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Chapter 61

Nick sighed in contentment as he stepped off the plane and made his way into the familiar Tampa airport. After spending half of his life traveling around the world, he’d come to feel comfortable in a variety of places, but no city would ever feel like home to him as much as this one did. It was the place in which he’d grown up. His life was there… his memories… his love.

Claire was among the cluster of people waiting near his flight’s gate; he spotted her instantly. She was like a beacon, her soft red hair and fair complexion setting her apart from the other tanned, bleached-blonde Florida girls around her. As soon as she saw him coming towards her, she veered away from the rest of the crowd, meeting him in a spot some distance from everyone else.

“Hey, baby,” he said softly as he pulled her into his arms, pausing to kiss her forehead before he hugged her to him. Her arms wrapped around his back, giving him an affectionate squeeze.

“How are you?” she asked, smiling up at him as she pulled back. “Flight okay?”

“Fine, to both,” he returned her smile. “I’m just glad to see you.”

“Me too.”

Nick hadn’t checked any bags, since he was only staying for the weekend, so they made it out of the airport in little time. In the privacy of Claire’s car, they filled each other in on their weeks and talked about the house and their plans for the weekend.

“If it’s okay with you, we’re going out to dinner with Laureen and Tim tonight,” Claire mentioned as she drove.

“Dentist Tim?” Nick asked, feeling his lip curl up in distaste.

“Yeah, that Tim. He’s dating Laureen now, remember? I’m not too excited about that part either, but I owe Laureen for letting me stay all week, and you know she’s a fan of you, so I thought it’d be nice if we all did something together. What do you say?”

Nick shrugged. “Sure, whatever, that sounds cool.” Tim was a dork, but at least he wasn’t with Claire anymore; Nick could tolerate him for an evening. He’d only met Laureen a couple of times, but she seemed sweet, and he did appreciate her letting Claire stay at her apartment.

“Okay, great. Let’s stop by the house so we can change clothes, and I’ll call Laureen,” said Claire, turning the car in the direction of home.

***

Nick made dinner reservations at a trendy seafood place downtown, booking one of the restaurant’s private VIP rooms for Tim, Laureen, Claire, and himself to dine in. He and Claire arrived first and were ushered into the private room, which was located near the back of the restaurant, off of one of the larger dining rooms, without causing much of a commotion. They left the door of their room open while they waited for Tim and Laureen to show up, and thankfully, no one came to bother them.

Grateful for a few extra minutes alone with just Claire, Nick nevertheless kept glancing up at the doorway, always expecting to see a couple of teenage girls with pens and paper poised in hopes of getting his autograph. But no one paid any attention to the small room – that was, until Nick looked up and saw Tim and Laureen standing on the other side of the dining room, just past the entrance of the restaurant. Tim must have had sharp eyes behind his wire-rimmed glasses, for he spotted Nick as well and started to wave, his hand high above his head.

What a dork, Nick thought, as he watched the guy flail his arm around from all the way across the room. The other diners must have thought so too, because people started to turn and watch Tim. Their eyes followed him even as a host escorted Laureen and him through the dining room and into the VIP room in which Nick and Claire were sitting. So much for privacy, thought Nick, flashing an uncomfortable smile to the patrons who were now gawking in at them. He was glad when the host had seated Tim and Laureen across the table from Claire and him and left, closing the door to the room behind him.

Claire was already greeting Tim and Laureen, so Nick jumped in with a couple of “Hey, how are you?”s. Laureen answered with a blushing smile, and Tim rose to give him an energetic handshake across the table.

“I believe the last time I saw you, you had blacked out teeth and a mouthful of blood,” Tim said to Nick with a cock-eyed grin.

Nick nodded, smirking at the memory of his April Fool’s prank on Claire. “That’s right,” he said. “Took me forever to get my teeth white again.”

Laureen glanced between Nick and her boyfriend in confusion. “What?” she asked curiously. “What happened?”

“Ah, that was right before you got hired,” replied Claire and, laughing, told her the story. Laureen giggled and grinned at Nick again, her eyes shining with amusement.

“Thank god you didn’t do that on my first day of working or anything,” she said. “I would have freaked out!”

Claire chuckled. “Wouldn’t that make a great initiation though?” she asked, looking from Laureen to Tim. “Next time we get a new hygienist, we should have him come in like that again,” she proposed with a snicker, nudging Nick in the side. He just grinned, pleased with himself.

