Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own the O.C., nor will I ever.
Life, Love, and Coming Home
Chapter Nine
She looked up at him and forced out a smile. "Friends," she said. Friends with Cohen. Perfect. Just fucking perfect.
He smiled back reassuringly. Friends?! How the hell am I gonna be friends with Summer Robert?! Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.
"So…," he said awkwardly. "What do we do now?"
What do we do now?! How the fuck should I know?! She wanted to shout.
"Umm…how 'bout some food," she suggested.
"Food. Food is good," he nodded his head in agreement. This could work. Fuck. Who am I kidding?
"Okay, great," she said a little too enthusiastically.
"Yeah," he mumbled to himself as he pushed himself up from his seat. She did the same thing, which was a mistake, because now, a mere inch separated them from each other. He was practically breathing her in, a mixture of lavender and chamomile with a hint of cigarette smoke.
They both stood absolutely still, waiting for the other to move first.
"I…I need to get my purse," she interrupted, pointing to her purse on the kitchen counter.
"Oh…um, yeah," he stammered as he moved aside for her to go.
"Idiot," he mumbled to himself.
She grabbed her purse off the table and made her way to the door with Seth following close behind. She turned around and gave him a small smile.
"So are you staying nearby, a hotel?" she asked, trying to make some sort of conversation.
"I'm actually staying with the Nana."
"The Nana," she squealed. "How is she?"
"She's doing well. Figure she would be happy to see, but after all the hugs and kisses, she gave me crap about not calling her or writing her, which I do by the way. I send her a card every Chrismukkah, that ought to count for something. But apparently that's not enough for the Nana."
"Sounds like the Nana," Summer smiled as they walked down the narrow flight stairs.
"She always liked you. She even asked about you?" he said, walking slowly behind her.
"Oh yeah," she replied interestedly looking back at him.
"Yeah. Told her you were engaged," he said, stuffing his hands nervously into his pockets.
"You did?" Summer shifted uncomfortably.
"It was kinda funny actually. She thought you and I were engaged," he rambled on nervously.
"She did?" she laughed uneasily.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything," he winced. Idiot.
"No it's fine," she said with a small smile. Everything's fine.
"Umm…it's just right across the street. I hope you like pizzas."
"Yeah. Sounds good."
"New Yorkers love pizzas. We practically live off pizzas and takeouts. Any place that does takeouts and is within a mile radius from the apartment is in my phonebook. Several are actually on speed dial."
"Including this one. Here we are," she said as they stop in front of a modest little place situated on the corner of the street.
"Joe's Pizza," he said studying the place. "Joey's Pizza would have sounded more Italian."
"Come on," she said, pulling him in.
"I'll order. You can get us seats," she directed him.
He went over to one of the little window booths and took a seat. He looked around the place and took in the surrounding. The place was small and plain, nothing special. This wasn't the type of place he would imagine Summer eating in.
A bistro maybe, somewhere that had valet seems to be more of Summer's kind of place, not a pizza joint on the corner of the street.
Summer came back with two drinks in her hand. She slip into the booth and handed him his drink. "The pizza should be ready in a few minutes or so."
"Great," he gave her a smile. "Do you come here often," he asked as he took a sip of his drink.
"Once a week or so. When I get a pizza craving."
She stared at him tentatively, squinting her eyes every few seconds.
Oh God. What is she looking at? It's probably a rash from last night's clams. I knew I shouldn't have eaten it. I can't be breaking out right now. Shit! "What?" he asked finally, as he ran his hands nervously around his face.
"I don't know," she said squinting her eyes once again. "I try but I just can't see you as a lawyer. Seth Cohen. Public Defender," she said. "I don't know. Just doesn't seem right. What happened to the guy with the comics?"
"He grew up. Everybody has to grow up don't they?" he replied somewhat relieved.
"Peter Pan didn't," she replied with a smile.
"Well, Peter Pan had Tinkerbell. He had a fairy working in his favor."
"But you had this whole comic book world worked out. Even in college you had a dream of ruling comic book world one day."
"And that dream took me all the way through law school."
"Our pizza's here," she announced as a waiter brought over their tray.
"I knew you majored in pre-law. But I thought it was just a fluke," she said as she torn off a slice from the tray.
"Well, apparently it was not a fluke after all. I didn't realize my mistake until I got into law school, which I wasn't expecting to get into," he said tearing himself a slice from the tray. "I hated law school. Practically everyone there had a stick up their ass."
"But by some miracle, I got through it. I like to think I had Jesus and Moses working in my favor," he smiled. "Anyways, a few months later, and I'm working in the same office as my dad."
"Quite a story, Cohen."
"Can I tell you a secret?" he asked, leaning in towards her.
"Yeah," she nodded her head, leaning in as well.
"Well...I actually kinda like being in the courtroom. There's just this adrenaline rush going through me when arguing in the courtroom. I don't know. I can't really explain it," he whispered. "Don't tell anyone though. Don't want people to actually know I like being a lawyer. Could ruin my rep," he gave her a smile.
"Don't worry, your secrets is safe with me," she smiled back. "You are becoming your father, you know that? He would be so proud if he knew what you just told me," she smiled again.
"See when you put it like that. That's why I know why to tell people."
"But enough about me. Let's talk about you," he raised his eyebrows tentatively. "I hear you're a full-fledged agent now, working as some big-time modeling agency."
"I just manage a few girls. Get them into photo shoots, onto magazine, runaway," she said modestly.
"Wow. Makes my job look dismal compared to yours. The perks of the job must be nice."
"Yeah. It kinda is. Free clothes, shoes, makeup. A girl can't really complain," she said with a smile.
