by J. J. Fogg
“Nothing…” was all he could muster without bursting into laughter.
“Why are you…” she looked perplexed—and then it hit her. “Oh my god! You are such a man! That is so childish!”
He exploded with laughter. “You're the one who was saying it!” His laughter could be heard across the room.
Lily, just shook her head. “How old are you?”
“I'm sorry,” he tried to calm himself as quickly as possible. He seemed to be pulling himself together until a new thought entered his mind making him burst into laughter all over again.
Lily rolled her eyes. “What now?”
“I'm sorry…but, does the UPS man have big packages for you often?” he grunted, then started laughing again.
“Har har.”
He finally calmed down.
“Oh god, I'm so sorry, Lily. I promise, I'm not normally this juvenile.”
“Fine…I guess it was a little funny, but I'm still not going to laugh with you.” For the most part, her resistance held firm, though she couldn't help showing a little bit of a smirk.
Chapter 10
The conversation between Nick and Lily flowed—filled with laughter, occasionally thoughtful and serious but, even then, comfortable. Time seemed to speed up and, before they knew it, it was two in the morning—closing time for Doc's Place on Friday nights.
“Well,” she started, not wanting to say it. “I guess I should help Eddie shut things down.”
Eddie yelled from across the bar, “I'm doing fine! You two just keep talking! I'll let you know when I'm ready to lock up!”
Lily bowed her head and blushed deeply.
“Hey, Lily?…Thanks…this was really nice.”
“You're welcome, Nick. It was good for me, too. I hope we can do it again sometime.”
“Yeah?” he seemed to be considering it, as if it were a much harder decision to make than it should have been. “Yeah,” he finally said a little more firmly, as if trying to convince himself that it would be okay. “Ten o'clock next Friday? Tentatively, I mean?”
She knew what he meant. She was disappointed, but understood. “Sure. It's a…” she caught herself. “I mean, I look forward to it.”
He stood up, and leaned over, giving her a polite kiss on the top of her head. He immediately regretted it as he'd not only just felt the softness of her hair, he smelled her shampoo and perfume, too. It smelled…delicious—if hair could be delicious. And he felt a stirring. It was sudden…unexpected…electric.
He leaned back down the two inches he'd managed to rise to and kissed her hair again. Oh god! He hovered, savoring the moment, until he realized it might seem creepy if he lingered any longer.
He pulled himself away, then started acting unexpectedly skittish, as he collected his things. He bid her good night, curiously holding his jacket in front of him as he walked away, instead of putting it on.
“Good niiiiight, Nick!” Eddie yelled in a slightly teasing tone from the back corner where he'd been sweeping. “Sweet dreams!” he added, provocatively. As soon as the door closed, he exploded with laughter.
“What's wrong with you, Eddie?! Why did you do that?!”
Eddie saw her looking daggers at him, but he couldn't help himself. He roared again with even more laughter. He maneuvered the broom in front of him, suggestively, then pretended to be Nick. “Oh, Lily, I had a very pleasant time tonight…You're a really good…friend…”
Daggers were no longer enough. Now she was throwing knives, arrows and even armor-piercing bullets at him with her eyes. “How dare you! He wasn't…He didn't have a…It wasn't like that!”
“AH HAAAAA HAAAAA!” Eddie was almost crying now. “He did SO!!! He grabbed his own jacket off a hook behind the bar, and threw it over the broom handle. “Does this look more familiar, Lily?!”
“Edward! He did NOT!” she yelled, as a sly grin tickled her mouth. Then the realization hit her. “OH MY GOD!!!….He DID!!!”
Eddie started hopping around the bar room, riding the broom like a horse, singing “Nicky had a woody…Nicky had a woody…”
Lily was now laughing along with him, though feeling guilty and embarrassed about it. She covered her smile with her hand, as if that made it any better. She could feel the heat radiating from her face like a preheated oven.
Eddie started changing his song. “Lily made a woody!…Lily made a woody!”
