Undoings

Chapter 1

"Well, Austin, what the hell am I supposed to do? Huh? You tell me that! I mean, why stop now? You’ve been tellin’ me what to do and what to wear and how to comb my hair and who I can see and who I can’t see and even how I’m supposed to answer the gaw’ damn phone for the last thirteen years. Why stop now? Go on and be with that slut for all I care. She’s been itchin’ to get into you pressed dress pants for thirteen years now. Ya might as well let her. If ya haven’t already. Gaw’ damn you! Damn you to hell, you bastard!"

Sami hurled the picture she was looking at across the room. Austin was no where in sight. And now, his picture lay in a splintered mess next to a three thousand dollar Chinese vase he had purchased on his last trip to the Orient three weeks ago.

"Oh, no! His vase. He’s babied that thing more in the last three weeks than he ever has me. Dad was so right. He knew Austin was a jerk who didn’t love me. Why didn’t I listen to him? Now, here I am, picking up the shattered pieces of my life while he’s off gallivanting the globe with Nicole. That hussy. Well, shit, she can have him. I don’t care anymore. I quit. I quit begging and pleading for him to stay home with me. It was hard enough to keep him home before Will went to college. Now it’s damn near impossible. I just wanted . . ."

The phone jarred Sami back into reality. She left the glass in a pile on the floor and walked across the room to answer it.

"Hello. Reed residence. This is Mrs. Reed. How may I help you?"

"Mom? Are you still answering the phone like a servant? Didn’t I tell you to stop that?"

"I know, sweetie. I promise: This is my last time. I guess old habits are hard to break. Enough about me. How are you? How’s school?"

Sami tried to keep her voice steady, but Will immediately recognized the crack. "Alright, Mom. What has he done now?"

"Who, honey?"

"Mom," Will sighed, "you know who. Uncle Austin." The uncle was clearly sarcastic. "You’ve been with him for too long. Why don’t you leave him?"

"It’s hard to let go of dreams, even when their broken. But . . . and please don’t tell anyone . . . I’ve decided you’re right. I’m just thirty-five years old. And I don’t want to waste the rest of my life with the man of my dreams when someone who could really love me could be out there waiting for me. Some man of my dreams, huh sweetie? Even if I don’t find another man, I think I’ve got other things to do than sit at home waiting for Austin. It’s over. He just left a few minutes before you called. Another last-minute trip. He wouldn’t even tell me where he and Nicole were going this time."

"Ah, Mom . . ."

"Don’t worry. I was considering it before. In fact, I’ve been considering it for ten years or more, but I’ve just decided it’s time to move on. He can answer his own damn phones any damn way he pleases. And I’ll be doing the same with my phones."

"Good for you, Mom," Will cheered. "Do you want me to come home and help you pack?"

"No, you’ve got a ballgame and I’ve got some thinking to do. I’ll be watching the game no matter where I am. I love you, sweetie."

"I love you, too, Mom. Bye."

And with that, Sami hung up the phone. "This is it," she said. "This is a brand new day and I’m not going to let it slip away."

Suddenly, she picked the receiver back up and dialed.

"Horton Law Offices" a nasally-voiced secretary answered. "This is Tonda speaking. How may I help you?"

Sami cringed. That was definitely not the way for her to answer her own home phone.

"Hello, this is Samantha Brady Reed. I need to speak with Mickey."

Nasal-voice answered, "I’m sorry, but he’s in a meeting. Is there something I can do for you? Would you like to set up an appointment?"

"Yes, I’d love to make an appointment."

"Just a few questions: First, I need your full-name."

Sami rolled her eyes. "I ‘ve already told you that I’m Samantha Brady Reed."

The secretary continued in a pacifying tone. "Yes, hm. I need a phone number where you can be reached between the hours of nine in the morning until six in the evening."

A little irritated, Sami responded, "I’ve been his client before. Doesn’t he have all of this on file?"

"Yes, I’m sure he does. I just like to keep things up to date. Now, phone number, please."

Sami gave her cell phone number.

Too sweetly, the secretary replied, "Thank you. How’s a month from tomorrow?"

"What? A month from tomorrow? I don’t think so. I don’t have that kind of time. I need this as quickly as possible. I was thinking sometime today if at all feasible."

"Uh hummmm. Well, let me see, let me see . . ." Sami could hear her fingers peck the keyboard. "Well, he’s free for like ten minutes in half an hour. How’s that grab ya, anxious one?"

She forced herself to remain calm. "It grabs me just fine. I’ll be there."

*********************

"Hello, Sami. I understand this is a bit of an emergency. What seems to be the problem?"

