Chapter 6

Sam hummed to herself as she tidied up her living room. She wasn’t expecting company or anything, but she was still quite fastidious and was always intent on keeping her place spotless. After a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch, she washed the kitchen floor and then began vacuuming the living room rug.

She nearly missed the phone ringing.

Her eyes widened in realization and she abruptly shut the vacuum off. As she headed over to the phone, her brow creased as she wondered who would be calling her on a Saturday afternoon.

“Hello.”

“Hi, Sam, it’s Daniel.”

A smile grew on her face as she recognized his voice. She’d almost forgotten that he was going to call her.

“Hey, Daniel.”

“Hey. How is your weekend so far?”

“Eh … it’s a weekend,” she smirked.

Daniel laughed softly. Sam loved hearing his laugh.

“How’s your weekend?” she asked.

“Oh, it could be better,” he sighed.

Her silence prompted him to continue. “I’m doing some proposal work, with a deadline of May 14th.”

“May 14th?” she questioned. “That’s more than a month.”

“More than a month, yes, but three proposals, so …”

“Ouch,” Sam winced. “I’m sorry you had to bother calling me, then,” she said as a twinge of guilt suddenly hit her.

“Sam, please don’t be silly. It was my decision to call you. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think it was a good idea. Besides, this is my break.”

Sam smiled. “Okay, just as long as you are taking a break.”

“I am. So, talk to me … tell me anything,” he said cutely.

Sam grinned widely as she pictured Daniel, hunched over a desk with the phone in his hand, stubble on his face, and tousled hair.

“Uh … so, what are the proposals about?”

“W-well,” Daniel hesitated. “I’m not sure you’ll find this very interesting, but –“

“Don’t think that way,” she interrupted. “As long as it has nothing to do with astrophysics or geology for once, I’m sure I’ll find it very interesting,” she said ruefully.

“Is that a bet?” he asked her amusedly.

“You got it, mister,” she chuckled.

“Okay, well my first proposal is an analysis of religious, symbolic and socio-cultural significance of funeral rituals of Old Kingdom Egypt. It’s a bit of a step back for me, but one of my graduate students was dying to do something like this, and he came up with an interesting angle that, embarrassingly, I hadn’t thought of before,” Daniel finished with a nervous chuckle.

“Um … wow,” Sam replied. “That’s a bit of a step back for you??”

“Ah … yeah,” he said sheepishly. “Anyway, the second proposal deals with the Fortress of Mudaybi in present-day Jordan. A few graduate students and I spent some time there last summer. It’s basically a comparative typology of Iron Age fortresses.”

“That’s really interesting,” she mused.

“And the third proposal covers a small Mesolithic site at Fife Ness in Scotland,” Daniel finished.

“Wow, Egypt, Jordan and Scotland? You’re all over the place, Daniel!” she joked.

Daniel forced a chuckle.

“Man, what I do pales in comparison,” she exclaimed.

“Oh, come on,” Daniel scoffed. “We both have our own areas of expertise. Your work isn’t any less impressive than mine; I’m sure of it.”

“Nah … I haven’t written a proposal since I was at GWU. What I’m doing now isn’t anything special,” she insisted.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m advising a couple of students who just finished their masters theses and will be graduating next month. Brian studied the evolution of molecular abundance in protoplanetary disks. And the other, Kathy, was trying to directly characterize stellar populations via UV – ultraviolet – photometry of individual hot, evolved stars in three galaxies. We think her results can be compared to predictions of stellar evolutionary theory.”

“Wow, that’s pretty interesting,” he commented, seemingly impressed.

“You think so?”

“Sure, I mean, it’s great that you’re exploring what’s out there – in deep space … what’s capable of happening out there, and how it all fits together.”

Sam smiled. “You know what I was thinking the other day? God, I must have been so stressed out …”

“What?” he asked curiously.

“I was annoyed about the lackluster topics that people were presenting at the colloquia in our department. It’s always the same old geology or geochemistry stuff. I longed for the day when an actual astrophysicist would give a talk, even if it was something about intergalactic travel by means other than space ship across the galaxy.”

“Intergalactic travel??” Daniel questioned. “Sounds like something out of Star Trek, or Battlestar Galactica, or something.”

