Chapter 13

Daniel sighed as he began the drive home. He thought about calling Sam again that evening, but he didn’t want to seem overbearing at all. He thought he might make things worse if he’d told her that he ran into Joe, had words with him, and that his fist made contact with Joe’s face. He agonized over it and realized he’d have to tell her sooner or later, to let her know that he wouldn’t bother her again. He wanted her to know that he cared enough about her to help rid her of this guy once and for all. He would tell her, but not just yet.

The next few days came and went in a blur. Daniel was quite busy trying to prepare for the talk that Thursday, and Sam had to contend with a larger-than-usual number of students seeing her during – and in some cases after – her office hours. Daniel kept his word and spoke to Sam on Tuesday night, apologizing for being MIA, but explaining that the talk he was about to give was based on one of his proposals. Sam grinned inwardly when she realized he was talking about the lecture he was giving in her department. She wondered why he wouldn’t come out and tell her. She surmised that he perhaps wanted to surprise her, and her grin widened.

She was sitting in her office on Thursday morning, grading lab reports, when a quick knock interrupted her.

“Come in,” she called out.

Doctor McClellan, the department chair, smiled as he made his way inside her office.

“Steve,” she smiled back and nodded.

The man remained silent and looked hesitantly down at his hands.

“What is it …?” she said awkwardly, still smiling.

“I need a huge favor,” he began slowly, not sure if she was going to like what he was about to propose.

Sam held her arms out expectantly, waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, she looked at him curiously. “Is this something that I’m not going to like?”

“Uh, well, I hope not,” he replied, brightening a bit. “Don Reismann is supposed to introduce our guest speaker at the Open Night lecture tonight, right?”

“Uh … yeah,” she confirmed with a hint of suspicion in her voice.

“Well, there’s a slight problem with that,” he said uneasily, making a face.

“What?”

“He was supposed to be back from that conference in Pasadena later this morning, but his flight has been cancelled. He’s trying for a later flight, but he informed me that he won’t be able to make it tonight.”

“Oh,” Sam replied after a beat, a bit surprised. “Wow, I’m sorry to hear that.”

Steve nodded. “So, here’s where the favor comes into play,” he sighed uneasily.

Sam looked at him expectantly.

“Were you planning to attend tonight?”

“Uh … yeah, of course,” she nodded.

“I was wondering if you would mind introducing our speaker, then. He’s from the Anthropology department … uh … Jackson, Doctor Jackson I think his name is.”

Sam’s eyebrows nearly leapt off her forehead and she felt her heart pound against her ribcage. Daniel. She would be introducing Daniel at this talk tonight. Even though she knew he was giving the lecture from the email she received, he had never mentioned to her what the talk was about and where he was giving it.

“Sam?”

She blushed as she realized she sat with a glazed stare on her face as her mind reeled with thoughts of introducing him. She turned back to Steve and saw him looking at her curiously.

“Oh, uh … sorry,” she said as she cleared her throat and straightened up. “Sure, Steve, I wouldn’t mind at all.” She nodded slightly and gave him a faint smile.

His eyes lit up and he gave her a quick smile. “Great. I really, really appreciate this. The lecture starts at 7:30, so I’d say be down there at a quarter after. Hannah O’Leary should be down there with the refreshments by then. I wouldn’t have asked you, but my daughter is having her spring concert tonight at the high school, so I won’t be able to make it.”

Sam smiled. “No problem. Wish her luck for me.”

Steve nodded and smiled one last time before he made his way out of the room. Sam turned back to her work and found it hard to concentrate. She was going to introduce Daniel, after he seemed to be keeping the location and time a secret from her. She hoped he wouldn’t be annoyed with her for some reason.

She shook her head incredulously as she realized she was being silly. What reason would he have to be annoyed? The only thing she could come up with was that he wanted to surprise her, and her showing up beforehand would ruin the surprise. He didn’t know she was introducing him, and she hoped he wouldn’t be uncomfortable with that.

She began to wonder why he was avoiding her. He’d insisted that he was very busy working on the presentation, but she wondered if something else was behind it. She entertained the possibility that he thought she was still upset over what happened with Joe, and that he wanted to give her a little space and some time to get over it. If that was the case, it only proved to her how considerate he was. She hoped that she was right.

