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* * *
Sam woke up early on Monday morning, even though it was the last day of the holiday weekend. His body was too well trained to be up for work to be able to sleep in on a weekday. Now, as he lay in bed with his hands tucked under his head, he thought of all that had happened in the last few days.
He was amazed that in the space of just three days, he'd found out that he no longer loved the woman he'd spent the last five years with, he'd discovered that same woman had been cheating on him, and he'd decided that he was going to end things once and for all. But he'd also discovered that, for good or for bad, he was in love with Josie Geller, his seventeen-year-old student.
'Ah, Josie�' he thought dreamily. The weekend that he had thought would be so terribly long and lonely without her had instead been wonderful: he had seen Josie every day. 'Well,' continuing his internal dialogue, 'not much chance of that today, I'd suspect�' He had decided to do some laundry and then go to the driving range at the golf course and hit some balls. Although he knew there was a couples' tournament going on today, he figured the range would still be open. He could hit some balls and get some exercise and fresh air. Yes, today he figured he could get through a relaxing day and kind of collect his thoughts. He needed to decide what he was going to do about his feelings for Josie. Sam sighed, missing her already, even though he had seen her just yesterday.
Inevitably, his mind traveled back to the other part of his dilemma: Lara. The previous night, he had tried to call her every hour on the hour until 2:00 a.m., after which he gave up and went to sleep. He figured that Lara was probably sleeping over with one of her 'dates'. It irritated him not because she actually was cheating on him, but because he had been too blind to see it�that and that her 'sleepover' was very ill timed. He just wanted to finish things and be done with Lara forever. Regardless of the fact that he obviously wasn't the only one on Lara's plate, he knew that the conversation would not be a pleasant one. After all, Lara liked to call the shots, so she would not appreciate Sam being the one to call it quits. Shaking his head, he felt sorry for whoever the guy was who was 'dating' her.
Still, he thought, he was amazed that for someone he'd spent so many years of his life with, he was remarkably unperturbed about her infidelities. As a matter of fact, he had almost never been jealous, even when Lara was trying to make him jealous.
This was in sharp contrast to how he felt about Josie. If someone even said Josie's name it drove him crazy with jealousy. He had never had feelings like this for anyone. He'd been attracted, yes, but not like this. He connected with Josie in so many ways and on so many levels. He felt like he understood her so well�and she him�that they communicated without speaking.
The only thing he didn't understand was her apparent need to be accepted by the popular crowd at school. He figured that was more her age than anything, since peer pressure could get pretty overwhelming in high school. Still, to him, Josie was so far above anyone he had ever met anywhere�in true beauty, intelligence and every facet of her personality�that he couldn't see how anyone around her could fail to notice it.
He could see too that she was an incredibly kindhearted person who would never deliberately hurt anyone. But, at least according to her mother, she had been hurt in the past, and probably deeply as well. He could tell that by the way she withdrew from him at times. He wondered what could have happened to hurt a 17 year old that deeply.
Looking over at the clock, he realized he'd just wasted a whole hour of the morning lying in bed thinking. 'Thinking isn't going to get anything accomplished today, Sam, so let's get moving�' he scolded himself as he sat up and put his legs over the side of the bed. Running his hands through his hair and stretching the sleep out of his limbs, he stood up and then headed off to the bathroom for his morning shower.
Sam spent the rest of his morning trying to call Lara between trips up and down the two flights of stairs to and from the laundry room. There was still no answer. After he'd finished up his laundry and grabbed a sandwich for lunch, he gave up on reaching Lara and tried to put her out of his mind. He wanted to go out to the golf course, and he didn't want to bring that stress with him. He changed into khakis and a white golf shirt and drove to the golf course.
When he arrived, he found that the parking lot was nearly jammed with cars due to the tournament. He had to drive around a little to find himself a parking spot. As he drove slowly up and down the aisles of the lot, he noticed a minivan that looked like the one Josie's mother drove. He stopped for a moment to study it, but he hadn't paid enough attention to it yesterday to be able to positively identify it. He'd been too busy paying attention to Josie� Shaking his head, he realized that the chances were pretty miniscule that he could run into Josie three days in a row.
