Mama's Boy

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The bartender came over and took their orders, and Josie's eyes trailed to the water. She hadn't seemed tense before, but suddenly, she seemed far more serene just looking at the water.

"How long have you been modeling?" Nathan asked.

"Started when I was twenty-one. I was doing a favor for a friend, and the photographer liked me. He asked me to do another shoot for him. I was a little hesitant, but he talked me into it, and before I knew it, I was working for other photographers. Turned out that I really liked it. It's not always the easiest work, but I couldn't imagine doing anything other than what I'm doing now. I'm just grateful that I can do something I love to sustain myself. I mean, the modeling is the bonus, but the yoga, I'm all about that."

Nathan could see the passion in Josie's eyes. He knew then, that like him, she had no plan B. Nothing else that she would have been doing if she wasn't doing yoga. He liked that about her, that she wanted it and she went for it.

"How old were you when you knew that you wanted to play baseball?" she wondered as their drinks came.

"I don't remember," he admitted. "Probably about three or four. That's when my father put me in a little league. I'm sure it's something I asked for. When did you take up yoga?"

"Birth," Josie joked, laughing as if she had told the funniest joke. Nathan admired her smile as she tossed her head back. "My mom was so West Coast. Such the Californian, so concerned about fitness. Sometimes, I just sit and look at old home videos of us doing yoga when I was a baby."

"So you really started yoga at birth?"

"Pretty much." She grinned at him. "There are poses you can put a baby in. I would spend my summers and weekends in her yoga studio. All her students loved me. You would never imagine all the little trinkets they would bring in on Saturday mornings knowing that I was coming."

A sigh escaped Josie's lips as she reflected back on her childhood. Her eyes again drifted to the ocean, and she stared as if she could become that water. As if she could immerse herself and have no more troubles.

"When did you come to Florida, then?" Nathan wondered.

"When I was fourteen. I don't think I ever fully adjusted until recently. I found out all the family I have is right here, and I think for a long time I was afraid instead of embracing it."

"Why were you afraid?"

Josie said nothing to that, staring back at the water. He could tell that he wasn't going to receive an answer to that. At least, not right away.

"Did you play any other sports as a kid? You know, just for the fun of it?" she wondered, still looking over the water.

"I still on occasion play a little basketball and some football. I tried soccer once, and it wasn't for me."

That put a huge smile across Josie's face. "At least you've tried it. My family is big on soccer."

Nathan could tell that Josie was listening from her detailed responses, but he could also tell that she was partially somewhere else. She seemed so far away while she was sitting right beside him, and he decided that wherever she had gone in her mind, he was going to let her stay awhile as their food came. He asked for boxes and their check.

Josie had become so involved in her thoughts once Nathan stopped speaking that she hadn't even noticed that he'd boxed their food up until he reached for her hand.

"Why are we leaving?"

"You're not here, Josie."

"Oh, no, Nathan-"