After having a quick dinner at the food court nearby, Sam gathered some notes about Daniel’s curricula vitae and hurried down to the large lecture hall on the ground floor. It was nearly 7:15, the time Doctor McClellan told her to be down there. As she made her way down the corridor, she glanced briefly again at the notes she was holding and was impressed by Daniel’s background. She nearly agonized over what she was going to say when she introduced him.

As she entered the lecture hall, her heart began to pound as she noticed Daniel already up at the front of the room, setting up his laptop and double-checking a PowerPoint presentation. She felt her cheeks grow hot and her gait slowed dramatically as she neared the front of the room. She sat down in one of the seats in the first row. She looked up at him, noticing his checkered blue shirt, blue blazer and khakis. The lights bounced off his soft, shiny light brown hair making his face appear as if it was surrounded by a golden halo. He appeared to be a bit nervous as he cycled through each slide, as if he was doing a quick run-through before beginning his talk. Sam began to hope that he would never look up and see her.

It was all for naught when he raised his head at last and directed his eyes straight at her. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and his mouth dropped open.

“Sam?”

Her blush deepened as she forced a smile. “The professor who’s supposed to introduce you is unavailable, so I’ve been granted that task,” she said sheepishly.

Daniel raised his eyebrows higher and then nodded. “Oh.”

“I’m not making you uncomfortable or anything, am I?” she asked uneasily.

Daniel’s brow furrowed. “Oh, no, not at all!” he insisted. “I just … wasn’t expecting to … ah …”

Sam chuckled inwardly. Daniel certainly seemed to have been caught off guard by seeing her here, and it actually made him seem quite endearing.

“Is there anything in particular you’d like me to emphasize here?” she asked, showing him the notes on his C.V. “Or anything you’d like me to leave out?” she joked.

Daniel smirked and shook his head. “No, it’s up to you. I don’t have any problem with it.”

Sam looked at him and then nodded tentatively. “Okay.” She sat back down and looked over the notes once again. A tiny part of her was disappointed that they seemed to be acting so business-like and not quite as friendly as usual toward each other. She reminded herself of the setting they were in, though, and tried to let go of the disappointment.

She looked down at her watch and realized it was just about 7:30. She edged up out of her seat and took her position at the podium to the right of Daniel.

“Uh, I guess we can start,” she began, clearing her throat. She looked out at the audience and realized that the seats were only about one quarter filled. She recognized a few of her colleagues, but there were quite a few people that she couldn’t place. She surmised that they were from the Anthropology department.

“For this month’s Open Night, we’re honored to have Doctor Daniel Jackson from the Anthropological Sciences department,” Sam began nervously as she glanced down at her notes. “Daniel received several Masters Degrees, among those, in geology and linguistics at the University of Chicago …”

“Geology, eh?” a professor in the department interrupted amusedly.

Daniel looked at the man, smiled shyly and nodded.

“He has PhDs in archaeology and linguistics, also from the University of Chicago. He arrived at UCCS in the spring of 1994 and has been a faculty member of the Anthropology department ever since,” she continued. She had to bite her tongue to prevent adding, “And a great friend of mine.”

She noticed the audience members nodding, seemingly impressed.

“Doctor Jackson’s talk is entitled, ‘A Small Site in Fife Ness, Scotland: Implications for the Mesolithic Way of Life.’ Doctor Jackson?” she finished awkwardly as she gestured to Daniel.

Daniel smiled shyly at her and nodded. “Thank you, Sam,” he addressed her before she took her seat in the first row. As Daniel prattled on, Sam took note of how he addressed her. There seemed to be genuine kindness in his voice, and it made her feel warm inside.

“…And, one of the most important things to take away from this is that the assemblage gives us a clearer picture of the pattern of early settlement in eastern Scotland, adding another piece to the puzzle of Mesolithic way of life in this area.”

The room erupted in applause, causing Daniel to smile shyly and blush. Sam stood up and clapped heartily before she made her way up to the podium again.

“Does anyone have any questions?”

The room was deathly silent.

“Let’s thank Daniel again,” Sam prompted before the applause sounded again. Once it had died down, Sam gestured to a table in the back, off to the right. “There’s coffee, juice and um … cookies back there if anyone is interested,” she said awkwardly. A group of people made their way in the direction of the table, where Hannah O’Leary, sedimentology professor, was ready and waiting with refreshments.

