Fan Fiction ❯ Josephine the Stegosaurus ❯ Of Red Foil Hearts and Elephant Tusks ( Chapter 8 )

Josie and Bryan watched movies for the rest of the day in a comfortable state of forced companionship until Miranda and Derek returned from the hotel they'd been holed up in until the conditions improved. They didn't seem too upset about that arrangement. The roads had cleared up substantially once the snow stopped and the plows had gone around sweeping the snow away and depositing salt and dirt on the asphalt for friction. The boys went home.

The next week was relatively uneventful. Their new carpool arrangement became a daily thing, with the boys driving to the girls' apartment, then splitting into their respective pairs for the trek into DC. They would all meet at Hatcher's in the evening, and then go back home, with the only difference being that occasionally Miranda would catch a ride back to the boys', or Derek would stay at the girls'. Josie and Bryan sat back and let their friends take their course, rolling their eyes in the background. They lunched separately, since Bryan was becoming ever-more engrossed in the growing scandal on Capitol Hill. They avoided it in conversation, but even after knowing him such a short time, she could see the strain in his smile, and the shadows under his eyes betraying his stress.

The morning rides were their time together, and Josie let her guard down for him once she realized that he had quit trying anything sketchy, giving her some space. Not counting the occasional offhand innuendo, which was only intended to make her laugh, not to come on to her, he was a strict gentleman, and kept things strictly between friends. She found herself growing into a new kind of comfort with him, one that consisted of sing-alongs in DC traffic and no talk of anything related to relationships. It was nice, she thought, to not have to be on the lookout anymore for his advances. She figured it had something to do with her confession of how her last relationship turned out, and her subsequent complete loss of trust in the opposite sex, but she was thankful for it anyway. That he would even settle for just being friends meant a lot to her. It had been a while since she had been friends with a guy, especially one who wasn't gay or already taken.

So the morning of February 14th started like any other day that week would have, and Josie waved goodbye to Bryan as they parted ways in front of the steps of the National Museum of Natural History. Josie's view on the holiday was one typical of intellectual cynics. The only emotion she found stirring was one of pity for her tourism industry counterparts working in Paris this time of year. She grimaced when a pink-and-red cannonball shot out to grab her upon pushing through the glass-paned doors.

“Happy Valentine's Day, Josie!” Miranda shoved a small metallic red heart-shaped box into her hands.

“I can't believe you, Miranda. You bought into the terrible corporate ploy of using the guise of love and Catholic sainthood to make billions off of cheap candy and fake flowers that people only buy because it has been inundated into our culture that not to buy this crap would be cruel to those we love. Hallmark and Palmer's are only rich because they have successfully made people feel guilty if they don't buy their products. By those rights, Valentine's Day is a hugely successful marketing strategy. Possibly the most successful, if not for Halloween. Who doesn't feel awful putting up a sign for kids saying `No candy here?' It's really appalling the kind of hold that candy corporations have on our emotions—“

“Josie. Shut up and just eat the damn chocolate,” said Miranda. She had expected this, but was still cavalierly attempting a smile. It looked like she was baring her teeth.

“Okay,” Josie said. She knew Miranda wasn't the type to worry about conspiracies or aiding a heartless monopoly, she was just a kind person who liked to share love. She supposed she couldn't fault her motives. That was until she spotted the elephant in the room. Two flamingo pink wire garlands adorned with sparkly confetti in the shapes of hearts and stars were entwined delicately around the ivory tusks of the giant African taxodermied pachyderm. Undeniably the work of Miranda. “Billings will lo-ove that,” she said without sarcasm. Miranda grinned proudly.

“Oh, I know. Won't he? You and Bry-Bry must have taken your time, huh? Since I got it all up before you arrived.” Her faux-subtlety made Josie blush, although she had nothing to hide. She hadn't done anything with Bryan for her to be embarrassed about. It was just that a small part of her wanted to keep every detail of their relationship—friendship—safe from prying eyes. It wasn't like she was pestering Miranda about hers. Though, that was probably because she really, really didn't want to hear the details. She got enough knowledge of their relationship when she walked into the bathroom one morning to find her and Derek ah…preparing to take a shower. I will never ever enter any door without knocking first ever again.

