The Other Guy – Joss' POV, Part 1
A/N: I decided to merge the two stories, so Joss' story will alternate with John's. There will be ~ 9 chapters in total. In terms of a timeline, Chapter 1 and the rest of John's story takes place during April. Since Joss' POV details how her relationship with the other guy led to him sitting on her couch in Chapter 1, her story traces events starting in January. I'll note the month at the start of each chapter/section.
April
Jocelyn Carter had never seen herself as one of those women who played games with men. She'd married young, had a few relationships after her husband died, but every man she spent time with knew exactly where he stood with her. When her friends urged her to read The Rules, He's Just Not That Into You or Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, she retorted that she was too busy and even if she had the time, she simply wasn't interested.
Yet, as she ran barefoot down a New York City sidewalk on a rapidly cooling April afternoon, praying she could fix the mess she'd made of three people's lives, she thought that's exactly what she'd turned into.
January
Like all sad love stories, it started innocently enough. Rushing into the organic market on a Friday night with thoughts of finally putting a healthy dinner on the table, Joss headed towards the ready-to-go shelves. Unfortunately everyone else in the city had been intent on following their New Year's resolutions as well - the shelves were almost bare, and while what was left might have been appetizing to someone else, it all looked tan, dry and tasteless to her.
"It doesn't look good, does it?"
"Hmm?" She wasn't really paying attention, wondering if the corner deli was still open.
"The selection – it doesn't look good."
She turned, meeting a pair of deep set hazel eyes. "No it doesn't. Guess I got here too late."
He smiled, "This is going to sound strange, but we have plenty of food for the taking." Laughing at her quizzical expression, he said "We just finished an Enviro-Action board meeting. You're welcome to take whatever you'd like." Pointing to a small conference room, she could see that while the lights were dim, there were people inside, milling around a table that was covered with a variety of earthenware casseroles and wicker baskets. "You'd be doing us a favor by taking some of the food.
"I promise, we're harmless," his eyes flickered towards her waist, "and I swear you're the only one who's armed."
She tilted her head, smiling, "I don't know, I bet a turnip could pack a pretty good wallop."
"Remind me to tell you about the town meeting I attended last month – I wished turnips were flying. I wound up wearing a plastic bag home." He held out his hand.
She laughed. "Okay, okay…Jocelyn Carter."
"Steven Piascik." They shook hands. Medium height, with a stocky build and wavy strawberry blonde hair, he had a guileless open face that Joss suspected concealed a fierce intelligence, judging by the easy way he was able to dissuade her natural reluctance about walking into a room full of strangers, mooching dinner. Lightly touching the small of her back, he escorted her into the room.
The selection was huge, the people were friendly, and after enduring a few jibes about the way the police handled a recent sit-in at the Mayor's office, and making her own about a celebrated sustainability guru who turned out to be anything but, she realized Operation Healthy, But Not Choice as Taylor dubbed it, was going to be delayed again. Ceding defeat, at least for one more night, she excused herself, called her son and told him that he could order a pizza.
When she stepped back into the room, Steven handed her a cup of coffee. "Why don't you sit down? Mrs. Mirabelli is putting together something for you." He nodded to a tiny woman who was busily filling a stack of containers.
They exchanged basic biographical information. Steven Piascik was a trusts and estates attorney with a well-respected firm in the city, divorced with a ten year old daughter. Originally from the Midwest, he'd come to the city for college and law school. "I met my now ex-wife and the rest as they say is history."
"How did you get involved with Enviro-Action?" Joss asked, nibbling on some organic tortilla chips.
"The firm is very committed to the community. We do a lot of pro bono work. My daughter is into vermicomposting – worms," he laughed at the look on her face, "they – and my daughter - live with my ex - and that got me thinking about extending our outreach to environmental organizations. Enviro-Action is a good group – they do a lot of work setting up community gardens, farmer's markets, relaxing restrictions on establishing small farms, etc. We help them navigate some of the legalities."
Mrs. Mirabelli put a tote with the filled containers on the table in front of Joss. "Laws are like weeds – there's always another one popping up!" She winked at Joss. "Steven's firm has been a great help to us."
Joss thanked her. "My son did a lot of work last year planting a vegetable garden for St. Sebastian's soup kitchen as part of his school's outreach program. There's been talk about partnering to establish a green roof over the homeless shelter."
Steven nodded. "Reduces their heating and cooling costs, manages storm water runoff – some organizations even put livestock on their green roofs. Enviro-Action has a list of successful installations in the city they might want to check out." He handed her his card. "Give me a call. There might be a few things I can help the church or your son's school with."
He insisted on carrying the tote to her car, and as they walked down the street, he said, "Would you like to have coffee sometime?"
Joss smiled. "Steven -"
He smiled back. "Let me rephrase." His face was intent, serious. "I'd like to get to know you better, Jocelyn...unless you already have someone in your life."
"I don't…," on the edges of her mind, she glimpsed gray eyes, a silky whisper and strong dexterous hands, "know."
