Chapter 22

“Thank you, Howard. I happen to be very good at Blackjack.”

“Well this is good. Besides Nick’s at your table…no competition.”

“Oh, honey…you have no idea. He sucks.”

“Hello! I’m right here! And I do NOT suck. I’ll hold.”

Ciara leaned in and looked again at Nick’s upturned card. “There is no WAY you’re holding already.”

The dealer held his cards still waiting for Nick to change his mind. Silence. Next.

“Hit me.”

The dealer finished dolling out cards and it was time to reveal their hands.

“We have twenty-one! Congratulations to the lady!”

“Christ. I swear, I suck at this.”

“Point proven. You know, if you’d hold at a bit higher than SIXTEEN you might win now and again.” Ciara giggled as she swept her chips in closer, stacking them with a bit too much joy.

“I guess she didn’t need good luck, huh? And yeah, Nick. You suck.”

“Thanks, Howie. Don’t you have some old woman to do body shots with or something?”

“Not now, no. Oh, and Ci…thanks so much for arranging the dinner last night from the auction. We had a great evening.”

“No problem. I love ya’, man, but…I can get you whenever I want.”

He chuckled and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Yep. Anytime you need me, you know it. I’m gonna go find Mom…she shopped way too hard on shore yesterday. Wiped herself out. And uh, Nick?”

“Yep?”

“A little tidbit for ya’. Dealer holds at 17…it’s a standard.” Howie patted Nick on the back and walked away shaking his head, giggling at his friend’s naiveté.

“He’s a smart ass.”

“Yes, he is. Let’s go get ready for lunch, Mr. Gambling Genius. You’re gonna be broke by dinner.”

******~~~~~~******~~~~~~~

“Okay, to prove I can still learn, I’m going to take my shot BEFORE I get dressed.”

“We’re not going formal are we? It’s lunch.”

“Nope…I just am kinda tired of the stares. I can only imagine what the talk is.”

“Let ‘em talk. Who cares?” Nick pulled a shirt from the closet and quickly threw it over his head. “Besides, you keep this up and no one will be talking about ME anymore.”

“Oh nice. Use the girlfriend as a rumor decoy. I feel so used.”

Okay, how junior high was this, but did she just say ‘girlfriend’? Nick’s heart actually raced at hearing it. Of course she was his girlfriend. Everyone knew it but her. Maybe she finally bought into the idea.

Ciara pulled the needle out of her arm, quickly capturing her injection spot with her finger to stop the minimal bleeding. “Now that I’ve done this, we ARE eating right away aren’t we? No autograph sessions or anything first?”

“Nothing scheduled, no. You should be fine.”

******~~~~~~******~~~~~~

The best laid plans of mice and men…Nick had been in the hall for over 15 minutes signing autographs and getting pictures with fans. They were incredibly nice and all, but the timing was getting to be a problem. When Nick tried to stop at just a few, Eddie had leaned in and whispered something unknown to Ciara. An apologetic glance and 15 minutes later, they were still there. Now Ciara was getting very hungry.

Beginning to feel pangs stronger than she should, she gingerly approached the group and tugged at Nick’s sleeve. He turned away from the girls to Ciara with mild irritation. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry, Nick. But I need to eat. Soon.”

“Oh…yeah, I’m sorry. Okay.” He touched her face, feeling stupid for forgetting and smiled back at the group of girls. “I’m sorry, guys. I was heading to lunch and we need to go. Thanks for bein’ so cool!”

A few moans and whines emanated from the gathering, but they reluctantly waved and left.

“I’m sorry, baby. I just need to…”

“No, my bad. I forgot.”

They sat quickly, again ignoring the eyes that followed their every move. It looked like the buffet had been ravaged…and they were late for lunch. They were going to have to order from the kitchen. Wonderful.

After a quick look through the small menu, Ciara asked Nick about the details of his date the previous night with the winner of the celebrity auction. It seemed to have been a very nice night. She had enjoyed the solitude, strolling along the decks, taking a late night swim and just relaxing in their suite. She was asleep by the time he’d returned and never heard how the evening went.

And he had plenty to tell. He ended up partnered with a very nice older woman, giving him peace of mind to just relax and enjoy her company. It was a refreshing break. He was going on about a story she had told him about her daughter, a huge fan of his brother, and suddenly realized Ciara appeared to only be nodding in polite response. She had no clue what he was talking about. What the…Auction? Aaron? You know? My brother? “Ciara? Do you even KNOW what I’m talking about here?”

She smiled slightly and never blinked. “No.” Slowly moving her gaze back to the menu, she suddenly got entranced with the wine offerings. She never drank wine at lunch.

Narrowing his eyes, he tried to figure out what was going on. Then he remembered. “You need to eat, don’t you?”