“Doesn’t it?” Sam laughed. “It’s amazing what you’ll come up with when you’re under stress.”

Daniel chuckled. “Well, actually I had a student a couple of years back who had a similarly preposterous theory, only he wasn’t under a lot of stress. He actually offered a theory that the pyramids in Egypt were millennia older than they actually were, and that they were … used as launching pads for some race of UFOs, or something to that effect. I said to him, ‘are you kidding me? That’s something for a science fiction novel, not something for which you can apply for funding from the Archaeological Institute of America. You’d be laughed right out of academia.’ I mean, think about it, launching pads for aliens??” he laughed.

Sam snickered. “So, what happened?”

“He got pissed off at me and transferred to Columbia U. I never heard from him, nor heard anything about him. If he got any papers published, I sure haven’t seen them.”

“Wow.”

“I wasn’t that hard on him, honest. He was just the type of person who is not only very passionate about his ideas and theories, but also very sensitive and can’t take any criticism at all. Unfortunately, in academia, it’s not exactly a winning combination.”

“I’ll say,” Sam remarked.

Daniel sighed. “Oh, wow, is that the time – ten to four?” he suddenly blurted out.

Sam quickly glanced at the clock on her living room wall and answered in the affirmative.

“I’d better get back to this stuff,” he said regrettably.

“Okay. Well, I have to say it was a real pleasure talking to you, Daniel,” Sam smiled faintly.

“Always a pleasure, Sam,” he returned. “I’ll be down at the Java House on Monday morning, same as usual. I don’t know if I’ll see you …” he trailed off carefully.

“I’ll see you there,” she replied. “I don’t know who’s been making the coffee in the faculty lounge lately, but it’s burnt to a crisp.”

“Ugh, that’s not good,” Daniel laughed.

“No,” she grinned. “I could use something that more closely resembles coffee. You’re usually there, what, around 9?”

“Ah … 8:30, 9-ish,” he confirmed.

“Okay. Unless anything changes, I’ll be there.”

“Great. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.”

“You too, and try not to get too bogged down in those proposals,” she said playfully.

“I will,” he chuckled in spite of himself. “Bye, Sam.”

“Bye, Daniel.”

The rest of the weekend passed much too quickly. Sam had gotten her housework done, caught up on some reading she’d been meaning to do for quite a while, talked to both her father and her brother on the phone, and got in a bit of exercise as well. A few blocks over, at the end of a dead end street, was a small pathway that led to a little creek. In the distance, past a group of foothills, were the almighty Colorado Rockies. The area afforded a beautiful view, especially when the sun was shining, and was one of the rewards she received for moving out here. She liked to go there when she wanted time alone to herself to reflect. It was often very secluded, with a small bench or two. Sam hoped that one day she’d be able to share it with someone special.

After she returned from the walk that Sunday afternoon, she noticed she had received a message on her answering machine from Daniel. He had called to confirm that he would be at the coffee shop on Monday morning, and that he’d be there closer to 8:30 than 9. Sam smiled as she heard his voice on the machine, and thought about what a sweet man he was. He seemed very reliable, polite and interesting. Although she wasn’t quite used to having someone call her every day, she was a bit flattered.

It had gotten chilly on Sunday evening, so after an early dinner, Sam had a warm bath and settled into bed, watching an astronomy documentary on the Discovery channel. It was one of those “chicken-little” documentaries, in which the possibility of an asteroid impact producing a cataclysmic effect that might bring about the end of the world was discussed. Sam snorted and snickered as she listened to the scientists’ seemingly preposterous theories, and thought they could be dismissed in about five seconds.

After a good chuckle, she switched the TV off and curled up with a Stephen Hawking tome. At close to 11 PM, her eyelids started to give way. She held her place with a bookmark and replaced the book on the edge of her night table, before she was mired in sound sleep.

Sam woke up with a start upon hearing the phone jangle on the wall next to her bed. She turned and squinted at the clock radio, which informed her that it was after 1 AM.

“What the hell …?” she muttered sleepily. As she picked up the phone, her mind, groggy from sleep, wondered why Daniel would dare call her after midnight.

“Hello?” she nearly whispered.

“Hi, is this Sam?” an unfamiliar male voice inquired.

“Uh … y-yeah,” Sam immediately sobered up. “Wh-who is this?”

