Although it wasn't common, sometimes Miley felt different when she entered her apartment after work. Perhaps different is too broad of a term. It was an unwelcome feeling of emptiness in both her stomach and her entire penthouse. It made her cold, led her to shivers. It caused an uncomfortable lump to develop in the back of her throat.
Tuesday night was one of the times she felt this way.
And Miley hated to admit it, but sometimes, just sometimes, she wondered if things would be different if she'd never met... him.
No, no. Her life would probably be the same. He had no effect on her. He had never had control over her. He was nothing but a stupid ex-husband. Just a stupid, worthless piece of trash. That's all he'd ever be.
Really though? Was that all he was? Because she sure did spend a whole lot of time with him for being just a worthless piece of nothing. The monthly trips to Cabo San Lucas, the fancy dinner dates every night, and cozy evenings by the fire place- but he was just a piece of crap.
Thinking about this made Miley sick. She collapsed onto her couch without even taking off her coat or shoes, drained from her retrospective musing. How did she not see it? How did she not see it coming? How could the person that snatched away her ability to love, her capacity a to feel, and her potential to trust be so damn slick?
Oh well. Guys like him didn't come with warning labels. It was too late to change anything now.
Okay, this was getting ridiculous. Could it be possible that there was one woman on the planet that didn't find Nick to be charming? Because it sure seemed like it. At first, Miley's snide comments were excusable. Nick was certain that his boss would loosen up eventually. But no. In the four days that he had known Miley, she'd done nothing but criticize Nick.
W...T...F?
This is all that Nick could think about Tuesday evening.
It made no sense. Karin was practically down Nick's throat already, and Miley hadn't even batted an eyelash at him. He hadn't gotten any action since he'd moved to New York, and he wasn't getting any younger.
And then there was Karin. Maybe he should just settle with her for the moment. She seemed easy enough. In fact, she hadn't stopped flirting with Nick since the minute she laid eyes on him. Not to mention she was hot, full figured, hot, blonde, hot...
Nick stopped himself. He wasn't one to 'hit it and quit it.' Not anymore at least. That was something the Old Nick would have done. But the Old Nick was gone now. New Nick ditched him in Texas and fled to New York to get a fresh start.
New Nick was a lot different.
Old Nick: perve
New Nick: still a perve
Old Nick: player
New Nick: undecided?
Old Nick: immature
New Nick: still immature
Old Nick: lived in Texas
New Nick: lived in New York
Fine. New Nick wasn't that different. But that didn't really matter.
Who was he kidding? It so mattered. Maybe he should just give up and go back to his old ways. Frustrated, Nick retrieved his phone from his pocket, and was scrolling through his contacts in search of Karin's number when he stopped himself. He couldn't do it.
Why? What was wrong with him? His conscious had never gotten in the way of his relationships before? Why now?
Just text her! he told himself, It'll be quick, easy, and painless. And she's in love with you. Do it.
But, no matter how hard he tried, Nick couldn't bring himself to text Karin. She was just so interested in him. It was creepy at times and convenient at others. Either way, he didn't want to lead her on too much. He hardly knew Karin; therefore, he had little interest in her at the moment. There was definitely a physical attraction there but that was something only the old Nick would take as reason enough to pursue a woman.
Nick began to think some more. Was action really all he wanted from Miley too? Yeah, she was extremely alluring in her own unique way, but could there possibly be something more that Nick saw in her? She was highly successful, something Nick found incredibly admirable. She obviously had a passion for the entertainment business, which was pretty sweet, and she was exceedingly smart...
It was odd. He'd never felt that way about anyone. Maybe she would be worth it in the end.
Nick selected Miley's name from his contact list, and a new screen appeared on his Blackberry: a box containing a blinking curser.
What would he text to Miley? He didn't really have much to talk about with her. In an attempt to be methodical, Nick began to type possible conversation starters into the message field. When he was finished, he stared at his phone and tried to decide which opener he should use.
He began to think deeper. And then it occurred: to him: Why would Miley even reply to his text? This was stupid to even be considering. He saved the message as a draft, shocked with himself. This was the first time he could remember being intimidated like this.
He put his phone down.
