For the next few days, both Claudia and Josh remained sick and weak. They spent their afternoons in Josh’s apartment, playing board games, doing crosswords and playing cards. They got so bored they actually ended up building a tower completely out of playing cards. It ended in a laughing fit after Claudia sneezed and the whole thing fell down.

        It wasn’t until that weekend that both Josh and Claudia were both feeling completely better. After spending so many days cooped up inside, they were eager to go out. It had been almost a week since she had volunteered, so Josh agreed to go with her to the orphanage.

        “Claudia, I’m so glad you’re here,” Anita greeted them when they came through the door.

        “It’s nice to know that I’ve been missed,” Claudia smiled.

        “Before you go inside, I think there is something you should know…” Before Anita could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by Samantha’s yell.

        “Claudia! Hi! You’re here!” Samantha ran up to her and hugged her legs.

        “Hey there Sam! How are you?”

        “Guess what? Guess what?

        “What?” Claudia asked, kneeling down so that she was eye level with the red head.

        “Remember that nice couple I told that I met? Well they liked me so much they adopted me! They’re coming to pick me up today!” she cried. “Isn’t that great?”

        Claudia’s expression was hard to read. It was somewhere between happiness and sadness with a mixture of shock and disbelief. “Yeah Sam, that is great.”

        Sam wrapped her arms around Claudia in a big hug. “They came here to visit me a few times and they seemed really happy and really nice. I’m going to go live with them in this really big house! I’m going to have my own room and they painted it my favorite color; pink!” Samantha pulled away from her and looked at her face. “Claudia? Why are you crying?” she asked in a sweet, innocent voice.

        Claudia smiled through her tears as she answered. “You know how sometimes you cry because you’re so happy? Like you did at the end of Charlotte’s Web? I’m crying because I’m so happy that you’re going to be happy.”

        Samantha’s eyes saw something behind Claudia and her face lit up. “They’re here! They’re here!”

        Claudia stood and watched as Samantha ran up to a happy young couple who stood at the door. The dark haired man swooped her up in his arms and gave her a big hug while the woman beamed with happiness.

        Josh watched Claudia’s heart break at the sight. Anita approached the young couple and spoke to them softly. The man put Samantha down and she held each of their hands, leading them into the playroom.

        “She’s going to say her good-byes,” Anita told Claudia.

        Claudia nodded and went into the playroom where all the children were. She came to find that the other children were sad too. Claudia discovered that up until that moment, Samantha hadn’t realized that she would be leaving all of her best friends behind. Her excitement faded when she saw the sad faces of her friends. Some were crying.

        Most of these children had spent the majority of their lives together. These children and these walls were all they knew. It was an unfortunate life, but each of them had learned to accept their situations and make the best of it. Inside these dingy yellow walls were where memories were made, friendships were shared and laughter had been proven to be the best medicine after all.

        It was a heart wrenching scene to watch the children say goodbye to their friend. Josh wasn’t one to cry, but he found tears in his eyes; it was tugging at his heart too. Looking at Claudia, he saw that tears were freely falling from her eyes. He put an arm around her and pulled her close to him, wishing he could take away her sadness.

        Claudia was the last person that Samantha approached. Sam was now crying too. Neither of them said a word as they hugged one final time.

        Samantha sniffled as she pulled away. “Will I ever see you again?”

        “Sure you will, honey,” Claudia soothed as she pushed Sam’s curls away from her face. “I’ll get your address and I’ll write to you all the time. And once you get settled in, maybe I could stop by for a visit.”

        “I’m gonna miss you.”

        “I know, Sam. I’m going to miss you too.”

        Reluctantly, Samantha walked away, holding onto the hands of her new parents. She looked back as she walked out into the parking lot, watching her friends wave from the doorway. Seeing her friends made her burst into a smile and wave over her shoulder.

        Josh rubbed Claudia’s back as they continued to stand in the doorway several moments later.

        “Are you going to be okay?” he asked softly.

        She sniffled and nodded. “I knew it had to happen one day. I just never anticipated that that day would come so soon.”

        Josh nodded and wished that he could find something comforting to say. He had never been in a situation quite like hers which made it difficult to console her.

        “I’m glad that she’s finally going to have a nice family in a warm house with toys and a backyard but…at the same time I almost wish she could stay here. That’s so selfish of me,” she chuckled as she wiped her eyes.