Again, the slight smile, no blink, eerily peaceful expression on her face. “Yes.” Back to the menu.

Well, shit. He hadn’t seen her zone out like this in years. Bread. Surely the waiter could bring some bread. Where was that guy anyway? Nick started looking around nervously, hoping to catch the eye of their waiter. He looked back up to Ciara and noticed her eyebrows were actually twitching. What the…where is that damned waiter?

“You okay, Ci?”

Just that damned stupid smile. She looked like she was doped up or something. This was so not good. Waiter…bread…now. Had everyone gone on break?

Even more moments later and no sign of wait staff to help, Nick was getting frantic. Ciara’s expression never changed. Finally, it dawned on Nick that she never left home without provisions. “Ci, do you have a granola bar in your purse?”

Blank stare. “No.” Smile.

No? She never….he sat and stared at her for a few seconds running a list of ideas through his head on how he could get something in her stomach immediately without causing the least bit of a scene. “Can I look anyway, Ci?” She had to have something in that suitcase she carried around.

Smile. Expressionless. Damn.

He got up and walked around, running his hand along her back before digging in her purse. He did not like doing this…something about a woman’s purse was just forbidden. Now, however, it couldn’t matter. Injection equipment, monitor, wallet, notepad, assorted make-up, hair-pick, tampons…needed to see those…Jesus! Where was…finally. He pulled the packaged granola bar out of her purse and handed it to her. “There you go, babe.”

She simply looked up at Nick as though he were a stranger. Looking down at the foil wrapped bar, she smiled at it…just like she had smiled at him.

Ciara. You need to…” He quit talking. He was talking to a wall. He just wordlessly opened the package and handed her the bar. “Eat.”

His hand trailed along her shoulders again as he walked back to his seat. She was indeed chewing obediently, still a complete staid expression on her face. Her shaking was worse…eyebrows, cheeks, hands, arms and he thought he’d noticed when he walked by her, her legs as well. This was the worst he’d EVER seen her. To say he was scared didn’t even scratch at the surface. She had virtually walked off the boat…yet she was still there.

She swallowed the first bite of granola and put the bar down on the table, looking up at Nick and smiling again. “Take another bite, Ci. Finish it up.”

She obediently followed his direction, nodding whenever he’d ask if she was feeling better. It was obvious she wasn’t, which was unusual. Typically, she improved within minutes of getting something in her system. He was beyond scared now. Petrified might do it, although that didn’t seem strong enough either.

He glanced around for a waiter again, amazed at the irony of it all. They were typically OVER attentive and now that he was in serious need, there was no one to be found. “Take another bite, Ci…almost done now.”

“Okay.” Bite, smile, chew. This was nuts.

JUICE! That’d help. His search for a waiter finally ended, although the young lady had her hands full. Tough. This was officially an emergency. “Excuse me…”

The girl looked back at the blonde man, instantly noticing his worried expression. “Yes?”

“I’m sorry, I know you’re not our waitress, but uh…” He pointed to Ciara, not sure what to say. He didn’t want to draw attention to her, although her dazed expression was about to do that on its own. “…She’s sick. I need some fruit juice, IMMEDIATELY please.”

“Oh! Absolutely. Let me put these down and I’ll be right with you.”

He looked back at Ciara who had finally finished the granola bar. She was wadding the packaging up in her hand and trying to lay it down on the table. The fact that it continued to undo itself from its ball was frustrating her. She’d wad it up, set it down, frown when it unfolded and repeat the process again and again. Like a curious 2 yr. old.

Their waiter finally appeared, totally oblivious to the activities at the table, being a might bit too perky. “Okay! Sorry that took me so long. Do you know what you want?”

“Uh, yeah…I just sent someone for juice. We need that first.”

Just as he finished his statement, the first waitress arrived with a glass of orange juice. He handed it to her, concerned she might spill from the shaking in her hands and arms. Somehow, she got a sip to her lips and put down the glass, flashing the blank smile again.

“Okay, so uh…are you two ready to order?”

“I think…Ci, do you remember what you want?”

“Yeah.” She looked down at her menu again and just stared. She had no clue.

Nick looked up sheepishly to the waiter. “I think we need to let this juice work a few more minutes. Can you come back?”

“Yeah…” Looking down at Ciara like she was an impish child. ‘You take your time now, sweetie…I can wait.” He patronizingly patted her arm and walked away. Nick seethed, but did nothing. Would do no good anyway.

“Okay, Ci…you need to eat real food…what do you want?”

“Um…” She looked at the menu again. Nick turned it over showing her the salads. She always loved salad. She looked up at him, almost as though she finally realized she couldn’t decide.

“Drink some more juice. That Island Chicken looks good…or the Cajun. You want that?”

