Moments Lost and Found (11 page)

“Cheers!” Alex and Sam smiled at
each other as they raised their margaritas in a toast. Sam licked the salt off
her lips and savored the flavor for a moment before she reached for her Tecaté.
Alex shook her head and laughed.

 “I was born with two hands,
might as well use ‘em.” Sam said. It was nice being with a girlfriend, and so
rare for Sam. She was relaxed with Laurent, well sometimes. But the ease with
Alex was just what Sam needed.

 “Sam, don’t take this the
wrong way, but you’re the one woman I know who’s even more decisive than I am.
So the fact that you couldn’t decide between a margarita and a beer… and ended
up ordering both, um…”

 “You know what, Alex.
Honestly, it wasn’t indecision so much as I wanted them both!” Sam shrugged and
took another sip of her margarita.

 “I’m not sure which I should
be more concerned about then, indecision or gluttony!” they both laughed. The
bartender placed some chips and salsa in front of them and Sam immediately
reached for the chips,

 “Gluttony. Definitely,
gluttony.”

 “Ok, Sam, so all I know about your
boyfriend is what I’ve read in the trades. I mean, I’ve seen pictures of you
both at openings and I know a little about him, but tell me!”

Sam smiled and rolled her eyes a bit
at the mention of their pictures together, “You know, Alex, I’ve never been the
boyfriend / girlfriend kind of girl…”

 “One of the many reasons we
get along so well!” Alex held out her drink and they clinked glasses as Sam
nodded.

 “Exactly! So this whole thing
is new territory for me. But the fact that it’s mingled with work, I’m just all
f-d up.” Sam paused to take a sip of her beer and eat another couple of chips,
“Actually, that’s not true. Most of the time, it’s amazing. Better than
amazing. I never thought I’d ever like being with someone as much as I do with
him.”

 “So what’s the problem then?”
Alex asked sincerely.

Sam took a deep breath. She was
surprised how happy she was to be talking about this to a woman and someone she
knew put career very high on her list. “Without going into the whole story, the
short version is, when we started seeing each other, I was torn because I was
worried about how it would look, sleeping with my client and all.” Alex nodded
understanding.

Sam continued, “But there were some
circumstances that are too much to go into and after keeping it quiet at first,
we became public and I’ve been adjusting to the fact that I’m part of a couple,
which again, is all just weird to me. Then, add in that he’s semi-famous, and
that he’s my client…So it’s all been a lot to process but it’s been so good
that I’m kind of amazed at how I’m adapting to it.” Alex laughed out loud. Sam
furrowed her brows, “What!”

 “You say you’re ‘adapting to
it’ like you’re adapting to losing a leg or something horrible!” Alex continued
giggling, which made Sam laugh. God, she could use some of Alex’s
light-heartedness once in a while.

 “Ok, I’m sorry, go on.” Alex
said.

Sam shook her head, “No, no, it’s
fine, you’re right. Anyway, my big hang up is that with it being what it is, I
feel like I really have to keep our working relationship separate from our
personal life. But the longer we’re together, the more forced that seems. I
mean, both of our work is such a big part of who we are, I’m starting to think
I’m being kind of an idiot about keeping this line in the sand.”

Alex nodded and said, “Look, when
was the last time you knew me to be in a relationship?” Sam started thinking
when Alex finished her thought, “Exactly. So I’m not an expert here on
relationships by any means, but it sounds like you guys are, as you say,
adapting,” Alex smirked when she said that, “as you go along.” Then she thought
for a minute and asked, “Let me ask you this: how does he feel about merging
the two?”

Sam was actually stumped. She wasn’t
sure. She knew he didn’t want to discuss other clients during his meeting time,
which was fair enough, but now that she thought about it, was she the only one
with the issue? And, if he were ok with a blending of the two, or at least to
not treat her like a stranger during meetings, what would that look like?

 “Talented and smart! This
round’s on me, Alex.” Sam said, smiling at her friend. Alex lifted her glass as
a thank you.

 “I’m not sure that I actually
gave you any advice there, Sam. I have one more question, and then I’m going to
have to keep it to just one drink. You know I’ve got to get home to the entire
menagerie, plus we’ve got an early call time tomorrow.” 

