Deathly in Love

You can also see this on forums.mjeol.com in the fanfiction section. This is only the first few parts, it'll be a few weeks before I get the whole thing up here, but I still hope u enjoy it :)


Samantha walked into her office; she was the new employee for ‘Paradise Magazine’. She set her black briefcase on the desk and sat down on the chair behind it.
Then suddenly there was a knock on the door, “Come in.” She called.
The door slowly opened and a tall woman quietly stepped in.
“Hey...I'm Lauren...uhh...thought you might need some help or something?" Her brown curls bounced as she talked.
Samantha smiled, “Thanks...but I'm sure I'll be ok."
“Alright..." She said as she straightened up her silk leopard print blouse, “Well I'll be in the next room if ya need me."
Then, the door opened up again and in walked, Michael. Samantha watched as Lauren tensed up and stared keenly at him.
“Well H-hi Michael." Lauren stuttered as she twisted a curl around her finger.
Michael smiled brightly, “Hey Lauren! How are you?"
“I’m doing ok...just greeting the new employee." Michael smiled, “I was just about to do the same." He took a few steps towards Samantha and stuck out his hand.
“I’m Michael, the editor of Paradise magazine." They shook hands, "Samantha, I'm the new writer for the advice column."
“Alright...Well...I gotta get back to my layout, I'll see you around."
He nodded and left the room.
"Oh my God, He is so cute!" Lauren screeched trying to hold in her excitement.
“What?"
“He is SO cute!"
She laughed and rolled her eyes, “Whatever...ya wanna get some coffee?"
Lauren shrugged, “Sure. Let's go."
Samantha grabbed her purse then she and Lauren walked out.


After taking Samantha's car to Macy's Coffee Shop a few streets down from the Paradise Magazine building, the two ladies sat down, sipped their cappuccinos and began talking.

“So have you lived in New York all your life?" Lauren asked.
“Umm...No, I moved from California a year ago."
“Do you like it better here?"
“Umm...Yeah, it's great here, but ya know...nothing beats home."
Lauren smiled. She then turned and saw one of her best friends, Chrissie in line at the coffee shop.
“Chrissie!" Lauren called to her. Chrissie was a tall, beautiful black woman with a Latte in one hand and her car keys in the other. She smiled and waved to her as she began to walk over to the two.
“Hey Lauren. How are ya?" They hugged and she sat down and put her keys on the table.
“Chrissie, I want to introduce to ya my new friend and OUR co-worker, Samantha."
Chrissie and Samantha exchanged friendly smiles.
“So you work for Paradise magazine too?" Chrissie asked
“Yeah...It's my first day."
“Oh. Great! I heard we were going to get a new person, so which unit are you working on?"
“I’m the advice columnist."
“Oh! Thank GOD! You know Karen, the girl before you; she was getting on my LAST nerve."
“Oh I know! Uh! She could just talk her head off, and man...she had that NASTIEST attitude." Lauren butted in.
Samantha giggled.
Chrissie then turned to Lauren, “Did you see Michael today?"
“Yes!" Lauren blushed.
“Oh my god...he was gorgeous today, wasn't he?"
“Oooh! I wonder what he's like in bed!"
Samantha cringed, “Eww!"
They looked at Samantha awkwardly, “What?" Chrissie asked.
“That’s disgusting!"
“Oh, c’mon we're all women here, it's not like we haven't talked about this stuff before."
“I-I know. I just feel kind of awkward talking about how 'cute' a co-worker is. What if he's married?"
“He’s not, we already checked." laughed Lauren.
“Don’t you like him?" Chrissie asked.
“No."
“Why?"
“Because he's a stranger, I don't know him. He's not my type; I usually don't date 'business' kind of guys. I date more of...Mechanics, Police officers, Army guys-tough macho men. Somebody I know that can protect me."
The girls laughed loudly.
“Just because business guys wear fancy suits doesn't mean they can't protect you."
Samantha shrugged, “Why do YOU guys like him anyway?"
Chrissie and Lauren looked at each other then Lauren answered, “Because he's smart, rich, cute, trustworthy, and nice to talk to, funny, considerate...and he's the only guy besides the boss."
“I see now." Samantha snatched her purse and stood up, “Well...I got to get back to the office, I'll see you ladies later." She smiled and walked out to her car.
Then suddenly she saw Michael stepping out of his black Porsche and walking towards her. Samantha pushed a piece of her red hair behind her ear and took her keys out of her purse.
“Hi." He grinned as he stopped in front of her.
“Hey." She smiled, “So, umm...how's your layout coming?"
“Great...it's going real well. What about your advice column?"
“Oh, the questions are coming tomorrow...I just came today so I could get settled with everything and meet everybody."
He laughed, "Well ok, umm...I'm going to get some coffee." He pointed out, “I’ll see you at work tomorrow."
Samantha waved goodbye, got into her car and drove off.

