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It was a quiet ride from Josie's apartment to the Sun-Times office downtown, since Josie and Sam were still nursing their hangover headaches and waiting for the medicine to kick in. They rode in comfortable silence, not even bothering to turn on the radio for company.
They were only about five blocks from the Sun-Times building when Josie dared to sneak a peek at her watch. It said 8:21AM. She heaved an internal sigh of relief and turned to Sam with a smile, saying, "Thank goodness. I think we just might make it on time."
Sam took his eyes off the road for a split second to return Josie's smile. "Good, I'm glad. I would have felt responsible if you were late, because I could have woken you up earlier and didn't." He turned his attention back to the road and continued, explaining, "But you looked so peaceful asleep; I would have felt like a heel doing it. Besides, it gave me some time to think about everything that had happened and figure out what I was going to do to convince you to forgive me�"
"Well, you didn't have to work that hard, Sam, because I had already forgiven you�although you didn't know that then, of course," Josie responded.
Sam nodded. Then he stole another look at Josie. She still looked slightly pale to him and he asked worriedly, "How are you feeling? Are you doing okay? You still look a little peaked to me."
In response, Josie shook her head no and replied, "No, really, I'm doing fine. That medicine is really starting to kick in. I feel like my old self again�almost. What about you?" Josie turned to Sam to push an unruly lock of his hair up off his forehead. "You looked like death warmed over lying there on my kitchen counter�" she teased.
Sam laughed softly. "Yeah, I was quite the picture of health, huh? As you can tell, I'm not much of a drinker, either�you know, a beer or two when I'm out with the guys is pretty much my limit. Oh well�anyway," he said, patting her hand reassuringly, "between the Excedrin and the shower, I feel much better."
"Good." Then Josie remembered something she'd meant to ask Sam. She turned to him, slightly embarrassed, and asked, "Um, Sam?"
"Yes?"
Josie twisted her fingers together in her lap nervously. "Do you think that, well�that maybe you'd be willing to stay for a little while and help me get my stuff moved from my old office to the new one? I'm not sure I'm up to it all by myself today. Besides, I could give you a tour, and you could see where I work." Josie glanced at Sam to gauge his reaction.
On Sam's part, he had secretly been hoping she'd at least invite him inside. He really wanted to see where Josie worked, and he'd never seen the inner workings of a newspaper before. The whole idea sounded fascinating. And if helping her move her things from one place to another meant he could spend more time with her today, then he was all for it. "Sure, Josie. That's sounds just fine to me. I'll be happy to help. After all," he continued wryly, "it's not like I have anything else to do today�"
"Oh, Sam�I'm so sorry." Josie immediately apologized. She felt awful for reminding him that he didn't exactly have a job at the moment. "I shouldn't have said anything."
"No, no," Sam assured her, "I'm glad you asked me. It will give me something to do to take my mind off it, and, besides� I get to be with you. Sounds like a very good deal to me."
Sam was pulling up to a parking garage that was about a block from the Sun- Times. He turned to Josie and asked, "Should I just park here? Or do you have parking under the building or something?"
Josie pointed toward the entrance of the garage and answered, "I'd say you'd be better off parking there. Most of the spaces in the lot nearer the building are gone by 8 o'clock."
In response, Sam put on his turn indicator and slowed down. As he turned and pulled up to the payment window, he turned to Josie and said, "Hey, I'm going to pay for the valet parking�otherwise, we'll never get you to work on time."
Josie felt very guilty. "Please, Sam� Don't waste your money on my account."
But Sam was already getting out of the driver's side of the car. It was obvious he wasn't going to take no for an answer. Josie sighed, grabbed her bags, and got out of her side, too. He handed the attendant the keys and some money, and then grinning widely, he replied, "Too late." He walked around behind the car and collected Josie by the arm. "Come on, you can argue with me about it later. Right now, we've got to get you to work."
Josie just shook her head in mock-disgust. 'He's impossible,' she thought. Then she glanced sideways at him and amended, 'But he's a very cute impossible�' and sighed happily.
They hustled down the block and jogged across the street to enter the main lobby of the building. Josie peeked at her watch again; it read 8:28AM. 'Oh boy,' she thought, 'this one is going to be close�'
They rounded the corner to the elevator bank, and Josie saw one elevator with the doors just starting to close. She hollered out, "Wait, please! Hold the elevator!" In response, she saw a man's hand pop out through the opening, causing the doors to reopen. She and Sam dashed over, still holding hands and slightly out of breath. "Thank you," Josie breathed to the tall, graying, 40ish, professionally-dressed man that had held the door.
