The trip to Michigan had been uneventful. They had gotten a later start
because they had to wait for Kevin to drop some ski equipment off for
Dawson to use. He had been running late because of a meeting this morning.
Joey had been in such a hurry to get going that she didn't even kiss him
goodbye when they left, not that he even bothered to kiss her when he left
her apartment on Wednesdays. But by the time they reached Crystal Lake Ski
Resort thoughts of Kevin were the furthest thing from Joey's mind.
She and Dawson had talked about everything during the 6-hour trip, from their failed attempts at having a relationship to the dire need for a president that the nation could rally behind. By the time they pulled into the parking lot of the main lodge, Joey sides were aching from laughing with her old friend. Joey ran inside to check them, arranging for them to have two rooms instead of one, while Dawson unloaded the contents of the trunk onto a luggage cart.
They decided that the first thing on the agenda would be to grab some dinner since the pretzels Joey had bought just outside of the city at a gas station hadn't kept their hunger completely at bay. They took each got cleaned up and met in the restaurant downstairs for dinner.
Halfway through their meal they noticed a small crowd of people gathering out in the lobby.
"I wonder what is going on out there," Dawson asked, motioning out the door behind Joey.
Joey turned in her chair to look behind her, "Oh, I forgot to tell you, that author, Andrew Wilder is staying at this place this winter giving writing seminars. Apparently he is from the area. Have you read any of his stuff?"
"Yeah, I actually picked up his latest book at the airport on my way here, he's a pretty good writer. He certainly captures the essence of small town dynamics perfectly," Dawson praised, "Maybe I can talk him into letting me turn one of his books into a movie."
Joey laughed at Dawson's ever-present movie based mind, "You are unstoppable, Mr. Wilder will stand to chance against you. Isn't it funny that a crowd is gathering around him, if that is even him out there, I mean, he's just a writer, not an actor or a athlete."
"I don't know, I have heard that he is pretty good looking, maybe that is why he doesn't put his picture in the back of his books, doesn't want to be attacked by you women."
"Us women, it seems to me there are quite a few men out there, too," Joey quipped, "Maybe Mr. Wilder plays for the 'other team'. We could set him up with Jack. Besides, we don't even know it is him - it could very well be some other celebrity."
Dawson caught their waiter's attention and waved him over to their table, "We were wondering about the crowd gathering in the lobby. What's going on out there?"
"That crowd, sir, I believe is out there meeting Andrew Wilder, our local author. He is staying here for the next month or two giving talks and running workshops on writing," Todd, their waiter explained, "I think that his house is being remodeled so he needed a place to stay in the meantime and worked out this arrangement with Mr. Haggerty, our owner."
"Thanks for the information, we appreciate it, Todd," Dawson turned his gaze back to Joey and said, "Maybe we can set you up with him, Ms. Potter."
"Dawson, you just worry about getting yourself the rights to one of his books, I can take care of myself. Don't forget, I have Kevin."
"Oh yes, Kevin, your knight in shining armor, how could I have forgotten him, he is a true gem."
Joey rolled her eyes and glanced over her shoulder out in the lobby. She could shake the feeling that something was about to happen. Just then the band that had been setting up near the dance floor started playing a slow dance song. Dawson silently stretched his hand out to Joey and tilted his head towards the dance floor.
"Someone has to be the first out there, it might as well be us."
Joey made a face at Dawson but consented to his suggestion and rose with him and took his hand. Dawson led her to the middle of the floor and they fell in step with one another easily. She couldn't help but feel like she had in high school at the prom, that had been the last time she and Dawson had danced together. By their senior year they had finally realized that they were not meant for each other and that they were truly better off as friends. He had been dating Pacey's older sister, Gretchen, at the time. But they knew they had to dance together for old times sake.
At that point, Pacey's leaving Capeside was still relatively new, he had only been gone a year. Joey had missed him so much and had secretly hoped that he would show up that night and take her in his arms and never let her go. But Pacey didn't come and the night ended with Joey tucked in bed long before any of the rest of her senior class was evening thinking about sleep.
Joey's remembering was interrupted as the song ended and Dawson dipped her with one arms held tightly around her. The band seamlessly played into a much faster melody and Dawson began spinning her around the floor. To Joey's surprise there were a dozen couples with them on the floor, she hadn't even noticed she had been so caught up in her thoughts.
Joey started looking around her as she twirled around the floor with Dawson. The crowd from the lobby was moving into the dining room with whoever was at the center of all this attention in the middle of the group. As the swarm of people thinned out from people sitting down Joey got a glimpse of the mysterious Mr. Wilder. A chill ran down her spine and she squeezed her eyes together tightly.
