Chapter Two: Jack and Sam Vs. The Rhumba. I do not own these characters...I just enjoy making up goofy things for them to do. The Kosovichs are real people and I don't own them either, although I wouldn't mind owning Nick Kosovich (hubba hubba!). Reviews are most welcome, even if it is just a "What were you on?" Thank you and have a splendiferous day.
Sam awoke the next morning, her entire body aching. She was using muscles she'd had no idea she owned.
"Okay, I may be on a diet, but I am SO having a doughnut this morning." she groaned.
Jack was already down at breakfast and he put down the morning paper as she came in. His attire was somewhat surprising to her. He had on faded blue jeans and a grey t-shirt that proclaimed, in bright red letters, "Vote For Charlotte, Dance-Off 2005".
"I see you really like that show." she commented as she bit into a french crueller.
"Hey, I can't help it if the dancers are hot." he replied, biting his cheek to keep from laughing.
Sam bestowed him with a look and he was silent.
They drove to the dance studio for their second lesson with the Kosovichs. Jack was glad to learn that they would be focusing on the Quickstep first and breathed a silent sigh of relief. Sam was slightly frustrated with the speed of the dance.
"How on earth do people's feet move this quickly! It's not humanly possible!" she protested.
"Sure it is." Jack replied.
Sam shot daggers at him with her eyes.
"See?"
Jack bowed to Lena, who put her hand in his and Jack Quickstepped his teacher around the room before stopping in front of Sam.
"It's all in the footwork, Carter.
3 hours later, Sam was ready to lay down on the floor and die. This was a LOT harder than it looked and she vowed that if the Ballroom Dancing competitions were ever on PBS again, she would watch them without saying one snide word!
"Once more, and you can go." Nick Kosovich said, seeing how tired they both were. Sam seemed to be losing patience and Jack was favoring his right leg.
They faced each other, and got three quarters of the way around the room before Sam lost her footing. Jack's leg became entangled with hers and she fell heavily on top of him for the 80th time.
"That's enough for today. Go back to your hotel, take a nice shower, and try again tomorrow!" Lena suggested.
They both nodded, and practically raced each other to the car.
"Oy vey, my butt hurts." Sam moaned.
"Yeah, well at least you're not the one who keeps getting fallen on!" Jack shot back.
She glared at him.
"Don't start with me today, big boy...I'll take you out." she growled.
They went out for dinner at a nice little restaurant that boasted a dance floor and live jazz. Jack took the opportunity to introduce her to the slow triple step swing, and Sam was enjoying it.
"This is more my speed." she said.
Jack smirked.
"Your brain moves at hyperspeed, yet your feet are tripped up by a Quickstep!"
Sam tightened her grip on his hands in warning and he restrained himself from going into any further detail. He wanted to live to do the Rhumba, provided that the stupid regulations didn't prevent it!
Their practice went better. They still fell, but not as often as the previous day. Jack's knee seemed to be loosening up, and he was amazed at what he could still do.
"I should have taken this up again years ago...it probably would have helped my knee enormously." he commented.
After lunch, Jack sat down with a piece of paper that was given to him by Nick Kosovich.
"How do you want to be announced?" he asked, pen in hand.
"What?" she asked.
"As each couple goes out on the floor, the announcer will tell the auidence who is dancing. Usually, no nicknames are used." he explained.
"Really? I didn't know that." she replied.
Jack nodded.
"I did a couple of amateur competitions with the other T.A. for our Social Dance class, Kerry Hughes. When we stepped onto that floor, instead of being Kerry and Jon, we were Karissa and Jonathan. Ballroom is very formal. Even Nick and Lena are announced differently."
Sam was curious.
"How do you know how Nick and Lena are announced?"
Jack grinned.
"I watch all of the major ballroom competitions on t.v., Carter. Nick and Lena, or should I say Nicholas and Elena, are the 2004 and 2005 Smooth World Champions."
Sam's eyes widened in horror.
"They're famous?" she asked.
"VERY famous, Carter."
"So you're telling me I was snarky to the world champion!" she cried.
"Yep. I tried to tell you..."
"When!"
Jack sighed.
"Right before we went into the dance studio on the first day. I said I had something I needed to tell you."
She rolled her eyes.
"I thought you were going to talk about the stupid regs again!"
"I was going to tell you how revered they are in the ballroom world, and if they tell you to do something, you should do it. There are dancers all around the world who would KILL to be in our position right now." Jack said.
"Great! I was sarcastic to him." Sam replied, her voice muffled. She had her head resting on her arms.
"Don't worry about it...after all of the people they have kissing up to them, Nick seemed to find you pretty amusing." Jack offered reassuringly.
Sam raised her head, a glare of death on her face.
"Wonderful! Just what I was aiming for!" she muttered.
Jack looked at her, and Sam realized that he was slightly hurt.
"I was just trying to help, Major Carter but obviously, you don't need me right now. I think I'll go call General Hammond and see what he has to say." Jack replied formally.
He rose from the table stiffly and walked back to his hotel room.
"Hammond."
"Hello sir, it's Jack."
The general smiled.
"Bootcamp going okay?"
"Except for the Quickstep tripping us up a little, we're fine sir."
"Excellent, Jack."
"Sir, I sent you a video of a couple doing the Rhumba so you can make your decision easier." Jack said,
The general went over to his computer and watched the video. His eyes widened.
"Jack, I'm going to have to ask the President about this..." he replied.
He sighed.
"Yes sir."
"I'll call you as soon as I know something. Bye."
Jack hung the phone up just as there was knock on his door. He opened it to reveal Sam standing there, a DVD in hand along with a bag of popcorn.
"I'm sorry, sir...I didn't mean to snipe at you." she mumbled, sounding embarrassed.
He smiled.
"It's ok, Carter...you're doing something completely outside of your area of expertise, even your comfort zone. I understand."
Motioning her to come inside, he looked questioningly at the movie in her hand.
She grinned, and handed it to him. He threw his head back and laughed as he saw the title: Strictly Ballroom.
"I haven't seen this in years!" he said, sounding pleased.
They watched the movie, both of them sitting on the edge on his bed and sharing the popcorn. From time to time their hands would brush as they reached in the bag at the same moment, but they both studiously ignored such occurences.
Once the movie was over, Sam turned to Jack.
"Did you ever consider turning pro?" she asked.
Jack lay back, and interlaced his fingers behind his head.
"Our teacher told Kerry and I that we probably could, but I was already getting ready for the Air Force at that point, so we went our seperate ways."
"Do you know what happened to her?"
He nodded, and smiled.
"We still send each other Christmas Cards and e-mail pretty often. She got married shortly after graduating college to my roommate Ted and they have 3 children. Their first son is named Jonathan Neill Harrison." he declared proudly.
Sam smiled at the pride evident in his tone.
"Does he take after you at all?" she asked lightly.
Jack became serious.
"Jonny is a great dancer...he took third at some major amatuer Latin competitions. I think he could go on to become one the best dancers the U.S. has."
They remained there for a few moments in a comfortable silence until Jack suggested that they go practice the Quickstep some more.
"I swear you'll get it, Carter. If I can, anybody can!" he joked.
They tried it again and Sam felt like jumping up and down with glee when they went around the room once without falling! She settled for hugging Jack, which was very nice. Calm down, she told herself.
Jack, get a grip buddy. She's just in a good mood. he said very firmly in his head.
They practiced for another hour and only fell twice.
"You're right! This isn't so bad." Sam said confidently.
Jack looked sideways at her.
"Just wait until the turns and reverse turns start."