Houston, Texas, in the Clarke Home, Friday, September 26th, 2030, at 3:15 pm

Rachel

I practically fall into the entryway of our home as I throw all of the items I'm carrying onto the landing at the bottom of the stairs. I always try to carry everything into the house in one trip, and it usually ends up like this. I pick up the garment bags holding all of the dresses I bought for this evening. I couldn't decide which one I wanted, so I bought all four. When I went shopping I was by myself because Anne was busy working on a case.

I called her right after Lucas told me he was going to be working late tonight. I asked her if she would go to the event with me, assuming Lucas wasn't going to show up. She sounded excited on the phone, and should be here any minute to get ready with me.

Maybe Anne can wear one of the dresses tonight.

The doorbell chimes behind me. I swing the door open and find Anne holding two vibrant purple smoothies in her hands.

"Oh my god, I love you so much right now!" I squeal as I hug her tightly. She gives me as best of a hug as she can while holding onto the plastic cups.

"I know, I'm the best," she smiles as heads inside. "What happened here?" she asks as she gestures towards my spilled notebooks and car keys on the steps.

"Oh, I tried to carry everything in one trip," Anne raises an eyebrow at me and smiles. "What? Obviously I made it inside successfully," Anne lets out a loud laugh and heads into the kitchen.

She sets the smoothies down on the island and takes her purse off. I follow behind her, wanting to gulp down the smoothie she brought me.

"So, what's the plan for tonight?" Anne puts emphasis on the last word as she gives me a coy smile. "Are you relieved that Lucas isn't coming, or are you disappointed?" Anne asks me straight away. I can always rely on her to bring up difficult subjects for me.

"Is it okay if I feel a bit of both?" I say to her as I cross my arms. She takes a sip from her drink as she slides mine over to me across the speckled granite countertop.

"Of course. It would be weird if you didn't," she smiles at me and I take a sip from my smoothie.

Hints of blueberry, strawberry, and mango hit my tongue and immediately transports me to a tropical place.

"What's going on with Sam?" Anne asks bluntly. I haven't updated her on anything this week. I plop down on one of the stools and rest my chin in my left hand on the counter.

"Sam has been very open about how he feels about me, but promised that he won't do anything to interfere with our relationship," I mumble. Anne raises an eyebrow and keeps drinking from her smoothie. "I told Lucas everything about Seattle," I blurt out. Anne's eyes widen.

"Everything?" she asks as her smile creeps back up.

"Well, up until the morning after, yeah," I add.

"What do you think Sam wants?" Anne poses. "Do you think he wants you to leave Lucas?"

My heart sinks at her question. I really hope he doesn't want that, because I can't give it to him.

"He has said he is waiting until Lucas fails again," I mumble. Anne gasps and looks down at the counter for a moment.

"Well, tonight isn't exactly a shining moment for Lucas, then, is it?" Anne's face grows serious as she sets her drink down. "Sam is going to see this as a window."

"Yeah, I know," I sigh again, trying to figure out how to feel. "What do I do, Anne?"

She looks at me sympathetically as I begin to remember the last words Sam said to me before I left Seattle.

#

Seattle, Washington, at the Four Seasons, Wednesday, June 19th, 2030, at 7:15 am

Rachel

I sat down on my suitcase, trying to get it to close. I stayed for longer than anticipated, and bought a lot of souvenirs and clothes to bring back with me. My suitcase was stuffed, and I wasn't heavy enough to squeeze it shut. I was leaving for Houston today, and I was having a really hard time. I didn't know what to do about Sam or Lucas. Last night with Sam was incredible, and this entire week had been nothing but romance and adventure. It felt like my heart was being pulled by two race cars driving at full speed in the opposite direction.

One is always faster than the other.

The door to the hotel room opened and Sam walked in with coffees and pastries. He smiled at me warmly before chuckling.

"What are you doing down there, beautiful?" he set our breakfast on the table by the door and walked over to me.

He sat next to me on top of the suitcase, almost knocking me over. I giggled as Sam wrapped his left arm around me to hold me up.

"Here, I'll sit on it and you can zip it up." His voice was so charming, even when he said simple things like that.

Sam watched me as I bent down on the floor, smirking. I could feel my cheeks burning as I nervously pulled on the zipper. It glided roughly across the edges until it was finally closed. I sat down on the floor and sighed.

"There we go," I said, still staring at my luggage, trying to avoid Sam's eyes.

"Well, you look sadder than a frog on land," Sam said loudly, trying to cheer me up.

I smiled at his words, wondering if a frog really did feel sad on land.

"What're you thinking about, darlin'?" Sam's voice drew my eyes to him, and he looked at me sweetly.

I struggled to find the right words to start, but I couldn't say anything out loud. I ended up just sort of shaking my head. Sam cleared his throat and put his hands together between his knees.

