Not long after Scott and Sam separated, Paul came for a visit. To shed light on his findings in Scott's apartment.
"Did you find something new?" Sam asked as they walked to the living room.
The detective settled into the armchair. "We got into Scott's apartment," Pauls said. Sam raised her eyebrow. "But if something happens, I didn't tell you that."
"Something happens?" Sam asked, sitting on the couch.
"You don't need to know the details, for now." Paul shook his head. "I could get to his computer, but the information has strong encryption. My tech girl is working on it, but considering Scott's education and interest in technology it will take time to crack everything," he explained.
"It's illegal how you got the information, isn't it?" Sam asked, changing her seating position.
"I think you know the answer to that question," Paul replied, arching his eyebrow. Sam agreed with a nod. "I have a plan, and hopefully, it will work out. As far as I can tell, Scott is not aggressive, so your case will be easier than Raymond's was," he added. "I think the restraining order will be enough, but in case we will go to trial."
Sam interrupted Paul's speech, "Trial?!" she asked, surprised.
"I don't think we go that far," Paul explained, and Sam shook her head slightly. "Samantha, it's an actual possibility, and if that happens, you shouldn't know what exactly I do to get information," he concluded.
They cut the conversation short because Paul's phone rang. "What?" he said. "Be right there." He hung up the phone. "Sorry, Samantha, I have to go," he said and stood up, moving toward the exit and Sam followed him.
"Is the phone call about Scott?" she asked, tugging on the bottom of her shirt.
"No," Paul replied, putting on his shoes. "One more thing," he said. "Avoid your balcony." Sam's eyebrows bounced up from his words. "That is the only visible place from Scott's apartment." The detective opened the door and left. "Have a wonderful day, Miss Morris," Paul said, and Sam bent her head in agreement.
Samantha felt more comfortable knowing the inside of her apartment wasn't visible to Scott. Paul said Scott seemed not aggressive, but she knew better. In freshman year, Scott got into at least two physical fights. Perhaps Sam should've said that to the detective, but the bomb about a possible trial distracted her. But for now, she decided not to bother herself overthinking about that. Since she had to prepare for a game night.
The weather seemed delightful, therefore Ray and Sam walked to Molly's house. They met a few blocks away from Sam's apartment complex. Since it appeared that Scott watched her building. It was just a thirty-minute walk to Francis Avenue, where Mason and Molly lived. And considering problems with parking on the avenue, Ray left his car at one of the cafe's parking lots.
Molly and Mason have been together for two years, they moved into that flat a year ago. Before Molly lived with Sam, and Mason was Rory's roommate. The girls met Mason through one of the hangouts with Scott and Rory.
Mason immediately liked Molly, but because he was Rory's friend, Molly remained very doubtful about him. A month after meeting Mason, Molly finally agreed to go on a date with him. Six months ago, they adopted a baby, an English Springer Spaniel named Spot.
The exterior of the building stayed mostly white, with a few dark-colored pieces. It held a three-story building, Molly lived on the first floor. On the other side of the street remained Harold A. Henry Park, where Mason would take their dog for a walk. As they reached the apartment complex, tall pine trees swayed with a creaking sound, giving shadows to the gray sidewalk. Molly opened a white door after the first doorbell.
"Quickly, go inside," Molly instructed, holding the dog by his collar. "Stop it, Spot," she scolded the animal as Spot whined.
"Hi, friend," Sam said with a smile. They walked inside, closing the door behind them.
"Hi, hi. Go sit down." Molly motioned toward the living room, while still holding Spot with her right hand.
The apartment held a similar size to Scott's. One bedroom, one bathroom. A compact kitchen, but a sizable living room with three windows through the entire wall. You could see the park from there. They rented the apartment with furniture, so there was not much of Molly's spirit there.
The color selection of the apartment remained mostly dull, with pale gray walls, including black and white furniture. Although Molly made sure that there were pink and yellow decorations in the place; her two favorite colors. Mason wasn't a fan of that, but he agreed to all the girly stuff as long as he could have a big flat screen with PlayStation.
Raymond and Sam went through a narrow corridor to the living room, where Mason sat playing some car chase game. After introducing the guys to each other, Sam left them to play the game and went to help Molly with appetizers.
"Sit down, if you don't want to be fucked," Molly said, taking potato chips from the package.
"What?" Sam asked, barely containing laughter.
