Chapter 21
A
bright flash of lightening jolted Ciara from her
quiet thoughts as she finished up the dishes. She calmed from the scare and
finally looked out her kitchen window at the storm. It had been pounding the
coast for hours, giving no signs of letting up. “Well, at least it equals my stinkin’ mood. Ugh.” She shoved the last of the silverware
in the drainer and tossed a towel over the pile to let them air dry.
She’d
never felt so lonely in all her life. Typically being alone was something she
liked. Never did the roommate thing, never did the live-in thing with
boyfriends, hated sharing a room with sister when she lived at home, but
this…this loneliness was for the birds. She had recovered pretty much as
expected from the surgery, although still needed high doses of meds to keep her
strength up day to day. Lindsey had almost completely flown the coup realizing
her stupidity, Ciara supposed. She never visited in
the hospital either. That one hurt and good. Her family? Well…as usual they
were in denial about everything. Since life wasn’t rosy in Ciara’s
garden, they didn’t take time to tiptoe through the tulips there.
Then
there was her love life. Ha. What a goddamned joke. Dwayne flew in and out as
though Ci’s apartment had a revolving door. She
turned her heart off to him the night he showed up stoned. Her body? Well,
occasionally need won over common sense and she’d cave in. But her heart was
hard as stone. He didn’t notice or care anyway.
School
was another matter altogether. She was kicking ass at school. Straight A’s
every quarter. Internships at the hospital led to part time work. She had
friends there, but nothing particularly close. She left work at work…or at
least at the bars after hours at work with some of her co-workers. Benign
parties. No investment. No loss. And she now knew where she wanted to end up
professionally; pediatrics. She knew what it was like to be in the hospital as
a kid. Alone, scared, sick, aching. Her heart went out to them and that is
where she was going to devote her life. And, because of great grades and
pushing her butt in the summers, she was going to graduate early. She’d already
landed a job at Tampa General in the pedes unit and…well, at least one area of
her life was going along nicely. Too bad she didn’t feel like she had anyone to
share the good news with.
Health-wise
she was…eh. Her eyes were doing odd things and they’d already done one laser
surgery on her to hopefully stop the retinal bleeding. It was a very common
problem in diabetics. “Get your sugar under control, Ci
and some of these problems will take care of themselves.” Well, thank you Sherlock
Holmes. She knew this. Watched her diet like a hawk and it never mattered. She
still couldn’t keep it balanced. Why did her body hate her so much?
Flipping
mindlessly through the channels after watching her taped soap operas, she got
up to scrounge in her freezer for a TV dinner. “I can’t even cook enough to
keep a man. I’d kill him before our first kiss.” She pulled out something that
looked a bit like chicken…at least that’s what the box said it was, and threw
it in the microwave, slammed the door closed and punched the correct buttons.
She
gave herself her shot and heaved a sigh as she looked at the steaming food in
front of her. Another meal alone. Another night alone. This was getting old.
She needed a man. A real one. Did any actually exist?
Rudely
interrupting her perfect state of depression, the phone’s shrill ring caused
her to startle. “Jesus. Maybe that’s my knight in shining armor now.”
“Watkins
Weeping
“What?
Ciara?”
“Who
is this?”
“Ci…it’s Nick!”
“Nick!?
Holy shit!” When the hell did his voice change? Where in the hell was he? They
were supposed to be in
“
“Yeah,
I’m good…you’re calling me from
“Yeah…is
that a problem, Miss Weeping Willow? Or did I interrupt a pity party?”
“As
a matter of fact, yes you did. Damn…” She sat down, totally stunned at how much
his voice alone had changed. It still had a ways to go, but…my god. Nicky. “How
are you, sweetie?”
“I’m
good. I just…I miss you. I miss home.”
“I
bet you do…and I miss you, too. I need your smile here lately.”
He
offered one, but unfortunately, she couldn’t see it. But she felt it. She could
feel it in a place she normally kept closed off to others. How could this twerp
get in there? Every damned time, too. “Well, we’re coming home in a few weeks
and uh, we’re doing some promotional stuff at Disney. I want you to come with
us.”
“To
Disney? Oh cool. I haven’t been there in years.”
“How
are you feeling? Can you do this?”
Ugh.
THAT question. “I’m okay. And yeah, I can do Disney. When do we go?”
They
small talked a bit longer, having to hang up abruptly when Kevin came storming
in the room griping about Nick’s tardiness for rehearsal. Some things didn’t
change apparently. Making hasty plans as they hung up, Ciara
smiled for the first time in weeks. She missed that kid so much. But…he wasn’t
so much of a kid anymore now was he? Sixteen. He could drive now. Oh God.
******~~~~~~******~~~~~~
“Soooo, Ciara…” Nick sauntered to
her car, running a finger over its hood as though it were a woman’s body. He
flashed a cheesy grin and wiggled his eyebrows at her.
“What,
Nick? God, you are dangerous with those eyes.” 6 months had done a number on
him. He had to have grown 3 or 4 inches and he was slowly losing that little
boy “cuteness.” Heartbreaker. He was going to be a heartbreaker.