Sam noticed Daniel struggling to unhook his laptop from the projector and was about to go over and help him when a man whom she’d never met hurried to the front of the room and saved her the trouble. She stood there and furrowed her brow, wondering whom this guy was. He seemed young – probably a graduate student – with long, blonde hair tied back in a ponytail as well as a goatee, and was talking to Daniel animatedly. She assumed he was one of Daniel’s students.

She made her way up to them in order to get a chance to speak to Daniel. The young man had succeeded in helping Daniel get the projector disconnected, the wires wrapped up, and everything back in its case. Sam cleared her throat to get their attention, and with that, the student picked the projector case up by its handles and handed it to Sam without saying a word. She looked down at it curiously and then back up at them as another person joined them and the three walked back to the refreshment table.

She began to feel bad that Daniel seemed to be ignoring her, and was even a touch insulted that this student had given the projector to her and didn’t even bat an eyelash. It was as if she didn’t even exist. She thought about heading over to the refreshment table herself, but she didn’t want to make it look like she was following him, as if she wanted to maintain some dignity.

Before she could think about the situation any further, she was interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Well, that was quite interesting!”

She turned and saw John Kleagle, the mineralogy professor, smiling at her. “Uh … yeah,” she nodded with an awkward smile.

“I just had to make a big deal out of the fact that he has a Masters in geology,” he grinned.

Sam chuckled and shook her head. “That was you?”

“Sure was!” he said impishly. “Of course, it would have been nice to learn what track of geology, but I didn’t want to torture the poor chap,” he winked.

Sam rolled her eyes briefly and then grinned. She felt Kleagle reach out and put his hands on the projector case.

“Here, let me take that up for you,” he said. Sam eagerly let go of it so that he could take it back up to the Geosciences office.

“Thanks, John,” she nodded.

He smiled and nodded back at her. “Have a good night,” he said as he started to make his way out of the lecture hall.

She nodded back and then made her way over to the refreshment table, realizing that her throat was parched and she needed a drink. She was slightly disappointed to see that Daniel was no longer there, let alone no longer in the room. She sighed deeply.

“Hey, Sam, what can I get for you – coffee?” Hannah smiled.

“Uh, no, no coffee, Hannah. Um … what is this?” she asked, gesturing to a gallon of what appeared to be some type of juice.

“Cranberry Grape,” Hannah replied.

“I’ll take some of that,” Sam croaked. She blushed as she realized what she sounded like and cleared her throat.

Hannah nodded and poured a glass of juice for her. Sam nodded, accepted it and thanked her. She made her way out through the back doors behind Hannah, and stood in the hallway, sipping her juice thoughtfully.

She smiled as she noticed a few of her fellow faculty members approaching – Doctor Jeffrey Balkin, geophysics professor; Doctor Elizabeth Newcomb, geochemistry professor; and Doctor Bruce Lyndon, fellow astrophysics professor.

“Hey, Sam, what did you think of the talk?” Elizabeth asked.

“Oh, uh … it was very interesting,” Sam returned, careful not to sound overenthusiastic.

“Wasn’t it?” Jeffrey agreed. “We really should have more archaeologists give talks in this department.”

Bruce nodded. “But, not before we actually get an astrophysicist to give at least one talk,” he said facetiously.

“Hey, here’s an idea: why don’t you give one, Bruce?” Elizabeth shot back. Sam smirked.

“If I wasn’t so damn busy, maybe I would,” the elderly professor conceded before getting back to the subject at hand. “Seemed like a nice young man. Several Masters Degrees and two PhDs … quite impressive.”

Sam nodded. “Yeah. He must be some fountain of knowledge.” She blushed as she remembered that was what she’d told Daniel when she first met him.

The others nodded thoughtfully before Elizabeth looked down at her watch.

“Well, I better get going.”

Sam looked down at her watch and realized it was just after 8:30. Where did the time go? she wondered.

“I better get going, too. I have to put the finishing touches on that exam I’m torturing my students with – in their words, of course,” Bruce added.

The two of them went off and waved goodbye to Sam. She smiled and waved back.

“Have a good night, Sam,” Jeffrey told her kindly before he followed the others down the corridor.

Sam nodded and watched him disappear down the hall. She stood back and watched as the place emptied out. A slight shiver went down her back as she realized how quiet it had grown. She finished what was left of her glass of juice and deposited the plastic cup in the trash before she made her way outside.

