Jynx'd

"Thanks for showing me my 'dressing room'" she said with her usual glowing smile. As she walked in, she winked at him and added, "No peeking."

Mathis said nothing but only offered a tempered smile as he closed the door. He continued to hold the knob for a second, thinking. From the time he first met her, Samantha always managed to make almost everything she said both genuinely sweet yet teasingly suggestive. It caught him off guard and stirred a strange reaction from deep within him.

After taking a deep breath, he finally released the knob. He turned...and jumped back, startled. Ernesto and Janelle stood in the hallway three feet away from him.

"Damn! Don't sneak up on a man like that guys!" he snapped.

"Who's that?" Ernesto asked.

"Yeah, who is she?" Janelle also asked arms crossed. A more pointed hint of suspicion embellished her voice.

"Uh," Mathis hesitated looking back towards the door, "Mia hired her for the party. She's like a clown or magician or something, I think."

"You two seemed nice and familiar with each other," Janelle remarked, narrowing her eyes a little.

"Yeah, sort of but not really. Took a class with her in first year. Haven't seen her since." Mathis stuffed a hand in his pocket. The other he used to scratch the back of his neck as he shifted on his feet.

"Mm-hmm," Janelle replied in a cool tone.

Ernesto nodded. "She's a cute little package, huh?" he stated with a grin.

Mathis said nothing. Janelle looked unimpressed.

"Mathis! Where in the world are you?" Mia called from downstairs.

"Up here!" he replied quickly looking past Janelle and Ernesto. "Coming down!"

He slipped between the two of them. Janelle just pivoted on her feet, turning to watch him go downstairs, her arms still crossed.

"Where have you been?" Mia scolded him as he trotted down the steps. There was a group of newly arrived guests in the foyer.

"Found Morris," he said to her, then added, "And Sammy is here."

"Who?"

"Ah, I mean Jynx," he corrected himself, "She's upstairs getting changed."

As he greeted the guests and took their presents, he glanced anxiously back up the stairs.

**********

*First Year University Campus Promenade*

Samantha shuffled through the slush and snow covered pathways that criss-crossed the campus. It was one of those grey sky days. The snow covered grounds seemed to deaden the sounds around her and it was easy to become lost in thought. She felt a tap on her right shoulder, but when she turned no one was there. A tap on her left and she turned again facing just emptiness. A couple of quick twists of her neck and she saw Mathis looking down at her, a toothy white smile on his face.

"Hey!" she breathed, wisps of steam escaping her lips into the frosty air.

"Hey, good to see you," he said.

She nodded, her mouth dipping behind her red knit muffler each time she did. "Aren't you freezing?" she asked, pointing her pink-flushed nose towards his flimsy varsity sports jacket. "You don't even have a hat or gloves."

"Nah! Nah!" he exclaimed with a wave of his hand, "This body has way too much heat. See? The snow doesn't even come close to touching it before it melts."

Samantha laughed. "I see," she said. She held up he hands towards him like she was warming herself by a fire. She pursed her lips and nodded. "I should have brought marshmallows."

Mathis smiled then said, "Hey. I just wanted to thank you for what you did for me in class the other day, helping me with the Superman thing and all that. I appreciate it."

"No problem. It was just a minor thing. 5% of our mark," she replied with a shrug, "How'd you do?"

"Got a 'C-'," he sighed, "But I'm sure you helped pull it up from a 'D'."

She grinned and looked down, shaking her head.

"How about you?" he asked.

"An 'A'," she replied.

Mathis leaned back and smiled wide, "Aw yeah. Saw that coming. Good for you. That was some twisted stuff you brought up with Green Eggs and Ham!"

She chuckled warmly. "You know, I didn't even get into some even more wicked ideas," she explained, "Would you, could you on a ship? Have you ever considered doing it with whips?"

"Ohh! No! No!" Mathis laughed upwards. "How does someone that looks like you come up with such freaky shit?"

"Cuz I'm not that innocent," she sang with an accentuated nasally voice as she did a little spin move. She giggled, "Sorry, did Britney Spears in karaoke the other night at the pubs."

"That's just sick," Mathis said then added in a more officious tone, "Now look, I'm telling you to stop it."

He reached for her hand and held her wrist as if he was checking her pulse. She looked at him curiously but her smile was stretched wide as she chuckled.

"As a medically trained professional," Mathis went on, "I'm advising you to curb your freakiness before you find yourself on some stage dressed in leather with some middle-aged white man in a dog collar, on all fours, saying that he has mommy issues."

