[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Chapter 97


AN: Thanks to Veronica and Bianca for their help with this chapter!


“Lookin’ good in here, Nicky,” commented Howie. Nick took a look around the living room of his new house. The brand new furniture had been moved in, and Howie, AJ, Kevin, and Brian had helped him arrange it while Kristin and Leighanne added their female insight, helping him decide where to put all of the other crap he had, some which he’d brought from the house in Tampa, others which he’d ordered new.

After hours of work, the interior of the house was coming together nicely; all of the big things had been moved in, and Leighanne, who had a decorating flair, had offered several times to help Nick make it look less… “bachelor-esque,” was how she’d put it.

“Sure, that’d be great,” he’d replied agreeably. He didn’t really care what the inside of the house looked like, as long as he had his bed and his fridge and his TV and his video games.

All of that was there now, and since it was going on one o’clock in the afternoon, he said, “Hey, how about a lunch break? We could order some delivery.”

“How about take-out – sandwiches, from the deli?” AJ suggested.

“Would that be Mary’s deli?” Howie asked with a teasing wink. They all knew AJ’s girlfriend was working that day.

“May-be…” AJ replied slyly, then protested, “Come on, their sandwiches are great! Whaddya say, Nicky? Deli?”

“You know me; I’ll eat anything,” said Nick with a neutral shrug.

“Guys?” AJ extended the question to Brian and Kevin and their wives.

They all nodded. “Sounds good to me,” Kevin added with a hint of eagerness; Nick figured he was just relieved that AJ wanted something other than McDonald’s. It seemed Mary had been a good influence on him, whether intentionally or not.

“Okay, cool. How about I just pick up a bunch of different stuff, and we can make our own sandwiches here?”

“Sounds good,” came a chorus of echoes.

“Alright, now who’s comin’ with me to help carry stuff? Nick, you game?”

“Uh – sure,” agreed Nick. “Y’all just hold down the fort while I’m gone.”

“I’ll go unpack more of the kitchen boxes!” announced Leighanne with enthusiasm.

Nick snickered as she trotted out of the room, and Brian shot him a goofy grin. “You’ll never need a woman in your life as long as you’ve got my wife, Frack,” he joked.

Nick begged to differ, but he kept his comment to himself. AJ, on the other hand, spoke up, “Jeez, Rok, that could sure be taken more than one way. Don’t go spreading the rumor that the Backstreet Boys share wives as well as tour buses.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Brian blushed.

“You know what I meant,” he chuckled good-naturedly, but Nick and AJ laughed at his expense the whole way out to AJ’s sports car.

They headed to West Hollywood, to the upscale deli where Mary worked. As they walked inside, Nick spotted her immediately, her head bowed over the various kinds of meat and side dishes behind the counter as she helped a customer. When the door opened, however, she glanced up, smiling over the customer’s shoulder, first at AJ, then at Nick.

AJ led the way up to the counter, and Mary offered him a coy smile. “Hi,” she said, continuing to scoop some kind of salad into a clear plastic tub. “Hang on a second, and I’ll get Veronica out of the back room to help you.”

Nick got a kick out of how professional she acted around AJ when she was in front of customers; normally the two of them were full of dirty talk towards one another.

Mary secured the lid on the tub of salad and said to the customer, “Sir, I’ll be right back.” As she turned to walk into the back room, Nick noticed AJ’s eyes lingering on her ass. Now that was more like it.

Mary was back in a second. “Veronica will be right out,” she told AJ quickly and flashed Nick a quick smile before turning back to the man she was serving. “And what else can I get for you, sir?”

Nick didn’t hear the man’s answer, for at that moment, the door to the back room swung open again, and another woman came out. “Hi,” she said softly, stepping up to the other side of the counter. “I’m Veronica. What would you two like?”

She said “you two,” but Nick couldn’t help but notice that she barely glanced at AJ. The whole time, her eyes lingered on him. Nick was used to being stared at, and sometimes it bothered him, especially in the last three years, when he could never be sure why a person was staring. Was it because they recognized him? Because they thought he was attractive? Or because they knew he’d had cancer? Or that he only had one leg? Because they pitied him?

Normally, it was a little unnerving, but today, Nick found that he didn’t really mind. Quite the contrary, it was sort of a turn on, the way she was looking at him. He took in her appearance, his eyes locking onto her round, brown ones, which were still fixed on him. Startling a little, he realized he still hadn’t answered her question.