“Yeah,
I know…I try. So, uh…yeah, I have my license now and we have a bit of a drive
to
“You
wanna drive my car, little boy?” What a dork. And could she really let him?
This car…it was her baby.
“Are
you offering?”
“No,
you’re begging…and you suck at it.”
His
shoulder slumped and he truly pouted. This kid was good. “Oh come on, Ci. I could drive the route blindfolded and I got 100% on
my test and…” There they were, the puppy dog eyes. She had been waiting for
those to show up.
“You
just suck, Nick. Jeez.” She tossed him the keys, shaking her head and saying a
silent prayer. “Big one with “
He
squealed. The goof actually squealed like a little girl. Catching the keys, he
quickly fidgeted with his lock and hopped in the driver’s seat, wailing when he
smacked his crotch on her steering wheel.
Sliding
in next to him, Ciara laughed, “You might wanna throw
the seat back a hair. I’m short.” Now it was her turn for a cheesy grin.
“Gee,
thanks for the warning.” He reached between his legs to set the seat back a
couple…a TON of notches. “Damn, do you even HAVE legs?”
“Nope.
Stubs.”
Finally
settled, he turned the ignition and squeezed the steering wheel with
excitement. “Ahhhhh…I’ve been wanting to drive your
cars since…well, since you got your first one.”
“I
swear that’s the only reason you’ve hung out with me this long. After today
I’ll never see you again.”
“Ayup. You found me out. Give me a car-gasm
and toss you to the wind.”
Huh?
“What did you just say?” He did NOT just say that.
Another
eyebrow wag and he looked in the rearview mirror and backed out of the parking
spot giggling with glee. “You heard me.” Silence followed them out of the
complex as she stewed over his maturity…she was definitely not ready for this.
Breaking the silence, he flashed one more grin, thrilled to be home….to be with
her today. ”So, after the PR crap when we get there, what are we gonna ride
first?”
“Duh.
Dumbo’s Flying Elephants!” Who the hell said he was supposed to learn about ANY
kind of ‘gasm’ without her permission?
******~~~~~~******~~~~~~
“Hey,
hey, we get ANOTHER girl today! Woohoo!” AJ ran up to
Ciara, picked her up and spun her around planting a
big wet one on her cheek.
Once
back on firm ground Ciara caught her breath and
laughed. “ANOTHER? You guys bein’ unfaithful to me?”
“Eh,
just Kev. Where are they anyway?”
“I
think they went on ‘It’s A Small World’…how ya’ doin’, Ci?
Miss seeing you.” Brian leaned in and kissed Ciara’s
dry cheek squeezing her shoulder lightly.
“I’m
doin’ okay, B. Thanks for letting me come along today. I needed this.”
“Don’t
thank us, yet. You may be regretting it before long.”
“This
is true. So, no one wanted to join Kev and his girl on ‘Small World’? Are we
afraid of cooties?”
“It’s
Linds, Ciara… you didn’t know she’d be here?”
Well,
isn’t that special? “Uh, no. Had no idea.” She looked at Nick for some sort of
answer and all he could offer was a pair of shrugging shoulders. “She could
have come in with us. How’d she get here?” Now this one hurts. What the hell?
“She
met us at the airport yesterday.”
“Ah.
Guess she didn’t need me then.” Ciara quickly
diverted her attention to her surroundings not wanting to come off like a
jilted lover. “So, uh guys…I’m thinkin’ a spin on the Mad Hatter is in order.
Who’s up for it?”
“Oh
God, I am so out. I hate that thing!”
“Aw,
Howie…do you have a wimpy tummy?” Ciara wrapped an
arm around Howie’s shoulders and rubbed his stomach like a Buddha.
Batting
her hands away, “Yes…as a matter of fact I do, especially if Nicky’s driving.”
“HEY!
I’m a good driver now!”
“Alright,
let’s not make him pout. Bri? Aje? You in?”
“I’ll
stick with Howie…not in the mood to lose my lunch…especially since we’ve not
eaten it yet.”
Ciara shook her head, greatly disappointed
at their lack of adventure. “Sad, sad, sad. Okay, guys. It’s you and me. Let’s
go.” She walked in between AJ and Nick, sliding an arm into theirs and
sauntered off to the back entrance. Even though they were still pretty much
unknowns in
Sliding
into their shared teacup, AJ scooted closer to Ciara,
laying his head on her shoulder. “Is he gonna kill me on this thing?”
“Probably.
I’ve never ridden a teacup with him before. What do you say, Nick? Are you
safe?”
“You’re
helpin’…both of you. It’s more fun when we all do
it.”
“I
hate spinning,” AJ moaned, grudgingly grabbing the circular control in the
middle.
“Then
why in the hell are you here?” Ciara shrugged her
shoulder, making AJ lift his head up.
“Cuz
he likes to whine.”
“Oh
look who’s talking.”
“Would
you two…my God!” Ciara threw her hands up in the air
in mock frustration. Children. She was playing with children.
“Hey
Ciara!” She turned to the voice calling from outside
the ride.
“What,
Howie?”
“Good
luck…you’re gonna need it!”
***