"Spot." Molly pointed her French manicured finger to the dog sitting near her. "Yesterday he banged Mason's leg, leaving a stain on his sweatpants. It was gross." She wrinkled her nose. Samantha couldn't restrain herself from laughing. "He does that a lot. Don't you, baby?" Molly asked, glancing lovingly at the dog. "But he doesn't do that if you are sitting." She motioned toward a chair.
Sam sat down on the high kitchen chair. "Can I help you?" She glanced at unpacked food.
"No, I will manage that. Tell me about lunch," Molly said, raising her eyebrow and putting snacks on a wooden tray.
"You mean about Scott," Sam asked, and Molly nodded her head. "He dyed his hair black," she said, making Molly burst into a laugh. "And let me tell you, he doesn't look good." Sam shook her head.
"I suspected that. Did you tell Scott about Ray?" Molly asked, glancing at Sam.
"No. I just told Scott that Ray and I are friends," Samantha explained.
"Yeah. You know, friend, I'm worrying. How many of these types of friends can you have at one time?" Molly hissed, raising her eyebrow.
"No, no. I just told Scott that. I'm serious about Ray." Sam tried to calm Molly down.
"So the next thing on today's agenda." Molly smiled playfully. "How was the date? And I need more details. Then it was good, what you said on the phone last night." She grinned.
"I don't know what to tell you. I had a pleasant time, and I think so did Ray. So there is not much to tell," Sam said, petting Spot.
"Don't give me this crap. You know what I want to hear. How was Ray in bed?" Molly moved closer to Sam, leaning her elbows on the kitchen island.
"We didn't go that far yet," Sam answered, watching Spot wiggle his tail.
"What? Why?" Molly questioned, her voice felt almost hysterical.
"Remember, how I lied to Scott about my period?" Sam raised her eyebrow.
"Oh, okay." Molly giggled. "Here, take this." She gave Sam a tray. "And we can have some wine." She swayed a bottle of white wine, Ray, and Sam brought.
The girls took everything they might need from the kitchen and went to the living room. Crossing the corridor again, Spot followed them, wiggling his tail, and tapping his nails against the wooden floor.
Mason sat on a couch, and Ray rested in a big armchair. Some tension in the room remained visible as the girls walked in.
"Why aren't you guys playing?" Molly asked, putting wine and glasses on the small table in the middle of the room.
"He hates me," Ray blurted out, motioning toward Mason.
"Babe." Molly peered furiously at Mason, putting her hands on her hips.
"I don't hate him." Mason frowned. "He beat me at my game, babe." He looked up at Molly.
"That's so great," Molly said, making Ray smile as Mason pouted toward his girlfriend. "What? No one won against you, and now you can stop calling yourself Speed King," she explained, sitting down beside Mason on the couch, tapping his knee.
Sam placed down a tray with snacks on the same table as the wine. She looked for a place to sit down. Raymond caught her hand and pulled her toward himself, inviting Sam to sit on his lap. What she should've mentioned to him, she wasn't fond of displaying affection in front of other people. Holding hands felt fine, but not much more than that.
So she froze when Ray required this revealing act. But seeing emotions in his brown eyes made her overlook her beliefs. Therefore, Sam sat down on his lap, throwing her legs over the side of the armchair. His legs will probably fall asleep soon, anyway.
Mason poured the wine for everyone, and Molly turned on some music. And they chatted, savoring the snacks.
"So, Ray, tell us about yourself," Molly said, sipping the beverage.
Ray glanced at Sam. "There is not much to tell. But you can ask whatever you want," A wineglass occupied Ray's left hand. As the right one stroked Sam's back, giving her a slight shiver.
"Okay then," Molly said, tapping her finger on her lips. "What's your favorite color."
Ray scoffed. "Does that truly matter? My favorite color, really?" he asked and raised his eyebrows.
"Oh, so you want hard questions?" Molly asked, Ray, confirmed her suggestion with a slow nod. "How many girlfriends did you have before, Sam?"
"Two," he said, sipping the wine.
Molly laughed. "You realize how unbelievable that sounds?" she asked.
Ray looked at Samantha. "I told you." He smiled at Molly. "That's the truth, take it or leave it," he added.
"But you are a rock star—" Ray quickly cut off Molly.
"I'm not different from other people. Just because my career choice gives me a certain label, it doesn't mean that assumptions fit my character," Ray explained in a firm tone. From the manner Ray spoke, it sounded like this wasn't the first time he explained himself on this topic.