Finally finding a parking space, he turned off the ignition and got out of the car. He folded down the back seat and pulled out his bag of clubs and his glove, and then locking the door, he slung the bag strap over his shoulder and walked into the clubhouse to get a bucket of balls.
Sam paid for his bucket and carried it to the far end of the range, where the section for left handed hitters was located. The lanes consisted of little cubicles separated by waist high metal partitions all facing out towards a large field marked with yard markers. Sam chose the cubicle that was closest to the rest of the lanes, which meant he was facing all the right-handed hitters as he played. He took a quick look down the line. Since it was a holiday, the range was pretty crowded, but Sam didn't see anyone that he recognized. He could only see about seven people down the row anyway, since a tall man about six cubicles down was blocking his view of the rest of the line.
When Sam finished his first bucket, he rested his club against the metal partition and shaded his eyes, looking up at the sky. It was another nice day�a warm sun beat down on him and there was a light breeze that ruffled his hair. White fluffy clouds floated by. Breathing in the crisp fresh air, Sam decided he would grab another bucket and stay a while longer, maybe even stay to watch some of the tournament. The exercise, he decided, was doing him a world of good. He felt like he was hitting the ball pretty well today and it was certainly helping him to relax.
Leaving his bag behind to mark his place, Sam carried the empty bucket back to the clubhouse for a refill. As the machine poured golf balls into his bucket, he found himself thinking about Josie and he wondered if she knew anything about golf. She seemed to be knowledgeable about so many things that interested him that it almost seemed inevitable.
Again, he was amazed by the comparison between Josie and Lara. Lara knew nothing about sports, and that was the way she liked it. He remembered the one time he'd brought Lara here. What a disaster! She whined and complained the whole time. Nothing was right for her: she didn't like the clothes she had to wear to play, she didn't like the clubs, she complained about being out in the hot sun� that was, until one of the assistant pros came over to help her. Once Lara felt like she was the center of attention, everything had been fine.
Sam thought back to that day with a shiver of disgust. The pro that had come over to help was a 'ladies man' type named Ken. Sam had noticed that the guy flirted with all the attractive women and personally; he thought he was a creep. All the other pros, at least what he had seen of them, were always respectful of their clients, but not Ken. Ken was the kind of guy that, instead of standing in front of his clients and showing them the moves so they could watch his hands, he would stand behind them and put his arms around them and onto the club. And once he was there, he made sure he put on the moves. Ken definitely had a preference for blondes, Sam had noticed, but he really was an equal opportunity harasser.
Lara loved the attention she got from Ken and had used it as a prime opportunity to try to make Sam jealous. She'd flirted unabashedly with him for the whole hour, but didn't pay attention to any of the golf tips and couldn't hit the ball any better after an hour of Ken's 'helping'. This spectacle had led to another one of their big fights, Sam remembered. And not because he was jealous, either�he was simply embarrassed by Lara's behavior. Anyway, that had been the last time he'd suggested golf to Lara.
As Sam was thinking about this previous experience, he walked back to his cubicle and began to set up again. As he looked down the line, he noticed that 'Ken the Creep' was hanging around in the walking aisle a little ways down from him. It was obvious that Ken was scooping out some new prey. When he stopped pacing, staring at someone out of Sam's line of view, he figured that Ken had probably found his new target. He tried to see whom it was that Ken was focusing in on, but couldn't quite see her� That tall man was still in his way. But then, the gentleman bent down in his cubicle to pick up his club bag in preparation of leaving, he got a quick glimpse. He could tell it was another blonde. 'Boy, that guy really does like blondes best,' Sam thought with disgust. He was about to turn away and focus down the range, when the tall man exited his cubicle. Then Sam could see clearly about ten people down the line.
