JOYOUS BIRTHDAY FUN FOR sarcasto_chick
Fic: May the best man win.
Universe: Sam and Carly in Ocean's Eleven Land.
Pairing: Sam/Carly
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2229
Summary: Our two favorites in a familar scene from the movie, Carly's point of view.
I sighed, taking a sip of my apple jack while I waited. He's always here first unless he's mad at me. Or busy. For the most part it takes some form of anger to make him drag himself over to our table later than usual.
Someone is always watching, what the hell was that about? Doesn't he realize what an invasion of my privacy that suggestion is? I don't want to be watched, period. Telling him that would only create another fight, but it's the truth.
And he's behind me. Great. I bet he was watching me first.
I'm going to be paranoid about this now.
"Youre thirty seconds late, I was about to send out a search."
Smirking, I tilted my head back to get a look at him. Marcello has a thing for black. A black suit, with a black tie, and a crisp white shirt that he paid several hundred dollars for simply because he could. The whole 'class and reputation' thing. It almost reminds me of my father sometimes. He was equally concerned with his appearance, though not half as good looking. Then again, we didn't exactly have a three quarters of a billion to throw around, either.
....That's not Marcello.
"Hello, Car."
I move forward so that he stops touching me, and straighten up in my seat. My body tenses when I remember what Marcello told me about being watched. I've been nothing but loyal to him, but seeing me here with my ex husband? I think it would make him question my faithfulness. Honestly, I think it would make any man question it.
What the fuck is he doing here?!
"I'm out.
That's nice. Out of the closet, maybe?
"You're out?"
"Of prison. You remember that day I went out for cigarettes and didnt come back? You must have noticed.
"You don't smoke." I frowned, watching him move away from my side of the table and move over to Marcello's. "Don't sit!"
He sat anyway, shit.
My boyfriend is going to pitch a fit if he finds Sam here. That's all there is to it. He's going to pitch a fit, and have a nice, bald guard who is twice Sam's size escort him out the door and shoot him in the head. I've heard of it happening here before. They dump the body in the desert and no one knows. Marcello considers it an efficient way to take care of a problem. Killing. In most cases I wouldn't blame him, but this time...
What on earth is Sam trying to prove?
I mean, really. We're over. Finished. Completely through. The divorce was finalized and everything. If he wants to beg for forgiveness, he's a little late. Besides, I make it a point not to get involved with convicts now. I'm doing pretty damn good without him.
"Now they tell me that i paid my debt to society..."
"That's funny, I never got a check."
Good for Sam. He paid his debt to society. They locked him up, he spent some quality time making license plates, or doing whatever the hell it is you do when they send you to the 'big house' and now society thinks he's a nice, normal guy, who isn't in town to make my life a living hell by sitting in the wrong seat. I'm happy for him.
But what about his debt to me? What about how his stealing ruined my life.
It's nice that he paid his debt to society. Really it is. But he'll never make good on the one he has with me.
"Youre not wearing your ring."
No, I have that locked away in storage. Truthfully, I should have never kept it. I wanted to start fresh, saving it wasn't the way to go. Wearing it would have been insane. I'm not married. I'm divorced. Divorced from a thief who ruined my life and now thinks I should have made some kind of attachment to his jewelry. I don't wear that ring anymore. I won't ever again. I just kept it because it was an unusual arrangement. Pretty to look at. Keeping it had nothing to do with him.
Which is why he can't know I kept it.
"I sold it. I dont have a husband, or didnt you get the papers?"
I know it isn't polite to rub it in, but this time, I'll make an exception. Marcello's lifestyle hasn't changed me so much that I can't make a decent comment or two. The only difference now is that I usually save all the good lines for when he's not around.
And he isn't here now. He's late. I can say whatever I want.
"My last day inside."
They didn't tell me that. I like that. There's some kind of irony to our marriage ending just before he became a free man. For all of the trouble he caused, I hope he felt it. Sam broke my heart, ruined my life, hurt me in ways I never thought he'd be capable of. I went through enough that I'd like the comfort of knowing he had at least one exceptionally shitty day as payback.
