Hi, everyone! I hope you like the latest installment of my story. It's always great to hear what you think, so please don't hesitate to email me at [email protected], or post on the message board. Thanks! You guys are awesome!
* * *
Before Sam left the bathroom, he stared at his reflection in the long rectangular mirror above the sink. Something about his face looked different, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He turned his head to one side, then to the other, and a smile formed on his lips. Of course! There was color in his cheeks now, a warm, rosy color that he almost didn't recognize. It had been too long since he had felt this way. No, he thought, I've never felt this way. But then, hadn't had Josie in his life before either.
Smiling at his reflection one last time, he made his way back out to the table. He noticed a little hop in his step, stemming from his excitement about the evening. Unfortunately, his giddiness faded fast when he sat across the table from Josie and saw her glum expression. He reached out to touch her hand, noticing for the first time that she was clutching his cell phone. "Josie? What's wrong?" he asked her, his voice low and husky. "I hope you don't mind�I answered your phone. I thought the call might be important," she whispered, not looking him in the eye.
"Josie, I don't mind that you answered my phone. That's no problem. Actually, it was very sweet of you!" He didn't understand why she looked so sad, and he wanted to do everything in his power to put that smile he loved so much back on her face.
"You should take the call," she insisted, placing the phone in the palm of his hand. He closed his fingers around it. "It's Lara."
Lara? Now it all made sense! He understood why Josie looked so downtrodden. He took one of her hands in his and squeezed it tightly, smiling at her as he put the phone up to his ear. "Lara?" he said hesitantly.
"Sam? Where are you? You never got off the plane! I waited at the airport for you, asked if anyone had seen you�I've been worried sick!"
Sam heard the genuine concern in her voice. She sounded a little angry, but mostly just worried. He sighed, realizing that she had every right to be. He had called her and told her to pick him up at the airport, but he hadn't called her to tell her that his plans had changed. He had a lot of explaining to do, and he could already feel a headache coming on as a result. "Lara�I'm really sorry I made you worry, but�I'm�I'm okay."
Sam heard Lara sigh on the other end of the line. "Well, I'm glad, Sam, but that still doesn't answer my question! Why weren't you on that plane? Where are you now? And who in heaven's name is Josie Geller?"
Josie�Sam looked at the beauty sitting across from him. He picked up the hand that he'd been holding and pressed it delicately to his lips, smiling at her. Josie smiled back, but it seemed a little forced. "Lara, I'm still in Chicago," Sam said into the phone, squeezing Josie's hand tightly in his. "I'm sorry about everything, but�I've changed my mind. When I called you, I wasn't thinking clearly at all. It wasn't fair what I did to you and I'm sorry, but I'm not coming to New York after all. I'm staying right here. This is where I belong."
At these final words, Sam saw Josie smile genuinely once again, and her love for him made him feel more confident in talking to Lara. "What do you mean, 'You're staying'!?" Lara shouted. "How could you just change your mind like that? One minute you want to be with me and the next you don't! There's something you're not telling me, isn't there, Sam?" When he didn't respond right away, she repeated, "Isn't there?"
Sam bit down on his lower lip, took a deep breath, and made the leap. "Yes, Lara, there is. I'm with someone else now. The only reason I was even going to come to New York was because I didn't think she loved me. I was hurt, so in some insane way, I thought that you were the answer. My security blanket."
Sam was more than a little surprised when he heard Lara laugh. "What's so funny?" he asked her, puzzled.
"This is perfect!" she exclaimed. "Finally, we agree on something; we do something the same!"
Sam turned his head to the side, as if Lara was right in front of him and could see his reaction. "I think you've lost me�" he admitted.
"Oh, Sam, this is perfect! As a matter of fact, I've met someone too!"
"You have?" he asked, a relieved smile coming to his lips. "When did this happen?"
"Well�I feel awful saying this, Sam, but it was about three months ago. Actually, I was seeing him that time I came to Chicago to visit you. I think deep down we both knew that this wasn't working for either of us�I'm just glad everything has worked out."
"So am I," Sam agreed, not believing how easy this had all turned out to be. "I'm just glad we can part on friendly terms."
"Me too�Listen, Sam, I should go. I have a lot of work to do."
"All right. Take care of yourself, Lara."
"You too, Sam. You should visit me the next time you're in New York. You know I'll be insulted if you don't."
Sam chuckled. "Of course I will! Goodbye, Lara."
"Goodbye, Sam."
