A/N trying to explain the plot line to some-one, an idea popped into my head, who better to tell her own story..?
He checks his watch again, for the third time in as many minutes. He's used to her being late, she nearly always is, but this is ridiculous, even for her. As he reaches for his iphone on the table in front of him, he notices the car pull up outside the small coffee shop; he glances casually over, and sees her in the passenger seat. She's smiling at the driver, a brunette he's never seen before. This is nothing new; keeping up with the whirl of her social life is something he gave up on a long time ago. He watches her as she leans towards the good looking woman in the driving seat, he has to admit she's always had remarkably good taste, and pecks her on the cheek, sees her mouth the words see you later, and goes to open the door. His eyebrows raise in surprise as the driver pulls her back into the car, and kisses her deeply. The kind of kiss you see at the end of the films his wife makes him watch with her occasionally. It makes him feel like he's intruding, and he looks away. When he looks back she's out the car looking flushed, and waving at the car as it pulls out into the traffic. She looks around as if she can sense him looking, and seeing him in the window seat, gives him a small embarrassed wave, and head down, comes into the small warm cafe.
She plonks down in the seat opposite him, and smiling broadly, looks at him. He in return smiles back, and maintains eye contact. He says nothing. After a minute, she finally cracks.
"What?"
He shrugs "I didn't say anything."
"You didn't need to."
He pushes her coffee over to her, "That's probably cold by now." Her eyes roll, she gets the hint, he continues "I got you a muffin."
"I don't eat muffins."
He thumbs casually out the window to where the car was parked just a moment ago, and folding his newspaper says "The evidence points to the contrary."
"Nick!" she feigns shock.
He smiles at her, "So?" waves to the waitress who walks over.
She takes a deep breath, steadies herself, "An old girlfriend."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, "her brows furrow, "Naomi."
He's blank for a moment, and then it's as if a light bulb goes off in his head, "That was THE Naomi? Of late night drunken reminisces. "She nods still smiling. "College Naomi?"
"The very same."
The waitress stands at the end of the table, He looks up, "another Americano for me, Emily?"
She looks up, "latte, tall Thanks."
He waits for the waitress to leave before continuing. "So, I thought she was a blonde, in all your photos..."
"That was a long time ago, I used to dye my hair all sorts of colours as well, y'know?"
Nick stirs his coffee, "So this is the girl you met in college, broke your heart?"
Emily nods, then scrunching her face, "well, strictly speaking, we met at school, although back then I was painfully shy." His eyebrows raise. "Don't make that face at me, "she laughs. "I was, and she was, y'know? On the edge of the cool kids. We didn't mix that much."
"So" He encourages her.
"Well, end of GCSE's, someone always has a party, right?" He nods his agreement remembering all too well his own drunken teenage years. "We sort of bumped into each other in the garden, and she knocked me over."
He smiles at her "Romantic"
She slaps at his arm playfully, "It sort of was." She drifts away for a moment. "Anyway, we got talking in this quiet corner, and the next thing you know, we're kissing."
"As you do."
"Yeah, OK, we were both a bit drunk, it was weird, as if it was just the right thing to do, y'know?"
"So, loves young dream, you guys got together then?"
The coffees arrive, and conversation stops for a moment.
"Oh no. "Emily continues, "Katie found us, and more or less accused her of Lezzing me up."
"How very like Katie," he pauses "and you of course, stoutly defended Naomi, and put your sister straight, right?"
Emily stirs her coffee, "Err, not exactly, I pretty much didn't say anything, really."
Nick looks at her, "Gallant."
She grimaces in embarrassment. "Like I said, a bit shy, so that was that really, didn't see her all summer, then college starts, and wadda you know?, there she is , and she's even in the same class. Weird uh?"
Nick nods, "Stranger things have happened, my love. So you apologized to her about Katie, and that was it. Skipped off into the sunset?"
"Err, no."
His eyes roll into his head. "Good grief woman, I thought this was the love of your life?"
"Well if you'll let me bloody finish a sentence." She smiles at him, takes a sip of the latte. "We sort of started hanging out, bunch of misfits. She pretty much ignored me really. "
"Hardly a massive surprise." Nick suggests
"Hmmm, "she nods, "There was this pyjama party."
