> Julia stood and noticed that Claire and Brady were now sitting at the
couch,
> with Claire on the floor and Brady sitting directly behind her, both
having
> probably moved there when Sam decided to invite herself over to the desk
and
> eat with them and being left alone.
>
> She reached over and brought the glass of iced tea to her mouth and drank,
> surprisingly downing the whole thing with a relieved sigh before looking
> around for the pitcher and asking Kat to scoot it toward her as it was
> nearer her than Julia.
>
> And while she was doing that...
>
> "Do me a favor, would you?" She asked as she unconnected the cords from
the
> laptop she had and handed it to Sam "It's on battery backup. Just take
this
> over to your friends and let Claire check out the system so that she knows
> it's not damaged."
>
> She was at an angle that neither Derek nor Kat saw her face while looking
at
> Sam, nor heard the lower 'helpful' suggestion to Sam as she stood and had
to
> move in order not to be practically sealed to Julia.
>
> "And let's give Derek a little space to breathe, hmm?" she quirked the
edge
> of her lips in a humorous barely there smile. She certainly hoped that
the
> woman wasn't this obvious in front of her school kids -- she could already
> tell they just might have their hands full with questions after the group
> left if Kat's expression was anything to go by.
>
> And frankly-it was starting to annoy her the way Sam Owens suddenly took
on
> the characteristics of superglue with Derek.
>
> Not that it was any of her business, she reminded herself, thinking of
> Derek's personal life, but she knew he wasn't too comfortable with it and
if
> he wasn't, Julia wasn't going to let the woman continue ogling him. Hmm..
> she wasn't too sure she would let the woman continue any other way either
> unless Derek saw fit to give the woman the time of day and did so in
> private.
>
> She kept the friendly expression and tone but on the inside was suddenly
> frowning at the thought of that. Friendly enough woman she guessed.. but
> seeing Sam on a daily basis and across the hall if....
>
> Whoa there, back up the truck, unloading time it's not, Julia thought,
> blinking again and turning to see that the other computer was done as well
> and asking Derek for it.
>
Sam:
Sam took the computer and nodded her eyes hardening only slightly. This was
just the way she was, it wasn't something she could help really. If she saw
something she wanted she went after it. But she wasn't one to be pushed
around by anyone and Julia Walker did not scare her. In an equally low
voice she asked, "are you two seeing each other?" She searched the woman's
eyes ready to judge whether or not the answer was true. If the answer was
"no", well then she had no right to even be involved. If the answer was
yes, Sam would first double check, always check facts.
Derek:
Derek unhooked the other computer and returned it to Brady. "Thank you," he
said to the young couple. "I appreciate your cooperation."
Derek and sam
