Chapter 3
Nancy went home after the day of festivities. She was exhausted. Not only did she witness a yelling match, she also hunted around the building until she found a clue. As it turned out, the clue was right under her nose the whole time. She finally realized that the money was stolen from one of the weddings, usually the biggest, and the first weekend of each month. It was always 1 week before the big day.
She sat down and pondered about everything that had happened that day, including Ned. Suddenly the doorbell rang. She looked out the window and saw Ned.
Nancy opened the door. "Hi Ned, um do you want to come in?"
Ned smiled "Yeah, if you don't mind."
They walked inside and sat down on opposite ends of the couch. "So, do you want a list of everything that needs to be done for your wedding or something?" Nancy asked softly.
Ned looked up at Nancy. "No actually I came by to talk to you about….things. Um, Gabriella and I aren't going to get married. I broke off the engagement after our meeting with you."
"Oh, Ned," Nancy whispered "I am so sorry. That is all my fault."
Ned scooted closer to Nancy on the couch. "No it's not, Nancy. Gabriella always blows up like that, and I didn't want to be in a relationship like that. She apologized to me, but I realized that I don't love her like I thought I did. She thinks that she can use her good looks to fix everything, and she can't. I'm sorry for making you put up with that." He chuckled. "You're not even a real wedding planner."
Nancy giggled. "Yeah, I will be at the rate I'm going though. I have almost no idea who could be behind the stolen money."
"Embezzlement, right? So the person stealing the money works in the company?" Ned asked.
Nancy sighed. "I'm not even sure anymore. It could be anyone for all I know!"
Ned put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll help you figure it out Nan, if you want me to"
"Really?" Nancy asked hopefully. "That would be great!"
"Sure. It'll give me more time to spend with you." He said softly.
Nancy blushed and put her hand on Ned's. "I'd like that, Nickerson."
They sat there gazing into each other's eyes for a few minutes, when finally Nancy broke away. "Um, I should probably get to work on the case."
Ned smirked. "You haven't changed at all, Nan, have you? Still can't think of anything else while you're on a case, huh?" He teased.
Nancy felt her face flush. "Trust me Ned, I've been to distracted by you the past 2 days to even think about the case." She blurted out. Her hand went to her mouth and her face turned bright red. She couldn't believe she just said that out loud.
Ned chuckled. "And you still can't keep your mouth shut when it comes to me." He said playfully. "Seriously though, it's uh, nice to know that I was on you mind."
"Yeah, well…um, can you help me with my notes now?" Nancy asked, clearly embarrassed.
"Sure. What do you have so far." He asked.
"Well, not much…" Nancy trailed off as they got to work.
5 hours later, they still hadn't figured anything else out besides the fact that there wasn't really a pattern in the theft. Still, Nancy was happier than she had been in weeks. It was almost like old times.
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Gabriella stormed up to "Nikki's" office, knowing she would find Ned there. She burst through the doors to find Ned on the computer and Nikki on the floor sorting through notes of some kind.
Nancy looked up and quickly cleaned up her papers and Ned looked uneasy.
"What are you doing here, Ned?" Gabriella asked accusingly.
"Visiting Nancy. What is your excuse?" Ned snapped back, looking annoyed.
Gabriella plastered a fake smile on her face. "I came to apologize. And I heard that Nikki was working on a really neat project."
"Well, we are not getting back together, so why don't you leave?" Ned said in the kindest voice he could muster.
"Fine, but-"
Ned cut her off. "Gab, it's over between us. Please leave."
Gabriella frowned and stomped out of the room. Nancy jumped up and closed the door. "Thanks for handling her Ned, but what do you think she meant by my neat project?"
Ned shrugged and responded. "I wouldn't worry about it Nan. She can't possibly know anything."
Nancy shrugged it off and went back to work. She couldn't help but wonder if Gabriella could somehow be involved in this mess.
Author Note: Sorry this is such a quick chapter! I wanted to post something and I thought that this told what needed to be said. Please review!