Once he pulled into a space in the parking lot behind O’Malley’s, Daniel turned to Sam and gave her hand a little squeeze. He noticed that she was very quiet on the drive over and wondered if something was bothering her. Granted, it was a short drive and there wasn’t much time for conversation, but she did seem a bit preoccupied.
Sam looked at him and smiled tentatively. As she looked into his eyes, she saw concern reflected in them. Admittedly, she had been very quiet the whole time and he must have been wondering if something was wrong. Yes, there was something preoccupying her, but she couldn’t admit to him what it was. She kept thinking back to the webpage about his parents.
After a few moments she realized she would do best to forget about it. They were here to have fun and it wasn’t the time or place to agonize over something like this. She relegated it to the back of her mind and gave him a more assured smile before they exited the car.
As they made their way across the parking lot and toward the side of the building, Daniel couldn’t help looking at some of the cars and wondering what type of car Jack and Sara would have. He snickered when he saw a black Ford pickup truck with what appeared to be a fishing lure dangling from the rear view mirror. He would find out whether or not his presumption was correct when they met Jack and Sara.
Daniel held the door for Sam as they made their way inside the somewhat darkened vestibule of O’Malley’s.
“Huh, I guess they’re not here yet,” he said as he looked around. He spoke too soon when they spotted two familiar faces sitting at the bar off to their left.
“Hey, there they are!” Sara exclaimed, setting her piña colada down on the counter.
Sam grew a smile and was about to make her way over to them when Sara picked up her glass and entered the vestibule, followed by Jack with beer in hand.
“Great to see you guys,” Sara said as she gave Sam a big hug.
Daniel looked at Jack and forced a smile as he politely offered his hand to the older man. “Jack …” he began amiably.
“Daniel …” Jack smiled as he returned the handshake. His eyes wandered as he looked Daniel over. “Hey, short sleeves!” he said jokingly with a toothy grin as he pointed to Daniel’s rolled up shirtsleeves.
Daniel shrugged and he managed a crooked grin. “Yeah, figured it was about time I went up into my attic and dug out my summer clothes,” he said dryly.
Jack looked at him blankly. “Attic? I thought you lived in an apartment.”
Daniel blinked and then fixed him with an incredulous look. “I do.”
Jack blinked back and Daniel was nearly in disbelief that the man could be this dense. His eyes darted from Jack to Sara to Sam, and he felt a bit uncomfortable at the awkward silence in which they were now mired.
“I was kidding,” he finally said.
Jack’s eyes widened in realization and then he began laughing sheepishly. Sara soon joined him and before long, they were all laughing.
“Why don’t we sit down and get something to eat? I’m starving,” Sara remarked once they’d calmed down.
Everyone nodded in agreement and followed the hostess to a booth on the other side of the bar.
“Now, that looks really good,” Sara remarked as she pointed to Jack’s large Porterhouse steak.
“It’s really really good,” Jack replied in between bites. He cut a piece and stabbed it with his fork. “Want some?” he asked cutely as he held it up to Sara.
Sara looked at him and grinned widely. Jack’s expression matched hers as he held the fork up to her face and literally fed her the piece of steak. Sara chewed it slowly and made soft “Mmm” sounds, as if she was indulging in it. Finding a bit of steak sauce on the corner of her mouth, Jack picked up his napkin and dabbed at it. Their actions were that of two people who were incredibly smitten with one another, but seemed to be done just for effect. Sam felt Daniel nudge her slightly and when she turned to look at him, he’d briefly rolled his eyes and snorted softly. It caused her to chuckle.
Once Jack replaced the fork, he and Sara looked at them pointedly. Sam coughed nervously and Daniel forced a not-too-innocent smile.
“How was your food?” Jack asked.
Sam and Daniel shared a quick look before turning back around to the other couple. “Oh, uh … fine,” Daniel replied nonchalantly.
