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" Since Kerry didn&amp;#039;t end up coming with us on Sunday \u2014 she did have the fundraiser with her father \u2014 I planned to take her and Jackson out for dinner tonight.  &amp;quot;Can we go to Annie&amp;#039;s?&amp;quot; Jackson said. &amp;quot;We have to go the library near our apartment anyway to work on a project. The one on Sixth Avenue? They have a special Shakespeare section. Half the class is going after school. Can&amp;#039;t we have dinner at Annie&amp;#039;s? We haven&amp;#039;t gone in like forever.&amp;quot;  I felt my throat clench. I kept putting off going there. It was ridiculous already. Jackson and Sam had a great relationship. And if I couldn&amp;#039;t deal with Josh, I should at least be able to deal with Sam.  &amp;quot;Of course. I&amp;#039;ll meet you guys there at 7 p.m.&amp;quot;  Only, when I walked in at 7:05, there was no Kerry. Only Jackson. And Sam.  It was my first time seeing Sam in awhile and it made me more than a little nervous. He was wearing jeans and a button-down white shirt \u2014 and he looked adorable.  Jackson explained that Kerry had come only for a little bit, after the library, and then her father had come to pick her up early.  &amp;quot;They had a family thing,&amp;quot; he said.  When Jackson went to the bathroom, I inquired about Kerry.  &amp;quot;I can&amp;#039;t believe that I missed her again,&amp;quot; I said. &amp;quot;Jackson talks about her all the time. What&amp;#039;s she like?&amp;quot;  I was sitting at the bar, and Sam was standing behind it, toweling off glasses.  He shrugged. &amp;quot;Nice, I guess. Jackson seems nuts about her.&amp;quot;  &amp;quot;Nice, you guess? That&amp;#039;s not a screaming endorsement.&amp;quot;  Sam kept busy cleaning glasses that already looked clean to me. He was being chilly to me. There were no two ways about it.  &amp;quot;Or is that geared at me because I haven&amp;#039;t been by in awhile?&amp;quot; I said.  He put the glass down. &amp;quot;Look, Liz, you don&amp;#039;t owe me an explanation. You can come and go as you want. But I thought we were becoming friends, and I haven&amp;#039;t seen you at all in weeks.&amp;quot;  &amp;quot;I know. I&amp;#039;m sorry.&amp;quot;  I looked up at him, and he was meeting my eyes. I couldn&amp;#039;t help but think: This is a man who&amp;#039;s good at doing this, at being real with someone even when it&amp;#039;s complicated or uncomfortable.  So I decided to be real back. &amp;quot;The thing is, Sam, I&amp;#039;ve been dealing with something with that guy I&amp;#039;m seeing, and I felt that being around here would confuse it even further for me.&amp;quot;  &amp;quot;Why&amp;#039;s that?&amp;quot;  I smiled. &amp;quot;You know why&amp;#039;s that.&amp;quot;  He smiled back.  &amp;quot;There&amp;#039;s a connection between us and since I wasn&amp;#039;t ready to act on it\u2026since I was trying to figure out things with Josh, and then things with him got awful, I just thought it was better to leave you out of it.&amp;quot;  Sam nodded, and looked at me thoughtfully before speaking. He was really looking at me. &amp;quot;Well, let me take it off the table then. You and me. We&amp;#039;re going to be friends. Purely friends. Because I missed you. And I haven&amp;#039;t missed anyone in a long time. And I&amp;#039;d rather us build a friendship than nothing at all&amp;quot;  &amp;quot;Really?&amp;quot;  &amp;quot;Yes, really.&amp;quot;  I nodded, trying to avoid the lump in my throat. How could that bother me? It was the right thing\u2026 &amp;quot;Thank you,&amp;quot; I said.  &amp;quot;You&amp;#039;re welcome.&amp;quot; He took out a wineglass and filled it for me. &amp;quot;Now, before Jackson gets back, tell me about what&amp;#039;s been happening.&amp;quot;  And amazingly, I started to talk. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/love-sex/a2665/diary-e-022108/>