Tangy (Josie)

[Chuck Miller]

An old classmate had recommended this to him. Her exact words had been "She's single, you're single, how could it not work out?"

Perhaps that should have been his first clue.

But instead he had agreed to a blind date. His classmate had mentioned that Josie liked clubbing, and so Chuck had proposed I Love Salsa. He did not love clubbing, but salsa dancing seemed more romantic and intimate. He had dressed accordingly, hoping that looking nice would give her a good first impression.

And then he spent the entire time waiting on her fidgeting with the buttons on his jacket and wondering if perhaps he should have gone with navy instead of grey. Or maybe a bolder color? He didn't know what she would like. The cologne he had picked out was crisp and tangy, reminiscent of citrus fruits. Had that been a wise choice? What if she didn't like citrus?

These were the thoughts that floated through his head as he waited on his date to appear.

[Josie Raines]

Pros to only owning one skirt: less time wasted figuring out what to wear on a date.

Cons to only owning one skirt: without the question of what to wear to distract her, there was nothing for Josie to focus on but the looming date.

It hadn't been Josie's idea. An acquaintance from town, probably taking pity on her, had offered to set it up. "You're both single, it's worth a shot, right?" And Josie had begrudgingly agreed - but only after assurance that the guy was not a motorcycle mechanic. Call it paranoia, but sometimes lightning did strike twice. Or four times. The choice of a salsa dance club seemed to fit that promise; never in a million years would Josie have thought to pick it herself, but then again she hadn't been on a decent date in years. It was time to try something new.

As Josie wound her way around the tables lining the dance floor, craning her neck for a glimpse of her date, she tried to psych herself up. So what if she didn't know how to dance salsa? At least the music wasn't too loud to have a conversation over, like it always was at her regular haunts.

Being a blind date, Josie only had her friend's description to go on; fortunately, in a salsa club, an almost empty table was a tip-off. Nearby she spotted a guy sitting by himself, and he seemed to fit the bill from what she could remember. Well, there was no point wondering, and Josie strode over and hoped for the best.

"Are you Chuck?" Josie didn't take a seat just in case she was wrong, but she smiled gamely. Let's get this show on the road.

[Chuck Miller]

"I am!" Chuck confirmed, trying not to stare at her with too much interest. She had short hair, and he did so love short hair on women. She also looked a little younger than his acquaintance had suggested to him, but appearances could be deceiving.

If appearances were what they seemed and his acquaintance had tried to set him up with a college girl they were going to have words.

"You must be Josie?" He stood, then, so that he could pull out a chair for her. After all, that was the polite, gentlemanly action and he wanted very much to be polite and gentlemanly. And this was even more important on a date.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet me," He added. He didn't know whether or not she, like him, was actively seeking a relationship, but either way he was given to understand that blind dates were a bit riskier for women than they were for men. So he was grateful she was giving him this opportunity.

[Josie Raines]

Perfect, she'd found the right table. Josie let out a breath of relief; he didn't look bored, or cranky, or otherwise like he'd been pressganged into being here. That wasn't enough to guarantee a good date, but it was a start.

Chuck was out of his chair before Josie had a chance to reach for her own. She took a confused half-step back - was he getting up to shake her hand? who did that? - but no, he was pulling it out for her.

Huh. First time for everything.

"Oh, yeah, um, likewise." Josie smoothed her skirt carefully before sitting, suddenly more self-conscious. Their apparent mutual acquaintance had told her Chuck was nice, nicer than the last couple guys, but nobody had warned her that such a simple chivalrous gesture would make her feel out of place.

Chuck didn't need to know that. What kind of bitch gets upset at her date for pulling her chair out?

Josie watched him take his seat again; he was nice to look at, that was true. But what kind of attractive, polite guy needed to be set up with a stranger? There had to be a catch. Maybe he was shit at conversation, or dumb as a sack of bricks. If that was the case, she could probably make it to the end of the date by focusing on his top notch jawline instead of what he was saying.

"So, uh, how did you meet Marienne?" Josie asked once he'd taken his seat. Right now their mutual friend was all she knew they had in common, so it seemed like a logical place to start.

[Chuck Miller]

"We attended Hammel together, back in the day," Chuck explained, resuming his seat across from her. "We both wrote for The Bugle," He added, naming the Hammel school newspaper.

Even as a teenager he had shown an interest in journalism, and although now he was paid for the privilege in some ways he didn't think the types of stories he covered had changed very much. Current events going on around the school had shifted to current events going on around the town, and interviews with the students most heavily involved in student government or other activities had turned into interviews with the citizens of Pilot Ridge who were most involved in activities in the town.

"What about you? She didn't say where she knew you from. I though maybe you'd gone to school with us and I just didn't remember."

Truthfully outside of the work he'd done for The Bugle he'd been too busy looking after Ricio to really pay much attention to his classmates, so if he hadn't needed to know who she was for a story it was no surprise he hadn't remembered her.

[Josie Raines]

The Bugle? Hammel had a school paper? That was news to Josie, who could barely be convinced to read for her homework. And Chuck actually wrote for it? He was probably a total nerd back then - or even now, for all she knew. But it wasn't a sure thing, because truth be told she couldn't remember him either.

"I went to Hammel too, but I had a lot of classes with her little sister," Josie replied. A lot of classes, and a lot of detentions, but who wanted to hear that on the first date?

[Chuck Miller]

Oh, good, she was also a Hammel alum; that was a relief. It was more likely than not that anyone he encountered around Pilot Ridge had attended Hammel, or worked there, but one could never be too sure; the Institute had done such a good job of impressing upon him that he shouldn't tell anyone he met out in town that he still kept mum despite neither attending school there anymore nor working there.

"So, Josie, would you care for a dance?"

Maybe he should have started off with a little more small talk, but he was beginning to second guess himself; dancing would (he hoped) distract him enough to calm the butterflies threatening to break out of his stomach.