Everybody loves super long chapters! And I owed it to everyone, what with me not writing in awhile and what not. Enjoy (:
Nick pushed a black mug towards me on the coffee table in his living room. I was sitting on his couch, wrapped in a cotton blanket, feeling extremely better and more importantly, warm. I graciously grabbed the mug filled with black coffee and sipped it, enjoying the burning sensation I could feel go down my throat.
"You need anything else?" Nick asked. I could barely look at him, I was so embarrassed. And I usually don't care about other people's opinions or what idiotic things I do in front of them, but Nick was not any ordinary person. I'm pretty sure he thought I was crazy, irrational, childlike...my list could continue on forever.
"No I'm fine," I said. He gave me an uneasy look and I added, "really," to try and prove my point. I stood up, shrugging the blanket off my shoulders, and placed the mug gently on the table. I couldn't really stand much more of this humiliation and I really did have to get home if I planned on being awake for work later tonight.
"I should be heading home," I said, slowly easing my way towards his front door. I grabbed my bag that was on a stand by his couch. I tried to remember if there was a bus stop nearby, but I knew that wouldn't matter because I honestly didn't even know where I was, so finding my way home was going to be an adventure.
"Let me give you a ride home," he offered, walking away into the kitchen and coming back with his car keys.
I nodded and he opened the front door, allowing me to go outside first and then closing the door after him. The rain had cleared up and the sun had decided to come out and clear the puddles that had gathered. I made my way to his car and, when he unlocked the door, I climbed in the passenger seat. When he got in, I told him my address and he backed out of the driveway and started to drive.
"I'm really sorry for everything Nick," I said, combing my hair through my fingers and turning to face him.
I saw him crack a smile. "It's no problem." He chuckled and then looked over at me. "Just try not to run, ever."
I smiled and mockingly glared at him. "But what about my life-long dream of becoming a marathon runner?"
He laughed and turned his attention back to the road. "Maybe you should just stick to DNA."
"You know you're probably right."
It was then that I noticed that the car had stopped and I snapped my head up, confused. We were right in front of my apartment.
"What? Are you serious?" I asked out loud, making sure that I was, indeed, in front of my cruddy apartment complex. "That was only five minutes."
Nick turned off the ignition in the car and laughed again. What? Did I miss something? I've probably given him a list of things to laugh about it seems. I've just a never-ending comedic show apparently.
"Mae, we live on the same street," he said.
"Oh." I said, smiling awkwardly. "Anyway, thank you Nick, really, for everything you've done. I owe you, so if you ever need anything, just ask." I was throwing that last line out there, if he, y'know, wanted to have my number. I mean, I would fully understand why not, considering I'm a terrible wreck and I'm uncoordinated, but I thought it was worth a shot. I knew I shouldn't get involved with a co-worker, but Nick was so different.
He nodded and returned the smile. "How about I give you a ride home after work from now on? If you don't mind."
Not exactly what I was looking for, but if it meant alone time with Nick, then I would like that opportunity. "If I don't mind? Shouldn't that be the other way around?"
He laughed and...oh my god, did he actually look nervous? I was started to feel ancy and the same smile I got in the third grade when I got my first valentine grew on my face.
I touched his forearm lightly and leaned in slightly. "I'd like that a lot Nick. I appreciate it." He turned his head to look at me and our eyes locked. I saw his eyes slowly graze every feature of my face until they came onto my lips.
But I had to break away. So I leaned back and opened the passenger door. There was no way I could kiss him, not now anyway. I stepped out of the car and before I closed the door, I threw out an extra, "thanks," and then went up to my apartment.
Nick had been taking me home for the past two weeks and we had managed to avoid the topic of the incident the first time he dropped me off at my apartment. There had been a couple of times, however, where he couldn't take me home because he had to work overtime on a case. Tonight though, he was taking me home and I was putting away my lab coat in my locker after work when Warrick walked in.
"Hey Mae," he said, opening up his locker and reaching in for his jacket.
I smiled. "Hey Warrick." I eyed him and that's when I noticed he was smiling. "You seem happy. You like getting off work that much?"
He threw on his coat and chuckled. "I don't have to work tomorrow. That's always a good thought."