Seth gave a laugh. Something about now felt good,it wasalmost likethe way they used to be. The way they were.
"We actually grew up," she whispered. "I mean I haven't seen you in like four years. And suddenly you're a lawyer."
"And you're an agent to future supermodels."
"Four years, huh?" he asked. "I mean it's not a long time or anything. But it feels like a long time."
"Do I look different?" she asked looking up from her plate.
"I don't know. I have to seen you naked," he grinned widely.
"What!?" she gasped, pretending to be offended.
"No seriously. Do I look different?" she smiled as she gave him her best model pose.
He laughed as she tried to strike a pose, "Seriously. Umm…you look skinner," he said carefully.
"Skinner. So I was fat back then," she deadpanned.
"No. You were perfect. You're still perfect."
"Nice save, Cohen," she giggled at his response.
"So how about me," he asked, striking a similar pose.
"Hmmm," she pondered, as she tried not to laugh. "A little dorkier maybe, but still the same."
"Dorkier. I was expecting suave, maybe," he said as he wiggled his eyebrows up and down to Summer.
She laughed heartily, "Yeah, I can see some hidden suaveness underneath that Jew fro," she nodded in agreement.
"Hey, this Jew fro has attracted many women," he said as he patted his hair gently.
"I'm sure it has," she smiled warmly. "Do you want to go for a walk?" she asked.
"Yeah. Let's do it," he said grabbing his jacket from the chair.
"Central Park sounds good?" she asked as she slipped on her jacket.
"Don't they have like drug dealers and men wielding knives at you there," he asked.
"Only at night. Besides I'll protect you if something happens," she smiled brightly at him. "I took some self-defense class a couple weeks ago. It really helped me improve my crotch kick."
"Well, then, I know I'm in good hands."
"Well I didn't take any self-defense class or anything, but I did take some yoga classes."
"What?!" she laughed. "A public defender who does yoga. You cease to surprise me Cohen" she said laughing.
"Ha. Ha. Laugh it up. My mom recommended them to me to de-stress, as she likes to call it."
"So you do yoga," she asked again, with a big grin on her face.
"Hey, lots of men do yoga."
"Oh I believe you."
"Anyway, I found I wasn't really in tune with the whole breathing in and out thing on cue. I think I fainted on my mat once. I'm not entirely sure," he paused, putting his hands to his chin. "And to tell you the truth, my body doesn't really bend in the way those poses do. I got myself tangle too, did I tell you that."
She shook her head, trying not to burst out laughing again.
"Yeah. I was trying to do some cobra pose or bow pose, whatever the hell they call it. One thing led to another and the next thing I knew, the instructor was pulling my arms and legs, trying to untangle me."
"Wow. I never heard yoga actually causing so much trauma for a person," she said laughing.
"I may have exaggerated a little."
"Yeah. I figured. Maybe you should try some yogalates," she suggested with a smile.
"Yogalates," he laughed. "Yo-ga-la-tes," he enunciated the word. "Yogalates. My mom does yogalates. Yogalates. What a wonderful word."
"Hey, don't diss the yogalates. It's a fusion of yoga and pilates. You can't do better than that. It can really help you de-stress," she spoke with persuasion. "I even have a little yogalates corner in my office, complete with a mat and everything. Yogalates can really do magic for your chi."
"I'll be sure to look into the art of yogalates," he said with a grin.
The walked quietly together, just enjoying the park. It was a nice comfortable silence, not those awkward silences they have been having. The tension was gone and was replaced by a quiet ease. It was nice. Almost perfect.
You could tell him now. Now is the perfect time to tell him. No. She couldn't. It took them awhile to get like this. They were finally at ease with each other again. She couldn't be the one to ruin it. No. You have to tell him. "Seth…," she started nervously.
"Oh shit, what time is it?" he asked.
"Um, almost four," she said, looking at her watch. "Do you have to be somewhere?"
"I promise the Nana I would go to this show with her."
"Oh," she said quietly.
"You should come with us," he suggested.
"No. I can't. I got stuff to do too," she said, not wanting to look up at him. "Let's catch you a taxi then," she said, recollecting herself.
You can still tell him, the thoughts ran in her head. They manage to wave down a cab, and as the car pulled to the curb, she wanted to blurt it out, right then and there. Last chance. Do it now before he leaves.
"I had a good time," he said with a smile.
"Yeah. Me too," she gave a tiny smile. He turned around and reached for the door of the cab.
Last chance, Roberts. "Seth…," she breathed out softly.
"Yeah," he replied turning around to face her.
She paused. "Tell Nana I said hi."
"Yeah. I'll do that," he nodded. "Are you sure you don't want to be drop off somewhere," he asked.
"No. I think I'll walk. I could use the walk anyways."
"Okay. I'll see you around Summer," he said as he got into the cab.
He waved her goodbye and gave her a smile as the taxi pulled away from the curb
She gave him a small wave back as she stood back motionlessly and watch the taxi drive away.
Okay. I know you guys want to kill me for making you wait so long for a damn update. I'm so sorry. School kept me pretty busy for the past few months, so I do have some sort of excuse. I honestly don't know if anyone wants to read this story anymore. But I neglected some stuff to get this story out, so I hope you guys like it. I know you guys are disappointed and mad and angry that the damn truth didn't come out yet. But I promise that the truth will definitely come out in the next chapter with tons of drama and angst. We have all waited long enough. I don't really know when the next update will be. But I do want to finish this story and give you guys an ending. So this story will be finish…eventually. There are still a couple more chapters I need to squeeze out. Thank you to everybody who reviewed and pushed my ass to get this chapter out. Please keep reviewing! :)