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* * *
Sam felt his hand grow slack and slip off the doorknob to drop limply at his side. His mouth hung open in shock. Before him standing hunched over, drying her hair with a towel and dressed in his bathrobe, was Lara. Granted, he couldn't see her face, but he'd seen her in his bathrobe enough times in the past to be sure it was her. Unable to form even one coherent thought, he simply stood and continued to stare.
Meanwhile, Lara finished drying her hair and twisted the towel around her head, tucked the loose end in at the base of her hairline and stood up. Noticing Sam standing in the entranceway of the apartment looking at her like she had risen from the dead, she felt a small measure of satisfaction. 'Good,' she thought, 'having him off balance is definitely to my advantage�' Placing her hands on her hips, she smirked and said dryly, "So�the prodigal son returns."
Sam closed his mouth abruptly and turned his back to her while he closed the door, trying to gather his wits. He knew he needed to at least appear composed to get through this, although the sudden wave of nervous nausea he felt made that difficult. In the pit of his stomach, he knew that no good could possibly come from her being there. To Sam's credit, he did look remarkably composed when he turned to face Lara once again. Steadily he asked, "Would it be a little late to ask you what it is you're doing here? And in my bathrobe?"
Lara cocked an eyebrow in disbelief. He honestly had no idea? For some reason, this angered her. After all, she was not used to not being the center of attention, especially from Sam. She tapped a slender, perfectly manicured finger against her lips for a moment, as if in thought. Then she replied, her voice dripping in sarcasm, "Hmmm� Well, maybe I'm mistaken, but it seems to me that someone who sounded remarkably like you called me four days ago and said he wanted to discuss the possibility of us getting back together."
Sam's face went white, and he closed his eyes in denial. 'Oh God, she's right,' he realized. He had called her on Friday, the day after the prom, and suggested they discuss reconciliation. Granted, he'd not been in his right mind at the time, but certainly Lara hadn't known that. How could he possibly have forgotten?
Lara didn't even notice Sam's internal struggle. She was much too focused on making sure she got in as many digs as possible. After all the embarrassment she'd been through the last few days, in her eyes, Sam deserved it. "So, even though you were the one that had called things off in the first place�and with barely no explanation for it, I might add�I graciously agreed that, yes, we could talk about it. In exchange, you told me you would 'drop everything' and fly out on Sunday night so we could discuss it in person. You were going to call me from the airport, or so you said."
Sam rubbed a hand down his face. He could see that Lara did not intend to make this easy for him. But, since he deserved every ounce of her wrath right now, he nodded silently in acknowledgement and let her continue.
Lara crossed her arms across her chest. "I sat in all day on Sunday waiting for your call, Sam�the call that never came. At first, I figured that it was simply that your flight was delayed, but after two hours had gone by, I began to worry. I called the airline, and they said that your flight had come in on time. It's just that you weren't on it."
"So, I tried to reach you here, but there was no answer each of the fourteen times I called. But, even then, I gave you the benefit if the doubt, Sam. I said to myself, 'I'm sure there's some logical explanation for all this.'"
Lara walked over and perched herself on the arm of Sam's leather chair, studying her fingernails intently for a moment before speaking. "So, yesterday morning, I called as soon as I got up, knowing you're an hour behind here. Certainly, I thought, I'd reach you before you left for school. Apparently not, because there was still no answer."
Sam interjected with a question. "Lara, if you called all those times, why didn't you leave a message? I checked my messages yesterday morning, and I know there wasn't any message from you�"
Lara huffed in annoyance, both at being interrupted and because she felt Sam should have already known the answer. "Sam�you know how much I hate leaving messages on a machine� It's so�impersonal."
Sam rolled his eyes at this excuse, because he knew that Lara couldn't give a damn if she sounded "impersonal."
"Besides," she continued, "I hate the way my voice sounds on those things�"
Sam smirked to himself. 'Aha�now there's the truth of it�it's her vanity�'
"Anyway�" Lara gave Sam a quelling look, letting him know she expected to be allowed to continue her rant, "I got up and went to work, as usual, since there was still no word from you. But, the first chance I got, I tried to reach you at work. But, the office at the school said you weren't there, either. All I could get out of that rude, obnoxious woman was that you'd had to leave suddenly for a family emergency."