"I told you I'd write."
You asshole.
"Sam, you should go now, before--" He cut me off. Damnit. I was trying to help him, I don't know why, but I was, and he won't listen to it.
"What? Before San Giacomo shows?"
Exactly.
The waiter, I think his name is Larry? Lionel? Linus? I don't know, some L name that I don't remember, came over to take Sam's order. If I had the power, I would have fired him on the spot for even addressing him.
"How're you doing? I'll take a...whiskey."
I'm not paying for that. I've paid enough for the things that Sam did, and I think he should know right now, I won't let him cost me anymore. I won't let him cost Marcello the few dollars it would take to pay for that drink. He steals, doesn't he? He should go steal a couple of bucks and come back here when his whiskey isn't going to end up on my bill.
"I'm going to make this quick. I came here for you. I want to get on with my life and I want you with me."
This is the part where I'm supposed to be touched. Where the music rises and the background fades out. We run out, never looking over shoulder to see if my boyfriend is going to shoot him in the back, and live happily ever after. I'm not buying it. Not at all.
I find it upsetting, because in some small way, I think I'd like to. Jealous rage of current boyfriend aside, I think it would be easy to buy into this, pick up where we left off, and be happy for a little while. But Sam loves his job more than he loves me, and thievery has a way of catching up to people. How long would it be before someone let him in a plan he couldn't resist? And after that, how long would it take for the cops to catch on that Mr. Three to Six was up to his old tricks? Where would that leave me? Miserable again? Weak again? Emotional and financially unstable again? I'll never go back to that. Not even for Sam.
"You're a liar and a thief."
The two top reasons why our marriage didn't work out. I think he's heard them before, probably multiple times, and generally with the words 'fucking' in front of both of them. Masks. He went to jail over masks. I wonder how many Big Louies tried to rape him for that one.
"I only lied about being a thief. I don't do that anymore."
"Steal?"
"Lie."
For a mnute there, he almost had me. I doubt it would change things anyway, but if he could find a way to give it up, Sam would be better off. He's going to ruin his life over and over until the only thing left to do is rot in a prison cell. No matter what happened between us, I don't want that for him. He's out. He should leave me alone and find a decent job. Make a real, honest living like what everyone other than him and Madsen do.
God damnit, why can't he just be normal? I hate him for this. I can't stand the way he's so proud of doing something he knows is wrong.
"I'm with someone now who doesnt have to make that kind of distinction."
"No, he's very clear on both."
Fuck him. What the hell has Marcello ever done to deserve that kind of comment out of the mouth of a common criminal? Why the hell can't he understand that not everyone in the world has to take things from other people to find success? Marcello has to enforce his power sometimes, but only on people who deserve it. Only when he protects what belongs to him.
Maybe if Sam had bothered to do that, we'd still be together now.
"You know what your problem is?"
"I only have one?"
"Youve met too many people like you. I'm with Marcello now."
I am. I'm with Marcello San Giacomo. Hotel and casino owner. Millionare. All around handsome Italian guy. Who hates the French and thinks I'm a beautiful woman who needs to stop swearing so much. I'm with a good man. An honest man. Someone who doesn't lie or steal to get what he wants.
"Does he make you laugh?"
"He doesnt make me cry."
I've never admitted that to anyone before, but it felt like the right thing to say at the time. I never ever cry if I can help it. Sometimes I just can't control myself. 'Sometimes' happened a lot more frequently when Sam was in prison and I was waiting for the divorce to go through. He made me vulnerable. I used box after box of kleenex, and not even a new start made the shame of what had happened completely go away.
Until I met Marcello. He helped me get my life back on track. Gave me a job, advice, a chance to make my life better. Of course I fell for him after that. What woman in her right mind wouldn't?
"See the people you steal things from, they have insurance to compensate them. They get made whole again. I had to leave Los Angeles to get away from what happened. How am I going to get my five years back, Sam?"
"You cant, but what you can do is make sure you dont waste another five--"
"No."
