Title: Best friends

Part Two: Meeting Matt

Author: Jaycee

*All needed formalities are in the first chapter.

Remember, read and review! Me posting of the next chapter depends on the number of reviews I get in each chapter. Have fun reading!

On Thursday morning, Josie walked through the bullpen of Chicago Sun Times, right on time. She walked into her office and has just sat down when suddenly, her friend, Anita Brandt, from Classifieds, breezed through the door. "Josie! Guess who I did it with last night?"

"Eduardo, from the mailroom?" Josie answered drolly. "Oh man! Who told you?" Anita wailed, as she sank onto a chair in front of Josie's desk, pulling a framed diploma with her, causing it to break on the floor. Josie sighed as she looked at the mess.

"You did! You said yesterday, and I quote, "I have a date with Eduardo tonight and I'm gonna do it with him!" "Well, it wasn't really for sure you know." "When we're you not sure that you're gonna have sex?" Josie asked. "Um… well… there was this one time… um… I think…" Anita trailed off.

"Uh huh. Sure. So, the Spanish lessons did pay off huh?" "Yup! Thank you so much Senorita Josie!" she gushed. "And because of that, I'm taking you out on tomorrow evening." "Sounds great! You owe me. I thought for a while all you will be able to string in a Spanish sentence was "Donde esta el banyo, por pabor?" Josie kidded as she opened her organizer.

"Ha ha! All I can tell you was that he didn't ask me that last night." Anita said her eyes squinted flirtatiously. "Oookay, you don't have to go into details. Oh, shoot!" "What? What?" Josie pointed to her organizer. "No can do tomorrow night. I have dinner with my friends. And, not only that, they set me up on a date." She continued, a worried expression on her face.

"You have a date?" Anita asked, incredulously. "Yeah… I really didn't want to, but Joanah and Sam insisted." She explained. "So, this guy…. What's his name? Is he hot?" her friend asked, excited. "His name is Matt Riley. Supposedly, he's handsome and a great guy. I just don't know if he'll like me. I mean… hello… who would want to go out on a date with me?" Josie said, her voice barely above a whisper.

What she said didn't go unnoticed to Anita. "Why are you always so down on your self? Of course, someone will want to date you. You're smart, you're sweet, and you're beautiful…"

"Okay… stop right there, Ms. Brandt. You may be right on the first two things, but me? Beautiful? Ha! That would be the day! I mean look at me… my hair is a mess. I don't even know how to put on make up, and my fashion sense! Don't even get me started on that." Josie whined as she placed her head on her hands. "Okay, stop right there. If you're really not comfortable on how you look. Why don't I give you a make over? Huh? Huh? You like that?" Anita asked expectantly.

Josie looked at her friend skeptically. "A make over?" "Yeah! If you want to be a knock out for your date on Friday, I could give you a make over." "I don't know…" "Come one Jos! I promise I wouldn't do anything drastic. And if you don't like what I do, you can stop me, okay?" "Oh, okay! But you have to promise me that I would look good, okay?" "I promise!"

* * * Sam sat at the table that they we're led to by the waiter. It was Friday evening, and Sam, together with Joanah and Mike and Matt. Josie called Joanah earlier that evening and said that she'll just meet them at the restaurant. "So, this girl… what does she look like?" Matt asked, as he sat down.

Joanah opened her purse and handed him a picture taken at her house last week. "Here! She's the one beside me." Matt looked at the picture and grimaced. "Oh, no way you guys! You're all kidding right?" Sam frowned, "What do you mean? Is there something wrong with the way she look?"

"Um… yeah! You know that I only date super gorgeous women." "Matt!" Joanah screeched. "What? I'm just telling the truth." "She may not be overly gorgeous, but she's a great girl." Mike said, as he frowned at Matt. "I'm sorry… okay…. but…"

"Okay, listen here. Josie's a great girl; she's sweet, interesting and funny. Any man would be lucky to have her. So, be nice to her tonight or you're going to answer to me. Okay?" Sam said, his eyes squinting at his friend. "I know this girl is a sweet one, but don't expect me to like her okay…" "Okay, fine with me." Sam said, sighing in relief.

* * * "Okay, Josie! Now, this is it. Go in there, and knock Matt out." "But, Anita…" "Come on… you look great!" Josie fingered her curled hair, dyed blonde and cut short, which are now hanging into curls. She checked her reflection on a nearby car mirror and smoothed out her white chiffon like dress with blue flowers, which ended just below her knees.

It had a V-neck line and hugged her curves that she never knew she had. "Now, you really have to go in. you're already fifteen minutes late. For the last time, you look great okay?" Anita encouraged her. "Really?" "Yes, really. Now, go in. Tell me the details tomorrow over dinner okay?" Josie smiled then hugged her friend. "Thanks Anita!" "Your welcome!" Josie smiled at her once more, and then continued to go inside the restaurant.

She saw Joanah at the table at the back and with them was one of the most gorgeous guys in the planet. 'That must be Matt.' She whispered to herself. Taking a deep breath, she walked confidently towards her friends' table, totally oblivious to the fact that many of the men in the room we're checking her out.

"Hey you guys!" Josie greeted them. She was greeted with stares. "Hello? Guys?" She passed a hand in front of Joanah's face. "Oh, oh, sorry! Wow, Josie! You look great!" Joanah said, as she stood up to give her a hug. "Really? Thank you. Hey Mike!"

"Hey Josie!" Matt stood up and extended a hand, "Hi! I'm Matt Riley. I believe I'm your date for the night." Josie blushed as she shook his hand. "I'm Josie Geller. Yes, I do believe you're my date." She replied as she sat between Sam and Matt.