 “How many animals at the
Marché shelter currently?” Sam asked as Alex laughed.

 “Two dogs, three and a half
cats.” Before Sam could ask, “One cat’s a stray who won’t let me near her, but
I feed her every morning and we’re making progress, she’s coming closer and
closer, but so far, no contact.” Sam nodded and understood a fellow animal
lover. “Ok, my question is, do you love him?”

Sam nodded immediately. “Alex, I
swear I’ve never felt this way before about anyone. You’re probably the only
other woman I know who understands this — I wasn’t looking for a
relationship, for someone to ‘complete’ me. But, I can’t imagine my life
without him now.”

 “Wow. Coming from you, Sam…”
Alex did understand. “Now I see the reason for the beer and the margarita!” she
winked and Sam laughed.

Sam paid for their drinks and they
walked back to the studio. “Thanks, Alex. I really appreciate you letting me
talk. I just realized that it was all about me, God I’m a jerk.” Alex shot her
a look and shook her head.

 “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re
the one with the interesting boyfriend dilemma. When I’ve got one that warrants
a beer and a margarita, you’re the first person I’m calling!” she smiled as she
pointed at Sam.

 “Deal! Thank you again, Alex.”
Sam held out her arms and they hugged a tight hug. “I know we say this every
time we see each other, but let’s try to get together more often. Not just at
shoots.” Alex nodded,

 “Definitely.” She smiled back
at Sam and then said, “Hey, Sam, I’m happy for you. I’m happy you have someone
in your life who means as much as Laurent does to you. You deserve it. You’re
one of the good ones.”

Sam chuckled as she could feel small
tears well up, “Oh, shit, Alex. First I get a boyfriend and now you make me get
all teary! I’m turning into a girl!” they both laughed and then watched each
other get into their respective cars and drove off.

That Friday, after Sam got back to
her office from her meeting with Laurent, the minute her IM became active, he
IM’d her.

LR: Samantha, will you be able to
spend the day with me tomorrow?

SD: Yes.

LR: Good. I have a surprise.

SD:
J
You didn’t want to ask me when I
was just there?

LR: I am respecting your church and
state wishes, Cheri.

SD: Merci

LR: De rien. See you tonight.

When Sam got to Laurent’s that
night, he had a fire going and greeted her with a long hug. As he held her, it
was as if he was breathing her in, just standing there holding her. When they
broke free he looked down and sweetly smiled as he gave her a light kiss on her
lips and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. He was looking at her
with such warmth and intensity that it scared Sam. She returned his smile as he
put his arm around her and led her into the kitchen where he was cooking.

Laurent had gotten into the habit of
leaving work early, or early for the industry, on Friday nights and cooking for
them. Friday mornings they had their standing meetings and Friday evenings they
had a standing date, almost always at his house unless an event or travel
interfered. It was nice for both of them to wind down their week with each
other in the relaxation of his home.

So the fact that she found him
cooking was not unusual. But his demeanor was. Though, over the last few
months, with the exception of a few hiccups, Sam noticed Laurent becoming more
and more calm.

 “
Du vin
,
Cheri
?”

 “
Oui, si tu plait, merci
”
she said as he poured her a glass. She sat at the counter watching him cook. He
seemed relaxed and content.

 “How is the pitch coming?” Now
Sam was really scared. He was asking about another account? And he seemed
genuine in his question.

 “Ummm, fine?”

 “You don’t know, Samantha?”

 “I know how it’s going, I’m
just surprised you’re asking about it. I know you don’t love the idea of my
time taken away from working on The Network.”

 “Church and State,
Cheri
.
I know you’re working on it, I care about you, which means I care about what’s
going on it your life. I’m not going to stick my head in the sand and pretend
it doesn’t exist. And I know you, and how immersed you get in your work, so I
want to know.”