She suddenly sprinted across the bar, as if, without any warning, she had to go to the bathroom or something, giggling the whole way. “Lock up, Eddie!” she shouted, right before she slammed the door to her loft and ran up the stairs.
Eddie stopped singing long enough to listen to her uphill stampede, cringing when she apparently missed one of the steps and tumbled, recovering quickly. Then he burst into laughter again. “Oh man…good for you, Lily…good for you!”
Lily collapsed on her bed, out of breath from her sprint up the stairs. Her whole body was tingling at the thought that she'd not only connected with him emotionally with over four hours of conversation, but that she'd also managed to arouse him…and she hadn’t even been trying.
She stretched for her nightstand, trying to reach the drawer. She couldn't quite reach it, but there was something in there she wanted right now—a friend, she called it. She lunged, but still couldn't get there.
“Ugh!” she griped in impatient exasperation. I guess I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way, she thought. And she did, thinking of Nick the entire time.
Chapter 11
The following morning, Lily rose early with an energy she hadn't felt before. She'd already inventoried the stock and even sanitized the ice bin before Eddie showed up.
“Oh my god, Lily. Did you really clean the ice bin? On a Saturday?”
The late night and early wake up had caught up to her though. She was now sitting flopped on a chair behind the bar, her hair frazzled and her skin clammy from a morning of hard work.
“If I didn't know better, I'd say you had a good night last night, if you know what I mean.”
“Shut up, Eddie.”
“Ooh, touchy subject?” He grinned after saying it. “Get it? Touchy?”
She smirked. “Yes, you pervert. I got it.”
“Actually, now I'm thinkin' you didn't get it. You sound a little cranky.”
“Oh god, just stop already.”
“Fine. But seriously, I'm really happy for you. I hope it all works out and stuff. But last night seemed pretty special, so good for you.”
“Thanks, Eddie. Do you mind opening? I probably should go clean up. I'll be down in a little bit.”
“Sure, no problem.”
Eddie pulled all the chairs off the tables and wiped them down again. He was pretty much done prepping for opening when the bar's phone rang, which it rarely ever did. It took him by surprise.
“Doc's Place,” he answered, but no one spoke. “Hello? This is Doc's Place.”
“Um…” It was a man's voice.
“Hello?” Eddie asked again, then it hit him. It was only one syllable but he thought he might have recognized the voice. “Nick?”
CLICK—The line went dead.
He second-guessed himself a few times, but eventually made up his mind—it was most definitely, probably, Nick. But he wasn't sure what to make of Nick trying to call and then hanging up. Perhaps it was his own past still haunting him, but Eddie was suddenly feeling wary again of the man at the corner table. Still, he decided not to mention it to Lily.
The rest of the week was uneventful—just a typical week at Doc's Place.
But leading into Friday, both Eddie and Lily were on edge. Lily was hopeful—Eddie, concerned. He really didn't want Lily to get hurt, but even though he didn't want to witness it, he pledged himself to be there for her no matter what.
And when Friday finally arrived, he went out of his way to make it an easy night for her, just in case things went sour later.
Nick showed up on time, as if a customer had an assigned work shif
t. He made his way to the back, avoiding eye contact with Eddie as he walked past.
Well, something's up. Eddie's concern increased. Maybe he's just embarrassed. I mean, he WAS sporting a boner the last time he was here. He hoped for Lily's sake that's all it was.
Lily saw him come in and tried to contain her enthusiasm. She walked over to Eddie, who was already getting Nick's drinks ready.
“Hey, Lily…maybe take things slow with him today, okay?”
“Okay…wait…why?” She instantly grew concerned. “Why did you say that?”
“Nothing, no reason in particular.” He lied. “I'm sure everything's fine.” He lied again. “But, just in case, you know. Don't rush him. He's still hung up on Sarah, or he might be, I don't know. Anyway, I don't want you to get hurt, okay. So just take it slow, that's all.”
