* * *
After exiting the office, Adam made a beeline to his classroom, planning on making a quick getaway. If he was going to contact Sam, it certainly wasn't going to be from anywhere near or surrounding the school.
Entering his classroom, he hastily pulled out the chair behind his desk, the scraping sound of the wooden chair legs echoing in the empty room. Sitting down, he placed the pile of papers on his desk, and ducked underneath to retrieve his soft-sided briefcase. He had just sat it on top of his lap, preparing to dump the petition and the pilfered statement into it when a voice right behind him exclaimed. "There you are!"
"Huh?" Adam literally jumped from his seat, dumping both his briefcase and the papers in his hand onto the floor.
He turned around to see Lynn Dobbins, one of the Physics teachers, standing behind him. Adam and Lynn had gotten along quite well in the almost three years Adam had been teaching at South Glen. Lynn, a dark-haired, petite, thirty-something, married mother of two, was kind and pleasant, but always had a twinkle in her eye, as if she were constantly up to some mischief or another. She had also been Adam's mentor of sorts when he'd first arrived at South Glen. Like Sam, South Glen was Adam's first full-time teaching position out of grad school, and Lynn quickly took him under her wing, showing him the ropes and protecting him from the "vultures," as Lynn laughingly called a certain faction of the unmarried teachers at the school. And best of all, whenever he'd had a rough day, she was always there to make him smile with her silliness.
"Scared you, huh?" Lynn snickered, her eyes glowing with amusement.
Adam placed a hand over his pounding heart and tried to catch a normal breath. "Damn, Lynn�you scared the wits out of me!" he replied at last with a small grin.
"Gotta have 'em to lose 'em, Adam," she teased back.
"Droll�very droll," Adam answered dryly.
Lynn looked past him to the huge jumble of papers that had spilled out of his briefcase onto the floor. "Smooth move, Ex-Lax�"she ribbed Adam again before walking over and crouching down to start picking up the mess. Adam crouched down next to her, hastily pulling the papers she held out of her hand, and then quickly scooped the rest into a pile right in front of him.
"Hey, Adam� It's me, remember? Lynn? Calm down, already. So you spilled your briefcase�big deal. I was just trying to help."
Adam sighed heavily and then looked at Lynn repentantly. "Sorry. I've�just had a bit of bad news and I'm still in shock about it, I guess."
Lynn's brows furrowed immediately. "What? What is it? Are you okay?"
Adam shook his head and waved his hand as if to indicate that it was nothing. "No, I'm fine�it's nothing like that. It's just�"
Lynn put a staying hand over Adam's in understanding. "That you're worried about Sam? I know you and he are very close."
Adam nodded mutely, thinking to himself just how worried he was. "Yeah, I am. I don't believe the allegations against him; not one bit."
"I know," Lynn patted Adam's hand. "Neither do I. Sam is a nice guy: a nice, honorable guy. He's not the type to abuse his position. Surely the school board will see that and everything will be fine. This is more a formality than anything else, I'm sure."
Adam knew better. Adam knew his friend was about to get railroaded by his ex-girlfriend who was looking for a little revenge. But how could he tell Lynn that without revealing the rest? He couldn't. So he simply said, "I don't know, Lynn. I have a bad feeling about this."
Lynn looked up from tidying the stack of Adam's papers with a kind smile. "Oh, Adam, don't worry. It'll all work out fine; you'll see."
Adam's eyes widened in horror as he saw the paper Lynn held in her hand. It was the top page of Lara's statement for the school board. Forcing down a wave of panic, Adam turned and grabbed his bag, holding it open with a tremulous smile. Lynn, placed the page into the briefcase with a smile, and then looked down to collect the rest and dump those into his bag as well.
Finished with her task, Lynn pushed herself up to a stand, brushing dust from the floor off her hands and knees, saying with a smile, "All better. No one will know that anything's happened. After all, your bag always looks like that on the inside, doesn't it?" Lynn smirked.
Rolling his eyes, Adam smiled with relief. "Lynn�that was my first week of school three years ago! Can you let it go already?"
"Nope," she cheerfully answered. "So�where you going in such a hurry, anyway? Did you forget about the meeting or something?"
Adam stared at Lynn blankly. "What meeting?" he asked at last.
