The first thing Mark did was get on the phone to Glen.
"Glen, its Mark." Mark said.
"How's the head?" Glen asked.
"Really fucked up, by that little girl." Mark snapped.
"Oh god, I thought you two were getting along." Glen said.
"We were, things were going great, I mean really great." Mark said sighing.
"Did you sleep with her?" Glen asked suspiciously.
"No I didn't." Mark said impatiently.
"Well spill it." Glen said.
"Well we had gotten very close over the last few days. I mean we told each other some real personal deep shit, ya know stuff ya don't tell just anyone. I felt like we were getting closer. I mean we been real touchy feely with each other, sleeping in the same bed and everything. Things were great." Mark said.
"So what did you do to screw it up?" Glen asked.
"Man will you just listen? I asked her to start rooming with me, that I considered her a friend and that when she felt ready, I wanted to have sex with her. I thought we would be good together ya know. Glen she went off the deep end." Mark said.
"I hope she slugged you." Glen said.
"What? What did I do wrong?" Mark asked.
"You big dummy, you basically told her she was good for a fuck, but not a commitment. Are you really this dumb or is it an act?" Glen asked.
"She told me she wasn't going to be my fuck buddy that she wanted more. I told her no way and she said it was over." Mark said miserably.
"So I guess the question is are you going to go over there and tell her you have real feelings for her or let her go?" Glen asked.
"Man I can't just tell her what she wants to hear, I gotta mean it if I say it. I don't think I'm ready for a relationship like she wants." Mark said.
"Well at least you aren't willing to lie to get in her pants; you're not a complete dog." Glen said.
"Well thanks buddy for being so supportive." Mark snapped.
"Listen you need to think about what you want, if you want her crawl your ass over there and tell her." Glen said.
"I know, I need time to think about it." Mark said.
"Okay, I'll talk to you later. Good luck." Glen said and hung up.
Nikki spent Friday developing pictures. She wasn't really worried yet. She was sure Mark would be knocking on the door by tonight. She hadn't seen or heard a peep out of him. "He was just being stubborn" she told herself. She still had that damn chain around her hips. She would get Mark to take it off tonight when he came by she told herself. She decided to put on a dress and go down and have dinner. She picked out a short black dress with spaghetti straps that stopped a few inched above her knees. She put on her black thongs and pulled on a pair of black pumps. She brushed her hair and pinned it up in a French twist. She got her keys and headed down to dinner.
Nikki went in the restaurant and got a table. She ordered a pasta salad and sat back to wait. She didn't see Mark sitting at the bar.
Mark had seen her when she walked in. God she looked so hot. He wanted to rush over there and take her in his arms. God she was beautiful. He hadn't even been able to sleep last night. He missed her joking and her smart comments and her teasing. God he was pathetic. He got up disgusted with his self and left.
Nikki got back to her room at 10:00PM. She took a shower and threw on a t-shirt and got in the bed. She lay there a long time realizing Mark wasn't coming. She had just known he would but she had been wrong. "He'll come tomorrow" She told her self and rolled over and went to sleep.
Mark didn't sleep at all Friday night. He tossed and turned. Hell he wanted to run next door and beg her to come sleep beside him. God what the hell was wrong with him. He wasn't going to give in to her ultimatum. He was the guy after all; he couldn't just let her make the rules and having him jump through hoops for her. He was in charge and she could just come back to him on his terms or forget it. The little mental pep talk felt good except it didn't help him sleep any better that night.
By Saturday afternoon, Nikki was ready to run to Mark's door and beg for any kind of relationship he wanted. But she stopped herself. She wasn't about to give up her self respect. She had to have more than casual sex out of a relationship. She went to the video store and rented Casablanca and stopped by the grocery store and picked up 2 pints of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey Ice cream. She took a shower and threw on a large t-shirt. She crawled in the bed and watched Casablanca and stuffed herself with ice cream as she sat there and cried her eyes out.