Luckily, AJ started to before he could react, and Veronica finally broke her gaze on Nick and focused on him instead. “Let’s see… how about a pound of turkey… and a pound of roast beef too. And um… Nick, any other kind of meat you want? Ham? Chicken? Salami?”

Nick watched the deli clerk’s eyes flicker back to Nick. “I’d recommend the hard salami,” she offered. “I really like it.”

At the words “salami” and “hard,” all kinds of dirty thoughts began to parade through Nick’s perverted mind. “You like your salami hard, eh?” he joked automatically, but when Veronica’s eyes went wide with embarrassment, he immediately regretted it. Why did I just say that? he berated himself, blushing. Now he was embarrassed too. If Kevin had been there, he was sure he would have gotten an elbow in the ribs for that comment. Luckily, it was just AJ, who started snickering at once.

“Nick likes his salami hard too,” he kept the joke running. Leaning into the counter, he added in a low voice, “How about giving him some of that hard salami?”

“Okay, okay, enough,” Nick interjected loudly, cheeks flaming by now. Flashing Veronica a sheepish smile, he added, “Sorry… I-I didn’t mean-“

“It’s okay,” said Veronica before he could finish and smiled a little. “AJ told me you had a sense of humor. That’s another thing I like… besides the, uh… salami.” She winked, and Nick felt himself smiling back at her automatically. Until all of a sudden…

“Wait! You guys know each other?” he asked, looking between the woman behind the counter and the man standing next to him.

“Of course. V works with my girlfriend, dipshit; I do drop by this joint from time to time,” AJ scoffed, as if it should have been obvious.

Nick shrugged; he hadn’t really thought of that. Smiling shyly, Veronica shrugged herself and clarified, “I’ve only been working here a few weeks actually. But yes, AJ has been in a few times.” She turned her smile upon AJ, and he responded with the charming smirk he gave all ladies.

“Well, uh… nice to meet you then, Veronica,” Nick offered, nodding to her. “Any friend of AJ’s is a friend of mine,” he said with a meaningful look towards Mary, who was ringing up the older man’s order. “And any friend of… well, of a friend of mine is… a friend of mine… too…” he fumbled, then screwed his face up in frustration – what the hell had he just said? That hadn’t come out as smoothly as he’d hoped.

“I mean, uh… yeah… nice to meet you,” he concluded and quickly looked away from her, red-faced again. Man, he was out of practice with the ladies. Why did he have to go and say such stupid things? He always came off sounding like such a moron around certain people – interviewers… foreign fans… and naturally, pretty females. What a ‘tard, he thought, annoyed as usual with his lack of eloquence.

But Veronica didn’t laugh at him. She just smiled and replied sweetly, “It’s nice to meet you too, Nick.”

***

“Nice to meet you, Jamie,” said Laura, the receptionist on duty that day at Tampa General Hospital’s oncology clinic. Smiling pleasantly, she asked Claire, “And Claire, I assume your insurance information is still the same?”

“Yep, nothing’s changed,” replied Claire.

“Great. Then you can just have a seat, and someone will call you back soon.”

Claire nodded, offering the receptionist a quick smile. “Thanks, Laura,” she said and, holding Jamie’s hand, led him over to a pair of empty chairs.

As they sat down, he gave her a daunted look. “You all are sure friendly here,” he remarked, raising his eyebrows.

Claire chuckled ruefully. “Yeah, isn’t it sad? Says a lot about how often I’ve been at this place in the past few years… I know the staff, and they know me. They get to know everyone after awhile. It’s just like one big happy family,” she said with a big cheesy grin to match her sarcasm. “The nurses and everyone here are really nice though.”

Jamie smiled tightly. “I’m sure they are, but honestly, Clairie? I hope I never have to get to know them myself. I’d rather we just keep you away from this place.” He patted her thigh roughly, and she gave him a crooked smile.

“Yeah. Me too.”

As they settled into silence, Claire wondered if she was going to start regretting her decision to let Jamie come along to her routine check-up in the cancer clinic that day. When she’d told him she would have to miss watching the Marlins vs. Cubs baseball game with him that afternoon because of the appointment, he’d offered to go with her. “Oh, you don’t have to,” she’d blown him off automatically. “I’m used to going by myself; it’s no big deal.”

