Meet Me In Chicago
By: desert_vixen
Author's Notes: I know it's getting to be a wait in between stories, but my muse was a little annoyed at being thrown in my duffle bag and taken to Iraq.
This is the promised "weekend in Chicago" story – I hope everyone enjoys it.
Chronological Note: This story takes place one week after the end of "Connections". The general time frame for the stories is three years after the SuperMysteries, making the characters of legal drinking age.
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Nancy sighed, and drummed her fingers on her steering wheel. She knew she should have left a little earlier, but she had gotten caught up. Now she was paying the price.
Her nervousness had tried to cloak itself in irritation at the drivers making the highway traffic a tangle around them, but she couldn't deny it. She was nervous about meeting Frank, nervous about it just being the two of them. No younger brother, no parents, no clients, and no case – nothing but the two of them. Nancy's roommate would be on the scene, of course, but that wasn't the same. Reese wasn't a part of what she was used to sharing with Frank. Nancy was looking forward to introducing them.
Despite the bond with her roommate, no one could replace George and Bess in her life. They were like her sisters. Reese Koscuiszko was like the fun cousin who made her look forward to every family get-together. She had also been the first to hear about Nancy and Ned breaking up – in fact, she had bought the chocolate chip ice cream for consolation purposes. It had almost been a relief to talk to her about it, since Ned was a much bigger part of Bess and George's life than he was to Reese, making Reese a little more objective about whether or not the breakup was a good idea.
They had met as freshmen in an introductory criminal justice class, and become friends almost immediately. Nancy and Reese had engineered a room swap at the semester to escape disliked roommates. Over the summer between their sophomore and junior years, they had managed to convince their parents that an off-campus apartment would be better than the dorms. She was still a little amazed that they had bought that line of reasoning, although it had turned out to be the truth. They did get more studying done away from campus, and they hadn't thrown too many wild parties.
As much as it was nice to be back in River Heights for the summer, it was nice to run up to Chicago and have some time by herself. Nancy was definitely looking forward to this weekend, as much as it was making her nervous. It was going to be fun – if she ever got inside the airport, she mused as she pulled off the freeway and started navigating through the maze of airport traffic, heading towards the parking areas.
How many outfits had she tried, then discarded? Too many, she thought, as she spotted a vacant parking slot and headed for it. Four or five outfits had been pulled out of the closet and ended up tossed on her bed. Finally, Nancy had settled on the fluttery blue-and-gray flowered skirt and dark blue scoopneck tee. It was simple, not too sexy, and summery. The white sandals she wore were comfortable enough for running a few errands in, but she wouldn't want to spend the whole day sightseeing in them. She grabbed her shoulder bag as she got out of the car, locked the doors, and made her way inside.
Frank's flight was showing on the board as delayed. Nancy sighed again. It appeared there had been no need for her to rush, and she looked around for a good seat. She'd brought her classwork with her, so it wasn't a total loss.
Almost an hour later, the enforced wait was doing nothing to cut down on the butterflies in her stomach. In fact, it seemed to make them worse, and Nancy had to admit she wasn't making much headway on the book she was trying to read either. She still wasn't sure what had possessed her to take this class on the history of the detective novel. It was a little silly, but there hadn't been any classes she needed for her major during the summer session, and it had seemed like a pretty fluffy elective.
Of course, every book she read had her trying to figure out the solution before the fictional sleuth could. So far she wasn't doing too badly. The Agatha Christie mysteries seemed to rely more on psychology than actual hard clues, and she'd found herself shaking her head at a few of the revealed murderers – Nancy prided herself on being a pretty good detective, but she couldn't figure out a mystery if she didn't have the clues to do so.
Her attention kept straying to the Arrivals board. Finally, she was rewarded by seeing his flight number switch from 'delayed' to 'arrived'. The butterflies swarmed briefly as Nancy put the book away, and dug out her cell phone, waiting to see if he was going to send her a message. It had only been three weeks since they had decided to move from a friendship with an attraction to an actual relationship. However, due to summer obligations they had spent those three weeks apart, so this was really their first chance to be a 'normal' couple.
The next ten minutes seemed much longer, until she spotted him in the crowd of arriving passengers, and lifted a hand to wave at him. It was easier to stand where she was and wait for him. Finally, he was standing in front of her, handsome as ever in jeans and black tee-shirt, carryon bag slung over one shoulder.
"It's good to see you," he said, before wrapping his arms around her, planting a kiss on her cheek. "Finally."
"I was starting to get a little worried," she said lightly. "I thought I might actually finish my book for class before you showed up."
He turned, took her hand in his. "Let's get out of here then."
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"So what's the plan?" Frank asked as they walked through the parking garage.