Sam wondered which "woman" Lara was talking about� Most likely Mrs. Lucent would have handled any incoming calls for or about him, considering the sensitive nature of his departure, he deduced. Mrs. Lucent didn't have a rude, obnoxious bone in her body! But then, Lara had never been overly good at identifying other people's true nature; she only saw what was most convenient for her.
Lara droned on, "In a panic, I called Abby to find out what was going on. She was incredibly insulting to me, Sam, and I didn't do a thing to deserve it," she complained.
Somehow, Sam really doubted that. He knew that Lara and Abby's relationship had grown increasingly strained over the years, mostly stemming from Lara's mistreatment, at least in Abby's eyes, of her favorite kid brother. But Abby was usually civil, unless Lara said something to specifically incite her temper.
"I simply asked her what was going on with you and what the emergency was. She informed me that no, there was no emergency�and as for anything else, I'd have to talk to you about it. And she was not exactly forthcoming with where I'd find you, either. Furthermore�she told me in no uncertain terms that she would 'take you to get your head examined' if you ever got back together with a 'stuck-up, self-centered bitch' like me."
Sam raised an eyebrow, but said nothing to this. 'Wow,' he thought, 'Abby actually called Lara a bitch to her face? Ouch!'
Trying to draw out some sympathy from him, she moaned to Sam, "Can you believe that, Sam!? How dare she!? Who does she think she is, anyway? It's not my fault she's stuck at home with her little brat all day instead of out doing a real job�"
Sam felt his blood pressure rise at the crude way Lara had described his niece Emma. Emma was a sweet, even-tempered joy of a two year old, and Lara's moniker couldn't be farther from the truth. Still though, Sam managed to control his temper. "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't call my only niece a brat," he replied, his voice tight with the struggle of maintaining an even tone. "She is a sweet little girl, and my sister chose to stay home with her. Abby loves being a mother. I'm quite sure that Emma had nothing to do with her comments to you."
"Well, I don't care what her reason was, it was uncalled for, and I told her so before I hung up on her." Lara abruptly changed the subject back to the situation at hand. "So here I was, a whole day off schedule�and still no closer to finding an answer as to why you never showed up. At that point, I realized I'd never get my answers sitting in New York, so I boarded the first flight I could get out here to Chicago."
"My flight got delayed out of New York, so I didn't get into O'Hare until almost 9:30 last night. I tried here, but of course, you weren't here, so I had to take a cab over. At least when I got here, I knew you were all right, since today's mail had been opened and was sitting on the coffee table. I knew you'd have to come back here eventually, so I waited up for you�all night." Lara sniffed after that remark, as if she knew he had been with another woman, and had expected it all along. "Actually, I only waited up until about 2 a.m., after which I surmised you wouldn't be coming back that night. So, you'll have to excuse me if�after three days of waiting�I'm a little amazed that you've finally graced me with your presence."
Sam dropped his overnight bag on the floor and crossed the room to sit on the edge of the coffee table, facing Lara. He couldn't make eye contact and stared at a worn spot on his rug just under her feet. He felt like the lowest form of pond scum. In his preoccupation with winning Josie back, and then his subsequent suspension from work yesterday, he'd completely forgotten even having a conversation with Lara, let alone remember the promises he'd made to her back when he'd been so tormented and heartbroken over Josie.
Sam couldn't believe his own callousness, even unintentional as this was. His eyes full of remorse and sorrow, Sam looked up from his hands to Lara's face. She still had the same pretty face she'd had when he'd fallen for her so long ago. In fact, if anything, she was even more beautiful. So it only added to his guilt that now when he looked at her, he felt nothing�none of the love, affection, and devotion that used to fill him up. And because of his foolish whim, she had traveled halfway across the country to find him with the intention of getting back together. And he knew it would never happen, so her trip was completely wasted; it would be for nothing. Clearing his throat self-consciously, he began, "Lara� I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am�"
Lara waved a hand dismissively to silence him mid-sentence. "Listen, at this point, I don't think a simple 'I'm sorry' would begin to cover it. This was pretty shabby treatment for the woman who's spend the last five years of her life with you, wouldn't you say?" She glared at him, crossed her legs and allowed her left leg to bounce up and down impatiently as if demanding a response.
Sam looked back down at his hands, ashamed. His headache returned with a vengeance, pounding so loudly that it was all he could hear. "Yes, it was; I agree," Sam admitted.
