Learning to Live Again (A Josh Ramsay Fan fiction)

Chapter Three:

“Everything okay Miss,” Mr. Smith asked.  He seemed to be genuinely concerned, which, given his criminal history seemed out of character for him.  All I could do was look back and forth between the two of them; I am sure there was not only concern and shock on my face, but also fear.   

“I saw this guy grab you, are you alright?”  He asked again, looking at the ‘out of place man’ and back to me. 

Again, I saw concern on his face.  He seemed to be eyeing the other man up as if challenging him, and looking at me in a protective manner.  Still not knowing what the hell is going on, and knowing that fear would be heard on my voice if I tried to speak, I willed myself to be strong, and not show fear.  I reminded myself that I was still holding my little canister of pepper spray, and could scream if need be. 

“Why are you still here?” I asked Mr. Smith with what I am hoping is a strong and calm voice.  “I figured you would have been gone long before now.”

“Yeah, my car won’t start, so I called CAA for a jump.  They should be here any minute.  I saw you leave, and this guy start to follow you, so wanted to make sure that you are ok, especially since he decided to follow you around the corner where there is no one around.”  At this point, he had moved a little closer to me, standing a little in between me and the ‘out of place man’, and he was starring directly at what I could only assume Mr. Smith saw as a ‘threat’ to my safety. 

“What is wrong with you people?”  The ‘out of place man’ said, with a laugh.  He did not seem to show any concern or nervousness in his voice, even though Mr. Smith could easily take him on.  “You seriously think I was going to do something to her, to you!  If anything I would be worried about this guy”, he said to me while looking at Mr. Smith. 

Mr. Smith simply looked at him with his arms crossed, not willing to believe that he was telling the truth.  “Look, I am sorry for grabbing you; we seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot.  My name is Josh, my phone died; I saw you with yours and was just wondering if I could borrow it to make a quick phone call to let my friends know that I am running late.”    

“Maybe I’m being a little paranoid, but I would be more likely to believe you,” I said looking at both Josh and Mr. Smith, “if we were not isolated from everyone outside the bar.” 

“Fair enough” Josh said, and both Mr. Smith and the ‘out of place man’ I now know as Josh, headed back around the corner to the front of the building where there were numerous people standing outside the bar smoking and socializing.

As they started to walk away from me, I realized that my fists were clenched.  I had one hand squeezing my little pink canister of pepper spray, and the other was holding my car keys between by fingers so if I had to punch someone, they would get scratched by the keys.  ‘Wow’ I thought to myself ‘I guess my time as a guard at Kingston Penitentiary has prepared me just in case.’  However, still not really knowing what was going on, or trusting either of them, I did not put the items back in my purse; I simply relaxed my grip on the two and slowly followed.     

Once they reached the front of the building, I could see the CAA truck turning into the parking lot.  Mr. Smith looked back at me and asked again “are you alright?”

“Y- Yeah, I-I’m fine” I stuttered, but I felt my voice slowly start to even out, and I could feel the fear start to slowly slip away.  ‘Ok, so maybe I am a little too paranoid, and need to relax a little bit’ I thought to myself as I smiled and shook my head.  ‘Still, they scared the shit out of me.’

“Miss” Mr. Smith said, “Can I borrow your phone to call the halfway house and tell them that I am on my way back.  And if they don’t believe me, would you mind talking to them and letting them know what happened.  I called when I couldn’t start my car, but I don’t think they really believed me and I really don’t want to get in shit over this.”

“Oh sure, what’s the halfway house number?” I asked. 

“1-416-425-3929, (not a real number, I apologize if it belongs to someone) it actually spells HALFWAY” Mr. Smith chuckled “just in case anyone could forget!”

“That’s clever,” I said, as I put my pepper spray back into my purse, dug out my work cell phone, unlocked it typed in the number and gave Mr. Smith the phone, which on caller ID should show up as Government of Canada.  He took a couple steps away from me in order to speak with the staff.

“Look...” Josh said, I was actually a little surprised and startled that he was still standing there.  So much so that I dropped my purse, spilling all the contents.  ‘I guess I am a little on edge still’ I thought to myself.  I figured after the little scare, he would have found a phone elsewhere and left the drama behind.

Our eyes met, and at first, he just looked at me with this weird expression on his face, holding my gaze for what seemed like an eternity.  There was something about his eyes; the blue streak in his jet-black hair, made his eyes stand out.  He quickly smiled, and apologized again “I am so, so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, “it is not a big deal.”  I was hoping the irritation in my voice was not too obvious.  ‘What a day’ I thought to myself, ‘I just want to go home, have a hot shower, a glass of wine and do nothing!  And yet I am still here!’  

He helped me to pick up my items, “I am really sorry for what just happened, I had no intention of scaring you, let alone hurting your, or worse getting myself hurt,” he said with a coy smile, “I really just needed to borrow a phone.”  He seemed to be genuinely apologetic.  He looked me straight in my eyes and asked, “Can we start over?  My name is Josh Ramsay, and you have the most beautiful blue eyes”, he smiled and reached out his hand in order to shake mine.

“Jordan” I smiled, and reached out to shake his hand.

“What no last name to go with that pretty smile?”  He laughed.

“So you go from terrifying me to trying to flirt?” I questioned.

He laughed, “I just thought this would be a better first impression than the last one.”

“I guess it is a little better,” I smiled. 

Josh found my old phone, and hit the home button on the front, I happened to be listening to a Mariana’s Trench song, which I am sure he saw the name and title.  I quickly grabbed the device from him and said, “Oh, sorry that is not actually a phone.” 

Mr. Smith come back towards us, finished with my work cell and asked me to speak with the halfway house staff to verify his situation. 

“Hi there” I said, “this is Jordan Cook, I had an interview with Mr. Smith earlier this evening for the Anger Management Program....  Yeah that’s right... yeah, he is currently outside the parole office.  I guess his car would not start after our meeting, he called CAA and they are here now in order to jump his car.”  Just then, his car started, and I said, “He should be on his way back to you now; they just got his car started....  Perfect, I will tell him, thanks bye!”

I hung up the phone, “you are good to go Mr. Smith, and they know you are headed back there now, and expect you in the next 20 minutes.”

“Thanks Miss, are you sure you are ok?”  He still seemed worried about Josh, but now that I was around other people, I was not as nervous.

“I’m fine, head back and I will see you on Monday.”