I'd love to hear what you thought about it!!!!!
* * *
For the first time in her life, Josie Geller felt time like a heartbeat.
The seconds were pumping in her breast like a reckoning. She could
feel her pulse throbbing behind her closed eyelids as the adrenaline
coursed through every capillary of her body.
She thought of the anticipation she had felt waiting on the ballfield for Sam to arrive.
It wasn't a new feeling. She'd experienced it before, and she'd
lost count of the times years ago. The feeling of expectancy... Of not
wanting to get hurt another time, yet wanting to hold on to that last
tingling feeling of hope, needing to believe so fiercely that it made her
whole body ache... achr for that feeling of her world narrowing down to nothing but the
amazing sensation of kissing -- really kissing -- the man that she
loved.
She loved him, yes. In the article, she hadn't been all that brave --
writing that she thought that she might be falling in love with him
was only a half-truth. That way, she'd learned, it didn't hurt quite as
much when she was turned down or betrayed. Or at least, she'd kept
telling herself that through the years. It was futile, though. Standing
here, surrounded by thousands of people watching her more intensely
than in that movie The Truman Show, she doubted that a few changed words in a
sentence would really have saved her some of the humiliation, had he
not shown up.
But he had shown up, dear God, he had, she thought, still stunned.
It had been the Final Countdown, indeed. That song had been one of
the largest hits of the 80s, and she'd always secretly loved it in a way,
even though she'd never been able to explain why. Until now.
They could have been standing there for hours or mere seconds -- she
really couldn't tell, as she'd lost concept of time the moment Sam
Coulson had touched his lips to hers for the very first time. She'd
surrendered to the sensation, and had never felt as powerless in her
whole life.
But it was a good feeling. Very much so, she smiled to herself as
she thought about it. If a gigantic meteorite had eliminated the Earth
that very second, she would have died as the happiest woman in the
world. For the first time in her life, everything felt just right.
"Way to go, sis!"
The familiar voice made her slowly, and just a tad reluctantly, return
back to the world of the living. Gently pulling back, she let her hand
linger on Sam's cheek for a moment, letting herself get lost in his
warm eyes for another second, before she let her hand glide down the
side of his arm and capture his strong hand. Smiling broadly, she then
turned to the source of the sound -- Rob.
"Thanks, Rob!" she yelled to her brother, who was smiling to her
from the other side of the arena. "Now go get 'em!" Her words were
muffled by the sound of the still-cheering audience, but he seemed to
understand her anyway, and answered with giving her the sign of
victory.
She was sure that she wasn't the other one who understood the double
meaning.
She turned back to Sam.
"Well..." she said, almost shyly. "I guess that we should be going.
I'm sure you didn't like couples kissing in the middle of the rink when
you were playing hockey..."
That earned her a chuckle, and she found that the stars in his eyes, if
possible, were twinkling even more.
"Oh, yeah, it was absolutely terrible when that happened," he joked back. He bent down
to touch his lips to hers for one last time, and she smiled into the kiss.
Then, never letting go of his hand, she started to lead them off the
arena.
"I guess we'd better get off the field before they throw us off", she said, gently tugging at
his hand.
He laughed again.
"Oh, definitely. The punishment should probably be to be thrown
out of the game completely, so why don't we just get out of here and save them the trouble?" He
looked around them, letting his gaze wander over the crowded
bleachers, the team warming up down on the arena, and then back to
her face again, studying it intently. "Someplace more... quiet?"
She laughed.
"Yeah. Audience has never been my strongest side..."
He looked at her then, his eyes growing soft.
"You did a great job out there," he told her.
She smiled, as she stood on tiptoe and leaned into him again.
"I'm glad I did it", she whispered, pressing her lips against his in a
soft kiss.
"So am I..." Sam whispered back, as he pulled her closer. "Believe
me, so am I..."
* * *
Neither of them had spoken much in the cab on the way home to
Josie's place.
By mutual agreement (although it wasn't a very hard decision to
make...) they'd decided to go there, since Sam's apartment was out of
question. With any luck, the broker hadn't sold it yet, and Sam would be able
to get it back the next day or so. Some of his things were already
halfway to New York, but luckily, he'd discovered and read Josie's article before
he'd had the chance to pack everything.