She stood in one place and breathed in the cool nighttime air. She looked up at the sky and noticed how clear it was, evident from the brightly twinkling stars – an astronomer’s dream.

She was about to turn left and head to the parking lot when she heard the shuffling of feet behind her. She turned around curiously and nearly felt her heart leap up into her throat as she noticed Daniel standing in back of her, apparently watching her.

“Hey,” he greeted her softly.

Still a bit surprised, Sam looked at him. “Hey,” she returned awkwardly.

“I didn’t … scare you or anything, did I?” he asked as he walked closer to her.

Sam didn’t say a word, but merely shook her head. A kind smile grew on Daniel’s face, and it was enough to make her heart melt. She no longer felt so awkward.

“You did a really good job,” she said solemnly.

She laughed inwardly as she caught the blush that crept into his cheeks. “It wasn’t exactly a full house tonight,” he returned in spite of himself. “On the other hand, I’ve never really been known for packing lecture halls.”

Sam frowned slightly. “Oh, come on. You’re too hard on yourself. From what I saw, the crowd that was there was quite impressed. Some recognition is better than none, and I’d hope that my opinion means something.”

Daniel’s lips twitched into a faint smile, which was returned by Sam. “Why didn’t you tell me you were doing this?” she asked, playing dumb.

Daniel seemed a bit embarrassed by her question and shrugged. “I didn’t think you’d find it remotely interesting,” he said sheepishly.

Sam’s brow knitted in confusion. “Are you kidding? Of course I did! Like I told you on the phone that one day, if it’s anything besides geology or astrophysics, I’d find it extremely interesting.”

“Even if it’s something like the mating habits of dust mites?” Daniel deadpanned.

“I’m not sure I’d go that far,” Sam snickered. Daniel’s face lit up.

“I mean it, Daniel. You did a great job,” she insisted.

A smile spread across Daniel’s face. “Thanks,” he said.

She nodded and then looked at him curiously as she noticed his eyes turning apologetic.

“I’m sorry if I seemed rather …” he paused as he searched for the right word, “… distant.”

Sam looked at him seriously. “It’s okay,” she said quietly. “I knew you were busy preparing for this talk and I didn’t want to disturb you or anything.” She wouldn’t tell him how disappointed she was when he didn’t seem to talk to her after the lecture concluded.

“No, it’s not just that,” he insisted. “I was a bit rude when I didn’t acknowledge you later. Robert was talking my ear off about some new implications he’d just thought of, and I couldn’t get away from him …”

“Robert,” Sam mused as her brow furrowed in confusion. “Was that the guy with the long, blonde ponytail and the goatee?”

Daniel grinned and nodded. “Yeah, he’s one of my students. Most of this project is his research for his Masters thesis. He’s still in the writing process, but he’s nearly done and is looking to defend his thesis before graduation.”

Sam nodded.

“Anyway, I’m sorry I was so distant before, and for not calling you or meeting for coffee the past few days,” he sighed. Sam was about to say something when he continued. “To be honest, I was afraid of smothering you. I thought you were still distraught over that whole thing with Joe, so I figured you might need some time to get over it. I thought it would be better to step back briefly and give you some space. I hope I didn’t give you the wrong idea.”

Sam looked into his clear blue eyes that were tinged with worry, and she realized her earlier assumption had been correct. Daniel was a sweet, considerate man who genuinely cared for her. She smiled softly.

“No, you didn’t,” she said forthrightly. “I know what a caring person you are, Daniel, so I figured that was the case – at least I hoped it was. I realize now how lucky I am to have you as a friend.”

Daniel smiled back and stroked her hair before pulling her into a hug. After a few seconds he pulled out and looked at her uneasily as he’d suddenly remembered something.

“Sam, I have to tell you something important,” he said uneasily.

At that moment, a thousand questions raced through Sam’s mind as she tried to guess what he had to tell her. She came up empty.

“What?” she asked curiously.

“I found that bastard with another girl,” he blurted out.

Sam’s eyes widened. “B-bastard?” she repeated incredulously. “You mean, Joe?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Daniel nodded grimly. “After I talked to you that Sunday afternoon, I went to one of the delis in town for some lunch. It was practically empty except for a couple sitting near the back, making out all over the place. It was a guy in his late thirties with brown hair, and a girl around her mid twenties with long, red hair.”

“And you’re positive it was Joe?” Sam asked, still finding it a bit hard to believe.

