Chapter 7

Daniel quickly looked up from his cup of coffee as he heard the front door of the coffee house slam. His eyes focused on the woman who’d just come through the door. The small spark of hope that made them twinkle was quickly extinguished when he noticed the woman had straight, blonde hair past her shoulders, and looked nearly ten years younger than Sam.

He looked down at his watch for what seemed to be the tenth time in ten minutes. It was only 8:55 AM. What on Earth was keeping her?

No, why am I thinking this way? He silently berated himself. She told him she’d meet him at 9, not 8:30 or even 8:45. She still had more than five minutes before she’d be considered late. Why was he being so anxious? Could it have something to do with the way she sounded on the phone the night before?

Daniel replayed the conversation in his head. He managed to get her on the phone in the middle of her conversation with Joe. She couldn’t say much to him, as she still had the other man on hold and it might seem rude to keep him waiting for so long. She’d told him that Joe had made a few strange remarks, and had asked her a very awkward question just before Daniel’s call came in. The slight uneasy tone in her voice – not to mention the way she addressed him with “oh, thank God” – made it sound like she wasn’t exactly enjoying her conversation with Joe.

After Daniel hung up the phone, he realized that he was starting to feel quite concerned about Sam. She had expressed a few doubts about this man in the beginning, starting with the suspicion over his emailing her even after it’d been a while since she’d cancelled her subscription with the online dating service. Somehow, she found it in her to give him a chance. Daniel shut his eyes as he realized that he himself might have helped her decide that. When she told him how annoyed she was over receiving a phone call from Joe well after midnight, Daniel had told her not to write him off completely.

He briefly removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn’t so sure that Sam was making the right decision, and he’d only helped it along. Why would he do such a thing? At the moment, he could only come up with two reasons: either he really did believe that she should give him a chance, that perhaps calling her so late at night, or having a bit of quirkiness to him wouldn’t necessarily mean he was a bad person; or he really did care for Sam so greatly that he didn’t want it to seem too evident to her.

Daniel snorted as he considered the first possibility. He conceded that, even into his early thirties, he wasn’t nearly as cynical as he probably should be, and that he tended to see the good in all people. For a moment, he couldn’t believe that he was this naïve. It was almost an embarrassment, but, unfortunately, something that was a part of who he was, and something that would be somewhat hard for him to shed.

He blushed faintly as he considered the second possibility. Would it be possible, after not knowing Sam very long at all, to care so much about her? After his short time on the phone with her last night, he’d nearly gotten the urge to blurt out, “He’s not right for you, Sam. Don’t take the chance.” It might have been his imagination, but he thought that doing so would make her think that he wanted her all to himself, and dating anyone else would be out of the question. He didn’t want Sam to think that he wanted to own her. If she wanted to go out with someone with whom she felt she could have something special, he shouldn’t try to steal that chance from her.

Daniel sighed as he realized these two possibilities were at odds with one another, and that he was at a total impasse as far as his feelings about this whole “Joe thing” were. On one hand, he felt that he shouldn’t try to hold her back at a chance of love and happiness, but on the other hand, he realized how much he cared for her and wanted to protect her from any bad experiences that might occur. Was there a happy medium in there?

He glanced quickly down at the Mochaccino that he’d procured for Sam just minutes ago, which sat next to his own billowing-with-whipped-cream concoction, and suddenly wondered if getting it was a mistake. Would she think he was too buddy-buddy with her and be turned off?

Daniel suddenly chuckled to himself for thinking in such a ridiculous way. He was her friend, and there certainly wasn’t anything wrong with treating her to a cup of coffee. She’d probably do the same for him. They were friends, the type of friends who share things with each other, who give and look to each other for advice without hesitation … and who express concern for one another when appropriate.

Daniel realized he’d discovered the happy medium and smiled faintly. He reached for his own cup of coffee, brought it up to his lips, and sipped thoughtfully.

He jumped slightly as he heard a woman clearing her throat in front of him. In the process, he managed to get a small dollop of whipped cream on the end of his nose. He abruptly placed his cup down on the table and felt warmth in his cheeks as he witnessed Sam sitting across from him and snickering softly.