She soon arrived home; she laid her purse and keys down on the table by the front door and hurried into the kitchen to check the messages left on her answering machine.
The first one was from her mother, calling to check in and to see how she was doing, the second one was from her boss reminding her that the questions will be coming in tomorrow but then the third one gave Samantha a big surprise.
Umm, Hey Sam...It's me Pete, I just called to say that...well...I miss you and I think we should talk...ya know, about us.
Uh you know my number so...And that was the end of the messages. Pete was Samantha's ex-boyfriend she left in California. She wanted to move to New York to pursue a writing career, and Pete objected to it, he thought she could write just as good in California as anywhere else. But, Samantha told him that if he wasn't going to support her than maybe they were better off separate. And so now it seems that he wants to 'talk'.
Samantha shrugged it off and went to her computer; she connected to the internet and started checking her e-mails.
‘No, Sam...You and him are over. DON'T you call him back.' she thought quietly to herself and tried to keep her mind on the important letters than her personal life. She began scratching her neck nervously, ' Don't you dare pick up that phone.' Samantha kept staring at her phone that was on the receiver. She pushed it away and continued scanning trough her mail, then...she couldn't take it anymore, she grabbed the phone and dialed Pete's number. It rang once...twice....thrice..." Hello?"
Samantha sighed, “Hey Pete."
“Oh! Hey Sam. I didn't think you'd call."
“Yeah."
“So...uhh...How are you?"
“Good...Good. What about you?"
“I’m doing good; I'm just sitting here watching TV."
“Cool."
“Yeah...so umm." There was a long pause before Pete spoke again, “I miss you."
“I know."
“That wasn't the answer I was hoping for."
“I know...but Pete this is sort of, umm...uncomfortable for me right now to talk to you."
Then suddenly Pete's voice change strangely, “What do you mean?"
“Nothing...It's just-"
“Is there someone else?"
“No there's not someone else and besides that shouldn't be any of your con-"
He hung up.
“What the?" She thought aloud and hung up the phone.


The next morning Samantha had come to work a few minutes earlier, she wanted to get a good start on her advice column. She walked down the hallway leading towards her office passing secretary cubicles, other offices, and water coolers until she unlocked the door to her office and entered in. There on her desk were two piles of letters each about 1/2 an inch high.
She sat down in front of the computer, turned it on and pulled her first letter off the stack.
Dear Lucy,
I am a 32 year old woman and I have been at the same job for over 10 years. My boss who I am going to refer as 'John' told me he was going to give me a promotion. Recently we have gotten a new employee and all of a sudden 'John' gave the promotion to the new employee who just started 2 weeks ago. How can I come out to 'John' and tell him that what he has done is unfair without losing my job or ruin my chance at a further promotion?
Sincerely,
Fairness for All