He’d given her a frown. “You mean Nick never went with you?”

“Well… yeah, I guess he did, but…” But you’re not Nick, she’d been thinking, but she knew not to say it; he probably would have taken it the wrong way. “Seriously, Jamie, don’t worry about it. It’s just a routine thing, and I can go by myself; I’m a big girl.”

She flashed him a smile, but he did not return it. Instead, he leaned forward and pulled her hand into his. “Listen… you’re my girl now, and I… I wanna be there for you,” he said seriously. “I wanna be a part of your life again, and that means fitting in with all the other parts of your life… and as much as I wish it wasn’t, this is a part of your life.”

Claire had nodded slowly, surprised and touched by his declaration. He really was trying to redeem himself for running from her all those years ago, when her cancer had been too much for him to handle. First he’d donated his sperm to her, giving her the chance to have children of her own someday. Then, last year, when she’d thought her transplant was rejecting, he’d come to the hospital to be with her after Nick had fled. And now he wanted to come to her check-up. It was a sweet gesture, but Claire wondered, was he really up for it?

She’d been sheltering Jamie from the realities of her illness for years, ever since she’d found out he couldn’t handle them. He had no idea what she’d been through in the six years since her diagnosis. He knew the basics – that she’d been in the hospital, that she’d gone through chemo, and that her leukemia had relapsed after two years in remission. He knew that she’d started up chemo again, after having her eggs fertilized with his sperm and safely preserved, and he knew that when the chemo did not cure her, she’d received a bone marrow transplant from her brother. In Jamie’s eyes, she was perfectly fine again, back to normal and as good as cured. These check-ups were merely a formality.

But Jamie, like many of her friends, did not know all the details. He had no idea how close she’d come to dying after the transplant, sick as she had been with infection. He didn’t know what the first few months after the transplant had been like for her… cooped up in her parents house, her mom hovering over her like a mother hen all the time, having to wear a surgical mask like Michael Jackson every time she went out because her immune system was so shot that a simple cold could wreak havoc on her body. She’d had a relatively easy time of it, compared to most people, but that didn’t mean it had been easy or pain-free. The side effects were still plaguing her – the cataracts in her eyes, her weak bones, her crazy hormones, and of course, the fact that she would never have children naturally. And there was always the chance that she could still reject or relapse, like Casey had.

But Jamie didn’t know any of that, because she’d hadn’t let him in on it. Letting him come to the clinic with her today was a big step. She didn’t think he had any idea what kind of tests she had done at these appointments, but he was about to find out. And she had to admit, she was curious to see how he would react. Would he freak out on her? Or would he fight his fears, be mature, and stick with her this time? She wasn’t the only one who was going to be tested today.

“So how long do you usually have to wait here?” Jamie’s question brought Claire out of her thoughts, and she looked over at him. It was obvious he was restless; he kept sliding around in his chair and leaning over, clasping and unclasping his hands together.

“It shouldn’t be too much longer here… it’s just busy today, I guess. But don’t hold your breath; the appointment itself will take awhile too.”

“Why does it take so long?” Jamie asked innocently. “What kind of stuff will they do?”

She explained briefly about the blood tests and bone marrow biopsy they always did. As expected, Jamie blanched, but when a nurse came to call Claire’s name, he took her hand and dutifully walked back with her.

“Hi, Claire; I’m Bobbi-Jo,” drawled the nurse in a slight Southern accent, as she ushered Claire and Jamie through a door. “How are you doin’ today?”

“I’m fine, thanks; how are you?” Claire asked automatically.

“Just fine, thank you! You wanna hop onto the scale here?” asked Bobbi-Jo, stopping her at the large scale just beyond the door.

Grudgingly, Claire took off her shoes and stepped onto the scale. When the nurse made adjustments and read off the number, jotting it down on the chart in her hand, Claire groaned; she’d gained since the last time she had been here. Weight gain was supposedly one of the side effects of the new hormone replacement drugs she’d been taking for the last couple of months, and she hated it. Maybe I’ll see if Amber’s ready to start working out with me like we said we would, she mused as she climbed off the scale and glanced at Jamie, feeling herself blush slightly.

He must have noticed her discomfort, because he grinned and playfully poked a finger into her stomach. “Fatty,” he whispered teasingly behind the nurse’s back as they followed her to the right examining room.

