This is installment Number 4 of my Josie and Sam series, with more to come. Feedback always welcome at [email protected] or on the message board.
* * *
"Okay," Josie said, turning back toward her front door to lock it with the key, "so let me get this straight. Since you'll be getting out of work before I will, you'll be going back to your place to start unpacking."
"Right," Sam answered.
"And then I'll meet you over there after I get out of work."
"Uh-huh. We can order a pizza or something," Sam suggested.
"Okay," Josie agreed, removing her key from the lock and turning the knob to make sure the door was secure. "And then later we'll be coming back here for the night, right?"
Sam put his arm around Josie's shoulder and steered her toward the front door. "Well, I really don't think we'll get enough put away to unbury my bed tonight, so if it's okay, yes, I'd like to stay again."
Josie leaned into him and smiled. "You know it's more than okay." She continued playfully, "But, please, don't sit on any more of my cookies; I haven't been food shopping yet this week."
Sam laughed. "Okay, I promise not to sit on your cookies if you promise not to paint any more ice cream on me."
Josie giggled at the memory of Sam with ice cream dripping off his nose. "It's a deal," she replied. She turned in Sam's embrace and put her arms around his neck. She took a step closer to him and pulled his head down for a quick kiss.
Sam wrapped his arms around her and didn't let go; in fact, he pulled her even closer so that their bodies were touching from shoulder to knee. Then he half-whispered, "Sorry, but that's just not going to hold me until tonight�" He bent his head and really kissed her. After a moment, Josie sighed and molded herself to him, dropping her briefcase to run her fingers through Sam's hair. In turn, he let go of his duffel and wrapped both arms tighter around her, one hand at the small of her back, and the other at the nape of her neck.
After a moment, they pulled back, a little stunned at intensity of their kiss. Both of them were breathing hard, and because they were holding each other so close, Josie was very aware of Sam's aroused state. However, instead of shrinking back from him, she brushed slightly against him with her hip just to assure herself that she wasn't imagining things. If his sharply indrawn breath was any indication, she definitely WASN'T imagining it. Dimly, she thought that maybe this should frighten her, but it didn't. As a matter of fact, the thought that she had that effect on Sam gave her an oddly warm feeling in places she barely knew existed before now. It certainly gave her self-esteem a big boost�
Meanwhile, Sam was in shock. He knew that his condition must have been apparent to Josie, considering their ardent embrace. However, he figured that she would either pull back in embarrassment, or, at most, pretend not to notice. He never expected her to move against him; but she had. And the look on her face told him that it was not an accident. Sam closed his eyes and held his breath against the raw desire that knowledge fanned through his system. He knew that if he looked into her eyes right then, he'd have to drag her back inside the apartment and make them both very, very late for work. He let go of her abruptly and backed away, nearly tripping over Josie's fallen briefcase.
Josie reached out a hand to steady Sam, a little surprised at his reaction. He seemed pretty flustered, and she wondered if she had anything to do with it. He turned to retrieve her briefcase, and their hands touched as he offered it to her. Although he was trying not to look at her, she caught a glimpse of the look in his eyes; they were dark and dangerous, just as they had been last night after the incident with the ice cream. Wow! Josie thought, did I do that? She was amazed at the thought that this beautiful man was so attracted to her.
Breathe, Sam told himself. Get a grip. You can't go on like this! One of these times you're going to give in and really regret it, or else you're going to go insane. This is not how it should be for Josie's first time, he reminded himself, and that thought seemed to help him regain some control.
Sam decided that it was good he was going to work, because he needed some time away from Josie to analyze his feelings for her. And he was finding that he couldn't when he was with her. She was just too darned distracting. He bent over and rescued his duffel, and then placed a hand on the small of Josie's back and nudged her toward the front door.
Josie paused with her hand on the doorknob and asked, "Are you ready?"
Sam heard the full meaning of her question: was he ready to face everyone after the spectacle they had made of themselves last night? "As ready as I'm going to get," he replied.