“Yeah,” Sam added. “The Chicken Caesar salad was very good.” She pointed to her nearly empty plate.
“Good,” Jack said, giving her a genuine smile. “So, how have things been going for you, Sam?”
Sam’s brow furrowed slightly in confusion, as she was sure that Jack had asked her that earlier. “Fine,” she shrugged. “Things have been slow at work. I’m not advising any students and there’s not a whole lot going on in our department, so I’ve had quite a bit of time off.”
“You must be grateful,” Jack replied. Daniel warily kept his eye on Jack. He knew that the other man’s words were innocent enough, but after the way Jack acted toward Sam at the party, Daniel still wasn’t too sure about him.
Sam forced a slight smile. “I guess so. I’ve been able to catch up on some projects I’d postponed indefinitely.”
“That’s always nice,” Jack said as he gave her a friendly smile. Sam looked downward as she thought she felt Jack’s foot come up against her own. Then again, the booth they were sitting in was quite cozy and there wasn’t a whole lot of room. She shrugged it off.
At that instant, Daniel felt someone hit his foot. He briefly looked down underneath the table and realized that Jack had hit his foot … hopefully by accident. “What was that?” Daniel asked, giving him an odd look.
Jack’s face flushed as he caught his little mistake. “Oh, uh … sorry, I thought I kicked the table leg,” he said lamely.
Daniel nodded once, still giving Jack an odd look. Before anything else could happen, the waitress returned. The group refused coffee and dessert, and the waitress left to bring them the check.
Sam and Daniel waved to Jack and Sara as the black pickup truck with the fishing lure hanging from the rear view mirror pulled out of the parking lot. As they headed back to Daniel’s car, Sam caught a somewhat smug grin on his face.
“What?” she asked as she gave him a crooked smile.
“I was right,” he said in a self-satisfied tone.
Sam’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “About …?”
“When we first got here, I saw that black pickup and, without ever seeing it before, I had a sneaking suspicion that it was his. I wanted to see if my assumption was correct so I’m glad they left first.”
Sam looked at him, amused. “That’s pretty good, Daniel.”
Daniel’s slight air of smugness evaporated as he shrugged. “Well, the fishing lure hanging from the rear view mirror sort of helped.”
Sam would have none of it. “But, still, I wouldn’t have guessed that he drove a black pickup truck,” she grinned playfully before giving his arm a squeeze.
Daniel smiled at her. “It was a lucky guess and we’ll leave it at that. Okay?”
Sam nodded and smiled widely at him. “Okay,” she conceded.
He gave her one last smile before they entered his car. “Wow, we still have about twenty-five minutes before the movie starts,” he remarked as he glanced at his watch. “The multiplex isn’t too far from here. Want to stop somewhere and get some coffee?”
Sam thought for a moment and then shook her head. “No, we really shouldn’t. Sara’s expecting us to meet them over there at any minute. If I know her, she probably wants to be there early so she can read the movie trivia questions they flash on the screen every couple of minutes,” she said with a wry smile.
Daniel couldn’t hold back and started to chuckle. “And her husband calls me a geek?”
Sam shrugged. “I guess he doesn’t think that movie buff equals geek.”
“Oh, that’s very nice, Sam. Thank you for the moral support,” Daniel deadpanned.
Sam laughed softly. “I didn’t mean it that way. You’re not a geek, Daniel and if you can’t accept that, then by your definition that makes me a geek as well.”
Daniel looked deeply into her eyes. “Someone who’s intelligent, inquisitive, bookish, not to mention kind and gentle?”
A faint blush diffused across Sam’s features and she put her head down. “I guess,” she mumbled.
“I think that’s fair,” he said, smiling tenderly at her. “We’re both geeks.” He reached over and embraced her.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she returned, her voice slightly muffled by his shoulder.
Daniel stroked her arm before his eyes drifted down to his watch once more. “Okay, it’s just over fifteen minutes before the movie starts. I guess we’d better get going,” he said as he gave her a sheepish smile.