        “That’s not selfish,” he told her. “It’s human. You care for her and while you want her to be happy, you don’t want to see her go.”

        “Yeah. I’m going to miss her so much,” Claudia said sadly. “I almost wish that I could adopt her myself. I always thought that someday once I was settled and married maybe I would adopt her. But it’s too late now.”

        “You know what? I bet sooner than you know it, you’re going to find another little girl or boy in this orphanage that you’ll love just as much as Sam.”

        “You’re probably right.” She nodded. “But for now I kinda wanna get outta here. Too many memories.”

        Josh nodded with understanding and they walked to her car. They were silent for several minutes as they began to drive to an unknown destination.

        “Where to now?” Josh finally asked.

        “You know, there’s a clown coming to the children’s hospital today to put on a show for some of the kids. Maybe we could head over there and check it out,” she thought out loud.

        “Sure. That sounds like fun.”

        Twenty minutes later, they were walking through a long white hallway to the playroom for the children. Several children recognized Claudia when she walked in and gave their hellos. A tall, attractive, blonde dressed in a nurse uniform approached them with a smile.

        “Hi, Claudia, it’s nice to see you again.”

        “You too. Michelle, this is my friend Josh. Josh, Michelle is a nurse here.”

        Michelle held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Josh. Wow, look at the blue eyes on this one.”

        Josh blushed at the compliment.

        “Claudia, you’re still seeing Jacob, right?” Michelle asked, her eyes still on Josh.

        Claudia looked at Michelle and then back at Josh, noticing that their eyes had not left each other. “Uh, yeah. Yes I am. Why do you ask?”

        “I was just wondering if Josh was his replacement because if that was the case I’d be jealous.”

        A strange feeling boiled within Claudia as she watched the glances that were being exchanged between Josh and Michelle.

        Claudia cleared her throat. “Isn’t there a clown coming sometime this afternoon?”

        Michelle looked at Claudia for the first time. “Yeah, he was supposed to be here almost an hour ago. I don’t think he’s going to show up.”

        “Aw, that’s such a shame,” Claudia said with a frown.

        “Yeah, the kids are so disappointed.”

        “You know I think I know of a way we can get a clown here in just a few minutes,” Josh spoke up.

        “Really?”

        “He’s not very experienced but I know he wouldn’t mind coming in at the last minute.”

        “Well that’s great! Call him!”

        “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Josh said, exiting the room.

        Michelle’s eyes followed him out of the room and as far down the hall as she could see him. “He sure is good looking,” Michelle commented. “Do you know if he’s seeing anyone?”

        “Um, no. I don’t think so.”

        “Great. I think I might ask him out.”

        “But you know what, I don’t think he’s ready to date anyone right now,” Claudia added quickly.

        “Oh,” she said sounding disappointed. “How come?”

        Claudia searched her mind for an excuse. “His parents… had a bad accident.”

        It wasn’t exactly the truth but not quite a lie. His parents had been in an accident but Michelle didn’t know that it was two years ago.

        “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. Are they going to be okay?”

        “Well, it’s not really…looking too good.”

        What Claudia had done finally dawned on her. Why did I do that? I have no reason to stop him from dating someone. Am I jealous?

        “But you never know. Maybe you should just go ahead and ask. It couldn’t hurt to try right?”

        “Maybe I will. Thanks, Claude.”

        Claudia tried not to think about it while she played with the children for the next few minutes. Suddenly a strange sounding voice sounded from the doorway.

        “Did somebody ask for a clown?”

        Claudia’s mouth fell open as she saw Josh enter the room in full costume. He was decked out in doctor scrubs, with red lipstick and black mascara across his face like clown make up and the end of a mop on his head served as hair.

        “Yay!” the children shouted when they saw the clown.

        Both Claudia and Michelle laughed at the sight. Josh tried to amuse the children any way that he could. It was a difficult act without any clown props but he managed to get a lot of laughs. He pulled quarters from behind their ears, pretended to trip and hurt himself which sent the kids into fits of giggles, and attempted to make balloon animals with a few spare balloons he had found. The balloon animals were not very successful, but the children found it hilarious when they popped in his face. He went as far as shaking up a can of pop from a pop machine and spraying it all over himself to make them laugh.

