Justin and JC were sitting in the living area of the suite they were sharing. Justin could tell that JC had something on his mind. “Man what is up with you?”
“I was just thinking about some stuff. Can I ask you something without you getting all pissed off?
“Depends on what the question is,” Justin laughed.
“Come on Justin,” JC said shaking his head. “I’m serious.”
“Yeah sure, what’s going on?”
“That’s what I want to know.”
“What?” Justin asked. He had no clue what JC was talking about.
“Is there something going on between you and Sam?”
“Yes there is, it’s called a friendship JC.” Justin said sternly.
“Hey don’t get all defensive on me dude. I was just asking a question. If you say you’re just friends then I believe you.”
“Well you should because it’s the truth.” Justin said walking to the mini bar to get some juice.
“Fine. So where were you last night?” JC asked.
Justin just stood with his back to his friend and said nothing. He knew JC knew the answer and didn’t need him to confirm his suspicions.
“Damn it Justin. What are you doing?”
“Get off my back JC. Nothing happened.”
“Well if it was so innocent then why did you make up the story about bumping into Sam in the hallway? Why not just tell Lance?”
“Because I knew he wouldn’t understand and he’d blow it out of proportion just like you’re doing now.”
“Well don’t you think he’d have a right to be a little upset?”
“No actually JC, I don’t. He doesn’t own Sami and he’s too scared to do anything about how he feels. So the way I see it he has no claims on her.” Justin plopped down into the chair next to JC.
“Come on Justin you know how crazy those two are about each other.”
“Yes I know. I don’t need you to tell me that. Trust me,” Justin sighed.
“Then why are you doing this to yourself? You’re only gonna end up hurt in the end.” JC chuckled. “And alone.”
“Oh thanks man. Is that you’re idea of help?”
“Yes it is. You know as well as I do that you can’t come between what the two of them have. Even if they can’t see it themselves yet.”
“I know,” Justin said shaking his head. “I just can’t help myself…there’s just something about her. And I don’t want to lose this incredible friendship that we have.”
“You don’t have to dude. Be her friend, but leave it at that.”
“I have been, up until last night it was purely platonic.”
“Wait a minute, what do you mean by that?” JC asked. “I thought you said nothing happened.”
“Well, nothing serious happened. I stopped it before it went too far.” Justin was staring out the window trying not to let JC see the pain in his eyes.
“You stopped it?”
“Yeah, I knew it wasn’t about me for her. She would’ve done the same thing if I hadn’t done it, so I figured I’d lessen the blow by doing it myself.” Justin continued, “And not to mention that I know how Lance feels about her and I could never do that to him.”
“So what’s the problem then? It sounds like you know what you have to do. Just do it.”
“I wish it was that simple. I wish I could just turn my feelings off but I can’t, especially since last night…when she kissed me…I just can’t stop thinking about that.”
JC was confused. “Are you saying that she initiated it?”
“Yes. That is why I am so turned upside down. My head tells me that she was just lonely and wishing that she was with Lance but my heart wants to think that she just may have some kind of feelings for me.”
“Wow, it’s more complicated than I thought. But it still doesn’t change the fact that if you try to make something out of it, Lance is gonna get hurt. You need to just do the honorable thing and let her go. Even if she is attracted to you or whatever, it’s plain to see that she is crazy about Lance. Besides I don’t want to see you get hurt either.”
“Yeah I know man. Like I said it’s just hard.” Justin said as he got up and walked the short distance to his room to be alone.
***
Lance walked into his room and tried to start packing but it wasn’t working. He couldn’t help but thinking about what just happened between him and Sam. He was so close to showing her how he felt about her and he gotten scared again. So many times he had wanted to hold her like that and make her feel how special she was to him. On every occasion though he had been able to remind himself of all the reasons why he shouldn’t be starting a relationship with her. If only her phone hadn’t rung, he wouldn’t have had the chance to think about it and he could be there holding her now. As he attempted to finish packing he thought back to one of the first of many special moments they had shared together.
*****
Sam was just getting back from the store and putting away the supplies she had picked up for Lance’s birthday surprise when she heard a knock on her door. She quickly put away the rest of the stuff and went to see who was the door. When she opened it she was surprised to see Lance already.
“Hey! I got your message that you needed to see me. Is something wrong? And why was it so important that I come to your room? Speaking of which, why did you switch rooms?”
Sam just smiled at him. She loved how he was always so concerned with every detail and always making sure nothing was wrong, ‘So much like myself’ she thought. “Well hello to you too.”