Just then, Nick's newly purchased puppy appeared into his sight. He scampered over to the couch where Nick had been seated and jumped into his lap. The Yorkie looked ridiculous. He had just gotten his "operation," and was sporting a plastic funnel around his neck.
Nick suddenly had envy for the animal.
"You're so lucky, boy." Nick patted the dog on its head. "You'll never have to face the decision of love... and lust."
Nick yawned. He was tired from lack of sleep the previous night.
"Did I tell you it was going to"-Yawn- "snow on Friday?" he asked Miley Wednesday afternoon.
He had been assisting her while she cleaned out her cluttered desk area. Its contents were covering her floor, making it impossible to walk further than within a five foot radius of it.
Miley answered flatly; her voice was hardly audible. "Yes."
Nick frowned. Miley's short response was just another reminder that she despised him. This brought back memoires of his deep thoughts about her the previous evening. With it also came the intense frustration he also endured.
He just had to ask.
"Why do you hate me so much?" he blurted out. "Everybody else likes me around here. Why not you?"
The question obviously caught Miley's attention because she looked up at Nick when she heard it. But even so, her facial expression was totally neutral. "That's kind of irrelevant don't you think?"
"Not to me," said Nick. "I don't think it is."
Miley tried to think of good reason for hating Nick; she really did. But she couldn't think of anything- anything worth hating someone for.
He annoyed her. But how? Because he tried to make conversation with her? She couldn't say that. Because he wasn't scared of her? That wouldn't be appropriate either.
Baffled, she just spit out the first lame comeback she could think of. "Why do you care so much?" she snapped, slapping a desk drawer shut.
"I just wanna know. People have always liked me, and you don't. It... it bothers me." He explained in the best way that he could.
With every point Nick brought up, Miley was running out of things to say. That was not cool. She was heating up, actually. "It doesn't matter, does it? It's not like we're going to spend the rest of our lives together! We just work together. That's it."
Nick paused, mentally debating if he should say what he really felt. Aw, to hell with it. "What if weren't though? What if you were... you know... more?"
A smile crept onto Miley's face. Something more? She and Nick? Ha! That had to be a joke.
"You've got to be kidding me."
"Not really."
"That would never happen," she admitted plainly. "It would never work out."
"How do you know?" he asked defensively.
Miley reached into one of her drawers and slapped a handful of junk onto her desk. "You're not my type." Duh. That much was obvious.
"Well what is your-" Nick started to ask a question, but his attention was captured by one of the new items on Miley's desk. "Who's that?"
He grabbed a warn, wallet size photo of a handsome, important-looking man from the surface. He looked a bit older than Miley and had perfectly styled hair and a shiny smile. As Nick examined the picture, a bell went off in his head.
"Is this your ex hus-" He was cut off before he could complete his inquiry.
Just like that, Miley ripped the photo away from Nick. She was suddenly anxious. "Don't touch my things!" she loudly demanded.
Nick was confused. "I've been touching your things all morning..."
There was a knock at the door before Miley could respond. Thank God. "Come in!" Miley quickly yelled.
Karin cracked open the door and poked her head in. When she say the discomfort on Miley's face she asked, "Um, am I interrupting something...?"
"Not at all," Miley assured her.
Karin was unconvinced, but continued anyway. "Somebody's here to see you, Nick."
"To see me?" Nick asked, puzzled. Why would someone come all the way to his work just to see him? That was odd. He hardly knew anyone in New York. He began to worry.
Karin only nodded. Nick hesitated.
"What are you waiting for? Go!" Miley said hastily.
Nick left the room. The door shut. Miley collapsed into her seat in relief.
"That was close," she muttered under her breath, looking at the picture she had seized from Nick.
Damn. Why were most evil men also the most gorgeous?
Karin led Nick into the lobby, but, to his surprise, there was no one in sight. He did a 360. Still no one.
"There wasn't really visitor," Karin clarified with a sly smile. "I just wanted to talk to you."
"Oh," Nick said, not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. He hesitated before speaking. "So... what did you need then?" he wondered.