No words, just that damned blank expression and pathetic smile.

Nick caught the waiter’s eye, who was now downright staring and waved him over. “You ready now, honey?”

“Yep.” She flipped the menu back to the wine list again and started looking at it.

Crap. Ciara come back, please. “Uh, she’ll have the Cajun Chicken Salad. Honey Mustard. Extra dressing. And I’ll have the same, I guess.”

“Okay, um…is she okay?”

“Yes, she’s fine. Insulin reaction. Please don’t patronize her anymore, huh?”

“No, I’m sorry…I just…”

“Don’t worry about it…can we have some bread or something, please?”

Wordlessly the waiter skitted away leaving the couple alone again, thankfully. Her shaking had lessened, but that damned daze would not go away. It was getting scary. Should he call for the ship’s doctor?

“Drink some more, baby.”

And it continued. For 5? 10? 15 more minutes? Nick wasn’t sure, but before he knew it, she was using sentences, eating bread without coercion and speaking a bit more coherently. Her smile was almost Ciara’s smile again and the shakes were virtually gone. Finally able to breath more easily he dared to ask…

“You with me now?”

“Yeah, I think so. Did I embarrass myself?”

“Nope. You were fine. Calm.”

“Okay, good. She looked at the wad of foil from her granola bar as though she’d never seen it. “You found my granola I see.”

“Yep. You didn’t want to eat it. I had to walk you through it.”

“God. I’m sorry.”

“My fault for making you wait so long to eat after your shot. And the wait staff was NO help. It’s like they disappeared.”

“Did they finally help?”

“Yeah…that’s where we got the juice.”

She looked down, seeing it for the first time. “OH! You got me juice too?”

“Yeah, the granola didn’t work. In fact, drink some more, okay?”

“I’m okay.”

Ciara…drink.”

“Yeah, yeah…” She took a sip and looked up at him. He was still so scared and for the first time she could see it. “I’m okay now, Nick. You can breathe again.”

He let out a huge expulsion of air from his mouth. Didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath, actually. “This bread is good, huh?” Jeez…small talk. That just sucked.

“Yep…hey, what did I order?”

“You ordered a Cajun chicken salad with honey mustard dressing…double dressing.”

“I did that?”

He smiled for the first time since she checked out. “No. I did. You’ll love it.”

“Ah. Thank you. Thanks for taking care of me.” She was so embarrassed. No matter how often this kind of thing happened, she could never overcome the humiliation of the moment.

“No problem. I’m glad I remembered what to do. Been awhile since you’ve pulled one of those on me.”

“Yeah, can’t give you what you’d expect you know.”

The waiter appeared with two huge salad bowls, extra dressing and an improved attitude toward Ciara. It was obvious he was confused at what had just happened at his table, but thought better of asking.

As they started to eat, Nick had to ask, insecure as it seemed, “So, this sounds stupid, but…did I do okay? Did I do the right thing?”

“Yeah, Nick. You did. You know…I never have to worry when we’re together. You always know what to do. I can’t even say that about my family.”

“They know what to do!”

“Yes, but they don’t do it. They’d have had the ship’s doc here, a crowd all over me and a major story in People Magazine next week. ‘Nick Carter’s date slips into shock aboard the Love Boat…suspected drug use.’ It’d have been great.”

“Oh God…wouldn’t that have been fun?”

“No…not really.”

“So, uh…do you still feel up to dancing tonight? We have yet to do that.”

“Yep. Mr. Travolta, you’d better get ready cuz I’m ready, baby.”

And that was that. She was back. Nick could never get over it. It was like she walked off the boat and came back without ever leaving the table. But she was back. And he was glad. Because even moments without Ciara were moments he’d rather not endure.

******~~~~~~******~~~~~~

Nick grabbed Ciara’s hand and pulled her off the dance floor. He was exhausted. She’d obviously taken all the energy she’d stored up from not dancing and exerted it tonight alone. They’d been on the floor for hours…or at least it felt that way. He felt like he’d had a rehearsal work out.

“Damn, woman…what’s gotten into you?”

“Hopefully it’ll be YOU a bit later.”

“Mmm…” He scooted closer to her on the bench, wrapping an arm around her and planting a kiss to her head. “We’ll see what we can do about that. You feeling okay now?”

“Yep. I’m fine. Tired, but good.”

“Hey, you two. Good pose…let me get a picture.”

“Aw, Pollyanna…come on…he gets enough with the fans.”

“I know, but none with you, sweetie. We can put it on the site.”

Ciara whispered under her breath as she scooted even closer to Nick, knowing she was going to lose this battle, “Oh good-eee.”

“Come on, Ci. I don’t have a recent picture of us together anyway. Smile purty.”

“Smiling, smiling…”

***

 

 

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