Lynn put her hands on her hips, rolling her eyes and shaking her head in pity. "Hello? Budget meeting for the fall semester? You know, ordering supplies, and all that 'fun as watching paint dry' stuff?"
'Oh God�those meetings could take hours!' Adam thought in utter frustration. "Damn," Adam said again. "I can't go."
"You can't go?" Lynn repeated. "Uh-uh. No way. If I have to sit through it, then you have to suffer right along with me, buddy."
"No, really, Lynn," he said seriously. "I can't." Adam made a show of checking his watch. "I�I have a doctor's appointment."
"Ha!" Lynn said, looping her arm through his. "That's rich! Come on, guy; we'll watch the paint peel off the ceiling together�"
Adam didn't budge. "Look, Lynn�please? Please make some kind of excuse for me? Toothache, headache, hangnail, anything? I can't sit through that today�"
Lynn looked at Adam for a long moment, considering. Finally she decided to acquiesce. "Okay�fine. I won't tattle to Mom about it�this time, but you owe me big for this one."
"Thanks," Adam said, kissing her cheek and giving her his thousand-watt smile. "You're the best!"
Adam detached himself from Lynn to grab his jacket. Shrugging into it, he reached into his pocket for his car keys.
Lynn smiled at him and said jokingly, "Now get out of here before someone else finds you�'cause I ain't sticking up for you if you get caught�"
Adam paused at the doorway for a parting shot. "Gee, Lynn�good thing you aren't an English teacher with that grammar!"
In response, Lynn said, "How's this for grammar?" and then stuck out her tongue.
Smiling, Adam waved goodbye and headed down the hallway toward the faculty parking lot.
* * *
Sam held open the door to leading out of the Sun-Times building for Josie. Turning toward her, he asked, "So where to? I assume you'd know better than I where a good place to eat would be around here�"
Josie nodded. "There's a cute little bistro around the corner that I like to go when I want some quality time away from work. They have great food," she replied.
Clasping hands with Josie, Sam smiled and said, "Well, then, lead the way, hon."
Josie shifted her folder so that it was more tightly in her grip and then gently tugged Sam's hand, indicating the right direction.
They walked along silently hand in hand for a few minutes, each caught up in their own thoughts. Josie looked up, watching as a few puffy white clouds floated by in the otherwise deep blue sky. Then she turned her head to watch Sam as they walked along.
Finally, Sam turned to look back. "What?" he asked curiously.
Josie sighed. "I�Nothing."
Sam stopped walking, tugging gently on Josie's hand to get her to stop walking as well. Waiting until she made eye contact with him, he said, "No. It was something. Tell me."
Josie waited for a long moment, and then finally asked, "Were you ever going to tell me?"
"Tell you�what?"
Josie just looked at Sam, not answering.
"Tell you about what happened this morning, you mean," Sam answered for her.
Josie's chin hitched up a notch. "Yes. Would you have ever told me if things hadn't happened this way? If she hadn't come and told me herself?"
Sam looked deeply into Josie's eyes and unflinchingly answered, "Yes, I would have told you. In fact, I was going to tell you at lunch today."
Relief shone in Josie's eyes, even though the rest of her features didn't change. "Really?" she asked hopefully.
"Absolutely. I knew you needed to know. I just�wanted to do it in private�where I could explain the circumstances properly," Sam insisted.
Josie nodded, and then started walking again, a smile touching the edges of her mouth. She leaned into Sam's embrace, and Sam put his left arm around her, pulling her against him. Sighing, Josie said, "I'm just so glad that things weren't as they seemed. I love you so much�I don't know what I would have done without you."
"That goes double for me," Sam agreed, dropping a kiss in Josie's hair.
"There's the place� Bayle's Bistro," Josie said, pointing across the intersection at the trendy caf� on the corner. Pulling out of Sam's embrace, she instead clasped his left hand in hers, pulling him across the street closer to their destination.
Smiling, Sam followed close behind Josie. "Wow," he said, looking at the welcoming atmosphere of the restaurant through the plate glass windows, "my mouth is watering for a French Dip sandwich just looking at that place."