Samantha sat there with her fingers caressing the keyboard thinking of the best way to reply to the woman. After a few seconds of gathering up ideas she finally started typing.
Dear Fairness,
To start off I agree with you that it's really not right for him to say he was going to give you a promotion and then go back on his word. This unfortunately, is very common in big businesses and you shouldn't take it so hard and so personal. You should come out to him and tell him that even though you respect him as your boss, you feel bad that he had gone back on his word and that the talk was in no way to disrespect him or embarrass him in any way, that it was just a simple concern that you felt that needed to be addressed
The clock read 9 AM, it had been about 5 hours since she had started and she was on her last letter when, the phone rang.
Samantha picked it up and typed as she talked, “Hello?"
“Ms. Witherspoon, Pete is on line one."
“Ooh, ok...Thank you."
Samantha up and contacted line one, “Pete?"
“Hey Sam."
“How did you get this number?"
“I have some friends in New York...I have such loyal friends." Pete began talking in the same creepy tone as he did last night, and Samantha became very uncomfortable and started itching her neck.
"Ok, well... Listen, why did you get so mad last night when we talked?"
“Oh? I did? I'm sorry I didn't mean to come off as mad I was just simply concerned about you. And I'm really sorry I had to cut you off last night, something had come up. I hope you understand."
“Yeah, yeah. It's ok."
“So you're working for Paradise Magazine now?"
“Yeah...I'm the advice columnist...It's really nice here, everyone's real kind."
“Ooh, yeah...I can't wait to hear what you have to say in the magazine. Maybe I'll subscribe."
“Yeah...Umm...Hey listen can I call you back? My uhh...my fax machine is jammed." Samantha tried to catch her breath as she hung up the phone.
‘Come on Sammie...you're ok...nothing's wrong.' She said to herself.
She got up from the chair, walked around her desk and out of the office to get herself a drink.
As she started walking to the water cooler she was too busy thinking about that awkward phone call with Pete that she had bumped into Michael. Michael dropped his suitcase full of papers and they scattered all over the ground.
“Oh I'm so sorry; I wasn't looking where I was going." She apologized as she helped him gather up his stuff.
“No problem."
Samantha caught a glimpse of the new layout Michael had been working on. She picked it up and started looking over it, “Wow...This is really good." She smiled as they rose up from the ground.
Michael shoved his hands into his pocket like a shy little boy and rocked on his heels, “You think so?"
“Yeah...the colors are beautiful. I think the boss will love this!"
“Thanks." He grinned and took his layout back. “Well...I'm on my way up to show this to him, so wish me luck." Michael smiled brightly as he took off.
Samantha turned around and filled a paper cup with water. She gulped it down and the wiped off the water droplet from her chin.
“Whoa there, lassie!" Lauren joked as she came stopped in front of her.
Samantha let out a sigh and threw away the cup, “Just real thirsty."
“I can see!" She laughed, “I saw you and Michael talking over here."
She shrugged, " Yeah, so?"
“So! I bet he likes you."
Samantha rolled her eyes, “He just talked to me, lots of guys talk to women and aren't attracted to them."
“Oh really?" Lauren said putting her hands on her hips, “Like who?"
“Like you." Samantha teased.
Lauren laughed, “At least I'm not blind as a bat. He was SO giving you the eye."
“The what?"
“The eye. Ya know,” She sighed in frustration, “When he's checking you out, he kind of glances you over."
“Whatever." Samantha began to walk back to her office with Lauren talking and following her behind.
“C’mon, give the guy a chance! He was totally in to you!"
Samantha sat down on her desk and began twisting her hair around her finger as she thought.
“You really think he likes me?" Sam asked.
“Yeah!"
Then suddenly Sam realized what she said and jumped off the desk to look out the window, “Eww! What am I saying?"
“C’mon!" Lauren egged her.
“No...I don't like him."
Lauren put her hand on her hip;" You REALLY don't like him."
“Yes!"
“Ok...I guess I'll stop bugging you about it."
“Thank you! And tell...Chrissie that too!"
Lauren smiled and changed the subject, “So did you answer all the letters?"
“Yeah...I gotta turn them in soon. I was just taking a little break."
“Can I read one?"
Samantha grabbed one off the top stack and handed it to her, “Sure."
Lauren scanned through the letter and jumped up on the desk, “You’re really good at this."
“Thanks...I guess that's why they hired me." she giggled.
“Keep it up; you might be the next dear Abby." Lauren smiled and handed back to her, “So Sam...have you ever been married?"
There was a small tap at the door and it opened, “Hey." -it was Michael.
“Hi, Michael." Lauren smiled as jumped down from the desk to greet him.
“Oh...I didn't know any body else was in here, hey Lauren." He said closing the door.
“Well, I'll go...I've got some work to do." Lauren giggled as she sneaked towards the door.
“No...no, you don't have to go." Samantha said between gritted teeth.
“No, really it's ok." She smiled while opening the door. Samantha grabbed onto Lauren's arm and whispered into her ear, “Don’t you DARE leave me with him."
Lauren gave her a cheeky smile, then leaned in a whispered, “See ya later." And she was out the door.
'Darn it.' she thought to herself. Samantha rolled her eyes and leaned herself against the desk with her arms crossed.
Michael clasped his hands together and sighed, “He likes it."
“What?"
“The boss...He likes my layout."
"Oh." She giggled, “I’m happy for you, I knew he would like it."
"Yeah, thanks..." Michael looked at his watch, " Hey, you want to get some lunch, it's almost my break."
“Umm..." Samantha thought for a minute...she WAS hungry, and lunch wouldn't be considered as a date. It would be consider as just lunch, wouldn't it? “I...uhh, I guess lunch wouldn't hurt." She said as she grabbed her purse.
“Alright, I know this great little restaurant down the street." He said while they walked out of the office.