“So, what’s good here?” asked Tim, flipping open his menu and studying the selections. “Anyone?” he added, peering over the top of the menu at everyone else.

“Never been here,” Laureen answered him first, without looking up from her own menu. “But I think I’m gonna get some kind of chicken…”

“Their shrimp’s good,” commented Claire, skimming over the options on the menu.

“Yeah, so is their lobster,” Nick added, his mouth watering at the picture of the lobster dinner inside the menu. Maybe that’s what he’d get. Lobster, with lots of butter…

“Hm… I can’t decide,” Tim murmured, cocking his head from side to side as he poured over the menu. “Do I want fish or chicken? Ooh, that shellfish stew looks good. What do you think, L? Do you think that would be good?”

Laureen wrinkled her nose as she read the description he pointed out in his menu. “Not particularly.”

“C? Ever had the shellfish stew here?”

“Can’t say that I have,” answered Claire without looking up.

“I’ve heard it’s awesome,” Nick spoke up quickly, before Tim had a chance to address him as “N.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Oh yeah… world-renowned,” Nick added, lying through his teeth. He had no idea what the shellfish stew was like, but he hoped it would help Tim make up his mind and shut up. “Give it a try… T.”

“I think I will,” said Tim, with a toothy smile that made his eyes go all squinty behind his glasses. “Thanks, bud.”

“No prob,” muttered Nick. But when the waiter came to take their orders a few minutes later, Tim still spent at least five more minutes trying to decide between the shellfish stew and some gross-sounding pasta dish. Oh god, thought Nick, gritting his teeth as he listened to Tim ask the waiter question after question about the two dishes. If this keeps up, it’s gonna be a looong night…

***

Halfway into the meal, Claire decided that this was going to rank as one of the most interesting dinners she’d been to in a long time. Across from her, Tim had been talking nonstop all evening, about everything from the University of Delaware’s 1996-97 football season (“My first year as a mascot,” he’d declared proudly, beaming around the table at everyone, as if he expected them to applaud) to the abscess he’d once had drained from his back.

“… I landed right on my tailbone when I fell, you see, and at first I was worried that I’d broken a bone down there, which probably would have taken me out for the rest of the season, but luckily nothing was broken. After a day or so, though, I found a big swollen bump back there, and when it didn’t go away, I went to the student health services office on campus and had a doctor look at it, and they did an x-ray and found that it was filled with fluid…”

As Tim rambled on and on, Claire watched Nick poke at his lobster. He’d been pretty quiet all night - annoyed with Tim, no doubt. He kept kicking her underneath the table every time Tim opened his mouth, as if to say, Haha, you actually dated this guy!

Only because you wouldn’t let me date you, she thought, kicking him back.

She glanced over at Laureen, who was nibbling at her chicken sandwich and looking quite uncomfortable, maybe because of Tim and his gross table stories, or maybe because Nick was sitting right across from her. Poor Laureen - she’d seemed nervous all night. She kept fumbling with her napkin and dropping her silverware, and she’d spilled her glass of water twice. The food on her plate looked virtually untouched, and her cheeks seemed to have taken on a permanent pinkish tint, for she blushed every time Nick opened his mouth. Claire thought it was hysterical, but she couldn’t help but feel bad for her friend.

“… So the doctor then wanted to do a biopsy on the cells inside,” Tim continued with his story. “Luckily, they turned out to be benign, and I had it drained and was back in my Blue Hen suit by the next week.”

Nick stabbed his lobster with his fork, sending melted butter oozing out of it. Watching it spread across his plate, Claire felt her stomach roll at the thought of Tim having a fluid-filled protuberance on his ass drained. She looked away, wondering if she’d ever be able to eat lobster again.

“This one time,” Nick spoke up as he twirled his fork around in the pool of butter on his plate, “I fractured my shin on the side of the bathtub, and when I went to the doctor, they did an x-ray and a biopsy too, and it turned out to be bone cancer.”

He said it with the air of a child telling his teacher that he’d lost his first tooth, but the table instantly went dead silent. Claire fought the urge to giggle, sort of amused by how easily Nick had shushed Tim into a very awkward silence, but then she glanced over at Laureen, who looked absolutely stricken. The blush – and all the rest of the color – had vanished from her face, which was now very white.

