The day was long and Negan had a difficult time focusing at work. The clock felt like it was stuck on the same number for hours on end and multiple times his co-workers had called him out on spacing out in the middle of a conversation.
"Son, what in the hell do you keep looking at that damn phone for?" Charlie walked up to Negan, who immediately shoved his phone back into his pocket.
Negan searched his mind for a lie, "My wife's away. I'm just..." He cleared his throat, "Waiting to hear back from her about something."
"What's she knocked up?" He laughed and Negan managed a chuckle.
"Nah. Nothing like that." Negan's smile faded a bit and he placed the hand on his pocket where the phone sat.
"Seems like something to me," Charlie went on, "I've never seen you so glued to that thing."
"She's... buying some expensive jewelry and shit," he explained, "I just don't want to be bankrupt when she gets back."
His co-worker chuckled, "Women."
"Yeah..."
"You get home alright the other night?"
Negan's head whipped in Charlie's direction but he replied casually. "Yeah... fine." He cleared his throat, "You?"
He nodded and then glanced around the field where they stood before blowing a whistle, prompting Negan to glance down at his watch.
"Beat ya to it," Charlie told him with a chuckle, before leaving him with a hefty pat on the back. "Let's get these kids inside. It's hot as shit out here." He shook his head, "At least we can pull them in during school hours. Our boys are going to die at practice this afternoon."
"Practice." Negan nodded to himself and removed the ball cap he had on, running a hand through his sweaty hair.
"Yeah," Charlie said matter-of-factly, "You know, that shit we planned out for hours on Friday night for spring practice. We have to toughen these kids up and weed out the weaker ones now so they cut themselves before we come back in the fall."
"Yeah." He nodded and began to walk back up toward the school where they worked, side-by-side with the older man.
"Everything alright?" Charlie asked again, "Are you fuckin' hungover or something?"
"I'm fucking fine Charlie." He reached into the pocket of his pants again, instinctually searching for his phone again to see if Nicole had sent him a text message or called. When he found the screen viewing nothing but the time he almost cursed aloud and jammed the phone back into his pocket. When he glanced back up Charlie was staring at him. "Yeah, I know. I checked my fucking phone."
A few of the students walking in from the fields glanced over and Charlie grabbed Negan by the arm, towing him to the side while shooing the kids in the direction of the building.
"You know how shit is nowadays," Charlie scolded him, "It's not like the old days where you could be a little tough on kids, or curse a bit. These parents will look for shit to pin on you and if some snot-nosed kid goes home and tells Mommy that he heard his teacher cursing, your ass is on the line."
"Well stop giving me shit then."
Charlie sterned up in a fatherly way, "Look... I like having you around. That's why I'm saying this shit." He glanced over his shoulder and then back to Negan, "So don't do something stupid to get yourself canned."
Negan scrunched his nose, wanting to come back with a snide remark but held enough respect for Charlie to bite his tongue. "Fine."
"And whatever the hell this is." He pointed toward his pocket and then directly at Negan, "You need to fix it."
...
Nicole finally decided she would text Negan when eleven o'clock rolled around. She didn't want to seem overly desperate by texting him too soon, nor did she want to interfere with the beginning of his day. Lunch time, she suspected, would be a good time to contact him.
She read the message in her mind as she typed, plopping down in the center of her bed as she did. Hey, it's me... Nicole... I hope your day isn't going as hard as your morning. Nicole squinted her eyes and then snickered to herself, not knowing if the message was too corny or forward. She hesitated a moment before finally hitting the send button.
A loud sigh left her mouth and Nicole rolled onto her back. Having the house to herself and no work to do she would have typically welcomed, though now it provided her with far too much time to daydream about Negan and all of the possibilities that went along with his abrupt, dramatic entrance into her life.
Nicole glanced down at her phone, noting the minute hadn't rolled over yet. Still, she already felt self-conscious in the fact that he didn't immediately text her back.
It's been twenty seconds, she reminded herself.
The television played mindlessly across the room and Nicole attempted to put her focus into a rerun of Law & Order with little success. Her eyes dropped to the phone again, this time at the exact second that the time switched from 11:00 to 11:01. It was almost like the device was taunting her; sticking out its tongue and willing her to believe that he, for some reason, ignored the message.
That was when the downward spiral of thoughts occurred in a perfect, timely fashion: Maybe he's annoyed at me for waiting so long. Maybe he's playing hard to get. Maybe he's in the middle of class. Maybe a co-worker saw the message and now he has to explain it. Maybe he's losing interest. Maybe-
The phone chimed off providing the instant remedy to Nicole's worries and she snatched the phone up into her hands. A smile decorated her face as she read his reply, warm relief spreading into her body from his prompt response.
Jesus doll... I was starting to think my fuckin' phone was broken...
Nicole's fingers pounded furiously at the screen as she typed out another message, smirking to herself as she did. Didn't mean to keep you waiting ;)
She giggled, completely smitten with the brewing affair and glanced out the window toward his house. Nicole found herself counting down the minutes until three o'clock, or a little after, when she would see his truck roll back into the driveway. Her phone chimed off almost immediately this time and Nicole glanced down to read it.
I forgot I had practice until 5:30 tonight... so I may be the one to keep you waiting... you have my mind all clouded and shit! I almost fucking forgot about practice.
Nicole felt the simultaneous pull of emotions now that Negan wouldn't be home until later. Still, she felt satisfaction in the idea that she could distract him so heavily. It made the butterflies return to her stomach.
Sorry! :) Hope practice goes well... I have to find a way to sneak over now that my parents will be home... hmm...
The predicament was real. Nicole wasn't sure how she would manage getting over to Negan's house without them realizing where she was going. She couldn't drive her car - they would see it in his driveway. She couldn't claim that someone was picking her up - they would see that no one was there to get her. Including Holly in the plan would let one more person in on the massive secret she and Negan had together, and even though that person was a good friend, it was still risky.
"Shit..." Nicole thought about it, distracted momentarily by nothing but bad ideas that she knew wouldn't work. A part of her wished she had a key to his house so she could get over there early and greet him in her best bra and panties at the door. Until his wife walks in, she reminded herself of the big, giant elephant in the room that had yet to be discussed or even so much as mentioned. Soon, she vowed, though didn't know what 'soon' actually meant.
When the phone sounded off again she couldn't help but chuckle and imagined what ideas were spinning around in Negan's mind. I'll take care of it... don't even fuckin' sweat it doll ;)
Nicole laid down flat again on her back and held the phone to her chest. "Why does he have to be fucking married?"
She closed her eyes and envisioned Negan in his entirety - the feel of his trim beard against her face as they kissed; his breaths as they landed against her neck; the sounds he made at the height of his arousal in the midst of their embrace.
The collection of thoughts made Nicole feel hot and cold; anxious and excited; and nervous but ready all at once. Negan had completely clouded her mind to the extent that she had no room for anything else.
I wonder what he has in mind. Nicole smiled to herself, enamored with the mystery of it all. She glanced down at her phone again, and given that it was only a few minutes past eleven, Nicole knew it would be a long day.
