Title: Never Been Kissed: A different story (1/13)

Part One: A trip down memory lane

Author: Jaycee

Disclaimer: Not mine and they never will be. Sam Coulson, Josie Geller and the whole gang of NBK are the properties of Flower Films and their affiliates. Okay? Get it? No suing please! I have no money!

Summary: Sam didn't kiss Josie on the pitcher's mound and two years later, they meet again.

Rating: G to PG – depends on the chapter really.

Author's note: Please read and review. I've posted this story in my stories. Com portfolio but I thought that to encourage more people to read and write more NBK stuff, I should post it here. Me posting the next chapters will totally depend on the reviews I get. Okay? Have fun reading!

* * *

Josie Geller looked out her office's window that Friday afternoon. Looking at the busy streets down the city, she saw a newspaper stand. The very newspaper stand where hundreds of people bought a copy of the Chicago Sun Times which contained the article that she wrote two years ago, about her recent assignment to go undercover in a local high school so she could find out about kids today.

There she met the love of her life. Sam Coulson. The first day she came into his English Class, she knew that she was done for, that she was indeed falling in love. His beautiful green eyes pierced right through her heart. He was so nice to her even though she looked really weird back then. He was the first person that was nice to her that day, and as days passed her by, she fell even more and more in love with this beautiful man. She was sure that he felt the same way too, towards her.

Then came the senior prom. Sam has asked her to dance with him and that was when Josie knew that she was going to tell him about everything. As she looked into his eyes, she then realized that he was going to tell her something very important too.

 But she never learned what he was going to tell her because all hell had broken loose that night.

She saved Aldys, her friend, from having a can of dog food poured over her. She blurted out her secret before she got to tell Sam everything. After all that has happened, she went out the country club to look for him and to tell him the truth, but he didn't listen. Not even bothering to hear her explanation, her side of things. Josie didn't let that stop her from proving to Sam that she does love him.

She wrote an article entitled, "Never Been Kissed". The article was about her experiences from both high school endeavors and at the end she even placed her heart on the line. She said that she does love Sam and that she will wait for him at the pitcher's mound for five minutes prior to the first pitch wherein the South Glen Rams were playing for the title. There at the pitcher's mound was where he was supposed to give her, her very first kiss.

But he never came.

When the five minutes were up, she still stood there, hoping against hope that Sam would come. But, he never did. The crowd went silent when they saw her crying openly into her hands. She walked away from the mound slowly, and then she felt someone's arms encircle her. It was Rob, her brother who also pretended to be a high school student to help her be popular at high school. He took her home.

He kept saying that maybe it wasn't meant to be. That Sam wasn't the one for her. She just nodded at all that he was saying but she knew that what he was saying wasn't true. She knows deep in her heart that it was indeed Sam. That he was her soul mate.

* * * It has been two years, but still, all the pain and humiliation that she felt that day were still in her heart and in her mind. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even hear someone coming into her office. "Hey, Josie! Josie!" Josie turned around and saw her best friend, Anita Brandt standing on the doorway.

"Oh! Hey Anita!" Anita sat down on one sofa and crossed her legs. She's Josie's best friend. She's a very attractive woman, who was now married to Josie's boss and friend, Gus Strauss. "What brings you here?" she asked as she went behind her desk and sat down. "Well, Gus talked to me and said that you should go to his office coz he has a new event for you to cover. It's a wedding or something." "Why me?"

"Duh Josie! You're the Showcase Editor now! Of course you have to be there. He said that the wedding was supposed to cover the whole Sunday Showcase feature next month." "Oh, yah! I really don't like this job of mine, Anita. Too much socializing. Not my scene at all. Wait! What do you mean the whole Showcase feature? Is it that big?"

"Yup! I was surprised too, but then Gus said that the bride is the only daughter of Chicago's billionaire, Salvador Rodriguez." "Oooh! Rich family! Lucky guy! So who is the guy?" "Some college professor. From Dartmouth." At Anita's mention of the university's name, Josie sucked in a painful breath.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Anita asked her friend, her forehead creasing with concern. Josie shook her head and said, "Oh, it's nothing. I just remembered something." "Come on Josie! I know you. When you react like that, that only means one thing. It's Sam, isn't it?" Josie sighed as she sank in deeper into her office chair. "Yes, it is Sam. Its just that Dartmouth was the college that he wanted me to go to when I was still his 'student'." She said, as her fingers did quotation marks in the air.

"Just forget about him, Josie. Where is that guy, by the way?" "Oh, I don't know, the last thing that I learned about him is that he already left Chicago. He's probably married or something. As if I care." Josie said, her voice lacking conviction on the part where she said that she didn't care about Sam. Anita looked at her sadly, "Josie, forget about him. He doesn't deserve you. Besides, you already have a boyfriend. Remember him?" Josie smiled at the mentioning of her boyfriend.

His name is Mark Springsteen. He was the Sports Editor of the very same newspaper that Josie works into. He was the very first guy that she was again attracted to after that fiasco with Sam. He was smart, kind and understanding and he also has the same passion for their work in the newspaper. He understood the loads of her job and the times when she couldn't meet with him because of a deadline.

