American Joe

A real life Fantasy

Chapter 2
Considering
Joe was 37 years old. He was a native of Virginia. He had lived in his own house now
for the last thirteen years. He was qualified for the job on a Constitutional level. Then
again, so was Geoff. Geoff, however, wasn’t interested in the position. Geoff, like Joe,
did enjoy spotlight.
Joe sat up in his bed. He had his chin in his left hand. He looked beyond the wall into
his own past. He tried to figure out what set him apart from other politicians that had
more experience. Well, for starters, he wasn’t a politician. He had no interest in politics
other than who was elected. He didn’t believe in Democrats or Republicans or third
parties with bizarre names. They were all the same: promises that couldn’t be met. He
thought back further and traced his life story.
Joe was born in Williamsburg. He was the second child of three. He had an older
sister, Alice, and a younger brother, Samuel. He spent his free time between both
siblings, as well as his parents. Both parents worked. His father, Adam, worked at the
local brewery. His mother, Caitlin, worked as a teacher of government at the College of
William & Mary. They were busy parents, but always found time for the kids.
Joe was always in a good mood. His family loved him, he had a lot of friends, and he
enjoyed school. Of course, there were times he wasn’t so happy. Mostly, these times were
when his family had to make big and, sometimes, expensive adjustments. His parents
earned enough that they weren’t too worried about it. But Joe was a worrier. He didn’t
think about the next step. He thought about the next thousand steps. One thing would lead
to another and get blown out of proportion in his mind. But his parents were always there
to let him know that everything would be okay.
Alice was two years older than Joe. For the first fourteen years of his life, that meant
that she had sibling superiority. And she played that card so often. Even when Sam was
born. She told Joe that she would be the first to say “Hello” to the addition to the family
(She of course lost that to Adam and Caitlin). Of course, Alice knew she wasn’t being the
best older sibling, but she explained it away saying “It’s what older siblings do.” Joe
believed this as well, doing the same thing to Sam for a few years before growing tired of
it and realizing that there are more important things to do with one’s life than to terrorize
younger siblings. Still, that didn’t stop him from having a little fun with his younger
brother at some points.
Joe was 16 when Alice left for college. Her path took her to Radford University. She
studied Finance and received her degree four years later. During her senior year, she
started a relationship with Darren Warwick, another Finance student. After a year and a
half of dating, she accepted his proposal.
Joe enjoyed the wedding. It was the first one he’d been to in his life, and he became
excited about it. The concept of spending your life with somebody seemed dreamlike to
him. He would say he looked forward to his own wedding.