Karin giggled like a little girl. Nick observed her. He couldn't help but notice that she looked even more attractive than usual today. Her long hair was down and pinned out of her face. The white blouse/skirt combination she was wearing hugged her curves perfectly, showed off her legs that seemed to last for miles, and-
"Nick, you okay?" Karin giggled again.
Nick cleared his throat, blushing. "Oh... uh... yeah." Something like that.
Why was her face so perfectly structured? Why was her body so voluptuous? Why was she standing so close? Karin was doing this on purpose. Really? Who could be that hot by accident? How was he supposed to de-playerize himself with her around? She was interfering his flow, throwing off his groove.
Karin batted her eyelashes. Nick looked away, his eye twitching. It was just too much for him. You can look but you can't touch.
"So, I was just wondering..." she started.
Wondering what? If he was dead yet?
"If you wanted to come with me to lucnh? I mean if you want. I don't know if you're busy or something. It's okay..." She sounded kind of nervous, but not for real.
She bit her lip. Goddammit.
Nick tried to think it through. He usually lunch in the cafeteria on the main floor anyway, so that wasn't the problem. The problem was that it was quite possible that if he went to coffee with Karin, he would never be able to escape his old ways.
But what about Miley? Didn't he decide last night that he wasn't going to give up on her? That she was 'the one?' She definitely was more interesting to be around, but Karin was nice to look at...
And what if it turned out that Karin actually had a desirable personality? If not, she could be an option if by chance he was really desperate one night. It was a win-win situation.
Why the hell not?
He yawned. "Yeah, that's sounds..." -Nick paused, trying to select an appropriate adjective- "nice?" he finished uncertainly. "Yeah, nice."
Karin beamed cutely in satisfaction, twirling a blonde strand of hair around her finger. "Awesome. Meet me in my office at one?" she offered.
Nick agreed with a nervous nod. "Yep."
The two parted ways. Karin winked flirtatiously as they separated. She hadn't gotten very far before she noticed fire-headed Alison peering at Karin out of her own office. As the blonde walked by, Alison tried to shut herself away- but not quick enough.
"And that's how you do that," Karin whispered to her, flashing a wicked smile.
Bitch.
Nick was interrupted on his way to his own destination as well. A man stopped Nick in his tracks, gripping him by the shoulders and pulling him aside.
"Look. I don't know you very well, but can I give you some advice? You know, man to man?"
Nick was confused. He recognized the guy before him as Ryan, a Glitterati agent. It was very true that the two were unfamiliar with each other. Nick had never said a word to Ryan in his life.
"Um, sure?" Nick replied, dumbfounded.
"I know it's none of my business, really, but I saw you talking to Karin," Ryan continued.
Nick nodded.
By the solemn look on his face, Ryan seemed to be carefully choosing his words. "Just don't get involved with her, okay?" he finally spit out. "I've been working here for a long time. I see what goes on. Karin is... I don't know. She likes to screw with people, cling on to them. You seem like a nice guy. I'm just trying to help you out."
To be honest, Nick had no idea what Ryan said. It all happened too fast. Something about Karin, was it? Whatever. He was too tired to care.
"Yeah," said Nick. He wasn't entirely sure if that was an appropriate response.
"Just lookin' out for you, man," said Ryan. That was the last thing he said to Nick before patting him on the shoulder and going on his way.
"What did Karin want?" Miley asked Nick upon his return.
Nick shut the door behind him. "She asked me to lunch. I said yes."
"So, you guys are actually a thing now?" Miley inquired skeptically from behind her desk.
Nick smirked. "That's kind of irrelevant," he told Miley, quoting her from earlier. He noticed the woman rolling her eyes, and added, "Why do you care so much? I thought you didn't like me."
"I don't!" Miley shot back. She was trying to keep her composure, but there was no hiding the red stains of embarrassment on her cheeks. "She's a good friend of mine. I just wanted to know, so don't flatter yourself."
Nick shrugged. "I think it's logical for me to assume you care."
"Don't assume anything," Miley snapped, a hint of discomfort still on her face.
"Are you sure you don't care? Maybe just a little bit?" Nick asked, holding his thumb and index fingers just millimeters apart.
"Positive," his boss assured him before quickly changing subjects. "Now did you make the hotel reservations last night like I asked you?"
