A New York Love Story
She took the piece of paper that was in the back pocket of her jeans and reached for a phone, little she know about what was going to happen next.
That morning Nikki woke up freezing, her bedroom windows were widely open and so were her curtains. She could feel the spring breeze running through her skin as she tried to open her almond green eyes. Her hair was a mess, since last night after taking a shower she went straight to bed because she was not in the mood for anything else than a good night sleep. When Nikki finally woke up her stomach made a funny noise and it was then, when she figured that she had not eaten anything in the last twenty hours. She freshened up in the bathroom, changed into some yoga pants and a plain tank top and headed for the kitchen to grab something for breakfast.
During breakfast she got a called from her office telling her someone had dropped a box with her name on it and that she should go and pick it up. Since it was her day off she did not hurry, Nikki took her time to finish her breakfast and went to change into some jeans and a shirt. On her wait out she grabbed her purse and checked she had everything she needed.
"keys, check, walled, check, phone, check" she repeated like a mantra.
In her way out of the elevator, Nikki waved to some of her neighbors that had passed by and continue walking out. After catching a cab in the always busy streets of New York, she told the driver the address and took out her ipod to listen to some music. When Nikki finally arrived to her office, the receptionist, Hannah, gave her the box and as soon as she took it she froze. Her name was written with his handwriting, she would recognised the way he wrote her name anywhere.
"Are you okay?" Hannah asked her, Nikki was pale and shaking.
"Y-Yes" Nikki replied. Clearly, she was definitely not ok.
She had not heard from him in months "how does he dare" she told herself, trying to understand what might have happen that he had contacted her again. She waved her goodbyes as she tried to get out of the office as soon as possible; Nik did not want to have a meltdown in front of her colleagues or she would not hear the end of it.
When she found a Starbucks near the office she went straight inside and bought her
favorite coffee, skinny vanilla latte two pumps sugar free. She took the table that was far in the back of the store so as not to disturb anyone. She breathed heavily through the tears that had escaped her eyes and tried to calm herself but it was in vain. She has been wondering what he had been doing, where he was and if he had found anyone better than her. After fifteen minutes staring at the box, she finally opened it.
She looked inside the box and found that there was a simple piece of paper with numbers on it. It looked like a phone number, she was not sure but in that moment she knew it was him.
Nikki took out the piece of paper, put it on the back pocket of her jeans, grabbed her purse, threw the coffee mug and headed out. She was almost running, trying to find a payphone and dial the numbers in that piece of paper. The adrenaline she felt in that moment was incredible, she missed that feeling, the thrill of the chase, the unknown; in other words, she missed him.
Nikki had finally found a payphone five blocks down from where she was. Her five inch pumps had not helped run but she was already used to run in them. She dialed the number with shaky fingers, she thought her heart was beating out of her chest, her breathing was rapid and tears were threatening to run down her cheeks.
The phone rang one, two, three times before she heard someone breathing on the other side of the phone.
"Hello?" she said
"Nikki, is that really you?"
"Oh my god Rook, are you okay?" the tears were everywhere now, she started to sob quietly so as not to freak him out.
"Yes, Nikki. Everything is fine, i just needed to hear your voice." he said in the sweetest tone he could manage.
"Where have you been?, what happened?, why haven't you called?" she asked him angrily.
"long story, love. I'm coming back in two weeks and i promise i will tell you everything you want to know." love, he had called her love. Nikki thought she was dreaming, her eyes were red and puffy, the tears were big and salty and her mind was spinning a hundred miles per second.
"Nikki are you still there?" Rook wondered.
"Y-yes, i'm still here" her voice was quiet, almost like a whispered.
"am i dreaming?, is it really you Rook?. I thought i had lost you forever you know" Nikki told him.
"yes is me, love. I know i disappeared out of the blue, i know i hurted you, i know you missed me. But i promise you i'm coming back and like i said, i will tell you everything, promise."
Again what is it with the love thing. He was not her love anymore, no. He got away, he was the one who run and did not come back. Deep down, Nikki knew he will always be her love.
"okay" she said. She could not think of anything else, she could not find words to respond him. She has been dreaming about him coming home for a very long time, she had to be dreaming.
"Nikki i need to go now. I will be back in two weeks, i'll let you know where to meet me, so don't worry about it. i still love you...bye" and with that he hung up.
'Wow. He said too many things in only one sentence' Nikki thought.
When she heard him saying the L word, a chilled ran down her spine. After almost a year apart he still felt things for her, and so did she. There was no need to hide it, they both knew how they felt towards each other and how things had changed after working together for five years.
After the hung up he left her feeling funny, she had a knot in her stomach and at the same time she felt like could fly. Her mascara was all over her cheeks, the eyeliner was long gone and her knees were weak. He said two weeks, she could wait two more weeks, after all she have been waiting almost a year now, so two weeks were a piece of cake.
She was so wrong on that one, those were the longest two weeks of her entire life but It was finally the day when he was coming back, Rook was coming home to her. She has been feeling miserable and lonely without him, her heart ached, her muscles were always about to giver her away and her brain had been thinking too much too fast.
Around midday she received a text from an unknown number given her an address and a time to be somewhere. Nikki felt relieved in that moment, like a weight was left out of her shoulders and she could breathe normally again.
She was standing in the middle of 5th avenue at 5pm like the text said, her mind was spinning around searching for him in the middle of the crowd. Suddenly was felt a warmth in her back, broad shoulders, strong arms and big hands hugging her like she was about to slip through his fingers. She turn around to find him, giving her the most sincere and shiny smile she ever saw. His happiness shined through his sea blue eyes and instantly brought her to tears. She turned around and hugged him back standing in the tip of her toes and whispered to his ear "don't you ever dare leave alone again" and with that they kissed in the middle of 5th avenue in the middle of a pool of people walking the streets minding their own business.