Sam leaned over and plugged his now reassembled stereo system into the wall. Some music was definitely in order, he decided. His mood had brightened considerably since Josie's admission at lunch and he wanted to celebrate. He bent down and dug through the packing box that still held his CDs. Pulling out a Doors CD, he dropped the disc into the player. After adjusting the volume on the stereo, he touched the play button and Jim Morrison belted out, "Don't you love her madly? Don't you need her badly? Don't you love her way? Tell me what you say�"
Sam nodded in silent agreement with the song's lyrics as he sang along softly. He removed the other CDs from the box a handful at a time and arranged them on a shelf above the stereo. He replayed the scene in his mind again how his beautiful Josie had sat right in his kitchen and professed her love for him. It was amazing. Amazing that someone would feel that way about him, and amazing that that someone was Josie.
Honestly, their relationship was pretty unusual, Sam thought. They were in love with each other, knew who each other was on the inside; but they didn't know even the basic things about each other that anyone else going on their first date would know. He was surprised at how little that seemed to matter to him. In fact, as backward as it all seemed, he was glad that he had gotten to know whom Josie really was inside before learning all the superficial stuff about her.
Funny, he continued, how often people got caught up in the trivial things and didn't bother to look beneath the surface. He certainly was guilty of that with Lara. If he had bothered to do that instead of following the comfortable and easy route, he would have realized long ago that the Lara he thought he loved did not exist.
With Josie, he had been able to really connect on a basic level because of their assigned roles of teacher and student. The sorts of questions that he would have asked a potential love interest were not appropriate in their situation. However, it was perfectly fine for them to share the same interests, views, and opinions, so that was what they had learned about each other.
But now that their emotional attachment was secure, Sam found himself wondering about the answers to all those questions he'd never asked. The few things he supposedly knew about her life were from when she had been playing the part of his student, so he assumed most of that was false.
As he put the newly emptied box aside and grabbed the one with his elephant curios in it, he vowed that he would get the answers to some of those questions tonight.
* * *
Aldys listened closely to Josie's explanation of Mr. Coulson's predicament and her idea of how Aldys could help. After a moment, she smiled and nodded.
"So, what do you think?" Josie asked when she finished explaining her plan.
"Well, I think it's a good compliment to the public sentiment story you're planning. I don't know if any of it will help, but we'll sure put up a big fight anyway," Aldys answered.
Josie gave her a hug. "Thanks. I'm so glad you're willing to help."
"Of course I'll help. I think the whole thing is absurd; but even if I didn't, I think of you as one of my best friends. Plus, Mr. Coulson is really a nice, decent guy. He doesn't deserve this," Aldys replied.
Josie nodded her agreement. Then she continued, "Okay, then. If you'd get started on this, I'll go back to the office and finish up the details of the story."
"Sure. I'll give you a call tomorrow after school and let you know how it's going." Aldys picked up her almost-overflowing book bag and slung it over her shoulder.
"Great! I'll talk to you then. And Aldys?"
Aldys turned around. "Yes?"
"Thanks again, really," was Josie's heartfelt reply.
Aldys smiled. "No problem."
* * *
Josie climbed into Bambi and put the car into reverse. Bambi groaned and backfired, but then she responded. Josie rolled her eyes in response. She couldn't wait for the detailers to be finished with her car. God! She could just kill Rob for turning her car into a moving eyesore! Sigh. At least it would be a less non- descript color when it was finished: a deep green that had reminded her of Sam's eyes. Yes, it had been a silly, sentimental choice, but then, who would know that except for her?
As she turned out of the high school parking lot onto the street, her thoughts inevitably returned to Sam. She imagined him sitting at his kitchen table, looking so forlorn and vulnerable, pouring out his fears to her. He made her feel important to him because he chose to share those innermost feelings with her and she had been able to make him feel better about them.
She wondered briefly what had happened to him before to give him those doubts about himself. He was so successful at hiding them most of the time. Certainly, before today she had never seen that side of him.
And then she realized that there were so many things that she didn't know about Sam. She didn't know where he grew up, what kind of childhood he had, or where he had it. He seemed to have a great knowledge of Chicago that only comes from familiarity, so she decided that he probably had grown up nearby.
But, even with what little she knew about him, he knew even less about her, she realized. After all, a lot of what she had told him about her personal life had been part of her cover. He still didn't even know about "Mr. Rob" being her brother! Wow! They certainly had a lot of catching up to do.
Josie pulled Bambi into a parking space outside the Sun-Times building, garnering surprised looks from passersby when Bambi took that moment to backfire loudly. Smiling to herself and shaking her head, she grabbed her briefcase and climbed out. Maybe tonight she could persuade Sam to tell her more about his life.