"But sometimes the urge just takes over, 'doctor'," she joked along, "What's a poor girl to do?"

"Set up more appointments with her doctor, of course," he suggested dripping on the dramatics. He clasped both of her hands in his and urged, "Together we can get through this. Just gotta believe. Be strong."

They stared at one another for a moment then both broke into sputtering laughter. The few other people crossing the promenade looked over at them until they subsided and Mathis released her hands.

Finally, Samantha noted, "You skipped out pretty quickly after class."

"Yeah, I have to head over to practice right after," he replied, "Football."

Samantha gave a little pump of her fist. She offered a tiny cheer, "Yay. Go Blues!"

"I play wide receiver."

She tilted her head and studied him. "You don't look that wide," she remarked innocently.

"Yeah, right," he chuckled. Season's almost over though. Just playoffs now."

"Good luck," she said, "I'll be rooting for you."

"Thanks. I'll have more time to focus on studies, soon."

"Well, a small group of us were thinking of starting a study group the period before the tutorial. You want to join?"

Mathis looked off to the side and nodded, "Yeah...yeah, I'll get in on that. I could use all the help I can get, I guess."

"Great. I promise to contain my freakiness," she announced. She bounced on her feet, "Brr! It's freezing! I was gonna meet up with some friends at the coffee shop. Do you want to come along?"

Mathis stuffed his hands into his pants pockets and shrugged. "Yeah, sure. This cold really is a bi...-"

A snowball smacking him in the back cut him off. He turned around in time to get another one in the chest.

"Hey, Mathis our man! Where you been at?" Ernesto waved to him. A group of young men all wearing the same varsity jacket as Mathis surrounded him. He called out, "We're heading out to Big Smokey's for some wings and curly fries. Come on!"

Mathis looked briefly at the group then back at Samantha. He winced a little as he thumbed towards his team-mates and said, "Ah...sorry. I probably should..."

"No problem," she replied, "Rain-check? Or should we say snow-check?"

"Sure," he said as he started to walk away. He pointed back to her. "Next week for the tutorial group, alright?"

"Right," she answered, standing for a moment in the middle of the promenade watching him before turning away.

As he and the group walked, Mathis looked back towards Samantha. He stopped and squinted. In the distance he could see her meeting up with a man, another student. He was dark, olive skinned. They exchanged a kiss then held each other as they continued to walk away.

Mathis shivered.

*********

To Mathis' surprise, Jynx the Klown was a hit at the birthday party. He had been certain that her reception would resemble something like a priest in a strip bar but the kids really took to her antics. Instead her magic tricks, balloon animals, miming, and jokes had her rapt audience of kids jumping up and down for more.

She moved all over the backyard, hyper and energetic even under the sun. Nothing ever seemed to slowdown the woman, or get her down. A joke would fall flat, she would just take it on the chin, try something else, and have the kids eating out of her cotton-gloved hands again.

He was a little dismayed about it. Before he had known who was under the costume and make up, he had been secretly hoping the clown would crash and burn after the water to the face stunt from the other day. Now he didn't want Samantha to screw up badly, but he still amused himself with ideas of getting back at her in some small fashion.

He watched from the patio table as the kids followed her around the yard like she was pied-piper.

"Hey, champ," he called to Shawn, as he ran past trailing the clown, "Your uncle Mathis is free now. How about I give a helicopter spin 'round the house?"

The little boy just shook his head and followed after Jynx.

"Ooh. You've been replaced, my friend," Ernesto chided, "By a clown."

Janelle sat beside Mathis, arms still crossed, one leg bouncing over the other. She shook her head as she frowned and glared at Jynx. "I don't get it," she groused. She looked at one of Jynx's fliers the clown had been handing out to some of the older guests, "Lame-o the Clown."

Mathis shrugged. "She's alright. Kids seem to dig her," he said, "Who knows?"

Shawn ran back to Mathis. "Look!" he said, holding up a balloon shaped into a long sausage dog.

Mathis lifted him up and sat him on his knee. "Hey! That's a cool looking dog there, champ," he remarked, "Ain't you lucky! Woof! Woof!"

"Wheeeere's the birthday boy?" Jynx called out from across the yard, her palm stretched over her brow as she scanned the area, "Where's he hiding?"

The kids all pointed towards Shawn and Mathis shouting, "There! There!"

"Oh no," Janelle remarked cringing, "Here she comes."

Jynx strode over in her big floppy shoes and stood in front of Mathis and his nephew. Her hands were behind her back. He grinned. She was almost unrecognizable in her make up.

