When I knew Sam Carter at school she was undoubtedly a geek. She was pretty enough but she never bothered about her appearance. I suppose living with her father and brother she kinda got used to not even thinking about make-up or clothes. Being an Air Force brat she was always neat and tidy but her appearance screamed practical and functional. Me, I was the only child of what even I recognised were indulgent parents. We were worlds apart and I was probably fairly scathing about her behind her back and possibly to her face. She wasn't one to complain and, as far as I remember, she just ignored those of us she saw as frivolous. The other reason she never had much success with the boys was the fact that she was way smarter than them. Teenage boys hate that and, as far as I know, not even the other geeks asked her out. We were never friends, but I did hear about her occasionally through other people and my mother kept in contact with a lot of other parents. No-one was surprised that she joined the Air Force or got her doctorate. If anyone had asked I would have imagined her in a lab or at a desk all day, going home to the safe, steady husband introduced by Dad – probably a Major or Colonel – and the 2.4 kids, who would probably be teenagers by now and geeky as anything.
The truth was a little different and I have to admit I may not have behaved as well as I should.
I married the most popular boy in school, as in all the teenage fairytales, but, in a twist to the normal ending, he turned out to be a lying, cheating –you get the picture. I suppose I was lucky that we decided to wait until he was established in a law practice before having children. He didn't wait that long before he was having affairs though. So, I decided to make a career for myself and was surprised to end up in politics. I did quite well, although I am a minor cog in the Democratic party and ended up dating again eventually. Of course, by then the pool of available men had shrunk considerably. The good ones were mostly married and I had to lower my standards or risk sitting home each night watching TV.
I was not expecting to see Sam Carter that day when I went to work, although I had frequently met people when I took my lunch outside as the warm weather attracted people to the benches which were close to both the White House and the Capitol building as well as the Pentagon.
I had just finished my sandwiches when I noticed a familiar face in the crowd. To be honest we had never been great friends and my seducing her boyfriend at a party had hardly helped. However, she was with two men, one of them in a General's uniform and I am a sucker for a uniform. Plus you should see what they earn. The younger guy was probably with Sam I decided. Not bad looking but carrying a load of books and waving his arms about as he talked so probably another scientist. The General was silver haired but oozed confidence and that made him very attractive. I remembered Sam's father was in the Air Force but this guy did not look like her and was younger than I imagined her dad. I quickly decided he was probably a friend of her father's and definitely worth meeting.
"Hi, Sam."
Her head swivelled round and she looked less than pleased to see me but came over anyway with the two men following.
"Hello, Bryony, it's been a long time."
"Oh not that long," I smiled at the General, "Sam and I were at school together, weren't we Sam?"
"Yes."
She was not being very helpful here so I held out my hand saying, "Bryony Matthews, nice to meet you."
"Daniel Jackson."
"Jack O'Neill."
"So how do you know Sam? Is it through her father?"
"Sort of."
"I heard you hadn't managed to get into space Sam. What are you doing now?"
The glance that the two men exchanged held a hint of mirth along with something else.
"Deep space telemetry."
"Oh, well, whatever floats your boat I suppose," and yeah I admit I yawned. "How about you guys? You don't look like a boring scientist, General."
"No, I'm not a scientist. I worked with Sam and Daniel for a long time, but I work here now. Doctor Carter and Doctor Jackson are anything but boring though, and experts in their fields of work."
"How about you come to lunch with me sometime Jack and tell me all about your job?" I may just have batted my eyelashes as I spoke to him. A girl's gotta try.
He smiled and I thought how attractive he was despite not being exactly 21 anymore. It was my lucky day, he met all my criteria for men - the guy had status, Generals were pretty well paid and, unlike a few of my recent boyfriends, he was physically appealing.
"Sorry, I'm pretty busy at the moment and when I'm free I tend to go outta town."
"Then how about now?" I asked, deciding that this could be worth being late back to work.
"Sorry, Daniel and I are meeting with the President. Maybe Sam would like to stay and catch up."
With one breath he says he is meeting the President – wow, a man of influence, obviously - and then he suggest I spend time talking to her. About what - our so great time at school, when she buried herself in her books and I actually enjoyed myself? No way am I going to waste time like that. I am all set to say so when he turns to her and says;
"I'll see you at 3, Sam. Don't be late."
I force a smile through gritted teeth, "Well, if you have an appointment, Sam, then I guess we will have to catch up another time. I would hate you to be late for your hair or whatever. Anyway, I should get back to work, I have a meeting with a Senator." Actually, an aide to a Senator but so what?
Daniel frowned at me, "Sam has a presentation to the Joint Chiefs at 3, followed by the Congressional Dinner tonight. Will we see you there?"
I wanted to spit. I had tried for weeks to get an invitation to the dinner tonight and here was Sam Carter going with TWO men. Men, moreover, who were meeting with the President this afternoon and one of whom was rather a hunk. In fact, even the other nerd was quite good looking and they both had muscles on them despite being desk jockeys. After she did a presentation to the joint chiefs about some weird geeky space telemetry, whatever that was. And I got the ugly little man who worked for a low grade Senator, both of whom had wandering hands and thought they were God's gift to women.
"No, I don't have much time for socializing these days. Maybe another time?"
They all smiled, the type of smile that even I realized was polite but not warm. The looks the two men gave to Sam were vastly different.
Daniel stepped away slightly and grinned at Sam, "I'll see you later. Looking forward to seeing this dress. Vala tells me you went mad and bought a Vera Wang original. She mentioned Victoria's Secret as well, but no details."
Jack laughed, "Daniel, you would have been more embarrassed than either Sam or Vala if she had given you details. Do you want the low down tomorrow?"
"Jack," exclaimed the other two together.
Never mind spitting, it was getting difficult for me not to vomit. How did she manage to afford designer dresses? This was so unfair. I was the pretty, popular one and she was meant to be the boring science major. And did that last comment mean that…..oh my God, he just kissed her. In front of Daniel and I. Not a peck on the cheek but a full on snog. In public, in broad daylight and Daniel looked away but did not look surprised, so they must be a couple. I actually felt vomit in my throat at that point. The final nail in my coffin came as I muttered a goodbye and started to slink away, my tail between my legs.
"Nice to meet you Bryony. Sam, I'll see you at 3. Come on Daniel, but keep your thoughts about my wife's underwear to yourself please."