The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

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librarian_7
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The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

Post by librarian_7 »

I know, I know…the “Between the Fire and the Fountain” Challenge was a long time ago. Consider this a very late entry…

And, yes, I intend no infringement. Really.


The Fortune Cookie

Beth looked at the table in dismay. Josh had insisted on ordering all of her favorites; the table was covered, and they were going to have enough leftovers to last for a week. Or rather, she was. He didn’t like the spicy stuff, like Kung Pao Chicken, the way she did, and his disgusted reaction to the thousand-year-old egg was almost comical. He was much more of Moo Goo Gai Pan kind of guy, or maybe sweet and sour pork, when he was feeling particularly adventurous. Yet here they sat, an array of the spiciest dishes on the menu of the Empress Pavilion spread out between them. It was endearing, and annoying at the same time.

“Oh, Josh, you really shouldn’t have,” she protested.

He smiled at her, his startlingly blue eyes alight, his handsome face suffused with pride. “You deserve it, what with the new job and all. I thought we’d celebrate.” He lifted his glass of chilled white wine. “To Beth Turner, newest online reporter for Buzzwire.com.”

“Well, I haven’t actually done any webcasts yet.” But she smiled back at him, and took a sip from her own glass. It was a nice wine, cool and crisp, although she might have preferred a red. Something with a little more tannic bite.

“It’ll happen,” he said with assurance. “Maybe tomorrow, maybe tonight.”

Beth really did have to appreciate his support. It hadn’t been easy, breaking into the ranks of the live reporters. She’d spent almost two years, doing background research and writing. Now, it was all down to waiting for Maureen to call. She took another sip of wine. “Let’s make it a toast to all the cases you’re going to win, too. Arms dealers and drug lords, beware!”

Josh beamed. He was proud of what he did, too. She knew he believed in how important it was to make a difference in the world. It was one of the things that had attracted her to him. He might be a little too—conventional, a little too buttoned down, for her sometimes, but she always admired his dedication to his work. How could she not?

All her friends said they were the perfect couple. The handsome young ADA, the clever, pretty reporter. She supposed that sooner or later they’d marry, settle into a house in some nice area of L. A. County, Glendale, maybe, and raise the requisite 2.4 kids. Or whatever the average was, these days. It all sounded idyllic.

It all sounded—and she hated to admit it, even to herself—boring. She wanted to be Christiane Amanpour, not June Cleaver.

They ate in companionable silence for awhile, passing dishes back and forth across the table, although she noticed Josh was tending more to the steamed rice than the Dragon and Phoenix.

“You really should have gotten something you like,” Beth commented.

Josh helped himself to a small spoonful of Salt and Pepper Shrimp, and shrugged. “It’s your celebration, tonight. And this is good.”

Beth reached across the table impulsively, and laid a hand on his. “You know you hate it. You’re just too nice sometimes, Josh.”

“Well, I did want to talk to you about something, Beth.” Josh was looking earnest, and she knew what he was about to bring up—again. “We’ve been dating almost a year, now.”

“Not quite eleven months.”

“Close enough. Anyway, don’t you think it’s time we moved in together?”

“We spend three nights out of four together as it is.”

“Right. So why not make it official?”

It was reasonable. He was reasonable. She hated arguing with a lawyer. There wasn’t anyone else in the picture, so why did she feel so strongly that she needed to keep her options open, just a little bit? She was looking around, anywhere but at Josh’s expectant face, while she tried to formulate an answer that wouldn’t hurt his feelings, when something caught her eye.

“Josh. There’s that guy again.”

“What guy?” He was caught off guard by her sudden change of topic.

“You know, the one we always see here.” She gestured with her head towards a small table, where a middle-aged, professorial-looking type sat with a teapot and a small plate in front of him, reading a journal, and making the occasional note in a small leather notebook. “He’s always here, and he always has a pot of tea, and a pork bun, and I’ve never seen him take a bite, or a drink. It’s creepy.”

Josh glanced around. “Oh, that guy. Maybe he has a digestive problem or something.”

“Yeah, but then why keep buying pork buns?”