It's not like that. Not this time. I can't go back to him. This isn't wasting anything; this is moving on. I have to do that and stop looking back. All dwelling on this is going to get me is another empty house.
"Alright, you dont love me anymore, you want to make a life with someone else fine. Im gonna have to freakin' live with that, but not him."
"Spoken like a true ex husband."
He can't tell me what to do anymore. I'll see whoever I want to see, make my life with whoever I want to spend it with. I've chosen Marcello. There's not a damn thing that he can do about that.
'Not him.' Like he has any say in the matter.
"I'm not joking Carly."
"I'm not laughing Sam. You have to admit there is a bit of a conflict of interest when you give me advice about my love life."
"Yes, but it doesnt mean that I'm wrong."
When has he ever been right? And how does being here now supposed to make up for what he did? Does he think it'll look romantic when they order Rafe to put a bullet in him over me? I know he thinks he has a shot at changing my mind, he wouldn't be here if he didn't. I just don't see how him ordering me around is going to get me to reconsider my relationship with someone I care about. Marcello and I aren't having an easy time of the whole relationship thing right now, but we'll get past it. We'll get past it because we know we can trust each other not to get caught stealing things. I don't have that with Sam, and I never will.
He needs to get his act together. Not for me anymore, just because it's time to get past this.
"You remember what I said to you when we first met?"
"You said I better know what I'm doing."
"Do you. Now? Because truly you should walk out the door if you dont."
I can only give him one warning this time. Marcello has eyes and ears all over the place. Whatever Sam is planning, he better have made sure that it's absolutely foolproof. He didn't just come here for me. Thieves don't come into casinos to talk to pretty girls. They come because they're hungry for a challenge. If that's what Sam was looking for, he found it.
"I know what I'm doing."
Then may the best man win.
"What are you doing?"
We both looked up to see Marcello standing in front of us. I smiled politely and went through the introductions before Sam left. I don't think I was supposed to notice the smirk on his face or the swagger in his walk when he headed out, but I did. And my smile grew wider.
I know I haven't seen the last of him.
Universe: Sam and Carly in Ocean's Eleven Land.
Pairing: Sam/Carly
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2229
Summary: Our two favorites in a familar scene from the movie, Carly's point of view.
I sighed, taking a sip of my apple jack while I waited. He's always here first unless he's mad at me. Or busy. For the most part it takes some form of anger to make him drag himself over to our table later than usual.
Someone is always watching, what the hell was that about? Doesn't he realize what an invasion of my privacy that suggestion is? I don't want to be watched, period. Telling him that would only create another fight, but it's the truth.
And he's behind me. Great. I bet he was watching me first.
I'm going to be paranoid about this now.
"Youre thirty seconds late, I was about to send out a search."
Smirking, I tilted my head back to get a look at him. Marcello has a thing for black. A black suit, with a black tie, and a crisp white shirt that he paid several hundred dollars for simply because he could. The whole 'class and reputation' thing. It almost reminds me of my father sometimes. He was equally concerned with his appearance, though not half as good looking. Then again, we didn't exactly have a three quarters of a billion to throw around, either.
....That's not Marcello.
"Hello, Car."
I move forward so that he stops touching me, and straighten up in my seat. My body tenses when I remember what Marcello told me about being watched. I've been nothing but loyal to him, but seeing me here with my ex husband? I think it would make him question my faithfulness. Honestly, I think it would make any man question it.
What the fuck is he doing here?!
"I'm out.
That's nice. Out of the closet, maybe?
"You're out?"
"Of prison. You remember that day I went out for cigarettes and didnt come back? You must have noticed.
"You don't smoke." I frowned, watching him move away from my side of the table and move over to Marcello's. "Don't sit!"
He sat anyway, shit.
My boyfriend is going to pitch a fit if he finds Sam here. That's all there is to it. He's going to pitch a fit, and have a nice, bald guard who is twice Sam's size escort him out the door and shoot him in the head. I've heard of it happening here before. They dump the body in the desert and no one knows. Marcello considers it an efficient way to take care of a problem. Killing. In most cases I wouldn't blame him, but this time...
