Chapter 19
Slipping outside through the sliding
glass door, he padded across the deck and sat down on the top stair. His hands
were wrapped around a hot mug of coffee that he sipped slowly. A cool morning
sea breeze ruffled his hair, sending chills up his neck. Sighing, he wished
everything would go back to normal.
After the incident in the hospital the
week before, there had been a lingering tension throughout the house. Riley and
him were talking, like normal, but deep down, they both knew something had
changed. But the thing that bothered him the most… was that the kiss… it didn’t
bother him. In fact… he almost wanted her to do it again. But would it ruin
their friendship? He had already lost one friend within the last year. He
wasn’t sure he could handle another. What if things didn’t work out?
Or what if they did? Nick set the
cup down on the stairs and rubbed his face with his hands. She was all he could
think about over the past week. No, not week. Month. Months. It had just gotten
worse after last week. But they wouldn’t talk about “it”. They couldn’t. It was
just too… weird.
Standing up, he shuffled back inside
and placed the mug into the sink. Glancing up at the clock on the microwave, he
saw he had thirty minutes until his doctor’s appointment. They wanted to see
him weekly again, so they could keep a closer eye on his blood count.
As he turned to walk towards his
bedroom, the phone rang. Picking it up off the cradle, he pressed it to his
ear.
“Hello?”
“Hey you. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
Riley’s voice flowed through the phone line.
“No, I’ve been awake for awhile. I’ve
got an appointment soon.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Could
you do me a huge favor while you’re out? If you’re feeling up to it…”
“Riley, I feel fine.” He replied,
rolling his eyes at her constant worry, but he couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.” She
retorted. “Anyways, in my room, atop my dresser, there should be a black
binder. Could you bring it to me when you’re done with your appointment?”
“Sure. Hey, don’t eat anything for
lunch, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks so much, Nick.”
Nick turned the phone off and returned
it to the cradle. Going down the hallway, he stopped in front of her room and
opened the door. The “smell” of her entered his nose, causing butterflies to
rise into his stomach.
“Stop it,” He muttered, stepping into
the room. He spied the black binder sitting on top of the dresser, as promised.
Before he could linger inside the room any longer, he grabbed the binder and
exited the room, closing the door. He let out a huge sigh before heading down
the hall to his room. Kicking the doorframe to release anger, he immediately
regretted it as his toe throbbed with pain.
“Damn it all to hell.” He tossed the
binder on his unmade bed and he grabbed his red and black Puma shoes from the
closet. Sitting down on the edge of the, he slid them on before tying them.
Standing back up, he tucked the binder under his arm and went into the kitchen
to retrieve the keys to his vehicle. Opening the garage door, he wasn’t
surprised to see the black mustang gone. Walking across the garage, he climbed
into his black Escalade before opening the garage door.
The drive to the doctor’s office
passed quickly. He soon found himself pulling into the parking lot of the
office. Stepping out of the vehicle, he looked up at the building. It looked so
innocent… but he hated it with a passion.
Once inside the building, he went
through another door and into the doctor’s office.
“Good morning, Nick.” The receptionist
greeted. “Go on back to room two. Dawn will be in shortly.”
“Thanks.” He walked down the
all-to-familiar hallway towards the second room. Going in, he sat down on the
table, ruffling the tissue paper as he did. He bore a stare into a framed
picture of a seashell. Minutes seemed like hours as time passed slowly.
Finally, a petite woman walked in, carrying a basket of different items.
“Hey Nick. How are you feeling?”
“Pretty good.”
“Great. We won’t call you about these
results unless there’s something we need to talk to you about. You can check on
them when you’re back next week.”
“Okay.” He watched as she tied a
tourniquet around his upper arm. She thumped the crook of his elbow several
times before rubbing it down with an alcohol pad.
“Slight prick.” She warned before
slipping the needle beneath his skin. He bit his lip as the pain struck. His
diseased blood quickly filled the tube as she pulled the tourniquet off. “All
done.”
She withdrew the needle and replaced
it with a cotton ball. Capping the needle, she put it in a sharps bin before
placing a band-aid over the new wound on Nick’s arm.
“Have a good day. See you next week.”
She said, collecting her items and leaving.
“You too,” Nick replied, adjusting the
sleeve of his shirt. He stepped off the table and left the building the same
way he had come in. Checking his watch, he was relieved to see that it was
eleven and Riley’s favorite take-out restaurant would be open. On the way to
her building, he stopped off at Crispy Jack’s Take-Out.
Why the hell am I doing this? Friends do this, right? They take
lunch to their friends. They eat lunch together. Just like on Sex and The City,
right? Well… besides the fact I’m a guy who has a huge crush on my
friend. Damn it. Crush. Sounds like high school… and well, that didn’t go so
well.