“This is Joe, you know, from ProfessionalMatch?”

Sam’s eyes widened and she felt as if she’d taken a blow to the chest.

“Oh … right. Um … hi,” she said awkwardly.

“Hi!” he said genially.

Sam turned her head from the receiver momentarily to yawn.

“Sorry I’m only calling you now, but I had a lot of things to do. My job has me working extra hours now, plus I was at a friend’s house for a party on Friday night, and then another party last night. I would have called sooner, but …”

“I-it’s okay,” she interrupted impatiently. “It’s just that it’s 1 AM, and –“

“Oh, well you didn’t tell me when the best time was to call you!” he exclaimed.

Sam sighed. Sometimes she could be really stupid.

“Well, in my profile, I said that I was a professor at UCCS, and my schedule doesn’t usually allow me to be up late nights,” she answered.

“Oh, that’s right, I think you had mentioned that,” he said, his tone unapologetic.

“Yes. And, speaking of that, how did you know to contact me? I un-subscribed to ProfessionalMatch almost a month ago, so my profile shouldn’t be up there anymore,” she said suspiciously.

“Oh. Well … I hope you don’t think there’s something wrong with me, but … to tell you the truth, I came upon your profile back in the middle of February. I just saved it to my computer and was meaning to get in contact with you then, but so many things came up and I didn’t get a chance!” he chuckled nervously.

Sam smirked. “Uh-huh,” she answered, not sounding as if she was buying it.

“No, I’m serious!” he insisted, still chuckling.

“Fine.”

“So, um … can you tell me a little more about yourself? What do you teach?” he prodded.

“Astrophysics – listen, it’s kind of late for this and I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow. Can we talk another time?” she nearly begged.

“Oh, sure. What time would be better for you?”

“Try me around 8 PM,” Sam replied after thinking for a moment.

“Okay, I’ll do that. Sweet dreams, Professor Sam!” he said jokingly.

“Ha ha, yeah, take care,” she said just before hanging up.

She shook her head and laughed incredulously. “Professor Sam?” she repeated in disbelief. Once her laughter ceased, she frowned and eased back down on her pillow. She turned and looked at the clock, realizing that it was nearly 1:30 AM.

“What have I gotten myself into?” she said quietly. The guy sounded nice, but the fact that he called late at night was a bit unnerving. Granted, she had forgotten to tell him in the email when it was best to call her, but what kind of person is still up past midnight, talking on the phone?

A professor like me, she thought to herself. There were many times that she’d pulled all-nighters – not just as a student, but also as a professor, when proposal deadlines loomed. Still, she didn’t need to worry about those for quite some time, and her schedule was pretty regular, especially during this semester.

A professor like Daniel, she then thought. From the sound of Daniel’s voice when she talked to him on Saturday, it sounded like he was going crazy with his proposals, and might be looking at a few more late nights. Daniel wouldn’t try to call her this late, though. He knew that evenings and weekends were best for her, and he stuck to that schedule.

Sam sighed and shut her eyes, hoping that she could let go of these thoughts and finally drift off to sleep.

“Geez, what’s with this guy?? I mean, he called me at 1 AM when I was half asleep! At least Daniel is polite and calls when he knows I’m going to be awake!”

“Whoa, calm down, girl,” Sara admonished her.

“Sorry,” Sam sighed. “It’s just that, I hate it when people are rude like that. I was sleeping soundly when that stupid phone rang. I’m just so exhausted, Sara.”

“Well, it is only 7 AM, Sam. Do you have to leave so early?”

“No, not really … but I’d like to get down to the Java House by 8:30. I told Daniel I’d be there.”

“Daniel, hmm?”

“Yeah, is that such a big deal?”

“No … you like Daniel, don’t you?”

“Yeah, he’s a nice guy … but he’s just a friend,” she added quickly.

“So, what are you going to do about this Joe, then?”

“He’s supposed to call me tonight at 8. He didn’t make such a great first impression, but I’m willing to give him another chance,” she replied.

“Sounds like a good idea to me. And, be honest, Sam – you didn’t tell him when the best time was to call you. You’re just as much at fault as he is.”

“Yeah, I know. I better run, I have to have breakfast and get dressed so I won’t be late,” Sam said briskly.

