The Model & The Singer

Chapter 42

When Santana arrived to pick up Sam, she ushered him into car before the driver took off. She turned to face her best friend with a grim look. Sam grew concerned at her expression. He silently wondered whatever this is can't be that bad. "Samuel, it's really bad," Santana told him. He made a face, realizing how bad it was if she was calling him Samuel. Even his parents have never called him by his first name. "How bad is it?" Sam asked in a soft tone.

His expression dropped as she began to fill him in on everything. By the time the driver pulled up to the front of SnixMoZes Entertainment Corporate building, Sam was full of rage.  He and Santana were quickly out the car and into the building. They took the express elevator up to the conference room.

The minute they stepped off, everyone was quietly watching a recap of earlier events on Tina Cohen-Chang's show. Sam silently stepped up and watched what happened to Mercedes, Unique, and Marley on the Teri Del Monico show. The more he watched, the angrier he got. After the clip was over, and Tina began to speak on the matter, Sam furiously turned towards his best friend and the others. "What in the hell, San? Is all of that really true?" He asked in a tone that showed he was half-passed pissed off.

Santana exhaled a deep breath before leaning against the table behind her. "Yeah, it's true Sam. In fact, we all learned about it during Teri's show." She told Sam while handing him a stack of papers. "As Mercedes, Unique, and Marley were blindsided after the performance, we hurried and did some emergency digging. Jean Baptiste somehow found a legal loophole in Mercedes' old contract that we missed." Santana in a frustrated tone. "What was it, San?" Sam asked in confusion.

"That once the contract ended with Hummel Entertainment, she was a free agent, and anyone could sign up quickly with no objections." She explained. "Basically, this was written back when The Hummels were still starting out and Cedes was there first and only client. They didn't know if they were going to be successful.  So, after giving themselves three years, if Mercedes' career surpassed the time the Hummels needed to make their business a success," Santana said before Sam spoke, figuring it out. "Someone can come in and snatch up Mercedes, contract wise, to give her a better chance."  He sighed and shook his head at the realization. "Wow, but wouldn't that just be about the Hummels, not Zizes or you." Sam asked, stepping up closer to his friend.

Santana slowly shook her head, causing her thick tresses to slightly sway. "That's the bad thing about the loophole. It was open-ended, Sammy." She said, wincing at remembering how they all reacted to the news, reading the contract Burt sent over. "That loophole was for everything." She said before smiling some. "Then I learned that there was a last-minute add-on to the contract that Cedes added to cover herself somewhat." She said before watching Sam skip several pages until he got to the final page, reading what it said.

"I, Mercedes Tamara Jones, agree to this entire contract on one stipulation. That I am allowed to have a test period to of one month to see if I feel the company is a best fit for me and what I want for my career. If after that one month I don't agree with where my career and best interests are headed, I can leave and be a free agent again." Sam said aloud as his green eyes scanned the page's final paragraph. He saw it was stamped, signed, and legally processed.

"Does she remember this? How is she doing? Where is she? Why hasn't she contacted me?" He rambled while feeling a mix of worry and anger. Santana held her manicured hands palm up, facing him, trying to calm him down. "Sam, she didn't at first but now does. She's okay right now. She hasn't contacted you yet because she's still wrapping her head around it. She's with Unique and Marley having a long talk with the Hummels,  trying to calm them down." She said, listing out the answer to his questions.

Sam sat on the table frustrated at this. It seems whenever they get to a point in their personal or work relationship, something seems to get in the way. Irritating people or issues. He knew that by the final video and single, he needed to make sure this ends with their happily ever after. "San, what can I do?" He asked in a pleading tone. She suddenly smiled wider and tilted her head in his direction. "I got feeling you already had a plan cooking in the back of that wonderful brain of yours, Evans." She said, causing him to smile in return. 

"Yup, I do," He said. "I have one that takes care of Christian, Rachel, Jean, and gives us our HEA. And it syncs up perfectly with the finally video and single. I'm going to destroy her nightmares and make my dream come true." Sam informed his longtime childhood friend. Santana just chuckled a bit and looked at him with a surprised expression. "You talk like you're about to permanently make Mercedes an Evans while taking down all the villains in this story." She joked.

Sam simply smirked causing Santana to stare at him in shock. "Sam! For real?" She asked as he continued to smirk. "Remember the pact we made to be each other's bestie for our weddings?" He asked her. "Duh, yeah!" She said in a matter-of-fact tone. "You were my man of honor for me and Brit's wedding." Sam threw an arm around her shoulders and gave her a proud look. "In two months, I'm gonna need you to get fitted for a new tux." He told her. Santana gasped before turning to hug him.

"Congratulations, Sammy." She said with a smile. Sam placed his index finger to his pink pouty lips. "Right now, it's just between us. First, let's get Cedes out of this, then we work on the final single's video with a special surprise at the end, and we wrap this up with the real deal." He said before he and Santana quietly went over how to make sure Mercedes is never hurt again.