"Oh yeah?" Josie teased, looking over her shoulder at Sam as she pulled him through the door to the caf�, "Just wait 'til you taste it, then�"
* * *
Adam hopped into his dark metallic red Honda Accord and put the key into the ignition, praying no one else had noticed his rather quick departure. He wondered for probably the thousandth time if anyone would notice the copy missing from the copier in the Main Office. As he pulled onto the main road, he grabbed his cellular phone from the charger and dialed the number to Sam's apartment.
The phone rang four times before Adam heard the sound of Sam's answering machine picking up. Figuring that maybe Sam was screening his calls, he waited until the beep sounded and then said, "Hey Sam, it's me�you there?" He waited a split second before continuing, "I can understand you screening your calls, but it's me�Adam� Remember? Six two, black hair, green eyes, happen to love hockey almost as much as you?" Waiting another moment did not produce Sam. Sighing, Adam finished, "Well I guess you're really not there�but listen, call me the second you get home, because we seriously need to talk. Call me on my cell phone�I'll have it with me."
Hanging up, Adam swore under his breath, "Damn it, Sam! Where are you?" Adam knew he had Sam's cell phone number, but it was at home. Sighing, he knew he had no other choice; the sooner he got to talk to Sam and warn him, the better off Sam might be. Who knows? Maybe he and Sam could put their heads together and figure out some way to beat it.
Shaking his head, he made a right at the next intersection, heading toward his apartment.
* * *
Once Sam and Josie had placed their food order, Josie laid her leather folio on the table, and giving Sam an apologetic glance said, "I'm sorry, Sam, but I really need to get some of this work done."
Nodding, he said, "Hey, that's okay, I understand. No problem."
"Okay." Josie pulled out a pencil from her bag and then pulled out the sheath of papers, tapping them on the table to straighten them before laying them down on the table and getting to work.
Sam watched Josie, her eyebrows furrowed with concentration. He was stunned as the index finger of her left hand flew back and forth along the page, stopping only when she had to cross out or correct something. In seconds, she was finished with the first page. Flipping it aside, she started on the next page. In seconds, that page followed the first into the "completed" pile.
Once she finished the third and last page of that particular article, she looked up, just noticing that Sam was watching her. "What?" she asked, confused.
Sam leaned forward, his chin cradled by his hand, his elbow propped on the table. "Nothing. I was just fascinated by watching you work. Would it be safe to assume you speed read?"
Josie looked slightly sheepish, but nodded. "Yeah, I do. Actually, I've sort of adapted the technique so that I can use it for my proofreading, too. But I don't make it common knowledge that I can do it. Otherwise, Gus would be giving me three times the work!"
Sam chuckled. "Yeah, I could see that about him�" Reaching across the table, he asked, "Would you mind if I look?"
"Sure," Josie said, placing the finished article into Sam's outstretched hand before bending her head to work on the next article.
Sam read down the article (considerably slower than Josie had done), marveling at her very accurate proofreading. It was no wonder he hardly ever found anything to correct her on in her own papers for his class. She was incredibly gifted at writing, and had a profound understanding of the mechanics of it.
Looking up from the corrected article to study Josie again as she worked, he could see why a man like Gus Strauss would be loathe to lose Josie as a copyeditor, even if she was also a talented writer.
A movement caught the corner of Josie's eye, and she looked up to see Sam shaking his head and looking at her incredulously. "What?" she asked again.
"It's just that you are constantly surprising and amazing me, that's all," he answered with a grin. "That, and I am still so astounded that I even found you at all�"
Josie looked down at her lap and blushed prettily. "You know, Sam, I�"
Josie's sentence was interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone. She turned her head, trying to determine its source. Sam blushed slightly and then started fishing around the inside of his jacket. "Sorry," he said apologetically, "that's my phone."
* * *
Adam listened to Sam's cell phone line ringing, and started talking aloud, encouraging Sam as if he could hear: "Come on, Sam�have that phone with you� Come on, you've got to be there� Come on�"
And then there was a small click and he heard Sam's voice saying, "Hello?"
Breathing an internal sigh of relief, Adam said, "Hey! Sam! Damn, you're a hard man to get a hold of!" Adam let out a little laugh.
Sam chuckled and then put his hand over the receiver for a moment to mouth to Josie, "It's Adam�"
Josie whispered back, "Adam? Adam who?"