Josie opened the front door and stepped into the sunlight of the porch. Sam followed. She turned back toward him to squeeze his hand and place a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Okay, then. I'll see you around six o'clock."
Sam grinned. "It's a date."
* * *
It's incredible�absolutely amazing, Josie thought, as she parked her car downtown near the Sun-Times building. Can it really have only been last night that I stood out on that ball field thinking Sam wasn't coming? It seemed like a lifetime ago. Actually, it felt as if her lifetime began when Sam kissed her.
She could feel the stares of most of the people in the lobby as she entered the building and walked across the floor to stand before the elevators. One middle-aged woman she didn't know sidled up next to her and said, "It was so romantic."
Josie turned to her and smiled. "Thanks, I thought so, too."
The elevator doors opened and she stepped inside, standing right in front of the doors. She could hear people behind her in the car whispering, and from the bits of the conversations she could hear; it was obvious she had been recognized and they were talking about her and Sam. She smiled a little, but pretended not to notice.
Soon, the doors opened to her floor and she was the only passenger to get off. Whew! Josie thought, I'm glad that's over. But then�the receptionist noticed her standing there and stood up, clapping. And then others were doing the same. And then the whole bullpen was up on their feet, clapping and cheering things like "Way to go, Josie!" and "You go girl!"
Josie waved, pleased but a little embarrassed, and made a beeline for her office.
* * *
Sam was also thinking how incredible it was that he and Josie were together again, when just yesterday he had thought he'd lost her forever. Truly a miracle, and he wasn't one to look a gift miracle in the mouth, he thought, as he signaled a left turn and pulled his car into the faculty parking lot at South Glen South High. As he made the turn and rounded the side of the school, he couldn't believe his eyes.
Oh, God, this can't be happening, he thought�except that it was. There by the faculty entrance was a small gaggle of reporters, obviously waiting for him to arrive. He sighed audibly. This was not good.
He put the car into park and then steeled himself for the onslaught. He opened the door, climbed out of the car and reached back in to retrieve his briefcase, and then locked and closed the door. He put on an air of confidence and strode up the path toward the door as if he were swamped with reporters every day. He felt more like he was walking into a lion's den.
As soon as the reporters spied him, they descended like wolves, shoving tape recorders in his face and shouting questions over each other, trying to be heard. Among the jumble of questions, he heard things like, "How did you and Josie meet?" and "Was she one of your students?" and "Did you know she was an undercover reporter?"
"Please, please," Sam said over the din. "Josie and I would like to focus on our future, not dwell on the past. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do." With that, he pushed through the crowd, ignoring the rest of the questions. However, he could hear the last question ringing in his ears as he shut the school door behind him� "Did you think she was seventeen when you fell for her?"
* * *
Josie had just closed the door to her office and was settling down at her desk when Anita burst in, shutting the door behind her and leaning back against it.
"So? So? How was it? Was it wonderful? C'mon, tell me everything!" Anita exclaimed, practically jumping up and down with excitement.
Josie smiled at Anita's antics. "It was absolutely wonderful," Josie said with a dreamy sigh. After a moment, she confided, "I really thought for a while that he wasn't going to show up."
"Oh, I know," Anita agreed. "I was practically squeezing Gus's hand off with anxiety. I was so scared for you."
Anita and Gus? When did that happen? Josie wondered. "Thanks," Josie replied, smiling. "I was scared, too. But it all worked out."
"So�how was the kiss? Was it just like you thought it would be?"
"Better, if that's possible. When he kissed me, I didn't hear the crowd, see the flashbulbs, nothing. It was like we were all alone in our own little world," Josie explained.
Anita closed her eyes, sighing. "That is SO romantic. I'm so happy for you, Josie. You're a great person; you deserve a great guy. And that is one hunk of a man�" Then she whispered conspiratorially, "So, did you guys do it?"
"Anita!" Josie would have been mortified if it had not been Anita asking. She laughed and said, "Of course not. Please!"
"Okay� So, where did you guys go? What did you do? Please�I'm dying to know," asked Anita.