To his utter amazement (and anger), he saw that the woman Ken was zeroing in on was someone he knew. Ken was staring at a blonde all right: a blonde named Josie Geller. Sam rubbed his eyes in disbelief, but Josie was still there when he reopened his eyes. 'My God, Josie is everywhere this weekend!' he thought. He couldn't seem to escape her. Not that he was complaining� He was thrilled to see her, actually. She looked as beautiful as ever in navy blue golf shorts and a baby blue golf shirt. Watching her as she swung, Sam could see that she knew how to hold the club and hit the ball. From what he could tell, she had hit the ball straight, too�just not that far. But she did have a nice swing.
Glancing back at Ken, Sam definitely didn't like the way he was looking at Josie. He knew how the guy operated and he knew he was about to pounce. As Ken approached Josie, Sam found himself holding his breath, partly in shock and fear of what Ken would do to Josie, and partly to keep himself from walking down there and slugging the guy. Sam couldn't hear what Ken was saying, but when he approached Josie, Sam saw her shake her head as if to say, "No, thanks."
Sam started to smile with pride, but he noticed that Ken didn't seem to take no for an answer. Speaking animatedly, Ken still walked up behind her and put his arms around her, as if to correct her hands on the club. Sam felt his blood start to boil at Ken's treatment of Josie, and was about to stalk down there and take care of 'Ken the Creep' for her, but something about the look on Josie's face made him pause.
He watched as Josie's eyes widened in shock and anger. Her eyebrows furrowed and she scowled. Then, to Sam's surprise and amusement, she rudely yanked Ken's arms off of her and spun around to face him, shaking her finger in his face as she was undoubtedly telling him off. And it wasn't that Josie was loud, because Sam couldn't even hear what she was saying. It was more that she had no intention of putting up with him, and wanted to make sure he knew it.
Sam had observed this guy since the incident with Lara and he had noticed that most women would either look flattered by the guy or be embarrassed and put up with him until he left. He'd always wondered why women put up that kind of treatment. Ken was a pretty handsome guy, as those things went, thought Sam, but he felt that Ken's 'moves' were just a little too slick, too practiced. Maybe women fell for the act, he thought. But not Josie� Obviously Josie was having none of him. She was a good foot shorter than him, but she was definitely in his face. And by Ken's defensive stance, and the way he was putting his hands up as if to calm her, Sam could see that the guy was totally intimidated. He couldn't ever remember seeing someone tell Ken off like this.
Sam was so proud of her�that and very amused as Ken skulked off down the aisle, away from Josie. He could see that the other guys around Josie were amused too. One of them even gave her a thumbs-up! He'd never seen this side of Josie�the feisty side�but he liked it. One more thing to love about her, he found himself thinking, before he caught himself and shook his head regretfully.
Before he lost his nerve, Sam decided he'd go over to say hello. He figured that a male presence around her couldn't hurt, even though Josie had very handily dealt with Ken on her own. Plus, the slot to her right was open, so maybe he could turn the tee around and chip left handed next to her. He walked up and walked into the stall next to her, greeting her with a simple, "Hey."
Josie looked up at him and smiled. She looked much more relaxed than she had been with her mother the day before and he thought that maybe she even looked glad to see him. "Hi," she greeted him shyly, and then blushed.
"I thought you were going to deck that guy!" he grinned.
"Oh�you saw that?" She laughed and rolled her eyes. "I didn't want to touch him, actually. I think he's so creepy!"
Sam nodded his agreement. "I know what you mean. I think you got the better of him, though."
She laughed again. She knew Sam was teasing her.
'God,' he thought, 'she's so beautiful when she laughs.'
"I know I should control my temper," she giggled.
He laughed, too. "Personally, I wanted to see you flatten him!" Sam put his bucket down and, after a moment, commented, "I was surprised to see you here. I didn't know that you played golf�"
She shrugged and looked down the driving range. "Well, I'm not very good at it, but I try. I also don't hit the ball as far as I'd like to, but I'm working on it." She looked back at Sam and smiled again. "Actually, I like watching golf better than playing. And as for Creepy Ken over there�I usually play with my friend Anita and when we come here she flirts with that guy like crazy so that's probably how he got the wrong idea." 'Whoops!' Josie thought, 'I'd better watch it.'
"Anita� Is that someone from school?" He didn't remember any Anita that Josie hung around with, and he paid attention to those sorts of things.