"Hey Sam!" she greeted him. "Josie. You… you look great!" Sam complimented her, as he smiled. If it was possible, she blushed even more at Sam's appraisal. "Thank you." She whispered as she smiled back.

* * * Sam quietly ate his pasta primavera as he listened to the conversation around him. Every once in a while, he would sneak a glance at Josie, still trying to get over her transformation. He knew that Josie was attractive, but, now that she has taken the time to fix her appearance, she was… well… she was breathtaking.

"So, Sam how is school?" Matt asked him. "Oh… um… it's fine. Great actually." He answered. "Oh, that's great. What are you teaching the students right now?" Josie asked, a smile lighting up her face. Sam smiled at her interest. "Right now, I've just started 'As You Like It', and as I expected, it was greeted by a bunch of blank stares."

Josie giggled. "Well, what can you expect Sam? They are high school kids. And besides, we we're the only high school kids who really cared about Shakespeare." "You're right about that Jos." "I love 'As You Like It'. It's such a sweet play." "I know. I just wish that my students shared even a fraction of your interest." He replied, as he looked at Josie's sparkling blue eyes.

Josie smiled, "Well, you are a great teacher Sam. You can get them to take an interest in Shakespeare." "Thanks Josie! That means a lot." Their eyes locked as they continued to smile at each other. Sam felt his breath catch as a breeze caught Josie's hair and made it fall upon her right eye. He was surprised as he felt his hand itching to brush it away.

As they continued to look at each other, he heard Joanah clear her throat. "Ehem… yeah Sam. You can do it!" Sam shifted his attention from Josie to Joanah. "Thanks Joey." "You're welcome. I mean you are my favorite teacher." That created a laugh around the table and the evening continued in a leisurely manner, filled with friendly banter among the group and plans for Mike and Joanah's engagement party.

Sam tried to shake out the feeling of attraction to Josie, but he couldn't. He found his eyes meeting hers many times the whole night, and to his dismay, it seemed like Matt was quite taken with Josie. And he couldn't blame him. Josie is an amazing woman, that's a known fact to him ever since he first met her.

As the group started to get out of the restaurant, he heard Matt asking Josie out. "So, what do you say Jos? As you already know, I'm one of the coaches of South Glen's baseball team, and, Senior's Nite is taking place next Saturday for the class to be able to raise money for the big Christmas Ball they're planning. It's gonna be a great night."

"Okay! Sounds like fun!" Turning to Sam, she smiled, her face glowing. "Sam! You going?" "Of course! I'm one of the faculty advisers for the Christmas committee." "Great! Then, all of us can hang out there together." Josie added, gesturing to Joanah and Michael who was arm in arm, walking slowly towards their car.

"Hey, you guys going to Senior Nite?" Sam called out to the couple. Mike turned around and waved a hand, "Sure, sure! We'll be there. Now, let's all go home. We're really tired." Mike called out, looking at his fiancée. Joanah giggled as Mike wiggled his eyebrows up and down. "Okay, night you guys! Josie, how are you going home?" Joanah asked.

"Um… I don't know…" She answered uncertainly. "I'll take you home Josie. We'll drop Matt off first. Besides, I can't leave you here stranded." Sam said, as he opened the front door his black VW Jetta and gestured Josie to hop in. Matt was already on the backseat. Josie got in and watched Sam as he closed the door for her. "Thanks." She said, as he got on the driver's seat. "Your welcome." He answered as he started the car.

* * * The drive home was spent in comfortable silence between the three. It was close to midnight when Sam stopped in front of Matt's building. Matt got out and leaned on the window on Josie's side. "Thanks Sam." He said, and then turned to Josie.

His voice low, he said, "Josie. I really had fun. I'm looking forward to Senior Nite." Josie blushed as Matt continued to look at her. "I had fun too Matt. I'm looking forward to Senior Nite too." He reached out a hand and Josie extended her own, and to her surprise he brought her hand to his lips and gently kissed it.

Josie smiled at his sweetness as he gently released her hand. "Bye Jos." He whispered as he walked towards his apartment. "Bye!" she whispered back. Sam cleared his throat as Matt closed his front door. "Josie… Josie!" Snapping out of her daze, she looked at Sam and saw him looking at her.

"Oh, Sam! I'm sorry. What is it?" He smiled crookedly at her and asked, "Are you ready to go?" "Oh, yeah! Let's go!" she answered as she smiled back at him, still in a daze over her encounter with Matt.

* * * Sam looked at Josie at the corner of his eye as he navigated their way to her apartment. She was still smiling, and he knew it was because of what Matt did. Sam rolled his eyes as he remembered how Matt kissed Josie's hand. As he stopped in front of her building, he turned the ignition off and turned towards Josie.

"So, we're here." "Thanks Sam!" she said. "So, did you have fun tonight?" "Yeah, I did. Thank you for persuading me to go tonight and for introducing me to Matt. He's a really nice guy." "So, you like him?" he asked, dreading her answer, since he knew it was going to be a positive one. "Well, I'm still getting to know him…. But yes… I do like him."

"As in like him…. Like him? As in… as a boyfriend?" Josie laughed. "It's still too early to say Sam. I'm not keeping my hopes up, since he hasn't even courted me yet. Let's just wait and see okay?" Sam looked at her, his stomach turning over at the image of Matt being Josie's boyfriend. "Okay."

"Okay." Their eyes locked, as if they we're looking at each other's souls, and it was broken as Josie looked down. "I'm gonna go now! Thanks again Sam." She said as she got out of his car. As she opened her front door, she looked at him again, smiled and waved before she got in her building and closed the door. Sam sighed, confused at why he was so shaken with the growing attraction between Josie and Matt.