Realizing by his expression that she had actually spoken her thoughts aloud, she said, "I don't know if you might be available… tomorrow?"
He studied her a moment, then nodded, as if making a decision. "Call me in an hour and I'll give you a place and a time." Touching her hand, he waited for her to get into her car and then he headed back towards the grocery store.
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Sitting in the back of a chauffeured town car, Joss thought wryly that Steven Piascik's idea of coffee was radically different from hers. As he requested, she called him an hour after leaving the organic market for a time and a meeting place. Correctly anticipating that she would be reluctant to have him meet her at her home, he had designated a spot near Washington Square. It took a few minutes for the chauffeur to convince her that he was waiting for her. When she slipped into the backseat there was a single flower and a note - they would be heading to Cliffside, an exclusive restaurant just outside the city.
Joss was surprised to see only one other car in the parking lot as they pulled in. She stepped inside the building and an elegant silver haired man introduced himself as the owner, took her coat and led her into the main dining area. Steven was standing by a bank of windows that had a stunning view of the Hudson River. Snow from two days before covered the steep cliffs and the contrast with the dark blue water was dazzling.
Dressed in a sharply tailored blue suit that highlighted his bright hair, Steven stepped forward, taking her hand. Murmuring "Beautiful," he kissed her cheek, his eyes roving in appreciation over her pale yellow sweater dress that was demure yet clung to her curves.
"We're the only ones here?" Joss asked as Steven led her to a table.
"They opened early so that we could have the place to ourselves for a while. The views here are spectacular, even in winter."
She listened as he talked about his hardscrabble childhood, a promising football career sidelined during high school when their team bus was hit by a drunk driver, full academic scholarship to an Ivy League college and an early partnership at the firm. Fresh out of law school he had managed to scrape together enough money to invest with two enterprising college classmates and the investment had paid off. Steven Piascik was very intelligent, very accomplished and very rich.
Coffee morphed into lunch. As the restaurant officially opened and other patrons came in, they talked about their law school experiences and the challenges of modern parenting. After lunch they stepped out onto the terrace. Steven pointed out places along the cliffs where birds nested in the spring. Coming close behind her, he rested his hands on her shoulders, his lips next to her ear. "I want to spend a lot of time with you, Jocelyn. A woman as beautiful as you should never be alone."
Joss closed her eyes. The afternoon sun and his hands on her shoulders threatened to awaken something inside her that had been still for a long time, but this was too much, too soon. Taking a deep breath, she stepped away from him, turned and faced him.
He met her eyes. "I apologize, that was inappropriate."
"I'm not going to fall into bed with you, Steven, just because I've been alone for a long time."
"I know...Can we back up? If you agree to see me again, it will just be for coffee – from a vending machine."
She tilted her head, a soft smile stealing across her face. "That's one way to never see me again. Let's go back inside before we freeze."
As the chauffeur opened the car door for her, Steve took her hand, but he didn't try to kiss her. "I had a wonderful time, Jocelyn."
"I did too. I'll call you."
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When Joss entered her apartment John Reese was loading photos onto Taylor's laptop. His gray eyes scanned her and Joss realized he had never seen her in a dress before. Smirking, he sang off-key, "She's got legs…"
"She knows how to use them," Joss shot back the ZZ Top* song lyric.
Taylor came out of the kitchen with a soda and an ice tea. "Sign of the apocalypse – Mom in a dress."
"Only if I have a Twinkie in one hand and a cigarette in the other – that's when you should say your prayers!" She went into her bedroom, changed into a sweater and jeans and came back into the living room to listen to John give his latest lesson to Taylor.
Almost every weekend, John had given Taylor shooting and self-defense lessons. They helped Taylor regain a sense of control after the kidnapping and Joss could tell they were healing something in John too, based on the amount of time he spent preparing for them. While they spent a lot of time in gyms and firing ranges, not all the lessons were physical. Today they had risen at the crack of dawn and visited various sites throughout the city, observing.
"The most critical aspect of self-defense is paying attention," John said, while Taylor listened intently. "How is the building laid out, who's acting strangely, what can I use as a weapon? Sometimes it's not about being the smartest or the strongest – it's knowing where the exits are." Taylor's task was to see if he could spot items John had planted at each site in the photos.
As she listened to them trade insults that indicated a growing affection between the man and her son, Joss finally allowed herself to examine the images that had popped into her head last night when Steven asked her if she had someone in her life. Okay, she admitted to herself, she'd been thinking of John.
John – arrogant, subversive, reckless.
John – flirting with anything that had a pulse - she suspected that he'd flirt with the guest of honor at a funeral - his charm and good looks could probably raise the dead.
John – who kept secrets, shut her out and suffered from a deep guilt that she wasn't sure would ever allow him to let anybody in.
John – who she looked forward to trading barbs with every day.
John – whose commitment to helping others humbled her.
John – who saved her and her son.
She slipped into her bedroom, called Steven and made arrangements to meet him for an early morning coffee next week.
TBC
*ZZ Top's 1984 song 'Legs'