"Yep. And I forwarded the confirmation email to you- just like you said."
Miley nodded in approval. Had Nick just done something right? It was a miracle!
"That reminds me!" Nick abruptly exclaimed. "I need to ask you something."
"What?"
"I need to bring my dog to work tomorrow." He was straight up. "It's urgent."
Miley looked up at him incredulously. "Ha! That's a good one!"
Nick started to protest. "I know its kind of stupid but-"
"Very stupid," Miley corrected.
"-but I have to get him to the kennel before we leave. It's not open early enough for me to drop him off in the morning, and it's not late enough for me to go all the way back to my apartment before dropping him off. He'll be in a cage and everything."
Miley still had no sympathy. "Sucks."
Luckily, though, Nick came prepared for this. He reached into his pocket and removed a green bill.
He waved it in Miley's face. "Ben Franklin thought it was a good idea..." Nick shrugged innocently. "But oh well."
Miley's eyes followed the hundred-dollar bill's movements from side to side. She cursed herself. She was expecting important visitors at the office the next day. But the money... Was her biggest weakness that obvious?
She finally couldn't take it anymore. She snatched the money. "Gray... if I hear as much as a peep from your dog I swear to God-"
Elated, Nick gladly handed over the money. "Don't worry about it. Gato is really well behaved."
"What did you just say its name was?" Miley asked, stuffing the bill into her nearby purse.
"Gato," he answered nonchalantly.
"What the hell kind of name is that?"
"It means cat in Spanish."
"I thought it was a dog?" said a very confused Miley.
Nick clarified, "It is."
Miley stared at her assistant in astonishment. "Wow. Just... wow." She shook her head.
"What?" Nick was puzzled. "What's so weird about that?"
Miley rolled her eyes and grumbled, "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
Nick arrived on time to Karin's office to leave for their lunch... thing. Nick didn't want to call it a date until he saw how things turned out. He hadn't really talked to her much, but he wanted to give her a try in case things really didn't end up working out with Miley. (Pffft!)
On the other hand, Karin was taking the lunch extremely seriously. She had spent a whole twenty minutes in the bathroom re-primping for the big afternoon. If things went well, she would be well on the road to marrying Nick and eventually dying with him. It was a big deal.
Karin felt jittery as she they left the office building. Nick yawned.
"So, where shall we go?" Karin asked eagerly. A snowflake danced from the grayish sky and landed in her light hair.
Nick took a few seconds to examine his surroundings. He pointed across the street. "Wanna hit Mickey D's? I'm kind of short on cash and stuff. So... yeah."
McDonalds? Karin was flabbergasted. She wasn't expected their lunch to be at a five star restaurant, but Mc-fucking-Donalds? By no stretch of the imagination was that fast food restaurant remotely romantic.
Karin tried to calm herself. She took deep breaths and tried to forget the fact that everything on the menu at McDonalds was fattening; she tried to disregard the fact that this lunch was basically the beginning of the rest of her life.
Who was she kidding? She used to love McDonalds as a kid. That was until it totally ruined her life and made her-
Nick filled Karin's baffling silence. "And Miley told me to pick her something up there."
(That wasn't helping. Why was everyone so obsessed with Miley? Ugh! Miley this, Miley that. Whatever. That wasn't the point.)
It was then that she started to think about things more rationally. She thought about all her past relationships and compared them to the potential one with Nick. If his only flaw was that he enjoyed cheap, waistline expanding, greasy, disgusting McDonalds... maybe it wasn't so bad after all.
"Yeah, that's fine," she eventually agreed, trying to sound as excited as possible.
And with that they were off.
Upon entering the fast food joint, Nick and Karin took their place at the end of the line. It was extremely long considering 1) they were in New York and 2) it was lunch hour, but the line seemed to be moving quickly.
Karin immedietly decided that she hated everything on the menu. She hadn't been to the place in years. It was funny how much her opinion toward it had changed. She didn't want to offend Nick by not eating, so she decided on some sort of salad and a diet coke.
From the corner of her eye, Karin caught Nick pulling a sticky note from his coat pocket. Overcome with curiosity, she glanced at the paper to learn its significance. She read the words, written in her closest friend's familiar handwriting, at the top and cringed.