Lance laughed at himself. “Sorry. It was all just a little strange. I was worried that you had changed your mind about the job or something. If I did anything to offend you please let me know. I really don’t want to lose you already.”
“Calm down Lance. I’m not going anywhere. I’ve loved every minute of my three days on the job so far. You have done nothing to offend me, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that.”
“Are you sure? Because I really am sorry for the first night, at dinner and well…” he trailed off. “Every minute huh?” he asked
“Yes, every minute,” Sam said slightly blushing. “Anyway, I wanted to thank you for having faith in my ability to do this job so I thought I would cook you breakfast. You haven’t ate yet have you?”
“No actually I haven’t but you don’t have to cook for me. We could just go out for breakfast.”
“Sorry I have strict orders from your mother to take care of her birthday boy.”
“Oh, so my mom ratted me out huh?” Lance asked as he sat down.
“Kind of. She called me this morning to see how I was doing so far and she may have mentioned that today could possibly be your birthday.” Sam smiled at him as she continued, “But since I already knew that is was, technically she didn’t.”
“So you did your research on your own then?”
“Nope. No research required. I already knew when it was.”
“But how?” Lance asked confused.
Sam just looked at him and waited for him to figure it out on his own.
It finally hit him. “Oh yeah. Duh Lance. So what else do you know about me?”
Sam laughed, “You don’t want to know. Just trust me, it’s scary.”
“Okay, I’ll take your word on that.”
“Good. Now you just sit here and relax while I cook us breakfast.” Sam went into the kitchenette area and started to get the food out of the refrigerator. Lance watched her every move.
“So this is why you switched rooms right? Because the other one didn’t have a kitchen area?” he asked standing up behind her.
“I always knew you were a smart boy. Now go sit down and let me work,” Sam said pushing back into the sitting area of the room.
“Okay, okay I’m going. Are you sure it’s safe for us to be alone together though?” Lance asked playfully.
“Umm, well I figured since it was daytime and there is no champagne involved this time we would be okay,” Sam said winking at him.
“Ugh, you mean we’re not having mimosas this morning?”
“Sorry, I’m afraid not. But I’m sure you’ll be more than pleased with what we are having.”
“And just what is that?” Lance asked curiously.
“You’ll just have to wait and see.”
A little while later Sam walked out to the table carrying two full plates of French toast. She sat Lance’s down in front of him and waited for his reaction.
“How did you know…never mind,” he said as he stood up to pull out her chair.
“Thank you,” Sam said as she sat down across from him.
“No thank you. You really didn’t have to go to all of this trouble.”
“Please, it’s the least I could do. Besides I couldn’t think of anything else to get for a guy who already has everything.”
“Well, I could think of few things I wouldn’t mind having,” Lance said smiling coyly at Sam.
She was blushing again. “You better eat up before it gets cold and all my slaving goes to waste.”
“It smells great. How come you never mentioned you were a master chef?” he teased her.
“Because French toast is one of the easiest things to cook and one of the few things that I can actually cook without screwing up. So consider yourself lucky that it just happens to be your favorite.”
“Oh don’t worry. I know exactly how lucky I am.” Lance studied her for the rest of the meal. He took in her every move and quirk, trying to memorize them so he could replay them in his head when he couldn’t be near her. They sat and talked for a good hour after they were finished eating and he insisted on helping her clean up. When they were finished Sam walked with him to the door.
“So I’ll see you later at the party right?” he asked.
“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’ll just have to remember to stay away from you if I’m drinking,” Sam joked.
“Nah, there will be other people there so we should be okay. Drink all you want.”
“Okay, if you say so boss.”
Lance laughed, “Do you know how weird yet somehow exciting that sounds when you call me that?”
“Umm, sure whatever you say. You better get going though, before I get accused of taking up your whole day.”
“Yeah you’re right. So much to do, so little time. Thanks again for breakfast. It was wonderful.” He leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek just as Sam turned her head. Their lips touched briefly and they both pulled back surprised.
“Oops, my bad,” Sam said quickly, she didn’t want to make a big deal of it.
Lance just smiled. “I’ll see you later.”
He stood out in the hallway for quite awhile trying to decide if he should go back in and finish that kiss properly. He wanted to so badly but there were so many logical reasons not to but he didn’t care about any of those things right now. Just as he was about to knock on the door, he saw JC coming down the hallway.
“I have been looking for you all over. I finally got the desk clerk to tell me what room Sam moved to. I know it’s your birthday but we’ve got a little bit of business to take care of before tonight. Why did she move anyway and why are you smiling?”
“I’ll tell you all about it,” Lance said as the two of them walked back to the guys’ suites.
*****