As they climbed aboard the mostly-full elevator, Sam noticed that almost every single person in the car stared at them. The doors slid shut and in the ensuing silence just before the car started to move, Sam swore he heard a couple people in the back whispering excitedly to each other. Once the car was underway and the sound of the motor drowned out the voices, he leaned over towards Josie and whispered in her ear, "Josie, was it my imagination, or were all these people staring at us?"
But Josie, who'd had her mind on getting to her office before Gus noticed she was late, hadn't noticed. "Huh?" she asked distractedly. "Oh� sorry, Sam. I didn't notice. But I doubt it was more than a passing curiosity over who was getting on, you know?"
Sam knew what she meant, but didn't agree. He could swear that even now, at least 6 sets of eyes were burning a hole in the back of his head. He sighed, but didn't comment further.
They were some of the last people on the car when it reached the sixth floor, which was their destination. As the doors opened, Josie smiled and clasped Sam's hand tighter. Stepping out into the vestbule, she asked him, "Ready to see where I work?"
Josie was obviously proud of her job and wanted Sam to be also. He beamed at her and replied, "Absolutely. I wouldn't miss it for the world!"
The bullpen was�as usual�a busy, noisy din of computer keys clacking, phones ringing, and people milling around talking. But, as Josie and Sam appeared in their midst, wandering through the maze of desks to make their way to Josie's office, everything seemed to stop. All the typing and talking abruptly dropped off to silence, and people stopped, stood up, and stared as they walked by. It was like the parting of the Red Sea: swift and magical�and just as amazing for the crowded Sun-Times bullpen.
All the attention made Sam uncomfortable. He could feel an embarrassed flush starting to creep up his cheeks. He looked down at Josie with concern; wondering if it might also be bothering her. For her part, Josie seemed to be enjoying the attention.
The surreal quiet was really starting to unnerve Sam, so he was happy when he saw an open office before them with a sign posted on the door that read, "Josie Geller, Copy Editor."
He walked before her into the doorway of the office, glad to get out of the limelight. Turning, he realized that Josie had stopped at a young man's desk just outside. She turned to face the young man and asked him, "Do I have any messages, Merkin?"
Sam noticed that 'Merkin' had his mouth hanging open in complete shock and surprise and was obviously speechless. He shook his head in a dazed, silent no. He was staring at Sam, and then at Josie, and then back to Sam again.
Josie smirked at Merkin and reached over to place her hand on the young man's chin, gently pushing upward to shut his mouth and then quipped, "Close your mouth, Merkin, otherwise you're going to drool on the desk�"
She turned on her heel and followed Sam into her office, shutting the door behind them.
"God, Josie! Do you always elicit such a response from your co-workers? I mean, I know you're a fantastic writer, but�"
Josie laughed delightedly. "No, I don't. Actually, I think that reception was mostly because of you, not me."
"Me?" Sam asked, incredulous. "Why me? What did I do?"
"Well," Josie explained, as she sat down behind her desk, "they've seen and heard so much about you, but this was their first chance to see you 'up close and personal', if you know what I mean. Besides, they all knew me before I went on this assignment, and they are still trying to come to terms with my change on top of everything else, you know?"
"I suppose�but, wow! I was starting to wonder if I had forgotten to put my pants on this morning or something," he joked. He looked around Josie's office. The walls were bare and several boxes lined the floor as well as the two available seats on either side of the door.
Josie looked at Sam and smiled. "Feel free to move one of those boxes if you want to sit down for a minute."
"Okay." Sam grabbed a smallish box with what looked like frames sticking up out of it and sat in the chair on the far side of the door, placing the box in his lap. Curious, he started inspecting each framed item. The first one he pulled out was Josie's diploma from Northwestern. "Summa Cum Laude" it said underneath her name. The fact that she'd graduated first in her class still blew him away. "Wow, Josie. You must have had straight A's for four straight years to become valedictorian, huh?"
Josie nodded and added, "Yes, and two A+ from my Journalism/Creative Writing teacher. Mr. Hastings taught both�" She smiled. "He was the one who wrote that letter of recommendation and pushed me to apply to work here�"
"Smart guy," Sam commended proudly.