Sami exhaled a great sigh, "Well," she said and then took another deep breath, "I hate to admit this to anyone, but I think I’d rather get this over with than save my pride any longer. I want," she paused trying to gain courage, "a divorce."

"Good girl. We’ve all been wondering when you’d drop that bozo. It only took you . . . how long have you been married now?"

"What? You’re not surprised?"

"Well, we knew you were stubborn and that you’d hold on as long as possible. We didn’t realize that it would take this long. I’m glad you’ve come to your senses. I’ll help any way that I can."

"Thank you, Mickey. I appreciate it. All I need is a divorce. Quick, simple, and as painless as possible."

"Sami, I’ll be honest, even in the best of circumstances, divorce is rarely painless or quick or simple. However, if Austin doesn’t fight it, we might be able to get things accomplished without too much unnecessary trouble."

"I’m sure he’ll think he’s got better things to do than fight this divorce. Thanks again," Sami said as she got up to leave. She shook his hand, smiled confidently, and said, "Now, I've got to go; I've got a lot of packing to do."

"Bye, Sami."

Chapter 2

Alone, Sami sat on her marriage bed, folded her clothes, and placed them neatly into one of the four suitcases Austin had left behind. She had no need to hurry because she figured Austin would be away for at least the weekend.

"Thank God it’s over," she said the herself. She stopped folding clothes just long enough to peer around the room. "Even though I’m leaving most of this stuff behind, I’ve still got a lot of lugging to do. How in the world am I going to get all of this down those spiral stairs by myself? Maybe I should have told Will yes when he asked if I needed him to come home."

She finished the pile of clothes on her bed and walked over to the dresser. She open the last unopened drawer and began pulling out a satiny armload of lingerie. All of it wasted. She had purchased each one hoping to entice her husband into some "extra-marital affairs." Let’s face it, she thought, any action I got with my husband he considered an extra bonus . . . for me. Well, Nicole can have him.

Just then, the doorbell rang. "Shit, who could that be?" She dropped her unmentionables into a brown paper bag – the last bag she had to fill -- and ran down to the door.

"Just a sec. I’ll be right there," she hollered as she rounded the stairs and headed for the foyer.

"Lucas!" Sami exclaimed once she flung the door open. "What in the world are you doing here?"

"Will called. Told me what was up. He figured you might want some help or just someone to talk to. He told me to be gentle because you were probably in a lot of pain."

"Oooh. That Will. I told him to keep it quiet."

"Sami, he only told me. He knows he can trust me."

"Well, come on in. No use standing out there all night. Can I get you something to eat or drink?"

"Since when do you offer to get me anything. You’ve been making me get for myself for as long as I can remember. I don’t want anything anyway except to help you out."

"If you really want to help, follow me upstairs to the marriage chamber." She couldn’t help but chuckle as she used the term Austin always used to describe their bedroom. "I don’t know what made Austin start acting and talking like he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. You don’t do that and you had it better financially than he did for a long time."

While climbing the steps, Lucas paused, "I never knew he called it the marriage chamber. However, I did always know he was a freak. Oh, yes, Mrs. Reed, please show me the way to your marriage chamber." They both laughed the rest of the way up the stairs.

"Ok, Lucas, all kidding aside, I want to thank you for coming over. I guess I’ve . . ."

"Sami," Lucas interrupted, "you don’t have to thank me. I’m just doing what any friend would do."

"Lucas, sit down and shut up. You never did know when to listen."

He pushed some bags off of the corner of the bed and sat down. "OK. I’m all ears."

Sami continued, "As I was saying, I guess I’ve known for a long time that I could count on you when the chips were down. You are the one who helped me through the most devastating time in my life. When Alan raped me, I thought my life was over, but you . . . you Lucas . . . you helped me get my life back together. When my father left me and Marlena and Carrie betrayed me, you stuck around. I know we’ve had a lot of problems. I’ve been mean to you. And God knows you’ve been mean to me," she smiled, "but we’ve managed to get past all of that. When you told me the truth about killing Franco and about Italy and when you turned yourself in and took your punishment like a man, I realized you will always really be the Lucas I have been able to continually count on. That was tough on you. I knew that. But you knew that you could never be the father Will needed if you didn’t do it. I didn’t say it at the time, but I was so proud of you. So I started to forgive you. And you came back into my life as the friend you were always meant to be. Thank you. Thank you for being the person you are." By the time she was finished, she had to wipe away a few stray tears.

"Ahhh, Sami. You don’t have to thank me. I was wrong, and I had to fix that wrong. That’s all. And when I did, I realized how good you and Will were for me. Really, I’m the one who should be thanking you. I did a lot of really bad things to you. You didn’t have to forgive me, but you did. I am so thankful for that."

