Chapter 33: Not A Thing
Nicoletta took a deep breath and she exited the airport, taking in the air of Bucharest, the air of home. No matter how long she lived abroad (which she planned to do for a very, very long time), the city always smelled like her childhood, and would always have the familiar comfort of home. She smiled brightly as she spotted her sister's car down the line, her hand waving outside the window to catch her attention. She wouldn't say she skipped down the sidewalk, but she certainly did not take her time getting to the car, due to both her excitement and the cold winds surrounding her. She squealed as she tossed her bag into the back seat, jumping into the passenger seat and leaning across the console to give her a quick hug before settling into her seat.
"How was your flight?" Mika asked, pulling away from the curb and onto the road. She was smiling brightly, reaching across to squeeze Nicoletta's fingers once more before returning her hand to the steering wheel.
"Not bad at all. Sat next to the most adorable little girl on the plane. When she saw my sketchbook she begged for a tattoo with her little magic markers, so that helped the time pass." she said. She'd had every intention of continuing her practice with different postures, but the eight year old had spotted some flowers she'd doodled and was very excited about them. She was surprised when the mother seemed more than okay with Nicoletta carefully inking a sunflower onto the back of her daughter's hand, admiring the work appreciatively when she was finished.
"Do I sense another career change, then?" Mika asked with a grin, carefully navigating through traffic back to her apartment. It was her favorite joke, since her sister often had a different nine-to-five every time she came to visit. Nicoletta let out a snort, sliding down in the seat and putting her feet on the dash.
"No, I think I prefer my canvases to be still. Plus I couldn't bear the humiliation if I messed up on something that was permanently on someone's skin." she said, the idea alone enough to make her heart beat a little harder. "Besides, the postcard business is apparently rather lucrative."
"Moreso than the puzzle business?" she asked, her question genuinely curious.
"Oh definitely. And I can actually create with some details." she said. Truth be told, she wished she could be famous enough to just make her own art and sell that, but it wasn't exactly an easy market to break into. So far, most of her sales came from Etsy. She hadn't originally wanted to go that route, but eventually she decided that selling her art online was better than it collecting dust in the art room of her new house. "It'll pay the bills until I can become Instagram famous."
"Ah, the dream." Mika sighed, giving her sister a grin. She used to try and encourage Nicoletta to pick up something more stable than art as a career, but after their older sister's passing a few years prior she became more supportive of her dreams. Nicoletta always thought that Mika would be happier owning her own bakery, but she insisted that she was happy with her codes and her programs. She had an eye for patterns, not for business, she said. She disagreed, but figured that it was her sister's prerogative what she did with her life. Although, now that she was looking at her, Mika seemed happier than she had been in a long time. The differences were subtle - she always tried to put on a positive front - but they were there. And it was her job to investigate and figure out why.
"So, what's new with you?" she asked casually. If she was going to pry into her personal life, it had to be delicate. Mika shrugged, making a noncommittal noise.
"Nothing much. Same shit, different day really." she replied, pulling into the garage where her car normally slept. Nicoletta scoffed.
"Now I know that's not true." she said, her tone disbelieving. Was she hiding something? The game suddenly had much higher stakes. Getting people to admit their secrets was one of her favorite pastimes. Mika pulled into a spot, putting the car in park and turning it off.
"It is! I live a boring life, you know this." she said as they exited the vehicle. "It's getting too cold outside, I'm about to hibernate until spring."
"So what I'm hearing is you're using the weather as an excuse to sit on your couch under seventeen blankets and not move." she said pointedly, pulling her bag over her shoulder and following Mika down to the sidewalk. To be fair, it was starting to get really chilly outside as winter threatened to come early. But Nicoletta had always loved winter; it gave her an excuse to sit inside with her paints and let her mind wander. Something about the warmth of a fire and frost on the windows inspired her, and helped her create some of her favorite works. Mika was all about summer - she wanted the heat and the sun and the smell of hot concrete after a rain.
"Absolutely I am. The farmer's market is closed for the season, so I pretty much only leave for food and the gym. And even then, Bucky has to convince me to go to the gym. And I can usually convince him to bring me food." she said with a laugh, wrapping her arms around her middle. Nicoletta held back a smirk; the first piece of the puzzle had been revealed.
"Living your best life then, hm?" she teased, bumping her with her shoulder. They made quick work of the walk home, ducking their heads down against the biting winds. Their skin tingled as they entered the warm entryway of the apartment building, and by the time they reached the top floor they were more than defrosted. Mika's apartment smelled of coffee and vanilla and spices, as if she'd been baking right before she left. Sure enough, there was a plate of cookies sitting on the counter, and Nicoletta was willing to bet good Romanian lei that the middle ones were still warm.
