Something Worth Keeping: Not Tonight (4/6)
See Part One for Disclaimers and Such
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*
But if my silence made you leave
Then that would be my worst mistake
So I will share this room with you
And you can have this heart to break
*
"You alright?"
"Huh?"
"You alright?"
"Um...yeah...I think so."
"You're not going to throw up on me or pass out or something like that, are you?"
"I hope not."
"Sam, I think you should sit down," I advise, and without waiting for a reply, lead him to his desk chair. He flops into it and stares into space, face still ashen.
"Are you mad at me?"
"For what?"
Oooh, what a good answer. I'm just going to let my little comment from before fall by the wayside.
"So, um," I say as I sit down opposite Sam, "What's the deal with Lisa?"
"She's moving to Washington for work."
Greaaaat. The red light in my brain is flashing already. If Sam's going to start forgetting about Lisa and move on to me, this isn't going to help. Sure, I sound selfish, but if your boyfriend's ex-fiance came back into his life, how would you feel?
"Oh," I say calmly.
"Yeah, and there's another thing," he gulps.
"What?"
"She had a baby."
"You're kidding me. Right?"
"No-that's why she left me. She found out she was pregnant, packed her bags, and disappeared."
The news isn't sitting well with me at all.
"She had a baby?"
"Yes."
"Your baby?"
"Yes," he replies, exasperated. His face is just starting to regain its color, but he's turning red pretty quickly.
It finally sinks in and I soften a bit.
"How old is the baby?" I ask.
"He's three."
"What's his name?"
"Ethan."
"Ethan what?"
"Ethan Samuel."
My heart sinks. I should have guessed. "He must be adorable."
"She's bringing him in on Thursday afternoon."
"I'll block it off on your schedule," I nod. It's funny...Toby never mentioned anything-that I heard, at least-about having a daughter. Or being a grandfather."
"You knew that Toby and Lisa were related?"
"Yeah. Josh just filled me in."
"Remind me to thank him later. That is weird though...Toby never told me about Ethan..." his face clouds over for a second, then he's back to business. "Don't be spreading any of this around, okay?"
"Sure. I'll keep it on the D.L."
"The what?"
"The D.L. The down-low."
"Oh."
We sit there in silence. Then, I ask him softly:
"Truth be told, Sam-did you miss her all these years?"
"The truth?"
"Yes," I command, gazing into his eyes.
"Yeah," he admits, so faintly that I almost can't hear what he's saying. "I missed her."
Just then, Toby raps on the door and pokes his head in. "Sam, I have Klien on the phone about the thing if you want to pick up and join us."
"Okay," Sam agrees, and Toby goes back to his office.
Sam starts to pick up the phone, and as I get up to leave, he asks me, "Kate, are you coming over tonight?"
"No, Sam," I reply quietly. "Not tonight."
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