Claire stuck her tongue out at him and jabbed him right back in the gut. “You should talk,” she shot back, winking. She was only kidding, and she knew he was too. He’d been calling her “fatty” since high school because she’d always been able to eat like a horse, even though it had never really showed on her. She missed her teenage metabolism.

“Right in here,” Bobbi-Jo said, holding open the door of one of the exam rooms. She handed Claire a gown to change into, and Jamie hung back as she went inside the room.

Once the nurse had closed the door, Claire changed quickly and then opened it again, motioning Jamie in from the hall. He gave her a tight smile and slunk in, perching in a hard-backed chair against the wall while Claire climbed up onto the paper-covered table. She watched Jamie look around the room, his expression nervous. She could see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard and felt a flutter of sympathy for him. Bless his heart; he was trying so hard, but she knew he hated this. He’d always had a fear of hospitals, a fear which had probably only been intensified by her illness.

She shifted her weight on the table a few times, purposely fidgeting around to make the paper underneath her crinkle loudly. Finally, Jamie noticed and looked over at her, cracking a smile. Mission accomplished, she thought, smiling back. For a minute, the tension in the room seemed to dilute.

Then the nurse walked back in.

***

“Smooth, Carter,” AJ joked sarcastically as he and Nick walked out of the deli, both carrying paper bags filled with sliced meat, tubs of various sides, and a big bag of kettle-cooked chips. “That’s a way to impress a girl alright, start making crude jokes about boners.”

“It slipped out,” mumbled Nick. Then, growing defensive, he added, “And anyway, she thought it was funny! She said she liked my sense of humor!”

“Well after you got her all flustered, sure.”

Nick gave AJ a peevish look, narrowing his eyes. “So why do you care, anyway?”

AJ just shrugged. “She seems like a nice girl.”

The statement was innocent enough, but something about the way AJ said it caused Nick to cast another suspicious look in his direction. “Bone…” he said warningly. “What’s the deal?”

“What are you talking about, Nicky?” AJ was playing dumb; Nick could tell.

“That girl, Veronica… why do I get the feeling it wasn’t just coincidence that you dragged me to the deli today and she was the one to wait on us?” Nick probed. He had been set up with girls before, courtesy of AJ, and right now he was starting to detect the signs of another AJ McLean set-up.

“Gee, I dunno, Nick… but if you’re keen on finding out, maybe you should follow that feeling to the movies with Mary and me tonight,” suggested AJ, winking above his sunglasses.

Nick gave him an exasperated look. Oh yeah – he was totally being set up. “Look, J, you know I’m not interested in another relationship right now,” he protested. “’Specially with some random girl I don’t even know.”

“So get to know her first. Maybe then you’ll be interested,” AJ pointed out. “Mary said she’s really nice and that she’s definitely interested in you. She thinks you two would be good together. It’s worth a shot, don’t you think? What have you got to lose?”

Nick sighed heavily, but he couldn’t think of an answer. When he did not reply, AJ went on, “I mean, Claire’s pretty much out of the picture, isn’t she? You said yourself she was back together with that prick she dated in high school. So it looks to me like you got nothin’… nothin’ to lose, that is. And everything to gain. Whaddya say, Nicky-boy? Come out with us tonight?”

Nick struggled with his response, trying to think of a good excuse to turn AJ down. “I got a lot of stuff left to do around the house,” he said lamely.

AJ waved his hand in front of his face, blowing Nick off. “You got the important stuff taken care of already… a place to sleep, working plumbing, and a running fridge. What’s left to do that can’t wait till tomorrow morning?”

Nick’s only answer was a sigh; he knew he was losing this battle. “Look, J, I dunno… she… she doesn’t really seem like my type.”

AJ eyed him skeptically. “Why, cause she’s not skinny and blonde and a bitchy, gold-digging whore? Well, Claire didn’t fit that model either, and you proposed to her. I think you could at least give this Veronica girl a shot.”

He has a point, Nick had to admit. His “type,” based on the category most of the women he’d dated fit into, wasn’t really the right type for him at all. He’d failed so horribly at selecting girlfriends for himself in the past that maybe it wasn’t a bad idea to follow AJ’s – or Mary’s – advice instead, just this once. Like AJ had said… maybe it was worth a shot.