* * *
Josie dropped her briefcase into the chair just inside her office door. She grabbed a yellow note pad from the middle compartment, proceeded to her desk, and flipped the computer monitor back on. Then she sat down heavily in her black leather chair and logged on to the Internet. She searched quickly and efficiently until she found the web page she was looking for: Office of the Superintendent of Schools for Metropolitan Chicago. She wrote down the name and phone number of the superintendent, along with the school committee members' names and phone numbers.
Satisfied, she pushed herself away from the desk and stood, taking her note pad with her. She opened the door to her office, only to practically run into Anita, who was poised to knock.
"Hi!" said Anita, surprised. "I've been looking for you for hours! Where have you been? What's going on?"
"I'll be right back, Anita, and then I'll be happy to explain," Josie replied hurriedly. "Right now, I've got to meet with Gus." With that, she left the office and stalked through the bullpen to Gus' office.
Gus was sitting at his desk, engrossed in reading a story that was supposedly finalized and ready to print. He took his red pen and marked out a paragraph. Then, he said without looking up, "Yes, Geller�what now?"
"I've got the information for the story," Josie informed him. "Whom are you going to get to write it?" she asked.
"I don't have anyone to spare right now, Geller, so you're looking at him," Gus said plainly.
Josie was taken aback by Gus's statement. Gus? Write a story? He barely had enough time to do the final proofread each day and run around behind his staff, getting them to do their jobs.
"Are you sure about this, Gus?" Josie asked tentatively.
"Look, do you want the story written or not? I'm all you've got, so give me the scoop."
"Okay. I met with the principal --a Mr. Jack Kerdan-- this afternoon. We discussed the particulars of Sam's situation. Yes, Sam's suspension was due to his acquaintance with me. And the school board has decided to deal with this issue just as if I were a real student, without regard to my real age or status. Mr. Kerdan said that the only detail that mattered with regard to my age was the age that Sam believed I was when he decided to get involved with me," Josie explained.
"Go on," Gus prompted.
"According to Kerdan, the school board believes that something illicit must have been going on between Sam and I before last night."
"Yeah, if there had been," Gus snorted, "it would have been all over our front page by now."
Josie gave Gus a really dirty look. Gus had the good grace to look at least a little guilty. Then she continued, "Kerdan said that due to the 'public nature' of the case, the school board would most likely err on the side of caution, which basically means that Sam is guilty until proven innocent. The board will convene Friday night to inform Sam of their decision in the case."
With that, Josie handed over her pad of notes. She motioned the bottom of the pad. "Here are the names and phone numbers of the superintendent and head of the school board," she said pointedly.
Gus nodded silently, understanding what Josie was getting at. Then he inquired, "So how is Coulson taking all of this?"
Josie replied, "He was very shocked when it first happened, of course. He really loves his job and enjoys teaching. When I left him at lunchtime, he seemed to be of a little better spirits, " �Josie left out the reason why�"but he is still pretty depressed and saddened by it."
"I meant�does he know about this story you're planning? Maybe he wouldn't like his dirty laundry being exposed to the entire city of Chicago," Gus challenged.
Josie felt a small twinge of guilt. But she truly believed that he would understand once he saw what she was trying to do. "No, he doesn't know about this story yet. But you're one to talk about exposing Sam's 'dirty laundry.' If he had taken even one step out of line with me, you'd have plastered it all over the front page of this paper. You said so yourself," Josie accused, on the defensive.
"Point taken," Gus acceded. "But I still think you should tell him what you're doing." Gus glared at her.
Then, shrugging his shoulders, he continued, "Okay, I think I've got enough to work with here. Now get in that office and finish packing. We've got to get you moved in the morning. I'll call you if I need anything else." Gus went back to reading the article in his hand, effectively dismissing Josie.
Josie took the hint. She turned and left his office, quietly closing the door behind her.
* * *
Sam looked around his living room. Almost finished, he thought to himself. He reached over and removed the sheet that was draped over his couch, rolled the sheet up into a ball and shot it basketball style toward the open doorway of his bedroom.
Then he grabbed the last box marked "Living Room" and began to unpack it. It was filled with his old hockey trophies, which he unwrapped one by one and filled the knickknack shelf with. He smiled as he blew a miniscule speck of dust off his PeeWee hockey trophy, which had never been wrapped, but had fallen to the bottom of the box. He rubbed his thumb across the plaque which read, "Sam Coulson - Most Improved Player � 1978-79 ", and thought of the day he'd told the class the story of his escapades with his Gordie Howe helmet; then later, how Josie had mentioned it on their ride on the Ferris wheel. He felt a small twinge of pain as he remembered the day he'd discovered the helmet was gone and that Lara had thrown it away after their fight. He could never imagine Josie doing such an insensitive thing. But then, Lara had never understood him the way Josie did.
