Chapter 6
Pushing through the narrow hall of the train, Nick struggled with the bag slung over his shoulder while the suitcase he pushed in front of him kept swerving into the walls.
"Dammit! You wanna play it like that huh? Stupid bag, I'll give you somethin' to bump into. How's about my foot? You want some of that?" He yelled, kicking it.
"Nick, are you seriously threatening luggage?" Jess exclaimed, exasperated but amused.
"You see the way it's jamming into the sides? It's like it's toying with me on purpose!"
"Sure it is man," said Winston. "I bet it wants to steal your woman too. Yeah, I saw the way it was eyeballin' Jess. Better show it who's boss."
Jess giggled while Nick glared at him. Winston continued out the train door and onto the platform. Looking around, he caught sight of Penelope just a few feet away, pulling her own bag behind her as she headed towards him. Jess watched as Winston smiled and casually took the bag handle from the woman and they walked together into the station. Curious, she asked Schmidt who the woman was.
"Some girl he met on the train. He didn't come in til late, then they just sat around talking, it was pathetic. I don't know much about her except that she prefers Celtic Thunder to Straight No Chaser. After that, I gave up listening and went to sleep. But I know for a fact he didn't close because she was gone when I woke up and frankly, Winston gets stage fright, unlike myself. I love an audience." He said smiling.
"Ew." Jess shook her head. "Why can't you appreciate a guy just wanting to get to know a woman without trying to sleep with her?"
"Because , Jess, it's not natural. A man is just hardwired to sow his seed with as many women as possible, and getting to know her just increases the likelihood that her general interests and tastes, or in this case, lack of taste, will override his ability to perform that task."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Nick asked, frowning.
"I mean if he talks to her and ends up liking her, Winston's not the type of guy to just sleep with her and forget about it."
"And that's bad because..." Jess questioned, tilting her head.
"Do I have to spell it out for you? He's holding himself down! Look at him up there, he's known her less than 24 hours and he's carrying her luggage! He's doing what took Nick 2 years to accomplish – at this rate by next week she'll be living in the loft too!"
"He's right."
Hearing Nicks words, Jess turned to him, her mouth agape. "I can't believe this. You agree with him?"
"I don't know Jess – Winston get's attached pretty easily, he's not a casual fling kinda guy. I mean, he just met the girl and I heard him say he's gonna Skype his mom to introduce them. You know I hate admitting when Schmidt's right, but in this case... and he's right about Straight No Chaser. It's way harder to harmonize when it's not covered up by Irish drums."
Jess looked back at Schmidt who was nodding his head in agreement. Maybe they were right. The group continued into the station as Jess wondered if she should say anything to Winston. As she watched him walking ahead of them, she saw them talking, and Winston seemed to be smiling a lot. The woman was very pretty, taller than Jess by a head. Considering her options for a moment, she decided the guys were just being worrywarts.
Schmidt stopped at the gift shop and said he'd be back in a moment, so Jess and Nick hung out.
"So, " Nick said. "Is uh, your mom coming to get us, or...?"
"Jess!" Cece's voice rang though the large terminal, and Jess made a beeline for her. Cece looked around nervously, but she didn't she Schmidt and relaxed. "Oh thank God! I got the craziest call from Schmidt, he said he was coming. I was all prepared to be super mad at you, but now I don't have to!" She said, hugging Jess.
Jess looked confused, pulling back. "Um, well, he's actually -"
"Cecilia!" Schmidt voice interrupted her. He appeared at her side, holding a bamboo luck plant. "I had intended to get you flowers, but apparently flowers do not grown in this sunless rainy hell, so I got you this." He held it out to Cece, who took it slowly and mumbled a short thank you. She then turned her glare to Jess, who mouthed I'm sorry to her.
"So if you guys are ready, the car is out front." Cece said, trying her best to ignore Schimdt's gaze.
"Uh, where's Winston?" Jess asked.
"Winston!" Nick yelled, looking around. "WINS -"
"What?" Winston said, appearing at Nick's side. Jumping at the surprise, Nick said, "Car's here, let's go."
"Hey, if y'all don't mind, I'm gonna catch a ride with Penelope and meet up with y'all later." He said, nodding over to her.
Reaching out her hand, Jess introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Jess. Winston's roomate."
Taking her hand with lightly, she smiled. "Penelope."
"Penelope – how fancy! Penelope." she said, adopting her best rich person voice.
"Jess-" Winston butted in.
"So, what brings you to Portland?" she asked, ignoring him.
Winston sighed and leaned over to Nick, speaking in a hushed tone. "How do I stop this?"
"If I knew that, my life would be so much quieter." Nick replied, smirking. "She seems nice man."