“So… so if I come to the movies tonight… are you saying this girl will be there?” Nick asked hesitantly.

AJ winked again. “Could be. Wait and see…”

***

“Will you just wait?” Claire demanded, her voice rising as she put both hands on Jamie’s chest and pushed him back down onto the padded table. “There. Now just cool your jets and lie down for a few more minutes. I’m not gonna catch you if you faint again on the way out to the car.”

“I won’t faint,” muttered Jamie darkly, some of the color returning to his pale cheeks as he blushed, clearly embarrassed by what had happened.

Claire thought it was sort of funny. The moment Bobbi-Jo had whipped out the syringe to suck out a sample of her bone marrow, Jamie had gone white as a sheet. A few minutes later, while she was pinned to the table, the large needle in her pelvis, he’d passed out cold, sliding all the way out of his chair and onto the floor. Bobbi-Jo had had to run out of the room to get another nurse to tend to him while Dr. Rodrigo finished the procedure.

Jamie was fine now, of course, especially after the nurse had made him lie down on the table for a few minutes after Claire was done. He’d had enough of that though; now he was just humiliated and itching to leave as soon as possible. Claire didn’t blame him, and she should have known, judging by the shade of green he had turned when the nurse had stuck a regular-sized syringe into the flesh of her arm for the blood draw.

“I can’t believe you can lie there and take that every time…” he murmured, closing his eyes. “Those needles… God.”

Claire shrugged. “Well, what else am I supposed to do, Jamie? It’s worth it to know that I’m still healthy… or to find out early if there is a problem so that something can be done about it.”

“I-I know,” Jamie stammered. “It’s just…” He shuddered. “God.”

“I know. It’s not particularly fun for me either, I’ll tell you that much.” Sighing, Claire sank back down into her chair and gingerly massaged her lower back, her fingers meeting the gauze they’d taped over the fresh hole in her flesh. She had quite a smattering of tiny, round scars from all the bone marrow biopsies she’d had done over the years; this would just make one more. She wondered if they would make any interesting connect-the-dot patterns.

She was just about to suggest that Jamie look for some that night when he said, “Well, lying in this room isn’t particularly fun for me either. Can we go now? I swear, I’m fine… I feel a hell of a lot better now that they took that needle out of you.”

Claire laughed. “Yeah, okay. You stay there while I change back into my clothes. No peeking now,” she added with a mischievous wink. He just smirked. Standing up painfully, she grabbed her bra and t-shirt and turned away from him as she expertly swapped them with the gown she was wearing.

As they walked out of the clinic a few minutes later, Claire pulled a small bottle of Tylenol out of her purse and popped a couple of pills into her mouth, swallowing them dry. Noticing her action, Jamie asked, “Does it hurt?” He touched her back lightly, keeping his hand well above the spot where they’d put the needle.

“Nah, not too bad. It just throbs a little; this helps take the edge off,” replied Claire casually.

They made their way slowly out to the parking lot, at which point Claire turned to Jamie and extended her hand. “Keys?”

“What?”

“I think I should drive. Can I have your keys?”

Jamie scowled. “No. You’re not driving; I’m fine.”

“You still look kinda pale,” Claire observed, reaching up to touch his cheek, her fingers brushing over the rough stubble along his jawline. He ducked away from her grasp and downright refused to give her his keys. “Fine,” she said. “You drive then.” Shooting him an impish grin, she added, “Just don’t go swooning when you’re behind the wheel.”

***

Later that night, Nick climbed out of the backseat of AJ’s car and looked up at the brightly-lit multiplex cinema, already wondering why he’d come. How did I let AJ talk me into being the third wheel to Mary and him? For crying out loud, thought Nick, annoyed with himself.

Of course, AJ had plainly hinted that Mary’s friend from work was going to be at the movies tonight too… Nick supposed that was what had convinced him to go. AJ and Mary were trying to set him up, and he figured he might as well play along. He wasn’t sure if he was even interested in this girl – he couldn’t really judge, when all he’d done was buy lunch meat from her (and make an ass of himself talking about his ‘hard salami’) – but even so, ever since he’d gotten back from Florida, the thought of hooking up with another woman had been on his mind. Claire had moved on with Jamie. Why couldn’t he move on with someone too?