What on earth is Sam trying to prove?
I mean, really. We're over. Finished. Completely through. The divorce was finalized and everything. If he wants to beg for forgiveness, he's a little late. Besides, I make it a point not to get involved with convicts now. I'm doing pretty damn good without him.
"Now they tell me that i paid my debt to society..."
"That's funny, I never got a check."
Good for Sam. He paid his debt to society. They locked him up, he spent some quality time making license plates, or doing whatever the hell it is you do when they send you to the 'big house' and now society thinks he's a nice, normal guy, who isn't in town to make my life a living hell by sitting in the wrong seat. I'm happy for him.
But what about his debt to me? What about how his stealing ruined my life.
It's nice that he paid his debt to society. Really it is. But he'll never make good on the one he has with me.
"Youre not wearing your ring."
No, I have that locked away in storage. Truthfully, I should have never kept it. I wanted to start fresh, saving it wasn't the way to go. Wearing it would have been insane. I'm not married. I'm divorced. Divorced from a thief who ruined my life and now thinks I should have made some kind of attachment to his jewelry. I don't wear that ring anymore. I won't ever again. I just kept it because it was an unusual arrangement. Pretty to look at. Keeping it had nothing to do with him.
Which is why he can't know I kept it.
"I sold it. I dont have a husband, or didnt you get the papers?"
I know it isn't polite to rub it in, but this time, I'll make an exception. Marcello's lifestyle hasn't changed me so much that I can't make a decent comment or two. The only difference now is that I usually save all the good lines for when he's not around.
And he isn't here now. He's late. I can say whatever I want.
"My last day inside."
They didn't tell me that. I like that. There's some kind of irony to our marriage ending just before he became a free man. For all of the trouble he caused, I hope he felt it. Sam broke my heart, ruined my life, hurt me in ways I never thought he'd be capable of. I went through enough that I'd like the comfort of knowing he had at least one exceptionally shitty day as payback.
"I told you I'd write."
You asshole.
"Sam, you should go now, before--" He cut me off. Damnit. I was trying to help him, I don't know why, but I was, and he won't listen to it.
"What? Before San Giacomo shows?"
Exactly.
The waiter, I think his name is Larry? Lionel? Linus? I don't know, some L name that I don't remember, came over to take Sam's order. If I had the power, I would have fired him on the spot for even addressing him.
"How're you doing? I'll take a...whiskey."
I'm not paying for that. I've paid enough for the things that Sam did, and I think he should know right now, I won't let him cost me anymore. I won't let him cost Marcello the few dollars it would take to pay for that drink. He steals, doesn't he? He should go steal a couple of bucks and come back here when his whiskey isn't going to end up on my bill.
"I'm going to make this quick. I came here for you. I want to get on with my life and I want you with me."
This is the part where I'm supposed to be touched. Where the music rises and the background fades out. We run out, never looking over shoulder to see if my boyfriend is going to shoot him in the back, and live happily ever after. I'm not buying it. Not at all.
I find it upsetting, because in some small way, I think I'd like to. Jealous rage of current boyfriend aside, I think it would be easy to buy into this, pick up where we left off, and be happy for a little while. But Sam loves his job more than he loves me, and thievery has a way of catching up to people. How long would it be before someone let him in a plan he couldn't resist? And after that, how long would it take for the cops to catch on that Mr. Three to Six was up to his old tricks? Where would that leave me? Miserable again? Weak again? Emotional and financially unstable again? I'll never go back to that. Not even for Sam.
"You're a liar and a thief."
The two top reasons why our marriage didn't work out. I think he's heard them before, probably multiple times, and generally with the words 'fucking' in front of both of them. Masks. He went to jail over masks. I wonder how many Big Louies tried to rape him for that one.
"I only lied about being a thief. I don't do that anymore."
"Steal?"
"Lie."