“Can’t you get a bite to eat over there?” Sara asked curiously.

“Can’t drive on an empty stomach,” Sam answered quickly.

“Whatever. I’m going back to bed. Have a good day,” Sara said, stifling a yawn.

“Yeah, thanks,” Sam said curtly before hanging up.

As Sam collected her extra large Macchiato, she noticed a familiar face sitting at a small table for two near the back of the coffee shop. In a slight attempt to make herself presentable, she brushed a strand of damp hair over to the side of her face. As she neared the table, she noticed Daniel looking at her curiously.

She sat down across from him and he looked at her, wide-eyed, as she plunked her purse down next to the window and threw her umbrella next to it. There was a heavy downpour outside, and it was so windy that it blew her umbrella inside out and rendered it useless. She’d pulled the collar of her long raincoat up around her ears, to no avail. Even though she’d gotten a parking space right out front, she still managed to get quite wet. She looked at him, dry and immaculate, and wondered how he was able to escape the same fate. Her question was answered as she noticed the hooded, blue jacket he wore over his brown and white plaid shirt.

“Rough night?” he asked.

“Hmm? What makes you say that?” she muttered, looking up from her coffee.

“You just don’t look so good, that’s all,” he replied, a tinge of blush in his cheeks.

“Thanks,” she said sarcastically, earning a forced smile from him.

“That’ll burn a hole in your stomach,” he said amusedly as he noticed her gargantuan cup of java.

“Oh, like yours won’t?” she challenged with a smirk.

“Hey, you’ve got a Macchiato. This is just a Single Latte,” he said innocently, gesturing to his large (though smaller than hers) cup before taking a sip.

“That’s a milkshake,” she teased. “Look at all that foam. Is there any actual coffee in there?”

“I think so …” Daniel said as he peered into the coffee cup before lifting it to his lips and taking another sip. “…Tastes like there is.”

Sam shook her head and smirked at him.

“I’ve had it black for two days straight, working on those proposals. This morning I wanted something that’s a little milder, but still substitutes well for sleep,” he chuckled weakly.

Sam’s smirk faded and she studied his face. “How did that go?”

Daniel raised his eyebrows, not expecting the question right now. “Oh, ah … I made some progress,” he said shyly. “I still have a ways to go on them, but I’m pretty much on schedule.”

Sam smiled at him and nodded, earning a faint smile back from him. The smile faded when he took in her appearance again: the somewhat paler than usual complexion, the heavy eyelids, and the dark circles under her eyes.

“I mean it, Sam, you don’t look too good. Do you feel okay?” he asked, his brow creased as he looked at her intently.

Sam sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied. In truth, she was exhausted. “I just got a phone call late last night.”

“From Sara?” Daniel asked.

“No … from that guy from the dating service … Joe,” she blurted out uneasily.

Daniel looked at her seriously. “Oh,” he finally answered in a small voice.

Sam nodded and averted her eyes. “He called at 1 AM.”

“1 AM???” Daniel exclaimed incredulously, his mouth dropping open.

Sam nodded grimly. “It was partly my fault, actually.”

“Why?” he asked quietly.

“I never told him when the best time for him to call was. I guess I just assumed he’d read my profile, noticed I was a professor, and had a set schedule …”

“But even so, it’s just common courtesy to call during the day or evening, when you’re certain that the person you’re trying to reach is actually awake,” he insisted.

A slight grin danced briefly upon Sam’s lips before she became stone-faced again. “I guess you’re right,” she sighed.

Daniel looked at her closely and as she lifted her gaze, her eyes met his. For a moment, she felt as though she was lost in his deep, blue orbs.

“I … uh…” she stammered as she shrugged herself out of it. “It wasn’t a very long conversation. He started asking me questions about what I do and I just cut him off and asked if we could talk another time.”

Daniel nodded. “Smart move.”

“He’s supposed to call me again tonight …”

Daniel raised his eyebrows, and Sam interrupted him before he could say anything.

“… Around 8.”

“Oh, well that’s better,” he said sheepishly.

Sam nodded. “I just hope I’m not making a mistake,” she suddenly blurted out.

“What makes you think you’re making a mistake?” Daniel asked slowly, furrowing his brow in confusion.