"Help yourself." Mika said, gesturing to the plate. Nicoletta grinned, taking one off the top and eating it in a couple bites. The cookies tasted of pumpkin and spices, tasted like Christmas. They were some of her favorites, and there was almost always a plate of them waiting for her every time she came to visit.
"Amazing as ever." she said, eating a second one for good measure. She usually expected to gain a kilo or two every time she came to visit too. She fidgeted with her heavy bag, moving it up higher on her shoulder. "I'm going to go wash off the airport. Do we have any fun plans for this evening?"
"Nothing specific. Figured you'd want to just hang out and rest for a little while, then maybe head out to the pub. At some point this weekend I'll need your help though." she replied, pulling out a loaf of bread and block of cheese to fix them a snack.
"Oh, my help? For what?" she asked, already excited. Mika grinned in a conspiratory manner.
"Jonas and Maria are getting married next month-" she started, and Nicoletta interrupted with a squeal.
"That's so exciting! Do I get to be your date? Oh! Am I invited?" she asked excitedly. She knew the answers to all the questions, of course, but she wanted to take the opportunity to pester her sister. She was only here for the weekend, so she had to be efficient in annoying her as much as possible. Mika gave her an unamused look.
"No, but Bucky is, and he needs to go shopping but has gotten way too good at saying no to me." Mika explained, though Nicoletta had the distinct impression that the opposite was true.
"So you need my help how?" she asked, teasing her. Mika put down the food and came around the island, and Nicoletta wasn't fast enough to escape her grasp as she held her close and pinched her cheeks, not letting go despite her screeching.
"Because you're just so goddamn cute that no one can say no! No one can say no to this face!" she said, laughing maniacally as she continued to mess with her. God, how did she get so strong? Nicoletta could usually wrestle out of Mika's holds - she was small, but she was scrappy - but she had a firm grip on her today. Perhaps she needed to start hitting the gym herself a little more. Or just convince Bucky to stop convincing Mika to go.
"Fine fine fine!" she agreed, figuring that would be the only way to get out of the torture. Sure enough, her clutches loosened, and she was able to separate herself. She stood up straight, pretending she wasn't out of breath as she fixed her hair. "But I get to go with you. I want to see his face, cause he's definitely going to hate this."
"Of course. That was always part of the deal." Mika replied, going back to her station at the kitchen island. Nicoletta was sweating; she hated sweating. She sent a halfhearted glare her way, picking her bag up and going to take a shower. It was good to be back home.
She rinsed off quickly and redressed, and was just twisting her honey hair into a bun when she heard the front door open. She heard Mika talking to their visiter, and a low voice responding. She quickly made sure she was decent before going back out to the living room, hoping the neighbor had popped in for a visit. Sure enough, there was Bucky, looking much more relaxed than the last time she saw him almost a year ago. He gave her a smile - a real smile - and she couldn't help but be excited to see him. It felt kind of funny, seeing him in person after a year of random text messages and the occasional FaceTime when he happened to be with Mika when she called. But she wasn't one to question friendship.
"Bucky!" she said happily, leaping onto him and wrapping her arms around his neck. He stiffened for a moment, but then wrapped one arm around her. He was strong enough to easily hold her up with just the one, which was pretty impressive. He set her down gently, again giving her that soft, easy smile.
"Hello, Nicoletta. How was your flight?" he asked, going to the other side of the island and picking up a chunk of bread and cheese out of the pile that Mika had cut up.
"Good! Gave an eight year old a tattoo. Pretty exciting times." she said, sliding onto a bar stool and picking up a bite to eat as well. Bucky nodded, seemingly unbothered by her statement. Apparently children getting inked was commonplace for him.
"Got to get your first one eventually." he said lowly, and though his tone was serious, one corner of his mouth was quirked up in a smile. Mika made a surprised expression from where she sat perched on the edge of the island.
"Do you have one?" she asked, blatantly curious. His smirk grew, and he turned to the cupboard, grabbing a few mugs and decisively not answering her. "Oh my god, where? Of what?"
"That's a secret." he said, going to a different cabinet and grabbing pods for the machine. "Coffee?"
"No no, let's back up a little bit." Nicoletta cut in. "Actually, yes, coffee would be grand, but I'd like to revisit this tattoo of yours."
"Nope." he said, firing up the first cup of coffee and taking another bite of food. He carefully mixed in milk and sugar to the mug, handing it to Mika. Oh, so he knew how she took her coffee now? She watched as their fingers barely brushed, and Bucky seemed to pause before remembering what he was doing.