He walked over to her, caressed her cheek, smoothing away a remaining tear. Then he wrapped his tender arms around her and held her close.

"You’re too good to me, Lucas," Sami muttered into his shoulder.

"Come on," he said, "Let’s get this stuff out of here." His arms lingered a little longer before finally letting go. "So what do you need me to do?"

"You could start by taking those bags down to my car. I didn’t want to lug them down those stairs and out to the car anyway. Being the manly man you are," she grinned, "you can take care of it without even breaking a sweat."

"Sure, no problem." He walked over to the bed, picked up the smallest bag and purposely fell to the floor. "What do you have in here? Solid gold?"

"Oh, Lucas. Don’t be silly. You know Austin wouldn’t leave me alone with all of his gold."

"That’s true," Lucas replied as he stood back up, grabbed another piece of luggage, and headed through the door and down the steps.

Sami scooped her brown bag of lingerie into her arms and absentmindedly strolled the four steps into the bathroom. She hated the master bathroom. For that matter, she hated the master bedroom. Both rooms looked too much like rooms Kate would have had in her house. Luckily, Austin had given up trying to make her forgive his mom. However, she thought, if he hadn’t, I might have had the gumption to have left him a long time ago. No matter what, I’ll never forgive that bitch.

She opened the medicine cabinet door, place the bag beneath the cabinet, and begin scooting things from the cabinet into the bag. "Who cares if I ruin these things," she asked herself, "It’s not like I’ll be needing these things anytime soon?"

"What things?" Lucas asked as he came around the corner and into the bathroom.

"Oh nothing. It’s not important." She crumpled the top of the bag closed. "That was quick, macho man. Ready for some more?"

"Sure," he answered, flexing his biceps. "Look at these muscles. Feel how hard."

"OK, Lucas, I’ve already called you macho man. What else do you want?"

"Oh, nothing really. I just . . . want . . . to . . . know what’s in the bag," he said as he grabbed for the sack.

"It’s nothing. Just clothes. Come on. We’ve got a lot to do."

"OK, but if it’s just clothes, why are you guarding it so closely?"

"Lucas, would you stop it? You go on back in there and take the other two bags down. I’ll finish up in here. And then I’m through with the bedroom." She shooed him out the door and went back to gathering her toiletries. All alone, Sami got a rather evil idea. She couldn’t help but smirk as she decided to follow through with the plan. She figured Lucas would find it funny, but didn’t want to take any chances, so she peeked around the door to make sure he wasn’t around. Then, she flew to the basin, seized Austin’s toothbrush, and bent over the toilet. Still smiling, she whirled the electric head along the inside of the porcelain bowl.

"Sami? What are you doing?"

She jerked up and spun around. Eyes wide, she stammered, "Uhm . . . Lucas . . . well . . . you see . . . I was . . . I was just . . ."

"Before you answer, you should know, I’ve been standing here long enough to know what you were just doing."

"OK. OK. I admit it," she answered as she walked over to him, Austin’s toothbrush still clinched in her fist. "I was cleaning the toilet." The innocent look on her face sent Lucas into a fit of laughter. Hysterical, he bent over double guffawing.

"What’s the matter with you?" Sami wondered as she patted his back.

"What’s the matter with me? What’s the matter with you? How can you not be laughing? I’ve got to sit down." He managed to find his way to the bed, where he sat doubled over in hysterics.

"Alright, Lucas, that’s enough," Sami said as she walked over to him. She punched him on the shoulder. "Stop that," she giggled. "Oh, good, now I’m laughing."

He straightened his back and fell backward, pulling her down with him. Both of them were laughing so hard they didn’t hear the front door open downstairs or the heavy steps take the stairs. And they didn’t see the angry eyes of Austin staring at them from the doorway.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON HERE?" he bellowed.

Chapter 3

The laughing stopped immediately.

"Au . . . Austin!" Sami stammered. "What . . . what are you doing home? I thought you left with Nicole for the weekend. I thought you had another business meeting." Sami stood and walked closer to him, leaving the toothbrush on the bed. She couldn’t help feeling like she did when she was sixteen and he would admonish her behavior. I can’t feel like this, she thought. I’ve got to be strong.

"Sami, what does it matter where I’ve been? The fact is I came home to find my wife in bed with my brother. By the way, Lucas, what the hell are you doing here? I told you a long time ago to never step foot in my house. After the way you treated Mom, I don’t know how you can even hold your head up. Disgusting! And now I find you in bed with my wife. What is this?"

"Austin, stop it. Listen!"

