a million dates."