White Flag (2/?)
Samantha McPherson awoke early Saturday morning alone in her bed. Kat had decided not to stay last night both to Sam’s disappointment and relief. She’d been disappointed that she wouldn’t be waking up in the tall blonde’s arms, but relieved because seeing her ex-wife always affected her in ways she didn’t want it to. She knew it wasn’t because she was still in love with the former cheerleader. She chocked it up to their emotionally charged and sometimes volatile past. They’d separated four years ago and divorced three, and in that time Sam had become certain that they were better apart than together. She just wished that Brooke didn’t still have an affect of any kind on her.
Sighing she threw back her covers and headed for the bathroom. When she was finished, she walked downstairs to the kitchen. Putting on a pot of coffee, she walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out her creamer. As she closed the door a piece of paper with her name scripted on it caught her attention. Smiling, she unfolded the paper and read it aloud.
Samantha,
You have no idea how much it is killing me not to be able to wake up next to you. Do you know how beautiful you are in the morning? You practically glow, and I know it’s something I will never tire of. So that being said, as I’m sure your cheeks are that beautiful shade of red they always turn when you get a compliment, I was wondering if you would do me the honor of accompanying me to dinner this evening. And since I know you’re all alone in that big, cold house, I was wondering if maybe I could keep you warm through the night and perhaps bask in your beauty tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, I will be busy at the hospital today. So if tonight doesn’t work for you, please leave a message on my cell. If it does work for you, please feel free to leave me a message for that too. I love hearing your voice.
Love always,
Kat
P.S. I have a surprise for you…
Sam couldn’t stop the goofy grin from spreading across her face. They’d been together almost two years, and Kat was still able to surprise her. She was just so romantic. She was incredibly sweet and giving, and Sam adored her. There were so many things about her that made it impossible not to love her. When they’d met in the hospital children’s ward after Cara had had her tonsils out, Sam had been immediately drawn to her warmth. It’d been the first time she’d ever been attracted to anyone other than Brooke since their divorce a year earlier.
And Kat wasn’t anything like Brooke. Sure they were both tall, lanky, blondes but that’s where the similarities stopped. Kat was sweet and gentle. She was almost loving and trusting to a fault, and she had a way about her that made Sam feel like she was the most cherished person in world. She had a corny sense of humor that made you want to roll your eyes, but you still couldn’t help but smile because it was genuine. That was another thing about Kat; she didn’t hide behind some sort of façade. What you saw was what you got, and that meant a lot to Sam.
That wasn’t to say that Brooke couldn’t be any of those things, because she was, but it was different. The first thing that had attracted Sam to the blonde was the passion she saw lurking just beneath the surface. She’d ignited the same passion in the journalist. And that was the problem; everything was extremely passionate including their fights. Sam had never known anyone that could blow hot and cold better than her ex-wife. She would leave Sam feeling so raw emotionally that she would just go numb. And after fifteen years of being together, Sam had felt like she was suffocating and all alone.
She took a shuddering breath as all the old emotions washed over her, almost making her physically ill. She didn’t want to be thinking about this right now. She didn’t want to think about it ever again, but she’d seen Brooke last night, and looked into the hauntingly familiar hazel eyes that saw into her very core. She knew that that passion was still lurking just below the surface, and it had called to her passion just like it had all those years ago.
Shaking her head to clear all thoughts of her ex-wife, she decided to go into her office and finish the article she had due on Monday. That would occupy her mind. It had to. So she grabbed her coffee mug and sat down in front of her desktop. Booting it up, she waited to hear the familiar start up sound wav, and then got to work.
The article didn’t take quite as long as she thought. She decided to call Kat and let her know that she was definitely up to going out tonight. The idea of Kat’s surprise thrilled her. The blonde was always full of surprises. It appealed to Sam’s spontaneous side. She looked at the clock. It was only noon. She had almost eight hours until her date. So she decided to clean her house.
Cleaning turned out to take up quite a bit of her time. She liked to do a good deep cleaning at least once a month. Normally it was on a weekend when Cara was with Brooke. That way she was alone and could do things all her own way. People were probably never aware of how much crap they accumulated in a month’s time, and this obsessive need for cleaning was something she’d learned from the blonde she’d been trying not to think about all morning. She knew that she had never been one to be compulsively neat, but a person didn’t spend fifteen years of their life with Brooke McQueen and not pick up on some of her habits. And if Sam had to pick one, then this wasn’t a bad one to have.
She carried a few things she’d boxed up down the hall and up to the attic. It was a nice attic. The kind that could be converted into a bedroom, and she and Brooke had said when they had more children they might turn it into a playroom, but that had never happened because they’d never had more children. Brooke was always away, and it had never seemed like a good time. She hadn’t really thought about having more kids since her divorce. Not that she didn’t love being a mother, she loved every single second of it, even the more trying times, but she was thirty-five and Cara was almost a teenager, and she didn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps and have a baby when there would be such a big age difference between her children. And if she were really truthful, she’d only ever seen herself having kids with Brooke. And since that was no longer an option, she decided she probably wouldn’t have anymore.