"There's the handsome boy!" Jynx announced.

Mathis waved, feigning embarrassment. "Aw shucks....go on," he joked, "It's his birthday. You shouldn't be talking all about me."

Jynx rolled her eyes and fluttered her lips. She leaned down close and addressed Shawn still seated on Mathis' knee. "I see you have a really delicious looking birthday cake," she said, "But where's your birthday pie?"

Shawn shrugged. With that, Jynx brought her hands out from behind her back and held out a pie covered in cream. There was a collective "Mmm" amongst the gathered kids and guests.

"Do you like pie, Shawn?" Jynx asked.

The little boy shrugged.

"No?" Jynx pouted and shook her head. "How about your uncle? Do you think he'll like my pie?"

Mathis suddenly realized where she was going with this, frowned and protested, "Oh no! Don't you..."

He was cut off as Jynx splattered the pie against his face. A glob of it filled his mouth.

His eye blinking beneath the fluffy, white cream, Mathis could hear the hysterical laughter erupting around him. Even Shawn was kicking in hysterics on his knee.

Jynx poked him, honking her horn. "Oops, sorry," she said, "That was an accident. An AC-CI-DENT." Then she pranced away leading the kids, including Shawn, to another area of the yard.

Mathis was left motionless on his seat, still blinking, sticky whipped cream starting to fall from his face. Janelle sympathetically grabbed a napkin and started to wipe it off.

Ernesto leaned up beside him, looking at Jynx. "I'd like to try her pie," he chuckled.

*********

After changing out of her Jynx costume, Samantha came out from the bedroom, pulling her suitcase along. Mathis came up to the top of the stairs just as she did.

"All good?" he asked.

She nodded. With a playful tilt of her head, she said, "I thought you would be standing outside the door, keeping guard while I changed."

"From what?"

"Your brother barging in to get back at me for interrupting his brunch time delight?"

Mathis chuckled as he walked over. He waved his hand and said, "Nah. Morris isn't pissed, just embarrassed. Besides, he's not interested in...uh...someone like yourself,"

Samantha grinned. "Someone like me?"

"You know," Mathis said rocking his head side-to-side as he looked at her peach-skinned face, "Like...uh,,,"

"He's not into clowns?" she offered with a lift of her brow.

He nodded quickly, "Yeah. Clowns."

Samantha shook her head sadly and sighed, "So much prejudice in this world."

"He just has no appreciation for trying different things," Mathis explained.

"Unlike his brother?" she asked smiling up to him.

Mathis grinned and pointed to himself with both of his hands, shrugging. "Hey, how can I deny all of THIS to ANYONE on the planet?"

A spirited chuckle escaped from Samantha. She reached out, almost mindlessly, and tugged at the bottom of his shirt as she did. "Hey," she noted, "Your shirt is stained."

Mathis examined his shirt spotted with several off-colour blotches. "Yeah well, SOMEBODY managed to get my good white shirt covered in messy cream, you know?" he replied, pointing his dimpled chin towards her.

"Hmm, maybe your brother Morris wasn't the only one getting busy in that bedroom?" she quickly fired back. She then chewed her lower lip, restraining a lascivious smile.

His mouth dropped at her suggestive words and look. Something squeaked up through his throat. He shook his head and blinked. Pointing back down the stairs, he asked, "Does my sister know what kind of woman she hired to entertain her kid?"

Samantha leaned back against the bedroom door, hand at her chest, laughing. Mathis joined in.

With a heavy sigh to regain her breath, she said, "I AM sorry about your shirt."

"Mm-hmm."

"It's just that a clown is only as good as her foil, you know?" she explained. She folded her hands behind her back as she continued to lean back against the door, looking up towards him.

"Well in that case, that must mean you're a great clown," he said, taking a step towards her.

With an easy smile, she gave a telling shrug and said, "Uh-huh. The absolute best."

"A talented clown," he said, his voice smoothing out.

"Oh, VERY talented," she concurred, with a slow blink of her dark lashes. "You have no idea."

"And of course, a very hot and sexy clown," Mathis said through a telling grin, the words coming fast from his mind and suddenly heavy beating heart.

Samantha's lips parted slightly. She didn't say anything.

Not only did Mathis not realize he was steadily leaning down towards her, but his mind was wandering. He imagined his hands moving to her hips. He thought about how the inward curve of her waist would feel against his palm and fingers, his thumb nudging between the edges where the bottom of her top and the waistband of her shorts met, caressing her smooth, milky skin.