"Why not? Is it embarrassing?" she asked, leaning in and stage whispering dramatically. He scoffed, going to make a second cup. She didn't think embarrassment was really in his repertoire.
"Oh, is it a heart with 'mom' written in it? A butterfly? Is it a pin up girl?" Mika asked, enjoying this way too much. He stayed silent, taking the second cup of coffee and sliding it in front of Nicoletta, pulling his hand back before she could grab it and monopolize his attention.
"Is it on your arm? Your ass? Oh my god, do you have a tramp stamp?" Nicoletta continued pestering him. He let out a low grumble that she couldn't understand, turning his back to her to fill up the last mug. Mika narrowed her eyes, trying to decipher what he said too.
"What was that?" she asked, not letting him get away with his mumbling. He took a long sip from his cup of coffee, ignoring how blisteringly hot it was. Both girls sat and waited patiently for him to crumble under their collective gaze.
"Double the women, double the shit." he finally said, more resigned than anything. Mika and Nicoletta both let their jaws drop, the latter letting out an indignant hey! at his response. The jab surprised her; yes, Bucky was much different than when she met him last year. Well, perhaps different was the wrong word. Perhaps he was just more himself.
"You're full of double the shit!" Mika laughed, going to shove his shoulder. Her pitiful attempt was easily brushed off by his hand, so of course she tried again. And again. And again, until she was just flailing her hand at him. He caught it effortlessly, and again his brain seemed to short circuit for a moment before he let it go. He looked like he didn't know what to do for a moment, so he reached out to get another bite of bread and cheese.
"Watch it." was all he said, sending a playful glare towards Mika and a matching one towards her sister. Nicoletta stuck her tongue out at him, snatching his next bite away from him before he could grab it. He perked an eyebrow, instead choosing another bite to take and turning the conversation to her most recent projects. Apparently he had one of her postcards displayed proudly in his apartment, having taken his favorite one (a woman standing on a cliff, overlooking the sea) from the batch that she'd sent to Mika. He said he was impressed by the details on the woman's face, even though she was positioned so far away from the viewer. She found herself blushing a little bit, his compliments seeming more sincere than most people who commented on her art.
"Oh! You have to show him Josephine." Mika said, tapping the counter in an excited manner. Nicoletta shook her head, suddenly shy under Bucky's intense, quizzical gaze.
"Who's Josephine?" he asked, as if he was worried that she was hiding someone in her suitcase that he didn't know about. She sent a glare Mika's direction, but she was grinning like a Cheshire cat. Any time she was self-conscious, her sister was always her biggest cheerleader.
"Josephine isn't a who, it's one of my favorite pieces that Nicoletta's ever done. My favorite portrait for sure." Mika explained, gesturing at her. "Get your phone, show him."
"It's charging." she replied, making her groan in response. Mika hopped off the counter, gently placing her hands on Bucky's shoulders as she sidestepped behind him to grab her phone from the other side of the kitchen. For the third time, Nicoletta noticed his movements slow, his gaze following Mika as she picked up her phone and returned to his right side. She leaned casually against him as she scrolled frantically, trying to find the picture that she wanted and completely unaware of...whatever was going on in Bucky's head. Whatever he was feeling, he was trying very hard to hide it, which meant Nicoletta couldn't quite figure out what was going on. Add a second mystery to her list of things to solve this weekend.
"This one." Mika said, holding her phone up so he could see it. Nicoletta could feel her cheeks burning as his eyebrows shot up towards his hairline. She didn't have to see the picture herself, she knew the post that was on the screen. Josephine was a portrait of a girl she used to know, elbow resting on the back of the couch as she stared out the window of the little townhome they shared in downtown Berlin. She was attached to it due to the sentimentality, but Mika loved it because she'd managed to perfectly capture the long, glossy braid tumbling over her slender shoulder.
"You made this?" he asked, astounded. She shrugged, like it was no big deal, even though between the sketching and the painting she'd probably spent a good twenty hours completing it. "It's amazing."
"Thank you." she said with a bright smile, trying to feign confidence. No matter how long she did this, she was still nervous any time someone new saw her work. She pushed the butterflies down, instead noticing Bucky's subtle emotions as Mika laid her head against his shoulder with a sigh. Her attention was still on the picture
"She's so talented." she said, looking up with a glint in her eye. "I still can't convince her to draw me though."
"Uh, you don't sit still long enough." she pointed out, looking to Bucky for validation. His eyes snapped to hers as he realized she was waiting for his response, and he gave a quick grin before agreeing.