Sam giggled softly as he turned the ignition on.
Just over five minutes later, they had pulled into a parking space at the Colorado Springs Multiplex Cinema. Daniel patted Sam on the arm as they headed for the imposing theater in front of them, looking around the parking lot for any signs of Jack and Sara. Daniel spotted Jack’s truck once again, but there was no one in it or standing around it, causing him to shrug.
After they entered the cinema, they were about to head over to one of the ticket counters when Sam felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned around and saw Jack smiling at her. His brown eyes pierced her blue-gray ones and she coughed awkwardly. She also noticed that Daniel had left her side and had wandered over to the large snack bar in the middle of the lobby.
“We got tickets already,” Sara announced as she suddenly appeared at Jack’s side.
“Ah,” Sam muttered, nodding as Sara handed two of them to her.
“Where’s Daniel?” Jack asked.
“Oh, um … I think he’s over by the snack bar,” Sam said distractedly as she gestured over in that direction.
Jack shook his head and looked at Sara. “Would you go get him and tell him he doesn’t need to bother with any of that? I got it covered.”
Sara nodded and was about to head over to the snack bar to retrieve Daniel when he saved her the trouble by rejoining them.
“You wouldn’t believe some of the prices for those things,” he said disgustedly. “I mean, I know they’re huge sizes, but we could have brought our own candy or drinks for much cheaper.”
“Not allowed to do that,” Jack reminded him as he took out his billfold and counted out some dollar bills.
“I know,” Daniel said grimly. “I just wish it was an option.” He noticed Jack removing his money and his brow furrowed in confusion. “What are you doing?”
“Getting some snacks for us,” Jack responded as he looked pointedly at Daniel.
“Oh, y-you don’t have to do that,” the younger man said, embarrassed.
“Please, it’s no big deal. How often do we get a chance to go out to the movies, right, hon?” he addressed Sara as he turned to her and smiled.
Sara smiled back before planting a little kiss on his cheek. “Not as often as I’d like.”
Jack was about to make his way to the snack bar when he glanced down at the cell phone strapped to Sara’s belt. “You’re gonna put that thing on ‘mute,’ aren’t you?” he asked.
Sara rolled her eyes at Jack’s malapropism and grinned. “It’s ‘silent,’ not ‘mute,’ and yes.”
Jack held his hands up in defeat and headed over to the candy counter. Noticing Sam and Daniel’s confused looks, Sara explained, “My cell phone’s been ringing off the hook lately. We’re doing a couple of huge flower arrangements for a wedding and everything has to be just so. My employees have been bugging me for help on the consultation. I spelled everything out to them earlier this afternoon, but they’re still going crazy with it. The wedding is in two days so it’s crunch time.”
“Well, it was nice of them not to bug you during dinner,” Daniel offered.
“That’s because I didn’t have it turned on during dinner,” Sara smiled. “I wasn’t expecting them to call then, so I figured why bother.”
“Oh,” Daniel said quietly.
Sara turned her head and found that Jack was still on line at the snack bar. “Well, we only have a few minutes before the movie starts. Why don’t we start for the theater?”
Sam and Daniel nodded and the three of them traveled down the corridor to the theater in which “Starship Troopers” was playing. As they entered the theater, they were slightly surprised to discover that there weren’t many seats filled. Daniel surmised that it was because this was a weeknight and perhaps many people were away on vacation. They reached the middle row of seats and Daniel claimed the fourth one in the row, with Sam on his left and Sara next to her. The aisle seat was saved for Jack.
Once they were all settled in, Sara directed her attention to the screen which, natch, presented movie trivia.
“This well-known actor starred in a string of movies throughout the 1980s, but his most famous were ‘Mannequin,’ ‘Wall Street’ and ‘Sex, Lies and Videotape.’” Sara squinted as she tried to place the man’s face.