Josie put Anita out of her misery. She told Anita about going to Sam's apartment and the subsequent stay at her place for the night. However, she left out what happened after the ice cream fight, as well as telling Sam about Billy Prince this morning; they were just too personal for her to share.
"Wait. So, let me get this straight�You find the man of your dreams, invite him over to your place for the night, and you end up playing Scrabble!? What's wrong with THIS picture?" Anita was incredulous.
Josie simply rolled her eyes and shook her head.
* * *
Sam was never so grateful that his classroom was on the same wing of the school as the faculty entrance. He walked quickly (to be honest, he practically sprinted) down the hall and into his room without running into a single soul. He closed the door behind him and leaned on it, letting out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He was badly shaken by the media circus outside and could only wonder what the Administration's outlook would be on the unwanted attention.
Well, he thought, settling himself at his desk, at least my first class isn't until second period. But then again, that was his senior English Lit class, the one Josie used to attend. Ugh, I wonder if that will be awkward? He sighed. If I can just make it through today, I'll be fine, Sam assured himself.
On that note, he opened his soft-sided leather briefcase and pulled out a legal pad and a paperback copy of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." He opened the book to make some notes for class.
Soon, the worst of his experience with the reporters drifted off as he became engrossed in reading Shakespeare. At first, he didn't notice that the door to his classroom had opened, but then�
"Mr. Coulson?"
Sam looked up. It was Aldys, dressed in her usual green "Denominator" sweatshirt, carrying a huge book bag. However, today her hair was done up in a pretty French braid that flattered her face and she looked as if she might even be wearing some make up. Sam smiled and said, "Hi. Come on in."
Aldys returned his smile and then closed the door behind her as she entered the room. She stopped next to Sam's desk and plopped her bag on the floor. "I saw you getting mobbed by those reporters out front and thought that maybe you could use a little moral support about now."
Sam was touched by her thoughtfulness. "Thanks a lot, Aldys, but I'm fine, really," he fibbed.
Aldys was silent for a moment, giving him a look that said she knew he was lying, but she let it go. Then she continued, "I just wanted to say that I'm very happy for you and Josie. She's a wonderful person."
Sam agreed, "Yes. She certainly is."
"Josie is going to write me a referral letter to include with my application to Northwestern. It's my first choice for college, and since she is an alumnus, she thought it might help my chances for acceptance. Did you know that she graduated first in her class?" Aldys bubbled, staring off past Sam as if she were imagining herself as valedictorian, too.
No, Sam thought, she had left out that little detail last night. But then, Josie was not the type to brag about her accomplishments. "No, I didn't know that. But I can't say I'm surprised. However, I would think that with your obvious scholastic talent, you'd have no problem getting accepted at Northwestern on your own merit. But, having a referral letter from Josie certainly couldn't hurt, now that all of Chicago knows who she is," he replied.
Aldys leaned in toward Sam a little and confided, "She was really scared that you wouldn't come," speaking of the night before.
"There was no chance of that, Aldys, believe me," Sam assured her. He didn't normally talk to his students about his life outside of school (except for Josie, of course�), but he knew that Josie considered this girl her friend.
Changing the subject, he asked her, "So, are you ready for class today?"
"'Either I mistake your shape and making quite, or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite called Robin Goodfellow,'" quoted Aldys with a smile.
Sam smiled. "Good. At least someone will have a clue as to what I'm talking about."
Just then, the warning bell rang. "Oops, gotta go. Can't miss Calculus." Aldys swooped up her bag and headed for the door. "See you later, Mr. Coulson."
"Goodbye, Aldys. Thanks for stopping by."
The door closed behind her and he was once again alone. Sam bent his head and continued to read.
* * *
Josie and Anita were still huddled together at Josie's desk, talking animatedly about the events of last night, when Merkin burst in. "Josie, Mr. Strauss wants to see you in his office right away."
Josie and Anita exchanged a worried look. "Did he say what for?" she asked hesitantly.
"Nope, but I just saw Mr. Rigfort leave his office," he informed her, and then left, closing the door behind him.