"Right now, lunch," Nancy said. "Tonight, it's dinner and salsa dancing. Tomorrow. I thought maybe we'd go sightseeing. That's about as much as I have planned."
"No mystery to solve? No old friend who needs help?" Frank asked with a grin.
"No…unless you're on some case for your father," Nancy teased back.
"Not this weekend," he said quickly. "And I promise you, I left Joe back in Bayport."
"I hope you don't get bored," Nancy said, keeping her face and voice carefully bland.
"I'm sure we can find something to do," he replied as they found the Mustang, watching as she blushed slightly. She opened the trunk so he could put his bag back there. After she had shut the lid, he rested his hands on her shoulders.
"I missed you," he said softly, and bent his head to kiss her. Nancy leaned against him, his hands sliding down over her back, until he broke the kiss.
"I missed you too," she said, just as softly. There was a long quiet moment, and then Nancy shook her head.
"Problem?" Frank said, curious.
"Just thinking how silly it is to be feeling awkward… but I am," she finished in a rush.
He smiled at her, pulled her close for another kiss. "Maybe if we do it some more, you won't feel so awkward?"
She had to laugh. "Nice try, Hardy."
"You were saying something about lunch?" Frank asked as he walked around to the passenger-side door.
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"I like the apartment," Frank said as she opened the door to the guest room.
"So do we. We had a third roommate originally, but after she transferred colleges, we decided to try it with just the two of us," Nancy said, leaning against the door frame. "Of course, there's only one bathroom."
"Nicer and quieter than my dorm room," Frank agreed. "Although my current roommate is a step up from my younger brother," he added teasingly as he set his bag down on the bed.
Nancy affected a mock-surprised look. "You mean Joe Hardy can be hard to live with?"
"He has his moments."
"I'm sure he says the same about you," Nancy teased.
Frank shrugged. "Probably."
They fell silent, and she wondered if he was as aware of the fact that they were alone in the apartment as she was. From the look in his eyes as he walked towards her, Nancy was pretty sure the answer was yes.
"So how about making up for some lost time?" Frank asked quietly.
"I might be persuaded," she replied, as he slid his arms around her. She rose up on her toes to meet him halfway as he kissed her. She was dimly aware of the doorframe at her back, but otherwise totally caught up in the kiss, in Frank's arms around her, and the simple pleasure of being able to hold onto him.
Until the sound of someone clearing their throat registered with Nancy's brain. She pulled away from Frank, cheeks red hot, and heard her roommate's amused Southern drawl. "Well, I guess I don't have to ask how your day is going. I sure hope this is Frank Hardy, or you're going to have a little explainin' to do."
Frank studied the slim young woman, an inch or three shorter than Nancy, her reddish brown hair pulled back in a ponytail that brushed her shoulders, hazel eyes wickedly amused. She'd obviously been working out, judging from her clothes.
Nancy shot her a death glare, a small part of her wishing the floor would just fall in, then shook her head.
"Frank, my roommate, Reese Koscuiszko. Reese, Frank Hardy."
"Pleased to meet you," Reese said, extending a hand.
"Likewise."
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Nancy stepped out into the living room. "Any word from Rick?" she asked as she sat on the arm of the couch, next to Frank. They had spent the afternoon relaxing in the living room, keeping Reese entertained with some of their past adventures together. Reese had given Frank a brief salsa dancing lesson, providing some more good-natured entertainment.
"He swears he's only five minutes away," Reese said from where she was chatting with Frank.
Nancy smiled at Frank as he turned to look at her. This outfit, she had shopped for – with Bess, of course – and she'd been looking for sexy. From the look on his face, she had succeeded. The turquoise blue top left one shoulder bare and the black skirt draped over her hips to fall inches short of her knees, the outfit finished off by strappy black high heels. She had left her hair down, dangling earrings in the shape of silver flowers at her ears, a matching y-necklace around her throat.
"You look great," he said. "I feel a little underdressed looking at you two," he commented, waving a hand in her roommate's direction. Reese had on a simple red dress, but had pulled her hair into a roll at the nape of her neck, and gone dramatic on the makeup.
Nancy shook her head. "You look fine," she said, thinking he looked better than fine in the pressed khakis and black pullover shirt. "She and Rick like to dress up. They take the competition pretty seriously."
The doorbell rang, and Reese went to answer it. Nancy leaned down to give Frank a quick kiss, then walked into the kitchen to call the cab company.
Frank found himself liking Rick Narvaez almost immediately. As Nancy had said, he was a bit more dressed up – black slacks and dark red shirt to go along with Reese's dress – and he reminded Frank a little of his younger brother – stocky and shorter than either brother, but he had dark brown eyes and a quick smile.