“James Spader,” Daniel blurted out.
He was met with curious expressions from both Sam and Sara. “What?” he asked.
“I didn’t know you knew about James Spader,” Sam said quietly.
Daniel shrugged. “Figured everyone knew about him,” he answered. Sara had an amused grin on her face as she wondered where Daniel would know him from, and whether he was a big fan of movies like “Mannequin.”
The coming attractions were beginning as Jack finally made his way up to them, his arms filled with a bounty of goodies.
“Wow, what have you got there?” Daniel asked curiously as he looked past Sam and Sara.
“A wide assortment of treats,” Jack grinned, his eyes twinkling like those of a happy little boy. “Two large buckets of popcorn – wasn’t sure if you liked butter or no butter,” he shrugged as he handed a bucket to Sara who in turn passed it to Sam.
“Oh, no, butter’s fine,” Daniel said as Sam placed the bucket in between them.
Jack reached into one of the large cardboard trays that held the treats and produced two large sodas. “Coke okay with you?” he asked as he handed them to Sam and Daniel.
Daniel shrugged. “Sure,” he said as Sam nodded.
Jack smiled as he handed another soda to Sara. “Now I have some Twizzlers, Junior Mints, Bon Bons, and Good n Plenty. What’ll it be?”
“I’ll take the Junior Mints,” Daniel said. Jack nodded and handed them to Sara who handed them to Sam and Daniel.
Sam noticed Jack looking expectantly at her and said, “Oh, uh, I’ll take the Twizzlers.”
Jack smiled and nodded before handing the candy to her. “Then I guess it’s Bon Bons for you, Good n Plenty for me,” he said to Sara. “Works out great.”
Sara smiled and nodded. They all settled in and watched the coming attractions. One of them was for a movie called “Boogie Nights,” which, it appeared, took place during the seventies and centered on a young man thirsting for a career as a porno star. Daniel rolled his eyes and snorted as he nudged Sam.
“There’s some good entertainment,” he said sardonically as he leaned into her. Sam snickered softly and nodded.
Neither of them was expecting Jack to hear. “Hey, that girl in the roller skates ain’t too bad-looking,” he observed. “Kind of reminds me of you, Sam.”
Daniel’s eyebrows shot up. “What?” he asked, wondering if he’d heard Jack correctly. Meanwhile, Sam felt her cheeks grow hot and she remained silent.
“I just meant in the face … and the hair … her hair is blonde, too,” Jack backpedaled awkwardly.
Sam took a deep breath and resolved to pay full attention to the movie screen. She sat and watched the rest of the coming attractions, waiting not so patiently for the movie to begin.
They were about a half hour into the movie when Sara suddenly straightened up in her seat.
“Oh, shoot, it’s my phone,” she muttered. “I better answer this one. I’ll be right back.”
Sam nodded as Sara got up and moved past Jack before exiting the theater. Sam didn’t notice Jack glancing over at her and Daniel curiously every now and then. She was quite engrossed in the movie, although there were times when her eyes would wander over to Sara’s vacant seat and she’d catch Jack looking at her. Refusing to let herself be paranoid, she quickly directed her attention back to the screen.
Five minutes later, Sara returned. “Sorry about that.”
Sam shrugged and smiled as she saw Sara slide back into her seat and rest her head against Jack’s shoulder. Sam turned to Daniel and did the same, causing him to reach up and put his arm around her.
Fifteen minutes later, Sara was scrambling out of Jack’s arms and hurriedly making her way out of the theater again to answer another phone call. This time she was gone longer. Jack glanced over at Sam in Daniel’s arms and the look in his eyes reflected that he had some serious gears turning in his head.
“Hey, Daniel,” he whispered sharply. “I dropped my Coke. Do you think you can get me a new one?”
Daniel turned and looked at Jack curiously. “What?” he whispered back.
“Can you get me a new Coke?” He then gestured to Sam. “And maybe you can get her another one, too?”