“Yeah,” she calmed herself down again. He made sense, she decided. “Okay, you're right.” She took a deep breath and let it out, then collected his drinks and headed over to see him.
“Hey Nick. Got your usual.”
He didn't look up at first, which concerned her. Then he peeked up at her, tentatively. “Thanks, Lily. How have you been? Did you have a good week?”
She smiled in relief. “Yeah, it was a pretty good week.” She reminded herself not to rush things. The night was still young, and the first part of it was likely still off-limits. “Well, I'll leave you alone, but…would it be okay to visit you later…if you don't mind, I mean?”
“Yeah, Lily. That would be nice.”
“Okay, good…Well, I'll be over there.” She pointed unnecessarily and turned clumsily before returning to the bar.
“Well?” Eddie asked.
“He said we could talk again later. So, that's good, right?”
He wasn't sure if it was or not. “Sure. I mean it's definitely not a bad sign, right?”
“Yeah. I'll take it.” She let out a pensive breath before heading out to welcome a few customers entering the bar.
Eddie looked over at Nick. So help me, if that guy breaks her heart… And this time, he wasn't posturing. Nick would be in serious peril if he hurt Lily. Eddie really had started thinking of her as a sister—sometimes annoying as all hell, but someone he still cared about very deeply.
Doc arrived a few minutes later, looking for Eddie. “There you are!”
Eddie looked a little confused. “Where else would I be, Doc?”
“Oh, right, never mind that. Listen, a couple of our regulars have been asking me about Halloween.”
“What about it? We're not doing anything, right? Besides, it's still a couple weeks away.”
“Yeah, good. That's exactly right. I just wanted to make sure you remembered we don't do anything different for Halloween. They were worried you might, since you're new.”
“Oh, no, definitely not. I wouldn't go and do something you clearly don't want. You know that, don't you?” He seemed a little hurt that Doc might question that.
“Of course, I do. I know that, Eddie. I just wanted to remind you and to let you know a couple of them might try to interrogate you a little, just to ease their worry. It's just a heads up, okay?”
“Yeah, sure, Doc. No worries.”
Doc left the bar as quickly as he'd arrived.
That was weird. “Hey, Lily!” he yelled to her from behind the bar. “I've got a question for ya whenever you're free. No rush!”
“Yeah, okay,” she called back and a few minutes later visited him between helping customers. “Hey, what's up?”
“So, Doc zipped in here earlier.”
“Yeah, I saw him.”
“All he wanted to do was remind me we don't do anything for Halloween.”
“Yeah?”
“Well, isn't that weird?”
“That's weird?” she joked. “Did you forget where you work?”
“Seriously, Lily. Do you think he still worries about me? Do you think he's afraid I'll mess something up? Lily, why would he do that?”
“Hey, hey,” her face turned serious. “Don't do this. Remember what you said to me about getting in your own way? That's what this sounds like, right now. Don't go there, okay?”
“I don't want to, Lily. It just, I don't know, it caught me off-guard.”
“Listen, can I tell you what I know?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, I know Doc thinks the world of you. I know Doc hand-picked you to be his bartender. I know he saw the promise of something really special in you. And I also know that he was right. I didn't see it at first; you know that. I wouldn't have batted an eye if you'd quit that first week. But I'm glad I was wrong.”
“You mean all that?”
“I wouldn't have said it…” she patted him on his back, looking out toward the bar room. Only a few customers, but the night was young.
“Thanks, for saying all that.” He soaked up the feeling of acceptance she gave him, simply with a few kind words and some pats on the back. It felt like family. “Hey Lily, I have one more question. If Halloween is no big deal, doesn't it seem weird that he'd make a point to not make it a big deal?”
She chuckled. “I don't know if that question even made sense, Eddie, but I think I know what you're getting at. So, Halloween actually is a big deal around here. It's just really important that we don't do anything to draw attention to it. I know it sounds crazy, but it would be a catastrophe if our customers came in on Halloween and saw ghosts and black cats and cheesy decorations all over the place. And god only knows what would happen if they walked in and heard the Monster Mash playing on the jukebox.” She joked.
