Beseech ~A Josh Klinghoffer Short Story~

Chapter 4

It couldn't have been a better day to walk around Shreveport. Josh still couldn't believe how well his schedule worked out, allowing him to be with Maeve today. He was having a better time than he thought he would've, and glancing at Maeve while she loosely held his hand made the whole day complete, before it even started.

As they arrived at the restaurant, Maeve waved to the cashier who seemed really happy to see her.

"Do you come here often?" Josh laughed.

"Actually I do," Maeve laughed with him, "that's Janet, my best friend."

Josh nodded and made himself comfortable in a seat next to Maeve. They talked about everything under the sun, but seemed to always come back to music.

"You're really passionate about music." Maeve stated. Josh smiled a bit and shrugged.

"Yeah...I-I guess... well not guess. I'm definitely passionate about music." Josh replied.

Maeve grinned, "You should let me hear some of it one day."

Their pizza arrived at the table and Josh's stomach rumbled. Neither of them realized how hungry they were until the food was right in front of them.

Right before he began to eat Josh's phone buzzed with a call. He looked down and saw it was Flea calling. Josh decided to ignore it. He was concerned that if he answered Maeve would think he was being rude. Not to mention, he hasn't revealed himself yet. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Maeve away.

After the call went to voicemail, there was a short buzz indicating he had a text. Then there was another buzz... and another buzz.

"Maybe you should answer that." Maeve chuckled.

"Oh... sorry. It's no big deal it can wait." Josh said taking a bite of pizza.

"I don't mind Jay, go ahead." Josh grinned at her as she stuffed her face.

When Josh opened his messages he sighed. It was nothing major, just Flea wondering where he was and if he wanted to jam later. He had come up with a new baseline that he wanted to share.

Josh replied to Flea saying he will be back in town tomorrow and then they could jam. He knew that his text was very vague, but all of this will be explained when he got back to LA.

As if she was reading his mind, Maeve spoke, "So, how long are you going to be in town?"

"I'm...I'm leaving tomorrow." Josh answered.

"Bummer. I wish you could stay longer." Maeve said.

Josh looked at her while he leaned back in his chair, lightly biting his finger. Maeve laughed when she caught his stare.

"What ya thinking about?" She asked. Josh blushed a little bit and shook his head.

"Nothing."

Maeve leaned against the window and rubbed her stomach. "Gosh I'm stuffed," she started, "I feel like there's an anchor in my stomach."

Josh raised his eyebrows and laughed. "Ready to go?" He asked.

"Sure but I'm getting a milkshake to-go." Maeve said jumping from her seat.

"Didn't you just say you were full?" Josh asked.

"Well yeah, but I'm never too full for a milkshake." Maeve replied in a playfully frank tone.

Josh laughed again and followed Maeve back onto the sidewalk after she got her her milkshake. Just like before, Maeve hooked her fingers onto his as they walked. They walked in a comfortable silence as the sun went down.

When they arrived at Maeve's apartment building, they paused to admire the sunset completely. Still looking at the horizon Josh spoke, "I had an amazing day with you Maeve."

"I had an amazing day with you too." She said. Before Josh said anything else, Maeve looked up at him, "Are we really going to keep in contact Jay?" Josh could hear the slight worry in her voice. He looked at her and squeezed her hand lightly.

"Of course." Josh answered.

"Then..." Maeve started, this was the second time since they've met that Josh has seen her nervous, "Does that make us a couple?" When Maeve finished speaking she was looking at her feet. She was kicking around a small rock and swaying back and forth. Just like she did when she asked for his number.

Josh turned to Maeve and grabbed both of her hands. "It's okay with me if it's okay with you... we'll be long distance.." his voice trailed off.

Maeve nodded, "Sure we will, but I'm always willing to travel." Josh smiled at her words. 'If only she knew.' Josh thought to himself.

Josh really didn't have the right words to say aloud, so he took Maeve into his arms. She wrapped around him gently and the two shared an embrace. Josh could feel his heart beating and he was sure Maeve could too.

This was a bitter sweet moment. Josh knew as soon as he let go he'd have to go to his hotel room alone, fly to LA alone, and go home alone. This wasn't love at first sight, Josh didn't believe in that kind of thing, but he did like her. He wanted to be around her for just a little longer.

Maeve let go first. Commenting about how she didn't want to keep Josh out too long and she needed to feed her dog. Before Maeve left Josh decided to do one more thing. Maeve, so far, had taken the initiative and this time he wanted to.

So, he kissed her.

It wasn't hot, passionate, or messy. It was sweet. A quick peck to make sure he answered Maeve's question. Her response was exactly how he imagined it to be. A smile, her scratching the back of her neck, and then fiddling with her hands.

Maeve bid him goodbye and wished him a safe flight again. She smiled and slowly backed away to her apartment building door, waving to Josh as she went. He made sure that he made it into her building safely before turning to walk to his hotel, to pack for tomorrow morning.