Josie. Just thinking of her name made him smile. He placed the trophy he still held in his hand carefully on the bottom shelf, then turned and bent to grab the empty box. He carried it to the dining room and dismantled it, placing it on top of the stack of other broken down boxes. As he looked up, he smiled again. There was his bed, still in pieces, now within easy access against the wall. He was determined not to put it together today. He admitted to himself easily that he wanted to spend another night at Josie's, to be in her delightful company and maybe even be lucky enough to hold her in his arms again as she slept.
Speaking of sleeping� Sam thought, as he stifled a yawn. He was worn out from all the lifting, moving, and unpacking. He glanced at his watch. It said 3:10. Surely I can afford a little nap before Josie arrives, he thought. He walked over to the sofa, grabbed one of the side pillows and plumped it up. Placing it against the armrest, he laid his head down upon it and folded the rest of his body into a comfortable position. Then, thinking of Josie, he fell asleep with a smile on his lips.
* * *
Walking back into her office, Josie closed the door behind her. "Okay," she said to Anita, "do you want to talk first or listen first?"
"Believe it or not, I want to listen first," said Anita. "What's going on? Where have you been all day?"
"Sam got suspended from his job this morning," explained Josie without preamble. "Because the school board thinks that he must have 'crossed the line' with me when I was his student in order for him to act the way he did last night."
"Hello?" Anita retorted. "Like you're 25 and NOT a student? That's really dumb."
"Not according to them. Because apparently it only matters what Sam THOUGHT I was at the time. Of course, the whole thing is moot anyway, since Sam didn't do anything he shouldn't have. If anything, he tried admirably not to show any feelings toward me that could have been construed as inappropriate. But all that doesn't matter, since they won't take Sam's nor my word for it." Josie sighed.
"Boy, that must have been awful for him, poor baby," Anita commented dreamily.
Josie gave Anita a knowing look. She could almost imagine the track her friend's mind was taking. "That's MY guy you're talking about here, so watch it," Josie grinned.
"Oops. Sorry. Force of habit," Anita gave Josie a bit of a sheepish grin. "So how is he doing?"
"About as well as can be expected, under the circumstances," Josie replied. "He was really shaken when it first happened. Aldys called me from the school and told me she had seen him leaving the school and that he looked really bad. That's how I found out that something was wrong. So I went over to his place to confront him and he told me what had happened. He doesn't hold out much hope that he'll get his job back."
"So, why won't they take your word for it? I don't get that," Anita asked.
"Because Sam and I are now a couple. They feel that I have a 'conflict of interest' when it comes to this incident, and therefore, they cannot consider me a credible witness," Josie explained.
"Sounds to me like they're trying to run Sam right out of town. Someone should tell this school board that this is not a bad John Wayne western," Anita remarked sarcastically.
Josie had to laugh a little at the thought of Jack Kerdan wearing a Stetson and a six-gun.
"So, you're not taking this lying down are you?" Anita inquired.
"Cute choice of words, Anita�but no, I'm not, so to speak. That's what I needed to talk to Gus about. He's helping me with a story that's going to run in the morning paper. I'm hoping to garner attention and public support for Sam with this article. Plus, I've got Aldys working on something from the school end of things, too."
"Good. I'll bet that school board will wish they'd never heard the name 'Josie Geller' by the time you're done with them," Anita praised.
"Actually, all that matters is that they give Sam his job back. I could see it if he really did do something wrong here, but he didn't. It's not fair the way they are handling this." Josie grabbed one of the many packing boxes sitting by her desk and started packing the items on top of her desk.
Anita followed Josie's cue and grabbed a box and started taking Josie's many awards and certificates off the wall. Without turning around, Anita said, "Josie, I've got to talk to you about something."
Josie sat down in front of her desk and started emptying drawers. "Go ahead. What's up?"
Anita placed the full box on the floor and sat down, pulling the chair by the door close to the desk so that she could talk softly. "Something happened to me last night and I don't know what to make of it. Maybe you can help me sort it out."
Josie's ears perked up at the uncertain tone in her friend's voice. She took a good long look at Anita and replied softly, "Okay."
"Well, I was sitting next to Gus in the stands at the ballpark last night while we were waiting for Sam to show up. When the time started to tick down, I must have gotten nervous, because I had grabbed Gus' hand and started squeezing it. He didn't pull away, though. He actually squeezed back."
"And then, when Sam did show up and he kissed you like that --you know, so passionately�Well, I was so overwhelmed that I turned and kissed Gus square on the lips."
Josie gasped. Anita and Gus? Kissing? Oh, my. This was quite a turn of events. It also explained both Anita and Gus' strange reactions to each other this morning. "So what happened then?" Josie prodded.