"No, she's a friend of mine from my neighborhood," she replied. She was trying to think on her feet now. "She's a little older than me. When we play, we usually play nine holes with a cart," she explained, and then laughed as she said, "But we end up rescuing stray dogs and watching turtles more than seriously playing golf. Do you like to play?" she asked him curiously.
"Yeah, I usually play with some friends of mine: Mr. Romano, the baseball coach from school, is one of the guys I play with; and Jonathan, my best friend� the guy who was with me at Home Depot yesterday�is another. So�are you by yourself here, Josie?
Josie leaned her weight on her club and answered, "No. My parents are playing in that couples tournament. I came along to hit some balls and practice my swing, and then I was going to go sit out at one of the tables and finish some homework, and watch the golf tournament on TV. I really like to watch golf, since I'm not that good at it."
Sam couldn't believe it. She liked golf and knew something about it� She even tried to play! Suddenly, he remembered what Jonathan had said about getting to know her; about being her friend first and letting everything else fall into place. Today seemed like the perfect opportunity to do that. It was a public place with lots of people around, so it wasn't as if anyone could get the wrong idea. Besides, he reasoned, if he saw Brett or Aldys in such a situation, he'd probably sit and talk to them. So, why not Josie? He decided to give it a try.
"You know, Josie, I was going to sit down and watch the tournament, too. If you don't already have company, would you like to grab a couple of sodas, sit together, and watch?" he asked, looking down at his golf club the whole time. He was too nervous to look at her.
Josie was thrilled. "Sure! That would be great." He looked up and they smiled at each other and their eyes met. They both blushed, but continued to stare and smile.
Finally Sam realized what he was doing and broke the spell, turning to pick his bucket of balls back up. "Okay, I'll go put my clubs away, get the Cokes and meet you at a table by the TV in a couple minutes� Is a Coke what you want?"
"Yeah, Diet, I guess�if they have it. Thanks. I'll go dump my clubs in the van and then I'll meet you there."
Sam nodded and then slung his golf bag over his shoulder again, trudging off down the lane out towards the parking lot.
Josie watched as Sam walked away and broke into a ridiculous grin. She was so happy to be with Sam again. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about the time they spent together at Senior Nite, and about the strange feeling she'd had when they were loading her mother's flower flats into the van yesterday. It was like they had connected somehow, and she couldn't break free from it. Josie sighed. She almost wished her mother hadn't broken it up. But in another way, she was glad she had. Josie didn't want Sam to know that she was falling in love with him.
'Ah, Sam," she thought wistfully. He was the nicest, sweetest, most wonderful man she'd ever met. She knew that she could never have him in her life the way she really wanted; but she did hope, at least, that maybe once her assignment was complete they might be able to forge a friendship. Maybe if he got to know her now, he'd know her well enough to forgive her when the truth did finally come out. At least, she hoped so.
She knew that Sam was just being sweet and polite to her by asking her to join him. After all, he had a girlfriend; one he'd been with for five years, so that wasn't about to change now because of her. But still, being this close to him was intoxicating. She sighed, hoping that her attraction wasn't already painfully obvious to him.
* * *
A short time later, Sam climbed the steps to the clubhouse and turned the corner to enter the bar. He stopped and got the two sodas and searching for a moment, found where Josie was sitting. Crossing the room, he handed her the Diet Coke and then sat down next to her, facing the television. By the looks of it, the tournament had already started. There were a few other people watching but the place was by no means crowded and no one was sitting close to them. It was almost like being alone in a public place. Sam could not have planned this better if he had tried. He was finally getting a chance to spend a little time with Josie alone, away from school.
They looked at each other again and smiled. He figured he'd better say something pretty soon or else he might give in to temptation and kiss her.
"So, who's your favorite golfer?" he asked her. He expected her to say the obvious answer for someone her age, Tiger Woods.
As usual, she surprised him. "Phil Mickelson is my favorite golfer." she replied as she sipped her Diet Coke through her straw. He quickly averted his gaze from her mouth when she drank her soda because he kept focusing on how her lips wrapped around the straw. He completely lost track of their conversation.