"Maybe, but he was not as gifted at encouraging me as you were. You have a knack for making people believe in themselves, Sam." Saying it made Josie realize how true it really was. A determined look crossed her face. "And I'm not going to stop until I convince that school board that I'm right, and that they'd be making the biggest mistake of their lives forcing you out."
The shadow of sadness came and went so fast, that no one except for Josie, who knew Sam so well, would have even noticed. "Well, we'll certainly give it our best shot, won't we?"
Tears started to well up in Josie's eyes. She was too choked up to speak, so she simply nodded her agreement.
For his part, Sam started rummaging around in the box again. This time, he pulled out a copyediting award from the Metropolitan Chicago Print Media Association. He looked up and was about to ask Josie about it when he was interrupted.
Suddenly, the door to Josie's office burst open. It careened into Sam's elbow, which had been on the armrest of the chair. He sucked in a painful breath and rubbed at his elbow, but didn't say anything. Since he was, for all intents and purposes, behind the door, he didn't want to give away his presence without knowing who was there. The last thing he wanted was for Josie to get into trouble for having him there on the very day of her promotion.
Josie watched Sam's expression with amusement, and then turned her attention to the very excitable Anita, who was practically jumping up and down in front of her desk.
"Good morning, Anita," Josie greeted her friend.
"Good morning, yourself," Anita replied. "Well�that's quite a glow you're wearing this morning, young lady. Is there anything I should know? Hmm?" Anita leaned forward across Josie's desk in anticipation.
From her vantage point behind the desk, Josie could see Sam sitting behind the door, trying not to laugh at the knowledge that it was actually Josie's hangover that was responsible for her "glow". She composed her features and then looked up at Anita with an innocent look. "Such as?"
"Oh, come on Josie!" Anita exclaimed, exasperated with her friend's inability to take obvious hints. "What happened with you and Sam last night? And if you say you played Scrabble again, I swear I'm going to get your head examined!"
Highly amused, Sam watched Josie intently and tried not to laugh. He was very interested to hear what she would say to Anita, who was obviously one of her best friends.
A mysterious smile curled at the edges of Josie's lips before she answered, "We went out to dinner."
"Uh-huh, yeah�" Anita gave Josie a 'Give me a break' look. "And then what? Did you do it?"
Sam almost choked at the woman's bald question. He peeked over at Josie, who seemed relatively unruffled by this query. Apparently, she and Anita had this type of discussion before, he thought.
"No, we didn't 'do it,' Anita�" rolling her eyes with obvious disgust at Anita's one-track mind. Then, thinking of all the things that she and Sam did do the night before, Josie blushed.
"Aha!" Anita crowed triumphantly, seeing Josie's flushed cheeks. "Something did happen! Come on, dish! Details, woman!"
Josie was intensely aware of Sam's presence behind the door. She cleared her throat self-consciously and then answered cryptically, "Let's just say we didn't play Scrabble."
Anita opened her mouth as if to say more, but Josie cut her off. Changing the subject, she said, "I assume you came in here for more than just a dissection of my personal life, so what is it?"
Anita, thank goodness, took the hint. "Oh, yeah." she said in a soft voice, remembering. "It's about Gus."
Josie looked uneasy. Sure, it was all in good fun that Sam was eavesdropping behind the door when Anita was talking about him, but she didn't think that Anita would want her troubles with Gus broadcast to anyone without her knowledge. "Um�maybe right now isn't a good time to discuss this�"
Anita, however, went on as if she didn't see or hear Josie's protest at all. "Well, I took your advice last night. After everyone else left, I went into Gus's office and confronted him about his kissing me the other night."
Sam or no Sam, Josie couldn't resist asking, "Really!? What happened?"
In response, Anita pulled up the chair that had been sitting by the open doorway, plopped the box that was resting in it onto the floor, and then sat so that she could lean her elbow on the corner of Josie's desk. "Well�nothing. That's the problem," Anita sighed heavily.
"Nothing? What do you mean? He kissed you didn't he? That can't be nothing�" Josie asked, confused.
"Of course he kissed me," Anita answered a little testily, "or maybe I should say he kissed me back, since I started it. But according to Gus, nothing happened: no fireworks, no hearts pounding, nothing. He said it was just 'an accident'."
Josie rolled her eyes. "Okay�define 'accident'�"
Anita threw up her hands in frustration. "That's what I mean! I don't know what he means!"
