Chapter Seven

After the family of five had dropped Jack and Sam off at her apartment house, Jack had helped her get inside and made sure she had everything she needed for the moment... her ankle wrapped in an elastic bandage, an ice pack, her cell phone, a cup of herbal tea, and the most recently published book on wormhole theory...even though the last item would make her fuming mad over its errors and misconceptions.

Then he'd left her on the sofa with a promise to return in a couple of hours with dinner and a movie for them to share...Chinese food from his favorite local restaurant and a movie that Sam had requested called "Under The Tuscan Sun". Yes, siree, they were finally going to have their first date, and both she and Jack were as excited as could be!

And right after Jack had left Sam had flipped open her phone and pressed down on the number three and held it. Number one was, of course, her parents' number in Boston, and number two was a direct line to her lab. Then she took a sip of the hot beverage Jack had made for her...which she noticed was lightly sweetened with honey just the way she liked it (nice to know he'd been paying attention!)...and waited for Janet to pick up.

"Hey, Janet! How are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'll survive. It's not the first time I've been as chummy with Jack Daniels you know! How about you?"

"Well, actually, I sprained my ankle, and I was wondering..."

"I'll be right there, but only if you tell me what happened in your bedroom last night."

Now Sam usually could pull off an innocent response when faced with an embarrassing moment, but Janet's request had really startled her! She blushed furiously, glad that her friend could not see her.

"Huh?"

'Great composed response, you moron,' she chastised herself.

"You know what I'm talking about, so don't play dumb with me. I saw Jack coming out of your bedroom, Sam."

"Ahhh, that! I'll tell you about that and everything else, when you get here," she promised, quickly pressing the 'end' button before Janet could say another word.

So Janet had seen Jack last night and hadn't said anything about it this morning!

'Well, I guess she was too hung over to care. It's a good thing Jack told me what happened, or I would have had to hear it from Jan! I wonder if Jack knows that Janet saw him,' Sam wondered.

Only a fifteen minutes had passed before Janet got there. She unlocked the door and came breezing in, carrying her tote bag-sized purse and a grocery sack, which she sat on the kitchen counter. Sam thought Janet looked so cute in her orange, plaid short shorts and yellow sleeveless blouse.

The top was tied in front just under her ribcage, and she was wearing orange sandals with three-inch heels and big, yellow flowers on the front. Sam thought she looked like a page out of some fashion magazine article on how to dress in South Miami Beach. The tortoise shell framed, dark sunglasses added to the panache of the outfit, but Sam figured they also covered up the remnants of last night's drinking binge.

"Hey, there! Well, look at you! It looks like someone has been taking care of my patient," Janet said, noticing how comfy Sam looked with her legs wrapped in a throw. She took of her sunglasses and hooked them into the cleavage of her low-cut blouse.

"I have my admirers, Janet, and one of them made me some tea, wrapped my ankle, and even tucked me in. Wanna come check and see if he did a good job?"

"Let me put these things in your fridge, and I'll do that." Sam wondered what 'things' they might be. Her friend was always surprising her with some gift or other, and if she hadn't been so incapacitated, Sam would have gone into the kitchen to check them out.

"What did you buy?"

"Blue Bunny ice cream in two flavors...Bunny Tracks and Chocolate Mint Chip, and a bottle of Jack Daniels because I drank most of yours last night. Oh, and a box of Ding Dongs."

"Well, I'm glad to see you're worried about me eating healthy," Sam said sarcastically.

"I know what I said, but these things come AFTER the nutritious stuff. I noticed yesterday that you already have all the good, healthy stuff in your fridge. So these are for your soul, not your body. Which reminds me; who is the good Samaritan who wrapped your ankle so nice and neat?" Janet asked, lifting the throw to examine the bandage.

"Jack."

"Jack as in Jack O'Neill? So he was with you when this happened?" Janet handed Sam two white tablets and a glass of water before sitting down at the other end of the sofa. She stared at her, and Sam thought she looked...what? Disappointed? Angry?

"Yes, actually he sort of caused it. Well, not on purpose, but... I was running out along the highway this morning, and he was riding his bike. But I didn't know it was him at first. And when I turned around to see why the person on the bike wasn't passing me, I tripped and fell. And then Jack rescued me," she said, and Janet rolled her eyes.

"He rescued you, huh? And what was that about last night? A late night rescue mission?"

"Janet, why do you sometimes act like you dislike him so much, yet it's obvious that you two are friends!"

"Sam, I really don't wanna get into all of it. Let's just say that it took us years to get to this place in our relationship, and the road wasn't easy. I've accepted him for who he is, which is a self-centered, love and leave 'em womanizer. We're friends now. But even though we are friends, I wouldn't trust him with my enemy, let alone my friend!"

"Janet, that's a terrible thing to say, and it's totally unfair!"

"You asked me, kiddo, and I tell it like it is. You know that. Now tell me what's been going on between you two!"