His blush grew deeper as he reached for a napkin. He gave her a mock pout, which only made her snicker more.

“Sorry,” she got out before clearing her throat again. “I just … you look so cute when you do that.”

Now it was her turn to blush as his eyebrows shot up. Did I just say he looks cute??

“Uh … I mean …”

Daniel shook his head dismissively. “It’s okay,” he smiled amusedly.

A short, nervous laugh made its way out of her throat. “I didn’t mean to laugh, it’s just that … I really needed to laugh,” she said.

Daniel’s smile faded and his eyebrows drew together as his forehead knitted in confusion. “Why?” he asked curiously.

Her eyes met his for a split second, and he thought she looked a little bit lost. After a moment, she shrugged herself out of it and shook her head.

“It’s nothing,” she said softly.

Daniel shrugged slightly. He reached for the second, untouched cup of coffee and handed it to her. “For you,” he said quietly.

Sam appeared somewhat surprised when he handed the coffee to her. “That’s really nice of you,” she finally said, smiling as she accepted it. “Thanks.”

“It’s okay,” Daniel smiled back.

She took a sip, and Daniel looked at her thoughtfully. He wondered if she was ever going to tell him about her conversation with Joe last night, or perhaps he should get the conversation going and ask about it. He thought it might make him sound as if he was prying, so he decided he would wait until she brought it up herself.

For the next five minutes or so, they sipped their coffee in silence. Daniel began to think that Sam didn’t want to discuss it at all. He wondered if the man had made her so uncomfortable, that she just didn’t want to mention it to Daniel, let alone to anyone.

“Don’t you want to know what Joe said last night?” she suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

Daniel’s eyes widened slightly.

“Oh … ah … yeah. I forgot you had talked to him last night,” he said sheepishly. Yeah, right. That’s a lame excuse if I ever heard one.

Sam grinned and nodded. “Remember when I said I didn’t want to make him suspicious?”

Daniel nodded.

“He called just as I was finishing dinner. By the time I made my way over to the phone and checked out the caller ID, it was on the third ring. He greeted me with ‘were you waiting for the answering machine to pick up?’”

Daniel’s brow knitted in confusion. “Huh?”

Sam smirked and nearly bit her lip to avoid laughing just yet. “That’s what he said. He sounded suspicious and told me that I picked up on the third ring.”

“So? Is that such a big deal?” Daniel asked.

Sam shrugged. “I didn’t know what to think. I insisted I’d just finished eating, and had to actually get up from the table to answer the phone. He said something like, ‘oh, can’t you just have the portable phone on the table?’ I thought, ‘what difference does it make?’ until he told me he was just joking around.”

“Oh,” Daniel nodded.

“You wouldn’t believe what he said next, Daniel,” she continued, grinning widely. “He asked if I was watching TV.”

Daniel made a bewildered face. “Well, obviously not, if you just finished eating …”

Sam smirked and nodded. “He said something about there not being anything good on TV on Monday nights, and then he said, ‘let’s see what’s on now … hmm …’” She could no longer keep a straight face and broke out into laughter.

“What?” Daniel sputtered incredulously as he began laughing as well.

“I’m serious!” she laughed. “I could even hear him flipping channels on the other end!”

The two friends shared a brief laugh. “Oh, God, Sam, I hope you know what you’re getting into,” Daniel blurted out, shaking his head as his laughter faded. Sam grinned as she realized he’d only meant it facetiously. Her eyes sought out her coffee cup, and she averted them as she took another sip.

“So, anything else?” he asked once he’d calmed down completely.

“Um, well,” she began hesitantly. “He told me a little about his job. He’s a regional manager for that software company, I think for both Colorado Springs and Pueblo.”

“Wow,” Daniel said thoughtfully.

“He kept insisting that he wants to be a firefighter, though. When you called, I told him that I was talking to my dad.”

Daniel looked at her curiously.

