A week had passed since he had arrived. He’d spent the better part of his week thinking and taking satisfaction in the mere fact that he had made it this far. For now he was perfectly content with just letting everything soak in. Now that he was here, there was no need to rush.
The boxes still remained unpacked but it didn’t bother him because he could do without half the stuff in there. The only two necessities, his precious album and the computer, were already unpacked.
Last night he had ventured out to get a bite to eat and against his better judgement he had taken a detour. He’d silently chided himself as walked towards her apartment, but he just couldn’t resist.
The apartment hadn’t been hard to find and he was pleasantly surprised at the proximity to his own. He’d stood staring it the building for a few minutes before he managed to tear himself away. He couldn’t afford to let her see him there – not yet at least. He’d have to wait until the timing was absolutely perfect. For now, just knowing that she was close by was good enough for him. In fact, it was all he needed.
The past week had been long and torturous. Usually she was perfectly content with lounging around the house all day, but for some reason this week had been different. She had been restless, unable to sleep and unable to draw even. Throughout the week she found herself contemplating various ways in which she could keep herself occupied. She kept thinking that maybe she should get a job, but she knew that wasn’t an option. She wasn’t ready for that. She still needed time to heal.
With a sigh she exhaled, a plume of smoke escaping from her lips as she carefully ground out her cigarette. She sighed again, thinking of the damage she was doing to her health. She knew she shouldn’t be smoking, but she couldn’t help it. It wasn’t that she enjoyed it or anything, it was just something for her to do when she was bored or lonely. It was often a welcome distraction even if it only lasted for a few minutes. She planned to quit soon.
Getting up she trudged slowly towards her room, flopping down on her bed. After a few seconds of silence she leaned over and grabbed her sketchbook hastily. All week long she hadn’t been able to draw a single thing. It seemed that every time she picked up her pencil, her fingers froze. It was a telltale sign that something was wrong. Normally drawing was her solace - the only thing that took her mind off her troubles.
A determined sigh escaped her lips as she picked up her pencil poising it above her paper. She sat in silence for a few minutes, her face contorted in concentration as she contemplated what to draw. Finally with a frustrated sigh she snapped her book shut and angrily flung it across the room. It hit her wall, falling to the ground with a soft thud.
Immediately Jessica could feel the hot stinging tears burning at her eyes. She was angry. Angry that all of this had happened to her. Angry that because of what he had done she was forced to live a life of fear and loneliness. She was angry because she couldn’t draw. She was angry at her parents because they hadn’t believed her. Her own parents had called her a liar and refused to listen to her side of the story. It hurt just thinking about it. She was angry because she was thinking about it.
Her eyes darting furiously around her room, she could feel the walls closing in on her. Suddenly she had a splitting headache. It was so bad she could hardly breathe. This happened to her every time she thought about the past. Her mind a daze she reached towards her night table, a horrible headache suddenly hitting her. She opened the drawer slowly and fumbled around in search of aspirin. Annoyed, she propped herself up and turned to face the drawer. She peered inside but instead of finding the aspirin she stumbled upon a piece of crumpled paper. Curiously she eyed it, gently unraveling it before it dawned on her what it was.
Nickolas Carter. Carter Enterprises. She read the words aloud to herself, taking notice that both his office and cell numbers were conveniently listed.
For a few moments she sat in silence nervously eyeing the card as she turned it over in her hands wondering what she was going to do with it.
He listened with a pretentious smile plastered upon her face, involuntarily cringing as her high-pitched voice filtered through the air. Her voice was so loud that she had attracted the attention of other people at the restaurant. People who had planned on having an intimate, romantic dinner were now shooting Melissa disgusted looks. All she seemed to talk about was herself and Nick was hardly able to get a word in edgewise. He had long since droned her voice out and was busily sizing up her considerable assets. It could have been an eventful night, he mused to himself, only somewhat disappointed.
He had met Melissa at the club a few nights ago and foolishly agreed to meet her for dinner, tempted only by her physical appearance. At the club she had exuded sexiness, but somehow now that she was sitting right across from him he was finding her anything but attractive.
She laughed suddenly, squeezing her eyes shut and giving Nick a chance to quickly glance at his watch. Unfortunately, it was still early. Their food hadn’t even arrived yet. Quickly his mind began racing, the wheels turning as he tried to come up with an excuse to get the hell out of there. A dying grandmother, a parole violation, a sudden headache – anything. He was desperate.