"Okay—We don't need to know about his girlfriends. Right, babe?" Mason tried to lighten the mood. "How old are you, Ray?"
"I will be twenty-five in a month," Ray replied.
Sam's eyes widened since she did not know his birthday was so soon. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, staring at Raymond.
"You didn't ask," he stated, leaning closer, glaring into her eyes. "And when is your birthday?"
"I am a winter child." Sam laughed. "It's December tenth." She raised her eyebrow.
"Mine is July twenty-fifth," Ray looked carefully into her eyes.
Molly waved her hands. "Hey, we're still here, so cut it out with the foreplay," she said, losing her patience.
After a few more questions, Molly finished grilling Ray about his life. Oddly enough, Ray left the favorite color question unanswered, and Sam wanted to know his response. The only new thing she found out about Raymond remained his birth date. She decided to find a gift for him. She wondered if they would be even together by the time his birthday came.
Mason had a talent to turn every conversation into fun games, usually involving word chains and drinking. So after a few rounds of games, the wine bottle stood empty. They decided not to open another wine bottle. Instead, they smoked pot as Mason had some leftovers.
Back in New York, Molly, and Sam regularly smoked pot. Like most pleasurable things at that moment, smoking weed was Tom's idea. But since they moved to Los Angeles, they drifted from that habit. Having spliff from time to time, but it was a while since Sam smoked.
She remembered smoking after her grandfather died. It was actually his pot, that wasn't a beautiful thing to do. But to be fair, he didn't need it anymore. Tom and Sam felt a deep need for some relaxation after they lay Michael's funeral.
After the group consumed weed, they all turned passive on the conversation part. Ray and Mason turned the game back on; Molly stayed on her phone. Sam also thought about her phone and went to get it from her bag.
She walked to the corridor and found her backpack hanging on the wooden rack. Sam took out her phone and stared at a massive rant from her sister, but before she could read it all, Ray came behind her. He wrapped his hands around her waist. Pressing the front of his body to her back.
"Do you think I passed?" he whispered into her ear.
"I was joking when I said you need Molly's blessing," she answered with a laugh.
Sam turned around, placing her hand on his neck. Ray's hands slid through her body, remaining on her waist.
"I know, but her opinion still matters. Right?" Ray asked, peering into her eyes.
"Perhaps a bit. Molly said that you are a better choice than Tom once. Does that count as approval?" she asked, causing Ray to smile widely.
"Really?" He raised his eyebrow and Sam nodded in agreement. "I'm going to take that as a blessing. You know, you will be in my position pretty soon," he said with a laugh.
"Don't remind me." Sam shook her head. "At least you didn't have to meet my parents."
"I wouldn't mind that," he said, tilting his head. "Considering how adorable I am." He smirked.
He seemed so optimistic and Sam didn't want to ruin his mood. So she didn't tell him that her parents wouldn't give a blessing to them. Samantha didn't care about that, and she hoped Ray won't care either when the time comes to meet her parents.
Being with Raymond was not rebelling against her parents; Sam felt she grew out of that stage. But he had a lot of traits, including his profession, which Sam's dad profoundly despises. And Samantha's mom loved Tom, so that's the only man she would approve of.
Sam felt guilty for not telling him the truth. So to improve her sense, she pulled Ray closer to her. Kissing him always made her feel better. Ray's lips seemed so soft and welcoming to her. His lips traveled to her neck, making her shiver.
"I'm going to spend the night at your place," he whispered to her ear, brushing his lips to her earlobe.
"Ray—"
He pulled away and cupped her face. "I understand, don't worry. We don't have to fuck. I just want to sleep in bed with you, love," he explained. Sam agreed with a nod, and he kissed her again.
Soon they went back to the living room; Molly slept, her head rested on the couch elbow-rest, and Mason sat at her legs' rear, watching tv.
"We're going to go," Sam said.
"Oh, I forgot you guys are still here." Mason laughed nervously. "You are coming tomorrow, right?"
"Yes, of course. I will help you wherever you guys need," Sam reassured him and raised her eyebrow.
Mason glanced at Ray and then at Sam. "Don't worry, and I told you we would be fine. I have savings." He put his hand on Molly's feet slightly, rubbing them.
"Okay, so I'm going to come tomorrow to help with packing," Sam reminded him.
Mason accompanied them out of the apartment. The group said their goodbyes. Ray and Sam walked back to Ardmore Avenue while listening to music.