Sam pushed the 'end' button on his phone and slipped it back into his pocket. He saw that Josie was watching him nervously, expectantly. Before she could ask him what had happened, he told her. "Lara found someone else, too. She completely understood the situation, and we broke up�for good. Maybe we'll still be friends, I don't know. She's not really a bad person. I'm sure she'll make some man very happy, but�she's not you."
Josie's face turned crimson at his words. "Sam�" she whispered. All her insecurities seemed to float away with the knowledge that Lara was out of the picture for good. She smiled lovingly at him and placed her hand gently on his cheek. "What are we going to do about your car?"
Sam shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not worried about it. I figure we can just call a cab to take us home and I can go back and take care of the battery tomorrow morning. I think the car is pretty safe there. It's not like anyone can steal it."
"What are you going to do tonight?" she asked him. "Isn't all your stuff in boxes?"
Sam hadn't even thought of this until she mentioned it. "That's right!" he exclaimed with a laugh. "Well, I don't know. I could�"
"You could stay with me," she suggested shyly, lowering her eyes. "Rob says that my couch is very comfortable. He's stayed over a few times when Mom and Dad have had company at their house."
By this time, Josie had already told Sam all about Rob and how he had posed as a student to help her, since Sam had left prom before she'd gotten to that part of her speech. "Are you sure you wouldn't mind?" Sam asked her, knowing, of course, that she wouldn't.
"Of course I don't mind, Sam. It will be nice to have you there."
Sam nodded. "Okay, but we should still stop at my place first so I can get a few things. I had a suitcase packed for Lara's, so I can just bring that with me."
Shortly after that, the two of them left The Caf� in a taxi. The taxi driver turned out to be an exceptionally talkative individual. He had long raven hair pulled back in a ponytail and dark eyes. He looked to Sam and Josie like he was at least part Italian, but his accent was purely American. "And how are you kids doing this evening?" the man asked once Sam had given him directions to his apartment.
"Never been better," Sam announced from the back of the cab, dangling his arm around Josie and giving her shoulders a squeeze. "And yourself?"
"Well, as a matter of fact, I'm feeling especially sentimental tonight," the man replied, making eye contact with Sam via the rearview mirror. "I saw the most wonderful story on the news before I left for work this evening. It was about this copy editor from the Chicago Sun-Times that got her first kiss tonight�at the Illinois state baseball championship game. Have you heard that story?"
Sam and Josie couldn't help but laugh at the man's question. "Actually, sir," Sam began, "we are that story!"
"No kidding!" the man exclaimed. "Hey, I knew that you two looked familiar! I suppose congratulations are in order then! I'm very happy for both you. It's not every day that a person finds their true love. Believe me, I know. I met mine by chance at my cousin's birthday party when I was only ten years old� But I'm sure you don't want to hear the story. It's kind of long and uninteresting."
Josie had taken an immediate liking to this man. She looked at Sam, seeing in his eyes that he felt the same way that she did. "If you don't mind telling it, we'd love to hear your story, sir," she informed him.
"Well, all right, then. Let's see�Yes, I was ten years old at the time. Her name was Maria, and she was the most beautiful creature I'd ever laid eyes on. She wore a long pink silk dress with frills, and her beautiful black hair fell down her back, nearly reaching her feet. Well, to make a long story short, we were inseparable after that day. We were married when I was nineteen and she was eighteen, fresh out of high school�Our parents wanted us to wait until we were older and had more experience in the "real world," but we didn't listen to them. We loved each other, and we couldn't bear the thought of ever spending a single day apart�" He paused for a moment then, and Josie could have sworn she heard him choke back a sob. It worried her to think that talking about this had upset the man in anyway.
"Sir, if you'd rather not talk about it, we completely understand," she assured him.
"No, no, it's fine," he insisted, sighing, "and my name is Alfonso, in case you wanted to know�Anyway�I think both of us somehow knew our time together would be short, which is why we rushed into marriage�I lost my Maria on our two year anniversary. There was a terrible car accident�she was driving home late that night from her mother's house to meet me for our anniversary dinner. It was raining hard that night, visibility was terrible�and a truck in the other lane was driving too fast. It slid into her tiny car and completely smashed it. She was killed instantly."
"Oh, Alfonso, I'm so sorry!" Josie cried. "That must have been awful for you."
"It was," he said softly, nodding his head. "I have never remarried. It's been twenty years since her death, and I haven't ever looked at another woman, never once."
"Do you ever get lonely?" Josie probed, leaning forward in the seat, as if to bring her closer to Alfonso. The moment the words escaped her lips, she felt sorry she had asked him. She didn't want to upset him any more than he was.
