Fan Fiction ❯ Josephine the Stegosaurus ❯ Wondering ( Chapter 4 )

The cash register made a chinking sound as the latch snapped closed and locked itself. Josie was looking at the woman in front of her as she handed her her change, but couldn't really see anything. All she concentrated on were four words, replaying in a loop in her mind, making her queasy.

“See you at noon.”

It was already 12:15.

As the off-season tourist walked away with her white, Smithsonian-branded plastic bag, Josie's eyes unconsciously floated back to the hallway on the other side of the giant glass-paned walls. A hunk of petrified wood sat squarely between the opposing gift shops (that sold slight variations on the same souvenir theme), the dignified-looking placard on the tree trunk's pedestal reminding the passers-by that they were still in a museum. Constant chatter drifted down the escalator steps from the massive, marble, high-ceilinged rotunda at the heart of the museum, and saturated the air on the ground floor like an audible fog. Inside the shop, a weak fan spun overhead and waved a few stray strands of reddish-brown hair into the warm-toned tungsten-powered ambient light. The honey-colored wood panels of the floor were waxed to a sheen, reflecting the shop in the sanded grains like water. It was supposed to feel warm and cozy, but for Josie, it was stifling.

Then, she spotted someone coming her way. Narrowing her eyes, she stepped in front of the counter and crossed her arms as Miranda waltzed across the threshold.

“Are you going on lunch break yet?” she said. Josie's eyebrows went up.

“I have one thing to say to you, Miranda,” she said, keeping her expression flat, “Bye, bye Miss American Pie.” She punctuated the title by spinning on her heel and walking back to the staff room behind the counter.

“Hey, Josie, I was just trying to help you out!”

“You mean help him out! Congratulations, you tricked me into thinking Bryan was a nice guy.”

“Well, isn't he? I think he'd be really good for you! You haven't even had a date since Jeremy, and—”

“Don't talk to me about him. This has nothing to do with him. It's just…” Josie trailed off. Miranda checked outside to see that the other clerk on duty had filled in at the counter, not that there were any customers anyway. She closed the door.

“Okay. Spill. What is it just?”

Josie collapsed onto an old, but comfortable couch in the small, drab gray-walled room while Miranda hopped onto a small counter next to a sink, crossing her legs. A mini-fridge sat underneath. Josie rubbed her eyes with her fingers and looked up at her best friend. Even if she had sort of betrayed her wishes by getting her involved in this mess with Bryan, she would always know she had the best of intentions.

“He's not coming,” said Josie, sounding close to a child complaining about not getting a new toy.

“What?”

“He…I…I asked if he'd like to meet for lunch, and he said yes, but he hasn't shown up.” Miranda looked delighted.

“You did? Oh, I knew you had it in you to make the first move.”

“No! It was nothing like that! I just…he was walking away, and I got this feeling like if I didn't say anything, I was never going to see him again, and I,” she paused, realizing what she said as it came out of her mouth, “I wanted to. I really wanted to see him again.”

Miranda smiled with a knowing look. “Do you like him?” Josie was caught off guard by her question, and scrambled for her mind to pick up and form a coherent thought.

“I…suppose he's interesting. And funny.” And charming, and gorgeous, and nice when he wants to be, and a great singer, and oh yeah, a pompous jerk. Though really, that side of him is fading a bit from what I've seen…but that still doesn't excuse the fact that he's totally blowing me off right now.

“That doesn't answer my question. I'm not talking individual qualities here. Do you like him?” she spelled it out.

“I…I don't know yet. I've only known him for what, 18 hours, if that? I think I'm allowed a little more time to formulate an opinion.”

“Josie, I know you. You formulated your opinion within minutes of meeting him. You even told me as much. You're just all bent out of shape because everything he's done since then has been proving your first impression wrong.” Josie's head snapped up and she shot Miranda a puzzled glance. “Let him prove it wrong. He deserves another chance. And you deserve him.”

“How are you so sure he's genuine? Maybe my first impression was right, and he really is what I thought he was,” said Josie. It was Miranda's turn to start blushing now, and she spoke awkwardly.

“Well…I've been talking with Derek. A lot. For most of last night, actually, on the phone. And this morning.” She sighed as Josie's eyebrows went up. “You know, you're not the only one who needs a man.” Identical grins spread on both of their faces as they shared a laugh.