They soon arrived at a small restaurant and took their seats.
Samantha opened up her menu as the waitress came, “Are you ready to order?"
Michael smiled, “I’ll just have a Pepsi."
“You don't want anything to eat?" Samantha asked.
“No, I'm fine." He smiled.
“Well...I'll just have a salad and some water."
“Alright, I'll be back." The waitress smiled as she scribbled a few words down then walked away.
“So how's your day going for ya?" Michael asked.
“It’s going fine, how about yours?"
“It’s great, especially after the boss accepted my layout." He laughed, “You know there's going to be a party Friday night to celebrate the new layout."
“Really?"
“Yeah." He grinned, " I was hoping you'd come."
“Well I'll certainly check it out." She smiled and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
Then suddenly, Samantha's pager went off. She let out a giggle of embarrassment and checked it.
Pete Singer
555-9907
She started scratching her neck hard and Michael looked at her concerned, “Are you alright?" He asked.
“Uh...Y-yeah." She stuttered, she looked over shoulder to the next table and saw Pete sitting there reading the newspaper.
Samantha stood up, and began to breath heavily.
“Samantha?" Michael asked. Her head started hurting and the room seemed to start spinning, she felt hot and her hands shook.
“Oh god..." She said breathlessly and then fainted. Small screeches of concern and low buzzes of talking began to fill the room.
Michael rushed to Samantha's side; he dropped to the floor and laid her head on his lap, “Samantha? Are you ok? Samantha?" He kept saying as he shook her.
He took Sam's water from the table and splashed Samantha with a few drops.
“C’mon, Sam wake up."
All went quiet as her eyes fluttered open, all she saw was a blurry outline of people, “Pete?" She called out.
“Pete, who's Pete?" Michael asked.
Suddenly the blurry images became clear and she saw it was Michael. She sprang up from the ground and looked back at Michael.
“S-Samantha, is something wrong?" He asked confused.
She looked over at where she saw Pete reading the paper but only found out it was her imagination. She rubbed her temples and stared blankly at the floor as she sat back down again, “Y-yeah, I'm fine."
Michael kept staring at her awkwardly, “C’mon, I think it's best if I take you home." He paid the bill and helped her back into his car.
“B-but I got to go give my letters to the boss today...the magazine won't be finished in time if I don't get them in by tonight."
Michael snapped her in the seatbelt then jumped in, “I’ll give it to him tonight before they lock up."
“Ooh, could you not drive so fast?" Samantha said holding her stomach.
“Sorry." He smiled as he slowed down, “Where is your place anyway?" Michael asked.
“2203 Kensington Street." She replied leaning her head back on the leather seats.
He parked his car in front of her house and helped her out of the car.
“Are you going to be ok?"
Samantha stumbled out of the car and wobbled up the steps, "I'll be fine."
“You sure?"
She nodded her head as she unlocked her house.
“Well...here's my number in case you need any help." He smiled as he handed her a piece of paper with his number on it.
“Ok. But, I'll probably call 911 if I really need help." She laughed, “Thanks for helping me." Samantha smiled as she stepped inside her house.
“No problem." He said giving her a grin that usually melted all of the girls' hearts, but did nothing for Sam. “Bye."
“Bye." She called back and closed the door.
Samantha stumbled her way to the couch and plopped down with a blanket in hand. She curled up into a little ball and drifted off to sleep.



The next morning Samantha had come down with a nasty flu, she called in sick and laid in bed most of the day.
There hadn't been one single call from Pete...that was a good thing.
Samantha got up from the couch, and entered in the kitchen to fix herself a glass of Ginger Ale when the phone rang.
Sam decided to let the machine get it, for all she knew it could be Pete. She hoped it was Lauren, she knew she could cheer her up in her time of complete misery.
The answering machine beeped and it was Michael, Samantha broke her arm trying to reach the phone, she picked it up from the receiver and answered in a sweet, 'Hello'.
“Hey Sam." He grinned, “Are you feeling better?"
Samantha curled up on the couch again, hugging a soft pillow, “No." She groaned, “I puked a million times today."
“Aww...I'm sorry. I hope you feel better."
“Thanks." She smiled, “Hey did you give Mr. Jennings my letters?"
“Yeah, I laid them out on his desk last night."
“Oh, Thank you. If I didn't get those in yesterday, the whole magazine could've been late all because of that." She said as they laughed.
“Hey, umm...Is it ok if I swing by your house on my break, ya know....just to check on you. And I thought you might wanted some company."
Sam shrugged What the heck? She needed somebody besides the TV to talk to. “Sure." She smiled.
“Alright. Well...I'll see ya then."
“Ok, Bye."
And the two hung up. Samantha then felt a tight knot in her stomach," Oh no!" She said aloud to herself, “I hope I'm not falling for him!"
But as she got up and ran to the bathroom, she knew it was just the flu talking.