I closed my locker shut, fixed my bag that hung on shoulder, and started to make my way out. "See you later Warrick."
"Have a goooooood night," I heard him call over my shoulder and the tone of his voice confused me, but I dismissed it. I was too occupied with the thoughts circulating around my car ride home to know what he meant by that.
I walked outside the building and waited for Nick at my usual position by the side of the building near the parking lots. I only had to wait five minutes before I heard his familiar footsteps. I looked over my shoulder to find him approaching me and I walked over to him. I grabbed onto the strap of my bag and walked with him towards his car in the parking lot.
I climbed in the passenger seat of his car and once he got in, we were on the move, like so many times before.
"Mae?" I heard him say my name and I eyed him. He looked slightly uneasy I cocked my eyebrow up. "You got anything to do anytime soon?"
My heart skipped a beat. "No. Why?"
"You want to grab something to eat?"
We settled in a booth in a nearby restaurant not far away. The hostess gave us our menus and left and I looked at Nick. He looked up and caught my gaze.
"What?" he asked suspiciously.
"You and Warrick both had that same smile on your face. Today must have been a good day," I said, glancing down at my menu.
"Actually it was. Oddly enough, the people I dealt with today died of natural causes," he said.
I chuckled and set my menu aside on the table. After we ordered, Nick and I spent the next hour just talking, laughing, and having a good time. I didn't feel awkward or uncomfortable around him and his smile was just so contagious. I couldn't help as my feelings for him grew and wanting something more, even though everything told me not to. For God's sake, he was a co-worker, and what if things didn't work out? How weird would that be with everyone knowing? And all the uneasy silences and conversations that would follow? What if something happened to him because of me? Or vice versa?
Except all those thoughts went in one ear and out the other. Its was as if I saw how wrong this could turn out to be, but it didn't register to me. All that I knew was that I liked Nick, most likely more than I had planned to.
We ended up talking about everything – family, friends, even work. I told him about my parent's death while I was still living in Italy and how it was unsolved, I told him about my childhood, he told me about his big Texan family and how emotionally attached he gets to work at some points. Everything he told me was just ammunition to like him more.
The check had been sitting on our table for the past twenty minutes, but we hadn't noticed it because we were too developed in a conversation. It was when his watch gave a light beep that we both snapped out of our trance and realized what time it was.
"Let me get that," I said, referring to the check that wasn't even that pricey for such good quality of food. I made a move towards my bag to pull out my wallet but his voice stopped me.
"No no," he said and whipping out a credit card faster than I could and handing it to our waitress. She took it with a smug expression, clearly annoyed at the amount of time we had spent at her table.
"You should have let me pay for some of it at least," I said.
"It's called chivalry," he said, giving off an infectious smile.
"I could get used to that," I said, trying to flirt slightly but not too noticeably. He smile grew a little bigger as his eyes wondered to the table.
The waitress came back and slapped his credit card on the table, then quickly left. I rolled my eyes at her actions, and then slung my bag over my shoulders as we left our table and towards his car.
We made our way in his car back to my apartment, making idle chat about random nonsense. I was having such a good time that I almost wanted to rewind time and start all over again.
When we reached my home, he put the car into park and I nervously clutched my bag as I thought of something to say. This part of the date, if it was even one in the first place (for all I know, it could be a friendly outing with a co-worker, only filled with laughter, slight flirtation, and a beautiful man), was inevitable. I nodded my head, like I had just agreed to something scientifically accurate, and looked over at him.
"You know any other good places around here?" I asked him, tapping my feet and rubbing my fingers to try and conceal my nervousness.
"Yes I do," he responded, his eyes not tearing apart from mine. "I actually know a really nice restaurant not far from here."
I nodded and tried to stop the uncontrollable shaking of almost every part of my body.
"Mind if I take you there tomorrow night?" he asked.
It was if I heard a cash register in the background give off a loud ch-chang, choruses of heavenly angels sing hallelujah, and the sensation of winning the lottery.
"I don't mind at all," I said, with what I thought was a geeky smile, but hell, I couldn't help it. In my mind of how this would occur, I sure as hell acted a lot differently then how I did right now, you know, maybe with more self-control and feeling in my legs.