Joe graduated high school two years later, number fifty-four in his class of over three-
hundred. Advanced honors. His friends whistled as he was called up for his diploma. He
was extremely nervous, as if at the last moment, they were going to pull back his diploma
and say “Just kidding!” That didn’t happen. He went up, shook hand, went down and,
when the time came, threw his cap in the air.
Joe was mixed about his career path. He ended up choosing the path of the creative
writer and decided to go to Virginia Commonwealth University. He was happy he did,
because his sophomore year introduced him to Maggie. Joe, of course, was the worrier.
What if I ask her out? What if she says yes? Will she say no? She’ll probably say no.
How will I know until I ask her? Maybe I should test the waters first.
That was basically what went through his mind that first day. He thought about it until
he nearly made himself sick. Then the assignment came.
“Class, I want to try something new. I’m going to pair you up and I want you and your
partner to collaborate on a short story. Genre and subject is open. All that matters is the
teamwork and the end product. If you come up with a clear, coherent story, you pass.”
The names were called off one by one. Ted was grouped with Angela. Clarence with
Stephen. Amy and Megan. Joe was paired with Maggie.
“Alright class. Get with your partner and discuss ideas.” Joe approached Maggie and
sat down next to her.
“So…Got any ideas?”
“A few,” she said. She pulled out a paper. Five sentences were written down. Joe read
them over. “What do you think?”
“Hmmm.” He read over them again. “I like this one about the homeless man and the
dog. It feels very…” He gestured with his hands.
“It feels like it could touch people?” she finished.
“That…would be what I was looking for.” She laughed. Joe smiled. So far so good.
“Do you have any ideas?”
“Well, I have one theme. No real story for it yet.”
“Okay. What is it?” she turned towards him slightly. Joe coughed.
“Well, I was watching ‘Superman’ last night, and –,”
 “Great movie.” Joe barely hid his excitement at that.
“I was thinking about real people. Everyday people. People like you and me. How any
one person could suddenly decide to do something extraordinary. Something that would
cause people to look at them and say ‘Wow.’ So the idea is this: What drives an ordinary
person to do something extraordinary? What can one person do to become more?” She
looked at him for a few seconds. He returned the gaze. To him, it felt like hours. She
pulled some hair behind her ear.
“I like it. I think we should incorporate it somehow.” The professor announced the end
of class that moment. Maggie wrote down her number on a piece of paper and tore it
away from the notes she took. “Call me, and we can meet up to discuss more ideas.”
“Will do.” Joe looked at the numbers written down. He had come close to being in a
real relationship several times. Only once before had he been given a girl’s number. That
time, Joe was a little uneasy about dating a girl who was a couple year younger than him.
This was the real thing. He knew it. It was waiting for him.
It didn’t happen right away. Joe called her. They met at her room, discussed the ideas,
and started writing. At one point, Joe checked the clock. It was three in the morning. He
stretched. They had spent the last two hours by themselves, talking about things they had
in common. Joe was truly excited. He looked at the clock again.
“It doesn’t bother me,” said Maggie. “I’ve already had so many all-nighters that 3 AM
is nothing to me.” Joe looked at her. She looked at him.
“Well, if you’ve had so many, you should probably get some sleep.”
“Yeah. You’re probably right.” Joe didn’t leave. He couldn’t stop looking at her. He
repeated a conversation they had earlier. Then he excused himself. After he was a good
distance away, Joe found a tree and slammed his head against it.
“Stupid. STUPID!” He did this a few more moments. He started feeling dizzy. He
rubbed his forehead. A little blood had come through the scratch he had given himself.
He walked back to his dorm. His mind raced with thoughts about the night and he had
hard time getting to sleep. Geoff, who was his roommate at the time, woke up and saw
him.
“What’s got you up?”
“A girl.”
“Maggie?” Joe nodded. “She said no?”
“I didn’t ask her.” Joe slammed his head back down on the pillow. Geoff was fully
attentive now.
“What happened?” he asked, excited. “Leave nothing out!”
“Well, we talked about movies and books and things that we both liked. You know,
things we have in common. It got to the point where I was repeating previous
conversations, just so I could spend a little more time with her. I really didn’t want to
leave.”
“And you didn’t ask her out? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I don’t know. I blanked out. I would have loved to ask her out, but it wouldn’t form
in my head.”
 “You should go back over there and ask her out.” Geoff walked to the restroom.
“She’s probably still awake.”
“Probably. But I still don’t know what to say.” Geoff closed the door. When he came
back out, he stood at the foot of Joe’s bed.
“Go over there. Knock on her door. When she answers, say ‘I goofed up earlier.’ Tell
her that you didn’t want to leave.” Joe looked at him and sighed. He closed his eyes for a
moment. When he reopened them, he smiled.
“What the hell. I’ll do it.” He put his shoes back on. “After all, life’s about taking a
few risks, right?” He ran out and literally ran the whole way back to her dorm. The light
was out. He cursed himself, then knocked on the door. He was panting heavily when it
opened. Maggie rubbed her eyes.
“Joe? Are you okay?” Joe stood up straight and coughed. He took a deep breath and
let it out.
“I want to apologize for earlier. I actually didn’t want to leave. I had more fun this
night than I’ve ever had before. I just blanked on what I wanted to say next.”
“Which was?”
“I actually wanted to ask if you were free this weekend and maybe would like to grab
dinner sometime.” Maggie stopped for a second.
“I would like that,” she said. She smiled at him. Joe paused.
“Really?” After a moment of silence, they both started laughing.
“You thought I would say no?” Joe nodded sheepishly.
“I’ve had some rotten luck in the past, which made it hard for me to actually ask you
out. Fear got the better of me. Fear and nervousness and excitement.” She smiled again at
him. He suddenly felt warmer in the night air. “So…How ‘bout Saturday? Does 7.30
work for you?” She nodded.
“That works great for me.”
“Alrighty. I guess I’ll see you then.” Maggie closed the door. Joe got back to his tree
and jumped in the air. He made a victory cry to the moon, then took his time walking
back to his room. When he did get back, he collapsed on his bed from all the excitement.
He never slept better.