“Maybe he likes the smell. Maybe they remind him of his childhood. How the hell would I know, Beth?” There was the slightest edge in his voice, signifying that he knew she was trying to dodge the subject. Across the room, the tweedy man looked up, suddenly, almost as though he’d heard their conversation, and Beth looked down, embarrassed to be caught staring. She didn’t see him gather his belongings hurriedly, and slip out of the dining room.

She sighed, and made herself look Josh straight in the eye. “I’m just not ready yet, sweetie. I promise, I’ll let you know.”

Josh’s face fell into serious lines, what Beth thought of as his assistant district attorney look. “You need to make up your mind, Beth. We need to move forward.”

She nodded. “I know, Josh, and I promise—”

Her words were interrupted by the arrival of a waiter bearing a small tray with the check, and two fortune cookies. Josh took it from the waiter and held it out to her, so she could select a cookie.

Following a ritual she and her mother had adopted when she was a small child, Beth muttered, “Guardian angel, guide my hand,” before choosing one of the small cellophane-wrapped pastries. She held it for a few moments, while Josh tore open his own cookie.

“What’s your fortune say?” she asked as she opened hers.

Josh glanced at the slip of paper in his hand. “The usual nonsense. ‘You will soon embark on a journey of destiny.’ How about you?”

“ ‘A dark, mysterious man will change your future.’ “

“Well, that must be me.”

Beth crinkled her nose, smiling at him. She couldn’t help thinking, though, as they left the restaurant and headed back to her place, that Josh was about the least mysterious man she knew.

For one thing, she thought with a mental roll of her eyes, he was going to be restless all night after eating spicy Chinese food.

And sure enough, his tossing and turning kept her awake, so that when the phone rang just after 1 a.m., she was glad.

As she expected, it was her editor, Maureen. “Beth, I’ve got an assignment for you. They found a body in the fountain outside the Pacific Design Center. Steve’ll meet you there in 20 with the camera gear.”

“We’re going to webcast?”

“You’re ready. And you’re on, so get moving.”

As she grabbed clothing out of the closet, her mind was racing. Even before knowing anything, she was planning what to say, how to say it. Her chance at last. This was it.

Josh barely stirred as she slipped out the door, and went to meet the future.
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Re: The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

Post by francis »

I LOVE this!!! So much foreboding. Beth is already bored in her relationship. It wasn't Mick who brought them to an end. I love the pork bun professor and the Kung Pao and that Josh is just too nice, bland as rice and without personality. It so fits.
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Re: The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

Post by coco »

What a perfect little snippet of their time together before everything changed. The relationship was already faltering. It's no wonder Beth found such fascination and intrigue with Mick. She was already craving the excitement that she just didn't feel with Josh.

I loved all the little nods to the show with the professor and the food. Very cool, Lucky :hearts:
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Re: The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

Post by Lilly »

Wow!! I should get you talking about Chinese food more often. :snicker: I love this! :yahoo: :notworthy: :heart:

I'm so glad you decided to include it with the challenge fic -- it's between the fire and the fountain all right, but as close to the end point as you could possibly get.

Francis is right -- the sense of foreboding here is just delicious. A celebration designed to satisfy Beth's appetite only serves to whet it for something more, something exciting and mysterious. And poor, sweet Josh. His destiny is not at all what he imagined. :hankie:
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Re: The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

Post by NightAir »

Great way to illustrate the differences between Beth and Josh and their expectations from life. He was a stand-up guy, but about as exciting as white wine and white rice. She craved excitement, spice. Even before Mick stepped back into her life, Beth was dragging her feet, not ready to settle for a conventional life with Josh. Neither could have know how prophetic their fortunes were that night.

And I loved Stovsky's cameo! :flowers:
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Re: The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

Post by LadyAilith »

What a deliciously lovely piece! I do feel badly for poor Josh. It's the beginning of the end of their relationship - Beth's just figuring it out; Josh will never know for certain, but he will suspect. And Stovfsky's at the restaurant! That's just the icing on the cake for me!

Thank you so much for such a wonderful tale!
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Re: The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

Post by jen »

Lucky

How fabulous!!!!!

This fits so well!

Josh is a sweetie, no question of it. He is one of the good guys--perfectly understandable that he is 'Mr. Right Now' if not 'Mr. Right'

Love how the messages on those fortune cookies turned out to foreshadow events that were already rushing to meet them that very night.