"Well, I actually didn't know about last night until Jack told me." Sam watched as a look of total disbelief came over Janet's face, and then she continued.

"You see this morning while we were waiting in the park for a ride back to my apartment, we talked. He told me about last night...how he'd come over because he was afraid I would drive drunk over to his house."

Janet looked confused, so Sam knew she had to explain further. "Do you remember me threatening to go over to his house and punch his lights out?"

Janet shook her head, and Sam continued.

"Well, I did! And he was worried I would get in the car and drive over to his house, so he came here to make sure I didn't! And then he found the front door unlocked."

"You mean I was sleeping in here right next to an unlocked door? Oh, my God!"

"I know! It's a good thing we have Jack to watch over us, Jan," Sam told her, but Janet wasn't as easily persuaded.

"I'll reserve judgment on that for now, Sam. But go on. Tell me what happened next!"

"He came in and saw you on the sofa. Then he went in my room and... Well, he said I was moaning his name and...and...rubbing myself. I was masturbating in my sleep, Janet! He just watched at first, and then he replaced my hand with his. He said he wanted to make love to me. But he just couldn't because he didn't want to take advantage of me while I slept! Wasn't that sweet?"

"You've got to be kidding me! That's what he told you?" Janet had a look of total disbelief on her face, and Sam could tell that she suspected Jack was lying.

"Janet, why can't you believe him?"

"Sam, if you were asleep, how do you know he didn't do anything else?"

"Because he told me he didn't! Janet, I know what you're thinking, but there's no way he could have done THAT without me knowing about it."

"Why not? You just said you slept through him rubbing you."

"Okay, I'll tell you the rest." Janet turned sideways on the sofa and pulled one knee up to her chest, eagerly awaiting 'the rest.'

"This morning, while it was raining, we almost had intercourse on the picnic table in that gazebo at the rest stop!"

"What! No. Really? What stopped you?"

"Two things. First is the reason that I know Jack and I didn't have intercourse last night, because if he had, I definitely would have woken up! You see, he's really big, and when he tried to push it inside me this morning, it hurt like hell! And he was just about to try again when this family showed up to use the bathroom. So we had to stop before they saw us, and then Jack asked them to give us a ride."

"OH, MY GOD! So Jack has gotten you naked and primed three times now, but he still hasn't actually fucked you? My God, Sam, that's gotta be mortifying for Jack," Janet shouted.

"If word of this gets out, Jack's reputation will be ruined," she joked, thinking of the possible fallout. And while it might be fun to put Jack in his place, Janet wouldn't do that to Sam, because it was clear the girl was deeply, madly in love with the scoundrel!

Sam suddenly burst into tears, and Janet could have hit herself for being so insensitive.

"Oh, pussy cat, I'm sorry! So he's really big?" Janet really wanted to hear more about Jack O'Neill's impressive appendage; after all, anatomy had always been a favorite subject of hers!

At six o'clock, just as he had promised, Jack was back at Sam's carrying in a box filled with smaller white boxes of Chinese food, and it smelled heavenly!

"So, how's the ankle feeling, honey? Does it hurt much?"

"No, actually Janet came over and brought me some pain killer. Right now I think I could dance a jig, and I wouldn't feel a thing," she admitted, a bright smile on her face.

"Ah, I see. So did you tell Jan how you sprained your ankle?" He was thinking that Janet had probably blamed him for how it happened.

"Yes, of course I did. I also told her about last night and what happened at the rest stop. I had to tell her about last night Jack; she saw you coming out of my room."

She watched as Jack's smile was replaced by an angry look, and wished she had kept her discussion with Janet a secret.

"So what did she say? I imagine she's about ready to have me tarred and feathered?"

"No, nothing like that. Actually, she found it amusing that you haven't actually had your evil way with me yet. She said that if word got out, your playboy reputation would be ruined."

A look of sudden realization came over Jack's face. He left the box on the kitchen counter before coming over to sit down next to her hip. Then he leaned over and kissed her lightly on the mouth.

"Sam, do you really think I give a rat's ass about MY reputation? What I care about is yours! I wouldn't want anyone to think unkindly of you, Sam. Once they hear we are seeing each other, your name will be dragged through the mud," he told her, his worried expression lining his tanned forehead.

"No, it won't, silly. But even if it were, I don't care, Jack! I want you...no one else," she said, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck. She tried to pull him toward her, but he resisted, and then he stood up.

"I think this isn't such a good idea after all, Sam. I'm way too old for you, and you were right when you said you're not my type. It's been fun, but I think we both know this just wouldn't work," he lied, thinking there was no other way to save her reputation other than to just get out and get out fast.

"But Jack, you know that's not true! Jack?" But he quickly pulled his keys out of his pocket and was out the door before Sam could even get up off the sofa. She just sat there for a few seconds in shock, and then the tears began to fall.

TBC