Daniel nodded. “At first I had no idea who he was, but I heard her refer to him as Joe, and then …” He trailed off, not sure how to continue.

Sam looked at him expectantly.

“I heard him talking about you,” he said, looking at her sadly. “He mentioned you by name, Sam. He mentioned the fact that you were a professor at the university. He … he said some pretty bad things about you,” he finished uneasily.

“What?” Sam said quietly.

Daniel sighed. “I won’t go into what they were. Just trust me on this. He said some nasty things, and I couldn’t let him get away with it,” he said darkly.

Sam could feel fear creeping into her heart. From the way he was talking, it seemed that he’d gotten into a fight with Joe. She didn’t see any bruises on him or anything, but she still found his choice of words a bit unnerving.

“Daniel, what happened?” she asked calmly.

“I confronted him and told him you didn’t deserve to be badmouthed like that. His ego was bruised, especially in front of his new girlfriend, so he took quite a bit of offense to it. He started calling me names, too, and he even went so far as to prevent me from leaving the place. I … I had to take matters into my own hands,” he said, averting his eyes as if he was afraid to face her.

“Daniel?” she asked as she bent down to look into his eyes.

He caught her face and he lifted his gaze back up to her. “I … gave him a right hook,” he said sheepishly.

Sam’s eyes widened. “What? You hit him?”

Daniel averted his eyes again and nodded.

For a moment, Sam was seemingly impressed as she shook her head, sighed and gave him something akin to a smile.

“I can’t believe you did that!” she exclaimed.

“I’m sorry, Sam. I don’t think I’ve ever hit anyone in my life, but it was practically unavoidable. I couldn’t sit there and let him get away with talking about you like that. Not only did he badmouth you, but he also lied about what happened on the date.”

Sam sighed heavily and a bit of anger momentarily flashed in her eyes. “That bastard,” she said shakily.

Daniel reached out and touched her arm.

“You know, it doesn’t really surprise me,” she said after a beat, shaking her head.

Daniel looked at her curiously.

“It just proves further that he’s a creep. It’s funny because he told me on the phone how upset he was, how he thought I was something special, and how he would never find as wonderful a woman as me,” she continued.

“Well, he sure got over his devastation quick enough,” Daniel said sardonically. “Don’t worry, though. I don’t think he’ll ever bother you again.” He put his arm around her shoulder.

Sam took hold of his hand and smiled up at him tenderly. “Thank you, Daniel,” she said simply.

Daniel’s brow furrowed slightly. “For …?”

“Thank you for sticking up for me like that. It makes me feel bad, though, like I shouldn’t have to count on you to fight for me.”

“Sam, that’s ridiculous. We’re friends; it’s the least I can do. I care about you too much to see you harassed and hurt by a creep like that,” Daniel insisted.

Sam felt so touched she was afraid she would cry. The strong bond she had with Daniel was now made completely evident to her. Granted, they were just friends who hadn’t known each other long, but they were good, close, dear friends.

“Thanks, Daniel,” she said again before she hugged him tightly. She felt him stroking the back of her head and it comforted her immensely.

After a while, they stepped back and Daniel patted her on the back. “Well, it’s getting late and we both have to work tomorrow,” he said regretfully.

Sam nodded. “Maybe we can get some lunch together?” she asked hopefully.

Daniel thought for a moment. “Sure, that would be great.”

Sam smiled and nodded. Daniel turned to head in the direction of the parking garage closer to SBS where he’d parked his car.

“Oh, Daniel,” she suddenly called out.

He turned and looked at her curiously as he made his way back to her.

“I spoke to my father the other day. He has some leave coming up next month, so he’ll be coming out here for a visit to celebrate my birthday.”

Daniel gave her a surprised look. “When is your birthday?”

“May 16^th. It’s a Friday … actually, if I’m not mistaken, it’s the same day as the commencement ceremonies. He’ll be arriving later in the day, so I’ll still be able to attend …” she trailed off, blushing a bit.

“Oh,” Daniel said quietly.

She watched as his lips edged upward into a faint smile. “I’ll have to remember that,” he added.

Sam felt her cheeks flame as she returned his smile, and it make him chuckle affectionately.

“Have a good night, Sam,” he said.

“Thanks, same to you, Daniel,” she returned. He turned and headed for the parking garage. She watched him walk away and smiled before making her way to her own car.