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Re: The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

Post by cassysj »

Poor Josh we was a great guy but not the right guy. Josh certainly met his destiny soon although it was not a good one. I also loved the pork bun professor, had pork chops tonight myself. :snicker:
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Re: The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

Post by darkstarrising »

“ ‘A dark, mysterious man will change your future.’ “

“Well, that must be me.”
Lucky, you make me feel even sorrier for Josh than I already did. Only in his mind is he mysterious. To Beth he's fairly predictable to the point of she's beginning to pull away from him.

Even before the real dark, mysterious man enters her future, you have Beth exhibit the telling signs of a relationship in danger. Josh does something nice for her (the Chinese spread) and she finds fault with it. He wants to make their relationship 'official', yet she keeps putting him off. And as for the future as a married couple with kids,
She wanted to be Christiane Amanpour, not June Cleaver.
Poor Josh can't even get the wine right.
But she smiled back at him, and took a sip from her own glass. It was a nice wine, cool and crisp, although she might have preferred a red. Something with a little more tannic bite.
Damn, but this is a great line!! Josh is the crisp white wine, and the vampire who would soon enter her life is cleverly described as something red....with a bite. Fabulous!!

A wonderful prequel to NSTAV, with a lovely little nod to Dr. Feelgood.
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Re: The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

Post by francis »

When I thought about the story later, I realized that Beth was getting used to eating while her dinner date didn't eat (much) already. :laugh:
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Re: The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

Post by allegrita »

Oh, Lucky - this isn't fluffy; it's kind of harsh and sad. Poor Josh... he tried so hard, but he just wasn't the guy Beth wanted to spend her life with. She was so ready to meet that dark, mysterious stranger... and Josh, poor Josh, never saw it coming. I feel sad for him, but at the same time I feel sad for Beth. She was getting pulled into a trap she would have hated to be in. Maureen was as much of a catalyst for the change in their relationship as Mick was. Beth was on the cusp of big changes... and Josh was on the cusp of some very different changes. Their lives were just diverging... and I really think this story reveals that it wasn't one specific thing that pulled them apart. It was going to happen no matter what.

I love the fact that they were at the Empress Pavilion and that Beth noticed Gerald Stovsky there... what a delicious foretelling of a future episode. Once again... nothing that Josh did wrong, but he just wasn't the guy. Not the right guy at all. :Mickangel:
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Re: The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

Post by wpgrace »

Well woven tale! Perfect for this challenge! :yahoo:

You not only set up the Meet, you foreshadowed people and events by now dearly familiar to us all. And laser-pointed the issues in Beth's pre-existing relationship, including the perfect detail of Josh actually considering that that fortune could ever apply to him!

Meanwhile, our vampire is sleeping late in his freezer, but about to stir and hit the fridge... Delightful!
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Re: The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

Post by librarian_7 »

Grace! I never had thought about that, but good heavens, you're right! Mick had just gotten up, and it was 2 am when he saw Beth walking through that fountain. What a slugabed!

Okay, now I wanna know why he was being so lazy... :chin:

Thanks to all for the comments! I really do feel that poor Josh--perfectly nice guy that he was--was really a bit of a detour for Beth.

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Re: The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

Post by MickLifeCrisis »

Terrific! The foreboding in this actually gave me chills. :twothumbs:

It's comforting, in a strange way, to know that Beth and Josh were already on different pages in their relationship before Mick showed up. Beth would not have been happy just settling for Josh, and the relationship would have ended eventually anyway. Mick's reappearance in Beth's life just moved things along faster. Josh may have thought it was all Mick's fault, but the whiteness of the picket fence he saw in the future was blinding him to the present.

Thanks for this little gem!

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Re: The Fortune Cookie -- PG-13 (Beth and Josh)

Post by francis »

Lucky - well, Mick has been dreaming about being interviewed by a reporter - or maybe he was just daydreaming ( nightdreaming?) in his freezer. I wonder now too, why he was so lazy. Maybe he had a rough night/day before that one. Maybe he just had no purpose in life until he saw Beth. Maybe your muse might want to write a companion piece...
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