Lara folded her legs up under her in the chair and covered them with the bottom edges of Sam's robe. Haughtily notching her head up a little higher, she conceded, "Fine," as if she were arguing a case instead of discussing her love life. "But I've got to know, why in hell would you call me out of the blue, be all fired up to get back together and then disappear off the face of the planet?"
"I�" Sam didn't know where to even begin explaining. "I�was confused. I hadn't really thought things through when I called you; I was acting on impulse. And when I'd had time to think about it, I realized that it would probably be a mistake for us to be together, considering how miserable we made each other all the time�" He was trying to leave Josie completely out of this. Because, although he was in love with Josie now and wanted to be with her, Josie had not been the cause of the problems that led to his breakup with Lara. "So, I guess you could say that I changed my mind�"
Lara leaned forward in Sam's chair, bracing herself with her arms on the armrests. Her faced turned red and she looked mean and menacing. Sam wasn't sure if he'd ever seen her this angry. "You changed your mind!? Just like that!? You just changed your mind? Are you insane, Sam!? What the hell kind of game are your trying to play, here!?"
Sam closed his eyes against the sight of her anger, because she had every right to be angry, and he felt about two inches high. "Lara, please� I never meant to hurt you; I would never do that. I just didn't know what I wanted before, that's all. And in my confusion, I really made a mess of this�" He raised his eyes to her again, pleading silently for her to understand.
Lara was not interested in apologies, however. Glaring at him, she accused, "So, you just decided that it wouldn't work out and said what? 'Screw it, it doesn't matter anyway'? Is that why you never called me back? Why you didn't have the decency to at least tell me you weren't coming?"
"No!" Sam denied. "It was nothing like that, Lara, really�"
"Uh-huh, sure. And I love how I never even got a say in this decision of yours, even though the outcome affects me and we've been together for five years! How fair is that, Sam? Huh? And now you've done it twice! I didn't get any say in it the first time, and then you literally pull the rug out from under me the second time when I was willing to give you a second chance�" Her eyes softened, and with a silky voice, she entreated, "I mean, how do you know that things wouldn't work out if you won't even talk to me about them? How am I supposed to fix things when I don't know what I've done wrong?"
'Oh, God,' Sam thought as his mind replayed Lara's last two sentences. How was he ever going to be able to explain how he knew she wasn't the one for him without bringing Josie into it? The last thing he needed was for Lara to find out about her, because he could imagine Lara being pretty vindictive if she thought Josie was competition. Although, there really was no comparison between the two of them�they were in a completely different league. Josie understood him in ways that Lara never did and never could.
He and Lara were totally wrong for each other; he knew that for a fact. And although it had taken the presence of Josie in his life to realize it, it had been true long before he knew Josie Geller existed.
They were from completely different backgrounds: he was from a middle class family; she was from an upper class family. He loved his job because he enjoyed helping and nurturing his students; she loved her job because she enjoyed money and notoriety. He wanted to settle down and have a home to call his own, and someday have a family. Lara wanted a penthouse on 5th Avenue and a prestigious career. He understood that sometimes opposites attracted, but where could the middle ground in this relationship possibly be? Up to this point, he had always been the one to concede, the one to give in, to give up�and that was why things had gone so smoothly. But he had done so because he didn't think he'd find anyone who would want the same things out of life, the way that Josie did. Having Josie's love made him understand that he could have both the life of his choosing and be loved for it. And now that he knew that having both was possible, he had no intention of ever settling for less.
'Still,' he thought, 'five years was a long time�' He knew that he did owe her some sort of debt for the time they'd been together. She deserved better than what she had gotten from him, and he knew it. She did deserve an explanation, a way to air their thoughts and feelings so that there were no loose ends. If they could just talk it over like the two adults they were and make a clean break instead of harboring bad feelings, then maybe it would be more beneficial to them both.
He hoped that maybe he could convince her that he was indeed correct about them not being good for each other. Maybe if Lara came to that conclusion herself, then the onus of having been the one to 'make the decision' would be removed and they could part amicably�or so he hoped.
The more Sam thought about it, the better he liked the idea of he and Lara talking it out. He looked back up at her and said, "You're right. It wasn't fair of me to not talk to you, not to communicate with you about our problems. Five years is a long time, and you deserve that, at least. I'm sorry I didn't do this before�you know, the first time�but we can do it now. Let's talk about it. Let's talk it out. Maybe then you'll see and understand why I came to the conclusion that I did about us."