"Phil Mickelson?" he asked stupidly, but then he suddenly remembered what they were talking about. She must know a lot about golf, then, he decided, because Phil Mickelson was still an up-and-coming player. He was fairly well known, but he hadn't won a major tournament yet. He was Sam's favorite golfer, so he was intrigued by her choice. "Why Phil Mickelson, Josie?"
In his effort to not watch her lips, he looked in her eyes instead, and that was even worse. He really wanted to focus on what she was saying, so he decided if he looked at her forehead, it would be safer for him while still appearing to make eye contact. Although she did have beautiful skin�
Josie smiled and answered, "I like Phil Mickelson because he overcame adversity after breaking both legs in a skiing accident and coming back to play tournament golf. He hasn't won a major yet, but I think he will. He came in second in the U.S. Open and I think it's just a matter of time before he wins a major. Plus, he's very nice and his wife is very nice. I carried the scorecard for him in a tournament in April and he was really nice to everybody. I think that's really why I like him the most. And, of course, he has a great chip shot," she added.
"You carried his scorecard?" Sam was totally amazed. Josie had carried the scorecard for a professional golfer in a PGA tournament!
"Yeah, well I carried his scorecard one day and was a Marshall one day. Being a Marshall was much easier. I just had to hold up a 'Be Quiet' sign when the golfers hit. I was on a Par 3 hole, so it wasn't that hard and it was neat to see them hit the ball up close. It's a volunteer type thing. I kept the score on my own - each group has someone who carries a scorecard. When I was a Marshall, my friend Anita�the one I was telling you about before?�did it with me so that was a lot of fun."
"Oh, the friend who flirts with Ken?"
"Yes. I don't think she means anything by it though. It's just her personality." She shrugged and then asked him, "Which golfer do you like?" She wanted to get off the subject of Anita. It made her too nervous.
"Believe it or not, I like Phil Mickelson, too�because he's left-handed like me, we're about the same age, and he does have that unbelievable chip shot," Sam finished with a grin.
Sam mentioning that he was left-handed made Josie was curious about something. "Do you play hockey right-handed and do everything else left- handed? Because I noticed in the classroom when you talked about playing hockey you did it from the right handed perspective, but you write with your left and play golf with your left." Suddenly they were staring at each other again, but this time neither one looked away.
Sam swallowed. His heart was pounding now. For the first time he realized how much she was really interested in him from how closely she had apparently observed him. 'She noticed all that about me�' he thought. He swallowed hard, trying to calm himself enough to sound calm when he spoke.
"I play hockey with both hands, actually. I usually play left-handed, though, so I keep my right handed stick at work to keep in practice." He smiled at her and she returned his smile. When she looked at him like that, he felt an unbelievably powerful urge to touch her. He had to close his eyes for a second to get a handle on the feeling before he gave in to it. He felt like he was reeling, continually off balance when he was around her. And the more time he spent with her only intensified the effect. He wouldn't have believed that this was possible, but it was true.
A movement from the doorway of the lounge caught Sam's eye. He noticed Ken start to come in the other side of the room, but when he noticed Josie sitting there with him, he turned around and made a hasty exit. Pointing him out to Josie, Sam laughed. "I think you've terrorized that guy, Josie!"
"I hope so. He's definitely a menace!" She laughed too.
"What did you tell him anyway?" he asked. He wondered what she'd said to get rid of him. It seemed to have worked pretty well.
"First, I told him to take his hands off me before my elbow found a new home. Then I told him in no uncertain terms that if he ever touched me, looked at me, or even breathed on me wrong again, I'd get his butt fired for sexual harassment. That's about it," she grinned. "I told him no to begin with, but I guess he's not very good at taking no for an answer. The next thing I knew he was behind me, trying to grab my club with me still holding on to it! Ugh!" She wrinkled her nose and made a face.
"It really looked like you intimidated him, Josie, especially when you shook your finger at him!" Sam praised.
"I was really angry that he would do that to me�that he thought he could because I'm smaller. I really hate that." He could see that she was very serious now.
