Page 32 of Meant to Be

“Yeah,” I said, glancing over at the crew—who were clearly getting restless.

“Maybe I’ll see you around…at Bubby’s or The Odeon,” he said, two of the places I’d mentioned when he asked where I liked to hang out.

“Yeah. Maybe.”

“Hopefully,” he said, staring into my eyes again, his face so serious.

As he held my gaze, I felt the strangest sensation. A connection. It was almost as if I’d known him in another life—or at least for a long time in this one. I reminded myself that everyone probably felt this way when meeting Joe—that it was a function of his fame, along with all the photographs we’d seen of him over the years. Wefeltlike we knew him, but that was obviously only one-sided, illusory.

A few seconds later, Joe asked for my phone number, sayinghe’d love to get together sometime. Before I could answer, Curtis was handing over one of his business cards, my name and number written on the back.

“Thanks, man,” Joe said, grinning at Curtis. Then his face grew serious again as he gazed back at me, holding the card up. “So I can call you?” he said.

“Sure…why not?” I said with a little shrug, doing my best to play it cool, telling myself that the chances of him actually calling were remote at best.

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