Lara sat silently, studying Sam's face. Finally, after several tense moments, she gave a single nod. "Okay, I agree. I think we should talk about it�" she stood up as she said it, "but I'd like to change first, if you don't mind�" She lifted a lapel of his robe and wore a ghost of a smile. "I'd like to get out of this damp thing and into some dry clothes before I catch my death."
Swallowing his nervousness, Sam nodded. "Okay, I'll wait out here for you."
Lara turned and walked toward the bedroom, while Sam plopped himself into his leather chair, preparing to wait for her. As she turned the corner and entered Sam's bedroom, she let a triumphant smile curl the corners of her mouth. This was going even better than she had planned. She knew she had just won a major concession from Sam by getting him to talk about their relationship, because she knew he didn't want to talk about it.
And better yet, she knew that, if nothing else, she still held the same power to use and direct his emotions to get what she wanted. She shook her head in amazement. He was just too kind-hearted, too noble, too gentlemanly�and she'd certainly used it to her advantage today. 'He always was way too easy to manipulate�'
Lara dropped herself into the armchair next to the window and looked out. She turned her nose up at the sight of Sam's middle class neighborhood with all the older, quainter houses that lined the street, now converted to apartment buildings. She didn't know how Sam could possibly prefer this over her trendy New York apartment. His apartment, indeed his entire neighborhood, had no class whatsoever.
Shaking her head, she thought of all the time and effort she had spent over the years grooming Sam for the kind of life they would live together in New York. Once she got him out there with her and he'd quit his job and was dependent on her (at least temporarily), things would certainly change�and fast. Gone would be the ridiculous hockey games, the childish trophies, and the gaudy hand-me-down furniture� Sam would be presentable, respectable, and available to be at her beck and call. And in exchange for such loyalty, she would even allow him to remain a teacher�even though she still questioned the redeeming qualities of that profession�provided he was teaching on at least the college level. Being married to a distinguished 'professor' she could deal with, being married to a run-of-the-mill high school teacher she could not. Nothing less than that would be acceptable, she decided with a firm nod of her head.
Confident now that she would be able to eventually sway Sam enough to come back to her, she sniffed in satisfaction. She knew how to play him so well, she didn't even have to try anymore; it just came naturally.
Still, she would take no chances� Today, she would pull out all the stops. She knew this was the moment that she would have to play her best cards, her best hand, if she were going to end up the winner of this little poker game.
Leaning over a little, she reached out and unlatched the clips on her suitcase, which was lying on a small table next to the chair. She searched for and found her slinky, sexy black underwear set to wear underneath her black skirt suit�the one with the short skirt that showed off her legs to perfection. "A little distraction never hurt anything, either�" she thought, and then shrugged out of Sam's bathrobe to dress.
* * *
Sam stared after Lara long after she had entered his bedroom and rounded the corner, out of his line of view. 'What in God's name are you doing, Sam?' he asked himself incredulously. 'You don't want to 'talk things out' with Lara! You want to be with Josie! You should ask her to leave�that it's over and it always will be�' But he knew in his heart he could not do it. He could not send Lara away without giving her a chance to talk it out with him, so that, at least for her own peace of mind, she could go without any hard feelings.
Sam leaned over, putting his head in his hands and rubbing his throbbing temples. The pain was so bad by now that he could barely see straight. He focused his eyes on the phone like it was a lifeline; he desperately wanted to call Josie, even if only to hear her voice again. He could use her calming, soothing voice of reason right about now. It seemed like days since he'd left her office, although in reality, it had only been about an hour. But as much as he wanted to talk to her, he knew that he couldn't call her. As he glanced back toward his bedroom again, he knew that this was one situation he had to work out on his own.
* * *
At the sound of a light rap on her closed door, Josie looked up from busily arranging her desk. "Come on in, it's open," she replied.
"Howdy, boss!" greeted Merkin cheerfully with a wide grin. "Where do ya want me?" he asked as he gestured to the box of desk supplies he was holding with both hands.
'How about New Mexico?' Josie thought to herself with a smirk before she answered, "The desk outside the door will be fine, Merkin. Thanks."
