Hello, Sailor

Chapter 1: Tokyo Palace

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    Josh's POV:

I arrived to Tokyo Palace about 10 minutes early, I was really anxious to see Jane. I decided I would wait in my car until I saw her pull into the parking lot. Just as I was beginning to think back to prom night, Jane pulled in, she parked right next to me so I hopped out of the car and went over to to greet her. "Jane!" I declared as I scooped her into a big bear hug. "It is so good to see you again!", I said as I looked down at her. "You are still a shorty I see", I teased.

"Shut up" Jane said as she playfully punched my arm. "You have always been a giant, I am average, thank you very much." Jane said as she pretended to be firm. 

We made our way to the restaurant, I kept her tucked beneath my arm as we walked, it felt so natural. When we got to the door, I let her go and grabbed the door and pulled it open saying, "Ladies first". 

"Table for two please", I asked the hostess. She showed us to a table on the patio, it was perfect since it was a warm spring day. I pull out a chair and said, "Let me get your chair for you Jane, chivalry's not dead".

"Your waiter will be with you in a moment" the hostess said as she walked back inside. 

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    Jane's POV:

As I pulled into the parking lot, I suddenly got very nervous, "don't be silly," I told myself trying to shake off the nerves. When I stepped out of my car Josh immediately swept me up in a huge hug. It felt so nice to have a warm embrace like that. It had been ages since Andrew had given me a genuine hug like the one Josh just gave me. His warmth and energy was infectious. 

We entered the restaurant and as Josh held the door open for me, I couldn't help but think, "Does Andrew ever hold the door for me?" I couldn't recall the last time if he did. Then I was blown away again when Josh pulled the chair out me. This time I thought, "Andrew has NEVER pulled my chair out for me to sit, not even at senior prom when we went to the super fancy Italian restaurant Avanti Ristoranti, why was I just realizing this now? I tried to regain focus on what Josh was saying despite trying to wrap my head around this huge realization. 

"So Jane, what have you been up to since high school?" Josh questioned.

"Well I went to the University and studied Human Development, I just received my Bachelor's this past winter." I said grinning. "It took me a little longer than originally planned, it turns out Nursing just was not for me, or rather Science is not for me, I struggled with Chemistry, so I guess it wasn't just Mrs. Millet's teaching style junior year." My cheeks flushed a little in embarrassment remembering how much of a natural Josh was in Chemistry. 

"Haha", laughed Josh, "Mrs. Millet was a tough teacher, her random tangents definitely did not help matters, that is for sure. So you graduated, and now what?" he asked, "What are you doing post-graduation?"

I jumped up in my seat, eager to talk about my work, "I am now an assistant director of a preschool! It is totally different from anything I ever imagined I would be doing. I never liked children much when we were in high school, but now, man, they are so funny, and bring so much joy to my day." I began detailing several stories of mishaps and silly shenanigans the children have had, Josh seemed eager to hear more, he asked questions as I spoke, which encouraged me to tell him more. Since the day I started in the preschool, Andrew had never once asked to hear any of my stories or shown any interest in the ones I voluntarily divulged. What a total 180 Josh was from Andrew. How had I missed this kindness and compassion when we dated for that month in junior year?

As I drove away from lunch that afternoon I had a huge pit in my stomach. I knew what I had to do, I had to end my five year relationship with Andrew. 

..........

Josh's POV:

Lunch had been delicious and it was wonderful catching up with Jane again after so many year. Man, I had really missed seeing that light in her eyes every time she would talk passionately about her interests, I thought as I scratched my head. I backed out of the parking lot and headed home. As I drove my mind couldn't help but wander back to our lunch conversation...

As we dove into our fresh sushi and enjoyed our sake bombers, I finally asked, "So you and Andrew have been together for a number of years now, right? Does that mean you will soon be the future Mrs. Andrew Marks?" I couldn't watch as I asked, but I felt her look up at the question. 

"Hmmm, I'm not really sure," she answered carefully, not giving anything away in her voice. Damn, this woman was infuriating, she was so hard to read. "We have been together for five years now, so naturally the next step would be marriage I suppose," she added thoughtfully, a far off look in her eyes. Cowardly, I couldn't press any further, I was too afraid of what she might say if I asked whether she wanted to get married or if she thought Andrew might be the one for her, so I remained silent. Jane seemed to snap out of it and switched the focus to me. She wanted to know about my last relationship, how that had ended. 

I regaled Jane with the story of Evelyn and how she had ended the relationship with me as she just didn't see a future with me being in the military and overseas for the next 10+ years at least. Evelyn had made it pretty clear she had no intention of going with me wherever I was stationed and didn't care to sit at home for me to visit when I was on leave. When I had finished the story, she didn't pry further, for which I was grateful. 

As we finished our sushi, we ordered another round of sake bombers. Jane asked, "So who have you had a chance to see while you are in town?" 

"Several people have reached out but I just don't have time to meet with everyone, I am only here for three days, I'd rather spend it with the few I am closest to," I answered. "I went out the other night with Anthony, Emily and Victoria, it was fun, had some drinks, danced, just shooting the s**t, you know?" 

As I pulled into the garage, I recalled a strange look that crossed Jane's face just then, but as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. In fact, I was questioning now whether I had just imagined it entirely.

"Oh, you still hang out with Victoria? How is everyone? Are Emily and Anthony still together?" Jane asked excitedly. 

"Everyone is good, Emily and Anthony are basically an old married couple at this point." I joked. "Yeah, Victoria and I are still pretty close, we talk a lot still, it was great to see her in person though for a change. She has a really great boyfriend, Eric, he seemed pretty cool the other night. She seems happy so that is good."

As we headed out to the car and said our goodbyes, I nonchalantly added that if she wanted to write me, I could give her my address for basic training. I was actually surprised when she said, "I would love to write you!", with the most gorgeous smile. I know the feelings are one sided, Jane only views me as a friend, but man, how amazing would it be if she actually developed feelings for me, I thought as I got out of the car.