'No, it couldn't be him,' Joey though to herself.
At that moment Dawson switched directions, turning Joey around so her back was facing the entrance to the room. By the time Dawson turned her back, Mr. Wilder had been seated in the back of the room and was facing away from the dance floor. The song ended and Dawson kissed Joey's cheek.
"Thanks, Joey," Dawson said softly, "That was just like old times."
"No problem, I didn't step on your toes too many times did I," Joey said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. Her heart was beating so hard but she knew it wasn't from the dancing. She had thought that that author was Pacey, what a silly idea.
As they walked off the dance floor, Dawson laughed at Joey causing her to give him a quizzical look.
"I'm sorry, you just look deathly pale and had this horrible thought that Kevin must be dull of a couples spins around the dance floor with me has that effect on you."
"It's not… oh, shut up," Joey forced a laugh, "For that comment you are going to have to buy me a drink. I'll have an amaretto sour. I'm going to go powder my nose and I will meet you back at our table, okay?"
"Whatever you say," Dawson said as he turned and headed for the bar.
Joey's trip to the bathroom was more of an escape than anything else. She quickly closed the door behind her and flipped the lock. As she leaned against the door and slid down to the floor, she covered her face with her hands.
"What am I thinking? Have I lost my mind," Joey asked the empty room, "It's having Dawson here, that has just made me think about Capeside and Pacey is a part of Capeside. That is what it is, nothing more. Besides, there is no way Andrew Wilder is Pacey Witter, no way!"
Joey was a fan of Andrew Wilder's writing. Fan was an understatement, the day any of his new books were released; Joey snatched them up and read them from cover to cover. She had even read a couple of them over again and fallen more in love with them. He had a way of describing things that made you able to live in his words, at least that was what Joey told Maxine after reading his first novel, 'A Walk Through the Stars.' Wilder wrote about the New England coast and like Dawson had said, captured what small town life was like. The books covered the most random things and each one focused on one fictional town and the people that lived in it.
Joey had to admit that one of the reasons she had wanted to come up to the Crystal Lake Resort was because she had heard Andrew Wilder would be there. She hadn't made a big deal about it because she prided herself on being able to maintain her 'cool' in the face of all celebrity - that came with her job. She also thought that maybe she didn't want to ruin the illusion; since she had no idea what Wilder looked like or who he was personality- wise, she was afraid that she would meet him and be disappointed. He could be a recluse like Hemingway or an eccentric like Anne Rice.
"Okay, Joey, hiding in the bathroom isn't going to fix anything. Stand up and take yourself back out there. Pacey is not out there but a man you greatly admire as a writer is and now is your chance to meet him."
Joey pulled herself off the floor and took a quick look in the mirror to make sure she didn't look too frightening and then unlocked the door and went out into the lobby. Crossing the room she could see through the door to her table. Dawson wasn't there yet, good, she hadn't taken too long in the bathroom. As Joey entered the room she looked over to the bar for Dawson and saw that he wasn't there so she scanned the room for him. She saw him over by Andrew Wilder's table, no doubt handing out his business card and trying to drum up some business. Dawson looked up and motioned for Joey to come over to the table.
Joey walked across the room, heart beating faster with each step forward. As she got closer she saw that Dawson had a funny look on his face, much resembling the one he had the day of her surprise graduation party the day after prom. He had called and asked her to come over to his house and when he answered the door had seen the same look on his face. The moment she had stepped inside his house and she heard a loud 'Surprise' and all her friends and family jumped out from their hiding places at the Leery house. Now, moving towards Dawson, she knew that something was amiss, or it could just be her imagination. As she got closer, she heard Dawson telling the table that she worked in advertising.
"Joey, I'd like you to meet the famous visiting author, Andrew Wilder," Dawson said with mischief in his voice.
Wilder pushed his chair back as Joey walked up to the table and wiped his mouth off with the napkin in his lap. As he turned to greet Joey, Joey finally got a clear look at his face.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Joey," Pacey said, offering her his hand to shake, "I used to have a friend named Joey."
"Huh, small world," Joey pushed the words out and took a deep breath not caring what the other people sitting around the table thought of her silence, they probably thought she was some star-struck fan.
Dawson was trying unsuccessfully to hold in his laughter and it finally got the best of him, "Joey, you should see the look on your face, it is priceless. Though I guess it was pretty close to mine when I realized who this 'writer' was. I came up to introduce myself and do a little networking and there he was, our old friend, Pacey Witter."