Ten minutes later, he was pulling into
the parking lot of Riley’s building. From the outside, it looked the same. She
didn’t even have a sign put up yet. A single car – a black mustang, sat in the
lot. Getting out of his truck, he walked up the path to the front entrance. He
tried to pull the door open, but it was locked. Peering through the window, he
saw nothing but boxes, paint cans, and papers strewn across the floor. He
knocked on the glass, and then stepped back, looking towards the upstairs.
Riley suddenly bounded down the stairs, running to the door and unlocking it
with her key.
“Sorry about that.” She said, nearly
out of breath, holding the door open for him.
“Not a problem. What are you doing up
there?”
“I was going through some resumes.
That’s why I needed the notebook. It’s got more in it. Thanks for bringing it.”
“Going to get people in here to work
soon?” He asked, handing her the binder.
“Yep. I’ve just been unpacking a few
things here and there. The furniture comes tomorrow and I know I have one
person to work for me. She’s coming over from Paris.”
“Awesome.”
“Yeah.”
The tension in the room was thick
enough to cut with a knife.
“I brought Crispy Jack’s for lunch…”
He said, holding up the bag of food. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the bag.
“I haven’t had it in forever! Let’s go
upstairs. The view’s better and it doesn’t smell like paint.”
He followed her up the stairs, trying
to keep his eyes away from what was right in front of him. He found himself blushing
as he looked up. Once upstairs, she led him to the corner where she had been
sitting most of the morning.
“Do you want a chair?” She asked,
nodding towards the computer chair across the room.
“Nah, I’m okay.” He sat down on the
floor beside her and opened the bag, taking out several small boxes of food.
“Oh man… Nick… thank you so much.” She
said, putting a forkful of pasta into her mouth.
The rest of their lunch was relatively
quiet, making it awkward for both.
“So…”
“So…”
They both laughed, rolling their eyes
at their poor attempt to talk.
Riley gathered their leftover boxes
and put them back into the bag.
“Damn it, Riley, we can’t continue to
be like this.” Nick said suddenly, unable to hold back everything.
“Like what?” She asked, knowing full
well what he meant.
“Riley…”
“I know, Nick. I know. I just… don’t
know…”
“What to do or how to feel?” Nick
finished her sentence.
“Exactly.” She sighed, leaning against
the window. “We’ve been friends for so long. I’ve seen other people fall for
their friends… and then something ends up happening and they hate each other.
And I don’t know… no, I know for a fact that I couldn’t live without our
friendship.”
“But..”
“I know. What if it worked? What if we
didn’t try it and we miss out?”
Unable to resist, Nick leaned over,
surprising Riley when his lips touched hers. Her eyes widened and she
hesitated. Nick stopped, moving back, but Riley put her hand behind his head
and pulled him forward, deepening the kiss.
“Why does it feel so right?” Nick
mumbled, pulling back again.
“Make me a deal?” She asked,
butterflies flying around rapidly in her stomach.
“What’s that?”
“No matter what happens now. Or
tomorrow. Or next week or whatever, that we’ll stay friends. Don’t let anything
happen to the friendship.”
“Deal.”
“Good.” She leaned forward, pulling
him towards herself again. He grinned, accepting the invitation.
“Riley?”
“Hm?”
“Will you go out with me tonight?” He pulled
back yet again. “Not like… regular dinner. But a real date?”
“Yeah,” She replied, standing up.
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” She laughed. “Now get
out of here. I have work to do and don’t need you to help me procrastinate.”
He hesitated leaving, but looked back
at her once more before going down the stairs. Once back in the truck, he
dialed a familiar number before starting the engine.
“’lo?” A tired voice asked.
“Did I wake you, J?”
“Sure as hell did. What are you doing
awake so early, Nicky? It’s only noon there, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. I had an appointment.”
“How’d it go?” AJ asked, concern
rising in his voice.
“Fine. Just drawing blood. Anyways… on
a different topic… I need your help with something.”
“Asking me for help? Tattoo or
girl?”
“Girl. I want to take her out on a
date tonight. I don’t know where to take her.” He heard a can of soda being
cracked open in the background.
“A girl? Nicky is back in the dating
scene! Yes! Now tell me, Nicky, who is this girl and what is she like? Uncle AJ
needs details to help.”
“Riley.”
Nick heard an awful noise. “Shit. You
just made me spit out my soda. I could’ve sworn you said Riley.”
“I did.”
“Did I miss something?”
“Long story.”
“I have time. It’s fucking ten A.M.
here.”
Nick told him about the incident in
the hospital in California and then everything until what had happened at
lunch.
“Why I never saw this coming, I’ll
never know. Hell has frozen over. Pigs are flying. Worms have ea-“
“Stop it, J. Just help me.” Nick
muttered, stopping at a stoplight. He rubbed his hand over his face, wondering
if he had made a mistake calling AJ.
“Take notes, my boy, we’re going to
make this one hell of a night.”
***
