Nick and Winston had been sitting on the couch drinking beers and watching a baseball game. Nick had already gotten up twice to run to his room, when he went in a third time and came back with his laptop. He sat back down and put the laptop to his left side on the couch, propped up on a pillow.
Winston looked back and forth between the laptop and Nick and then slammed his beer down on the coffee table. "Ok, what is up with the damn laptop?"
Nick shrugged his shoulders and frowned "What?"
"Nick, you've been running around checking your email for a week. I didn't even know you USED email."
Nick just shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about, man".
Winston raised his eyebrows "You wouldn't do something behind Jess' back..." his voice trailed off when Nick interrupted him.
"God, Winston. NO! Why would you even THINK that?! Do you think I'm an idiot?"
Winston stared at Nick, eyebrows still raised. "It's creepy. What's going on?"
Nick stared ahead at the tv, glancing at Winston out of the corner of his eye. He started to nervously shake his legs. After a few more uncomfortable moments, Nick finally caved.
"Fine." He leaned over to put his beer on the table, then shifted sideways with his elbow on the top of the couch. "You have to promise not to tell Jess."
Winston gave Nick a right hook into his left shoulder. "Damn it Nick, what have you done?!"
Nick winced and grabbed his right shoulder with his left hand. "Ow, what the..." He shook his head. "No, it's nothing bad. I just. I can't tell her. Not yet"
Winston was intrigued. "I'm listening."
Nick took a deep breath and looked down towards the floor. "I uh. I applied to an MBA program."
Winston's face slowly changed into a smile. "You did WHAT?"
"You heard me. I'm thinking about going back to school."
"You. Nick Miller." Winston nodded his head and smiled. "I'm impressed."
Nick tried to play it down a little bit, "yeah, it's online. It's not a big deal."
Winston looked at Nick with a sincere expression on his face. "I'm proud of you, man. So, " he paused and dropped his voice a little, "this thing with Jess? This is for real."
Nick looked up at Winston, "Of course it's for real, what, "
"NO, I mean, FOR REAL. You're really in love with the woman, aren't you?"
Nick couldn't help but smile. "I uh, " He had never really said it out loud to anyone other than Jess before. "Yeah, I mean. I am." He leaned back into the couch. "I don't know, it's like, remember when I just wanted to leave Chicago so I could DO things? My OWN things, not picking up all of my dad's messes?"
Winston nodded. "I remember it well."
Nick continued, "It's like that only..." his voice trailed off as he thought about what he was going to say next. "Only this time I'm not running away from anything." Nick looked at Winston's silent expression and gave a little laugh. "Yeah, I'm full blown crazy now, aren't I?"
Winston shook his head. "Nah. You're just HAPPY. And it's about damn time too!"
Nick shook his head. "I just want to DO things now. My own stuff, you know? Maybe own the bar, or a restaurant...I don't know." He glanced up at Winston and frowned a little. "Probably crazy, right?"
"Of course not, Nick. Look, I've know you for a long time and this,...this Nick that I see when you're with Jess? This is YOU, man." Winston shrugged his shoulders. "I think you spent a lot of time just giving up." Winston leaned back into the couch. "It's nice to see you giving yourself a try again."
"So, you think I can really do this?"
"Nick, you scored a 170 on the LSATs." Winston paused for emphasis and added, "In the middle of your dad's infamous used car scam."
Nick smiled a little and nodded.
"I don't get it though, why won't you tell Jess? You know she'll be proud of you for this, right?"
Nick shrugged and shook his head. "I just don't want to tell her and then find out I failed to even get in, you know? I have so much riding on this Winston. I want to know I can do this before she puts too much hope in me."
"Fine, but I think you're making a mistake not telling her, man. I've seen the way she looks at you. Hell, the way she HAS looked at you for over 2 damn years now. That woman doesn't care if you get into business school or not, she's crazy about you."
"Maybe."
"Nick, TRUST ME. I see her big eyes going gaga over you every freakin' day." His eyes got wide. "EVERY DAY."
"I get it Winston, but please, just, let me tell her when I'm ready ok?"
Winston looked at Nick for a moment and slowly nodded. "Ok, you got it. BUT,..." His face got serious and he pointed a finger at him. "Stop acting all weird like you're hiding something. Because you're going to scare her into thinking something's up. Don't mess this up, Nick. You lose trust from that woman and that's it." He paused. "She doesn't take that stuff lightly, and you know it."
Nick gave him a knowing look and bit his lip, "I know."