He pretended to listen for a few more excruciating moments before suddenly his cell phone rang. Glancing down at the caller ID panel he realized it was an unfamiliar number but he didn’t care. “Sorry, I have to take this call,” he told her apologetically, secretly grateful for the interruption.
“Hello?” he inquired confidently.
Silence followed and Nick dew in a quick breath, assuming the person had hung up. “Hello?” he inquired again, just to make sure.
“Hi,” a soft voice stammered. “Is this Nick?” she asked after a few seconds.
“Yeah,” he responded slowly as he racked his brain trying to place the voice. He looked up and caught Melissa staring at her nails, a bored expression upon her face.
“Um, this is Jessica,” she said uncertainly. “From the club the other night,” she added quickly. He probably doesn’t even remember, she thought to herself suddenly feeling utterly foolish for even calling. She didn’t even know why she had done it. It had been an impulsive move, one that she was already regretting.
A smile played upon Nick’s lips and for a moment he forgot about Melissa’s presence. He was surprised that she had called. He wasn’t expecting her to. “I remember,” he replied as if in answer to her question. Silence ensued and Nick took the opportunity to discreetly cover the phone. “Sorry, I’ve got to take this call. I’ll be right back,” he whispered to Melissa. He stood up and headed towards the restroom area without even so much as a glance back in her direction.
Jessica listened carefully, vaguely able to make out his words. He was busy. Of course he was. Most people didn’t stay home on a Saturday night with their sketchpad and pencils. “Is this a bad time?” she asked suddenly feeling intrusive.
“No, it’s fine. I’m not busy at all,” he replied quickly forgetting all about Melissa who was impatiently awaiting his return to the table. Normally this would be where he inserted one of his pick-up lines but somehow it didn’t seem appropriate. For once, Nick found himself temporarily at a loss for words.
Another bout of uncomfortable silence followed. “I’m surprised you called,” Nick told her truthfully, breaking the silence.
Me too, she almost whispered. Suddenly a thought ran through her head. Even though she could tell that Nick often gave his number out to girls, she didn’t want him to think that she was the type of girl who frequented clubs looking for a guy that she could hook up with for a night or two. “Actually, I’m not even sure why I called. I was feeling impulsive I guess,” she told him honestly.
Of all the reasons a girl had ever given him for calling, this was not one of them. He was used to the flirtatious type, the kind of girl who would lie unabashedly hoping come off sexy and intriguing. Frankly her honesty was a little daunting and at first he was unsure of how to react.
“After the way you walked away from me, I was certain you were going to throw my number out the moment you got home,” he replied. He smiled to himself. She had actually kept his number.
“Well I guess I didn’t,” she replied at a loss for a better explanation.
He seemed satisfied with her response and didn’t question her any further. As Nick stood in the secluded restroom area he strangely found himself picturing her, trying to remember what she looked like. Surprisingly, he remembered everything about her.
“You know, I really think we started off on the wrong foot at the club. What do you say we try again?” Nick asked his voice husky as he returned to his old self. There was a long pause and for some reason Nick found himself expecting to hear the dial tone.
“Okay,” she replied, her voice barely audible.
Both thoroughly and pleasantly surprised Nick fell silent again. “Why don’t we go out for lunch tomorrow?” he managed to utter. “12 o’clock good for you?”
For a moment Jessica found herself unable to answer. She wasn’t sure what she was getting herself into. She was scared for a moment. This was how everything had started with Ryan. One insignificant, harmless date had led to so much more. By agreeing to that one date, which felt like an eternity ago, her life had irrevocably changed. Ryan had changed everything for her.
She opened her mouth, ready to tell him that unfortunately 12 wasn’t good for her and that she was busy all day, the rest of the week and even for the whole month. Somehow though she couldn’t. There was something about him that she couldn’t just ignore. Even the sound of his voice was eerily calming and oddly made her feel comfortable. “12 is great,” she found herself saying.
“How does Bellaggio sound?” he asked referring to a chic bistro near her apartment which she had seen many times but never gone into. “Do you know where that is?”
“Yeah, “ Jessica said vaguely, worriedly contemplating the impact of what she had just done. She didn’t even know him.
“Great. See you then Jessica,” Nick said before hanging up. Smiling to himself he slowly began walking back to the table. Approaching the table, his smile faltered slightly. Melissa was gone.
Too bad, he mused to himself without remorse. Suddenly, he couldn’t wait for the night to be over. Sunday seemed like a long time away.