"No, Sami, I won’t listen. I’ve got things to say. And I’m going to . . ."

Sami interrupted, "No, Austin, you’re going to listen for a change. You’ve been talking for thirteen years. It’s time I did some talking." She stuck her finger in his face and consider slapping him . . . but came to the conclusion that hitting an ex boxer was not that smart even if he was out of shape. "You’ve got eyes. You can see we’re fully dressed. You know we weren’t having sex. But damn, if I was going to sleep with him, it wouldn’t be in this bed."

Austin stared in dumb silence. His mouth agape and his eyes wide, "Sami . . ."

"Don’t interrupt me while I’m speaking. What’s it to you if we were sleeping together? You’re out every gaw’ damn chance you have with Nicole. I’m sure all of that work isn’t all innocent. But you know what? I don’t care anymore. She can have you. She can have you. I don’t want you any more. In fact, I’ve seen a lawyer. I want a divorce." She let the statement stand on its own a quick moment, then, remembering the secretary, added "How’s that grab ya?"

Austin leaned on the dresser for support.

By this time Lucas had gotten up from the bed and walked over to Sami. "Good for you, Sami. Let him have it."

"You stay out of this, Lucas. We all know what an idiot you are. In fact, all of Salem found out the minute you told the police what you and Mom had done. Sure, you got out of it with a slap on the wrist and some community service, but poor Mom had to spend six months in jail because of your testimony. How someone could do that to their own mother is beyond me." He stood back up and lunged at Lucas.

Quick-footed and still in shape, the younger, better-looking brother sidestepped the attack and smirked. "Austin, is that all you’ve got? Ya know what? Mom deserved what she got. I don’t know how you can defend her after you found out all of those rotten things she had done not only to Sami but also to Will. These are people you promised to love and protect. Some protector you are." Lucas took two steps closer to Austin and shoved his left shoulder back.

"Lucas, you better keep you hands off of me. I mean it, I’m going to . . . "

"Going to what? You can’t do anything to me. I’m not afraid of you big brother. Damn, if I could survive Mom, I know I can survive you."

"Boys! Stop it," Sami interrupted. "Lucas, go down stairs and wait for me please."

"Are you sure? I don’t think I should leave you hear with this undergrown baboon."

"I’m sure, Lucas. I need to talk to him," she said as she escorted him through the door. "I’ll be down in a sec. I promise I won’t be long." Then she surprised him with a quick, innocent peck on the cheek and turned away.

He practically floated down the stairs with his left hand caressing his flushed cheek. What was that about? he wondered.

Back in the bedroom, Austin began, "Look, Sami, I don’t know what’s going on, but we can work this out. Will still needs us to be together. This is his home. We are his family."

"Austin, I told you to listen. Shut up and do it. Who do you think made me realize that I had to get out of this loveless marriage? Will."

Austin’s surprise was clearly written on his face.

"The truth is that he can’t stand you. Will hates you for the way you’ve always treated Lucas. And he hates you for the way you defend Kate even though you know all of those terrible things she did to us. And most of all, Will hates you for the way you treat me. He’s told me many times over the last few years to get out and get away from you. The only reason he even tolerates you is because I asked him too."

"Sami, that’s not true. Will and I are close. We’re bonded. I know him better than to believe these stories. You’re just trying to hurt me." Austin’s voice cracked.

"Just how the hell would you know him? You were never around to get to know him. I tried to get you to leave Titan. I tried to get you away from the corporate world and from Nicole. I even asked you to move to the country and be a full-time dad to Will. You refused. You always refused. Why wouldn’t you put us first? Why wouldn’t you . . ."

"Sami, that’s not fair. Before we even got married, you let me know how expensive you’d be. You chose the most expensive engagement ring. How was I supposed to afford that without working at Titan?"

Sami sighed, "You don’t get it, Austin. You never have gotten it. The ring was less important than the proposal. And I had to practically drag that out of you. If you didn’t want me, then you shouldn’t have strung me around for so long. I wanted you, Austin, not the ring. The ring was just a symbol to show the world. But you were what I wanted to cuddle up to at night. Instead of you in my bed, I got this ring on my finger." Tears spilled down her ruddy cheeks and deep, unsteady breaths interrupted her speech. "Well, Austin," she sniffed, "you can have it back. You can have the wedding band back too." She took them off of her finger and let them fall to the floor. "I don’t want them or you anymore. It has taken me most of my life to realize I’m too good for you. Nicole’s more your speed.’

With that, she grabbed her paper sack of lingerie and walked out the door.

"Sami?" she heard. But she kept right on walking. She left him and that sixteen year old girl she always felt like when she was with him behind.