How very reasonable of him, Sam
thought. There didn’t seem to be any underlying current of anything other than
genuine concern. “They’re supposed to make their decision in the next couple of
weeks. They’ve promised us no more revisions and that it’s between us and one
other agency. I’ve talked with Mark and they’ve told him the same thing, so it
must be between us two, which, if it has to go to someone else, I’d want Mark
to get it. Honestly, they’ve dragged this thing out so long that it’s hard to
be passionate about it at this point, but it would be really good for the
agency, so even though they’ve been a pain in the ass, I still want it.”

 “Then I hope you win it.” He
smiled at her and then asked, “
Cheri
, would you grab the bread and some
olive oil and put it on the table?” Ummm, ok, Sam thought. Who is this man and
where is Laurent?

 “Laurent?” Sam asked once they
were at the table. She was taking all of this in. Her conversation with Alex
the other night. And now Laurent’s openness.

 “Samantha?” she must have been
obvious that she wanted to talk about something significant.

 “If I hadn’t made such a big
deal about keeping our work and personal lives separate, how would our meetings
be different?”

Laurent took a sip of his wine and
thought about it, “I don’t know,
Cheri
. I think our meetings have, shall
we say, run the gamut,
non
?” he smirked, “I think our Friday morning
meetings have evolved, so perhaps not that much different at all, why?”

Sam shrugged, “I’m just wondering
if, at this stage of our relationship, if I’ve been a little, um, rigid about
the whole thing?” he laughed.

 “Samantha, I know that keeping
it separate has been very important to you, so I haven’t pushed. If it were
important to me to have it be otherwise, I would have, eh, strongly encouraged
change, shall we say,” he smiled as he tried to be diplomatic, “However, the
other day in my office, if you want us to pretend like we don’t have this,” he
pointed to her and then back at himself, “then that is what it will look like.
I don’t particularly like being like that with you, but you should know that’s
who I am with most everyone else.” He saw Sam cringe a little at the mention of
the other day. The more she thought about it, the clearer it became that it was
absurd to act like they were strangers.

He took another sip of wine, clearly
still thinking and then added, “I know you’re not going to like what I’m about
to say,” Sam thought, ok, here it comes, “Two things: first, I think you think
too much about it. No one is going to think there’s any impropriety, but more
than that, Samantha, it’s only you and me in those meetings. I’m never sure who
you’re worried about impressing the fact upon that you’re there for business
and not as my girlfriend.” He smiled. She couldn’t help but smile either. She
felt like an idiot.

 “And second, I know you well
enough by now to know there are some decisions that you need to come to on your
own. You need to be comfortable with them. Especially this one.”

He knew she was struggling with
this, so he added, “But I just think this is one more thing that will adapt
with us as we grow and we’ll figure it out.”

Sam wasn’t sure what that meant
exactly, but she liked the sound of it. She liked the idea that he was open to
discussing it and understood if she wanted, needed to change her ways.

Then he smirked like he had his own
private joke. Sam asked, “What are you thinking?”

 “Just that, you’re so
uncomfortable with being ‘familiar’ with me as it relates to work, but there
are other things that you’re surprisingly comfortable with. Things, uh, I would
not have anticipated you being so comfortable, so willing, so eager.” Sam
blushed and Laurent chuckled as he lifted his glass to hers.

They spent the rest of the evening
talking and eating, and then relaxing on the couch by the fire. Sam was so
relaxed in fact that she fell asleep on Laurent’s chest as he stroked her hair.
She was awoken to him whispering, “Wake up,
Cheri
, come, let’s go to
bed.” Sam looked up at him and as she lifted her face off his chest she
realized she drooled on him. He looked at her and then down at his chest and
laughed, then he sweetly wiped the corner of her mouth before they got up off
the couch and went up to bed.

When they got into bed, Laurent
looked at her and said, “I’m not worried about you figuring out our work
relationship. I know you’ll get there.” He kissed her and then said, “I’ll wait
till you do, because,” he paused, “because I’ve never before wanted to share my
life with anyone,
Cheri
. But with you, I want to share it all.” Sam
didn’t know what to say so she just smiled and kissed him. And then he made
love to her.

The next morning, Sam went home to
take care of her boys and to go for a long run before going back to Laurent’s
for the ‘surprise.’ She couldn’t help but replay the previous night over and
over in her head as she ran. She wasn’t sure what was going on, or if their
relationship was just progressing? Everything with Laurent was uncharted
territory, so this slow, subtle change in him wasn’t new. Correction, the
demeanor was, his changing wasn’t.