For a mnute there, he almost had me. I doubt it would change things anyway, but if he could find a way to give it up, Sam would be better off. He's going to ruin his life over and over until the only thing left to do is rot in a prison cell. No matter what happened between us, I don't want that for him. He's out. He should leave me alone and find a decent job. Make a real, honest living like what everyone other than him and Madsen do.
God damnit, why can't he just be normal? I hate him for this. I can't stand the way he's so proud of doing something he knows is wrong.
"I'm with someone now who doesnt have to make that kind of distinction."
"No, he's very clear on both."
Fuck him. What the hell has Marcello ever done to deserve that kind of comment out of the mouth of a common criminal? Why the hell can't he understand that not everyone in the world has to take things from other people to find success? Marcello has to enforce his power sometimes, but only on people who deserve it. Only when he protects what belongs to him.
Maybe if Sam had bothered to do that, we'd still be together now.
"You know what your problem is?"
"I only have one?"
"Youve met too many people like you. I'm with Marcello now."
I am. I'm with Marcello San Giacomo. Hotel and casino owner. Millionare. All around handsome Italian guy. Who hates the French and thinks I'm a beautiful woman who needs to stop swearing so much. I'm with a good man. An honest man. Someone who doesn't lie or steal to get what he wants.
"Does he make you laugh?"
"He doesnt make me cry."
I've never admitted that to anyone before, but it felt like the right thing to say at the time. I never ever cry if I can help it. Sometimes I just can't control myself. 'Sometimes' happened a lot more frequently when Sam was in prison and I was waiting for the divorce to go through. He made me vulnerable. I used box after box of kleenex, and not even a new start made the shame of what had happened completely go away.
Until I met Marcello. He helped me get my life back on track. Gave me a job, advice, a chance to make my life better. Of course I fell for him after that. What woman in her right mind wouldn't?
"See the people you steal things from, they have insurance to compensate them. They get made whole again. I had to leave Los Angeles to get away from what happened. How am I going to get my five years back, Sam?"
"You cant, but what you can do is make sure you dont waste another five--"
"No."
It's not like that. Not this time. I can't go back to him. This isn't wasting anything; this is moving on. I have to do that and stop looking back. All dwelling on this is going to get me is another empty house.
"Alright, you dont love me anymore, you want to make a life with someone else fine. Im gonna have to freakin' live with that, but not him."
"Spoken like a true ex husband."
He can't tell me what to do anymore. I'll see whoever I want to see, make my life with whoever I want to spend it with. I've chosen Marcello. There's not a damn thing that he can do about that.
'Not him.' Like he has any say in the matter.
"I'm not joking Carly."
"I'm not laughing Sam. You have to admit there is a bit of a conflict of interest when you give me advice about my love life."
"Yes, but it doesnt mean that I'm wrong."
When has he ever been right? And how does being here now supposed to make up for what he did? Does he think it'll look romantic when they order Rafe to put a bullet in him over me? I know he thinks he has a shot at changing my mind, he wouldn't be here if he didn't. I just don't see how him ordering me around is going to get me to reconsider my relationship with someone I care about. Marcello and I aren't having an easy time of the whole relationship thing right now, but we'll get past it. We'll get past it because we know we can trust each other not to get caught stealing things. I don't have that with Sam, and I never will.
He needs to get his act together. Not for me anymore, just because it's time to get past this.
"You remember what I said to you when we first met?"
"You said I better know what I'm doing."
"Do you. Now? Because truly you should walk out the door if you dont."
I can only give him one warning this time. Marcello has eyes and ears all over the place. Whatever Sam is planning, he better have made sure that it's absolutely foolproof. He didn't just come here for me. Thieves don't come into casinos to talk to pretty girls. They come because they're hungry for a challenge. If that's what Sam was looking for, he found it.
"I know what I'm doing."
Then may the best man win.
"What are you doing?"
We both looked up to see Marcello standing in front of us. I smiled politely and went through the introductions before Sam left. I don't think I was supposed to notice the smirk on his face or the swagger in his walk when he headed out, but I did. And my smile grew wider.
I know I haven't seen the last of him.