“I had to come up with something believable,” she elaborated. “As soon as I got back to him, he asked me if that was one of my old boyfriends, begging for me to take him back. He sounded like he was joking, but I wasn’t entirely sure.”

“Gee …” Daniel trailed off.

“When I told him it was my dad, he even asked why he’d be calling so late at night.”

“Are you kidding?” Daniel asked.

Sam shook her head. “I told him it was a long distance call from D.C. He assumed my dad was a congressman, as if that’s all D.C. is made up of. I told him he was a General in the Air Force.”

“It’s odd that he’s so suspicious,” Daniel mused. Sam looked at him curiously and he realized he might have spoken too much. He blushed faintly.

“Ah … sorry, I didn’t mean –“

“No, it’s okay,” she assured him. “I thought it was a little odd at first, too. He did tell me quite a few times that he wasn’t into playing games. I’m wondering if he had a previous relationship with a girl, and it may have gotten serious before she left him, or cheated on him, or something.”

Daniel shrugged. “I guess that would be grounds for making someone a bit suspicious, but not to that extent.”

She stared at him again, almost as if she was taken aback, and he realized he’d said too much again.

“I’m sorry, it’s really none of my business,” he said quickly.

She shook her head once again. “Daniel, please. We’re friends and I’m volunteering this information to you. Of course it’s your business.”

“But, it’s your relationship,” he said softly.

Sam looked at him and thought she would cry. She realized that he seemed to really care for her. For a split second, she wondered if she was going about this all wrong. Sure, this Joe seemed like a nice guy, but something about him just wasn’t exactly right. Daniel had a few little quirks, but he was a sweet, thoughtful man who really seemed to care about her. He was right under her nose and she was overlooking him. Out of all the men she’d known, her father notwithstanding, he seemed to treat her best.

One thing was stopping her from proceeding, though. She wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about her. Even though he seemed to care quite a lot for her, she wondered if he had a special someone that he wasn’t telling her about. She admonished herself for thinking this way. Daniel didn’t seem to be the type to withhold anything from her, even though they’d only known each other a short while.

There was something underlying all of this; it was a feeling that she wasn’t still 100% sure about, but one that was pretty strong. She saw him as a friend – potentially a best friend – and the thought of dating your best friend was something she wasn’t quite comfortable with. Furthermore, she wasn’t even sure if he’d want to pursue a relationship with her. In a way, it was almost like she was playing hard to get with him, if indeed he was interested in her. The thought hadn’t crossed Sam’s mind, and it was quite possible that she didn’t want to think about it.

“Are you okay?”

Daniel’s voice brought her back to the present.

“Hmm?” she said, startled.

“You looked a little lost there,” he said, sounding concerned.

“Oh, uh … sorry,” she said, clearing her throat. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to remember what they were talking about.

“Oh … as I was saying, we’re friends and you don’t have to give it a second thought. If I didn’t think it was any of your business, I wouldn’t be telling you any of this.”

Daniel smiled faintly and nodded. “Okay.”

Sam grew a little smile of her own. It faded quickly as she remembered what else Joe had talked about.

“He wants to take me out,” she suddenly blurted out.

Daniel raised his eyebrows quickly. It nearly embarrassed him to admit it, but at that moment, he felt an unwelcome feeling of disappointment rise up from inside him. His throat suddenly felt parched, and he reflexively reached for his cup of coffee and took a sip. His eyes begged Sam to continue.

“He said I sound like a nice person and that he’d be happy to take me out,” she explained, a touch of uncertainty in her voice. “He asked if I was free tomorrow night.”

“Already? Isn’t that a little too … soon?” Daniel asked curiously. He blushed again, thinking that he’d overstepped his bounds.

He realized he had nothing to worry about as Sam looked him in the eyes and nodded.

“It’s too soon,” she concurred. “Plus, it’s a weeknight, and I’m going to have a busy day on Thursday. Not only do I have to prepare my lecture, but I’ll have office hours a good chunk of the day, plus colloquium in the late afternoon.”

Daniel nodded.