“What? We stopped for some breakfast.”

“Oh, is that what the kids are calling it these days?” Miranda wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and Josie plucked a random chocolate from the box she had given her, shoving the piece into Miranda's mouth. Turning on her heel, she sped off to the escalator, going downstairs.

“Josephine? Is that you? I must speak with you about something,” a thin male voice echoed through the marble room and made her turn back. Dr. Billings descended the grand staircase to her right and circled to the front of the elephant in small, unhurried steps, where Josie headed back to meet him. Miranda was still trying to swallow her chocolate piece when he looked up at the elephant's festive tusks, chuckling appreciatively. “Oh ha, marvelous. Simply marvelous. Your work, Miss Jones, I presume? Oh yes.” The small man's eyes twinkled through his thick, large circular wire-rimmed frames and the many shallow, faint lines of his face were drawn into a grin. His hair was wholly gray, parted in the middle and slicked to the sides of his scalp.

He had a tinny kind of voice that rang with a British accent, giving him the appearance and manner of an eccentric English scholar, which, by all rights, he was. He had donned a vivid pink heart-patterned bowtie for the occasion that clashed with his drab gray suit. He stood laughing for a moment and nodded to Miranda, who took the cue to get to her gem shop, and then looked at Josie, tilting his head forward as though he were about to impart some great secret, and that she should be prepared to accept it.

“How's the store?” Josie was perplexed, but answered with mock casualness.

“Good…it's going well.” She nodded and studied his face for something, anything to hint at what exactly he was getting at.

“But you still would rather work on the fossils themselves than plastic toy replicas, yes?”

“Well…yes. Very much so.” Billings' smile grew.

“There's a dig site…out in Colorado being worked on currently. They seem to have found evidence of a great herd of triceratops nearby. They've been unearthing footprints and nests. Even a few eggs. They're very confident that soon they will come across the motherload, as it were, of full triceratops fossils, dated to around the time of extinction.” Josie was on the verge of drooling, dreaming of what it would be like to find it, to have her name on a plaque at a museum stating your discovery, to uncover an entire herd of dinosaurs, frozen in history as though not a day had gone by, except for the whole fossilized part. It could mean new insight into the cause of their extinction as a whole.

“Why are you telling me this, Dr. Billings?”

“Because the head of the excavation, Dr. Leonard Steingrove is a friend of mine. He has asked me to recommend an intern to fly over to assist with the dig for a period of six months.” Josie's mouth went slack.

“Won't you send Lisa then?”

“Oh, Lisa's rubbish. She can run tests and fit puzzle pieces fine, but I think we all know someone a bit more suited for actual fieldwork. I am recommending you for the position, Josephine.”

“But Dr. Billings—”

“Oh don't try to refuse the offer. I know how much you love this field, and you know how heartbroken I was for you when some other professors decided to judge on more ah—subjective criteria when they chose an official intern for the paleontology department. This, however, is my choice alone, and I choose to send you. Now make me proud. Your flight for Denver leaves at 9 o'clock PM on March 5th. You will get a rather piddling wage of $300 a week, but all your expenses will be paid, including a hotel room. Here is your ticket. Until then, you had better brush up on your triceratops!” He winked and passed her a plane ticket, Row B, seat A. It was in first class. Josie took it in her right hand, staring at it, dumbstruck. Billings took the opportunity to nick a chocolate from the box being held limply in her other hand. “Hope you don't mind if I take a caramel.” He walked away beaming, chewing the candy with some effort. Josie blinked and snapped out of her spell to see his retreating back.

“Thank…you,” she said. He raised his hand in acknowledgment and disappeared around the bend in the staircase. Miranda tiptoed out from behind a column, approaching Josie slowly, because from the shock on her face, she could have just been fired for all she knew.

“So…?” Josie noticed Miranda, swallowed, and held the ticket out to her. Miranda's brows furrowed in confusion. “I don't get it…Denver? Are you going to Denver? Why?” She listened as Josie explained the situation, and once she got the point, she shrieked mid-sentence and scooped Josie into her arms, twirling. “Oh my God! I'm so happy for you! That's such an amazing opportunity, Josie!” Miranda's high-pitched congratulations rang through the majestic hall, making Josie blush at the attention even though the building was still mostly empty.

