Reaching into the kitchen cupboard, Jess pulled out the small white box of tea and placed it on the counter top. Selecting a pouch of Earl Grey, she slid the box back onto the shelf before closing the door with a soft bang. Absentmindedly, she walked over to the kettle, before flicking it on. As she waited for the water to boil, she placed her elbows on the marble surface; resting her head glumly in her hands.
Two weeks. It had been two whole weeks since Schmidt had walked in on them in Nick's bed. Fourteen days where the two had steadfastly avoided each other, as if to make the point that whatever was going on between them meant nothing. She missed him appearing at her door at midnight and climbing into her bed. The memory of the feel of his body upon hers was beginning to fade; the sensation of his lips upon hers was becoming fuzzy and indistinct. Their interaction had become brief and perfunctory; gone the pillow talk and the moonlit confessions.
The whistle of the kettle boiling shook Jess from her reflections and wearily she picked it up and took it over to her cup, pouring the steaming liquid on top of the muslin bag of tea and breathing in the scented aroma the water released. Picking up a small, silver colored spoon, she began to slowly stir the drink, her mind a million miles away.
The sound of footsteps caused her to spin around to see who was approaching; her heart did a small jump as she saw it was him. It was clear he had just come out of the shower. His skin was damp and glistening and small beads of water slowly rolled down his chest as he approached. Around his waist was a wrapped a blue towel, just showing the smallest hint of hipbone. She swallowed, feeling a rising swell of desire inside her. Slicked back, his dark hair was rendered deeper by its wetness. He hadn't shaved though; this made her smile a little inside. She loved that little bit of scruff: the feel of it as his mouth explored her body, pulling at her skin, just the right side of pleasure and pain.
Shaking her head, she gave him a weak smile, "Uh, hi Nick," she mumbled.
"Good morning Jess," he replied as he made his way towards the kettle, "Is this hot?" he asked. She nodded in reply, feeling a hot surge of awkwardness pass over her body as he moved closer. Whilst he reached into the cupboard below her, she could feel his body heat radiating from him; penetrating her cool, pink cotton robe. She stepped a little to one side to move out of the range of it as he stood and heaped a spoon of coffee into the mug he had taken and filled it with hot water. After stirring it a few times, he turned so both of them were stood looking out across the apartment.
The scalding coffee burned his mouth but the pain barely registered. His mind and body were preoccupied with the mind and body of Jessica Day, who stood barely three feet to his right. Continuing to take small sips, he stood paralyzed by indecision. Desperately, he wanted to talk to her. Their arrangement had been dead in the water for the past couple of weeks, indeed they had barely communicated. Sighing, he rubbed his thumb against the smooth, glossy porcelain of the mug as he finally turned his body to face her. "So Jess, what you got planned today?" he asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.
His question took her by surprise and her face flushed pink as she fumbled for an answer, "Um, I, well not much. Some papers to grade, an early night I guess," she gave him a small, melancholy smile.
Nodding, he stammered, "Yeah, uh, me too. Well not the papers to grade I mean." Jess chuckled a little as she felt a thaw in the icy tension that had filled the kitchen. Feeling bold, she placed her cup on the shiny surface and placed turned her body so she was facing him.
"Hey, Nick we haven't-"
"Alright guys, cancel all plans for this evening, my man Randolf is holding a last minute pool party up in the hills and I scored us an invite," Schmidt's loud voice rang out across the room and broke her train of thought.
"No Schmidt, you know I hate pool parties. I hate being submerged in water with a bunch of strangers, it feels weird," an involuntary shiver went through Nick's body as he spoke.
"Open bar," Schmidt responded, as he approached the kitchen island and laid his hands on its surface.
"I'm in," Nick quickly replied, starting to walk to the other side of the kitchen and opening the fridge.
"Jess?" Schmidt asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Well, I kinda wanted an evening in…"
"Jess, there will be numerous, hot single people at this party. Randolf is like the best party organizer I know. And you know, I know many," he said with a smug smile.