Sam’s expression matched Daniel’s. “I have one. I don’t need another,” she insisted quietly.
“There’s no harm in getting two, especially with that extra salty popcorn,” Jack said, unyieldingly.
Daniel sighed and slowly got up from his seat. “I’ll be right back,” he said to Sam. Sam nodded, still bewildered.
After he was gone, Jack turned to Sam and leaned toward her. “Good movie, huh?” he asked.
Sam nodded and turned back to the screen.
“I mean, the premise is very interesting … very original,” Jack continued, whispering to her.
I’m sure it would be if I could actually hear what they were saying, Sam thought to herself, starting to get irritated by Jack. She barely nodded while keeping her eyes on the screen.
Jack had moved to the edge of his seat and seemed intent on taking over Sara’s seat when the woman in question arrived back from her phone call.
“Sorry about that,” she said apologetically. “I’m hoping this will be the last time they need my help.”
Sam nodded and looked around for Daniel, wondering why he wasn’t back yet. She sighed in relief when she finally spotted him making his way down the aisle.
“Sorry it took so long. There was a line up at the snack bar,” Daniel said.
Sam smiled and squeezed his arm. He smiled back and gave her another soda, which she set down on the floor in front of her.
“Where’s mine?” Jack asked innocently.
Daniel rolled his eyes and practically thrust the soda at him. “Here,” he sighed.
Jack’s face lit up as he took the soda from Daniel, took two sips of it, and then set it down next to his other soda. Daniel shook his head.
“Now hopefully we can get back into the movie for once,” he remarked quietly to Sam. Sam nodded grimly, not caring that Jack might have heard. They all sat and watched the movie.
It was twenty minutes later when Sara’s phone vibrated, alerting her to yet another call.
“Oh my God,” she intoned, annoyed. “How I wish I could just shut this thing off. Sorry, I’d better take this,” she said regrettably before she made her way out of the theater again.
Sam sighed, the disruptions really getting on her nerves. She knew that one of two things would happen: either they wouldn’t get to watch this movie in totality, or they would see it in totality but walk away not knowing what it was about.
Jack glanced over to his right and found Daniel sitting with his arm around Sam. He then looked down at the empty seat immediately next to him, as if to confirm that Sara was indeed out of the theater.
He decided to use the opportunity to his advantage once again. “Oh, damn. Daniel, I dropped my Good n Plenty’s. Would you be a good man and get me another box?”
Daniel felt like Jack was getting on his last nerve. “Why don’t you get it yourself?” he asked, a touch surprised at the vehemence in his voice.
Jack’s eyes widened and he put on a hurt face. “Well, I … just figured that, since Sara’s gone, if I got up someone would steal our seats.”
Daniel’s face contorted in confusion. “And if I left it would be any different?” he questioned.
Jack shrugged lamely. “Well … yeah? With me here and Sam there, we’ll sort of be saving this group of seats, you know?” He waved his hand around the four seats.
Daniel was really trying keep from losing his patience. Why couldn’t Jack just get up and get another box of candy himself? “That’s a lame excuse if I ever heard one,” he mumbled.
“Besides, I don’t want to miss any of this. It’s great,” Jack said, referring to the movie.
“Yeah, like I’m sure you’re even watching it,” Daniel snorted. He didn’t want to stand there and get petty with Jack, so he decided he’d give in and get the candy for him. The older man sure seemed like a spoiled brat. Daniel wondered if Sara treated him like one.
“Okay, fine,” he nearly snapped. He edged up out of his seat and, as he approached Jack, held out his hand expectantly.
“Huh?” Jack uttered.
“It’s four dollars. If you want them so bad, cough it up. I already paid for the two drinks,” Daniel said adamantly.
Realization appeared in Jack’s face as he pulled out his billfold and counted out four dollars. He folded them up and handed them to Daniel.