Maybe a new fling was all he needed to get over her. He wasn’t looking for anything long-term or overly serious right off the bat, but something beyond a strictly-physical relationship would be nice too. If he was just looking for sex, LA was full of women who would fuck even a one-legged Backstreet Boy, for the right price. But no thank you; he wasn’t interested in that. His love for Claire had been much deeper than anything physical; she was the first woman he’d ever truly loved, not just lusted over. If he could just find someone else, someone like her… someone caring and understanding, someone he could laugh with and just hang out with, someone he could be himself around. Someone who made him feel good about himself.

He had no idea how he was going to find that someone, but he knew he would never find her without looking, so he figured he’d might as well start that night. By the time he, AJ, and Mary reached the doors of the movie theater and walked inside, he’d mentally pumped himself up again. As he joined the long line to buy tickets, he started looking around, trying to casually scope out the place for the girl from the deli, Veronica. What did she look like again? He tried to picture her in his head: long, dark brown hair, tied back into a ponytail beneath the hat she wore as part of her uniform at the deli; warm, cocoa-colored complexion, like that of Halle Berry.

Mmm… Halle Berry, he thought, temporarily distracted by the mental image of the beautiful actress in her tight leather Catwoman costume. Veronica certainly hadn’t looked like her… but he supposed she was alright. Nice eyes… he remembered her eyes, and the way she’d been looking at him.

“Nick!” AJ said sharply, and Nick felt a finger jab into his back. “Wake up, buddy – line’s movin’!”

Startling, Nick hurried forward to catch up to the man in front of him, who had moved a few feet since he’d last been paying attention. AJ and Mary followed after him, hand in hand. He could hear them murmuring things to each other behind him, the whispers of two lovers. He sighed to himself, hoping Veronica was really going to show so that, if nothing else, at least he would have someone to talk to the rest of the night. AJ and Mary weren’t ignoring him on purpose, but he obviously wasn’t the center of their attentions either. God, being the third wheel sucked.

Out of nowhere, he conjured up the image of Claire’s best friend, Dianna. He wondered what she thought of Claire and Jamie getting back together, when it meant being the perpetual third wheel for her. He snickered to himself. Aside from a friendship with Claire, he didn’t think he and Dianna had anything in common.

When he finally reached one of the ticket kiosks, he bought a single ticket for the comedy they had decided on and waited for AJ and Mary to join him.

“Well, hey, look who’s here!” AJ announced loudly as he and Mary made their way over to Nick. At first, Nick furrowed his brow in confusion – AJ already knew he was here; he was the one who had driven him! – but then he realized AJ’s gaze was not focused on him, but on a spot somewhere over his shoulder. He turned, and that’s when he saw her.

Veronica looked different than his memory’s image of her from earlier that day. She was dressed in a springy, lavender Bohemian skirt that swished around her calves and a white blouse. Nick couldn’t help but take a moment to admire her body, the way her top showed just a peek of cleavage, and how the skirt flattered her curvy frame. Then he quickly brought his eyes up to her face. She was wearing more makeup than she had been at the deli, he noticed; it looked nice. Her hair was pulled up, off of her neck, and little wisps of it framed her face.

When AJ called to her, she came over quickly, beaming. She had a nice smile, and Nick found it easy to smile back in return. “Hello,” he said, striding smoothly up to her. “Nice to see you again.”

“You too,” replied Veronica, tucking a stray wisp of hair behind her right ear.

“Funny seeing you here tonight, Veronica,” spoke up AJ, a teasing tone to his voice. “What are you seeing?”

Naturally, Veronica listed the same movie Nick had just bought a ticket for, smiling at AJ in a way that told Nick she had been in on this whole plot with AJ and Mary. He just wondered if it had been her idea, or if Mary had put her up to it. Was this “Win a date with Nick Carter?” or “Please Veronica, I’ll pay you twenty bucks if you show some interest my boyfriend’s pathetic, heartbroken friend.”

“Well, how ironic,” he spoke up, the surprise in his voice completely phony. “That’s what we’re seeing too! You should sit by us… unless you’re with a date or something.” He pretended to look around, knowing full well she was alone.

Veronica shook her head. “Um… no, I… didn’t come with anybody,” she said with a shrug, looking awkward and amused at the same time.

“Oh, yeah? Well, that’s no fun. You definitely need to come sit by me then.” He gave her an exaggerated wink, and she smiled.

