[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
The day had gone by slow, which was quite a change for him. Every time he looked at the clock it seemed like time hadn’t even moved. He was nervous. All he could think about was what he would say to put an end to this little game. He would simply explain to her that the past no longer mattered; all he wanted was to be with her.

Finally seven came and Nick parked his car in front of her house. He tried to calm his nerves as he knocked lightly on the door. Kate opened the door a second later and smile at him, “Hey, I was afraid you might not come.” Nick stepped through the door as she moved aside and motioned for him to come in, “Why would you think that?” She sensed the seriousness in his tone, “I was just kidding.” He turned and faced her, “Oh. Sorry.” She laughed a little, “Its okay,” she glanced around her living room, “So. Do you want me to show you around?”

“Yeah sure.” Nick noticed she was picking up on how uncomfortable he seemed. She played with her fingers as she started to move around the room, “Do you not feel comfortable in my house? Because we can just go, you don’t have to look around if you don’t want.” Nick sighed inwardly noting that he was acting a little stand-offish though he was trying not to, “No I’m fine. Just kind of reeling from a bad day, you know.” She smiled brightly, looking instantly relieved, “Well then we’ll have to work on cheering you up!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The night moved fast. They had a quiet dinner, Kate doing most of the talking while Nick battled to keep the words from flooding out of his mouth. He slowed the car to a stop in front of her house. ‘Just do it and get it over with!’ Nick put the car in park and turned to face Kate. She smiled sweetly as their eyes met, “Nick…I really like you.” His heart began to ache. ‘What if you say something and you lose her again? Maybe she just needs this to cope for now.’

“I really like you too.” Nick nervously avoided eye contact. Her voice became a soft whisper, “Do you want to kiss me?” ‘All I think about is kissing you.’ Nick didn’t respond and slowly leaned in kissing her softly. Kate leaned back gently touching her lips and smiled, “Wow.” Nick could feel himself blushing and didn’t know why; he had kissed her a hundred times. She snickered as she saw him begin to blush, “You want to see me again?” He shook his head “yes” too embarrassed to speak.

She pulled a piece of paper and a pen from her bag, “How about I give you my number and you can just call me.” Nick smiled and finally looked her way as she handed him the paper. Slowly she leaned in and kissed him again. When she pulled back she looked at him for a moment before hurrying out of the car and into her house. She gave a wave before closing the door behind her.

Nick sat parked for a couple of minutes trying to gather his thoughts. The feeling of kissing her had been so different than he remembered. It felt so much better than it ever had before, he was sure of it. She had felt it too; he had seen it in her eyes. Nick let out a deep breath and began to drive away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He couldn’t wait to see her again, calling her the minute he arrived home from work. She answered the phone on the first ring, “Hello?” Nick cleared his throat, “Kate, its Nick.” He could hear the smile in her voice, “Hi. I’ve been waiting like five minutes to hear from you!” Nick laughed, “Guess I’m pretty obvious huh?” She bit her lip and giggled, “It’s alright. I was hoping you would call.”

“I want to see you.” The words came out of his mouth before he could stop them. The silence seemed to extend forever until he heard her voice again, “I want to see you too. Why don’t you come over? Or I could come over there.” Nick frowned remembering how much worse it seemed to smell in the house since the other day, “How about I just come over to your house.”

Kate opened the door before Nick even knocked, “I heard your car.” She reached for his hand to lead him into the house. He couldn’t control himself. The gentle touch of her hand, the familiar smell of her perfume, how soft and beautiful her face looked when she smiled. Nick pulled her back to him and embraced her in a passionate kiss. She softly moaned from shock but began to kiss him back.

She lowered her heels back to the floor as she relaxed. He gently broke the kiss realizing how much he must have surprised her, “Sorry.” She stepped back still holding his hand, “Why don’t you come help me in the kitchen? I thought we could just eat something here.” Nick softly sighed in relief that she had taken it well, “Alright. But I don’t know a thing about cooking.” She raised an eyebrow, “Well, you’re in luck because neither do I! So you will have no one critiquing you.” They laughed as they walked into the kitchen. Kate released his hand and opened the freezer door, “Okay, I’ve got pizza, tots, some chicken fingers, and an eggo that I hope is blueberry.”

“Pizza’s sounds great.” Nick leaned against the counter. She spun around with the pizza in hand and bumped the freezer door shut with her hip, “Good because I can’t remember when the other items were purchased!” Nick chuckled as he walked over to the oven, “What does it need to be set at?” She searched the box over a few times before she found it, “Um…four hundred.”