Sam, who had been listening to this exchange with growing discomfort, saw his opportunity to make himself known. He stood up and, placing the box he'd been holding on the floor next to his chair, came out from behind the door. "Maybe I could help," he said kindly, showing himself.
Anita turned to look at Sam, completely dumbfounded. It was as if she couldn't quite figure out how he had gotten there.
Trying to break the tension, Sam joked, "Well, Pam�we meet again."
Anita's expression was comical. Her eyes bugged out and her mouth dropped open. She rose from her seat in shock. "Pam?" was all she could say, still staring at Sam in disbelief.
Josie had to hide her sputtering laugh behind her hand. She'd never seen Anita at a loss for words before.
Sam cracked one of his teasing, sexy, crooked grins. "Yeah� Pam Kitterman, sex expert extraordinaire, right?"
Anita stood motionless in complete confusion for another split second, but then everything clicked into place for her. She laughed and agreed, "Yup, that's me." Recovering quickly, she cocked an eyebrow at Sam, placed a hand on her hip saucily, and deadpanned, "Anything you want to know?"
'Touch�,' Sam thought, but he replied, "Nope, I think I've got it all down now after your enlightening, informative discussion�"
Josie laughed at Anita and Sam's exchange. "Yeah, come on, Anita�even you have to admit that the condoms on the bananas were a bit much."
"Hey!" Anita defended, "It's a very important skill! Everyone should know how to do that. And personally, I think you could use a little more practice�" She smiled suggestively at Josie. "They're not meant to be projectiles, you know�"
Josie blushed deeply. She didn't need reminding about her embarrassing display from the sex-ed class. She peeked up at Sam, who was grinning, amused at the memory�and at Josie's discomfort about it. "I didn't realize you had seen that�" she told Anita in a small, embarrassed voice.
"Yeah, well you're lucky the whole darn class didn't see it. But�luckily for you�poor Sam here," Anita reached over and patted his cheek a couple times in mock sympathy, "played it very cool for you."
Sam shrugged and explained to Anita, "Actually, it was my fault. Josie didn't realize I was standing right behind her eavesdropping on her conversation with Tracie. So when I made a comment, trying to explain to Tracie what Josie had meant by something she'd said, I startled Josie. I kind of deserved it, actually; I shouldn't have been listening in the first place."
Josie wanted desperately to change the subject. This one was just too embarrassing for her. "Hey, wasn't the whole point of this conversation to figure out what is up with Gus?"
Anita sat back down, properly chastised. "Oh, yeah, right. Yes, it was."
Sam closed the door and then pulled his chair up closer to Josie and Anita. He turned to Anita and asked, "Really�are you okay with me being here? I can go wait outside if you need to discuss this with Josie alone."
Anita eyed him thoughtfully. "Actually, a guy's point of view might be just what the doctor ordered. God knows I can't figure 'em out�" she rolled her eyes for emphasis.
"Thanks," Sam said drolly. "I'll try not to be wounded by that."
"All right, you two," Josie kidded. "Do I have to split you up?"
"No, Mommy Dearest," Anita intoned in a high, kidlike voice. After a moment's pause, she continued her story about Gus in more detail.
"Okay, I went in there and basically walked right up to him and told him that we needed to talk about what happened at the game," she began.
"Wait! What happened at the game?" Sam asked for clarification.
Before Anita could answer, Josie explained, "She kissed Gus and he kissed her back."
"Ahhhh, okay� Sorry, Anita�please go on�"
Anita sighed heavily. "Well, he looked up and very matter-of-factly told me that there was nothing to talk about�that it was a simple reaction to what I was doing and that was it. He didn't want me to make a big deal out of it, because it had meant nothing to him and it would never happen again."
Josie placed a hand over Anita's in sympathy. "Oh, Anita�I'm so sorry. That's just awful."
Anita laughed self-deprecatingly. "Yeah, wouldn't it figure that when I finally find someone that I get 'that thing' from, he's not interested? But the funny thing was; I'm sure he felt it, too. I just know it."
Josie looked up and met Sam's eyes for a moment; Josie could see that he also felt badly about Anita's heartache. Both of them had been in her boat not all that long ago. Then Josie said gently, "Well, Anita� I used to think Sam wasn't interested, too. But, look, here he is now."
Anita shook her head sadly. "It was very different for you though, Josie. The two of you were in a situation where it wasn't appropriate to show those emotions toward each other."