"Who's side are you on?" Mika asked, moving back to her spot on the island counter. He stepped back to lean against the opposite counter, crossing his arms over his chest not unlike what she did earlier when battling the cold.
"I'm the neutral party here." he said, shaking his head. His response earned a noise of disbelief from his counterpart, which made him grin.
"Why are you acting so weird?" Nicoletta asked him in German, assuming Mika hadn't learned it in the past few months. He looked startled at her question, glancing over at the other woman, who just looked annoyed.
"I'm not acting weird." he replied steadily, the pitch of his voice dropping with the other language.
"Okay. You both know I hate when you do this." Mika cut in, but Nicoletta ignored her.
"You are too acting weird. What are you hiding?" she asked directly, loving that she could have this conversation right in front of her sister and she didn't understand any of it. Bucky gave her a ghost of a grin, his arms still crossed protectively in front of him.
"That's a loaded question." he answered, trying to put some humor in his tone to distract her from her objective.
"Seriously, you two are the worst." Mika interjected once again. And once again, Nicoletta continued as if she hadn't spoken.
"Come on, you can tell me." she said sweetly, trying to figure out what his secret could be. "Are you two like, secretly together?"
He looked even more alarmed at that. "No." he said shortly, and was able to hide his feelings just enough that she couldn't tell if he was disappointed or not. Next to him, Mika started speaking in exasperated Russian, having a whole dramatic conversation with herself. Nicoletta could finally interpret Bucky's facial expression then: discomfort, bordering on pain.
"Alright, alright." she said, interrupting the flood of Russian coming out of her sister's mouth. He visibly relaxed then, which both sisters noticed. Luckily, neither of them deemed it appropriate to comment on his reaction. "My apologies, I was just trying to get a more honest review of my artwork." she lied smoothly, though Mika's face said she didn't believe her.
"Whatever. Just cut that shit out." she said lightly, giving both of them a warning look. Bucky nodded dutifully before checking the time and pushing off the counter.
"I need to head in to work. See you later?" he asked, moving towards the door and looking between the two of them. Mika nodded, so Nicoletta nodded as well.
"Have fun! We'll save you a seat." Mika said, giving him a warm smile. He grinned back, nodding his head once before letting himself out of her apartment. Once the door was closed behind him, Nicoletta rounded on her sister.
"Okay, what is going on between you two?" she asked, giving her a pointed look. Mika, for her part, looked confused.
"What do you mean?" she asked, and she sounded pretty genuine. Nicoletta sighed in a frustrated manner. Her sister was so dumb sometimes.
"Seriously? You're going to tell me there's nothing there?" she asked in return. She thought the shift in their demeanors was relatively obvious, if one was paying attention. But Mika acted like the idea was preposterous.
"No, we're just friends. Really good friends." she said matter-of-factly. The words sounded practiced, at least to Nicoletta's ears. She scoffed dramatically, picking up her coffee and going to curl up in the comfortable chair in the living room.
"You two may not be together, but you're definitely not 'just friends.'" she said, giving her a look as she came to lay down across the couch. Her eyebrows were pinched together in annoyance as she started scrolling through her Netflix feed, trying to ignore the implications.
"Best friends then." she replied in an even tone, and Nicoletta knew she was hoping the conversation would end there. But they both tended to be a little stubborn, and she was not going to let her get off lightly.
"It sounds like you're hiding behind the friend label to avoid getting hurt." she pointed out. She knew this was going to start a fight, but it was her job to call her sister out on her bull shit. That's what younger siblings were for. Mika finally looked at her then, her expression starting to tilt past annoyed and towards angry.
"Do you actively get into relationships to get hurt? I feel like that's taking the whole 'tortured artist' thing a little too far." she said cooly, sitting back up so she could level with her. Nicoletta rolled her eyes.
"First off, don't be dramatic. Second, this isn't about me. This is about you once again being afraid of your feelings for someone who would actually be really good for you!" she stated, adjusting her position so she was leaning closer. She wished Mika could see things from her point of view, see how happy they both were around each other; maybe then she wouldn't be fighting her so hard on this. It wasn't the first time she'd seen her tuck her feelings into a little box and shove them under everything else in her mind, but she certainly hoped it would be the last.
"I don't - I'm not -" Mika stuttered, trying to gather her thoughts. There were too many points she wanted to make, but she was too frustrated to organize them. She let out a deep, controlled sigh. "Look, even if I had any inklings of feelings for him - which I do not - it doesn't matter, because there's no way in hell he'd ever have feelings for me. So let it go."