Sam shrugged. “I don’t know. He didn’t really make such a good first impression, calling me so late like that …” she trailed off.

“Hey, I didn’t make such a good first impression either,” Daniel chuckled nervously, pointing to his coffee cup.

Sam forced a chuckle. “Yeah, but you wouldn’t call me at 1 AM,” she offered.

Daniel shrugged. “It’s just one incident, Sam. Don’t write him off completely. You’ll have a better idea of him when he calls you again. Your opinion may change, or it might not. There’s really no telling what you can expect. But, I wouldn’t worry. You seem to have good judgment.” He finished his statement with a little smile.

Sam blushed and immediately averted her eyes. She was quite embarrassed by what Daniel had said, mostly because she was beginning to have doubts about her judgment. After a moment, she looked back up at him.

“Thanks, that’s really sweet of you to say,” she said softly.

He replied with a kind smile – one that made her feel safe and warm inside. He suddenly broke his stare and looked down at his watch.

“I wish I didn’t have to leave just yet, but I have to attend a seminar at 10,” he said regrettably.

“Oh, uh … that’s okay,” she said, flustered as she snapped back to reality. “I have to prepare for that lecture anyway.”

Daniel nodded as he got to his feet, pushed his chair in and picked up his umbrella and briefcase.

“I’ll walk you to your car,” he told her as he let her go ahead of him on their way to the front doors.

“Oh, thanks, actually I’m parked right out there,” she said, gesturing to a teal green Ford Taurus parked several spaces away from the entrance.

“Oh,” Daniel nodded. As they exited, he held the door open for her. They stood under the small overhang above the doors, and watched in futility as the rain came down rapidly in sheets.

“I better make a run for it,” she said grimly. “This thing is totally useless.” She held up her umbrella, or rather, the remains of her umbrella.

Daniel frowned and then looked down at the black umbrella he was holding.

“Here, take mine,” he said, holding it out for her.

She looked at the umbrella, and then back up at him, her face serious. “Thanks, but I can’t.”

“No, it’s okay,” he insisted.

“Are you sure?” she said uneasily. “I mean, I wouldn’t want you to get drenched either.”

Daniel shook his head. “I have this, remember?” he replied as he pulled the hood of his jacket up over his head.

Sam averted her eyes and nodded. Daniel was about to place the umbrella in her hands when she took if from him.

“Thanks,” she said, her lips twitching upward into a faint smile. “I’ll give it back to you tomorrow, or Wednesday the latest.”

“No, you can keep it,” Daniel interrupted. “I have a lot of them at home, so no worries.”

She looked back up at him and smiled.

“Well, thanks for the good company,” she said forthrightly.

“Anytime,” he smiled. “Will you be here tomorrow morning?” he suddenly asked.

Sam’s brow knitted in confusion as she tried to remember what she had planned for the next day.

“Um … I don’t think I have anything going on … can I call you later tonight?” she said tentatively.

“Oh, okay,” he said, slightly surprised. “Or why don’t I call you? Would 8:30 be okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” she replied.

“Okay, I’ll talk to you then,” he smiled. “Have a good day, and be careful in this rain.”

“I will,” she nodded. “Same to you, Daniel. I’ll talk to you later.”

He smiled and nodded. She quickly opened up Daniel’s umbrella, stepped out from underneath the overhang and was almost overwhelmed by the fierce, driving rain that she suddenly found herself in. On her way back to the car, she looked back once at Daniel and started chuckling to herself, seeing him wearing a hood that almost covered his eyes and most of his face. It looked like it was about to swallow him whole.

As she drove slowly down the street, she witnessed Daniel running towards the corner, about to turn right and head for the parking lot in back of the chain of stores. She honked at him and he stopped briefly to give her a wave. Sam shook her head and chuckled softly as she continued toward the university.

Suddenly, her eyes widened as she realized that Joe was supposed to call at 8. Oh no, she thought. If Daniel was planning to call at 8:30, she hoped that her conversation with Joe wouldn’t be long.

Sam had just finished eating dinner when the phone rang. She was running much later than usual, due to an impromptu party held for a student who had successfully defended her PhD dissertation more than a month ago. At the time, there had been many conflicts, which resulted in the party being pushed back almost indefinitely. Sam had only been notified of the party, which was held at 5 PM, after her astrophysics group’s informal seminar at 2. She had been on the student’s defense committee, so it was important that she be there. One problem with people in this department was that they tended to be fashionably late. The party didn’t really get started until 5:30, and when Sam left at 7, most attending were still there. She quickly ran home, changed, and made dinner for herself.