Luckily the man was not offended. "Sometimes I do," he admitted, "but I get along okay. She still lives on in my memory, and that's the important thing�" A wistful smile touched the man's lips, as if he were thinking of his beloved Maria at that moment. After that, the ride lapsed into the comfortable silence of people who understood some mystical life secret.
Alfonso and Josie waited in the cab while Sam went into his apartment and grabbed his suitcase, and then they drove on to Josie's apartment. Once Alfonso drove away, Josie took her key out of her purse and unlocked the door, stepping inside and turning on the light, Sam right behind her. "Well, welcome to my home," Josie said, smiling up at him as he closed the door behind them.
The first thing Sam noticed when he stepped inside her apartment was the fragrance in the air, some kind of floral scent. "Mmmm�What's that smell?" he asked her, setting his suitcase at his feet.
"Oh, it's incense," Josie replied. "Lilac, to be exact. Lilacs are my favorite flowers. Some women love roses, I'm partial to lilacs. They're so beautiful, and I love the smell."
Sam made a mental note of this as the two of them took off their shoes and left them there in the foyer. "Where should I put my suitcase?" he asked at this point, picking it up once again.
Josie smiled warmly at him, still not believing that he was really there, in her apartment, with her. She had never invited a man into her home before, at least, not a man that wasn't family. For some reason, though, she didn't feel the least bit nervous about it. Not yet, anyway. The way he was looking at her just then and had been looking at her all evening was enough to give her all the confidence she needed. "You can put it in my room, Sam," she told him. "Here, I'll show you the way."
Sam followed Josie down a hallway that led to her bedroom. As they walked, he couldn't help but think about how her apartment was so warm and inviting, just like her. Once they got to her room, Sam set his suitcase on the floor next to her closet and then sat down on her bed. "Hmmm�Comfy," he commented, bouncing lightly on it twice. He looked over at Josie, who was still standing in the doorway, and patted the spot beside him, indicating that he wanted her to sit down. She blushed slightly and moved to sit beside him.
"So� What do you think of my home?" Josie asked him.
"I think it compliments its owner quite nicely," he replied, taking her hand. "So, what do you want to do now?"
"Well, we could watch a movie in the living room. I have just about every movie you would want to watch. I love movies."
"So do I," he agreed. "Hmmm�What movie shall we watch then?"
"Well, we can go back out to the living room and look at them, and then we can decide," she suggested.
"All right." He took her hand and the two of them made their way back out to the living room. Once there, Josie knelt on the floor next to a tall cabinet against the wall that was full of movies. Sam quickly joined her and scanned the titles with his eyes. He didn't look for but ten seconds when he reached up and pulled a title off the shelf. "Aha!" he exclaimed triumphantly. "This is it!"
Josie leaned in to see what Sam had picked out, and she blushed when she saw that he was holding Dirty Dancing. Her brother Rob had always called it a "chick flick," arguing that the only reason that Josie liked it was because "Patrick Swayze is so dreamy!"
"Really? Dirty Dancing?" Josie asked with surprise.
Sam nodded vigorously. "Yep, this is it. Unless, of course, you'd rather watch something else�like�Happy Gilmore?"
Josie giggled. "No, no, Dirty Dancing is fine. I'm just surprised, I guess. Rob calls it a "chick flick." I thought maybe you'd want to watch a comedy or something."
Sam smiled at her, kissing the bridge of her nose. "Nah. You seem to have forgotten that I love Shakespeare, Josie. I'm a sucker for a good love story, and I want to watch one with a happy ending."
"Okay. That's fine with me." The two of them stood up and Josie moved toward the VCR.
"Hey, Josie?" She turned around at the sound of Sam's voice. "Do you mind if I take a shower before we watch?"
Josie couldn't help blushing at the image of Sam in her shower, and she had to close her eyes for a moment to control herself. "No, that's fine, Sam. Actually, that sounds good. You can go first. I'll take mine after you, and then we'll watch."
"All right, it's settled then," he agreed.
The two of them took turns in the shower, and before long they were snuggled together under a blanket on Josie's couch with all the lights turned off, watching the movie. Josie wore an oversized Detroit Redwings jersey and white boxer shorts, while Sam wore a white T-shirt and plaid boxers. Josie sat beside him, her arms circled around his middle and Sam's arm was around her shoulders.
Before long, Sam couldn't seem to concentrate on the movie any longer. Of course, it wasn't as if he was missing anything since he'd already seen it too many times to count. He couldn't tear his eyes away from Josie's face, the way the television lit up her creamy skin in some spots.