Miley's Order
She wanted to like Miley; she really did, but sometimes it was hard. Especially in situations like these where she was being brought up in her lunch date and ruining it without even trying. So maybe Nick was Miley's assistant. But still.
The pair was nearing the front of the line. Karin mentally finalized her order. She recited it to Nick when he asked her to just seconds later.
"Ah, the salad. Healthy eater, huh Karin?" Nick observed with a smile.
Actually she wasn't that healthy. She hated salads. She only ordered it because ordering anything else on the menu would be the equivalent of someone stabbing her in the heart. Or cutting her open and pouring a tub of salt into her blood. But why did Nick need to know that? So, she replied with a grin and by saying, "I guess you could say that."
Karin pretty much blanked out as Nick ordered their lunches. That is, until he asked her something that almost pushed her off the edge. If it were anyone besides Nick that she was with, she definitely would have already crossed that line.
"Shoot. Can I borrow a dollar, Kare? I'm short."
Karin read the price that appeared on the register: $9.98. Nick didn't even bring ten measly dollars? He really hadn't taken this seriously, had he?
For the second time in the last fifteen minutes, Karin had to work to calm herself. Maybe Nick had planned on taking more than eight bucks; he just forgot the money at his desk. Yeah, let's go with that, she thought.
And as she fished through her purse for wallet, she tried to concentrate on more pleasant things like Nick's abnormally perfect facial structure and his use of the pet name "Kare."
She flipped open her wallet and retrieved a dollar. During the time she did this and the time that she put it away, Nick noticed, "You spell your name with a K... and with an I-N?" He had been reading off of her driver's license.
As Nick pointed this out, Karin's thought process was something along the lines of: SDFGHJKLRTYQWIO! WTF?
Karin couldn't hide her feeling anymore. Unconsciously she snapped, "You didn't know how to spell my name?"
"Sorry?" Nick apologized.
Karin regretted being so harsh, but she couldn't help it. She handed Nick the bill.
"Thanks." He took it from her.
"Yeah."
It was when Nick took the receipt from the cashier that Karin realized she had just contributed in paying for Miley's lunch. Lovely.
Meanwhile, Dara poked her head into Miley's office. "Hey, is Nick here?"
Miley, who had been hanging her newly framed Britney Spears photo, looked over at her visitor. "No, he went to lunch with Karin. Why?" she asked.
"Karin?" Dara repeated, her voice dripping with disgust. She had been angry with that woman since Alison had reported her childish comments. Recalling that Miley and Karin were close, Dara tried to be more composed before she spoke again. "I mean... are they together now or something?"
"Don't know. Don't care."
Dara was foolish to expect Miley to give her an answer worth a crap. Whatever.
"Oh. Well, I found this phone in the hall. I'm pretty sure its his." Dara held out her hand and revealed a silver Blackberry.
Miley motioned her over. "Bring it here."
Dara complied, and handed Miley the phone. It was definitely Nick's. She had seen him with it on multiple occasions. "Yeah, it's his. I'll give it to him." Miley nodded. "Thanks."
"Yep," Dara replied only moments before vanishing from the room.
"Wow. Miley's the opposite of you. Check out what she got." Nick slid a McDonalds bag toward Karin. They had just managed to score a table.
Karin took a look inside and saw a Big Mac and fries. That didn't surprise Karin at all. Miley ate whatever she wanted. With her busy lifestyle, fast food was a big part of her diet.
"I've never met a chick that eats as much as she does. How does she stay in such great shape?" Nick wondered.
Karin's concealed a groan as she realized that Nick was once again talking about Miley –praising her even. She took action by quickly putting the spotlight on him instead.
"I guess she's just got a good metabolism. How do you stay in good shape?" she smiled as irresistibly as she could, lifting one corner of her mouth and not the other. She wanted to be sure that the rest of the day's conversation's stayed a million miles away from Miley.
Nick's face was starting to get hot. "Um... I don't know. I work out sometimes, I guess." Nervous, he stuffed a handful of fries into his mouth.
"I can tell," she told him.