Sam rolled his eyes and teased, "Adam Christiansen, as in your Chemistry teacher from South Glen?"
As he watched Josie's luscious mouth as it formed a silent O shape, he dimly realized that Adam was speaking to him. "Huh? Sorry, Adam�I was talking to Josie. What's up?"
"Josie!? She's with you? Where are you, anyway? I've been trying to reach you."
"Josie and I are out for a late lunch downtown�why?" After a moment's pause, Sam asked, "Is something wrong?"
Adam didn't want to simply break the news about Lara over the phone, so that left him at a bit of a loss for words. "I�I�well, kind of. But, listen� I'd like to tell you about it in person. Can I meet you wherever you are?"
Sam looked nervously over at Josie for a moment before replying, "Um�I guess so. What's going on?"
Speaking more to himself than to Sam, Adam said, "Actually, it's probably better that Josie's with you�this involves her, too."
"What involves Josie!? Adam? What is going on, here!?" Sam insisted, his worried eyes connecting with Josie's across the table.
"I'll explain when I get there, Sam. Really, it's better if I do that. Now, tell me where you are so I can come down there."
Now Sam was really worried. Looking around, he looked for a landmark to give to Adam. "We're at a place called 'Bayle's Bistro', and it's on the corner of�"
Adam cut Sam off, saying, "I know where that is�I'll be there in fifteen. See you then."
"Yeah, okay. We'll be waiting for you�want us to order you something?" Sam asked nervously.
"Ah�no thanks. I'll see you soon."
"Bye, Adam," Sam said finally, and hung up.
Closing the case on his cell phone, Sam set it on the table. Looking at Josie again, he could see the worry and confusion in her eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but then the waitress came with their food. Josie put her copyediting aside onto an empty chair at the table and watched as the woman placed a club sandwich in front of her and a French Dip sandwich in front of Sam. Then she asked politely, "Can I get you anything else?"
Sam answered for them. "Uh, no�thank you�" Sam surreptitiously checked the woman's name badge. His voice gave away his surprise when he finished, "Heidi-ree�"
The waitress giggled a little at Sam's response to her name. "It's a nickname, really. My younger brother used to run my first and middle names together when we were kids because it was easier to say. It's really supposed to be 'Heidi Marie,' but the name just kind of stuck." She smiled kindly and said, "Well, be sure to call if you need me," and then walked off to take another couple's order.
"So�what was that phone call about?" Josie asked when the waitress was well out of earshot.
Sam frowned. "I'm not sure. Adam was acting really strangely. But whatever it is�it can't be good. And he said it involved you, which makes me think it has something to do with the suspension."
"Ugh�" Josie commiserated. "Maybe they've moved up the hearing? Something like that?"
"Could be," Sam reasoned. "But for some reason, I don't think that's it."
Josie looked down at her plate and sighed. "Now I'm not hungry�"
"You know what?" Sam said, pushing his plate away, "Me either. God, these fifteen minutes are going to be the longest of my life�"
Josie reached her hand across the table and found Sam's. "We'll face it together, Sam, whatever it is."
Raising her hand to his lips, he kissed her fingertips. "Thank you," he whispered, his eyes intense and full of emotion. If there wasn't a table between them, he'd have pulled her into his arms instead.
Josie swallowed nervously and then asked unsteadily, "S�so, what do you think we should do about Lara? I mean�do you think she'll continue to cause problems for us?"
Sam sighed at the mention of Lara's name. 'Damn that woman!' he thought bitterly, thinking how close he'd come to losing Josie for good because of her. "Well, she was going back to New York today; I don't think there's much she can do from there."
"But what if she finds out we made up? Do you think she'll try something else?" Josie's eyes gave away her fears that Lara would do more damage to their now fragile connection.
"Josie�I truthfully don't know if she will continue to be spiteful or not. I mean; she certainly has it in her. I guess the point is that are we going to let her do anything to us? It's like I said before: I let her manipulate me�and you let her manipulate your insecurities. If we have more faith in each other and in ourselves, then I don't see how she could hurt us, you know?"
Josie nodded solemnly.
