Different Forms of Happiness

Part 10

Chapter 9 - Graham

Staring at the man across from him, Graham kept the smile on his face. The homeless man he had met on the sidewalk, the one that had to be nineteen at the most was smarter than he let on. The man was honestly a genius. Why he wasn't in Harvard or somewhere else was a mystery.

"You got the job," Graham said, when the man wiggled in his with unease.

"Really? That's amazing. I have a job, a real job."

The wonder in the man's voice made Graham's smile widen. "Yep, a real job. You'll be handling my finances seeing as you have a real mind for numbers, but-"

The banging on the door sent his eyebrows sailing down. Who could be at his door at this time of day? It was dark out, almost too dark for business. Sending the man, Todd, a shrug, he rose from his seat. "Let me get the door. It'll only be a minute."

"Take your time," Todd mumbled, a smile on his face.

Graham just shook his head at the man while making his way towards the door. As his hand connected with the knob, he rolled his eyes. It was probably Scott, running from Sam's man friend. He refused to think of the man as her boyfriend. With the way the two of them acted, it was obvious that their relationship hadn't evolved intimately; therefore, in Graham's eyes, Max had no hold on Sam.

"Scott," he started as he pulled the door open, "quit being a girl."

"My name is Sam, and I am a girl?" The question in her voice let him know that she was confused, but he just rolled his eyes as if he meant to mistake her for his friend.

"I knew that. Hey, what are you doing here?"

She blinked up at him, obviously trying to charm her way into his heart. "I need your help."

He let out a sigh. "With-"

"Samantha?"

"Todd?" she squeaked, pushing past Graham and wrapping her arms around the man.

Todd let out a laugh as Sam pushed away from him. Before either of them knew what was happening, Sam's hands were running across his body. "Wh-what are you doing?" Todd stuttered.

She looked up at him, eyes narrowed. "Looking for injuries. Are you all right? You haven't kept in contact, and you never visit the library any more. I thought you were dead. "

Todd stopped Sam's hands from moving close to anything the man thought of as precious. "I'm fine Sam. I'm good; look at me. I look normal, right?"

"Normal," she huffed, blowing her hair up and out of her face. "I can't believe you did that to me. Wait, why are you at Graham's apartment?"

"He gave me a job," Todd said, his chest puffing out in a proud way. "Now, I can take care of Bethany without the state keeping me away."

Sam's body froze, as understanding dawned in Graham's mind. "You're Bethany's brother?"

Todd nodded. "Yeah. I can adopt her as soon as I have my act together. I have money saved, but I wanted a house for her, something that she can have for the rest of her life. Until then, I'm living however I need to."

"He used to come into the library every day," Sam continued, "with Bethany. The girl is the one you met earlier."

"Hard to forget her," Graham said with a fond smile. "She got five bucks for helping us out, getting rid of that woman. She's a mastermind, that's what she is, and now, I can see where she got it from."

"Speaking of Bethany..." Sam trailed off her eyes flying between Todd and Graham before settling on Graham. "I need your help."

"Shoot."

She shook her head, looking at Todd from the corner of her eyes. "I need to talk to you alone."

"Quit acting like my mom," Todd said with a glare. "You can talk to him in front of me. I'm only a couple years younger than you."

"You're not even an adult," she defended, narrowing her eyes at him.

Todd rolled his eyes at her. "By law, I am an adult, which is exactly why I was kicked out of the orphanage when I hit eighteen. Now, tell me what you need help with. An extra set of hands never does anyone harm."

"Wait," Graham interrupted, "why didn't you ask Max for help?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "He's talking to Scott; the two of them have some stuff to work out."

"What kind of stuff?" Todd asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Sam let out a laugh before shaking her head. "Nah, it's not like that. I don't think so anyway." Graham opened his mouth to ask what they were talking about, but the sobering of her expression kept him from voicing his question. "Promise me you won't do anything stupid, Todd."

"I promise," Todd said, confusion on his face.

"It's about Bethany."

Todd took a step forward, panic on his face. "Where is she; is she alright? What happened?"

"I don't know," Sam mumbled, her voice breaking slightly. "She just told me to meet her here."

She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and passed it to Todd. Anger crossed onto the man's face as he grabbed his jacket and headed towards the door. Sam looked towards Graham, helplessness on his face. "Please, help?"

Reaching out, he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door. "As much as I can," he promised, following Todd. As they left his floor, closing the door behind them, he thought about his statement. It was true, for Sam, he would do anything he could in order to help her.

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