Chapter 5
A Romantic Interlude.
"This is my favorite. I've had it the longest." She said pointing to the porcelain music box of a ballerina and two doves. "It plays 'Yesterday' by the Beatles." She wound it up and they listened to the music as the ballerina twirled around the doves. She sat it back on the shelf in the hallway. She could tell he was getting bored. "Look, you don't have to hang around. You can go do whatever it is you do when you're not working."
"I can't leave. Not while you're still upset. You're my responsibility."
She sat down on the couch in the living room. He sat beside her.
"I'm calm now." She insisted. "I'm sure they'll find him."
"Did you really mean those things you said about me?" he asked.
"What things?" her mind was turning to scrambled eggs.
"You know those things about flirting and being in love."
"Wait a second; you said the things about flirting, I said…"
"You said you were in love."
"I did say that, didn't I?" her face was red from crying and embarrassment.
"It's ok." He assured. "You don't have to own up to it. We can pretend it never happened if you want."
"I can't do that." She said, leaning against his shoulder, curling up onto the couch a little more. "But if you don't feel the same, I understand. I can move on. It's probably nothing, just all these hours we've spent together this past week."
"But what if I don't want to move on?" he whispered.
She closed he eyes and wiped away a tear. She couldn't speak; she was overwhelmed by the idea that he loved her back. Darla had always been a dreamer. She put up with the crappy dates and the bad luck with men because she believed that somewhere out there was someone special for her. Now at last she thought she had found it. She looked up at him.
"You don't have to." She whispered back, kissing him.
She then awkwardly pulled away.
"I don't have any birth control." She blurted out.
This made Nick laugh. "It's all right, I have some." He chuckled.
"That figures. In case of emergencies?" she joked.
"Oh, shut up and kiss me."