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* * *
Sam slid off the bench and knelt at Josie's feet. "See, you should tie them like this, so they support your ankles better." He gave her laces a firm tug, then tied them in a double knot. "There you go." He patted the side of one of the skates and smiled up at her. "Ready?"
"I guess."
"Oh, wait a minute. Can you pull your hair up?"
"Um . . . well, not really."
"Hang on." Sam pulled off his baseball cap. "You can wear this." He got up and sat on the bench again. Reaching behind her, he twisted her hair up into the cap; he was surprised and angry with himself for wanting to keep touching her neck. He cocked his head to the side to admire his handiwork. Josie was adorable.
"I feel so silly," she whispered. "I'm still dressed for work, and I'm wearing a baseball cap. Not to mention the fact that I have no idea what I'm doing!"
"By the time I'm done with you, you'll be ready for the Olympics. Now stand up." Sam rose from the bench and took both of her hands to pull her up.
"But . . ." she said as she got shakily to her feet, "they don't have rollerskating in the Olympics. Whoa!" One of her feet slid away from her and she almost fell backwards, but Sam quickly put his arm around her and steadied her.
"Can you move at all?" he asked with a chuckle.
"I wouldn't bet on it."
"Great, then we're ready to go. Put your arm around my neck, and I'll hold you by the waist. Let's see if you can get to the rink." As he slipped his arm around her waist, Sam told himself that he was a fool.
"This is a very bad idea," Josie moaned. With Sam's support, she was able to get to the edge of the rink. She already felt less wobbly. Most of all, she was thankful that not many people were there to witness her debut.
"All right, Miss Geller," said Sam. He turned to face her and took her hands. "Step in."
Josie inched her skates forward, trying to coordinate her movements with some touch of grace. Sam held on to her hands and skated backwards. "Show-off," she muttered, tipping the corner of her mouth.
"Are you impressed with my expertise?" he asked, grinning.
"I'll say 'yes,' since I'm depending on you to keep me from falling on my face."
Sam laughed. "You'll get the hang of it, I promise."
Suddenly, someone skated past Josie, only inches away and at top speed. Startled, she completely lost her balance and fell to the floor. "Ooooh."
"Josie! Are you okay?"
"Yeah. But I'm so embarassed."
"Will this make you feel any better?" Sam tottered and crashed down beside her.
"But you did that on purpose," she protested.
"Well, of course I did. Didn't you?"
Josie smiled. "Of course."
An hour later, Josie felt bruised and beaten. "Looks like you've had it," Sam remarked. "Do you want to leave?"
"Don't they have other stuff to do here?" Josie asked, not wanting the evening to end.
"Sort of," Sam shrugged. "Video games, air hockey, pool . . ."
"How do you like pool?"
"I don't know. I haven't really played it."
"How do you like learning new things?" asked Josie with a twinkle in her eye.
Sam understood her and laughed. "Fair enough!" They turned in their skates and got their shoes back. As they prepared the pool table, Josie couldn't stop herself from smiling. Sam had his chance to show off, and now it was her turn. Rob had taught her well.
* * *
"Josie, I really had fun. Thanks for coming," Sam said as he pulled into the Sun-Times parking area. Josie's car was the only one left at this hour, so Sam parked right beside it. Josie unbuckled her seatbelt and hesitated, wondering if he too felt the tension between them. "How did you like skating?" he asked.
"I loved it, though I don't think what I did out there tonight would be properly termed skating."
He grinned. "Okay, and what about me trying to play pool?"
Josie laughed in spite of herself. "You shot the ball in several times!"
"Yeah, the cue ball," Sam countered. "Maybe next time we should do something we both know how to do."
"Next time?" asked Josie, lifting an eyebrow.
"Well . . . I mean . . . we are friends, right?"
"Of course." Desperate to ease the uncomfortable silence, Josie smiled and continued, "Let's see, something we can both do. Well, do you skydive?"
"Every weekend I don't go bungee-jumping," he replied, returning her smile. "How would you feel about bowling?"
"That sounds great."
"Pick you up tomorrow after work?"
"Yeah." She looked at her car through the window, then turned back to Sam. "Well . . ."
"Yeah."
Josie reached down and opened the door, then climbed out of the car. "Oh!" she exclaimed right before she shut the door. Leaning in, she handed him his baseball cap. "Don't wanna lose the Mets."
Sam laughed. "Good night, Josie."
* * *
"So, how was your date?"
Josie looked up from her work to smile at Anita, who was standing in the doorway. "First of all, it wasn't a date," she insisted. Then her smile broadened and she added, "But whatever it was, it was wonderful."
Anita's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Did you follow my advice?"
"Well, I didn't accidentally kiss him."
