Chapter 6: Sincerity
Nikki stops wearing her wedding band out of the blue one day without so much as an explanation. When he works up the gumption to ask about it, she shrugs it off. "Come on." He'd ignored the chasm between them until that point, choosing to blame any number of factors for the distance in their relationship.
They're off more than they're on these days, and their "timeouts" are becoming more and more frequent. This time, she says she needs some space and asks him politely to move out for a month. He's in shock at first, but he agrees to keep the peace. He moves in to the spare bedroom at Paul's the very next morning and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't slightly grateful for the change of pace.
"Paullllll…" She comes screeching into the house so quickly that he doesn't even have time to register who she is before she collides with him full force. She bounces back like she's been burned and begins a profuse apology while he drinks her in. This is the first time in nearly three years that they've been in each other's proximity, and the flames instantly reignite.
She explains how she has a weekly dinner with Paul and she decided to swing by a little early today since she saw a light on, and no matter how hard she tries to keep her eyes on his, it's only a matter of time before she slips and her gaze sweeps over him greedily. Her attempts at subtly ogling him aren't lost on him.
They go through the motions of ordering dinner like being in each other's presence isn't a monumental event only for Paul to call and ask for a rain check after getting caught up at work. The tension gives way once the booze starts flowing and before long it's bare feet and reality TV, takeout boxes and inside jokes.
When Jimmy Fallon comes on, it's a silent reminder that they should call it an evening, and yet, when she gets up to leave, she can't hide the way her voice cracks as she tells him goodbye, shoving her hands in the back pockets of her jeans as she moves toward the door.
He pulls her in for a hug because he simply has no other option, heartbroken to watch this powerful woman wilt before his very eyes. He whispers against the column of her neck as she falls into him, hellbent on reigniting the fire in her eyes.
She pulls back and locks eyes with him and any restraint he once held is obliterated.
When her lips open over his, she feels slightly unhinged in the best of ways, pressing ever closer to him as his hands wind around her waist. It's cinematic—which makes complete sense considering a good portion of their lip locks over the years have been for the big screen.
Time stands still and he buries the part of his conscious that screams at him to stop and think about what he is doing just so he can revel in the feeling of finally being reunited, picking her up and carrying her toward the sofa and pulling her on top of him as she giggles and rolls her hips against his. It's nostalgic and unhindered, completely deafening every ounce of resolve he could dream of mustering.
When he pulls back to drink her in, her eyes shine dark and wanting, and he has every intention of finishing what they've started until she smoothes her finger against his furrowed brow and she hurts right along with him because she knows there's no chance he would be doing this if he thought there was a sliver of hope left for his marriage. Even so, she knows that tearing apart a home isn't the right thing to do, so she whispers against his neck. "Clothes stay on and no touching. When it's all said and done, we can blame it on too much alcohol and an unfortunate situation."
The way he kisses her tells her that couldn't be farther from the truth, but after a few weeks, she really believes that's all it was.