Nick sits up, pays more attention. "Pyjama party? Like the sound of this."
Emily rolls her eyes. "It was just a few of us. Calm down Fido. Anyway, Katie spiked some cakes, and we were all a bit, y'know? Lushy, and I kissed her again.
"And she let you after all that hassle with Katie?" Nick is surprised.
"Um, yeah, we'd sort of cleared that up by then really."
"Right." He looks confused, but continues, "So, that's when you..?"
Emily smiles, shakes her head.
"Fuck sake. " Nick Laughs. "In a way I'm sort of reassured you made such a mess of this, I thought it was just me who was completely inept around girls, it's sort of a relief to find you're just as bad."
Emily smiles, "It gets worse, she was acting pretty prickly at me, and you know, I sort of stalked her back to her place one afternoon, and called her a prick." Nick looks at her, eyes wide, Emily continues, "I know, I dunno who was more surprised when she asked me to stay. We got drunk on cheap vodka, and well, I sort of slept with her."
"You sort of slept with her?" Nick's even more confused.
"We were like two shop floor dummies. " Emily imitates arms straight down by her side, sits rigidly. "Hardly touched." She's laughing, "God I was desperate, y'know? It took every ounce of will power I had not to jump her bones; turns out she told me later, she was lying there thinking the same thing. Anyway, she left me there in bed, so I sort of figured she wasn't interested, y'know?"
Nick puts his hand up to stop her."She left you in her bed?" Emily nods, and Nick continues."Nice, that's the sort of thing I'd do."
Emily smiles at him, knows that's entirely untrue. "Anyway, out of the blue, she phones me the next day asking to go out, and we end up down by this lake, well, pond really, and then this idea came into my head...Skinny-dipping." She blushes.
Nick smiles at her. "Nice moves, get the girl to get her kit off, stylish."
Emily nods her agreement, "Like I said, I was desperate."
Nick laughs at her. "How cold was it?"
She looks at him surprised."How did you know? She smiles. "It was fucking freezing. "
He takes a sip of his coffee, "Skinny-dipping 101, my love. It's always colder than you think."
Emily nods, "well, we built this fire, more cheap Vodka, a blowback, and Ta da..." she raises her hands.
He imitates her, "Ta da? What's Ta da? It suddenly dawns on him. "Ah...Ta da...Got you, how was it? Everything you'd dreamed of?"
Emily closes her eyes, "It was perfect actually, everything you'd want your first time to be. " She smiles to herself, and Nick smiles back at her. "Well," she continues, smile falling away "It was perfect, right up to the point where she walked out on me again. "
Nick stops with his cup half way to his mouth, "She did a runner? Again? Girl confused."
Emily nods as Nick takes a mouthful of coffee. "Yeah well, she didn't seem that confused when I had my fingers up her fanny."
Nick coughs and swallows, only just managing not to spray Emily with coffee, he looks at her laughing. "You're all class, Fitch, you know that? Tell me you sorted this out, and got together."
She laughs, holding a napkin for him to take as he coughs into it. "Yeah, she came round later and told me pretty much she wanted to be with me, so I forgave her, and we started seeing each other. Kept it quiet though, y'know? None of our friends knew."
"Call me Madame Fortune, something tells me that was a source of tension, am I right?"
Emily grins at him, sometimes; she thinks he knows her better than herself." You know me, right? I wanted to tell everyone, she wasn't keen on that, for sure." Her eyes wide at the memory of the fights they had over it. "Things came to a bit of head over this end of year ball at the college."
"You wanted to go, she didn't, right?" Nick looks sympathetically at her, knows her well enough to know who it must have cut her.
Emily nods, "We had this big fight, I ran off, back home it was when I tried to tell Mum about who I was."
Nick looks at her. "I'm willing to bet money Jenna dearest didn't take that well."
"You know her." Emily smiles thinly," not her finest hour."
Nick reaches out and covers her hand with his own. Nods silently, neither of them need to talk about it.
Emily breaths in "Naomi came through in the end though, we more or less declared that we were in love to the whole school, it was like one of those American High School movies, girl gets her girl."
"I've not seen that one. " Nick smiles at her, "Top shelf, I'd imagine."
