Not Over You

Three weeks had passed since everything had happened to Samantha. She was feeling a lot better about herself because she knew that she couldn’t be hung up about Grant and Jon anymore. Plus her week with Elena and Patrick reminded her that as long as she had friends who supported her, she would eventually be okay. She even began going home at a normal hour and actually started to go out to bars every once and a while with a few co-workers. At times she would be pulled back into her depressed state, mainly at work. They were still selling their Blackhawk cupcakes and there was no way she would get rid of them because they were her number one seller.

While she was at work, there was a group of boys in their baseball uniforms. A few of them were hockey fans, so they began asking her if she actually knew the Blackhawks. When she had told them she did know them and that she was actually friends with them, they had bought up Jon and how “amazing” he was. And just like that, her upbeat mood was gone.

Her bakery was currently closed as she sat on the cold tiled flooring. She cried as she leaned against the wall that was behind the counter. She tried to sooth herself as she ate her Maple Walnut pie and drank her favorite red wine…straight from the bottle. She felt pathetic for crying over a guy who didn’t like her anymore. She felt pathetic that she let him get in the way of her life. After being there for almost an hour, she didn’t know which was sadder, the fact that she was still hung up or Jon, or the fact that she was on the floor crying and eating. Not wanting to bother Elena or either of the Patrick’s, she called the last person she would ever consider calling.

“Hello?”

“Mommy?” Samantha cried.

Her mother sighed, “Sammy, sweetie, what’s wrong?”

It had been a while since she had called her mother. She and her mother called each other for birthdays and holidays, but they haven’t seen each other since Samantha left Tennessee for Illinois almost four years ago.

“I’m sitting in my bakery eating pie and drinking wine. It’s not even in a glass! I’m drinking it from the bottle, mom! I’m so pitiful! What happened to my life?”

“Just calm down and put the wine away,” her mother couldn’t help but laugh lightly. “Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong?”

Samantha decided to start her story from the very beginning. The story began when she told her mother how she met Jon and how their relationship began, leaving out the detail that they slept together before actually getting to know each other. Her mother remembered Jon because Samantha had bought him up a few times over the years. Her mother patiently listened as Samantha told the story about how she met Grant. Her story telling took a lot longer than she had thought, mainly because she kept crying and she couldn’t form her words.

“Mom, what do I do?” Samantha sighed, wiping her tears away. “I’m so lost.”

“Well,” her mother began, “first you need to clean up and leave that bakery of yours. Go home and take a nice bath or something. Second, you need to remember that you’re a Donovan. We don’t cry over men.”

She laughed slightly at her mother’s joke. “I wish it was that easy. I mean, I thought I knew Jon. I thought he felt the same way, but he doesn’t. Maybe I told Grant for no reason.”

“You know that’s not true. It’s not fair to Grant if you kept it a secret. If Jon doesn’t feel the same, don’t let it bother you. You have to move on,” her mother explained, “sometimes we just aren’t meant with the people who we think we should be with. I mean, look at me and your father for example.”

She knew her mother had a point. Her parents met through mutual friends and had Samantha when they were only 20. A few years later, they had gotten married and had her sister. Things started to fall apart for her parents and the only reason why they stayed together for so long was because of their girls. They tried to rekindle their marriage but were still miserable together. When Samantha was in the 8th grade, she told her parents to get a divorce if they weren’t in love anymore, and that she and her sister would be okay. And they did.

“Yeah, I guess,” Samantha spoke in a muffled tone.

Her mother sighed, “I know it’s the last thing you want to hear, but maybe you need to forget Jon.”

“I don’t want to,” she whined, making her mother laugh again. “I just, miss him. I miss the relationship we had together. He wasn’t clingy and would always eat my dessert. I just, can’t get over him.”

Her mother actually felt her heartbreak as her daughter cried. Of course she wanted to tell her that things would be okay and that she didn’t need Jon, but she knew that Samantha wouldn’t be able to follow that advice very likely.