        A few minutes later, the children were laughing and clapping when Josh finished his act. Even Claudia and Michelle applauded his efforts.

        “That was so sweet!” Michelle cried. “I can’t believe you would do that for them!”

        “Yeah, that was really nice of you,” Claudia added quickly. “I should have known you would make a great clown,” she teased.

        “I guess I’m a natural,” he said with a shrug.

        “I think you’re performance deserves a celebration. What do you say you and I go downstairs and maybe grab a cup of coffee?” Michelle suggested.

        Claudia’s breath caught in her throat as she waited for him to respond. She pretended to be watching the kids and act like she didn’t care, but the truth was, she did care.

        Josh hesitated and looked at Claudia. “You know, I came here with Claude and I wouldn’t want to ditch her so maybe some other time.”

        “Okay. How ‘bout I give you my number and you can give me a call sometime?”

        “Sure.”

        Claudia turned away as Michelle jotted down her number on a piece of paper.

        They stayed for almost an hour. Claudia played with the children; coloring and playing hide and seek, while Josh spent most of his time talking with Michelle. She couldn’t stop the twinge of jealousy every time she saw them laughing. Michelle would tip her head back and laugh and flirtatiously put her hand on Josh’s shoulder. Claudia couldn’t help but notice the way Michelle kept touching him. It was subtle and friendly, but Claudia found it annoying.

        Josh was having a good time talking to Michelle. She was friendly and very sweet. He was enjoying himself, that is, until he saw Claudia.

        He looked at her from across the room and for a second, their eyes locked, but then Claudia turned away. She had been watching them. It wasn’t hard to detect a sparkle of jealousy in her eyes.

        It was then that he realized how rude he was being. He had completely ignored Claudia since the moment Michelle came along. He could see why Claudia was hurt, jealous or not.

        “Josh? Josh?” Michelle was saying.

        “Huh? What?” He asked snapping out of his thoughts.

        “Didn’t you hear my question?”

        “No, I’m sorry. I was thinking… about something…” His voice trailed off. “What were you saying?” he asked, trying to focus his attention on her.

        Instead of answering, Michelle just studied his face for a moment. “You’re attracted to her aren’t you?”

        “Attracted to who? What are you talking about?”

        “Claudia. I saw you looking at her.”

        Josh didn’t know what to say. “I- Well, I um…”

        “Oh I’m so embarrassed now. I can’t believe I didn’t realize it.” She sighed and leaned against the wall behind them. “That explains what she said earlier.”

        Josh gave her a confused look. “What that she said earlier?”

        “I asked her if you were single and she made some excuse about you not being ready to date.”

        “She did?”

        “It’s so obvious, I can’t believe it didn’t hit me at the time. She was trying to make an excuse so that I wouldn’t ask you out. I should have realized that you two have a thing for each other.”

        “You must be mistaken, there is no ‘thing’.”

        “Oh yes there is,” she insisted. She looked at him. “And don’t even try to tell me that you honestly don’t see what I’m talking about.”

        He stared at her and tried to find something to say.

        “See? You can’t deny it.” She straightened, and patted him on the shoulder. “It was nice talking to you.”

        With that, she walked away, without looking back.

        Josh sighed and ran a hand over his face. No matter how much he didn’t want to admit it, Michelle was right. He pushed himself from the wall and approached Claudia. She was sitting at a long table, surrounded by children who were participating in art and crafts.

        “Here’s the glue, Casey. Now what do you say?”

        “Thank you,” the girl said, taking the glue from Claudia’s hand.

        Josh stepped over the bench and swung his other leg over so that he was sitting facing the table. Claudia seemed surprised to see him.

        “What happened to Michelle?” she asked, searching for something on the table.

        “She had to get back to work,” he lied.

        Claudia stopped and turned to face him. “You can go get coffee with her if you want, you know. Don’t let me stop you. Just ‘cause we came together doesn’t mean we have to leave together.”

        He shook his head and looked her in the eye. “I don’t want to get coffee with her.” I want to get coffee with you, he thought, wishing he could tell her so.

        “Why not? I thought you guys were really hitting it off.”

        He shrugged. “Nah, she’s not my type.”

        Claudia nodded slowly and then smiled. “Then who is your type?”

        “I’m in the middle of discovering that right now.”

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