"Are you thinking about Lucas?" His face grew serious as he studied me.

"That's part of it," I managed to say as I looked down at the floor.

Although being with Sam had been amazing, I just couldn't stop thinking about Lucas. It was as if this whole week made me realize how much I truly missed him. I sighed and made eye contact with Sam again.

"I don't know what I want, Sam."

His eyes flickered with pain as he rubbed his hands together.

"You mean you don't know if you want me," he said bluntly, his words full of sadness.

I could feel my eyes burning as I looked at him. I didn't want him to hurt.

"I don't know if I want Lucas, either," I said to him quietly, trying to explain how I felt without making it worse. "I just know that I am not ready to be in a new relationship right now."

Sam looked away from me quickly and swallowed. I started to feel nauseous as my anxiety ramped up. I didn't do well with confrontation, and this was going to be really hard. Sam looked back at me and started nodding slowly.

"I can accept that you're not ready for something serious with me, if that means that one day you will be."

It felt like his words fell out of his mouth and pushed down on my shoulders. My eyes started to water and I began to shake my head at him.

"Rachel, don't." Sam stood up and walked away from me and over to the sliding glass doors that led out to the balcony. He put his hands on top of his head and sighed deeply. He slowly dropped his arms at his side and turned around to face me again. He had tears in his eyes, and as soon as I saw them I felt mine start to fall.

"Sam, it's not fair for you to wait for me," I said to him softly as I stood up from the floor. He shook his head at me and put his hands on his hips.

"I don't care about what's fair for me, Rachel." His voice is slightly louder than before. "I don't care about myself one bit when it comes to you." He was so sincere that I could feel my heart swelling. "I'm worried about your heart, Rachel. I'm worried that he's going to keep breaking it over and over again."

My lip started to quiver as I saw the tears falling down Sam's face. The way that he expressed how he cared for me was something I had never experienced before.

"I want you to be with me, Rachel." Sam walked towards me slowly as he spoke. "I want you to feel happy, safe, and supported all the time." His tone was much gentler now as he wrapped his arms around my back. "Come back to Dallas with me."

Sam kissed me intensely, trying to make me feel how much he wanted me to go with him. I kissed him back, unable to pull away at first. I pressed my nose against his cheek and sighed. We stood there for a moment in silence as Sam rubbed my back.

"Sam," I said as I pulled away just enough to see his face. I smiled at him weakly, and he shook his head. "I care about you a lot, Sam."

He sniffled and quickly wiped his face before putting his hand back on my waist.

"You made this last week the most exciting and romantic experience I've ever had," I choked out.

Sam blinked away more tears as he started to understand where I'm going.

"But I can't promise you that this is going to work out because I'm not ready to let go of Lucas." I started sobbing as I finished my sentence, and Sam pulled me into him so my head was resting against his shoulder.

"I know you're not," he whispered against my hair. His breathing was slow, and he didn't loosen his grip on me.

My heart felt like it's being twisted. I pulled away from him slowly, feeling his resistance against my back. He sighed and let me move, grabbing my hands with his.

"I love you, Rachel." His words made me feel like I had been hit by a truck as my chest tightened. "And I'll be waiting for you, no matter what you say." He shook his head and more tears fell down his cheeks.

I stepped forward and threw my arms around his neck, and I felt him squeeze me tighter than I ever had been before. Sam and I held each other, crying softly for several minutes before someone knocked at the door.

Sam wiped his face and walked over to it. Walter was standing there with a baggage cart.

"Hello, Mrs. Marconi, your taxi is here to take you to the airport." An employee smiled warmly at us as he held onto the golden rail of the cart. Sam turns to me, his expression pained.

"Are you ready to go, darlin'?" My heart sank into my stomach as I nodded. Sam walked over to me and picked up my suitcase. "I'll walk you down," he said as he gingerly touched my cheek.

We were guided downstairs and out to the front of the building. The sun was shining high in the sky and there wasn't a speck of white in the vibrant blue dome above us. There was a bright yellow taxi sitting in the road outside of the hotel. A man stepped out and popped the trunk. Sam handed him my suitcase before turning to me. He slowly slid his hands around my waist and pressed a tender kiss to my lips. I placed one hand on the back of his neck, holding his hip with my other.

"I'm going to miss you terribly," he whispered as he rested his forehead against mine.

"I'm going to miss you a lot too, Sam," he smiled weakly at me before kissing me one last time.

I pulled away from him and solemnly got into the cab. Sam closed the door, leaving his hand on the top of the cab as he looked at me through the window. I heard the cab driver say something, and Sam stepped back onto the sidewalk. He didn't break eye contact with me until the cab got far enough away to where I couldn't see him anymore. I leaned back into the seat and tried to relax as the cab driver took me to the airport.