Chapter 16 #3
“Stop it.” Josie felt like a teenager. “You’ll encourage him.”
“And why not?” Lisa raised her eyebrows.
“When was the last time you got some, huh? He’s so cute!
And he’s not with Michelle anymore. Oh, you won’t remember her.
Or even him, I guess. But take my word for it, he’s single now, and you guys have got close.
I’ll get you sitting next to him at the bar later and—”
“No! I’m not interested, okay? You flirt with him, if you think he’s cute.”
“Well, maybe I will! But I’m not the one he likes, am I?” she muttered, as the director started up again. “He just moved to Williamsburg, too.” The director turned to glare at them, and Josie felt like a teenager misbehaving for the second time.
“When you’re done gossiping.” Kathryn’s disapproval was obvious.
“I have solo and ensemble parts to work out for the summer show. In the fall, we had been rehearsing Peter and Josie for the duet ‘Can’t Sleep Love’ — Josie, first, welcome back.
I know you’ve lost your memories of the past few seasons, but the song was working very well with your voices together.
Are you up for relearning your part and doing some extra rehearsals? ”
“W–we were? Sorry, I didn’t . . . didn’t realize,” Josie stuttered. Lisa nudged her and gave her an encouraging wink.
Josie sighed. “Well, I don’t want to let anyone down . . .” Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Peter grinning at her from across the room.
“Atta girl,” Kathryn approved. “We can start rehearsing it in a few weeks. Hopefully it will all come flooding back. Next up, who’s throwing in their hat for the ‘All That Jazz’ solo?”
By 9.30, the choir was pouring into The Late Late bar and Josie made a point of sitting far from Peter, who was still throwing glances her way. She avoided his looks, introducing herself to some of the women while Lisa sat at the other end of the table with the guys.
After a large glass of wine, Josie considered the journey across the Williamsburg Bridge to home.
An easy walk in the summer, but not in this weather.
As a subway ride it was only one stop on the M, but then involved sliding along the sidewalks for fifteen minutes, walking home from Marcy.
Not an appealing prospect. As she put on her thick coat, Josie fired up a ride–share app on her phone.
“Hey, Jose,” called Lisa from the other end of the table. “You leaving? I found a ride for you.” Next to her, Peter stood up and put on a heavy, dark coat that looked great with his fair skin and black glasses.
He raised his eyebrows at Josie. “Need a ride over the bridge?”
“Oh, no. I don’t want you to go out of your way. I can get a car, it’s no problem.”
“Don’t worry about it. I recently moved right by the Nitehawk Theatre, so it’s easy for me to drop you. I know where you live, I’ve given you a ride many times. Ready?”
Having been given little choice, Josie nodded. She let Peter lead her out of the pub, throwing a glare back at Lisa, who was grinning widely.
It was even colder outside now, and Josie admitted to herself that she was glad of the ride, even if it was awkward. She didn’t want to encourage this guy, so she was a little frosty as she got into Peter’s car, a restored old Chevrolet.
Peter was chatty, telling Josie about the duet they had been rehearsing before her accident, and about the apartment he had moved into before the holidays, seemingly oblivious to the curtness of Josie’s responses.
They were at her place in a mercifully short amount of time. As she thanked him and reached to open the door, Peter put a hand on Josie’s arm, stalling her.
“I get that you’re struggling with amnesia, but .
. . you and I were close friends before your memory loss.
And I think it was about to turn into something more, when I broke up with my girlfriend and moved out.
I’m betting you’ve seen our texts from before your accident, so you can probably see there was something developing between us. ” He paused.
“But even if you never remember, that’s okay. We can start from scratch. We live so close, we can keep it simple, start by hanging out outside rehearsals.” He gave her a warm smile. “Are you busy Friday? There’s a jazz band playing at a little neighborhood joint — you’d like them.”
Josie played with this tassel on her purse. This was awkward. “Thanks, but I’d better not.”
“Ah, it’d be fun. You still like live music, don’t you?”
“Yeah, of course, but . . .” She hesitated. “I realize you think you know me, but I don’t know you. I’m sorry. I’m not being rude, I’m just not in a place to date anyone. And it kinda sounds like a date. So, I appreciate the invitation, but I can’t. Thanks, though. And for the ride.”
“No problem,” Peter murmured as Josie got out of the car.
When he didn’t drive away, Josie realized he was waiting to make sure she got inside. Her fingers fumbled over the keys in the frigid air, and as the heavy door opened, she finally heard his car move off.
She didn’t look back.