Joey stood speechless before Pacey. He was smiling but his eyes were emotionless. The whole exchange only took a few seconds but to Joey it seemed like an eternity. Pacey cleared his throat and Joey looked down, realizing she was holding his hand that she must have taken out of habit when he offered it. She dropped it like one would a hot piece of coal and tried to think of something to say. Pacey beat her to the punch.
"Josephine Potter, it has been a long time."
She and Dawson had talked about everything during the 6-hour trip, from their failed attempts at having a relationship to the dire need for a president that the nation could rally behind. By the time they pulled into the parking lot of the main lodge, Joey sides were aching from laughing with her old friend. Joey ran inside to check them, arranging for them to have two rooms instead of one, while Dawson unloaded the contents of the trunk onto a luggage cart.
They decided that the first thing on the agenda would be to grab some dinner since the pretzels Joey had bought just outside of the city at a gas station hadn't kept their hunger completely at bay. They took each got cleaned up and met in the restaurant downstairs for dinner.
Halfway through their meal they noticed a small crowd of people gathering out in the lobby.
"I wonder what is going on out there," Dawson asked, motioning out the door behind Joey.
Joey turned in her chair to look behind her, "Oh, I forgot to tell you, that author, Andrew Wilder is staying at this place this winter giving writing seminars. Apparently he is from the area. Have you read any of his stuff?"
"Yeah, I actually picked up his latest book at the airport on my way here, he's a pretty good writer. He certainly captures the essence of small town dynamics perfectly," Dawson praised, "Maybe I can talk him into letting me turn one of his books into a movie."
Joey laughed at Dawson's ever-present movie based mind, "You are unstoppable, Mr. Wilder will stand to chance against you. Isn't it funny that a crowd is gathering around him, if that is even him out there, I mean, he's just a writer, not an actor or a athlete."
"I don't know, I have heard that he is pretty good looking, maybe that is why he doesn't put his picture in the back of his books, doesn't want to be attacked by you women."
"Us women, it seems to me there are quite a few men out there, too," Joey quipped, "Maybe Mr. Wilder plays for the 'other team'. We could set him up with Jack. Besides, we don't even know it is him - it could very well be some other celebrity."
Dawson caught their waiter's attention and waved him over to their table, "We were wondering about the crowd gathering in the lobby. What's going on out there?"
"That crowd, sir, I believe is out there meeting Andrew Wilder, our local author. He is staying here for the next month or two giving talks and running workshops on writing," Todd, their waiter explained, "I think that his house is being remodeled so he needed a place to stay in the meantime and worked out this arrangement with Mr. Haggerty, our owner."
"Thanks for the information, we appreciate it, Todd," Dawson turned his gaze back to Joey and said, "Maybe we can set you up with him, Ms. Potter."
"Dawson, you just worry about getting yourself the rights to one of his books, I can take care of myself. Don't forget, I have Kevin."
"Oh yes, Kevin, your knight in shining armor, how could I have forgotten him, he is a true gem."
Joey rolled her eyes and glanced over her shoulder out in the lobby. She could shake the feeling that something was about to happen. Just then the band that had been setting up near the dance floor started playing a slow dance song. Dawson silently stretched his hand out to Joey and tilted his head towards the dance floor.
"Someone has to be the first out there, it might as well be us."
Joey made a face at Dawson but consented to his suggestion and rose with him and took his hand. Dawson led her to the middle of the floor and they fell in step with one another easily. She couldn't help but feel like she had in high school at the prom, that had been the last time she and Dawson had danced together. By their senior year they had finally realized that they were not meant for each other and that they were truly better off as friends. He had been dating Pacey's older sister, Gretchen, at the time. But they knew they had to dance together for old times sake.
At that point, Pacey's leaving Capeside was still relatively new, he had only been gone a year. Joey had missed him so much and had secretly hoped that he would show up that night and take her in his arms and never let her go. But Pacey didn't come and the night ended with Joey tucked in bed long before any of the rest of her senior class was evening thinking about sleep.
Joey's remembering was interrupted as the song ended and Dawson dipped her with one arms held tightly around her. The band seamlessly played into a much faster melody and Dawson began spinning her around the floor. To Joey's surprise there were a dozen couples with them on the floor, she hadn't even noticed she had been so caught up in her thoughts.
Joey started looking around her as she twirled around the floor with Dawson. The crowd from the lobby was moving into the dining room with whoever was at the center of all this attention in the middle of the group. As the swarm of people thinned out from people sitting down Joey got a glimpse of the mysterious Mr. Wilder. A chill ran down her spine and she squeezed her eyes together tightly.
'No, it couldn't be him,' Joey though to herself.
At that moment Dawson switched directions, turning Joey around so her back was facing the entrance to the room. By the time Dawson turned her back, Mr. Wilder had been seated in the back of the room and was facing away from the dance floor. The song ended and Dawson kissed Joey's cheek.