Merkin turned and went back out the door, plopping his box on the desk. As he walked around it and out of Josie's line of sight, she could hear him softly singing the theme to the old TV show 'The Jeffersons' to himself, "Well, we're movin' on up, to the East Side�To a dee-luxe apartment in the sky�" Rolling her eyes in amusement, she grinned despite herself. 'At least,' Josie thought, 'he's good for comic relief�'
Suddenly, Josie was overcome with a jolt of pain throbbing at her temples. Placing the fingers of each hand over the painful spots, she gingerly sat back down to lean her elbows heavily on the desk. She closed her eyes and prayed that she could hold back the tears that threatened to fall. 'Good God,' she thought hazily, 'What the heck brought this on?'
Merkin peeked in as he was walking by the now-open door to her office, and, seeing Josie's wilted condition, quickly re-entered, asking with concern, "Hey�boss�you okay?"
"I�don't know�" Josie struggled to answer. She was about to ask Merkin to find her some more aspirin when suddenly the pain disappeared. Stunned, Josie didn't move for a second, as if she didn't believe it was actually gone. But after another couple of seconds went by and there was still no pain, Josie sat back in her chair and moved her head from side to side, as if testing for more discomfort. "Hmmm�" she murmured, "Very strange." She looked up at Merkin, who was still standing in front of her desk, and said, "I'm okay now, really. It's gone."
"Are you sure, boss?" Merkin actually looked worried about her, Josie mused.
Josie smiled comfortingly and replied, "Yes, Merkin, I'm sure, but thanks�"
Merkin turned to leave again, but not before looking over his shoulder one more time to assess her. Then he shrugged his shoulders and turned, starting to boogie back toward his desk humming the "I Dream of Jeannie" theme under his breath.
Shaking her head at Merkin's antics, Josie turned in her chair to reach into a box next to her feet to pull out her pencil cup. As her right hand grasped it, she had a flash�a vision�for just a split-second: she could "see" Sam, sitting in his leather chair in his apartment. He was staring at the telephone next to him, almost as if he were willing her to call. His need was so great that it was almost palpable. And then, as suddenly as it came, the picture was gone.
Not even hesitating, she sat back up and reached for her phone. If Sam needed her, then she was definitely going to call.
With her heart pounding, Josie punched in the number and waited for the line to start ringing. Something was wrong with Sam; she just knew it. But just as the call connected started to ring, Josie heard Merkin's overly bright greeting, "Good morning, Mr. Strauss!" so she hastily hung up the phone. Sighing as she looked up at her boss stalking through her doorway, she thought sadly, 'Well, Sam�I guess you're going to have to wait.'
* * *
As Sam sat staring longingly at the telephone, suddenly it began to ring. The loud sound shattered the quiet turmoil he'd been cocooned in and made him jump. His heart pounding, he reached for the receiver. He knew it was Josie�it just had to be. With a shaking hand, he reached out and picked up the receiver. As much as he wanted to hear Josie's voice right now, he had no idea how he could possibly explain what was going on. Bringing the receiver up to his ear, breathlessly he asked, "Hello?" But just as he did, he heard a 'click' on the other end of the line.
"Damn!" Sam swore softly, placing the handset back into the holder. After the split-second of hope he'd felt at the idea of Josie's call suddenly deflated, he felt even more distraught and confused than he had before. He sunk even deeper into the armchair, emotionally drained.
The way he felt now, he had no idea how he would possibly make it through his 'discussion' with Lara unscathed. He felt trapped and didn't know how to break free. Because as much as he loved Josie, he could feel himself slipping back into his old pattern of behavior with Lara. Five years of deferring to her was a hard habit to break. She already had him second-guessing himself and his decision to end things with her. He'd already acquiesced about 'trying to work things out'�and his deepest fear was that, before the day was over, he might give in to much, much more.
"Sam?" Lara called out from the bedroom. "Who was on the phone, honey?"
Sam closed his eyes and swallowed hard at the sound of the endearment from Lara. It had been a long time since he'd heard such genuine emotion in Lara's voice. He didn't want to feel anything, he wanted to stay numb�but some of their more happy memories were starting to trickle into his mind, tapping against his conscience. Shaking his head to clear it, he replied, "No one. When I picked up the phone, there was no one there." He tried to convince himself it was Josie, that somehow she'd known he needed her, but at this point, he was even starting to doubt that�
"Okay," Lara replied. After a half second, she asked sweetly, "Hey, Sam?"
"Yeah?" he replied, sitting a little straighter in the chair.