"Fine," she sighed, before picking up her cup and finishing the last of her tea.
"Awesome, hey and bring that hot friend of yours."
"Cece?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.
"Yeah, and dress sexy. None of that vintage crap," Schmidt replied.
"Yes siree," she replied, a little annoyed. Schmidt's phone rang and he charged back into his room, slamming the door.
"So," Nick began after a few moments silence, "A party, ought to be fun."
"Yeah," she agreed, "And if not, at least we can get drunk for free."
"That is true," he laughed. Another uneasy silence descended. Jess was finished her drink and ready to leave. He was stood in her way; he would have to move to let her out. They stared at each other, he could get lost in those blue eyes, so clear like he could see straight inside of her. She studied his soft, dark eyes; they seemed to hide so much. "Hey, Jess, what were you going to say before-"
"Oh nothing," she said, stopping him and waving her hand, "Actually, I can't even remember," she lied.
"Oh," he said, unable to hide his disappointment, "Okay."
"Right, I better go shower and call Cece about this party. See you later?" she asked a hint of hope in her voice.
"Sure," he nodded as he watched her walk away, feeling more confused than ever.
Jess had volunteered to be designated driver for the evening and they had all piled into Jess's old Volvo for the 40 minute ride to the party. In the back, Winston, Schmidt and Cece had talked freely – well, mostly Winston and Schmidt had tried to impress Cece and she had made smart quips back and rolled her eyes. Nick was riding shotgun and the atmosphere in the front of the car was distinctly chillier; few words passed between them. Occasionally, his eyes would slide to the left and take a glance at her. Her face peeking out from behind her thick, espresso colored hair was just a hint of creaminess and rosy lips. She was wearing a simple blue cotton dress and underneath he could see a hint of her red polka dot bathing suit. The low hum of the radio negated the necessity for small talk to break the silence, but he so wanted to say something yet he didn't know what.
Pulling off the road onto the long and winding drive, Jess felt the weight of nearly an hour spent in uneasy silence prey upon her. If the others had noticed, they hadn't commented but she felt so aware of their awkwardness that she felt physically sick. Quickly, she parked the car and turned off the engine as the occupants of the car piled out.
"C'mon guys, follow me," Schmidt called out as he headed towards the towering, glass paned house. Jess hung back and locked the car as Nick walked around to the driver's side, "You look really pretty tonight Jess," he said quietly.
"Thanks Nick," she replied and then fidgeted a little, unsure what to say next.
"Shall we?" he offered, pointing in the direction of the others. She smiled and nodded, moving to walk away; her mind and her heart twirling in confusion.
As they stepped into the living area, the room buzzed with the lazy beat of trendy house music that Jess could see was coming from a DJ booth set up on the patio. Around the sofas and chairs of the lounge their congregated a selection of attractive 20 and 30 something's sipping tall cocktails and bottles of icy beer.
"Hey, Schmidt!" came the voice of a tall, tanned man with foppish blonde hair who walked confidently towards them holding a tumbler of iced whiskey in his hand. "You made it!" he continued, pulling Schmidt into a firm bear hug, spilling a few drops of whiskey on his shirt in the process.
"Yeah man, wouldn't miss this for anything. This party gonna be da bomb," Schmidt made a gesture with his hands as he spoke; Jess could tell he was going to be extra douchy today and she sighed. "These are my friends," he gestured to the group behind him, "Nick, Winston, Cecelia and Jessica. Guys, this is Randolf."
"Enchante," Randolf said, taking Jess and Cece's hands in turn and placing a cold clammy kiss on them. Jess squirmed a little at his touch but kept her mouth held in a firm smile. "You will excuse me but I need to speak to the caterer, they do NOT understand the meaning of modern canapé, but please get a drink, enjoy yourself and I look forward to catching up with you later. Especially you gorgeous," he finished, raising his eyebrows at Jess before walking away.
"Uh-oh Jess, I think someone has a crush," Cece teased. Jess felt her cheeks burning.