Josie sighed. Rigfort's "meetings" with Gus usually meant someone was getting fired, although she couldn't understand why it would be her. The sales on the Times' Sunday edition were up 75% yesterday, and most of it was due to her article.
Anita looked angry. "How dare they!? They'd be losing their best writer on staff! I swear if they let you go, I'm going to quit!"
"Anita, calm down. We don't even know what Gus wants yet." She got up and patted Anita on the shoulder. "I'll let you know how it goes." Then she squared her shoulders and opened the door.
At the sound of her door opening, everyone in the bullpen turned to stare at her. Great, Josie thought, "Merkin the Mouth" strikes again. Now everybody knew she was getting called in to see Gus. Well, I'm not going to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing me upset, she vowed. That article was the best thing I've ever written, and if this paper doesn't like the way I write, then I'm sure I can find plenty of other places that would. Josie held her head high and marched into Gus's office, closing the door on her way in.
"Have a seat, Geller," Gus said, motioning to the chair in front of his desk. His face was void of emotion. He must be very good at poker, Josie thought�if he ever had the time to play, that was. She calmly (or at least tried to make it look good) sat and folded her hands in her lap. She waited expectantly.
"Rigfort was just here," Gus began.
"Yes�so I heard," Josie returned dryly.
"Well, he told me that he'd like to make a staffing change with regards to you," Gus stated flatly.
With regard to me, Josie silently corrected. And then she though, Oh God, here it comes.
"We discussed at length your role here at the paper, and it's been decided that we can no longer use your services as a copyeditor�" Gus paused as he watched that news sink in with Josie. Then he cracked a smile. "�Because you're going to be too busy writing your own column."
I knew it, Josie thought, disheartened. Wait�what did he just say? Writing my what? "What?" Josie asked aloud, incredulous.
"That's right, Geller, your own Features column. Rigfort was so impressed �hell�so was I�with the way your article reached people and got them to read our paper that he thought you should be doing it all the time. And even you have to admit that you really aren't cut out for hard news reporting," Gus defended.
Josie was stunned. Her own column? This was better than she ever dared imagine. She couldn't wait to tell Sam!
"You really saved our butts with that story, Geller. I owe you for that," Gus continued grudgingly.
Meanwhile, Josie was rising out of her chair and coming around the desk to hug Gus while she jumped up and down with excitement. "Whoa, calm down," Gus said, disentangling himself from her embrace, looking embarrassed. "This is only a weekly column, and a temporary one at that. You'll have to prove to Rigfort --and to me-- that you can keep the readers coming back. But�if you do, Rigfort's talking about giving you a daily."
"Oh, my God," was all Josie could say.
"So, get out there and start packing, Geller, because we're going to need that space for a new copyeditor. I'll have Rhoda bring around some boxes, and, when you're ready, she can show you your new office."
* * *
About twenty minutes into first period, there was a small knock on the door to Sam's classroom. He looked up from grading essays from his junior Creative Writing class, and said, "Come on in; it's open."
Sam looked up to see Mrs. Lucent, Principal Kerdan's secretary. She was a plump, graying, 50-ish woman who was very sharp-witted (as a high school principal's secretary would need to be�), but very pleasant. She had her head poked through the crack between the door and the jamb. "Would you mind coming down to the office for a minute? Mr. Kerdan would like to speak with you."
Sam raised an eyebrow, but silently nodded. He put down his pen and pushed his chair back to rise and follow Mrs. Lucent out of the room and down the hallway.
He had always liked Jack Kerdan, in fact they got along quite well. But Sam had a feeling that he wasn't going to like hearing what Jack had to say today.
When he arrived at the office, Sam was immediately ushered in to see Jack Kerdan. He was a huge bear of a man in his late forties, dark brown hair graying at the temples, and flashing blue eyes. He was a former English teacher at South Glen, promoted through the ranks on his merit and performance. Sam had great respect for Kerdan because of his reputation of fairness with regard to both students and faculty. He listened to what was being said and made his own decisions instead of being influenced by others opinions.
