It was already 4pm by the time Jess had finally begun to stir. She fluttered her eyes open and instantly flew her hands up to cover them. She winced from the light streaming through her bedroom window and gently rolled over. That's when she noticed the time on her alarm clock, "Oh my God, I slept the whole day!"
Jess stretched her arms far above her head and opened her mouth to let out a big yawn. Her mouth was dry and pasty from all the tequila and wine she drank the night before, not to mention that her head was still spinning. Unfortunately the extra sleep didn't actually do her any good.
She squeezed her eyes shut and blinked them open again. That's when she noticed the tall glass of water and 2 Tylenol laying next to her night lamp, Cece must have put those there when she helped me into bed last night.
Jess reached for the Tylenol and glass of water and noticed a small folded up piece of paper stuck to the bottom of the glass. Almost knocking over her water, Jess reached for the note.
It was soaked from the condensation on the glass, but she instantly recognized the chicken scratch which was scrawled onto the small piece of paper.
"Hey Jess, take these. I hope you feel better and maybe if you're up to it later, you can drop by the bar tonight. I really want to hear about your summer. ❤ Nick"
Jess smiled to herself, Did he really draw a heart?
She flipped the note over once again and stretched out the small piece of paper, trying to salvage it from the water stain which was causing his poor penmanship to run. There was indeed a heart. But stop fooling yourself Jess, he is with Reagan. He only cares, because he is your friend. If he was still in love with you, he wouldn't have asked his girlfriend to move in with him.
Jess folded the small piece of paper back up into a square and shoved it into the top drawer of her night stand. As instructed, she popped the two Tylenol into her mouth and gulped down the now lukewarm liquid.
Last night's debauchery with Cece, was actually somewhat successful. After she had managed to calm down, Cece had moderately convinced her into giving Reagan a chance. They would all benefit from the extra cash Reagan's portion of the rent would cover and Jess would finally be able to save enough money to move out on her own.
Jess decided she would give it a shot, after all what the hell did she have to lose?
Nick would appreciate her extra effort to become friends with his girlfriend and the last thing she wanted to do was risk losing her friendship with him over another woman. If she were to act badly towards Reagan now, it would defeat the whole purpose of the past two years since they decided to end things and just keep things platonic between each other. She even considered cooking dinner for Reagan and baking her some cupcakes.
Yes, that is exactly what she would do. She would plan an evening maybe early next week, to help welcome Reagan to the loft. And as for tonight, she would make the extra effort to visit Nick while he was working. It's the least she could do, especially since he had taken the time to write her a note and bring her the water and Tylenol.
Later that evening...
Nick was working behind the bar. It felt great being back to work. He had a pile of bills and paperwork to get through, but that could all wait until tomorrow. Tonight he just wanted to get back into the swing of things.
He always loved being a barman; making fruity cocktails (mainly for the ladies and Winston when he was feeling twirly), of course the classics and his special signature drinks.
He enjoyed listening to the regular patrons banter and talk about their lives. It never got old to him, even when they would slur the same stories over and over again; in fact they always tended to get funnier as the late night hours waned on. It definitely wasn't a boring gig and he was able to make a good living from it.
Nick never could have imagined 5 years ago after he and Caroline had broken up, that he would be where he was today; He was a business owner, and a successful one at that, and he had just completed his first novel, which he was planning to send to a publishing company. All he needed was for someone to read over it. Unfortunately Reagan kept putting it off, saying that she couldn't find the time, but he honestly felt like she wasn't interested in reading it.
But besides that, he finally felt like he had found his niche and most of what he had attained in the past 2 years was thanks to Jess.
She had never gave up on him, she always believed that he could do anything, be anybody that he wanted to be. And when he first started down this new life path, he was really working towards being the best man he could possibly be for her, but as time went on and Jess began dating new people, he realized that he was really striving to be a better man for himself. And if he succeeded, he could only hope to reap the benefits later, but for now he was surprisingly proud of his own accomplishments.
It was just after 11pm when she bounded in through the heavy door. She was wearing her purple dress, the one that she had worn when they had attended their first wedding together as a fake couple.
It was cut just above the knee and her hair was swept up to one side as her dark curls tumbled down her right shoulder. It nearly took Nick's breath away when he saw her.
She slowly approached the bar, grinning from ear to ear "Hey Nick, how's your first night back?" She hopped up on to the bar stool across from him. He inaudibly muttered "Hey Jess" as he spilled the contents of one of the daiquiris he just made.
"Oh fuck!" he squawked, backing away from his side of the bar and throwing a towel down. "Shit, I'm really sorry Jess. Did I spill anything on you?" Jess laughed, "Nah, Nick, I managed to move away unscathed."
"Well thank goodness, I would hate to ruin your pretty dress."
Jess looked up through her heavy lashes, she could feel the heat on her cheeks. "Seriously Jess, you look... um... you look really beautiful." His brown eyes were full of lust, she was like a magnet to him and he just couldn't pull his gaze away from her.
"Hey Bartender, what does a girl got to do to get a drink around here?" Nick snapped his head down the length of the bar towards the familiar voice who was now hanging her entire upper body over onto his side of the bar table.
"Nicky baby, I managed to catch an early flight home tonight." her legs and feet were flailing as she balanced her taut little body on the bar.
Nick turned back to Jess, "Hey listen, I'm sorry again for almost ruining your dress. I better go tend to her. Maybe we can catch up later?"
Jess desperately tried to hide her disappointment, but Nick had already started to walk away. "Oh yeah sure Nick, I understand."
Jess turned to face Reagan and waved down to her. Reagan was beaming up at her, but she quickly set her sights on Nick as he made his approach. Jess struggled to smile back, but she managed to nod and give a slight smirk in return. By now, Reagan had grabbed Nick by his collar and was pulling him in for a passionate kiss.
Jess couldn't take it, she looked down to the ground and jumped off the bar stool. She could feel her tears welling their way back up behind her eyes, so she decided it was best to leave now before anyone noticed.
She took out her cell and flashed Cece a text as she discreetly made her way over to the exit and dashed outside. She was going to need another night of excessive indulgence to numb the pain and figure out her next plan of action.