She was saddened by that thought because she’d always dreamed of a house full of children, but that dream was now dying like so many others that she’d had. As she sat one of the boxes down, she knocked over another, spilling out the contents. She looked over at it, recognizing it was a box of Cara’s baby things. Sam sat on the antique chest nearby and picked up the items. Cara’s first pair of shoes, rattles, and the outfit they’d brought her home from the hospital in. The baby book she and Brooke had spent countless hours putting together. She picked up the heavy scrapbook and flipped through the pages. The first page that her gaze fell upon held a picture of her and Brooke in high school. The day that she’d missed her flight to New York to help clear Brooke’s name. Sam was certain that that was the day she’d realized how much she’d really loved Brooke. How odd it seemed that they should take a picture together on that day. But then again they’d actually started to form some sort of friendship at that point.
The next page was filled with pictures from their wedding day. It had been the perfect day. They hadn’t had a whole lot of money at that point having just graduated from college a year before then. So they’d made all their own invitations and flower arrangements. They booked the church and Godfrey without much trouble and held the reception back at the Palace. The ceremony had been beautiful, with Lily and Carmen serving as her bridesmaids and Mary Cherry and Poppy Fresh serving as Brooke’s. Brooke and Nicole were no longer speaking since that fateful prom night. And Josh, Sugar, and a reluctant Harrison had served as ushers. Mac had just turned seven that year and she and Josh and Lily’s then five-year-old son, Jesse, had been the cutest ring bearer and flower girl they’d all ever seen. Jane had walked Sam down the aisle and Mike, Brooke. It was truly one of the best days of Sam’s life, full of happiness and hope. She couldn’t have asked for anything more perfect, and she remembered when she seen Brooke in her strapless white gown, her breath had caught at how truly beautiful she really was.
She flipped through the book looking over the many pictures the two of them had taken during her pregnancy trying to capture every moment to share with their future child. Tears filled her eyes when she looked at the first picture ever taken of Cara. It had been taken in the delivery room by her mother. Brooke was holding Cara, and there was just this look of pure happiness and wonder on her face. She gazed down at the baby in her arms and you could tell that all her dreams rested in that tiny bundle in her arms, and the tears silently spilled over Sam’s cheeks. She knew Brooke loved their daughter with her whole being, and Sam felt bad for being so tough on her. They’d had such wonderful dreams, and as she closed the book and put it back in the box, she pushed those dreams and feelings out of her mind and partially out of her heart. She knew that none of it even mattered now. So she hurried downstairs and got ready for her date.
-tbc-
Sighing she threw back her covers and headed for the bathroom. When she was finished, she walked downstairs to the kitchen. Putting on a pot of coffee, she walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out her creamer. As she closed the door a piece of paper with her name scripted on it caught her attention. Smiling, she unfolded the paper and read it aloud.
Samantha,
You have no idea how much it is killing me not to be able to wake up next to you. Do you know how beautiful you are in the morning? You practically glow, and I know it’s something I will never tire of. So that being said, as I’m sure your cheeks are that beautiful shade of red they always turn when you get a compliment, I was wondering if you would do me the honor of accompanying me to dinner this evening. And since I know you’re all alone in that big, cold house, I was wondering if maybe I could keep you warm through the night and perhaps bask in your beauty tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, I will be busy at the hospital today. So if tonight doesn’t work for you, please leave a message on my cell. If it does work for you, please feel free to leave me a message for that too. I love hearing your voice.
Love always,
Kat
P.S. I have a surprise for you…
Sam couldn’t stop the goofy grin from spreading across her face. They’d been together almost two years, and Kat was still able to surprise her. She was just so romantic. She was incredibly sweet and giving, and Sam adored her. There were so many things about her that made it impossible not to love her. When they’d met in the hospital children’s ward after Cara had had her tonsils out, Sam had been immediately drawn to her warmth. It’d been the first time she’d ever been attracted to anyone other than Brooke since their divorce a year earlier.
And Kat wasn’t anything like Brooke. Sure they were both tall, lanky, blondes but that’s where the similarities stopped. Kat was sweet and gentle. She was almost loving and trusting to a fault, and she had a way about her that made Sam feel like she was the most cherished person in world. She had a corny sense of humor that made you want to roll your eyes, but you still couldn’t help but smile because it was genuine. That was another thing about Kat; she didn’t hide behind some sort of façade. What you saw was what you got, and that meant a lot to Sam.
That wasn’t to say that Brooke couldn’t be any of those things, because she was, but it was different. The first thing that had attracted Sam to the blonde was the passion she saw lurking just beneath the surface. She’d ignited the same passion in the journalist. And that was the problem; everything was extremely passionate including their fights. Sam had never known anyone that could blow hot and cold better than her ex-wife. She would leave Sam feeling so raw emotionally that she would just go numb. And after fifteen years of being together, Sam had felt like she was suffocating and all alone.