Winston nodded, not taking his eyes off the girls. "I know man, she's just so... so... sparkly."
Nick frowned. "Sparkly?"
"Shut up. I don't know man, she's something else. I just wanna see her as much as I can. Hey, if I don't make it back to you guys tonight, it's only because I like her more than you."
"Good enough." Nick replied, watching his friend walk back towards her. Turning back to Jess, he said "So, we ready?"
The group approached the car with Cece and a man got out of the front seat and walked towards the back, opening the trunk. He was Indian, and was very attractive with wavy moussed hair and a tall, muscular frame. Schmidt slowed his step.
"Ah, I see you've found yet another man of "shared heritage" with which to copulate. I must warn you, the last one that tried to tame her ran off scared with a white Christian." Schmidt said to the man. Cece brought her hand up.
"Ignore him, Sarvesh, you remember Jess. Nick, Schmidt, this is my cousin, Sarvesh."
Sarvesh reached out his hand to Schmidt and smiled. "Hey." Shaking it slowly, Schmidt said. "Cousin huh? So this is like, an inter-family type thing? There's like a billion people in India, don't tell me Shivrang was the last available one outside your bloodline!" Sarvesh dropped his hand and looked at Cece, who was mortified.
Cece brought her hands to her face. "Oh, my God, Schmidt, just get in the damn car!" Cece and Schmidt headed around to the side while Jess and Nick remained. Sarvesh began putting luggage into the car. "So, Jess, long time no see. Got rid of the glasses?"
"No, contacts." She said, unconsciously twirling her hair.
"Glad to hear it. I always prefer a girl in spectacles." Nick watched as Sarvesh moved the bags around to make room, becoming aware of the overly familiar tone between the acquaintances.
Jess chuckled lightly. "Oh, yeah I remember. You helped me pick them out! I still have the frames, but they broke and I've been looking for a new pair. I'm just horrible at choosing the right ones."
"Well, maybe I need to take a trip down and help you out again." He said, smiling at her.
Okay, that's enough Nick thought. "I got the rest man, thanks." He said, taking the bag handle from Sarvesh, giving him a quick warning glance. Sarvesh released the handle and put his hands in his pockets. "Oh, OK, thanks. Well, we better get going." He said, and headed towards the drivers seat.
"You okay?" Jess asked, noticing his agitation.
"Yup." he said, shoving the bag into the trunk and slamming it shut. "Let's go."
Pulling up to the house, Nick took in the view. Behind the perfectly manicured lawn stood an equally immaculate spring yellow dollhouse. "Geez, Jess, is this where you grew up?" He asked, unable to pull his eyes from it.
"Yeah, I know it's a little run down, but it's home." she said cheerily.
"Run down? Jesus Jess, it could be on a friggin' magazine cover!"
"It was, but just a local gardening one. Oh, wait, what? Why is she-"
Coming down the steps was Jess's mom Joan, and behind her shuffled an elderly woman with a round perfectly curled poof of white hair a la Betty White. Looking at her, he could see where Jess got her fashion sense, as the woman was dressed in head to toe bright colors that perfectly complemented each-other. She also showcased very familiar blue eyes.
"Mom! Why are you here? I thought -"
"Oh, honey, it's a long story, but turns out I'm not quite ready to set sail with Victor." Joan chirped. Jess felt a little bad, but in truth was more relieved.
"Nana!" Jess exclaimed, flitting from her mom's arms to her grandmother's, embracing the old woman. Nick grabbed the bags from the trunk and walked towards the women only to find himself with an armful of Joan.
"Nick, hon, how are you?" Joan said, grabbing him for a hug. Nick stiffly gave in, saying. "Hey, uh, good."
"Cece, come inside, I made dinner."
"Thanks Joan, but we gotta head home, I'll be back tomorrow to pick Jess up for the reunion. Schmidt, get out." she said, not bothering to look back.
"Aw, sweetie, I'd love to, but I already told Jess I was staying with you, so.."
Rolling her eyes, she sighed. "Fine, whatever. See you tomorrow Jess!" She hollered, waving goodbye. The car pulled away and Nick headed towards the house with Joan, following Jess and her Nana inside.
Entering the home, he was hit with the smell of something so good he had to close his eyes and take it in.
"I hope you guys are hungry, I made your favorite!" she said, hugging her daughter.
"Aw, mom, you didn't have to do that!"
"Oh, it's no bother. I made up your room Jess, and there's extra blankets in the guest room for Nick."
"Well I thought Nick could just stay with me, um, in my room." Jess said quietly.
