"Morning Ali!" Jess called as she made her way towards the front door.
"Hey Jess! Are you on your way to work?" Ali greeted as she looked over her shoulder in Jess' direction.
Jess stopped in her tracks as something caught her eye, causing her to take a step back and glare towards the dining room table.
"Ummm... where did you get that?" Jess asked as she stumbled her way past the couch towards the dining room.
"Get what?" Ali asked confused as she shifted her eyes back to the table.
"This! Where did you find that?" Jess pointed to the green Associate Strategies mug, the very mug that she and Nick use to put out when they wanted to secretly engage in sex with one another.
"I found it in Winston's room. Why?" Ali responded completely dumbfounded.
Jess couldn't help but feel a little disappointed knowing that Winston was actually the one who had retrieved it from the trashcan that night.
"Oh, no reason really. I'm just surprised to see it, that's all. I could have sworn it went out with the trash last year." Jess lied knowing full well that she thought Nick had kept it all this time.
"Typical Winston, he's always salvaging other people's unwanted junk." Ali giggled.
"Hmmm... Yeah typical Winston." Jess retorted. "Hey Ali, do you think you could give it to me when you're done with it?"
"Yeah, sure no problem Jess. I was actually just about to wash it." Ali replied getting up from the table and making her way over to the sink. "I guess it must hold some kind of sentimental value?" She asked as she dried the mug and handed it Jess.
"Yeah you could say that." Jess responded clearly relieved as she took the cup from Ali. "Hey would you mind not mentioning this to Winston?"
Ali gave Jess a questionable look, "Um... yeah sure no problem." She then turned back to finish washing her dishes.
"So Jess, do you and Robbie have plans for Valentine's Day?" Ali asked.
"Oh, umm... uh... well he's actually my third cousin, so yeah that's over." Jess responded matter-of-factly.
"Ah. What?" Ali asked clearly confused.
"Yeah, I don't really want to talk about it."
"Ok, like that's not confusing..." Ali responded furrowing her brow. "Anyways Winston and I are going to Malibu tomorrow night and from what I gather, Schmidt has claimed the roof."
"Hmm... well that just leaves Reagan and Nick."
"Yeah, well between you and I, something in that relationship is very, very broken." Ali whispered.
"Ok, well... I think that's my cue. Thanks again." Jess said tipping the mug towards Ali. She shoved it deep down into her purse as she made her way back towards the exit.
Jess peaked into her purse and smiled to herself as she waited for the elevator. She knew exactly what she wanted to do now that she had this back in her possession, but she would need to wait until Reagan was out of the house before she made her move.
"Hey Jess" Nick called as she entered the door to the loft. He was sitting on the couch sipping his beer staring at the basketball game playing on the TV screen.
"Oh hey Nick, I didn't see you there." Jess hollered back.
Nick turned his head and saw that she was carrying a couple bags and a large box stacked high with papers. He jumped up from his seat and lunged himself towards her, grabbing the box just in time before it toppled to the ground.
"Ahh... thanks Nick. I nearly lost that."
"No problem. Did you have a nice day at work?" He asked as he turned to rest the box on the small table behind the couch.
"Yeah, it was actually really great. They offered me the Principal position and I took it!" Jess stated excitedly.
"Are you serious Jess? That's great news!" Nick shouted as he embraced her in a big bear hug and slightly lifted her off the floor.
"Eep..." Jess squeaked completely taken by surprise and nodded frantically into his shoulder.
He gently placed her back down, allowing her body to slide against his until her feet touch the floor, he then grasped her hands as they stared into each others eyes.
"Ahem!" Reagan choked as she made her way out of her and Nick's bedroom.
Jess quickly dropped her gaze from Nick as he released her hands.
"Oh hey Reagan, Jess has some really great news!" Nick exclaimed eagerly.
"Oh yeah?" Reagan countered dryly.
"Umm... yeah you are looking at the new Principal of Banyan Canyon." Jess nervously answered as she pushed her glasses up on her nose.
"Congratulations Jess! That really is exciting news." Reagan rejoiced as she wrapped Jess in a polite hug.
"Thanks." Jess said shyly. "Well I think I'm going to head on into my room, I have a lot of paperwork to go over." Jess mumbled as she pointed to the full box behind Nick.
"Do you need help?" Nick asked.
"Nope, I think I got it." Jess stated as she picked up the heavy box and faltered a little in her step.
'"Niii...ght!" Reagan sang as she turned her attention back to Nick, who was nervously twisting his right fist into his left palm.
"So Nick, tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I got these really great tickets to go see the Book of Mormon."
"What the hell is that? I'm not religious Reagan! Are you trying to convert me?" Nick reproached as he began to move backwards towards his room.
Reagan followed, cornering him in front of their shared door. "No dummy, its a satirical musical comedy. Jesus Nick, what do you take me for?"
"Oh, I don't know Reagan. You say you want to go to some religious show, what do you expect me to think? You can't do that without explaining yourself."
Reagan rolled her eyes, "Anyways... I was thinking that maybe we could go for dinner and then go check it out. What do ya think?"
Nick threw his hoodie up over his head and crossed his arms, shoving his hands under his armpits.
"Nick what is with you? Don't you want to spend Valentine's Day with me?"
Nick wasn't sure how to respond, so he just nodded his head.
"Ok good! So the show starts at 9. I was thinking that instead of leaving from here, you could pick me up at my apartment around 6? Kinda like a real date."
"Yeah, we can do that." Nick agreed tepidly.
"Good! Alright well, I'm gonna head to my own apartment for the night. See ya tomorrow." Reagan said as she leaned in and gave Nick a loud smack on the lips before spinning her way towards the front door.
Nick just shook his head; he had actually been planning to stay in and watch the Bull's game. But now he was going to have to spend his evening watching some musical about a bunch of dancing, singing Mormons.
"Oh my gawd.. Valentine's Day!" Nick rasped loudly as he realized that he had forgotten.
"Nick? Are you ok?" Jess asked as she opened her bedroom door.
"I completely forgot about Valentine's Day. Now Reagan is expecting some grand gesture. She wants me to pick her up at her apartment tomorrow and then take her to some musical about Mormons." Nick gestured frantically flailing his arms in the air.
"She's your girlfriend, Nick. Don't you want to make her happy and show her that you care?" Jess coaxed.
"Yeah, Jess. But... I'm not good at this stuff. You of all people should know that."
Jess stared at the floor, she couldn't agree with him. He was always so caring and romantic when they had been together.
"Nick, you're just freaking out because it's your first Valentine's Day together. You can totally do this." She was trying to sound convincing, but she couldn't help but hope that his reluctance had something to do with her.
"All you need is a nice suit, some flowers and chocolate. You can do that, right?" Jess looked up to Nick trying to measure his reaction.
He had a disgruntled look on his face, but he finally agreed, "Yeah, alright. I guess I can do that."
"There you go!" Jess cringed a little inside as she patted his back. The last thing she wanted to do was give him relationship advice, but here she was again getting in the middle of Nick and Reagan's relationship. "I gotta get back to work."
"Thanks Jess."
"Yep, no problem. Have a good night."
"Night." Nick watched as Jess entered her room and closed the door. He felt an overwhelming sense of dread wash over him again. "Get it together, man!" He whispered angrily, slapping himself on the face before retiring to his own room for the evening.