Anita's mouth fell open. "You kissed him on purpose? Maybe there's hope for you after all!"
Josie laughed. "I didn't kiss him at all."
"Oh."
"I did fall in his arms more than once. We actually held hands the whole time."
At this news, Anita was able to smile again. "Now for the important part. Did he ask you out again."
Josie replied with a deep blush. "We're going bowling tonight."
"Whoever his girlfriend is, she better watch out."
"Don't say that," Josie pleaded. She paused. "Do you think I'm doing something wrong?"
"No! If he likes you better than he does his girlfriend, then what can you do?"
"I don't think he does."
"Oh yeah? Then why does he spend his evenings with you?"
"Why does he spend his evenings with you?" came Gus' voice from the door.
"Hi, Gus," said Josie shakily. She picked up a pile of papers. "These are all finished."
"Geller, how are we supposed to set Coulson up with Lydia if you're distracting him like this?"
"If you're worried about him being distracted from Lydia, you might want to talk to his girlfriend and stop wasting your time with me."
Anita's eyes widened at Josie's sharp reply, and Gus looked more than a little taken aback. He cleared his throat. "Anita, could you . . ."
"Yeah." She hastened from the office and shut the door.
Gus sat down. "Josie, I'm sorry for interfering with your life, but I'm saying these things because I like you. I hope you know that." He waited for her to reply, then continued. "If Rigfort were to find out that you're fooling around with Coulson . . ."
"Gus, we are not 'fooling around.' We're only friends. Last night was hardly a hot date; we went rollerskating, for heaven's sake." Josie felt tears beginning to form, and she struggled to hold them in.
"Let's just drop this, okay? I'm only trying to tell you to be careful." Gus pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "Here's the information you need for the Laura Patton story. You do want it, right?"
"Yeah," she whispered, reaching across her desk to take the paper.
* * *
"Mr. Coulson?"
Sam turned to see his new student, an attractive girl, instantly popular, who today was wearing an almost see-through top. "Hi, Lydia. What can I do for you?"
She fluttered her eyelashes a little, and Sam realized she was flirting with him. "I was wondering if there was anything I could do for extra credit."
"I don't usually offer extra credit," Sam explained. "But if you write an extra paper on As You Like It, and it's good enough, I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you for being so understanding," she simpered.
She walked off and Sam rolled his eyes. He doubted he'd ever see the paper. He unlocked his office and began to gather his things. He pressed "play" on his answering machine and stopped everything at the sound of Josie's voice.
"Hi, Sam . . . um . . . I wanted to tell you that I can't make it this evening. I'm sorry." And that was it. Her voice sounded strange, like something was wrong. He debated with himself whether or not he should call her, and decided it best not to.
The next message was from Laura. "Hi, honey. Just wanted to let you know that I'll be arriving Friday. I'll be able to stay with you for two weeks! I'm really looking forward to spending time with you. I love you. Bye."
Sam was grateful that Laura was coming. He intended to get his focus back. She was his girlfriend, even if she wasn't always tangible. He could not throw away five years by getting sidetracked with Josie Geller. Then again, he thought, Josie seemed to understand him more after two meetings than Laura did after five years. Laura loved opera; Josie loved pool.
* * *
Josie gave a half-hearted "Come in" when she heard the knock on her door. She looked up, expecting to see either Gus, Anita, or Merkin, but almost swallowed her peppermint when she saw Sam walk in. "S-sam," she managed to say.
"Hi, Josie. Is it okay if I sit down?"
"Of course . . . I . . . what are you doing here?"
"I was worried about you; you sounded upset on my answering machine. And I just got off work, so . . ." He shrugged.
Josie realized that it would be better for both of them if she cleared the air to start off with. "Sam, I would love to spend more time with you, and that's precisely why I'm not going to do it." Recognition began to dawn on his face, but Josie wasn't ready for him to speak yet. "You have a girlfriend, and I don't feel comfortable with my role in this situation."
"I really appreciate your honesty," said Sam, "but I also value our new friendship." He felt the lie even as he said it; he couldn't deny that he wanted much more than friendship from Josie Geller, and he berated himself for it.
"I want your friendship," Josie began, feeling her pent-up tears beginning to escape, "but the selfish side of me doesn't want to be hurt."
He knew what she was telling him; their attraction was mutual and neither of them could act on it. Was she suggesting that they not see each other at all anymore? His question wasn't answered because they were suddenly interrupted.
Someone flung open Josie's office door and began, "Hi, Josie, I need a paper on As You Like It for . . ."
Sam recognized the voice and saw the color drain completely from Josie's face. He didn't need to turn around to find out who had interrupted them. Flooded by confusion and betrayal, he gave Josie one searching look, then walked past a shocked Lydia Staples and out of the office.
* * *