"Could you do me a favor? Can you grab my other bag and bring it in for me? I left it over by the couch�"
Sam looked over toward the couch and saw one of Lara's carry-on bags at the foot of the couch. Startled, he noticed for the first time since he'd arrived home that the couch had been made up as a bed and had obviously been slept on. Another pang of guilt assaulted him at the thought of Lara waiting up for him to come home; unaware that he'd spent the night with Josie. And then she'd had to sleep on his lumpy old couch as well.
Clearing his throat, Sam said, "Sure," and pushed himself out of the chair to retrieve her bag. Turning and walking down the hallway toward his bedroom, he paused to knock on the open door to the room before entering. "Okay, Lara, I'm coming in�" Sam trailed off as he turned the corner. Actually, he attempted to finish his sentence, even opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, but no sound would come out.
This was because standing in the center of his room was Lara: A scantily clad Lara, looking for all the world like she'd just walked out of the pages of Playboy magazine. She was dressed in an incredibly sexy black underwear set, one that he'd never seen before. As she looked over to acknowledge his presence in the room with a grateful smile, she was pulling a second thigh high stocking up her long, slender, shapely leg, pausing to attach it to the matching black garter belt and then she slipped her foot into her other black high-heeled shoe.
Despite himself, Sam felt his mouth go dry. A shiver of fear swept through him and he started to back out the door, dropping the bag in the doorway on his way out. He stammered, "I�I'm sorry to have�disturbed you. I�I'll just wait out here for you," and bid a hasty retreat back to the living room.
Once Sam was out of Lara's sight, he collapsed against the living room wall with a hand over his heart. It was beating furiously and he gulped in deep breaths of air. Closing his eyes, he felt as if his confusion was about to overwhelm him. He knew he was in love with Josie (didn't he?), so he shouldn't be having feelings about anyone else. But, God help him, he had. Just now, when he'd seen Lara, a wave of desire had swept through him at the erotic sight of her, making him think of nights he'd spent making love to her. He desperately tried to remember what it was that had made him need to leave Lara in the first place. He knew there were reasons�he knew there were. But for the life of him, at that moment, he couldn't think of any.
Trying to get his head back on straight, he pushed away from the wall and walked into the kitchen, looking for the picture of he and Josie painting the sunset backdrop for the prom together. But apparently he'd misplaced it when he had been unpacking, he thought, because it was no longer on the counter where he'd last remembered seeing it. Sighing heavily and leaning back against the counter, he covered his eyes with his hands, trying to picture Josie's sweet, wonderful face in his mind. But the picture of Lara's risqu� outfit seemed burned on the inside of his eyelids. Rubbing his hands down his face, he looked up toward the heavens. 'God,' he thought, 'if ever I needed your help, it would be right now� Help me to do the right thing today�please!'
* * *
Lara bit back a laugh as she watched Sam trip all over himself trying to get out of the bedroom. She'd just proven another one of her theories: that no matter how Sam felt about her at the moment, was not as immune to her as he wanted to believe. Although she'd feigned an innocent look in his direction as he'd entered, in reality, she'd staged that little 'performance' for him and had been watching from beneath her eyelashes to capture his first response. And Sam's first response had been clear: desire, which was the reaction she'd been hoping for. That reaction had quickly been masked by Sam's intense fear and nervousness, but even that was a good sign. She had Sam on the run, and that definitely gave her the upper hand. He was afraid, confused, and was already doubting himself. 'Good,' she thought. 'It will only make my job easier.'
So far, everything was going according to plan. Sam still had no idea that she already knew his real reason for not showing up in New York on Sunday. Of course she knew about Josie Geller's newspaper article, and about Sam's subsequent return to her arms on the baseball field. After all, it had been on news stations nationwide. Her initial intense anger at watching their passionate kiss on-screen had quickly been harnessed to fuel her plan to 'win' him back. Because Josie was obviously a novice at love� She couldn't possibly compete�not with her, Lara thought. Josie may have stolen Sam's heart, but Lara knew how to use her feminine wiles to get it back.
She walked into the bathroom and, looking in the mirror over the sink, she smiled at her reflection. She picked up the crumpled photograph from the counter and spoke to it almost as if it could hear her, with an evil smile curling her lips, "Well, Josie Geller, you better watch out�because the 'bitch' is back in town, and she's not leaving until she takes back what's hers."
* * *