“Yeah, I know. I'll be gone for six months.” Miranda's glee sobered when she realized why her friend was so apprehensive.

“Oh honey, you know everyone's going to be there for you. I'll call every day and write letters and take pictures and everything so that it'll be like you were never gone.”

“No, it's…don't take this the wrong way, Miranda, but it isn't you who I'm worried about.” Josie looked down and blushed, but felt somewhat better about confiding her worries in her friend that leaving them to eat at her thoughts.

“Oh,” Miranda whispered. “It'll be fine. I know he'll understand. He's your friend, right? He should know how much this will mean to you.”

“It's just that…it's so…fragile, you know? I've only known him for a little more than a week, and I don't think we could…keep this…if I'm halfway across the country.”

“And you want to keep this.”

“Well…I guess,” said Josie. Miranda smiled a taut, knowing smile as she embraced her friend.

“Everything will be fine. You have until March to solidify your friendship, right?”

“I guess—”

“Okay. Well you can do that. Or, by then you might realize that he's a total and utter prick and you won't feel bad about losing your friendship.”

“I guess—”

“Or maybe you two will fall madly, desperately in love and then you'll choose him over dinosaurs and instead of going to Colorado, you'll fly off to Paris and elope—”

“Ah, somehow I think not.” Josie felt another stab of pity for the gift shop workers at the Eiffel Tower who had to work Valentine's Day.

“Sorry, it's just that festive spirit.” Josie rolled her eyes. “See you later sweetie! Oh! And you should call him. Tell him what's going on.” Josie nodded as Miranda bounced off to the staircase, leaving the plane ticket back in her hands. Josie stared down at it again, shook her head, and went off to work.

There was still some time before the museum officially opened, so she took her time rearranging the plush dinos in the corner, her thoughts still wrapped around a certain offer and a certain head of dark wavy hair and deep brown eyes that had the power to melt her thoughts. Not that he's been doing any thought-melting lately. That's nice of him, considering what happened with Jeremy, but…she sighed. Thought-melting does have its benefits.

Acting on a sudden spur of inspiration, she got up and headed to the back room, where she found a pale yellow post-it still stuck where she had posted it. She went back to the dinosaur display, and sat on a padded brontosaurus chair, the seat being a flattened version of its back, with her hand gripping its neck on her right. Taking out her cell phone, she dialed the number, muttering the digits under her breath as she entered them. Three rings later, she heard a click.

“Hello?” a clipped, unamused voice answered.

“Hey, Bryan?”

“Oh, yeah, hey.” His voice relaxed somewhat, but it still seemed tight.

“Uh…” damnit. I can't tell him like this. I don't know how he'll react, but it just doesn't sound like him. “Do you want to have lunch today? Maybe? If you're not too busy? I've kind of got to talk to you.” She winced as she said it, worrying what exactly he might take that to mean.

“Oh. Yeah, absolutely. But I don't think I can get out of the building, we've got a lot of work to do. Can you come down here?”

“Sure. Mmhm.”

“I'll notify the security guards. Just go in the front door and ask for me. They'll tell you where to go.”

“Okay.” It suddenly seemed like a big production, involving security guards and whatnot.

“Hey, how about you bring Miranda along? I'm sure Derek would love to see her too.” Josie sighed, thanking him mentally for noticing her discomfort at walking into the Capitol all alone just to have lunch.

“Yeah, can do.”

“Okay. Come by at noon, okay?”

“Okay.”

“See you then.”

“Bye,” she said, and hung up. That had been one of the strangest conversations she had ever had with Bryan. Neither of them sounded like usual, she knew, and she wondered if something was eating at his mind as well. Her cell phone sat cradled in her lap along with the post-it and ticket, and while she willed her body to get up, her body was too content to obey, and she sat frozen for a few moments. She looked down at her hands, a plane ticket to Denver clenched in one hand, and Bryan's number and her phone in the other. Eventually she walked back to the staff room and placed her things on the table, tying on her apron and putting her hair up into a ponytail. Then, producing a key, she unlocked the main doors to begin her work day like any other, on a day that would prove to be most unlike any other she had ever had.