“He understood, thankfully, and said he’d call me tonight to talk about going out on the weekend.” She finished her sentence with a heavy sigh.

“You don’t sound too enthusiastic,” Daniel said carefully as he studied her face.

“It’s not that,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s just … I don’t know, this whole thing just seems so complicated.”

“What whole thing?”

Sam shrugged slightly. “Dating … trying to figure people out … trying to decide if they’re right for you, or if you’re doing the right thing.”

At that moment, Daniel wanted to hold Sam’s hands tightly, look into her eyes, and tell her that she was making a mistake. If she was this unsure of Joe, she shouldn’t take a chance with him. The possibility that he could risk losing her friendship prevented him from doing so. He didn’t want to sound as if he was jealous, as if he was the one she should have a relationship with. He was in a tough situation, wanting to help her, but not to the extent that would push her away from him.

“Sam, as your friend – a friend you haven’t known very long at all – I hope you won’t be put off by what I’m about to say,” he said, choosing his words carefully.

She looked at him expectantly.

“I’ve been thinking about this a bit. I care about you, and want to offer you as much advice as I possibly can without imposing too much.”

He paused before continuing and looked down at his hands.

“All I can say is go with your instinct.”

“My instinct?” she repeated quietly.

Daniel nodded. “Do you like him?” he asked, trying to keep his voice neutral so he wouldn’t sound jealous. His eyes shot back up at her.

“That’s a pretty loaded question,” she said sheepishly.

“It shouldn’t be,” he returned softly.

Her mouth drew up tensely as she searched her soul for the right words. She was having a few doubts about Joe, but she was afraid that if she didn’t give him a chance, another opportunity might never come along.

“I …” she began uneasily.

Daniel looked at her expectantly.

“I want to give him a chance,” she finally said.

“Then go with your instinct,” Daniel replied. At that moment, he felt that a tiny piece of him had died.

Sam nodded dumbly.

“Oh, look at the time,” he suddenly blurted out, looking at his watch. “I have a staff meeting in a half hour. I’d better get going.”

“Oh, yeah,” Sam said quickly as she was jerked from her thoughts. She looked at him a bit sadly as he moved to get up.

“I guess I’ll see you later, then,” he said, a few cold notes in his voice.

“Daniel,” she said sharply.

He turned back to her and raised his eyebrows curiously.

“I haven’t made up my mind yet,” she continued. “I still want to find out more about him. I’ll probably have a better idea tonight.”

Daniel allowed a small ray of hope to fill his heart that she was actually following her instinct, and would use good judgment to arrive at her decision. A small smile spread across his lips.

She returned the smile. “I’ll call you tonight, okay?”

He nodded. “Okay.”

“Nine o’clock?” she asked.

“Sure,” he nodded.

She smiled and nodded back. With a final smile, he made his way toward the front of the coffee shop and out the doors, leaving Sam to collect her purse, as well as her thoughts.

Sam sat at the desk in her home office that night, grading lab reports. She didn’t usually like to bring her work home with her; she liked to keep her two lives separate from each other, and use her time at home to relax. Unfortunately, she’d promised the students in this particular section of the lab that she would have their reports graded and returned to them the next day. This section had the most students, 28 to be exact. She had underestimated the amount of time it would take for her to grade them, and ended up bringing almost half of them home with her.

She was just finishing up the second-to-last report when the chime for new email rudely disturbed her. She looked up from the paper and glanced at her email program’s window. The next email was a department-wide announcement for a guest lecture to be held in just over a week. She shrugged and read the contents. It was apparently going to be a talk given by a professor from the Anthropology department.

“A small site in Fife Ness, Scotland: implications for the Mesolithic way of life.”

Sam looked at the title with much interest and her brow furrowed in confusion. It seemed quite familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She scrolled down further until she came to the name of the lecturer …

… Doctor Daniel Jackson, Professor of Archaeology, Dept. of Anthropological Sciences.

Sam stared at the name and felt her heartbeat speed up. Daniel was giving a talk in her department.

“Lecture begins at 7:30 PM in Lecture Hall 001, coffee, juice and cookies to follow.”