“Samantha,” she sighed, “I don’t know what to tell you. I know you really miss him but you can’t force him to feel the same way. If you really cared about Jon, you’d accept the fact that he doesn’t love you back and you’d let him go and move.”

She frowned and looked down at her lap, knowing that her mother was right. You can’t force something to love you back. They stayed quiet for a few moments, not knowing what else to say. “Thanks mom,” she spoke quietly.

“Anything for you, sweetie. You know I love you.”

Samantha smiled, knowing it was true. “You know, if you’re not busy or anything, do you think you’d want to come visit me for a while? I mean I have an extra room and I could always use an extra hand in the bakery. Claire can come too, if she wants.”

Her mother was speechless. The three of them didn’t have the best relationship in the world and they wanted to fix it. No one was proud enough to let go of their pride and make the first step. Samantha had figured it was time to step up and fix her family. Even with the constant fighting, she loved her mother and sister.

“I’d love to visit,” her mother said excitedly. “I’m sure Claire would love to as well. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know.”

She smiled, “okay. Thanks again, mom. I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetie.”


Jon locked his car door as he walked towards Samantha’s bakery. He had spent a little over a month in Winnipeg and was glad to be back in Chicago. The preseason was starting soon and he had to get back into shape from his summer indulgences. Today was actually his first day back in Chicago and the first thing he wanted to talk to Samantha and beg her for her forgiveness. He knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task but it was the right thing to do.

Walking into the store, Jon could feel the cool AC hit against his skin. It was a hot day in Chicago and he wish he could be back in the lake back home. It was a Wednesday morning so the bakery wasn’t too crowed. He saw Ana at the glass display of the baked goods and walked up to her.

“Hey Ana, is Sam around?” He asked.

Ana shook her head as she placed a few cookies into a box. “No, she took the day off. Her mother and sister are in town for the week. She should be back tomorrow, though.”

Jon raised his eyebrows, surprised that they were here in Chicago. “Uh, okay. Thanks Ana, I’ll see you later.”

She gave him a quick smile before returning to work. Jon left the bakery with his hands in his pockets, wishing that she was there just so he could be forgiven already. Getting into his car, he decided to go to her apartment to see if he could get any luck there. Five minutes later, Jon was knocking on her door, patiently waiting. The door opened up only seconds later.

“Jon,” Samantha said in a surprised tone, “what the hell are you doing here?”

He shoved his hands back into his pockets as he looked down at her. She leaned against the door frame, crossing her arms as she gave him a cold stare. He inhaled sharply, “I wanted to talk to you.”

“You’re unbelievable, you know that?” She spat.

“Sweetie, who’s at the door?” Her mother called out from the kitchen. Samantha held her cold stare at Jon as she moved to the side to let her mother stand next to her. Her mother popped out from around the corner, and Jon couldn’t believe how much they looked alike. “Who is this, sweetie?”

Samantha rolled her eyes, “this is Jonathan. Jon, this is my mother, Monica.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Ms. Donovan,” Jon said politely, shaking her hand. “I can see where Sam gets her good looks from.”

Monica blushed, “please, call me Monica. Sweetie, why don’t you invite Jon in?”

Jon had to admit, he was a little scared of her because she wouldn’t stop glaring at him. He’d never seen such a dirty look before. When Samantha didn’t say anything for a few minutes, her mother gave her a light shove. “Jon, would you like to come in?” She asked with a fake smile on her face.

“Thank you, I would love to,” he walked into the apartment, giving Samantha a little triumphant smile as he passed by her. She growled lowly enough for Jon to hear as she closed the door.

When he walked in, he saw a girl with dirty blond hair sitting on the couch. He had figured that she was Samantha’s younger sister, Claire. Monica ordered her youngest to get up from the couch and say hello. When she stood up, Jon realized how she looked just like Monica and Samantha. The only difference between the three was that Monica and Claire had dirty blond hair, while Samantha was a brunette like their father.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Claire smiled as she shook Jon’s hand. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but are you the Jon that plays hockey and speaks French or the one that’s trying to be an actor and speaks German?”