"Are you kidding me?" she asked, incredulous. God, her sister was even more blind than she thought. "That man is completely in love with you."
"No he is not." she said shortly, shaking her head. She may have had something to add, but Nicoletta didn't let her.
"Yes he is! Every time you touched him - which was a lot, might I add - he literally looked like his heart stopped beating for a second. He hangs on every word you say. For fuck's sake, he knows how you take your coffee." she countered, her voice rising an octave in her excitement.
"Now who's being dramatic?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. Nicoletta's blood nearly boiled at the comment, but she took a deep breath to simmer it down. "I'm affectionate with everyone, don't read too far into it. It's not a thing, okay? So don't try and push it."
She didn't want her to push it with her? That was fine. There was more than one side that she could push on. "Okay, okay, okay." she agreed, holding her hands up in what appeared to be defeat. Of course, she was already formulating her plan, but Mika didn't need to know that.
"Thank you. Now, what do you want to watch?" she asked, all the bite taken out of her tone. Nicoletta thought for a moment before selecting Pride and Prejudice, knowing it was something either one of them was willing to watch at any given time, and it would be sure to lift their moods after this little tiff. This was usually how they spent their first day together, taking some time to relax and catch up with the occasional fight to keep it lively. It was well into the night when their stomachs finally let them know that it was time to get off the couch and head out to the pub for something to eat and some company to share. Elena was there, of course, and Nicolae joined them as well. Bucky rounded out the group when he finished his shift, sliding onto the edge of the bench with his mug of coffee. When she inquired about his drink, he gave a wry grin a murmured that there may be a bit of whiskey in it as well.
She eventually found a way to get Mika and Bucky sitting next to each other, sliding opposite of them, next to Elena. She needed a partner in crime, if her plans were going to work. And Elena was just the person to enlist.
"Do you see what I see?" Nicoletta asked, leaning her elbow on the other woman's shoulder and talking low, hoping the noise of the pub was enough to cover their words. She didn't look at her targets, not wanting to draw attention to herself. They were distracted anyways, talking to each other about something or another.
"I have for quite a while now." Elena stated, pretending to be interested in something on her phone. "Everyone sees it, except for the two idiots."
"They really are dumb, huh?" she sighed, trading her elbow for her head. She glanced across the table, seeing Mika point something out to Bucky, her eyebrows up as if she were goading him into something. He gave her an unamused look, then his eyes slid to Nicoletta's. Her eyebrow twitched in a question, and his only answer was a barely perceptible shrug before he got up and made his way towards the bar. She slipped out of the booth, going to sit next to Mika and following her gaze as he walked away. "Is he getting more drinks?"
"Nope." Mika said shortly, nodding towards her friend. Nicoletta watched as Bucky walked up to the bar, then watched with abject horror as he started talking to some blonde sitting there.
"Who the fuck is that?" she asked incredulously. She did not like the look of that girl. That girl was definitely not Mika. Why was he talking to her like that? Was he...smiling? No, not allowed.
"That is Claire." Mika replied, and Nicoletta wondered if she knew that she wasn't completely covering up the distaste in her voice. "We haven't seen her in a couple months, but she has repeatedly invited Bucky to go home with her."
"And he does?" she squeaked, unable to mask her surprise. He did not seem like the one night stand type, or the friends-with-benefits type. He seemed like the end game type. Mika laughed at her exclamation.
"No, he hasn't." she said, still giggling. But her laughter stilled, and Nicoletta followed her gaze back to the bar, where Claire was picking up her purse. "That is, until tonight."
Bucky was giving the blonde a cordial smile, gesturing for her to take the lead towards the door. Nicoletta couldn't stop her jaw from dropping as he trailed her out of the pub and into the night, leaving nothing but a breath of cold wind as the door closed behind them.
"What?" she whispered to herself. She had been so certain about what she saw, especially with his defensive reaction to her questions. He'd practically blushed every time she came in contact with him. And now...this?
"Told you. Not a thing." Mika said softly, downing the rest of her drink. She let her face fall for just a split second before she had a smile back plastered on her face. Suddenly, Nicoletta felt guilty for pestering her earlier. But if Mika was mad, she didn't let on, instead just putting her arm around her shoulders and asking, "Want to go play some darts?"
Nicoletta found herself agreeing, even if what she actually wanted to do was find Bucky and knock some sense into him.
Ah, the drama. I hope y'all liked the little switch into Nicoletta's point of view! We'll be back to our regularly scheduled Bucky chapter next time, but I wanted to do something a little different for y'all.
As always, thank you so much for your reviews! I have no problem admitting that they literally fuel me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know what you thought of it!
-XM