The young woman could feel a warm sensation spreading throughout her body as she closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like to be loved body, mind, and soul. So absorbed into that dream world was Sam that she never heard C.C. enter the room.

The brunette opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she saw the serene expression on her roommate’s face. Not wanting to disturb the obviously wonderful daydream that Sam was having, C.C. quietly sat down on her bed and waited for the moment to pass. Seeing the blush creep slowly up Sam’s neck and over her cheeks, C.C. wondered just how far things had gone between her sister and the young woman before her on the single night in Jersey that they had spent together.

Slowly, the blonde came back to the reality of the world around her, as she let out a long held breath and fanned herself with her hands for a few seconds. “Oh my!” Sam hid her face in her hands and muttered, “That was a good one. God, if only…” she turned to see C.C. sitting on her bed through the cracks between her fingers that still hid her face and stopped talking to herself. “Ah…Hi, C.C.” The embarrassed woman lowered her hands and with one gave a little wave in the brunette’s direction.

C.C. smiled broadly and waved back at Sam. “You got everything packed?” The brunette motioned to the suitcase on the bed.

“Yeah,” Sam nodded, “I got everything that I’ll need in these two.” The blonde got up from the bed, taking the suitcase with her and walked toward the door, setting the bag down on the floor. She took the light jacket from the chair and draped it over her arm. “Do you think you could help me out with that other bag?” She motioned toward the suitcase that sat next to her bed.

“Okay.” C.C. got up from the bed and went over to the suitcase. “So, I shouldn’t expect you back this weekend, right?”

“Nope.” The blonde wiggled her eyebrows and smiled coyly, “Not until Monday morning at my first class.”

The brunette bent over to grasp the suitcase. “Gee, with all this luggage I’d have thought you were going to stay the week.” She went to lift the bag but was met with resistance. “Damn! What do you have in here…bricks?” C.C. flexed what little muscle she owned and pulled the bag up from the floor.

“Ah…Just a few things that I want to take with me.” Sam smiled and gave her roommate a little giggle.

Struggling with the bag to the door, C.C. thought out loud, “Well, either you’ve taken up wearing armor or…” The brunette looked up at her roommate, seeing the innocent look that was on her face. Putting one hand up, C.C. waved the comment off. “I don’t want to know, do I?”

“Its nothing bad, C.C., honest.” Sam’s green eyes opened wide. “It’s just a few props…ah…I mean…”

“T-M-I.” C.C. went out the door and down the hall to the elevator as Sam followed her out and shut the door, locking it.

“Right.” Sam paused until she was standing next to C.C. as they waited for the elevator to arrive. “Just think of it as books, C.C., nothing but books.” The blonde held a tight-lipped smile in place, not wanting to lose it in the well-traveled hallway.

The ding of the elevator bell sounded just as C.C. was opening her mouth to speak. Thinking better of what she was going to say she waited until they were alone behind the closed doors of the elevator car. “Planning on doing a little manual reading until my sister gets home?”

Sam stood staring straight ahead at the elevator doors. “Let’s just say that this is one course I intend to ace.” The blonde’s mouth curled slightly as she fought the urge not to turn around and look at C.C. Within seconds, the car stopped and the doors opened, allowing Sam an open pathway to the lobby. Nonchalantly Sam threw the words over her shoulder as she started out, “You coming C.C.?”

The flabbergasted woman picked up the heavy suitcase with both hands and followed her roommate out through the lobby and into the late afternoon sun. Crossing the small parking lot, C.C. made it without stopping until they reached her truck. Placing the suitcase on the ground, the tired woman stood up straight and stretched her back. “Hey, Sam. I just have a quick stop to make, if that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah, that’s okay.” Sam lowered the tailgate and put her bag in the bed of the truck. “Ah…where are we stopping?”

C.C. grabbed the suitcase with both hands and hoisted it up to the truck before answering. “Well,” the brunette blew her bangs out of her eyes with a mighty puff of air, “my hair’s been getting in my eyes so I wanted to have my bangs trimmed.” The brunette pushed the suitcase into the bed of the truck, then closed the tailgate. “I was thinking that it’s right on the way to Brooke’s…”

The blonde walked around to the passenger side of the vehicle and looked at her own long blonde hair in the side mirror. “Hmm…That might be a good idea C.C.” Sam tilted her head from side to side as she studied her reflection in the mirror. “Do you think that I would look older with shorter hair?”