"I see what you mean." He agreed with her on that one. He realized that Josie saw the guy the same way he did. Only for Sam, the fact that the guy was touching Josie had made him want to deck him. He didn't want any guy to think that they could touch her, period!
Then they watched the golf tournament for a while and talked some more, mostly about golf, what the players were doing, etc�nice safe, easy topics for Sam that kept his mind off the worst of his attraction to Josie. Finally, reluctantly, Sam knew it was time for him to go. Most of the golfers in the tournament had played through and he figured her parents would be there soon. Looking at his watch, he was amazed to realize that they'd been sitting together talking and watching the tournament for three hours! It seemed like only a few minutes to him.
Josie slid her chair back and looked as if she were about to stand to make her apologies about having to leave, but before she left he knew there was something he wanted to ask her. He figured that now was a good time as any.
Touching her hand lightly to stay her, he turned to her and asked, "Josie, would you be interested in working on the Prom Committee? I know since you got here in March that you're not on it, but I'm the faculty adviser, so you certainly could help me if you wanted to." He glanced nervously at Josie to see how she was accepting his speech. She looked like she was listening, but her reaction was hard to gauge. "I've got to paint a backdrop this Friday and I don't have anyone to help me yet�after school Friday, that is�if you're interested, maybe?" he asked her shyly. He looked at her and swallowed.
"Sure, I'd be happy to help you� just let me know where. I'm not doing anything Friday after school so that would be great!" Josie smiled at him.
Relieved, Sam grinned back. "Okay, I'll figure it out and let you know. I guess I'd better be going now," noticing that she looked disappointed when he said it. "Are your parents taking you to their house or do you stay with your aunt tonight?" He was still a little concerned about that arrangement so he thought he'd ask.
"My parents will take me to their house to get my car, then I'll drive to the apartment. I have two turtles there that I have to feed!" She grinned.
"You have turtles?" Now it was Sam's turn to smile.
"Yes, they keep me company." She said it without thinking.
"Keep you company? What about your aunt?" Now Sam was definitely worried.
"Oh, well�she's away a lot so I spend a lot of time alone. But it's okay, really! I like to read a lot it's okay for me to be alone. And I always lock the doors, even though it's a really safe neighborhood." She could tell that Sam was concerned about her and she wanted to reassure him.
"Your mom said the apartment is closer to school and where you skate, right?"
"Yes, it's closer to where I ice skate sometimes at the Mall. They have a rink that's not too crowded early in the morning."
"Do you go alone to do that too?"
"Yes, but it's okay, really, I do better if no one is watching me. I'm alone a lot but it's okay. I'm used to it." She thought he was so sweet to be so worried about her�she could see it in his eyes. Suddenly, she wished that she could tell him the truth, even if for no other reason than to remove that worried look on his face.
Sam noticed that Josie seemed to drift off in her thoughts a little, and she even looked a little sad. He realized that being alone a lot was actually one more thing they had in common. He was alone a lot, too�but if today was any indication, they'd both be happier being together. The more time he spent with her, the more he really felt that they belonged together, like she completed him. He wished to God that he didn't have to leave her, but he knew he did. For the time being, he knew that he had to settle for seeing her only as a student and maybe as a friend.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Josie. Be careful driving home later." He looked into her eyes, trying to convey how much he meant that.
Josie looked him right in the eye and thought about what she wanted to say before she said it. She hoped he would somehow understand all the things that she wasn't saying. "You be careful, too. I had a really good time with you today. Thanks so much for that."
They stared at each other again and Josie tried to convey all her unspoken thoughts with her eyes. And to her surprise and pleasure, Sam seemed to nod just a little, as if he did understand.
A long moment passed in which he felt they had just spoken volumes without saying a word. Then, he replied softly, "You're welcome, Josie. It was my pleasure." And as he said it, he realized it was definitely true. In fact, he felt that this had been the best weekend of his life. As they turned and went their separate ways, he walked away with tears pricking his eyes, wishing he could relive every minute of it.
* * *
To be continued�
* * *
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