He had to admit that it was a good question. Why was she so interested in helping him? Actually, the answer was a whole lot easier than one might imagine. When he raised his eyebrows at her, a sudden look of surprise came over her face.
“What are you implying?”
“Nothing, I just want to know why you’re taking an special interest in me. What makes me so different than the rest of your clients?”
When all she did was stare, he turned his gaze away, sat down at the piano bench and hit a few keys. She took a step closer.
“Is it a crime to LIKE someone?”
“No,” he answered simply. “It’s not. I was just curious, that’s all.”
“Oh,” she said softly, retreating.
He hit a chord and looked up at her sharply. “So, you like me? That’s it?”
Laura drew in a breath as she stared at him. Her eyebrows narrowed and she squinted “You are a very forward man, Josh.”
His grin faded slightly. He hadn’t realized… “I thought it was YOU being forward. I mean, you came here to see me and…” His smile faded, and it was replaced by confusion.
“I was only trying to be nice. You’re a good man, I like you, and I feel really bad that my company can’t help you. Like it’s your fault that the pipes broke,” she finished with a sarcastic tone.
“And it’s not your fault either.” His smile reappeared for a second and then faded to a secret one. She must have been using this ‘business’ thing to cover up her deep, secret attraction to him.
Suddenly, he turned back to the piano and struck a few more chords. Something wasn’t right here. He hadn’t connected to a woman since Carrie, and Angel had been the only good ting that had come out of that. He hadn’t even connected with someone he’d consider as his friend since Justin. It had been so long since he’d been close to anyone besides his daughter.
JC considered himself a screw-up when it came to women. He was only good at two things: being Angel’s father and running Chords. Nothing else in his life had ever made sense. Okay, so maybe music had at one time, but it had quickly turned from love to business, and by no means was it what it used to be.
“Josh?”
At the sound of her voice, his train of thought faltered and he hit a wrong note. Both he and Laura cringed.
“Where did you just go?” she asked when their eyes met.
He finished the chord and then looked back up at her. “I was just thinking,” he answered, plain and simple. It was a general statement. Saying you were thinking didn’t necessarily mean that you were willing to SHARE what was on your mind. He knew the next question.
“About what?”
He’d known this woman for what… a week? Sharing his deepest thoughts was out of the question. “Angel,” he replied. “My daughter. We’re going out of town after she gets out of school today.” Why was he telling her this? Again, he hardly knew her, and she didn’t know anything about his life… or his past for that matter.
“She’s such a sweet, little girl,” Laura commented.
JC knew that tone of voice. It was the one that meant,” Where is this girl’s mother? Why doesn’t she have a mother?” He’d heard it a million times before. No one ever questioned a single mother, but single fathers were another story. He decided to spare her the wondering. “She’s dead,” he said.
Laura’s eyes widened. “What?”
JC stood up quickly, knocking the piano bench over in the process. He scrambled to stand it back up, and then stood up straight. “Angel’s mother,” he said, pushing the hair off of his forehead. “She died when Angel was being born.”
Laura looked shocked. “Oh,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
Now, JC felt dumb. He’d shared too much. As if Laura actually cared if he had a wife, a girlfriend, or whatever. “I’m sorry I said that,” he muttered, breaking the silence.
“Why are you sorry?”
“You probably don’t even want to hear all of this…” he trailed off, and turned around, making his way toward the counter. “Did you want something to drink?”
She followed him and grabbed the sleeve of his shirt. When he turned back around, she opened her mouth to say something.
“Josh?”
“Yes?”
“I meant what I said before. I like you. You’re one of the best guys I’ve met in a long time, and it’s the truth when I say that you can tell me anything. I won’t judge you, I promise.”
He gave her a smile. “Thanks, Laura. Really, I mean it. I haven’t had someone to talk to since,” he stopped… since Justin. His eyes fell to the floor. “Well, I had this friend that I told everything to once. Almost everything, anyway.”
She sat down on another piano bench close to the registers. “What happened?”
“Actually,” he said slowly. “I’d rather not get into that. I have to put some stuff out into the store, but you can stay here if you want.”
“I really should get going.” She went to get up. “It was nice chatting with you, though.”
“Wait.” JC grabbed her arm, but then let it go gently when she looked at him. “Can I get your number? I mean… you said that we could talk anytime, and you said you meant it, right? So, do you think it would be okay if I called you when I wanted to talk?”
She took a breath. “Sure. Do you have a piece of paper?”
He smiled shyly as he reached behind the counter for a scrap of paper and a pen. When was the last time he got a girl’s number? Over seven years ago… God, it had been a hell of a long time.
Justin sat nervously by the phone. If he were JC, what would JC do when he saw Justin’s name on the caller ID. Would he ignore it, would he spend sleepless nights thinking of why in the hell Justin had called, or would he call the number right back?
This was JC, not some stranger he’d just met on the street, although it might have been, and maybe Justin wouldn’t even had noticed the difference. It had been forever since they’d last seen each other, last spoken a word. JC now, or JOSH, as he had called himself on his answering machine could be completely different from the JC Chasez he knew back when Nsync was Nsync and not just faded icon of the past.
He DID have JC’s address. He COULD go and FIND him. You can’t really shut out a person when they’re standing right in front of your face. He grabbed the phone and dialed the airport. “I’d like to get on the next flight to Minneapolis.”
Chapter 10
Not A Day Goes By
JC {Fiction}
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I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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