"Thanks, Joey," Dawson said softly, "That was just like old times."
"No problem, I didn't step on your toes too many times did I," Joey said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. Her heart was beating so hard but she knew it wasn't from the dancing. She had thought that that author was Pacey, what a silly idea.
As they walked off the dance floor, Dawson laughed at Joey causing her to give him a quizzical look.
"I'm sorry, you just look deathly pale and had this horrible thought that Kevin must be dull of a couples spins around the dance floor with me has that effect on you."
"It's not… oh, shut up," Joey forced a laugh, "For that comment you are going to have to buy me a drink. I'll have an amaretto sour. I'm going to go powder my nose and I will meet you back at our table, okay?"
"Whatever you say," Dawson said as he turned and headed for the bar.
Joey's trip to the bathroom was more of an escape than anything else. She quickly closed the door behind her and flipped the lock. As she leaned against the door and slid down to the floor, she covered her face with her hands.
"What am I thinking? Have I lost my mind," Joey asked the empty room, "It's having Dawson here, that has just made me think about Capeside and Pacey is a part of Capeside. That is what it is, nothing more. Besides, there is no way Andrew Wilder is Pacey Witter, no way!"
Joey was a fan of Andrew Wilder's writing. Fan was an understatement, the day any of his new books were released; Joey snatched them up and read them from cover to cover. She had even read a couple of them over again and fallen more in love with them. He had a way of describing things that made you able to live in his words, at least that was what Joey told Maxine after reading his first novel, 'A Walk Through the Stars.' Wilder wrote about the New England coast and like Dawson had said, captured what small town life was like. The books covered the most random things and each one focused on one fictional town and the people that lived in it.
Joey had to admit that one of the reasons she had wanted to come up to the Crystal Lake Resort was because she had heard Andrew Wilder would be there. She hadn't made a big deal about it because she prided herself on being able to maintain her 'cool' in the face of all celebrity - that came with her job. She also thought that maybe she didn't want to ruin the illusion; since she had no idea what Wilder looked like or who he was personality- wise, she was afraid that she would meet him and be disappointed. He could be a recluse like Hemingway or an eccentric like Anne Rice.
"Okay, Joey, hiding in the bathroom isn't going to fix anything. Stand up and take yourself back out there. Pacey is not out there but a man you greatly admire as a writer is and now is your chance to meet him."
Joey pulled herself off the floor and took a quick look in the mirror to make sure she didn't look too frightening and then unlocked the door and went out into the lobby. Crossing the room she could see through the door to her table. Dawson wasn't there yet, good, she hadn't taken too long in the bathroom. As Joey entered the room she looked over to the bar for Dawson and saw that he wasn't there so she scanned the room for him. She saw him over by Andrew Wilder's table, no doubt handing out his business card and trying to drum up some business. Dawson looked up and motioned for Joey to come over to the table.
Joey walked across the room, heart beating faster with each step forward. As she got closer she saw that Dawson had a funny look on his face, much resembling the one he had the day of her surprise graduation party the day after prom. He had called and asked her to come over to his house and when he answered the door had seen the same look on his face. The moment she had stepped inside his house and she heard a loud 'Surprise' and all her friends and family jumped out from their hiding places at the Leery house. Now, moving towards Dawson, she knew that something was amiss, or it could just be her imagination. As she got closer, she heard Dawson telling the table that she worked in advertising.
"Joey, I'd like you to meet the famous visiting author, Andrew Wilder," Dawson said with mischief in his voice.
Wilder pushed his chair back as Joey walked up to the table and wiped his mouth off with the napkin in his lap. As he turned to greet Joey, Joey finally got a clear look at his face.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Joey," Pacey said, offering her his hand to shake, "I used to have a friend named Joey."
"Huh, small world," Joey pushed the words out and took a deep breath not caring what the other people sitting around the table thought of her silence, they probably thought she was some star-struck fan.
Dawson was trying unsuccessfully to hold in his laughter and it finally got the best of him, "Joey, you should see the look on your face, it is priceless. Though I guess it was pretty close to mine when I realized who this 'writer' was. I came up to introduce myself and do a little networking and there he was, our old friend, Pacey Witter."
Joey stood speechless before Pacey. He was smiling but his eyes were emotionless. The whole exchange only took a few seconds but to Joey it seemed like an eternity. Pacey cleared his throat and Joey looked down, realizing she was holding his hand that she must have taken out of habit when he offered it. She dropped it like one would a hot piece of coal and tried to think of something to say. Pacey beat her to the punch.
"Josephine Potter, it has been a long time."