Of course, it wasn't long before Josie noticed Sam studying him, and she turned to look at him curiously. "What's the matter, Sam?" she whispered, removing her arms from around his waist. She turned her body so that she could place one of her hands on either of his cheeks.
"Nothing's wrong," he whispered, leaning closer to her. "I just can't get over how beautiful you are, and how lucky I am to be here with you right now. And I'm thinking about the story Alfonso told us, back in the cab�I believe that he felt the same way about Maria that I feel about you. It's true that you don't know what you're missing in your life until you find it. I'd gotten so used to the routine with Lara, I'd forgotten about true love. Now I know what I was missing, and there's no way I'm going to let it go."
"Oh, Sam, I know exactly what you mean," she whispered. Feeling brave, she brought her lips to his and kissed him there, but only for a moment. Next, she moved to kiss his eyelids and his forehead and finally his neck. She kissed him so softly that he almost couldn't feel her and then she rested her head there, in the crook of his neck.
Sam circled both his arms around her and lay down on the couch, pulling her beside him. It was a tight squeeze for the two of them, but neither minded the proximity. The two of them stayed that way throughout the rest of the movie and eventually fell asleep that way, the blanket wrapped around them.
* * *
Josie awoke with a jolt the next morning. For a moment she couldn't remember the reason she'd woken so suddenly, but then she saw that Sam's cell phone, which he'd set on the coffee table in front of them, was ringing. She glanced over at Sam and smiled, seeing that he was still fast asleep, his unruly hair messed on his head. She smiled at him before picking up his phone and standing up, moving into the kitchen so as not to disturb Sam. "Sam Coulson's phone," she said cheerfully, her voice lowered.
"Uh�hi. Is this Lara?" a male voice questioned on the other end of the line. Josie thought it sounded like a teenage boy, maybe eighteen or nineteen years of age.
"No, this is Josie, his girlfriend," she corrected him. "Who's this?"
"Um�This is Matt, Sam's brother," the voice on the other end replied, still sounding perplexed. "He didn't tell me he had a new girlfriend. Mom and Dad will be happy to hear that. They didn't really get along with Lara."
"Oh, I see. Matt, if you don't mind my asking, how old are you?"
"I'm nineteen," Matt replied. "Sam's kid brother. Actually, his only brother. Anyway, where is that brother of mine?"
Josie glanced over at Sam, still fast asleep on the couch. She wondered if he was one of those people who could sleep through anything. "Well, Matt, he's still asleep," Josie told him. "Do you want me to give him a message for you?"
"Yeah, that would be great. I'm supposed to come visit him during the first part of June, and I was wondering when would be best for him."
"Oh, good, then I'll get to meet you!" Josie exclaimed. Though she had hardly talked to this brother of Sam's, Josie liked him instantly. He seemed very friendly, but also a little reserved. "Tell me, Matt, where do you live?"
Josie heard Matt sigh on the other end of the line. "Ah, still living with my parents up here in Michigan. Well, I just finished my freshman year of college, so I haven't really been home that much yet."
"Really? Where do you go to school? Do you know your major yet?"
"It's a smaller school by Grand Rapids called Grand Valley State University," he explained. "Actually, I guess it's not really that small. We have about 18,000 undergraduate students here. But it's not as big as U of M or MSU, of course. You've probably never heard of it, though. I'm majoring in Film and Video production."
"Wow, that sounds exciting, Matt!" Josie exclaimed. "Actually, I think I have heard of Grand Valley. I heard that the campus is beautiful."
"Yeah, it is�Oh, and that reminds me�" There was a long pause on the other end of the line and for a moment Josie wondered if they'd lost the connection, but then, finally, Matt continued, "Ask my brother if it would be okay if I brought my girlfriend with me when I come. She's here now, actually. She's from northern Michigan, and she's staying with me until the beginning of July."
With each word that Matt spoke, Josie became more and more intrigued. "All right, I'll do that, Matt," she told him. "You know, I really can't wait to meet you. You sound just as nice as your brother."
Matt chuckled. "Uh�thanks. Just tell Sam to call me ASAP. Tell him mom and dad keep bugging me, wondering what's going on. Well, I should go. Jen and I were going to go out for breakfast�Uh�Jen's my girlfriend."
Josie laughed. "I figured that. I'll be sure to give Sam the message, Matt. It's been nice talking to you."
"Same here. Well, bye."
"Bye." Once they'd hung up, Josie stood there for a moment, realizing how little she had known about Sam's family. He had a brother! The idea that she had so much to learn about him excited her. She couldn't wait to meet this brother of his, and to find out whatever else there was to know about the man she loved.
* * *