Nick was blushing wildly now. Now that he thought about it, it was nice to have someone compliment him after being verbally assaulted for eight hours a day. And it didn't hurt that it came from an attractive woman either.
Karin... she was very flirty. She knew how to make a guy feel good about himself. It was nice, but Nick didn't know how much he could take of it. He consistently found himself at a loss for words around her, and with all the compliments she threw out, he felt obligated to say something nice about her too. This was a problem. He sucked at complimenting girls. Whenever he tried, they either came out sounding really awkward or offensive.
"You too," he said.
Karin wore a confused expression in return.
Nick quickly scrambled to correct himself. "I mean... you look good too."
"Thanks." Karin's eyelashes fluttered.
Nick smiled cumbersomely. Talking to Karin made him uncomfortable a lot of the time. There was no meat to the conversations. Just small talk and Karin with her flirtiness.
"So tell me about you," she said unexpectedly. "What's your story?"
"Well... I'm, uh, from Texas. And I moved her a couple of months ago because I wanted to change... and then my buddy that lived up here got me a job at Glitterati. Yeah..."
One part of Nick's response really stuck to Karin. "You wanted to change? How?"
Nick could feel himself blushing again. Dammit. "I don't know. I guess I wanted to grow up. I had a cushy life in Texas so I never really had to. It stupid; I know."
"No, it's not stupid at all. I understand," Karin assured him.
Nick felt himself relaxing.
She added, "Sometimes we all need to learn what we're capable of alone."
"Definitely."
An awkward silence followed. Karin fumbled with her salad, frowning. Nick hadn't been oblivious to the fact that she had been disappointed with this whole lunch thing. She had taken in a lot more seriously that he had thought, and he felt bad. He knew it was up to him to start a conversation. He thought back to the first one he had with Karin, recalling his lack of discomfort at the time.
"So you got anymore dirt on Miley for me?" he asked.
Karin was less than amused. Despite her attempt to keep it away, Miley's essence had once again found its way into the lunch date. She knew she shouldn't be mad at Miley for it, but she was. She had said she wasn't interested in Nick. Obviously, she had done something that interested him because he wouldn't stop talking about her.
That was it. If dirt was what Nick wanted, that's what he'd get.
"Oh, I've got plenty. What do you want to know? Like I said, I know everything." She grinned.
Nick's interest was suddenly sparked. "Anything you can tell me."
"Well, I know some pretty exclusive stuff. But there is one thing in particular..." She trailed off.
"I want to know," Nick requested.
Karin was silent for a moment as if she was pondering something. "I don't want anyone to hear. I'll text it to you." She reached down to pull her phone from her bag. "What's your number?"
(Karin actually didn't care if anyone overheard the secret. At the moment, she was so pissed at Miley that she felt like screaming all of her secrets to the heavens. She just felt it was a creative way to obtain Nick's number.)
Nick recited the series of digits to his co-worker and she immedietly began to compose her message.
"Sent," she soon announced.
Nick nodded and reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone. When he didn't find it, he checked his other pocket. Nothing.
Had he left it by the registers when he as ordering? He decided it would be best to check.
"Hold on a sec." He lifted himself from his seat.
The registers were swarmed with people. It would be a hassle trying to get through them all if he didn't need to, so he decided to check his pockets one more time.
Unfortunately, this didn't turn out as expected. Frustrated, he plunged his hand into one of his pockets only to find it empty. As he yanked his hand out, it flung outward, sending Karin's Diet Coke flying until it landed in her lap and stained her white outfit.
Miley stood back and admired her hard work. She had taken a break from her usual business-y stuff and spent the morning deep cleaning her office.
After soaking in the cleanliness for a bit, she returned to her desk in hopes of getting some real work done before Nick came back. Speaking of Nick, his phone was still taking up space on her desk.
Upon remembering its presence, she picked up the phone and examined it. It was a pretty nice Blackberry, almost identical to hers. She turned it over. Someone had written on it in sharpie.
I love Nick!
It was obvious that the handwriting was of a female. The marker was worn, though, as if someone tried to rub it off. It wasn't more than a few seconds after this discovery that the device let out a beeping noise. Miley flipped the phone over again. There was a new message.