“So…did you guys talk about Bryan?” said Josie, a sense of hopefulness in her voice as she dared to hope she had been wrong about him. Miranda nodded slowly.

“He said that Bryan tends to set up walls for self-defense, put on an act around people to keep them out, that kind of thing. I told him that sounded familiar.” Josie smacked her arm lightly. “Hey! Do you want me to keep going? Okay. He also told me that once you get past all the barriers and insecurities, he's a really great guy. Just a bit complicated. He's been hurt before, so he may not be so trusting right at the beginning, but he's loyal, understanding, blah-blah-blah, you can figure the rest out for yourself, missy, but if you don't at least try with this guy, I am going to be forced to tell Dr. Billings what you did with Lisa's soil testing results.”

Josie gasped and turned on Miranda. “You wouldn't!”

“Okay, you're right, I wouldn't do that to you. What I would do, though, if you screw this up, is call your Mr. Gorgeous myself, and you know how well I can impersonate your voice, and—”

“All right! Okay. I get it,” said Josie, “But that still doesn't solve the problem. He's still not here.”

“I know. Derek called. He said they'd be running a bit late. They have a good reason.” Josie's nerves calmed considerably, putting her faith in her friend's words.

“Wait—they?”

“Oh, don't worry. Derek and I will leave you two alone to do whatever it is you do.” Josie blushed, recalling their spectacular duet from earlier. Miranda raised an eyebrow. “I won't ask what that means.” A sharp siren-like ringing drew both of their glares to the telephone on the counter next to Miranda. She picked the receiver off the hook and held it straight out to Josie like one would handle a sword, hilt-first. She wrapped her fingers around the plastic and held it up to her ear cautiously, as though it were a bomb about to explode.

“Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History gift shop. This is Josephine Taylor, can I help you?”

“A hello would be nice,” said Bryan. He was being sarcastic, but there was still an edge of something else that Josie couldn't place.

“Hello. Where are you? It's almost 12:30. I was wondering if you'd show up…” she said, trying to hide the residue of the nervous tension that had gripped her earlier.

“Were you hoping I'd show up?”

“Wondering. I was wondering,” said Josie. Her tone was buoyant enough for him to take her answer as a yes.

“I've been really busy, Josie,” he said, sounding exhausted, “I'll explain later. I'll be there in ten minutes. Can you wait outside the Mall-side entrance for me?”

“Sure, ten minutes, but how'd you get this number?”

“Come on, I thought you were a Ph.D.. Your building's on the same street, in a way, and I work for the government. You think they wouldn't know the number of the museum gift shop?”

“But there are five gift shops in this building alone. How'd you know which one was mine?”

He paused. “Well, I called the other four, and since you weren't at any of those, I figured it had to be this one.” Josie could practically hear his smile on the other end as she laughed.

“And yet you still seem to make it sound like it was your plan all along.”

“If you gave me your number yourself, you know, I wouldn't have to play this guessing game or run around 14th Street and every bar in the city just to talk to you.” She blushed, and even though she knew he couldn't see her, she nodded thoughtfully.

“Hmm…maybe…”

“Well, just in case you have a similar crisis, mine's 212-555-0736.” Josie bit her lip and let out an unmistakable sound. Did I just…giggle? Oh my.

“I'll have to remember that,” she said. It sounded sarcastic, but in actuality, the digits were still being written out in her mind.

“Well then. See you in ten minutes.”

“See you then. Bye.” Josie placed the receiver back onto the holder with the utmost care, trying to restrain her lips from breaking out into a loopy grin. Her sapphire eyes were glowing, and she turned them on her friend, who was now standing by the door, seemingly trying to hold in a bout of laughter.

“My God. Did you just giggle? I never thought I'd ever see the day,” said Miranda. She shook her head and smiled to herself. “Forget it. You don't need my help at all, Josie.” She twisted the brushed steel doorknob and half-exited. “For that matter, he doesn't need my help either.” Miranda closed the door behind her and left to while away the ten minutes she'd overheard it would take for the guys to get to the museum to pick them up. As soon as Josie heard the lock click into place, she picked up a pen and a post-it note from the staff room countertop.

“2-1-2…5-5-5…0-7-3-6…”