For the first time since he met her again, he saw a nervous, hesitant look in her always bright, spirited eyes. For whatever reason, it drew him to her even more. It felt like a warm wave of water was sweeping him forward towards her.

Still as he moved in slowly, she said nothing and didn't look away.

Suddenly the sound of a cell phone chime interrupted them. They both flinched.

"Sorry," Samantha said as she cleared her throat and quickly reached into a side pocket of her luggage. She pulled out her phone.

Mathis took a step back, inhaling deeply as if he had just come up for air, or had been pulled out of some deep, fantastic dream.

She turned aside and answered her phone. "Hi?" she said, "Yeah. I'm coming out. Just pull up to the curb. 'Kay. Thanks."

Dropping her phone back into the pocket, she said, "My ride is here."

Mathis nodded slowly, his lips tight. Finally he said, "Is it that guy....what's his name? Joachim?"

Samantha frowned slightly, "Joachim? No, my sister. She's going to take me to another gig across town."

After a moment's pause looking at one another, she finally simply turned and started for the stairs. Mathis observed her for a second then strode by her taking hold of her luggage without asking, and carried it down.

"Thanks," Samantha said softly, pausing at the top of the stair momentarily before following him down.

"No sweat," he replied, "But damn, what do you have in here? A dead body?"

"Why does everyone always assume it's dead?" she snapped back.

Mathis stopped to look back, giving her the eye. She flashed him an innocent smile. They both chuckled and then let out a long sigh as they made it to the foyer.

"Well," she began, clasping her hands together, "That was fun. It was great to see you again, Mathis."

"Yeah, that worked out alright, surprisingly," he admitted with a nod.

"Let's meet up again, okay?" she added, "Talk about school...or not. Let's just get together, alright? Call me?"

Mathis felt encouraged to hear that. He replied, "Yeah, sure. I..."

"Oh, don't forget about your pay!" Mia hurried down the hallway towards them, holding up an envelope. Janelle trailed her.

Samantha blinked. "Oh, right!" she exclaimed, "I honestly almost forgot about that!"

Mathis stepped aside as Mia came over and handed her the envelope. She held onto it, though, even as Samantha tried to take it from her. She gave the young woman a thorough once-over. "You're kidding?" she remarked, frowning, "This sweet looking girl was under all that make up and hair and causing all that fuss with the kids?"

Samantha grinned. "Guilty!" she declared, obviously pleased with herself. "Best job in the world."

"Amazing!" Mia said. She pushed the envelope into Samantha's hand and winked. "Well, you take this. You earned it, for sure. There's a little something extra from some of the others, too."

Samantha was elated and smiled broadly. "Thanks so much! That's great!" she said, "Oh, if you wouldn't mind. Could you hand these out to some of your guests?"

She passed copies of her flier to Mia and Janelle as well.

"Certainly," Mia replied. Janelle looked like she would just as soon drop them in the waste bin.

Samantha thanked everyone again and said good-bye. They all watched her as she turned to leave. As she passed by Mathis, she looked up at him, smiled, and shrugged.

He watched as she made her way down the home's walkway towards the curb where a silver Honda was waiting, its motor running and the trunk popped open. A woman stepped out from the driver's side and waved to her.

After she and her sister tossed her luggage into the trunk, Samantha looked back towards Mathis and waved. He pointed back at her and called out, "Hey, Sammy! That's two you owe me, girl!" He held up two fingers to accentuate his demand. "I have to get you back!"

Samantha rolled her eyes. She did her boxer's bravado pose again, laughed, then she got into the car and headed off.

"That's two what she owes you?" Janelle asked, suspicious, as he closed the front door.

"Ah nothing," he assured her, "Just some private business."

"Well, how about you and I go out and play for awhile. Enjoy the rest of the day," Janelle asked, easing down somewhat.

"Yeah, sure. Uh...that okay?" he asked looking at Mia.

His sister looked at him dryly and finally just turned away. She waved a hand dismissively as she spoke, "Sure. Fine. Party's wrapping up anyway. I'll get Morris to help clean up."

"Cool. Thanks, sis," he said to her. Then he turned to Janelle and said, "Let me just go grab my stuff upstairs."

"Sure, handsome," she replied.

As he headed up the stairs, he paused and added, "Oh, go find Ernesto. Tell him we're heading out."

Janelle's smile wavered noticeably. She had forgotten about Ernesto. He was probably in the kitchen finishing off leftovers in the warming trays. A decidedly pouting frown on her face, she glared at the Samantha's Jynx the Klown flier.