“Well, thank you… I think I will.”

“Well, great, you two. Now that that’s settled… can we go find the theater?” AJ asked, looking pointedly at his watch. “It’s gonna start in a few minutes.”

“Hold up, J – popcorn first!” Nick exclaimed. He pointed to the concession counter, unable to believe how AJ could forget such an important part of the movie-going experience. Nick rarely sat through a movie in the theater without popcorn.

AJ held up his hands in defense. “My mistake,” he conceded. “To the popcorn counter we go!”

“Want me to go and get us some seats?” offered Mary.

“Sure, babe. What do you want?” AJ asked his girlfriend, motioning to the concession menus.

“Just a diet Pepsi is fine. I’ll eat some of your popcorn.” She smiled sweetly and winked before walking away in search of the right theater.

Shaking his head, AJ turned back to Nick and Veronica and said, “Come on, we better get in line, or we’re gonna miss half the movie.”

They joined the concession line, which was thankfully moving quickly. As they neared the counter, Nick glanced down at Veronica, who was at least a foot shorter than him. “You wanna split a combo or something?” he asked her, pointing to the value combo that included a large popcorn and two drinks. “Cheaper that way,” he added with a grin.

“Oh… uh…” Veronica hesitated. “Actually, I don’t want any popcorn. Just a bottled water.”

“Just water?” Nick wrinkled his nose. “Are you sure?”

“I already ate dinner,” said Veronica, shrugging apologetically.

“Ah, okay. Well, I’ll just get the large combo anyway, and we’ll ask for a bottled water instead of the second soda. Then you can have some of my popcorn if you get hungry.”

“Oh… well, you don’t have to do that-“

“Girl, I’m getting a large popcorn anyway; you might as well help me eat it if you want, cause Lord knows I don’t need all the extra calories.” He patted his stomach for emphasis and shot her a smirk.

Veronica smiled awkwardly. “You don’t need to worry about calories, Nick. You look great.”

Nick studied her for a moment, then smiled back. “Well, thanks. So it’s settled then… I’m gettin’ the large.” He ordered the large combo, with a bottled water for Veronica, and when she tried to offer him money for it, he pushed the bills back into her hand. “Don’t worry about it; I got this,” he said. Naturally, she started to protest, but he picked up his popcorn and his Mountain Dew and held both up, showing her that his hands were full; he conveniently couldn’t take her money now.

“You can make it up to me later,” he said as they followed AJ to the theater. “Just, uh… give me some hard salami on the house next time, or somethin’.” He was trying to make a joke, but he didn’t quite realize how bad “give me some hard salami” sounded until it was out of his mouth and the embarrassed look had registered on Veronica’s face. “Er… sorry,” he apologized quickly, blushing. “I didn’t really mean… well… you know. I-I really do think about more than boners, I swear,” he added, a little more emphatically than he’d intended – a couple of older women’s heads turned quickly to look at him as he walked past their row of seats in the theater.

“That’s good,” Veronica laughed lightly as they sat down with AJ and Mary.

As the lights dimmed, and the previews began, Nick sat wondering if Veronica thought he was a total asshole (and a horny one at that). He hadn’t meant to sound like a dick all day, but he probably had. She would probably think the same of him as Claire had before she’d gotten to know him – that he was just another crude, conceited celebrity jackass.

Oh well. If that’s true, then it’s her loss, he tried to tell himself. It was the kind of thing Claire would have said. She’d always known what to say to make him feel better about himself. But she wasn’t here, and the words didn’t sound as convincing coming from his own mind.

Next to him, he heard Veronica giggle along with the rest of the theater at a funny scene in the preview that was playing. Nick had missed it. Not caring, he stole a glance at her through the darkness of the theater and found himself wishing she was Claire instead.

The screen provided just enough light in the dark theater for him to see her face… She was smiling, her eyes still sparkling with moisture, and all of a sudden, he felt his heart begin to pound with yearning. Taking his hand out of hers, he gently reached out and touched her cheek, lightly brushing her tears away. Her hand rose to take hold of his, and slowly, she guided it down her face, to her lips. She pressed her lips to his fingers, kissing them tenderly and then slowly lowered them. But his heart was racing now, and his tingling fingers longed to touch her again. They went to her shoulder and crept around, his arm encircling her, gradually pulling her closer to him as he leaned forward, his head tipping to the side, his lips drifting toward hers as if there was a magnetic field between them, steadily drawing them nearer…

“That looks good, don’t you think?” Veronica’s whisper brought Nick out of his daydream. He jumped in his seat and looked over at her, then back at the screen, blinking in surprise. He hadn’t realized how long he’d just spaced out until he noticed that they’d moved on to a completely different movie trailer.