She quickly glanced at the caller ID, and saw the name “Ryan, J.”, along with a familiar looking number. After the third ring, she picked up the receiver.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is Sam there?”

Sam glanced at the phone oddly, wondering why he’d think that anyone else would have picked up the phone when she lived alone.

“Speaking,” she replied, clearing her throat.

“It’s Joe.”

“Oh,” she replied, nervously scratching the back of her neck. “Hi.”

“Hi! What were you doing, waiting for the answering machine to pick up?” he asked in a half-jokingly manner.

“What?” she asked curiously.

“You picked up on the third ring,” he said with just a hint of suspicion in his voice.

“And…? I was eating, I had to actually get up from the table to answer the phone –“

“Why don’t you just stick the phone on the table, then? You have one of those cordless, portable phones?”

Sam made a face. “I … uh …” she sputtered incredulously.

“I’m just kiddin’,” Joe broke in, chuckling. “Just messin’ with ya!”

“Oh,” Sam replied, forcing a laugh. She briefly rolled her eyes.

“Listen, I’m sorry I interrupted your dinner like that,” he said once he’d calmed down.

“Oh, no, I just finished,” she insisted.

“Oh, okay,” he said in a patronizing tone. “So, uh … last night you said you were an astrophysics professor?”

“Yeah, that’s right, at UCCS,” she said tersely.

“Huh. Interesting,” he mused. “I got my bachelors degree in project management from CTU.”

“Oh … right, you said you’re a manager for that software company…”

“Yeah, I’m a regional manager,” he confirmed. “It’s not a bad job, but I’m all over the place. I’m manager of the area encompassing both Colorado Springs and Pueblo, so it’s not bad. I’m on call a lot, though … do quite a lot of traveling around and my boss and fellow employees are always bugging me on the phone,” he chuckled ruefully.

“Well, sounds like you’re keeping busy. That’s good,” Sam offered.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “But I really want to be a firefighter. I guess it seems like I’m throwing my career away, after my degree and all, but I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to be taking some tests … civil service test, physical fitness test … and hopefully I’ll be selected as a probationary firefighter in Denver this summer, and, if I get in, I should start training not long after.”

“Uh … well … good luck with that,” she said awkwardly. “It’s good that you know what you want to do.”

“Yeah! So, what made you decide to go into astrophysics?”

“Um … w-well, I’ve always been into astronomy as a little girl. There was a point where I actually wanted to become an astronaut. I decided it was a bit too high-risk for me, though, so I went the strict scientist route. It’s kind of hard to explain, so I won’t bore you with the details,” she laughed nervously.

“You wouldn’t bore me!” he answered, almost taken aback. “No, not at all! Um … shifting gears here, I hope you won’t mind if I ask you this,” he said hesitantly.

“Ask me what?”

“This is gonna get a little personal, but … how many relationships have you been involved in?”

Sam’s face was on fire. “Uh …” she stammered, “… To be quite frank, not many; I was too involved with schoolwork to really have time for many relationships.”

“A pretty woman like you?! You’re kidding!” Joe exclaimed.

“No … well, I did date a guy after I graduated high school. We went out the whole summer, but we lost touch when the school year began again. We were going to different universities, thousands of miles apart.”

“Okay,” he said. “Have you had any luck with ProfessionalMatch? I guess not, since you un-subscribed, right?”

“No. I did meet a few guys, but I knew they weren’t for me.”

“Yeah, same here. I’ve been on it for almost a year, now, but most of the girls I’ve met were game players. They were mostly from their late teens to mid twenties, and didn’t have their priorities straight. You could tell they didn’t want a serious relationship.”

Sam furrowed her brow. He was 37, and he dated girls in their late teens? It certainly wasn’t unheard of, but she still found it a little odd.

“Uh-huh,” she finally said.

“So, it looks like we’re both looking for the same thing,” he exclaimed.

“Uh … yeah,” she replied.

“Hmm, are you watching anything on TV now?” he suddenly blurted out.