A faint smile appeared on Sam’s lips as she thought back to her conversation with Daniel the past weekend. He’d told her how he was in the middle of several proposals, and she remembered that this was one of them. She quickly thumbed through her weekly planner, to see if there was anything planned for Thursday, April 24th. She sighed upon finding the day empty. She quickly scribbled down the title of the talk, the room number and the time.

She was about to put the book back in her purse when she nearly jerked out of her seat at the sound of the phone ringing. She calmed herself down, took a deep breath and picked up the receiver.

“Hello,” she said tentatively.

“Hi, is Sam there?”

Sam shook her head and grinned. She realized this was to be expected each time Joe called.

“Speaking. Joe, is that you?”

“Yeah, how did you know??” he said facetiously, chuckling.

“Because you say that every time I answer the phone!” she exclaimed. “Who else are you expecting to answer it?”

“Oh, uh … yeah I guess you have a point there,” he said, chuckling sheepishly.

Sam forced a slight laugh.

“So, how are you doing?”

“Uh … not too bad. I’m just grading a few lab reports,” she replied.

“Oh, you’re busy? Sorry if I interrupted you.”

“No, I just finished. I don’t usually bring my work home with me, but I promised the students I’d have their reports back to them by tomorrow, so …” she trailed off awkwardly.

“Oh, man!” he exclaimed playfully. “You really gotta take it easy there, lady!”

Sam forced another laugh. “No, it’s not a big deal. I just finished them.”

“Oh, okay. So, how was your day?” he asked, sounding a bit too cheerful for Sam’s tastes.

“Eh, like any other day,” she replied. “You know – same old, same old.”

“Same old thing, eh?”

He chuckled nervously when Sam didn’t reply. “So, are you watching anything good on TV now?”

Sam made a face. Here we go again, she thought.

“I was busy grading papers,” she said awkwardly.

“What, you can’t grade and watch at the same time?” he joked.

Sam’s cheeks flushed. “No, I can’t,” she said tersely.

Joe’s laughter faded. “I don’t think there’s anything good on now anyway. Hmm … let’s see …”

Sam’s face cracked wide open in a smirk and she nearly put her fist in her mouth to keep from laughing as she heard Joe flipping through his TV channels once again. She immediately recalled laughing over the fact with Daniel earlier in the day. They’d enjoyed a good laugh at Joe’s expense.

“Nah, there’s nothing on now,” he said.

Sam accidentally let a small snicker escape, and she tried to cover it up by coughing.

“You okay?” he asked curiously.

“Uh, yeah, I just got something stuck in my throat,” she said, clearing her throat.

“Oh, well, don’t choke to death or anything!” he joked.

“I won’t, I’m fine now.”

“So, anyway, do you have any brothers or sisters?” he asked once he’d calmed down.

“Yeah, I have an older brother,” she replied.

“That’s it?”

“Mmm-hmm. He’s five years older and lives in Maryland. He’s married about 15 years and he has two kids, a boy and a girl.”

“Oh, so you’re an auntie, then!”

Sam blushed slightly. “Yeah, I am,” she said, a small smile gracing her lips.

“That’s great. I have three brothers and one sister, all older. I’m the baby of the family. They’re all married except for me …”

Sam frowned a bit as she heard that.

“… They all have kids, too, so I’m an uncle. I’ve got eight nieces and nephews, and I spoil each of them rotten!” he said happily.

Sam’s smile returned and she laughed gently. Well, one thing seemed certain: he really liked kids. It was one of the things that was important to her in a relationship.

“Okay, I don’t want to keep you too long, so I’ll come right out and say this,” he began.

Sam’s brow furrowed in confusion as she waited for him to go on.

“I really want to take you out, and you said that Wednesday wasn’t good for you. How does Friday night sound?”

Sam felt her cheeks grow hot again. She quickly glanced at her calendar to see if she had anything important planned for that day.

“Uh … that sounds … good,” she said hesitantly.

“Are you sure?” he prodded. “I mean, I don’t want to take you out that night if it’s not absolutely perfect for you.”

