“Josh… you didn’t kill her. Don’t blame it all on yourself. You didn’t know that she was going to die. How could you know something like that? You’re not God, and you’re not psychic.” She paused. “Are you?”
That got a laugh out of him. “Hell no!” He paused, and then let out another sigh. “You’re right though. I know you are… but living with the fact that because you got your fiancé pregnant, your daughter will never have her mother.”
“And if you DIDN’T get her pregnant, you wouldn’t HAVE a daughter.”
“I know…” he groaned. “I’ve thought about this from every imaginable perspective, and…”
“And what?” she prompted.
“And the guilt won’t go away.”
Obviously, she didn’t have anything to say to that.
“Laura, what should I do?”
“My advice is to let them see her. What harm could it do? If you’re afraid that she might like them better, and she might want to live with them instead of you-”
“Yes,” he cut in. “THAT is what I’m afraid of.”
“Then you can STOP being so afraid, because, Josh, that’ll never happen. Trust me.”
The day was new, and Justin had to start the search all over again. Downtown St. Paul, on that Sunday morning, was dead. The only people he saw outside of his window were churchgoers. Certainly, JC was not here—He drove by Assumption Church—Unless he was Catholic… which he wasn’t.
Just out of downtown were a few smaller shops. The coffee shop on the corner caught his eye, and he found a place to park. He stepped out of his car and peered a the place over the rims of his sunglasses at the shop as he dropped his car keys into his pocket. In such a small place, no one would recognize him.
Inside, the place was crowded. It looked like the usual morning crowd, chatting over coffee as they enjoyed their last day of the weekend. It had a homey feeling; the same feeling of a coffee shop in Orlando… anywhere… like something universal.
He walked to the counter and ordered a mocha before finding an empty table by the window. Two women sat at the table next to him.
“I just feel so bad for the guy,” one was saying to the other.
“Who wouldn’t?”
“He’s just at this point in his life where he doesn’t know what to do next… which direction to take.”
Justin took off his sunglasses and sipped at his mocha. It was nice to know that he wasn’t the only one in this God forsaken world who had problems.
That was when one of the women looked straight at him. “Hey,” she said.
“Hey, what?” he wondered, a look of defense spreading over his face.
She stood up and the other one turned around in her chair as well, looking at him. “What?” he finally got out. “I wasn’t listening to your conversation, if that’s what you’re so upset about.”
“No,” she said as she approached his table and slid into the other side of the booth. “You—what’s your name?”
“Stacy!” her friend hissed, but was ignored.
Angel was spending the day with her grandparents, and JC was all alone. He didn’t know what to do with himself in this city. One thing was for sure… there was no way he could sit, rotting away on the couch for another moment. He stared at his watch and looked on as the second hand trudged slowly, making this annoying clicking sound. “Ugh…” he groaned, throwing his arm to his side. “I wanna go home.”
Maybe he just needed to get out of the house. Anyway, what were his chances of bumping into Justin on this early Wednesday morning? He was probably either out of town, or still in bed. Justin wasn’t one to wander the streets of Orlando at nine in the morning.
“But then again,” he said as he got up from the couch and reached onto the coffee table for the keys to his mom’s blue Ford Taurus. “Neither am I.”
“Would you shut up, Laura?” Stacy hissed back at her friend. “Can’t you see who this is?”
Justin’s eyes widened as he leaned back in his seat. “Who am I?” he paused. “Or how about a better question… who do you THINK I am?”
Laura got up and sat next Stacy. “Do you always make it a habit of talking randomly to strangers?”
“But, Laura, he isn’t a stranger!” she said, not taking her eyes from Justin all the while.
“I’m not?” Justin wondered, confused. “Have we met?”
“Well, not formally, but don’t dodge the question anymore. I asked for your name.”
Now, a frown came to Justin’s face. “Just who do you think you are going around here demanding that everyone give you their names?”
“Not everyone,” Stacy corrected. “Just you. And don’t pretend that I don’t know who you are. My niece has pictures of you all over her walls. Just admit it… you’re that singing guy… you know, the one who used to be in that group? What was it called?”
It was Laura’s turn to frown. “What in the hell are you talking about that? This poor man just wanted a cup of coffee—“
“A mocha,” Justin interrupted.
Laura finished, “And here you go around calling him famous? Have you forgotten where we are? Minnesota, Stacy… St. Paul. No famous singers ever come here.”
Stacy finally turned to look at her. “Are you forgetting about the Mall of America? Lots of those types go there for shows or autograph sessions. Free publicity you know.”
Justin cleared his throat, but couldn’t get their attention.
“And this isn’t the Mall. Besides, downtown is practically dead on Sundays. Why would someone like you’ve described be meandering around this ghost city?”
Justin cleared his throat again. “I don’t know, maybe they’re looking for someone.”
Both Laura and Stacy turned to meet his gaze. Stacy sniffed. “What’s your name again?”
Chapter 14 (not ready)
Not A Day Goes By
JC {Fiction}
My Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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