After paying for the ride, they'd walked the stairs up to the front door,
both of them trying to cover up their own discomfort with jokes about
nothing and everything at the same time. The natural ease, which had
always seemed to surround them when they'd been in each other's
company during the days at high school, seemed to be far away, and
they both knew why. There were still some unresolved issues haunting
both their minds...
"So... this is your family?" Sam asked, looking at one of the photos
standing neatly on a bookshelf in the living room.
"Yeah," Josie replied. "That's my mother," she pointed as she
spoke, "my father, and that's Rob." She looked down to the floor as
she said her brother's name.
"Both you and your brother really had me fooled there," Sam said.
Josie sighed.
"I know. And I'm sorry. At the prom -- I was going to tell you about
the assignment, but then everything just got out of hand... I saw them
about to make a fool of Aldys, and I just couldn't let it happen." She
glanced away. "I've seen it before. I've been there, and I knew I had
to stop it. Just as I had to stop the assignment -- I only found out about
my boss wanting me to write about you the day before the prom. I was going
to tell you about that too, but..." she shrugged. "Anyway, I'm just sorry
you had to hear it that way. I'm so sorry I hurt you."
She dared a glance up into Sam's face, praying that he'd understand.
He was looking directly at her, his expression filled with hurt, shame,
but no anger.
"Look..." he said, taking her hand, "Josie... don't apologise. I'm the
one who should be sorry -- I love you, and I should have trusted you
more than to listen to that guy out on the steps instead of you. I was just so
confused... But what you did there in the arena, your article..."
He paused to cup her chin with his free hand, forcing her eyes to meet
his. Their gazes immediately locked, like two spirits who have just
found their way back to their long lost soulmates, and for a moment,
there was nothing he could do but smile. He was rewarded by the
corner of her mouth reluctantly turning upwards in a lop-sided smile,
and he let his thumb trace the soft fullness of her lower lip.
"It saved me", he simply continued. "If I'd listened to my pride... If I'd
moved after Lara to New York..." He shook his head, chuckling.
"What can I say? You're a damn good writer!"
That made Josie smile as well.
"Thank you", she whispered. "Thank you for coming back...for
everything."
Sam bent down to press a soft kiss to her lips.
"I should be the one to say thank you," he whispered softly. He
pulled her face closer into his, as he deepened the kiss, and soon, their
tongues were duelling fiercely as they kissed, breathlessly, endlessly.
For the second time that day, Josie felt her consciousness narrow
down to nothing but the two of them, as they were kissing so
desperately that she could hardly tell where one of them ended and the
other one started. She felt light-headed, as if her brain had turned into
cotton somehow, and all she could think of was how truly, deeply she
loved this man. She felt her fingers, almost on their own command,
work their way up his neck, his cheeks, his temples, to thread
themselves through his silky hair, as she felt his hands restlessly
roaming up and down the sides of her small frame.
What happened next was something she was going to remember as
heartbeats only. A series of snapshots, each too bright and filled with
too much love and emotion to be viewed any other way than one at a
time.
(Beat)
Sam gently laying her down onto the comforter of her soft bed.
(Beat)
The brush of his hands as he slowly undressed her.
(Beat)
His admiring gaze as he let it caress her naked body.
(Beat)
The soft sprinkling of an Elysian waterfall of kisses all over her.
(Beat)
Her first sight of Sam as she undressed him.
(Beat)
Their bodies pressed tightly together, without any barriers between them for
the first time.
(Beat)
The teasing whispers, laughter, and caresses they shared as they slowly stoked the fire of their passion.
(Beat)
The feelings and emotions expressed in Sam's incredible eyes as he made sweet love to her.
(Beat)
The pure heaven as they tumbled over the edge together.
(Beat)
Their perfectly synchronised heartbeats as they were lying in each other's
arms, promising each other that they'd always be together.
And finally, the feeling she'd been longing for her whole life. That
heartbeat of time, that thing, that moment, when everything in the world was just
perfect.
*~* The End *~*
* * *
Back to Stories Page