The brunette thought about the question as she came around the vehicle and opened the driver’s door, hopping up into the seat. “Older? I don’t know. Maybe…”

Sam took one last look in the mirror. “More mature, maybe?” She opened the door and started to climb up into the cab of the truck. “You know, I am going to be twenty-one next week.”

“Hmmm…” C.C. looked over to the blonde. “Maybe.”

“Come on, let’s go.” Sam motioned toward the road as she reached for her seat-belt.

“Good God, next week, already.” C.C. teased, then winked at her passenger as she tightened the seat-belt and reached to insert the key.

“Yeah, good-bye childhood and hello to the world of being a legal adult.” Sam rolled down her window and looked over to the driver with a devilish grin on her face.

“Woohoo!” C.C. let out a yelp. “Not too much of a difference, you know. But, there is one thing that you can definitely do.” The driver stole a glance at her passenger as she turned around to back out of the parking space. “You can lose the fake I.D.’s.” C.C. pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the highway.

“Yeah…” Sam ran her hands through her long, blonde hair and smirked, “Well, I plan on losing more than that.” She shook her long mane, letting the wind whip the golden locks as she laughed with the feeling of freedom it gave her.

“Really?” C.C.’s eyes grew bigger as she grabbed tightly onto the steering wheel. “You don’t mean…”

“Yeah, I do mean.”

C.C. turned her head sharply to the right to see Sam twirling a lock of blonde hair in her fingers and wiggling her eyebrows.

“Yeah,” Sam nodded her head as though she were making her mind up. “Out with the old and in with the new.”

“OHMYGOD!” C.C. gasped almost losing control of the truck. “You’re going to seduce my sister, aren’t you?”

Sam continued, “You’re looking at a woman in love.” Sam sighed, then suddenly realized that she was missing something vital that was going on. “What?” She asked grabbing on to the handle above the passenger door and sat up straight in her seat.

Concern-filled brown eyes glanced over to Sam then back to the road ahead of the vehicle. “What do you mean, what?” C.C. paused only a few seconds before asking again. “What, what?”

Sam giggled. “I was talking about cutting my hair.” She looked over to C.C., “You know, looking a little more mature for Brooke.”

The brunette openly blushed. “Oops. Oh, ah…sorry.” C.C. tried to shake the images of seduction from her mind.

“Although…” Sam brought a finger to her mouth as she thought. “That may not be such a bad idea,” she muttered under her breath but loud enough for the driver to hear. She took a quick look at C.C. to see if she heard her, then smiled knowing that she did.

“I am so embarrassed. I’m sorry, Sam.” C.C. apologized. “I just thought…” the brunette took one hand off the steering wheel and shielded her face from Sam. “Oh my god.”

The blonde sat back with a smile on her face thinking, If she only knew how close we already came on Tuesday.

The old, rusted-out Cadillac drove along the tarmac, coming to a halt just several yards from the bottom of the portable stairway when Peter turned to his passenger. “Okay, Brooke.” He turned off the ignition and patted the steering wheel. “There you go. Me and the dream machine here wouldn’t let you down. “See,” he gazed out around the multitude of things hanging from the rear-view mirror, “looks like the jet is just waiting for you to board.” Peter smiled broadly at his old friend.

“Yeah, and to think we’re only ten minutes later than I originally planned for.” Brooke raised an eyebrow in his direction.

“Well, how was I supposed to know that they’d give me such a hard time? So, the dream machine has a few little spots of rust…” he caressed the wheel lovingly. “She’s got the best engine a man could want. Able to run long and hard into the night with nary a drop of lubricant. They don’t make them like that anymore, Brooke.”

“God, why do all you men think of cars as some kind of sex object.” As soon as it was out Brooke threw her left hand up and halted any comment coming her way. “Not now, Petey. I’ve got a plane to catch and a girl to get home to.” Brooke reached down and opened the passenger door. “Hey, thanks.” She winked at him then started to get out.

“Anything for you, Brooke.” The man laughed, “Well, really for Sam.”

“Oh, so I’m nothing, huh? What are you doing…trying to steal my girl, are you?” Brooke teased him as she reached in for her jacket.

“Who, me? Nope, but I might be interested in that cousin of hers.” Peter wiggled his eyebrows.

Brooke smiled, throwing the jacket over her shoulder, then grabbed her laptop and briefcase. “I’ll have those tapes mastered by the time you guys get there next week.”