"Jess he is one of the biggest PR guys in LA, I really can't believe he's into you-"
"Schmidt!" Jess warned.
"Okay, okay," he apologized throwing up his hands, "but seriously he is a big catch."
"Fine, I'll talk to him later," Jess replied whilst Nick began to storm off towards the patio. As she watched him walk away she felt herself deflate a little.
Cece and Jess sat on a white, expensive looking beanbag sofa by the pool. As soon as they had gotten drinks the guys had immediately removed their shirts and dived into the pool and were currently floating around, drinking their beers. Jess sipped her virgin mojito as she watched them, her eyes darting to Nick more often than not; wondering what was going on with them.
"Jess, you okay?" Cece asked.
"Yeah, why?" Jess replied, not very convincingly.
"Well, all you've done for the past 30 minutes is stare at Nick with a very serious expression. Is something up between you two?"
"No… well, you see, we had this arrangement-" she confessed.
"Yeah, I know you were having sex with him."
"What?!" Jess exclaimed.
"Schmidt told me at the bar the other day. I was waiting for a chance to bring it up so you could apologize for not telling your best friend…"
"Oh Cece, I'm sorry, it just, became kinda crazy. It was just a thing, you know," she looked into Cece's eyes as she spoke, "Nothing serious, just a rebound."
"Uh-huh, so that's why you are looking at him like a puppy eyeing up some kibble."
"No, no, it's not…" her voice trailed off as she sought the words, "It just got a little weird," she admitted, "But it's over anyway."
"Okay, if you say so," Cece replied, leaning back into the sofa and taking a long sip of her drink as Jess reflected on her feelings but felt none the wiser for her reflection.
It was 10 pm and the beat of the music had quickened and most of the guests were lounging around the pool area; a few floated on the water on inflatable chairs whilst waitresses walked around passing out trays of tequila shots. The guys had joined them poolside; Schmidt had squeezed onto the sofa next to Cece and Winston and Nick sat on small white stools next to them as they chatted.
"Hey guys, tequila?" asked the scantily clad waitress as she laid a silver tray in front of them.
"Oh, shot time!" came the voice of Randolf approaching, "Let's do this guys!" he exclaimed, squeezing himself next to Jess on the sofa. There wasn't really room and Jess felt a little squashed as his hip dug into her own. The friends all took a glass except Jess.
"I'm driving," she said shaking the tray away.
"Aw, Jennifer, you can't come to a Randolf Hester party and not drink!"
"It's Jess… And I'm designated driver," she smiled bleakly.
"Stay here, you all can. Plenty of rooms," he said gesturing to the building behind him.
"Oh, I don't know…"
"Oh Jess let's do it, you only live once right?" prodded Cece. Jess reached across and picked up the heavy shot glass and held it to her lips. Momentarily, her eyes locked with Nick's – his expression confused her. It was sad and questioning; what was wrong with him? This was making her head hurt.
"Bottoms up!" cried Schmidt as they all tossed the fiery liquid into their mouths and gasped as it worked its way down their gullets. Placing the glass back onto the tray, she noticed Nick was still looking at her.
"Oh Randolf, you are hilarious!" Jess giggled, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Well I'm lucky, it just comes naturally," he replied arrogantly and Jess took a sip of her (this time, non-virgin) mojito as she stifled a grimace. She had been overtly flirting with him for 20 minutes now. Already she was on her second cocktail and she could feel her belly warming with the alcohol and it made her bolder. She was trying to elicit a reaction from Nick. But nothing so far. He had steadfastly avoided her gaze and remained locked in conversation with Winston as Schmidt and Cece talked beside her. Frowning, she decided to up the ante.
"Hey, Randolf, could you give me a tour?" she asked flirtatiously, pushing her knee towards his and squeezing his shoulder, "This place looks amazing. Amazing," she repeated pointedly, sliding a glance to see if Nick had noticed. Nope.
"Of course," he said standing and taking her hand, "This home was designed by…" Randolf continued to talk as they walked away but her mind was elsewhere and registered very little.