The first date went well. Joe was still nervous. He worried about making the right
impression. Those worries faded away by the time the food actually came. They spent all
night talking, even when the wait staff had told them that they were the last ones in the
building.
The first date led to a second, third, and fourth dates. What bloomed was the
equivalent of a storybook relationship. Every moment that wasn’t spent in class was spent
in each other’s company. Their relationship continued into the next couple of years.
Senior year, they both found themselves in a difficult place.
 Maggie was having a piece published and was asked to do a reading in New York. Joe
was offered a job as a writer at the local paper in Richmond. They sat down and
discussed what was to happen.
They came upon an agreeable situation: They would go their separate ways, but keep
in touch. They would meet back in a few years and see if they still had feelings for each
other. It was a test right out of a fairy tale. They both nodded their agreement. They
embraced for what seemed like an eternity.
The next morning, Joe took Maggie to the airport. He helped move her luggage to the
check in. After getting her ticket, Maggie grabbed her carry on and walked with Joe to
the security check. She looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“I don’t want to go.”
“I don’t want you to either.”
“I should stay.”
“No. As much as I can’t stand us being apart, we can’t deny this moment. You’ve
waited all your life for this. You don’t want to go, I know, yet you do.” He hugged her
tightly. He spoke into her ear, “No matter what happens, I will never, EVER stop loving
you.” She blinked away tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes. She stepped
back, wiping them. She nodded.
“We can do this.” Joe nodded. Maggie kissed him, then walked through security. Joe
watched and waved until she was out of sight. He couldn’t hold himself together. He
walked over to a bench and sat down, sobbing. His hand reached into his pocket for
comfort. His fingers settled around something.
A ring.

Two and a half years passed before they met again. And when they did, no force on
heaven or earth could have matched what they felt, seeing each other again. It was as if
the stars themselves were colliding. Joe was too excited for tradition. He reached into his
pocket and pulled out the ring that had been there for the last two and a half years.
Maggie saw this and nearly collapsed. She leaned to his ear.
“Yes!”
They were married half a year later on June 26, 2001.

“What are you thinking about?” asked Maggie as she climbed in bed with him. Joe
woke up from the memories. He looked at her.
“The first time we met. That writing project we had in sophomore year. Remember.”
“I do. We got the only A in the class.”
 “Do you remember when you asked if I had any ideas and I said I only had a theme.”
Maggie sat up.
“That was a while ago. I don’t remember really.”
“Hmmm. Anyway, what do you think about this whole thing? Should I let Geoff know
it’s a crazy idea? Or should I tell him how crazy I am for believing in it?”
“I think you need to ask yourself how ordinary people can suddenly decide to do
something extraordinary. Something that makes people say ‘Wow.’” Joe smiled.
“You do remember.”
“Of course. Those were the words that made me fall in love with you.” Joe smiled and
lay back down. Maggie wrapped her arm around him as they fell asleep.

The next morning, Joe called Geoff and told him to come over. A knock on the door
came ten minutes later. Geoff came in and saw Joe sitting at the table.
“Have we got a game plan for this thing?” Geoff smiled. He sat down.
“Not yet. But we got time. Campaigns don’t start for a while now.” Geoff reached
across the table to shake Joe’s hand. Joe looked at his friend.
“I’ll only do this on one condition.”
“What’s that?” Joe handed him the same paper Geoff handed him. Geoff took it and
unfolded it. Below what he wrote was written: GEOFFRY WELSH FOR VICE
PRESIDENT. Geoff laughed and looked at Joe, who now offered his hand.
“Deal.” They shook hands.
And so it began.