But deep inside her, she knew that there was still something missing. The spark. The electricity. The fast beating of her heart as if it was going to pop out. The music that she was supposed to hear when she was with him. Sure they've been together for a year already, but she couldn't imagine herself settling down with him. She knows that he loves her and that she loves him. But the love that she has for Mark wasn't like the love that she felt for Sam.

Josie shook her head ruefully as she realized that her thoughts are again focusing on Sam. She stood up and said, "Okay! Now, I'm going to Gus' office. Are we still on for tonight?" "Huh? Oh, yah! Merkin's birthday party at the Delloser Club. Are you sure you're okay with that? I mean, you had some painful memories from that place and all." Josie sighed, "Hmm…its okay Anita. I have to go back there sometime. Besides, you're right. I should take Sam Coulson out of my mind, once and for all."

"Atta girl! Bye Josie! Gus and I will fetch you at your apartment later. Okay?" "Okay! Bye Anita!" Josie said as they went on to their separate ways inside the bullpen.

* * * Josie knocked on Gus Strauss' office. "Come in!" a voice bellowed from the inside. She opened the door and saw Gus reading some papers. "Hey Gus! You needed me?" Looking up from his reading, he said. "Oh, Geller! Anita told you about the assignment?" "Yup, so what should I do?"

"Organize your group of reporters, photographers and video people. The video's needed since both Rigfort and Mr. Salvador Rodriguez wants the whole pre-wedding thing to be recorded. This one's going to be huge. The bride's name is Maria Rodriguez. She's going to marry a professor from Dartmouth and they decided to get married here and also live her instead of Spain since her father wanted her to take over the family business. 

I need the section to be done within three weeks in time for the wedding day itself. It's going to appear on the day of the wedding. I need you to get to know the couple, follow them around, know how they met, their courtship, their love for each other.  Assign your people different aspects of the wedding. We're the only newspaper in the area allowed to cover their wedding, since Rigfort is the best friend of Salvador Rodriguez. Everything has to be perfect Geller. I'm counting on you with this one. Right now, the couple is at Lincoln Park, where the wedding is going to be held. Go there now and meet up with them. Here is a picture of Maria. She's waiting for you. No crew today. Just you and the couple."

Josie examined the picture of the woman. She was very pretty; her skin was fair. Her black hair was past her shoulder, which was in layered style, kind of like Josie's hair, but the longer version. Her eyes were the ones who blew Josie away. It was in chocolate brown, the kind of eyes that you can drown in forever. Her eyelashes are long and dark, curled just the right way.

 In short, she was gorgeous, and she was sure that Maria's husband-to-be will agree with her. She thanked Gus, her head swirling with all the information that he told her, and the challenge that her new assignment posed for her. As she turned to go, she remembered to ask Gus the question that was in her mind since the assignment was brought to her attention. "Hey, Gus? What's the name of the groom?" "I have no idea Geller. That's for you to find out!"

* * * Sam Coulson was riding his jeep through the busy streets of Chicago. It has been a long time since he was here, since he quitted his job at South Glen South for a professor job at Dartmouth. As he thought back to two years ago, he then remembered the reason why he quit his job back then. Josie Geller.

There he said it.

 It was because of her why he left his job at South Glen for a job at Dartmouth. South Glen South just reminded him too much of Josie. He loved her, deeply. There was no doubt about it. He loved her smile, her beautiful eyes, her beauty, and most especially, her mind. Her eyes hypnotize him every time he made the mistake of looking deep into them. They had so much in common, their love for literature, for words, their passion for writing and their fear of flying. But when he found out that she was and undercover reporter, he was devastated.

The love of his life was there only to set him up. With that, he left her. Not even bothering to listen to her explanations for fear that she might again lie to him about everything. After learning about everything, he went to his parents' house in Racine, Wisconsin, to mend his broken heart. There, he read her article, entitled, 'Never Been Kissed'.

His best friend, Jonathan, sent the copy of the newspaper to him. His heart swelled at the things that she wrote for him, but then his own cowardice self enabled him to mend things with Josie Geller. He was afraid of her rejecting him. So instead of following his loved ones' advice to go to Josie and explain everything to her, he instead took the easy way out. He worked at Dartmouth, leaving the job that he really loved behind because of fear that he might run into her at Chicago.

There at Dartmouth was where he met Maria Rodriguez. She was the music instructress there. They got together when he saw her at a baseball game, enthusiastically cheering for Dartmouth's college baseball team. They got to talk and they found out that they have the passion for music. Old music actually. Classic ones. She was very gorgeous. Her eyes were her best feature and Sam felt himself drowning into its depths whenever he looks at them.

Her father was a very prominent figure in the country, being Chicago's only billionaire. When he first met Mr. Salvador Rodriguez, he felt the immediate liking to him and vice versa. Now, even though it was against his will, he was now back, in Chicago. The place that reminded him so much of Josie.

Their wedding was going to be happening there and he hoped that not many people would know about this since he doesn't like the idea of his wedding being so publicized. He stopped at the traffic light and when he looked at his right, he then realized that he was in front of the building that Josie worked in. He sucked in a deep breath as Josie Geller's face popped in his mind.

He shook his head to erase her face but the image wouldn't go away. When the light changed he breathed out a sigh of relief and went on his way to Lincoln Park where the wedding was going to be held, hoping that he would never run into Josie.