His body stiffened. He was acutely aware at the closeness of Jess and Schmidt's douchebag friend. His eyes had carefully avoided her throughout those torturous minutes where he had been aware of their conversation far more than he had of his own; operating on auto pilot as Winston had commented on the hotness of various women at the party.
Hearing them stand up, his eyes had moved to watch them walk away; feeling a little more lost with every second that passed. "Nick," came Winston's voice, "Nick." He shook his head and turned to face Winston. "Dude, what is wrong with you today? Have you heard a word I was saying?"
Nick gave an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I'm distracted."
"No shit," Winston replied, "Distracted by a certain brunette I see."
"What? What are you talking about, I'm not-"
"Yeah right. Sweatback," Winston stopped him, leaning back to point at the damp patch beginning to form on his t-shirt. Nick pulled his mouth into a straight smile and shrugged his shoulders. "You like her dude, why don't you tell her?"
"No," Nick shook his head, "No, this was just a rebound. Nothing more," he insisted.
"Yeah, says who?" he demanded, pulling back a drink of beer as he spoke.
"Well…"Nick stopped, he wasn't really sure. The whole situation had been so confusing that they had never really defined what was going on as it evolved, "Well, I can't remember exactly but I do know it's over and she has moved on," he pointed in the direction of Jess and Randolf who had disappeared into the house.
"If you say so man," Winston said unconvincingly. Nick sighed heavy heartedly.
"Come one, let's get another beer," he suggested, standing up and heading for the bar.
Three am. The music had long since stopped and only a trickle of partygoers remained. Winston had passed out on the couch about an hour earlier; he had switched to cocktails shortly after midnight and he had soon descended into drunken dancing and eventual slumber.
Cece and Schmidt were still talking by the pool, Who'd have thought it? Jess thought with a wry smile. Cece's taste in men never ceased to amaze her. She was alone with a sleeping Winston in the living room when Randolf appeared with a shirt, "Something for you to sleep in; it's Dior," he whispered.
"Thanks," Jess replied. She was getting a little tired of his constant name dropping, he's worse than Schmidt… "When you're changed just come find me."
"Okay," she nodded as he walked back out onto the patio. She yawned. Suddenly her feet felt tired and her back ached. Slumping into the soft fabric of the sofa she let out a little yelp as she saw Nick appear from the other direction.
"Oh," he said as he slowed his approach.
"Hey Nick," she said sleepily, "You had a good time?"
"Oh, yeah," he replied, "The best." Jess patted the sofa next to her and he sidled over and slid onto its soft surface. A silent minute passed.
"So," Jess began.
"Hey, um, good luck with the Randolf thing," Nick said quietly, clearing his throat a little.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"Well, he's a 'catch' right. Rich, handsome. He seems to like you," he caught her gaze as he spoke. She blushed and dropped her eyes.
"I guess…"
"And I'm glad you are moving on. From Spencer I mean," he quickly added. Her heart quickened a little as he spoke. She shrugged her shoulders.
"I guess it's time?" she asked, her voice rising as she spoke. She held her breath waiting for him to answer. He nodded and she felt her heart tighten and the sickness in her stomach to rise again. "Yeah, I think this feels good to me."
"I'm happy for ya," he added.
"Hey Nick," she said slowly, "I wanted to say, you know, thank you. For everything." She held her breath waiting for his response.
"Jessica," her body shuddered as he said her name in his syrupy drawl, "I'm glad I helped. But there is something you should know about me. I'm great at beginnings. Not so good at endings, so…" he gave her a sad, crooked smile.
"Okay," she nodded, feeling a small wave of tears welling up. She stood up quickly and turned to him. "Hey, I'd better go find Randolf. Good night Nick," and she padded off to look for him, clutching the shirt in her hands, a salty sting hurting her eyes.
Nick's heart felt leaden as he watched her slink away. It was over; officially done. Ripples of sadness flooded his body as he watched her tiny figure walk away and become smaller and smaller. All he had now were memories and dreams of her; he laid his head back on the sofa and closed his eyes.