A moment or two of silence passed. Then Sam looked at Anita ponderingly and asked, "Anita, what does Gus do here?"
"Huh?" Anita didn't follow where Sam was going with this one.
"What does he do? What is his job?" Sam clarified.
"Oh, yeah, okay. He's the Editor-in-Chief�a.k.a. 'the head honcho', 'king of his castle', et cetera, et cetera�" Anita said with a tinge of sarcasm.
"So then, doesn't that make Gus your boss?" he asked matter-of-factly.
Josie smiled at Sam's question, because she was well aware of Anita's irreverent attitude toward Gus's "boss" status.
"In the loosest form of the word�I suppose so," Anita quipped.
"Well, there's one reason right there why he might feel uncomfortable expressing any feelings for you," Sam explained logically.
Josie latched onto this idea and ran with it. "Yeah! Sam's right, Anita�after all�what about all his talk about the 'intraoffice dating policy?' It would be pretty awkward for him if he started breaking his own rules, don't you think?"
Anita pondered this for a moment, a glimmer of hope returning to her eyes. "Yeah, maybe�"
Sam had another idea. "Anita, do you date a lot? Especially people from the office?"
Anita shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah. So?"
"Have any of these 'dates' been long-term relationships?"
"I don't know." Anita looked up at the ceiling in concentration. She started counting on her fingers. Sam and Josie shared a look of bemused amazement when Anita got past fifteen on her fingers. Finally, she stopped counting and looked at Sam, asking seriously, "Would you consider six weeks a long time?"
Sam bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. "No, I wouldn't."
"Oh," she said in a small voice. "Then, no, I guess they haven't."
"Okay� Now granted, I know very little about Gus, but from what Josie has told me, he's not exactly the type of guy to wear his heart on his sleeve�" Sam began.
Anita snorted in reply.
Sam continued, "So, if Gus does have feelings for you, he wouldn't be one to share them easily. Therefore, his reaction to your direct questioning would make sense, especially if he hasn't figured out what to make of his reaction to you yet. Plus, if you've garnered some sort of reputation for dating guys from the office, he may very well be unsure of your intentions. If he does have feelings for you, he's not going to want to become just another notch on your bedpost, if you know what I mean."
"But that's not how I feel about him! This is different!" Anita defended.
"Maybe so, but you may have to do some convincing before Gus is going to believe it."
"Oh, I see," Anita said. "But what will I have to do?"
"Well�" Sam tapped a finger on his chin in thought. "I'd say the first thing to do would be to stop dating anyone from the office. The old trick 'let's make him jealous by parading other guys under his nose' would backfire here. You'd only succeed in pushing him farther away. He needs some tangible proof that your feelings for him are different than those you've had for other men."
Anita sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought. "Okay. Then what?"
"Umm�" Sam wondered if he was about to get decked for his next suggestion. "What about a little change in wardrobe? Maybe something a little less attention- grabbing; a little less suggestive?"
"What, I have to dress like my grandmother, now?" asked Anita sarcastically.
Sam tried not to laugh as a picture of a nice, 80ish, white-haired lady hanging out of Anita's skintight shirt and mini skirt came to mind. "No, of course not. Just something not quite so revealing, so that it doesn't seem that you're trying to attract men all the time," Sam explained.
"But I like attracting men," Anita pouted.
"Yes, and Gus knows it�" Sam pointed out dryly. "The point is to make changes that he would notice."
"You know, Anita," Josie mused, "I think Sam may be right, as much as you don't want to admit it. Gus will respond better if he sees you're making changes he never thought you'd make. Maybe then, he'd be willing to take you more seriously. Besides, you can dress beautifully without having to be quite so�obvious."
"But, Josie," Anita wailed, "I don't know how to dress any other way! I don't have anything else but this sort of stuff to wear."
"I'll help you�" Josie placed a commiserating hand on Anita's shoulder. "Why don't you stop by later after work and we can look through my closet to see if anything appeals to you?"
Anita brightened just a little, and then joked, "Only as long as it 's your new stuff�that old stuff you used to wear was pretty ugly, Jos�"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Josie admitted with a laugh. "Pretty 'old maid-ish', I agree. So, why don't you stop by at about, say, 6:30-7ish? That way, Sam and I will have time to grab a quick bite or something, okay?"
Anita thought for a moment, and then agreed. "Okay, I'll do it. But he darn well better be worth it!"
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