003

"Mind if I join you?" Richie asked as he approached her from behind, nearly immediately regretting this decision.

"Why?" Jane questioned, without missing a beat. She didn't turn around, she didn't tell him to sit; nothing. Just, "Why?"

Her tone wasn't nasty, not at all, but genuinely curious, and Richie didn't know how to answer. He wasn't even sure what the question was. "Wh-why what?"

"Why me?" she asked again, this time turning to him. "I mean really, you could have any girl here, right?" she nodded, willing him to agree with her.

"If you say so," was his reply, thinking it was best to stay as neutral as possible.

"So why me?" she asked for the third time as she took a small sip of her martini.

"Uh... well..." Richie thought about his answer; the truth? "The view is... spectacular over here." Nope. "It's the perfect place to scope out my next target."

He was sure he'd get at least a pity smile out of that, but she was doing a fine job of hiding any and all emotions... tough cookie, he thought.

Richie's brow furrowed as he tried to figure her out. He was feeling slightly deflated, but not ready to give up; he needed to find out what had drawn him to this woman... why her indeed.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said, trying a different route. "I feel like a total ass now, I should have taken the hint before."

Still no response, just big emerald green eyes staring back at him... damn. There was nothing for him to do now but walk away. He couldn't very well stand there talking to himself, could he?

Of course he could. "What are you drinking?" he asked.

Jane lifted her martini to her lips and took another small sip, almost finishing it. "Can I buy you another?" he offered. She shook her head no, "but thank you," she added.

Richie's mouth dropped open in feigned shock, "She speaks!" he exclaimed. "I was beginning to think I'd imagined that God forsaken question."

"It wasn't that difficult, was it?" Jane asked coyly, knowing full well. She wasn't trying to be impossible, but it was obvious then that Richie had no idea who she was, and that hurt a little; she decided she wasn't going to give him an inch.

She thought it had been working too, but he was clearly beginning to break through.

"It totally put a block on my mojo."

"No it didn't," she reassured him, trying desperately to suppress the smile that was threatening her lips.

Richie cocked his head to the side and grinned. "Oh really?" he drawled, having caught her moment of weakness. "I'm Richie, by the way."

"I know who you are," she said, just a tinge of haughtiness carrying her tone, which made Richie feel terribly guilty... for what, he had no idea.

Oookaaay... "What am I missing?"

Jane snorted, "Probably a lot."

Richie was a little taken aback by that. He was seriously confused, this girl was very tough to read. One minute she's not talking at all, the next she's joking - flirting even, and then she's... angry? For what?

"Sorry," Jane finally offered after seeing the look on his face. She hadn't meant to be quite so sharp. She turned away from him and back to the bar, padding the stool next to her, beckoning him to sit.

He did, though not without a little hesitation. He hoped this one wasn't crazy.

"I get the feeling I'm the one who should be sorry, for something, I don't know what-"

"Richie, the truth is..."

Richie... he loved hearing her say his name.

"... I'm a little hurt," Jane shrugged. "I-you don't remember me," she finished softly.

That hit Richie like a ton of bricks. The way he was drawn to her, the familiarity he felt, her manner with him, it all made perfect sense.

He watched as she nervously traced the rim of her now empty glass, a crooked smile forming on his face. This wasn't the same girl he'd been talking to five minutes ago. This girl was even more familiar.

Here goes, he thought. Richie gently took hold of her tracing hand, causing her to turn back to him. "My turn to tell the truth... the answer to your God forsaken, mojo blocking question," he started as he smiled sweetly. "I felt like I knew you, or like I should know you... I guess you reminded me of someone."

Richie shrugged slightly as he gave Jane her hand back, though he kept holding her gaze. "That someone must have been you."

Jane felt her heart skip a beat. She was so entranced by his touch that she barely heard most of what he'd said.

They both looked at each other expectantly, Jane waiting for Richie to say her name, Richie waiting for her to tell him what it was. He scrunched up his face when he realized that wasn't happening.

"Not even a hint?" he pleaded.

Jane just pursed her lips. "I like watching you squirm," she said.

"You gotta help me out a little bit," he pouted. "Tell me something about yourself."

"Like what?"

"I dunno, I mean... oh, I got it!" Richie exclaimed as he thought of a game. "What would your personal ad say?" Some game.

"My personal ad?" Jane asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Richie wriggled his eyebrows. "If you were to put a personal ad in-"

"I know what you mean," she rolled her eyes. "But I would never take out a personal ad."

"No, I know, but for the sake of me remembering who you are... what would it say?"

"Well I don't know, it would take a lot of consideration, a lot of edits and rewrites."

Richie again pouted as he looked at her with those big puppy dog eyes. "Throw me a bone, would ya?"

Jane knew from past experiences that the look on his face right now was one that got him whatever he wanted. "Fine," she began. "Let's see... shy thirty-something, brown hair, green eyes, loves black, hates politicians, likes to poke things with stick..."

Richie chuckled, "Wow... that was grim."

"I know! It went down hill towards the end there didn't it?"

"Pretty much after the green eyes bit," Richie quipped as he set his elbow on the bar, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "This is what I would say, if I were you I mean..."

Jane smirked, "Go on..."

"Confidently shy thirty-something, lustrous brown hair, deep... enchanting green eyes... any guy would get lost in..." Richie spoke slowly, pronouncing each word as if it were taboo; a secret of sorts, as he himself got lost in her eyes. He cleared his throat and continued, speaking much faster this time. "Beautiful, funny, great sense of humor-"

"Thank you."

Richie smiled and nodded, "Obviously you'd have to lie a little bit."

"Hey!" Jane laughed as she swatted his arm. "That wasn't funny."

"You're laughing."

"It's not laughter, it's-

"A shriek? A cackle?"

Jane leered at him through squinted eyes, "It was a pity laugh."

"Ouch!" Richie winced as he clutched his chest with both hands. "That was brutal."

"You asked for it."

"I know, I'm sorry! I totally regret saying it. You definitely do not shriek or cackle."

"Thank you, apology accepted," Jane said in her haughty voice.

"Now, where was I?" Richie started on the personal ad again. "Oh right, great sense of humor... we might have to edit that one out."

Jane leered again, using all her strength not to give him even the slightest smile. "You said I'd have to lie a little bit anyway."

"I did, didn't I? I guess we could just change it from great to good."

Richie was ready to make his move now. He had her figured out. There was no one else in the world this girl could possibly be, he just couldn't believe it had taken him so long. He was lucky she'd even given him the time of day, considering.

"Alright, so to summarize," he began. "Shy, thirty, brown hair, green eyes, yada, yada, yada, good sense of humor... sound pretty good?"

"It does, I'm contemplating using it now," Jane joked. "Has it helped you remember me though?" she asked, completely pessimistic as there was no real information in there whatsoever .

"I think we need to add a couple more things first."

"Like what?"

"Well," he started as his eyes traveled down her body. "Great legs."

"Richie!"

"What? It's a compliment, say thank you."

"Thank you," she mimicked.

"You're welcome, and secondly..." Richie paused deliberately until his eyes found hers again. "Loves guitarists."

Jane snorted, "You're so-"

"Doesn't believe in destiny," he finally got out. "But is starting to acknowledge it's existence because it's been fucking with her a lot as of late. Are we getting close?"

"I-I... I think we hit the nail on the head."