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Chapter 10.

“Are you comfortable?” Tara said as she sat down next to Nick, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He had been trying to avoid her for as long as he could, begging AJ to sit next to him and keeping him busy by pretending to discuss an important matter. It had worked fine, up until nature called, and AJ had to leave his seat for a few minutes.
10 seconds, that was all it took for her to stand up and sit down next to him.
“Yea, I’m good.” Nick said without looking at her.
“Ever been to Russia before?”
“Yea, a couple of times.” He tried keeping his answer as short as possible.
“Do you travel a lot?”
She obviously doesn’t know who I am.
“Yea, I guess…”
“So what do you do for a living?”
“I’m a musician.”
“Oh, really? I love musicians!”
Shocker!
Tara shifted in her seat, and Nick could swear he felt her moving closer to him. Her thigh was brushing against his and he moved a few inches closer to the window.
Come on AJ… get back here.
“So, how long have you known Alicia?”
No… please don’t go there. He closed his eyes briefly and sighed.
“Umm… over 20 years.”
“Were you ever more than just friends?” Tara looked over at Nick who was still looking out of the window.
He shrugged. He didn’t want to talk about it, but figured that if he wanted her to leave him alone he might as well tell her, so that she wouldn’t have to ask so many questions later. He took a deep breath and turned to face her. She seemed surprised by his sudden change of behaviour, but took it to her advantage by giving him a look that almost made Nick chance his mind. He paused for a few seconds before he started talking.
“You know, there was a time, a long time ago when we both asked ourselves that same question. We were in our early teens, and everyone around us were commenting on how good we were together, and that we should maybe consider going out. So we tried the whole dating, kissing thing, and it just felt completely wrong. I don’t think we were meant to be together like that. She’s more like a sister to me. I think she knows me better than any girlfriend ever will, and I guess that’s the way I want it to be.
Tara nodded. “I see… I wish I had someone like that.”
“I just hope she’s ok.” Nick continued. “This year has been hell to me. The thought of losing her is just…” His voice trailed off, and he hoped that he was sending out a clear message to Tara that he didn’t want to talk about it any more. To his surprise, she took the hint.
“I’ll just leave you alone.” She patted his thigh, making him shift uncomfortably in his seat. He nodded in return, and turned his head to look out of the window again. Seconds later, AJ returned, and Nick let out a sigh of relief, relaxing a little as he let his mind wander off.

~*~

August 1995

Nick walked nervously up the familiar stairs to Ali’s house, gripping a small bouquet of flowers in his right hand. He and Ali were going on their first official date. Just the thought of it made him feel uncomfortable. It had been his sister BJ’s idea, and after considering it for a few weeks, he had talked to Ali about it. She had, to his surprise, agreed, and so, here he was standing outside her door debating whether to turn around and run or not.
“It’s now or never Carter.” He said to himself as he lifted his hand and rang the doorbell. Seconds later, Ali opened the door and stepped outside.
Nick raised his eyebrows.
“What are you wearing?” He hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but it was what he was thinking when he saw her.
Ali hit him playfully on his chest and he stumbled a few feet backwards.
“A dress… duh! You like it?” She smiled at him, as she twirled around, letting the fabric of the black dress float around her ankles.
“I… I guess.” Nick replied nervously. “Oh… here.” He handed her the bouquet he had been hiding behind his back.
“Aww… Thanks Nick. Give me two minutes, and I’ll just put these in water. I’ll be right back.”
She turned around on her heels and walked inside again, leaving Nick alone. He stood still for a few seconds before he started pacing back and forth.
“Now is the time to run Carter…” He continued talking to himself. “No… I can’t do that to her. I have to give it a chance.” He stopped walking. “She’s wearing a dress. She never wears a dress when she’s with me. I didn’t even know she had a dress.” He started pacing again. “Oh god… What do you do Carter? I’m just gonna---“
“Are you talking to yourself again Nick?”
He turned around quickly, looking nervously down at his feet. “Noooo. I’m just, you know…”
“You’re too weird Carter.” Ali laughed and grabbed his hand. “Ready to go?”
Nick took a deep breath and nodded. “Yea. Let’s go.”

The dinner was nice. Nick managed to relax after a while, as he realized that it was the same Ali he knew and was used to, that was sitting next to him It felt awkward in the beginning, knowing that he was out on a date with his best friend, but he forced himself to stop thinking that it was a date, and just enjoy the time with Ali. After dinner, they went for a walk on the beach. They had been avoiding the subject of the whole dating thing up until then, but they both knew that they had to talk about it eventually. It was Ali who first brought it up.
“So, what do you think?”
“About what?” Nick asked, very well aware of what she was referring to.
“The date. Us. You know…”
Nick stopped walking and turned to face the ocean. “I… umm… It’s, you know…”
“Weird…?” Ali finished for him.
Nick shrugged. “Yea.”
She nodded, but Nick continued. “I mean, don’t take this the wrong way Al. You know I love you and all, but you’re my best friend, and it just feels a bit awkward, I guess. It’s a different situation.”
Ali nodded again. “I agree Nick. I mean, I have to admit it sounded like a good idea at first, but I don’t know. But I mean… we could try to… you know…”
Nick looked confused. “Try what?”
Ali looked down and started kicking her bare foot in the sand. “You know… we could try to… umm… kiss, maybe?”
Nick swallowed hard. “Kiss? Now?”
She shrugged. “Yea.”
“I… ok.”
“Ok?”
“Yea, ok?”
Ali looked up again. ”Right.”
They turned to face each other, and Nick nervously took her hands in his.
He could feel her shaking a little, but then again, he was probably shaking too, so he decided not to say anything.
“Close you eyes.” He said, and she did as he told her.
Slowly, he bent down and pressed his lips gently on hers. He lingered there for a few seconds before he felt her responding to the kiss. After a few moments, they pulled away, avoiding each others gaze.
“Sooo.” Ali said nervously.
“I…”
A few seconds later, they both burst out laughing.
“Definitely not.”
“Oh my god!”
“What were we thinking?”
“I can’t believe I kissed you!”
Nick breathed out a sight of relief. It was good to know that they were friends, and only friends.

~*~

The rest of the flight went by slowly for Nick. All he wanted was to get to Russia and start looking for Ali. So it was with great anticipation that he finally entered his hotel room in Nefedowa, Siberia. He knew that he should be resting for a few hours before he started doing what he was there for, but he couldn’t bring himself to go to bed. It was noon, but still, there was barely light outside. He walked over to the window and looked outside. Snow was covering the ground, and he knew instantly that he should’ve brought more warm clothes to wear.

He sat down on the bed. They had all agreed to meet in the hotel lobby four hours later, after everyone had gotten some rest.
Four hours… Too long.
He sighed and lay down on the bed, starting up at the ceiling. Suddenly, his cell phone rang. He quickly sat up and dug into his pocket, pulling out the phone.
“Hello?” He said fast.
“Nick? It’s Granger.”
Nick frowned, wondering why he was calling him when they just agreed to meet a few hours later.
“Hi.”
“I… I’m just gonna say this as it is Nick. Are you sitting down?”
“Yes…”
“I just got off the phone with the local police. Nick… they’ve found a body.”