Nick smiled to himself, remembering the time she had tried to make him macaroni and cheese for lunch. She hadn’t read the directions and had put the cheese powder in the water. He had eaten it and pretended to like it.

“What are you smiling about?” Kate looked at him while tapping her fingers on the box, trying to hide a smile. Nick shook his head, “Nothing.” She glared at him mockingly, “Something wrong with the speed I did that at?” He tried to hold back laughter. She cocked her head to the side and laughed, “You are so mean!” He watched her begin to look for something to throw at him and quickly moved over to hold her arms, “You did that at excellent speed.”

“Damn right I did!” She said with a laugh and then turned to the counter to pull the pizza out of the box.

The talk during dinner was more flirty and comfortable for Nick than it had been the night before. He hadn’t felt sure about the boundaries before, being so used to saying and doing whatever in front of her before. Now he was trying to be cautious not to push things too far, let her set the pace.

They stood side by side in the kitchen cleaning their plates and glasses. Playfully splashing water and wiping soap suds on one another. Nick had missed that, just knowing she was there and making her laugh. “What?” Kate gently nudged him with her shoulder. Nick looked back down at the water, “I didn’t say anything.” She rolled her eyes, “You were staring at me with these lovey eyes!” He splashed her again, “I was not.”

“I saw lovey eyes.” She teased with a smile. Nick ignored her, feeling a little embarrassed. She watched his body language change, “I was just playing with you.” He looked down into her apologetic eyes, “I know.” She pushed herself up on her tip-toes to give him a quick kiss. Before she knew it the quick kiss had lead to her being lifted up onto the counter while they feverishly kissed.
Nick slid his hands under her shirt and began caressing her back. “Wait,” she pushed him away and tried to catch her breath, “I don’t know if I’m ready to do this.” Nick took a step back and ran a hand through his hair, “Okay.” She bit her lip and straightened her shirt, “I don’t just go around sleeping with people.” Nick shook his head, “Neither do I.” Kate placed her hand on her forehead, “It’s just that, I barely know you. It’s…isn’t this fast?”

‘You barely know me?!’ Nick could feel his rage begin to build inside again. He didn’t answer her question for fear he would end up screaming at her. She looked at him with concern, “Well?” He pulled in a deep breath, “We’ll just wait until it’s comfortable. I don’t want to force you into anything.” She shook her head but with a far away stare, “But…I. The thing is I do feel comfortable,” she paused, “do you think I’m a slut?”
Nick sighed and moved close to touch her face, “No. Look, I’m not planning on doing something like this and then go running off.” She let out a nervous laugh, “But I don’t even have your phone number.” Something about the statement made Nick laugh. Kate began to laugh as well. He touched her face again after he controlled his laughing, “Listen, we don’t have to do this tonight.” She smiled, feeling more relaxed, “No…I want to.” She pulled him in and kissed him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nick stepped into the house noticing all of the lights were off. Her car was in the driveway, but perhaps she had gone somewhere with someone, “Ashley?” Nick got no response. He walked to the table by the couch and clicked the lamp on. Nothing in the room seemed strange; he was probably getting worked up for nothing. He walked back to the bathroom and flipped the switch with his elbow while unbuttoning his dress shirt.

Something clanked across the floor as Nick walked to the sink. He reached down picking up an empty prescription bottle. His blood ran cold. The whole bottle of pain killers was gone. He raced to the bedroom and tried to turn the knob. It was locked. He began to bang on the door while screaming at the top of his lungs, “Ashley! Open the door! Ashley!”

He hit the door with enough force to break it free of the hinges. He rushed to her; she was lying still on the bed. She was cold to the touch but he still tried, he had to. She wouldn’t breathe and she had no pulse. Tears began to flow from his eyes as he shook her and pushed in on her chest over and over.

Nick’s eyes flew open and he sat up. He was covered in sweat. He reached over to Kate who was asleep on the bed beside him. She let out a soft grunt and repositioned her head on the pillow. He tried to slow his heart and took in deep breaths. He always had that dream, it was his worst fear. He shook the feeling and pushed up from the bed.

Quickly he dressed and sat beside Kate on the bed, “Hey.” He whispered in her ear while gently rubbing her back. She barely opened her eyes, “Hey.” He touched the side of her face, “I need to get home. I have work in the morning.” She nodded her head. He leaned over and kissed her cheek, she smiled. He quietly closed the front door and walked to his car. He drove home with the dream still playing through his mind.