Catlyn was sitting at her computer, working on one of her new orders. She'd been trying to get the graphic for the page right, but couldn't concentrate. Her mind kept reliving her day with Nick. She couldn't place what it was about him that made her so crazy. Yeah, he was sexy. And funny. And smart. And awesome to talk to. But there was something else. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. And she couldn't think of him like that. He was taken. Besides, she didn't want a boyfriend. But after spending all day with him, he was enough to make her reconsider that.
Sighing, she stretched her arms above her head. Bringing them back down, she locked her fingers behind her head, leaning back in her chair. Her mind recalled the events of the day, a small smile playing on her lips.
Nick was eating the last of his omelet; making satisfied smacking noises that he knew bugged Catlyn to no end. He peeked up to find her looking at him with a look of disgust. "What?" he said, his mouth full of eggs.
"You are a pig."
He laughed shaking his head. "I'm sorry. I'm just kidding around with you," he said finishing his mouthful and taking a drink of his milk.
"Milk and eggs. Yum," she said unimpressed as she pushed her plate away.
"You didn't eat all of your chicken strips," he pointed at her plate.
She shrugged. "They weren't that good."
"Why didn't you say something? We'd have gotten you sommore," he said looking at her.
"Not that big of a deal."
"Hmm," he murmured leaning back in the booth and slinging his arm along the back of the seat. "So…what do you like to do besides play basketball and go to haunted houses?"
"Well…I like computers and video games," she laughed as a smile formed on his beautiful lips. "Beautiful? Where did that come from?" she thought. Taking a sip of her juice, she shook her head. "I umm…I like music and dancing. Writing, drawing, comics, vampires, role-playing. Classic nerd stuff I guess," Catlyn shrugged. "What about you?" she asked.
"You're not a nerd," Nick chuckled. "I like to draw and write. I also like video games. So what system do you like?" he asked.
"Nintendo or Playstation," she replied quickly.
"No Sega?" he asked smirking. This got them into a deep discussion on the ups and downs, the pros and cons of the many different video game systems on the market. He was impressed by her knowledge on the subject. Not too many girls could carry on this in depth conversation, especially not with him. He listened to her talk about some of the new systems she'd heard they were developing wondering why he couldn't have met her before he'd gotten involved with Crystal. But of course, he would have had the obstacle of her "anti-boyfriend" attitude. That was something he couldn't understand. A chick as hot and funny and as cool as she was not having a boyfriend. Not wanting a boyfriend. He shook his head. Looking at her, he realized that he had completely missed whatever it was she had just said to him. "I'm sorry, what was that?"
"I just said that your truck was stripped down to the frame, the restaurant was on fire, and the sky was falling. But it's all okay now," she said with a straight face.
He blushed. "I'm sorry. Kind of got lost in thought," he said.
As they stood up to go pay for their food, Catlyn smiled. "Care to share what was going through your head?"
"Umm," he said scratching his head. "No," he grinned. Pulling out his wallet, he was surprised to find that she had already handed the lady at the register some money.
"My treat," she winked and started walking out the door. Realizing he wasn't behind her, she turned to him. "Hello. Come on," she said walking over and dragging him out the door.
They spent the rest of the day at a large arcade that was in Church Street Station. He was fiercely competitive, bringing out Catlyn's spirit of competition. They joked around a lot, talked a lot, and acted like they had been friends all their lives. After wasting more than a few hours, playing all the games more than once, and walking out with more than their share of prizes, Nick took her to dinner at Medieval Times.
As they ate their replication of an 11th century European feast, they were entertained by a passion and competition fueled reenactment of a jousting duel by Knights on real horses. The atmosphere and spirits of the people in the room almost made you forget it was all a show. The table was one huge circle, surrounding an open arena down below where the Knights were. Everyone had an excellent view.
There were two knights. One in armour as black as midnight, his horse was pure black, with red on his decorations. The second knight was in polished silver armour. His horse was as white as pure snow; his horses' decorations were of a bright blue. They fought valiantly. Each charge bringing the crowd almost to their feet. When at last the white knight won the duel, leaving the black clad knight laying on the ground in defeat, the guests were ecstatic. A court jester came out to congratulate the white knight, tripping over the "corpse" of his fallen opponent. This caused a chuckle throughout the room. The guests cheered loudly as the jester presented the victor with his medal, and the King walked out with his Princess on his arm. Releasing him from her, she walked towards the white knight who was now the man she was to marry.
"That was so cool," Nick grinned as they left the restaurant. "Did you like it?"
Catlyn nodded, her excitement showing in her eyes. "Thank you so much," she said softly as he helped her into the truck. They drove back to her apartment in silence, each reliving the day they had just had. Nick walked her to her door, standing by her as she unlocked it. She looked up to find him watching her intently. "What?" she asked suddenly very self-conscious.
"Nothing," he shook his head and looked away. "I…umm…thanks for coming with me today. I had a great time," he said softly as he looked back at her.
"Me too," she smiled. "Thanks for taking me with you."
He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "I hope we can do this again sometime," he murmured, replacing his lips with his hand, caressing her cheek gently.
"That would be nice," she said looking deep in his eyes. Wanting him to kiss her like he had before, but knowing it wasn't right, she looked away. "I guess that I will see you later," she whispered.
Pulling his hand away slowly, and dropping it to his side, he nodded. He shoved his hands deep in his pocket and smiled awkwardly. "Yeah. I gotta go. I'll see ya." He waved as he turned and walked back to his truck. Catlyn watched him for a moment before walking inside her apartment.
"Hey Kyndall," Catlyn said waking up from her reminiscing. Noticing that she'd been crying, Catlyn almost fell out of her chair in her rush to get to her friend. Seeing Howie walk in after Kyndall, she was really worried. "What happened?" she asked.
Kyndall just looked at her, shook her head, waved her off, and walked to her room. Howie watched her walk away, his eyes full of tears. "AJ," he said softly, sitting down on the couch heavily.
