Josh took a deep breath, shuffled his feet a little, and then knocked on Idina's door.

"Josh! I am so glad you made it. Come in, come in!" She was wearing a little black dress. Why would she do that to him? He sighed. Oh well.

"Wow. It smells good in here. What is it?"

"Oh, I figured I should brew some Chinese tea to go with our Asian menu. Here's a cup. I have the rice cooking now, so we have some time to just sit and chat." She eyed him. "You're looking real spiffy tonight!" He was wearing a lazy-man's suit: white button down shirt and a black jacket, with dark blue jeans. He decided it was a contacts day.

"Thanks. It's great seeing you again, Idina. I actually had a dream about Chess a couple weeks ago."

"You did? Oh, that's cool! Do you miss it as much as I do?" She sounded excited.

"Definitely. I wish it were on Broadway."

"Yeah, and we could both be in it again. Aw, that's such a great idea. You did a really good job as Anatoly."

"Thanks. I liked playing him, even if he does lose." They laughed. Josh sipped his tea and nodded.

"This is good tea."

"Why thank you! I got the recipe offline."

"Have you ever made sushi before?" Josh tilted his head to watch her better.

She scrunched her nose. "Yes, but it was several years ago. I overcooked the rice so it was way too sticky. I wouldn't advise making sushi unless you know what you're doing."

"You know what you're doing this time? I don't want mushy sushi."

"Don't worry about it. It's got to be better than dog food."

Dinner was over, and Idina and Josh were relaxing in her living room. The flutter of candle flames gave the room a soft glow; Josh turned down a glass of wine for another cup of tea, but Idina still poured some wine for herself.

"Tell me, Josh. How is the music going? I haven't heard any promotions for your new CD."

"It's funny you should ask that. There were times when I though that I would never come out with another CD. It would have been too difficult, with the division of the Groband and for me the pain of, just everything. But lately I've been writing some songs. I hope to release the album by the end of the summer. Or at least have the finished copy on WB's desk."

"That is so exciting!" Idina was wide-eyed. "Do you have enough songs for the album yet or are you still writing?"

Josh laughed. "Actually, I only have one song so far. At least, only one that's worth recording."

"Hmmm." was her only response.

"What are you thinking?"

"Well, I didn't tell you my bad news yet." She adjusted herself on the sofa. "You see, New Line Cinema was going to pick up the Wicked script – which is great because the fans have been asking for a movie version for years, and now we finally are making it. Well, no one contacted me asking if I wanted to play Elphaba, but Kristin Chenoweth was. She's going to play Glinda, of course. She called me as soon as she found out, because they are trying to use as many people from the original cast as possible. Anyway, to make a long story short, they don't want me to be Elphaba. Even though I am the one that the fans want, they'd rather have Miss Stacey Lewis." She whined. "It just doesn't seem fair. The musical Wicked was written around me. I am the reason that it was a success. I don't want to sound proud, but it's the honest truth!"

Josh nodded. He knew. "Idina, this is really sad. I mean, it's just not fair at all, and I don't think you sound proud at all! I saw you as Elphaba and I can't imagine anyone else playing the part. Who is this Stacey Lewis anyway? Her name isn't nearly as cool as yours!"

"Thanks. I don't know who she is. Kristin said that she's new. She's never been on Broadway; and she hasn't even been in a movie. She used to sing commercial jingles!"

"This is all so tragic: what now?" Josh's forehead was crinkled.

"This is why I was so excited to bump into you today. When I saw you, the memories of us working together all flowed back, and, well, I want to work with you again. Right now I'm not working on any projects, but you are. And it sounds like you're open to collaboration," he nodded and thought I always am, "so maybe we can work on some songs together. What do you think?"

Josh reached for her hand. "I think that is an awesome idea. We'll finally be able to sing together, and this time it's not just one night here and two nights there."

"Oh, I am so glad that you like the idea! I'm so excited!"

"You certainly look it!" They smiled at each other. Time seemed to stand still, for just a moment.

Josh's cell phone rang. "Sorry," he murmured, "excuse me."

Stepping into the hallway he picked up his phone. "Hi?"

"Josh, it's mom. Where are you? I thought you'd be home watching movies with Sweeney?"

"I decided to go out tonight. Is Sweeney okay?"

"He's fine, I think. Maybe just a little hungry, but I'll feed him. When will you be home?"

"I don't know, mom. Does it matter?"

"No, of course not. You're a big boy now."

"Just now I've become one? Geez, mom!"

"Well, I'll let you go now that I know you're okay."

"Thanks. Bye!"

"Well, that was stupid. It was my mom. Anyway, where did we leave off?" Josh sat down and sighed.

"I don't remember. Maybe we should call it a night." She emptied her wine glass.

"Yeah, I guess I should go. Sweeney needs me." She smiled sweetly at him.

"Before I go, you want to know something funny?" He asked.

"Josh the goof-ball. Of course I want to hear something funny!"

"When you came up to me in Price Chopper at first I thought you were a fan."

"Well, that's not so bad, because I think I am."

G