“No, it’s fine, really,” she insisted.

“Okay, great!” he exclaimed. “So, where to meet, where to meet …” he trailed off as he tried to think of a good meeting place for them.

“Oh! Have you ever been to a restaurant called O’Malley’s?” he finally asked.

Sam’s brow creased for a moment before familiarity shone in her eyes. O’Malley’s was a restaurant and bar that wasn’t too far from the university. It was located near the Colorado Springs Country Club, at the end of a strip mall that featured clothing stores, a large bookstore, and a bowling alley, among others. She had visited the area a couple of times with some of her colleagues from Earth and Space Sciences.

“Sure, a few times.”

“Would you like to meet there?” he asked hopefully. “Say, six o’clock? We could have some dinner, and then maybe walk around a bit. Would that be okay for you?”

“Six? That should be fine,” she confirmed. “I don’t have to attend any seminars, and my office hours end at four, so that should give me plenty of time.”

“Great!” he said. “I’ll meet you inside O’Malley’s at six, then.”

“Sounds good,” Sam replied.

“Okay! Have a good night, Sam.”

“Thanks, you too,” she said.

“Okay, bye.”

Sam sighed as she hung up the phone. She felt a headache coming on and she began to massage her temples. She began to question if she really was doing the right thing. Joe sounded a bit odd the first time she’d talked to him, but he didn’t seem as bad this time around.

Go with your instinct.

Daniel’s words penetrated her mind, and they actually comforted her. She would be meeting this guy at a very well-known restaurant, at a reasonable hour, and she had her own transportation. As long as she was sure of herself, things should go well.

She glanced back at the computer monitor and felt a pang of guilt as she read Daniel’s name in the email announcing his upcoming talk. She glanced at the clock on the wall and realized it was almost 9 PM. She reached for the note he’d given her and she quickly dialed his number.

She didn’t have much time to think when Daniel picked up on the second ring.

“Hello?”

She didn’t know why, but his voice brought a warm comfort to her.

“Hi, Daniel, it’s Sam,” she said earnestly.

“Oh, hi, Sam,” he answered kindly.

“Hey. I just got off the phone with Joe. I’m going out with him on Friday evening,” she continued, the words tumbling from her lips.

There was a small pause. Sam didn’t really know what to think, but she began to feel guilty about telling him. It made her wonder if she was putting him down somehow. She remembered how he acted that morning in the coffee shop, before she told him she hadn’t made up her mind yet. He seemed to be … almost bothered about it, and it made her wonder how he felt about her.

“Oh,” Daniel finally replied. His tone revealed that he was more than a little surprised by her revelation. “Well, that’s … that’s great, Sam.” He tried to sound happy for her, but she was sure she could hear a hint of disappointment in his voice.

“Yeah,” she replied. “I had a good conversation with him. I’m going to give him a chance. We’re going to meet at –“

“Yeah, that’s great, Sam,” he cut her off quickly. “Listen, I’m in the middle of something really important … ah, grading some papers for tomorrow. I have to go now.”

Sam’s smile faded and she frowned curiously as she picked up on the sudden change in Daniel’s attitude.

“You do?” she asked, a touch incredulous. “I thought this morning you said that this would be a good time for me to call.”

“Yeah, but that was this morning. A lot has changed between this morning and now,” he spat out quickly, his tone a bit cold.

“Okay,” she said, taken aback. “I’m sorry I bothered you.”

She heard him sigh heavily. “No, it isn’t your fault,” he said, sounding slightly agitated. “I just got caught up in a lot of things. I’m already exhausted. I’ll talk to you tomorrow morning, okay?”

Sam’s frown faded. “Okay, coffee at 9, then?”

“Yeah, sure, sounds fine,” he said briskly. “See you then.”

“Great,” Sam replied, trying to sound upbeat. Her efforts were for naught as she heard Daniel hang up the phone and the dial tone sounded in her ear.

Sam stared at the receiver incredulously for a moment before replacing it on the cradle. Her chest heaved as she took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.