"And besides, with so much physical distance between us, I really do think this was her parting shot before moving on. After all, she's been seeing others on the side for quite some time, so I'm sure she can easily find a replacement," Sam's bitterness regarding his failure to see how he'd been manipulated in the past leaked into his voice.
Josie placed her other hand over their clasped hands and said softly, "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"That must have been hard for you�to find out that everything was a lie." Josie looked down at her lap in shame. "Sort of like finding out about me�"
Sam's eyes widened and then shook her hands to make her look back up at him. "Josie�they were completely different. She meant to deceive me all along, whereas you didn't want to, and even risked your job trying to tell me the truth. It's not the same. Not at all."
Josie didn't look particularly convinced.
Sam tried another tack. "Josie, you and Lara are completely different. Totally. You are sweet and caring and loving in ways that Lara could never be. Don't think that I was comparing the two situations. I admit that when it first happened, before I knew the whole truth about you, I did make that comparison, but not anymore�and never again. So don't worry about that, okay? You are the best thing that ever happened to me."
Josie's eyes watered a little and she nodded tearfully.
Behind Josie, someone cleared his or her throat politely, and she stiffened. Across the table from her, Sam cracked a grin, let go of Josie's hands, and stood. Putting out a hand for a handshake, he said, "Hey, Adam."
"Hey, Sam," the voice replied from behind her to her right.
Hearing Adam's voice, Josie tilted her head down for a second to wipe away the trace of tears in her eyes before looking up again in greeting. She watched as Sam and Adam shook hands, obviously friends. Then Adam turned toward her. Feeling awkward, she wasn't sure how to address him. Putting out her hand, "Hello�um�"
"Adam," he finished for Josie with an understanding smile. "Adam is fine, Josie. And may I say that you look incredible as an adult? I know that probably came out wrong�but after seeing you like this," he said, looking Josie up and down once, "it makes me wonder how I didn't see it before."
"See what before?" she asked shyly.
"That you were simply too mature and sophisticated to be seventeen," he answered.
Sam watched the exchange between Josie and Adam with a smile. If it hadn't been Adam saying these things to her, he knew he'd be furious. But he'd known Adam since his first day at South Glen South. They'd been rookie teachers together, and formed a strong bond because of it. He knew he could trust Adam completely around Josie.
Sam motioned his hand toward the empty chair in front of Adam at their square table and asked, "So, would you like to sit down?"
Josie looked down and realized that was the seat she'd placed her proofreading folio upon. Quickly, she reached over saying, "Hold on a sec, just need to move my work." She moved it safely to the other chair and then said, "Okay�sorry." She glanced between the two men.
Adam sat down, placing his soft-sided briefcase at his feet. Before he'd gotten out of his car, he'd gone through the messy sheaf of papers in his bag and found the item he'd brought for Sam to see. He hadn't even gotten a chance to do more than take a cursory glance at it himself, but he knew that what it contained could not possibly be good news for Sam's case with the school board.
Finally, Sam broke the ice, saying, "I assume this wasn't just a social call�"
Clearing his throat, he said, "Yeah, you're right. In fact, I'm afraid that I am the bearer of bad news�"
Josie and Sam looked at each other for a moment before Sam dared to ask, "What is it?"
"Well�it seems that the school board now has some additional ammunition in its case against you, Sam," Adam answered.
"What!?"
Sam was about to continue, but Adam cut him off. "Listen you guys�before I answer any more questions here; I have a few of my own. I need to put my mind at ease, because I could be risking my job if I get involved in this," Adam said, looking between Sam and Josie. "I need to know the truth�the absolute truth. Sam�you know I'm your friend, and I will stand behind you 100 percent, but I need to know."
"I understand. What do you want to know?" Sam asked.
Adam sent an apologetic glance to Josie and then replied, "I need to know everything regarding your acquaintance before the night of the prom. Were you having any sort of relationship? Anything at all that was inappropriate?"
Sam put a sympathetic hand on Adam's shoulder. "Other than my feelings for Josie, which I kept to myself, there was nothing at all inappropriate about our friendship. And that's the honest truth."
Josie added, "It's obvious now that we both had growing feelings for the other, but we both felt trapped by our situation: Sam thinking I was an underage student, and me knowing I was hiding my true identity from him and couldn't reveal myself. I think maybe at times we might have tried to find reasons to be together," Josie looked up to Sam for confirmation and he nodded, "but it was always in an acceptable situation."
