Darius shifted nervously again and impatiently checked his watch. He clicked his heels twice and peered again down at his watch.
"Late Nick." Darius shook his head. Then his ears perked up when he heard a familiar heavily accented voice drifting down the hallway.
"Mr. Sallenger, I had nothing to do with 'giving you' and F. You earned that all by yourself."
"Come on man! I need this grade to stay on the team!"
Darius smiled at the scene he could almost picture in his mind. The hardy, rather beefy Joe Sallenger, gesturing and pleading for an A and Nick staring on with his usual impassive glare. There was a setting up of opposites if ever there was one. Darius was still laughing when the young athlete in question stormed by him followed by the pale and impassive Nicholas.
"Rough day?" Darius asked good-humoredly.
"You have no idea. At least I finally managed to......persuade him to give up his silly argument. I am sorry for being ever so late."
"No problem, but we better hurry if you want to make it to the coffee shop right after it opens."
"Then lets be off!"
Nick and Darius arrived at N&N's café just as Natalie unlocked the door and hit the switch to light up the neon sign. As soon as she spotted Nick, Natalie ran out and flung her arms around him. She kissed him then nearly giggled with delight.
"Isn't this wonderful!"
Nick smiled back at Natalie, washed away in the happiness that was fairly rolling off her. Even Darius seemed to feel it as his already jovial face split in a grin. Nick stepped back to allow Darius to see Nat.
"Darius, this is Nat. Nat, Darius. He is a friend of mine from work."
"Nice to meet you Darius!" Natalie shook hands with Darius. Who, by the way, was blushing. Natalie is a very pretty woman after all.
Darius checked his watch again then beamed up at the happy couple before him. "My wife should be here after she gets of work, maybe another five minutes or so."
"Well come on in and make yourself at home!" Natalie grabbed Darius by the hand and literally dragged him into the café.
As soon as Darius was settled into a comfy chair and provided with coffee, Natalie whisked away to cater to several new customers who had just bustled in. Nick sauntered over and collapsed his lean frame gracefully onto the couch across from Darius.
"She is something." Darius exclaimed.
"She sure is." Nick smiled and laid his head back on the couch. The picture of contentment.
"Aren't you going to have any coffee?"
Nick and Darius were chatting quietly while Natalie served her latest customers. She had just picked up a full tray of cups when the door chime sounded. On the grand opening night of N&N's this was not necessarily a rare thing but for some reason everyone looked to see the new comer. Off their guard and expecting no surprises they only turned out of curiosity. Little did anyone know what that single chime would mark, that the world they knew was about to shift.
Her hair was longer now, pulled back in a severe ponytail that accentuated the strong lines in her lean face. Her face had a few more lines then it had before and she seemed more tired and drawn but there was no mistaking Tracy Vetter. She stood in the doorway and surveyed the room with her classic Tracy pose.
As soon as Tracy walked in, three things happened simultaneously. Natalie choked back a scream but slipped and dropped her tray of cups. They went crashing down onto her latest customers, drenching everyone in coffee. Nick really did scream and only through sheer force of will managed to resist his highly developed instincts for self-preservation that were screaming for him to run far far away and soon as possible. Darius stood and waved Tracy over to the table with a dopey smile on his face.
Darius seemed to have missed Nat and Nicks adverse reactions and smiled brightly as his wife came over to meet him. Tracy stalked over to her beaming husband but smile faltered when she saw Nick. Her hands balled into fists and her eyes snapped as far open as was humanly possible. Nick could see she was quivering with unspent anger. Shoving his screaming instincts both of a vampire and a man as far into the back of his mind as possible, Nick managed to adopt a weak smile of welcome and actually look Tracy in the eyes.
"Nick, this is my wife, Tracy."
"Nice to meet you Tracy." Nick bowed slightly and offered his hand. He managed just in time to maintain his French accent and not accidentally slip back into Nick Knight mode. Tracy took his hand and gave a friendly, if a little firm, handshake.
A thousand questions were screaming in Nick's mind. Most of which, you probably have yourself. How did she survive in Toronto? Why was she here? How long had she been married to Darius? But Nick swallowed his questions for now, this was not the time or the place and instead he turned and called to Natalie.
Natalie was desperately scraping and scrubbing at the coffee all over her new chairs that she had fought so hard to get. Plus, she was having to apologize profusely to the sodden customers. Must not get sued on the first day, Must not get sued.... As soon as she heard Nicks call everything came back to her. The full import of the present situation came crashing down and for the first time she wondered if vampires could faint.
Natalie tossed a towel to the hired help and ran her fingers through her chestnut hair. Time to face the music. Natalie brushed at a few drying coffee spots on her t-shirt to avoid having to look at Tracy's face. Tracy showing up in New York, and married to Nick's new best friend seemed too coincidental to Natalie. As it well should. But, like Nick, Natalie was forced to shove away her questions and put a smile on her face, which wasn't so hard, she was happy to she Trace again. Natalie walked over to where the trio was standing and offered her hand to Tracy.
"Hello Tracy, my name is Natalie, you can call me Nat."
Tracy smiled genuinely at Nat.
"I'm Tracy, it is nice to meet you too."
"When did you guys move here?" Nick asked quickly.
"Last year sometime. I got a job offer to teach here and we both felt that this was the place we needed to be."