“We don't have that song,” he said flatly.
“That was a joke, silly. I know we don't have that song. We don't have any holiday songs. And that's on purpose. So yeah, Halloween is still a big deal. It's just incredibly important that we don't act any different than we would any other night.”
“Okay, I guess that makes sense. I think. Only using Doc's Place logic, though.”
“Yeah, that's probably true. Also, do me a favor and don't do any drinking that day either. Not that I think you were going to, but I'm just saying…not even one drink, okay? We need you to be on the top of your game. We'll probably have a pretty big crowd that night.”
“For a holiday we're not even going to acknowledge? Yeah, that makes perfect sense…again, only at Doc's Place.”
She chuckled. “Now you're getting it!”
Chapter 12
Lily kept herself busy most of the night, only occasionally checking on Nick. There were no signs of Sarah, just as she expected. She tried to decipher his expression. Was he maybe a little less upset than normal that she hadn't showed? Was that just wishful thinking on her part? And had he been sneaking peeks at her throughout the night, like he unwittingly confessed to her a week prior?
She glanced at the clock: 9:30 p.m. I wonder if it's too soon…no, don't rush things…don't rush him. She dutifully waited until the clock struck ten before pouring herself a glass of water and heading over to the corner table.
“Hey Nick. Do you mind?”
“No, not at all.” He stood from his seat.
“I've got it, thanks. That's really sweet, though.”
“Oh…sure.” He sat back down.
“So, I see she didn't show again. I'm sorry. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I guess so. I, uh…I tried to call you last Saturday.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, Eddie answered the phone.”
She turned quickly, catching Eddie watching them intently from behind the bar. She shot him a glare before turning around again. “Humph. He didn't tell me.”
“Well, no. I mean, don't be mad at him. He didn't know it was me, not for sure, anyway. All I said was 'Um' and then I hung up.”
“Why?”
“I don't know. I just wanted to hear your voice…make sure you were real.”
“Make sure I'm real?”
“I…I don't know. I'm so confused.”
�
��Well, I can assure you, I'm real. And I'm right here.” She reached out and placed her hand on top of his. “So…if I had answered instead of Eddie…what would you have said?”
“Hopefully, more than um.”
“Nick,” she spoke reassuringly, “was there something you wanted to say?”
“I don't know…I've spent the last year trying to get something back that, at one point, I didn't even want. But then after I destroyed it, I thought maybe I did want it. By then it was too late. So, now she doesn't want me back and I'm just not even sure what I want anymore. I'm so confused.”
“Nick…what happened that night?”
“I can't, Lily…I can't…but it was my fault…If I hadn't said those things…” He pulled his hand out from underneath Lily's, as if he didn't deserve to be consoled. “And I know she keeps saying she wants me to move on…that things worked out the way they were supposed to. But that doesn't make me feel any better. So, on top of feeling guilty for all that…now, I'm feeling guilty for…”
“For what?”
“well…for you.”
“Nick…don't say 'no' right away, but I want to ask you something.”
“Okay?”
“Do you think Sarah might consider talking to me? If you asked her to, I mean?”
“Oh,” he wasn't sure what to expect, but it wasn't that. “I don't know, Lily. I don't know if she would.”
“I know it's really hard for you to talk about what happened. And I'm not trying to pressure you about it. I wouldn't want to do that to you. But I thought, maybe, you'd let her tell me…if that's okay, I mean.”
He nodded tentatively. “I can ask, if I ever see her again.”
“It would mean a lot to me, if you did. And I have a feeling she'll come back in a couple of weeks.”
“Why's that?”
“Well, just a hunch, I suppose.”
“Okay, we'll see, I guess. In the meantime, I have a question for you.”
“Sure. Ask away.”