“Oh… yeah!” he whispered back. “Looks awesome.” He had no idea what movie they were talking about; he’d been watching the screen without really seeing what was on it at all. The only thing he’d been able to see, flickering in his mind like an old movie on screen, was Claire, looking as she had that night they’d shared their very first kiss, in a theater much smaller and more intimate than this one.

I miss her, he thought. He didn’t want to admit it, but he couldn’t deny it either. He did want to move on and stop thinking of Claire all the time, but it wasn’t easy. Everything reminded him of her, and he was constantly remembering all the special little things they’d shared, moments he’d sometimes taken for granted. Going to movies together, their hands brushing as they both reached into the jumbo bucket of popcorn between them… or just watching DVDs together at home in their sweats, snuggled together beneath a blanket on the couch, with a bowl of microwave popcorn and a six-pack of cold beer. He would give anything to be with her that way right now, instead of here, with a girl who was still virtually a stranger.

But it was not to be. He knew this, and as the feature presentation began, he settled back in his seat, took a handful of popcorn, and hoped he could lose himself in the plot of the movie.

***

Claire poked her hand out from under the blanket just long enough to reach for her bottle of beer. She took a swig, enjoying the smooth sensation of the cold lager gliding down her throat, and set the bottle back down on the side table next to Jamie’s couch. Then she pulled the blanket back up around herself. It was almost May, and the Florida summer heat was in full swing, but Jamie kept his air conditioner cranked up, and she would freeze otherwise.

Besides, it was cozy, curled up on the couch with Jamie, a blanket, and her most comfortable pair of sweatpants. Three of life’s little pleasures, she thought, burrowing her head deeper in Jamie’s chest. His t-shirt was warm and soft and smelled like boy, in a nice way… the Axe bodywash and Old Spice deodorant kind of way. It was a comforting scent, one that brought her back to the days when she and Jamie would cuddle on the couch of his parents’ house after school, jumping off each other every time his mother came in. It was nice to be adults this time around, to be able to spend the night lying on the couch together, watching the baseball game they’d taped that afternoon into the wee hours of the morning.

“Lee’s up,” Jamie murmured, his voice rumbling in Claire’s ear as his chest vibrated beneath her. He rubbed her arms in anticipation as the Chicago Cubs’ first basemen, Derek Lee, came up to bat. The Cubs were down to the Marlins, 2-3, in the bottom of the eighth inning, and a single homer by Lee would be enough to tie the game.

“Lee’s gonna choke – again. He’s, what, 0 for 3 this game?” Claire teased. As a Florida fan, she couldn’t resist giving Jamie a hard time when it came to his cursed, “loveable loser” baseball team.

“All the more reason for him to get a hit this time,” Jamie countered. And as the Marlins’ bullpen pitcher threw the first pitch of the bat, they both fell silent to watch.

Only half-listening to the commentary between pitches, as Lee fouled a couple of balls into the stands, Claire amused herself with the knowledge that she and Jamie could have just watched Sports Center for the score earlier that evening and saved themselves a lot of agony. But hell, the suspense was half the fun of the game. It was the exact reason they’d purposely avoided all the sports channels after they’d gotten back from the clinic that afternoon, choosing to watch the taped game in its entirety that night.

All of a sudden, Jamie gasped and jerked upwards, jostling Claire off of him. “Oh – oh – that’s goin’ all the way! YES!!” he shouted, as Derek Lee’s full-count pitch sailed over the ivy-covered wall in the outfield of Wrigley. “3-3 – how do ya like that, baby? I so called it!” gloated Jamie, whooping as Lee trotted around the bases on TV.

“Yeah, yeah, so what? They haven’t won yet, you know; there’s still an entire inning left,” Claire retorted with a wry smile, pushing Jamie down onto the couch again and settling back against his chest.

She had missed nights like this with Jamie. And as she lay there, watching the end of the game play out from the comfort of his embrace, there was no other place she would rather be.

***