Chapter 37
As it turned out,
there were people awaiting Nick’s return, and they called him up his
first night back.
“Nickay! Good to talk to ya, dude. How ya been?” boomed the jovial voice of
Nick’s longtime friend Brent.
“Fine,” Nick
replied dishonestly. “You?”
“Great. Me and the guys are goin’ out on the town
tonight, wanna join us?”
Nick groaned
inwardly; he had a feeling that’s what Brent had called to ask him. He missed their wild, drunken, “guys night
out” escapades, but at the moment, going clubbing and drinking was the last
thing he felt like doing. He was still
finishing up his third round of chemo and didn’t feel well, not to mention he
wasn’t supposed to drink alcohol.
“Aw, Brent,
thanks, but no thanks,” he replied. “I’m
not feeling so hot right now. Probably
jet lag or something.”
“Jet lag? Didn’t you drive?”
“Oh… uh…”
“Gotcha.” Nick could just picture Brent’s grin on the
other end.
“Okay, so it’s
not jet lag,” he admitted. “But I think
I’m coming down with the flu…”
“Aww, quit being
such a pussy. Come hang out with
us. We haven’t seen you in months, bro.”
Nick sighed. “Can’t we do this next week?”
“Just for
awhile? Come on, we won’t keep you out
too late. It’ll do you good to get some
fresh air.”
“Fresh air? In a bar?
More like stale, cigarette smoke-filled air.”
Brent
chuckled. “Okay, you win. I guess we’ll just have to go without you
then, man. Drinking… hot chicks… you’re
gonna miss out! Are you sure you
don’t wanna come?” he asked enticingly.
Nick
hesitated. “Maybe… but I’m
driving.” That way he could go home when
he wanted, he figured.
“Hey, cool with
me. Pick me up at eight, okay? James, Frank, and Lane are coming too.”
“Okay,” Nick
agreed. “See you then.”
“See ya.”
Brent hung up
with a click, and Nick shut off his own phone with a sigh. Why had he said he would come with them? He liked hanging with the guys, but it was
the last thing he felt like doing that night.
But he just couldn’t refuse.
***
“You sure are
quiet tonight, Carter,” Frank commented later that night, as the five men sat
at the bar of Charlatan’s, a club Nick came to often. He had once taken Leah there, he
remembered. Strange, how that was the
first thing he thought of when he thought of Charlatan’s. He’d been there many other times with
different people, usually Brent and the guys, so why did it bring back memories
of Leah?
Maybe he wasn’t
over her yet.
Yes I am, he assured himself. It’s been months. She’s a bitch, I hate her guts, and I have
plenty of other crap to deal with. I
don’t need to be obsessing about her on top of everything else.
“Yo, Nick!” Frank
shouted, finally grabbing his attention.
“What?” Nick
asked dazedly.
“I said,
you sure are quiet tonight. What’s up?”
“Nothing… I’m
just tired.” The excuse sounded lame,
even to Nick, but Frank shrugged and didn’t press the issue.
Taking a sip of
his Pepsi, Nick smiled inwardly, thinking how Kevin would probably freak out if
he had made that statement. “Tired?”
he could imagine Kevin repeating, eyes growing large, “Well, maybe you
should go lie down. You want me to call
your doctor? Are you supposed to be this
tired?”
He was actually
surprised Kevin or Brian hadn’t called his house yet to ask him how he was
feeling. They had both hinted that they
would at the airport before his flight departed. Normally, when the group flew home after
weeks or months of being together, their goodbyes were fairly short, for they
were usually so sick of each other, they couldn’t wait to board their separate
planes.
This time,
however, the goodbyes were different.
“Take care of
yourself, Nick,” Kevin had said, his green eyes dark and serious. “Call me if you have any troubles or if you
need anything. I’ll be in touch.”
Brian had given
Nick a hug, which was normal of him, but unlike the normal, brief, brotherly
hug, Brian pulled Nick close and held on to him like he was afraid to let go.
“Uh… Rok?” Nick
had finally spoken up after awhile of this.
“You might wanna let me go now, or those rumors about us being gay are
gonna start springing up again.”
Brian pulled back
and smiled up at Nick, his blue eyes rather cloudy. “I’ll see ya, Frack. You give me a call if you wanna talk or
anything. And if you need me, I’m only a
state away.” He flashed a cheesy grin,
but Nick had a feeling that was only a way of covering up another emotion.
“Hey, don’t start
acting like your cousin, Rok,” Nick said lightly. “I ain’t gonna die on ya or anything.” It was meant to be a joke, but no one had
laughed. No one had even smiled. Shifting uncomfortably, he added, “Go on,
Bri, get home to that wife and kid of yours.”
That brought a
smile to Brian’s face, and he could see the excitement dancing in his eyes.
“Give Baylee a
kiss from his godfather.”
“Will do,”
replied Brian, clapping Nick’s shoulder.
His hand lingered there a little longer than usual, finally giving
Nick’s shoulder a light squeeze and dropping to Brian’s side. “Bye, Nick.”
Nick smiled. “Bye, Bri.”
Smiling again now
at the recent memory, Nick wondered if he’d have an answering machine full of
messages from the two of them (or maybe three – Howie could be a major
worrywart sometimes too) when he got home.
“What are you
grinning about?” asked Brent, bringing Nick back to the present.
“Nothin… just
thinking.” Nick left it at that, and
Brent didn’t ask what he was thinking about.
Nick took another drink from his glass of Pepsi, absently staring at the
wine rack and decorations on the wall behind the bar.
“Nick,” Brent
said suddenly, grabbing Nick’s shoulder.
“Ain’t that your ex over there?”
Spinning Nick around to look, he pointed. Squinting and following Brent’s line of
vision, Nick felt his heart leap into his throat.
There, sitting at
a small table across from some dorky-looking guy, was the one person he never
wanted to see or even think about ever again.
Leah Gaylers.
***