The businesswoman was suddenly overwhelmed with curiosity. Who did Nick text? The thought was instantly followed by feelings of remorse. Why did she care who Nick talked to? She didn't even like him, right?
What if its something from the hotel? she asked herself, then I have a right to know.
With that as her motivation, Miley pressed the okay button on the phone. She was prompted for a password. Knowing nearly nothing password worthy about Nick, she typed in the one thing she did know about him: his name.
She was in. Nick's password was Nick. Go figure.
It didn't take long for her to find his inbox where she uncovered a new text from "Caren Jamison." (What a moron!) Why was Karin texting Nick? Weren't they together?
Miley glanced at the message preview. Hannah Montana was n...
What the hell? Why was Karin talking about Hannah Montana? Miley no longer felt guilty about reading Nick's messages. In fact, she felt obligated. An anxious Miley opened the message.
From: Caren Jamison
Hannah Montana was not a virgin.
Nick had never felt worse. Karin's outfit was totaled. He'd tried not to clean up the best it could, but it was no use.
"I'm so sorry, Kare. You have no idea how bad I feel right now. I'll pay for new clothes. How much do you want?"
Karen felt a little better. Nick had called her Kare again.
"You know... it's okay Nick. I'm not mad," she said, smiling as much as she could in the current circumstances.
"Why not?" Nick was stunned. "If I were you, I would be so mad at me."
Karin shrugged. "It was an accident." She got up from her chair and stood next to her lunch-mate.
Nick was unsatisfied. "I know it's just..."
"It's just what?" asked Karin.
"It's just that I screwed this up so bad. This whole thing was a disaster. The past week has been a disaster. I haven't done anything right. It's... I don't know." Nick looked pretty upset.
Karin's heart fluttered. He cared! He really cared! She felt as if she were walking on air. She felt herself losing control. Slowly, slowly... until she found herself planting a kiss on Nick's check.
Oops.
Nick looked confused. So did Karin. She exploded in apologies. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. That was dumb... Oh, god."
Nick sighed. "It's okay." He tried to force an earnest expression.
It wasn't okay. It didn't feel right.
Miley was struck with a thousand emotions. Betrayal, sadness, embarrassment, and anger were among them.
What was Karin doing talking about Miley's personal business? She had told her these things in confidence. Miley had no doubt now that her "friend" was the one that spilled the secret of Miley's marriage to Nick as well.
Miley tried to settle down. Who cares if Nick knew about her days as Hannah Montana? He was just a stupid assistant. What did she care what he thought anyway?
Just then, the door burst open. Miley dropped the phone to her desk and Nick walked in.
"I am an idiot," he declared.
Miley made a successful effort to bury her emotions before responding. "No kidding."
Nick groaned and collapsed into a nearby chair.
"You have lipstick on your face," Miley notified him.
Alarmed, Nick aggressively began to rub his cheek, but the sad expression on his face remained.
"How bad could things have gone?" she added.
"Very badly. It was awful." Nick then told the whole story of the disastrous event from start to finish, Miley following the entire time.
"You did all that and she still kissed you?" Miley said, astonished. "She must really like you, Gray." She also liked him enough to dish it all out on her best friend, but Miley didn't mention that.
Nick exhaled in distress. "That's the other thing. She likes me so much, and I'm not sure what I think of her." Nick stopped himself. "I'm sorry I'm telling you all this. You don't want to hear it."
"You're right, but I kind of feel bad for you, so it's okay. Just don't get used to it," Miley said.
"You feel bad for me?" Nick's eyes widened.
Miley rushed to clarify. "Not in a friendly way! I mean it in more in a pitiful way."
Nick wasn't buying it. "Thanks for caring, Miley."
"Miss Stewart."
"Whatever."
"And I don't care about you. I feel bad for you," Miley cleared up. "Got it?"
"Whatever you say." Nick winked.
I SUCK. There is no excuse for how long I took to update. I did, however, rewrite this chapter about 56 times, AND I did do a good job responding to all the reviews, I think. If I didn't reply to you, I'm so sorry! I'll do better next time.
I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Sad, but true. Three cheers for semi-long chapters? Hip hip...