She took a shuddering breath as all the old emotions washed over her, almost making her physically ill. She didn’t want to be thinking about this right now. She didn’t want to think about it ever again, but she’d seen Brooke last night, and looked into the hauntingly familiar hazel eyes that saw into her very core. She knew that that passion was still lurking just below the surface, and it had called to her passion just like it had all those years ago.
Shaking her head to clear all thoughts of her ex-wife, she decided to go into her office and finish the article she had due on Monday. That would occupy her mind. It had to. So she grabbed her coffee mug and sat down in front of her desktop. Booting it up, she waited to hear the familiar start up sound wav, and then got to work.
The article didn’t take quite as long as she thought. She decided to call Kat and let her know that she was definitely up to going out tonight. The idea of Kat’s surprise thrilled her. The blonde was always full of surprises. It appealed to Sam’s spontaneous side. She looked at the clock. It was only noon. She had almost eight hours until her date. So she decided to clean her house.
Cleaning turned out to take up quite a bit of her time. She liked to do a good deep cleaning at least once a month. Normally it was on a weekend when Cara was with Brooke. That way she was alone and could do things all her own way. People were probably never aware of how much crap they accumulated in a month’s time, and this obsessive need for cleaning was something she’d learned from the blonde she’d been trying not to think about all morning. She knew that she had never been one to be compulsively neat, but a person didn’t spend fifteen years of their life with Brooke McQueen and not pick up on some of her habits. And if Sam had to pick one, then this wasn’t a bad one to have.
She carried a few things she’d boxed up down the hall and up to the attic. It was a nice attic. The kind that could be converted into a bedroom, and she and Brooke had said when they had more children they might turn it into a playroom, but that had never happened because they’d never had more children. Brooke was always away, and it had never seemed like a good time. She hadn’t really thought about having more kids since her divorce. Not that she didn’t love being a mother, she loved every single second of it, even the more trying times, but she was thirty-five and Cara was almost a teenager, and she didn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps and have a baby when there would be such a big age difference between her children. And if she were really truthful, she’d only ever seen herself having kids with Brooke. And since that was no longer an option, she decided she probably wouldn’t have anymore.
She was saddened by that thought because she’d always dreamed of a house full of children, but that dream was now dying like so many others that she’d had. As she sat one of the boxes down, she knocked over another, spilling out the contents. She looked over at it, recognizing it was a box of Cara’s baby things. Sam sat on the antique chest nearby and picked up the items. Cara’s first pair of shoes, rattles, and the outfit they’d brought her home from the hospital in. The baby book she and Brooke had spent countless hours putting together. She picked up the heavy scrapbook and flipped through the pages. The first page that her gaze fell upon held a picture of her and Brooke in high school. The day that she’d missed her flight to New York to help clear Brooke’s name. Sam was certain that that was the day she’d realized how much she’d really loved Brooke. How odd it seemed that they should take a picture together on that day. But then again they’d actually started to form some sort of friendship at that point.
The next page was filled with pictures from their wedding day. It had been the perfect day. They hadn’t had a whole lot of money at that point having just graduated from college a year before then. So they’d made all their own invitations and flower arrangements. They booked the church and Godfrey without much trouble and held the reception back at the Palace. The ceremony had been beautiful, with Lily and Carmen serving as her bridesmaids and Mary Cherry and Poppy Fresh serving as Brooke’s. Brooke and Nicole were no longer speaking since that fateful prom night. And Josh, Sugar, and a reluctant Harrison had served as ushers. Mac had just turned seven that year and she and Josh and Lily’s then five-year-old son, Jesse, had been the cutest ring bearer and flower girl they’d all ever seen. Jane had walked Sam down the aisle and Mike, Brooke. It was truly one of the best days of Sam’s life, full of happiness and hope. She couldn’t have asked for anything more perfect, and she remembered when she seen Brooke in her strapless white gown, her breath had caught at how truly beautiful she really was.
She flipped through the book looking over the many pictures the two of them had taken during her pregnancy trying to capture every moment to share with their future child. Tears filled her eyes when she looked at the first picture ever taken of Cara. It had been taken in the delivery room by her mother. Brooke was holding Cara, and there was just this look of pure happiness and wonder on her face. She gazed down at the baby in her arms and you could tell that all her dreams rested in that tiny bundle in her arms, and the tears silently spilled over Sam’s cheeks. She knew Brooke loved their daughter with her whole being, and Sam felt bad for being so tough on her. They’d had such wonderful dreams, and as she closed the book and put it back in the box, she pushed those dreams and feelings out of her mind and partially out of her heart. She knew that none of it even mattered now. So she hurried downstairs and got ready for her date.
-tbc-