"Nothing for a moment. I think Gus was stunned. Hell, I was stunned! But then, he kissed me back. I mean, really kissed me� And Josie?" Anita paused.
"Yes?"
"I liked it. I mean I really FELT something. Not like it normally is. Something�well�something more. I was all breathless and my heart was pounding and stuff. What do you think that means?" Anita looked scared.
"Well, that depends. How do you think Gus reacted to it?" Josie inquired.
"You know it's hard to tell what he's thinking. But�he seemed pretty shaken up, too."
After a moment, Josie said, "I think that maybe you guys have been harboring an attraction for each other for a while and you've only just now discovered it. The next question is�what are you going to do about it?"
Anita sighed heavily and flopped back in the chair. "I was afraid you were going to ask me that. I don't know what to do about it. I have no idea how Gus feels about me and I wouldn't even know how to bring the subject up without putting him on the defensive. I mean�you know the reputation I have in the office. And Gus sure as hell knows. But this thing with him is different. I don't know how I would convince him of that, though."
Josie replied, "That's a really good question. I don't know, either. It's up to you to decide if you feel it's worth the risk. You could try to let things go back to the way they were before, but I think that you could never truly go back now that this has happened. If you guys don't work it out somehow, there is always going to be that tension between you. Plus," Josie added, smiling, "I think you two would make a cute couple."
Anita looked horrified. But then, she looked fragile and hopeful. "Do you really think so?"
"Yes, I do. You would soften each other's rough edges. But I could also see lots of sparks where you are both so headstrong. It probably wouldn't be easy, but it would surely be interesting," Josie predicted.
"Well, what would you do if you were me?" Anita asked earnestly.
"Gosh, Anita, I don't know if I can answer that for you. I'm not you. And although Sam and I were not 'supposed' to be together, like you and Gus, the situation was very different. All I can say is that the best policy is to be honest and to take a chance. Otherwise, you'll have to live with the 'what if' for the rest of your life. In my opinion, it's better to have tried and flopped than to settle." Josie smiled to herself as she recognized those words as the same she had used with Sam the day she had left her note cards in his classroom and had discovered him reading that Dorothy Parker book.
Anita was regarding her thoughtfully. "So, do you think I have any chance with Gus?"
Josie smirked as she thought of Gus' reaction to Anita's withdrawal this morning. "Yes, I think you might have a chance with him."
Anita grinned back, encouraged. "Okay. I'll give it a try. Wish me luck!" She stood and leaned over the desk to give Josie a big hug. Josie hugged back.
"Good luck. I think you'll do fine," Josie encouraged.
Anita stood up with new resolve and left the office. Josie turned and grabbed another box, looking around the room and sighing. Still a lot of work left to do.
* * *
Whew! Josie was finally finished with her packing. She had even unhooked her monitor and computer to prepare them for transport in the morning. She glanced at her watch; it said 5:20 p.m. Ugh. She was going to be later than she had hoped getting to Sam's. Well, she thought, I'll have to forego changing and just go in my work clothes. She grabbed her purse and her briefcase and headed for the door. Once there, she paused for a moment, turning to consider the room where she had spent the last two years.
It was sort of sad, closing the door on that part of her life. But, she was excited at where her new life was taking her. She had a wonderful man, and a wonderful chance at a great job. She had great friends and had made some new ones as well. She was ready. Firmly, she turned and closed the door behind her.
* * *
Anita watched as Josie walked toward the elevators. Almost everyone had left the office right at five, especially since it was Monday; that is, everyone but Josie, Gus, and herself. She could see through the glass walls of his office that Gus was still slaving away in front of his computer, as he did most every night. Now was as good a time as any, she tried to convince herself. Still, she was terrified. What if Gus rejected her?
She straightened her shoulders and stood, trying to give herself more courage. If Josie could do it, then so could she. After all, what did she have to lose?
She walked through the silent bullpen and stood in the open doorway of Gus' office. "Gus, do you have a minute?"
He didn't even look up from the computer screen. "Anita, whatever it is, I don't have time for it. I've got too much work to do."
Anita was hurt by his out-of-hand rejection, but she persisted, "Please, Gus, it's really important."
Gus looked up, about to light into Anita for disturbing the peace and quiet he relished after everyone else went home. But when he saw the serious and vulnerable look on her face, he reconsidered. Instead he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He had a feeling he knew what this discussion was going to be about and he wasn't sure he was ready for it.
"Okay, Anita, come on in." Gus shut off the monitor to his computer. "What did you want to talk about?"
She entered his office, shutting the door behind her. She walked up to his desk and leaned her hands on it, forcing eye contact with Gus. Then she said softly, "I think you know. We need to talk about what happened last night."
* * *