Way to go, Nick, she thought sarcastically, suddenly annoyed with him for saying that. There were just some things you didn’t talk about at the dinner table, especially with people you didn’t know very well present. Cancer was one of them. The whole situation reminded her of one of those “Debbie Downer” sketches on Saturday Night Live, which made her want to giggle again, but instead she cleared her throat and broke the silence by saying, “Excuse me, I’m gonna go to the restroom. Laureen, wanna come with?”

“Sure,” Laureen said hoarsely, standing up so quickly she almost knocked her chair over. Claire grabbed her by the arm as she came around the table to meet her, and together, they walked quickly out of their private room and across the public dining room to the restrooms on the other side of the building.

“I’m so sorry,” she said as soon as they’d made it to the deserted ladies room. “Don’t mind Nick – he was just trying to get a reaction.” Laureen laughed shakily, but didn’t say anything. Claire sighed and shook her head. “This isn’t going very well, is it?”

“No,” Laureen admitted with a sheepish smile. “Jeez, I’m sorry, Claire. Tim’s out there babbling like an idiot, and I’ve been a total klutz all night. Nick probably thinks there’s something wrong with me, I’ve been dropping so much stuff. I hope I didn’t get water all over him that time…”

“You didn’t – most of it went on the floor,” Claire replied with a quick smile. “And don’t worry about it – you think Nick hasn’t seen girls get all nervous around him before? Think of all those people who come up and scream in his face and cry and pass out – at least you’re not acting like that.” She winked, and Laureen smiled.

“True. I feel like such a spaz though… I mean, I’ve met him before, and I still can’t keep my act together around him. It’s pathetic, but I can’t help it! I mean – and don’t take this the wrong way, cause I know he’s your fiancée and I’d never try to make a move on him or anything; I’m really happy for you guys, I swear! – but man, he’s so gorgeous, and when he’s sitting there right across from me, I can’t even think straight! Isn’t that silly?”

Claire laughed and shrugged. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. I guess I’ll just have to start inviting you over more often when Nick’s around so that you’ll get used to him.”

Laureen giggled, the blush returning to her cheeks. “That would be really cool,” she said. “But don’t feel like you have to – I don’t want you to think I’m using you to get closer to him, you know what I mean?”

“Oh, psh, I don’t think that,” Claire blew her off with a dismissive wave of her hand. “You’re welcome to come over any time you want. Nick’s not really gonna be around much for the next few weeks, but I’m sure he’ll have some time off for the holidays, so we can plan to get together then.”

Laureen smiled. “Okay.”

With another sigh, Claire squared her shoulders and said, “Well, I guess we should probably get back out there. Our guys are probably swapping stories about enemas and puke by now.”

Laureen made a face. “I’m really sorry about Tim,” she said again, before they left the bathroom. “He’s one of those TMI people – gives you Too Much Information, you know what I mean?”

Claire laughed knowingly. “Oh yes, I know what you mean. I went out with him too, don’t forget.”

Laureen shook her head. “Well, I wish I wasn’t... Not to be mean, but he’s starting to get on my nerves. I’m ready to break it off with him, but I haven’t worked up the guts to do it yet. I hate doing that… I never know what to say, and I don’t want to hurt his feelings, cause, you know, he really is a ni-“

“Nice guy,” Claire finished with her in unison, nodding. “Yeah, exactly. He is nice; he’s just… annoying. And a little strange. But if you want to break up with him, you should just do it soon and get it over with, cause you know how clingy he is. The longer you wait, the harder it will be. And he’ll get over it. You see how he is with me – I don’t think there’s any hard feelings between us or anything. We were never very serious or anything, but you two haven’t been going out very long either, so I can’t imagine…”

Laureen shook her head. “We’re not that serious either. At least I don’t think we are… I dunno, I guess you’re right. I just need to get it over with, before he starts to think we are serious.”

Claire gave her a tight smile. “It’s never easy, breaking up with someone you care about, but sometimes you just have to do it. It’s probably for the best.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Laureen agreed with a nod and a sigh. “Well, come on, we can head back now. Thanks for the break; I needed that.”

“No problem,” Claire laughed, as they walked out of the restroom together, hoping the awkwardness that had filled their private dining room when they’d left it would be gone by the time they returned.

***