Jon smiled as he saw Samantha roll her eyes. He knew she would be doing that a lot during his stay. He also wondered what other Jon Samantha had been talking to for her sister to get the two mixed up.

“I’m the one who speaks French,” he said in his native tongue. “Are you the sister who ruined Sam’s favorite jacket?”

“God, you’re still hung up on that jacket?” Claire yelled, turning to Sam. “That was almost ten years ago! Get over it!”

Samantha scrunched up her eyebrows and glared back at her. “Dean gave me that jacket for my birthday! It was my favorite one!”

Before the girls could get into an argument, Monica got in between them and cut them off. “Claire, why don’t we go explore the city while we leave Jon and Sam to talk?” she suggested.

“Oh, you don’t-“

Monica was already pushing Claire out of the apartment. “We’ll call when we’re on our way home.”

Once the front door was shut, Samantha gave Jon a dirty look as she slid passed him to go to her bedroom. He quickly followed her and was able to stop the door as she tried to slam it in his face. It had been a while since Jon had been in her bedroom. He looked around the room and saw how she rearranged the furniture as he closed the door. Samantha was staring out the window with her arms crossed tightly against her chest.

He walked over towards her and stood behind her. Her body stiffened as she felt his body get closer to hers. Jon gently touched her shoulder and tugged it lightly to get her to turn around. His hands were still warm and abnormally soft for a hockey player’s. He tightly pressed his lips together and sighed when she didn’t move her body.

“Sam,” he said softly, “please look at me.”

Her body relaxed a bit once he let go of her, but her arms were still across her chest. She slowly turned around and sniffed as she felt like she was about to cry. Her eyes glistened from the sunlight that shined through her window. The whites of her eyes were red as Jon only frowned at her. A tear slid down her cheek before she quickly wiped it away. She didn’t want to show him any weakness.

“What do you want from me?” She asked shakily, “You don’t have to feel bad for me anymore, okay? You’re allowed to ditch me since everyone else is.”

Jon grimaced as he listened to how weak she sounded. It was weird to see her so upset. Their break up seemed like she didn’t care for him at all and now it was like she was a completely different person.

He tried to pull her body towards his, but she only pushed him away. “No one is ditching you.”

“Right, that’s why my best friend left me for some guy after dating him for a month?” She scoffed, “You said what you had to say about me, Jon. Just do us both a favor and don’t talk to me anymore.”

Boy, she sure knew how to make a guy feel guilty. He felt how dry his throat had become once she had started crying. “I didn’t mean it, Sam. You know I really do care about you. I was just mad at David and Patrick because they kept pestering me about you. I just snapped.”

“And that gives you the right to say all that stuff about me?” She argued, “Really, Jon? Is that your excuse?”

Jon quickly shook his head, “No, of course not.” She grunted as she pushed passed him to go lock herself in the bathroom, but Jon grabbed her arm before she could take three steps away from him. “Look, I know I’m an ass. I really am sorry that I said all of those things to you. But Sammy, I swear I didn’t mean any of those things that I said. I still really care about you.”

Her lower lip began to tremble. “Don’t call me that, you jerk. God, I hate you so much, Jon.”

“I know you don’t mean that.”

She pulled away from his grip and wanted to slap him in the face, but she knew she would be hurting herself more than him. “Jon, just please go,” she cried, “Pat’s right, I’m not your girlfriend anymore. You don’t have to worry about how I feel anymore.”

“But-“

“Just go!” She shouted. She walked over to her bed as she began to cry, ruining what little make up she had on her face. “Just go, Jon. Please,” she cried.

Not only did Jon feel guilty about saying those things about her, he now felt guilty for making her cry. What little change he had left with her was now gone. Jon exhaled quietly as he walked towards the door to leave her alone. She sobbed quietly on her bed as he looked at her once more time before leaving.