"Shut up, you perv, you're worse than Cook."
Nick smiles at her, "I doubt it, hard wired for smut our Cookie. So that's it, together finally?"
"Blissfully happy, you've no idea." Emily smiles at him, then as if recalling a bad memory she suddenly pauses and takes a sip of coffee, she look out of the window staring unseeing, at the traffic and shoppers, then more quietly, "Blissful, right up until the point I found out that she's cheated on me. "
Nick is surprised, "She did the dirty on you?" Emily nods, and he continues, ""You dumped her right?"
Emily breathes in, "You know? I couldn't. I stayed with her; we more or less tried to ignore it, slowly killing each other. "
Nick grimaces, "Sounds fun, poor old Em."
Emily looks at him, "Oh don't feel too sorry for me, I did my fair share of lashing out, snogging random girls, even bought a couple home."
Nick looks at her anew, doesn't know quite what to say.
Emily is painfully aware, continues "There was this girl, Mandy her name was," she pauses," god I was such a shit to her and poor old Noams, used to her to get back at Naomi, she was keen, y'know? I led her on, really. Naomi was in total denial, I've still no idea how she ever found out, she was convinced she was straight. "
"So what happened?" Nick asks
"Naomi dumped me" smiles Emily.
"She dumped you? Right, why are you smiling? See, you wonder why men have such a hard time with girls." He shakes his head, laughing at her.
"It was so romantic; she came and told me how much she loved me that night at this half arsed party in the infamous shed." Emily smiles, "God, I was sooo in love with her."
Nick smiles at her, smiling lights up her face he thinks, then "Hang on, wasn't this about the time that friend of yours was murdered?"
Emily takes a moment, "Yeah. " shakes her head, weird times, "we fuck off to Goa, all this crap flying about, Katie meeting you. " Emily smiles, "Mum was so happy."
Nick raises his eyebrows, "Oh?"
Emily smiles at him "Oh c'mon, Katie brings home a medical student, She was ecstatic. I swear when you became a doctor and married Katie, she nearly burst, I've never seen her so happy. " She smiles at him "Let me off the hook big time."
He laughs, "Yeah too right, don't you forget it Sis..."
She smiles at him, "Still weird's me out, you calling me that"
They pause, drink their coffee, finally Nick says "so, happy holidays Goa, then..?"
Emily shrugs, "Oh, university, life, y'know? She'd delayed going to Goldsmiths," Nick raises his eyebrows interrupts; "Goldsmiths? Wow."
Emily nods eyes wide, "I know smart cookie our Naoms, "she pauses, "dredging up bad memories "Anyway, her first year it was cool, we tried hard, I went up, she came home lots, then I found a place at Leeds, it was harder y'know, second year her course work got harder, it would suddenly be a week in-between speaking, a couple of weeks between meeting up, then one Xmas holiday, we were both so tired y 'know?
Nick nods he remembers his own battles trying to keep up with course work and the demands of Katie.
Emily continues, "Our hearts just weren't in it anymore, y'know? It was as if we'd had a lifetime's worth condensed into a few years; we were both tired of having to fight for it all the time. " She peters out.
Nick lets the silence fall over them. Says nothing, as Emily's face betrays her sadness.
He covers her hand with his smiles trying to pick her up, "Still, here you are, meeting up after all this time, what 5, 6 years? Where, how?"
She smiles shyly, "Last night, went to Keith's to see Cookie, having a quiet drink in the corner, and in she walks, queue my jaw hitting the floor. She's taken a position lecturing at the Uni." She grins broadly finally, "Nick, it was as if she'd never been away, just like old times. "
Nick smiles at her widely, he loves to see her happy.
"What was like Old Times?" They haven't noticed her come in, as Katie stands smiling at them both, "Knew I'd find the pair of you here." She shuffles into the couch next to Nick and he puts his arm around her kissing her fondly.
"Have fun shopping?"
She makes a face, "Not really," she glances down at the table between them," Oh a muffin, I love muffins." She looks up as both Nick and Emily start to laugh.
"You sure, Katie?" asks Emily, eyebrows arched.
Katie looks at both of them as they continue to laugh at her, "What? Fuck sake.."