"Well we're all wrong sometimes." She said with a smile. "So! Let me show you to your room." She said before Jess stepped over to him.
"It's okay mom, I'll show him up." Jess said, taking his arm. They headed up the stairs and Jess opened the door to a simply decorated room. "Your boudoir sir. " she said with a light laugh. Walking towards the bed, he leaned down and touched the quilt. It looked old, but was soft, with a bumpy texture. "Ah, the infamous birthing quilt. Three generations of days have been born on that quilt." Quickly pulling his hand away and frowning, Nick stepped back. "So, I'll be sleeping on the floor then." he resolved. Ignoring him and going back into the hall, Jess went to the room next door, and following behind her he knew exactly where they were. The room was painted a pale yellow, and had one of those
white iron storybook beds, covered in none-other than blue and white polka-dot pillows. There were twinkle lights strung across the ceiling, and no less than three "Saved By the Bell" posters on the wall.
Interrupting his perusal, Jess flounced over to the bed and sat down. "So, this is me. Where the magic happened. Actually, if I'm being totally honest, there was less magic and more evenings spent re-enacting scenes from "Full House." Nick raised his eyebrows at that, and chuckled softly. Sitting next to her on the bed, he gently stroked her hand. "Well, I bet we could make up for that." he said quietly, leaning in to kiss her. As she felt his lips pressing lightly on hers, then deepening into a more serious search, she felt suddenly aware of the irony surrounding her. The teeny bop posters and stuffed animals n the corner belied the very grown-up thing she was doing, and she stifled a nervous giggle. Nick pulled back. "What is so funny?"
Annoyed he had stopped, she tried to get him back on course. "No, nothing, it just feels weird kissing you in front of Admiral Snuggles." she said, nodding towards the beaten-up, one-eyed stuffed cat on her dresser.
"Admiral Snuggles?" he asked?
"Well, he was Captain Snuggles, but after he lost that eye to the neighbors dog, I felt like he had earned the promotion." She turned his face back to her and resumed kissing him. Sensing his hesitation, she stopped again. "What? Is it what my mom said? Honestly Nick, she's not gonna run you through."
"No, it's just..." She looked at him, waiting for an answer. He looked back towards the stuffed cat. "I feel like he's staring at me!" Jess laughed at him, and taking his hand they headed back downstairs.
Dinner was a quick affair, with Joan buzzing from topic to topic, asking Nick every kind of question she could think of. Normally this would have made Nick uncomfortable, but he could see Jess was enjoying herself, and he didn't want to ruin that by going all 'Nick Miller' on her. At the end of the meal, Joan announced she was going to help Nana to bed.
"Oh, mom, I'll do that, honestly, you've had a long day, let me take care of Nana, you go to bed."
"Why thank you Jujube! Well, then I'm off to bed. I'll see you kids in the morning." and she headed upstairs. Jess began to clear the dishes from the table and Nick rose to help her. Picking up his plate, he walked towards the sink, where Jess caught him and leaned in to whisper. "Here, I'll do that. Can you take my Nana to her room? She's ready for bed, she just gets super tired and needs a little help walking.
"Uh, yeah, sure." he replied, instantly dreading the oncoming action. Jess went over to her grandmother. "Nana," she said, smiling, "Nick is gonna help you to your room, and I'm going to be there in just a minute to say goodnight, okay?"
"Okay dear," she replied in a soft voice. She looked up at Nick with blue eyes that were so familiar to him he felt as if he had known her forever. He eased a bit and slowly took her arm, helping her to her feet. She shuffled slowly, and Nick slowed his own step to stay in pace with her. Making their way to his room, he helped Nana to her bed where she took a seat on the edge. "Dear, could you hand me that book there? I'm almost finished with the last chapter." she asked sweetly, smiling up at him. Happy to oblige, he brought the book to her and asked if she needed anything else. "No dear, just come to bed when you're ready Robert and we'll go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow." Nick furrowed his brown, a bit confused, but smiled and left her. Coming back into the kitchen, he watched as Jess rinsed off the last plate. "Hey, is your Nana alright?" Jess looked up with worry?" Why? Is she okay? Mom said she's been a bit foggier than normal, but -"
Not wanting to alarm her, he shook his head. "No, she's fine, it's just – the weirdest thing. She said she'd wait for me to come to bed, and she called me Robert. Who's Robert?"
Jess's eyes clouded and she looked towards the living room. "Robert was my grandpa."
Hello roomfriends! A new chapter sooner, as promised, albeit a long one. Enjoy, and remember to review – how else will I know if it sucks or not? You'll notice that Schmidt and Winston were pretty absent this time around – don't worry, they'll make up for it next chapter :) - Lady K