When she got back from her run,
there was a text from him:

LR: Bring the boys. We’re going to
the winery.

SD: Ok, see you soon.

Hmmm, obviously the winery wasn’t a
surprise. She’d been there twice now, the first time, and then at harvest which
was a blast. Hard work, but so much fun, so much excitement and energy in the
air. She had really enjoyed it. Then again, she really enjoyed most everything
with him.

Laurent knew how important Max and
Ben were to Sam, and he knew that she didn’t spend as much time with them as
she used to because of the nights she spent with him, so even the smallest
gesture like including them meant he was thinking of her. He knew her.

Spring had sprung so the hills were
a beautiful green dotted with white and yellow wildflowers. They chatted
easily, but mostly drove up the coast in comfortable silence, Laurent’s hand
never leaving Sam’s. Neither of them had much chance for downtime or quiet in
their lives, and while they enjoyed each other’s company, they both also
enjoyed peace and quiet and nature. As long as Sam had lived in LA, and as many
times as she made the drive north, she never tired of its beauty, its serenity.

Like the two times before, they
stopped at the little grocery store on the way up to get some bread, cheese,
olives and the like for a picnic. As soon as they got to the winery, Sam
noticed the difference in the vines. Her first time there was in late August,
right before harvest, and the vines were full of grapes but not completely ripe
yet. Then, again in October, they were full again with the cabernet grapes a
deep purple. Now, in April, the vines were bare with no fruit on them, while
yellow mustard wildflowers grew in between the rows. The change in the scenery
was dramatic.

Upon their arrival, they were once
again greeted by José, who was still afraid of Max and Ben. Sam understood,
they could be intimidating boys. Just like Laurent, she thought to herself.
They could be mean and ruthless, with a dangerous reputation, but so tender and
protective and loving. She chuckled to herself, some women fall for men like
their fathers, Sam was falling for one like her dogs.

They exchanged pleasantries with
José, and José seemed to sport a knowing grin as he looked at Sam. While she
spoke Spanish, José was speaking in a hushed tone with Laurent so that she
couldn’t hear. Apparently, he was in on the surprise.

Laurent suggested that Sam take the
picnic items to the table out back and wait with the boys for him there. When
he came out to meet them, he couldn’t hide the pride on his face as he held two
bottles. One was white, which he put on the table, the other he held down by
his side.

 “You remember during harvest
there were a few acres that were exceptional,
oui
?” Sam nodded. At the
time, she couldn’t tell the difference, but everyone else who knew their grapes
seemed to be very impressed. They separated out those grapes from the others.
“Those acres will make a few dozen bottles of what will be our first Estate
Cabernet. It won’t be ready for a year or two, and then probably shouldn’t be
at its peak for a while after, but if we’re right, it’s going to be
spectacular.”

Sam was happy for Laurent, but
couldn’t quite understand why this would be such a surprise. Regardless, she
wanted to support him. “That’s great, Laurent, congratulations!” He smiled at
her and sat down, still holding the bottle at his side.

 “So, for the Estate cab, since
it’s such a special edition, I had a new label made up, just for those
bottles,” by now, he could barely contain his grin, as he finally lifted the
bottle to show her. The label was the same overall design and look of the rest
of La Bonne Vie labels, but this one read:

2013

La Bonne Vie

Avec Samantha

Sam was shell-shocked. There it was,
in writing. Her name on his label. Before she could say anything, he said,
“It’s true,
Cheri
. I am living the good life with you. It’s never been
so good.” Sam felt the tears pricking her eyes. She couldn’t say anything. She
just looked at him as he gently put his hands on both of her cheeks and kissed
her and kept kissing her as her tears rolled down and they could taste the
salt.

Something was definitely changing
with this man. He had never before held his emotions back from Samantha, so it
wasn’t that. It wasn’t like suddenly he was showing her how he felt, because he
did that from day one. It was that what he was feeling, what it seemed like he
was wanting, was so much, so much more than Sam had ever envisioned herself
being a part of.