As the door closed behind him, Sam saw Jack with his back to the room, staring out the window. On his desk lay a copy of the Sun-Times, front page in full view. Uh-oh. This was definitely not good.
"Thanks for coming, Sam," Jack Kerdan said without turning from the window. "Please have a seat."
Sam sighed and sat down in one of the stuffed chairs in front of Kerdan's desk. He turned from the window and came to sit down wearily behind his immense oak desk, a grim look on his face. "I got a rather disturbing call at 6 o'clock this morning from the District Superintendent of Schools. It seems that he saw one of my teachers on the news last night in a rather compromising position with a former student, and on school property, no less. And then, I go out on my front porch and there they are plastered right on the front page of my newspaper. This is not exactly the type of attention that South Glen South likes to attract, as I'm sure you can imagine."
Sam rubbed a hand down his face. He was about to speak, when Jack put up a hand to silence him. "Yes," he continued, "I did know about the article; I even had my suspicions as to which teacher it was written about. But I had fervently hoped that he would have had enough common sense not to show up last night. Because I could see this nightmare coming a mile away, Sam, and now it is coming true."
"WHAT is coming true?" Sam asked tersely.
Not answering, Jack Kerdan continued, "I saw those reporters accosting you in front of the school this morning, Sam. And I heard their questions. How long do you think it's going to take before they find out that Josie Geller was in one of your classes? People are already asking questions, and it is my responsibility as the school principal to get the answers to those questions."
Sam crossed his arms over his chest and spit out angrily, "So, what are you getting at Jack? Are you accusing me of abuse of power? Suspending me? Is that it?"
Jack sighed heavily and replied, "I have no choice but to suspend you without pay and begin an inquiry into the matter immediately. The Superintendent insists I get to the bottom of this matter before it becomes a media relations fiasco. We want to have answers before Mrs. Jones thinks to wonder whether or not HER daughter is being seduced by some young, good- looking English teacher."
Sam leapt out his chair and started pacing the floor like a caged animal. "This is absolutely absurd, and you know it, Jack! Besides, the point is completely moot! Josie isn't and never was under age; she's 25 years old!"
Jack walked over to Sam and put a hand on each shoulder, stilling him. Then, looking Sam right in the eye, he asked, "And you, of course, knew this fact before you fell in love with her, right?"
Defeated, Sam's face crumpled. His shoulders slumped as he dropped back into the chair. After a moment, Kernan put a fatherly hand on his shoulder and said, "If it means anything to you, Sam, I know you well enough to confidently say that you would never use your position as an authority figure to your advantage, even if you had fallen for one of your students. But that's not going to be enough for the school board. I've got to be able to give them proof there was no wrongdoing."
Sam raked his fingers through his hair. "Then talk to Josie! She will tell you that nothing happened. For God's sake, doesn't it mean anything to anyone that she had 'never been kissed' before last night?"
Jack sounded sympathetic, but stern. "There are plenty of other ways to cross the line, Sam, and you darn well know it. I'm sure that the board will want to question Ms. Geller, but don't count on them taking her word for it. After all, the whole city knows that you two are now 'an item,' and what woman wouldn't say whatever was needed to protect her man, true or not?"
Sam leaned forward, his head in his hands. He pinched the bridge of his nose to keep tears from welling in his eyes. "So, assuming they don't take Josie's word for it, then what happens?" He knew he didn't want to hear what was coming next.
"The board will most likely start questioning other faculty members, as well as other students that may have been friends with Ms. Geller while she was here," came the reply.
Sam bolted upright in the chair, eyes now blazing with anger. "So, what you're telling me is that unless I can somehow "prove" my innocence to the school board, my teaching career at South Glen South is over. Because once word gets out that I'm being investigated for this, people will always question my integrity, no matter if I'm cleared or not."
"No, Sam, it's worse than that. If the school board finds any shred of evidence that points toward your guilt in this matter, they'll file to get your teaching credentials revoked. Not only will your career at South Glen be over; you'll never teach again."
* * *