“Uh, no. I just finished eating and I have to do the dishes,” she said curiously. Why am I even telling him?

“Yeah, I don’t think there’s anything good on Monday nights … right? Hmm … let’s see what’s on TV…” he said, more to himself.

Sam looked at the phone incredulously as she heard him flipping channels on the other end.

“Hmm … nah, it looks like screwball sitcoms,” he finally said. “So, we’ve talked on the phone already, and you seem like a nice woman. I think I’d like to go out with you one night. Let’s see … are you free on Wednesday night?”

Sam’s eyebrows shot up. They’d only exchanged a few emails and one phone call, and already he wanted to go out? Sam began to feel a bit uncomfortable, as if she was suddenly backed up against a wall.

She was saved as the call-waiting tone suddenly broke in.

“Oh, geez, I have another call. Can you hold on a minute?” she asked.

“Sure.”

Sam pushed the “flash” button. “Hello?”

“Hi, Sam?” a familiar voice asked hesitantly. She glanced at her watch quickly and realized it was just after 8:30.

“Daniel? Oh, thank God,” she sighed.

“What’s wrong?” he asked curiously. “Did you talk to Joe yet?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Actually, I’m talking to him right now.”

“Oh.” Daniel sounded surprised. “Well, I won’t keep you, then –“

“No, no, it’s okay. You were checking to see if I could meet you for coffee tomorrow morning, right?”

“Ah … yeah. Are you okay, though? The way you said ‘thank God’ made me think that you couldn’t wait to get off the phone with him. Did it turn into an interrogation or something?”

Sam laughed softly. “No, not really … he surprised me a bit, some of the things he said. He just asked me an awkward question – putting me on the spot. Before I could answer, I got your call. That was impeccable timing, Daniel.”

Daniel chuckled. “What question did he ask you?”

“I really shouldn’t talk about it now,” she said uneasily as her laughter faded. “The longer I have him on hold, the more suspicious he’ll get.”

“He has no reason to be suspicious,” Daniel said. “Does he?”

“I’ll … I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow morning. I really should get back to him.”

“Okay,” Daniel conceded. “See you at nine o’clock again?”

“Sounds good,” she said brightly. “Have a good night.”

“Good night, Sam,” Daniel returned.

Sam pushed the “flash” button again to get back to Joe’s call.

“Hi, sorry about that,” she said.

“Who was that, one of your old boyfriends, begging you to take him back?” Joe asked. She was pretty sure that he was kidding, but from his tone it wasn’t very easy to tell.

“No, it was my dad,” she lied.

“Your dad? At this hour?” he returned.

“He was calling long distance, from Washington, D.C. I couldn’t hang up on him,” she said sheepishly.

“Washington, D.C., eh? Don’t tell me he’s one of those useless congressmen that we seem to have so much of,” he joked.

“No, he’s a general in the Air Force. He’s at the Pentagon,” she replied tersely.

“Oh. Does he call you often?”

“Uh … yeah … usually once a week. We’ve been close for a very long time. It was hard for me to leave him and move out here.”

“I’ll bet, if you have such a good relationship with him. I have a pretty good relationship with my parents. Actually they live fairly local, so I’m always over their house tormenting them. They can’t wait for me to go home!” he laughed.

Sam forced a chuckle.

“Anyway, are you free on Wednesday night? I’d really like to take you out.”

“Uh …” she stammered. “Would it be okay for us to wait a while longer on that, until after we’ve talked a little more and gotten to know each other better? I just think it’s a little too sudden,” she said tentatively, afraid of what the answer was going to be.

“Oh, no, I understand,” he said after a beat. “Why don’t I give you a call tomorrow and we can talk some more? Is this time okay for you?”

“Uh, yeah … usually.”

“Great. Maybe we could go out on the weekend, then. It doesn’t have to be anything outrageous, maybe just dinner at a casual place or something. We’ll talk about it tomorrow night, okay?”

“Sure, that sounds good,” she replied.

“Okay, have a good one and I’ll talk to you tomorrow!” Joe said jovially.

“Thanks, you too. Bye,” Sam said briskly before she hung up.

As she replaced the receiver, she sighed deeply and leaned on the kitchen counter with her head in her hands.

I hope I’m doing the right thing, she said to herself.