The other couple had an easiness about their relationship that Frank found himself envying. While he and Nancy had known each other a long time, there was no denying the fact that they were still trying to feel out this phase of their relationship – and the distance didn't help.
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The club's authenticity (or lack thereof) wasn't what drew the college crowd, but its atmosphere – dollar margaritas, relatively inexpensive loaded nachos, fajitas and quesadillas lived side-by-side with a dance floor playing non-stop Latin music. Viva Latina cheerfully borrowed from different Hispanic cultures, added cheap alcohol and plenty of tables, and was a success. Reese had worked there as a waitress until she'd gotten an internship deal the last half of their junior year. They hosted pretty serious dance competitions, complete with a live band, and even did informal lessons some nights.
They managed to score a table bordering the dance floor, and found themselves joined by another couple Rick knew, Jason and Laila. The chicken quesadillas and nachos weren't exactly dinner, but they went down well with the first round of margaritas.
"Going for the prize tonight?" Jason asked.
"All two hundred dollars of it," Reese said, loud enough to be heard over the noise level in the bar.
When the music started, Frank found himself dragged on the floor. Reese had given him a brief demonstration that afternoon, but he'd never been as good at the dancing bit as Joe was. Dancing with Nancy was enjoyable, but after a few dances, he found himself giving her an apologetic look.
"Sorry," he said with a small smile. "Not the dancing Hardy here."
Nancy smiled back as the music shifted gears to something slow and smooth, but still Latin flavored. She stepped closer, let him pull her against him. "I like this too," she replied softly, sliding her arms around his neck. "Definitely the right Hardy."
"As long as you think so," he said, voice low. His hands rested at the base of her spine, warm through the thin material of her outfit. She fit nicely against him, the shoes she wore wiping out part of the half-foot difference in height. Her temple rested against his cheek, and he could smell whatever the delicate perfume she was wearing was. It felt very nice, he thought, to just dance and not be worried about any of the issues that usually intruded.
The music ended, and the beginning of the dance contest was announced. The two of them retreated to the booth, and Nancy flagged down the waitress for margaritas. She found herself leaning back against Frank's shoulder, and jumped slightly when she felt him brush her hair aside, press his lips against her neck.
"This is nice," he said softly, draping an arm around her waist.
"It is," she agreed, bringing her hand to rest against his.
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It wasn't awkward, exactly, Nancy thought. They had known each other too long for that. She had missed Frank in a way that phone calls and emails could not take away. They helped – it had been good just to be in contact again. Even when it wasn't romantic, it was nice to have that link to each other, to know that it didn't have to be a mystery that brought them together. Even the casual random texts they exchanged had a way of brightening her mood, especially when she was buried in work at her father's office.
Having him here was distracting, and Nancy guessed the best word for the atmosphere was 'charged'. She'd known he was a good kisser – Mount Mirage and Egypt had provided proof of that. The fact that they didn't have to hide what they felt, that neither one of them had anything standing in the way was a liberating feeling. It had been less of a distraction at the lake, with a whole cabin full of various Hardys and Drews. She had not been contemplating the idea of how close his room was there, but she figured the fact that Joe had been sharing the room with him had helped put a damper on that. She, of course, had been sharing a room with her aunt Eloise.
Maybe she hadn't snuck into his room, she thought with a smile, but there had been the morning swim at the lake, just the two of them.
And the lingering thought that he was only a very short walk away was a very distracting one. Even if Reese had been of a mind to care where Nancy was sleeping, her roommate was going to be dead to the world until much later in the morning.
Part of her was wondering what would have happened if they had come back here alone. It was the first time alcohol had really been a factor in their relationship, and while neither of them had over-indulged, some of their inhibitions had definitely been loosened.
Even now, she felt the heat of a blush on her cheeks as she remembered their second go-round at dancing – after they had put down a few drinks while watching the competition. Reese and Rick had put in a strong showing, although not good enough to win. Frank had been a little more relaxed, and proved Joe wasn't the only Hardy with some smooth moves. They had spent some more time just hanging out, enjoying the drinks and the food, and the atmosphere. Rick had ended up getting dragged off by some of his classmates who had been deserted by their designated driver, and Nancy and Frank had brought Reese home. She'd been grateful to have the help, since Reese had been a little worse off than them. It was one of the things Nancy enjoyed teasing her roommate about – her lack of alcohol tolerance.
By the time she'd gotten Reese into her room – and they had realized it was almost two in the morning – the mood had been broken. They'd shared a laugh, and a more than warm good night kiss, but that had been the end of things.
The problem was the small part of her that wished it hadn't been.
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