Adam nodded and continued, "Was there ever a time you two were alone together? Did you ever meet outside the confines of the school?"
Sam said, "Well, I saw her at Senior Nite, of course, but that was a school sponsored event. There were after-school meetings for the Prom Committee, too. I suppose there were moments we were alone, but not the way I think you mean�"
Adam blew out a breath. "Okay," he said. "I'm sorry about that, Sam; but if my butt's going to be on the line, I just want to make sure I'm not wrong, that's all."
Sam nodded and waited for Adam to continue.
"Well, I was on my way into the main office to talk to Jack about�well, really it doesn't matter what I went to talk to him about. Mrs. Lucent wasn't around, although the copier was running, so I knew she wasn't far. Anyway, I took it upon myself to take a peek in Jack's office to see if he was busy�"
"And�? He was?" Sam encouraged.
"Yes. His door was open a crack. I guess he isn't quite so careful about keeping his door shut when school isn't in session�" Adam paused before continuing. "He was speaking to a woman. I couldn't see her face, since she was sitting in one of those wingback chairs Jack has in there. I didn't recognize the voice as one of the faculty, and besides, I'd remember if I'd seen those legs in the halls�" Suddenly remembering Josie was there, he smiled sheepishly, embarrassed that he'd made that type of comment in front of her. "Sorry, Josie," he apologized, "I didn't really mean to sound like a pig�"
Josie cracked a kind smile. "Don't worry, Adam. No offense taken. Anyway, go on."
"Well, whoever she was, she had apparently given an eyewitness statement having to do with the two of you," Adam said flatly.
"What kind of statement?" Sam was almost afraid to ask.
"I'm not sure, but from the part of the discussion I overheard, it didn't exactly sound flattering."
Sam put his head in his hands, his elbows leaning heavily on the table. Slowly he shook his head and mumbled, "Oh, God�can this day get any worse?"
"Don't ever say that, because it always can, my friend�" Adam hinted.
Sam slowly lifted his head to stare at Adam with wide, frightened eyes. "What?" he said finally.
"Well, Jack mentioned the woman's last name, and it rang a bell. Isn't your ex-girlfriend's last name Patton?"
Josie and Sam exchanged horrified glances.
Adam's expression turned grim. "I can see by your expression that it is. That's what I thought. Once I put two and two together, I knew this spelled trouble with a capital T. When Jack made mention of the written statement being prepared for the school board as they spoke, I realized this must have been what I'd seen on the copier when I'd walked in. So�I filched a copy before Mrs. Lucent saw me and hightailed it out of there."
Sam's shock over Lara's apparent visit to South Glen was momentarily overshadowed by concern for his friend. "My God, Adam�you could get in serious trouble for that! I don't want you risking your career for mine, especially since it's starting to seem like mine is a lost cause."
"It was a split-second decision, because it was all the time I had; Mrs. Lucent was coming back. And, looking back on it, I wouldn't change my mind. You have the right to know what people are saying about you. You should have the opportunity to defend yourselves, especially when the allegations aren't true. I still can't believe that Jack believed her," Adam responded.
"I can," Sam said dryly. "She can be quite an actress, as I've recently discovered." He swallowed painfully. "Do�do you have the affidavit with you? Have you read it?" he asked, not wanting to know the answer, but also knowing he had to ask.
Adam replied, "I haven't read it, but I do have it with me." Solemnly, he reached down into his bag and retrieved the pages, handing them to Sam before meeting Josie's anxious gaze.
As Sam began to read, he felt his face turn bright red with fury. How dare she interfere like this!? But then, he reasoned, this kind of treachery was right up her alley�
Josie watched every emotion, every nuance that crossed Sam's face, looking for some sign as to how bad things were. Then she saw his eyes widen and his face blanch and she felt a shiver of dread slide down her spine. When he finally finished reading and looked up to meet her eyes, his expression was bleak and desolate.
Panic washed over Josie. Frantically reaching across the table for his hand, she wasn't sure if she was trying to comfort Sam or be comforted by him. With a raspy voice she pleaded, "Oh my God, Sam�What does it say!?"
* * *