“Thank you,” Daniel said coldly. He turned to Sam and looked at her wearily. “I’ll be back … hopefully for the last time.”
Sam gave him a sympathetic look and squeezed his arm before he made his way out of the theater. She let out a sharp sigh and tried to concentrate again on the movie. It was difficult, as all the interruptions had prevented her from following the story. She felt as if she wanted to throttle Jack for causing most of the interruptions and for insisting that Daniel do all his dirty work. In a lesser way, she felt like she wanted to throttle Sara for insisting on answering her phone calls.
She felt someone touch her shoulder and she nearly gasped when she turned around. Jack had moved over and was sitting in Sara’s seat.
“Oops, did I scare you there?” Jack asked, trying to sound apologetic. He sensed she was angry at him and he wanted to ease the tension.
“No,” she said as forcefully as possible while keeping her voice quiet. “But I’d like to ask you something: why are you acting like such a jerk?”
Jack appeared to be almost affronted. “What? Jerk? Me?”
Sam shook her head in disbelief. “You keep sending Daniel out on errands that you should be doing yourself. I mean, you’re acting like a spoiled brat!"
Jack’s chest heaved and he sighed as he looked at Sam. Frustration was etched all over her face and he could see how ticked off she was. He liked her and found her to be a very interesting woman. Making her angry would just alienate her from him, even if he only wanted to be her friend.
“I’m sorry, you’re right,” he answered.
Sam’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“I guess I was acting kind of stupid. I could have gotten the snacks myself instead. I owe Daniel an apology for that … and you, for interrupting the movie.”
Sam continued to look at him bewildered, a bit surprised by what he was saying. She still didn’t want to let him off the hook. “Well … um …”
“You’re a very sweet person and I’m sorry for all the grief I’ve caused,” he said, giving her a slight smile.
Sam coughed nervously. “Well, I …”
“I guess you weren’t expecting that, huh?” he said with a soft, affectionate chuckle.
Sam’s face flushed and she shook her head.
“I hope you don’t mind me saying this … you smell very nice,” he suddenly said.
Sam’s eyebrows shot up. “Um … how can you tell with all those movie theater smells?” she said awkwardly.
Jack grinned, amused at her comment, and shrugged. “I just have a very discriminating sense of smell,” he supplied weakly.
For a moment, Sam forgot how annoyed she was at him, or how awkward she felt and she shook her head, grinning.
Jack didn’t think she thought he was serious. “I mean it,” he insisted.
Sam smirked and nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“No, I do. You smell really nice. There’s just something about the way you move, too. You’re so graceful.”
Sam looked at him with wide eyes and felt her ears burning. Jack was paying so much attention to her that he didn’t notice they had company. Their observer made himself known by clearing his throat.
Sam and Jack looked up to see Daniel standing next to the aisle seat. He was giving them, or Jack at least, what passed as a glare. Sam’s face felt like it was engulfed in flames.
“What … what the hell is going on here?” Daniel finally said in an eerily quiet tone that was a mixture of anger and disbelief.
Sam stared at him like a deer in headlights – her mouth open but unable to utter a word. Her eyes quickly darted over to Jack and she found that he was speechless as well.
Daniel’s eyes bored into Jack’s and he looked like he was struggling to maintain his composure. He knew he had to maintain his dignity in a public place like this. He merely shoved the box of Good n Plenty at Jack. Then he looked over at Sam and his glare softened. She thought she saw hurt in his eyes and it crushed her. Daniel didn’t say a word before he turned on his heel and walked quickly out of the theater.
Sam looked at Jack and was confused as to what she should do: bawl him out, get up and go after Daniel, or just continue sitting there looking lost. The last option won out. Jack turned to face her, his eyes tinged slightly with regret. He also appeared to be quite embarrassed.
“I’m sorry; I have to get out of here. I need
some fresh air,” he said.
He quickly got up and made his way out of the
theater, leaving an emotionally overwhelmed Sam behind.