Broken Pieces (The Riverdale Series)

by Janine Infante Bosco

  Luke tipped back his beer and took a hearty sip. The bartender made her way towards them and smile brightly at them.

  “Well, isn’t this a blast from the past!” She exclaimed happily looking back and forth between Nick and Luke.

  Nick raised an eyebrow and looked over at Luke, wondering if he knew who she was because he hadn’t the foggiest.

  “It’s Nick Foti and Luke Lanza, right?!” She asked as she leaned over the bar. She stared at them as if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

  Nick waited for Luke to say something. He usually had the memory of an elephant and if he couldn’t place the female in front of them, then there wasn’t a shot in hell Nick would ever remember the perky brunette’s name.

  “Yes, it’s definitely us.” Luke said flatly as he took another swig of the beer.

  “You two look exactly the same as you did in high school!” She said cheerfully and then let eyes linger on Nick for a moment.

  Shit, he thought. How the hell was he supposed to remember her from high school? He offered her a smile, hoping to Christ, it charmed the shit out of her. “So do you.” He risked and then nodded towards the shelves of liquor behind her. “Do you mind grabbing me a drink, beautiful?”

  Luke turned and faced Nick for the first time since their little friend had made her way over to them. Nick avoided eye contact with Luke. He could feel the laughter in his stare.

  “Sure thing, Nick. What’s your pleasure?” She purred as she batted her false eyelashes.

  “Jack on the rocks. Make it a double sweetie.” He threw in a wink for good measure and watched as she sashayed her hips, and walked off to make his drink.

  “She looks the same?” Luke asked, amused.

  Nick turned and faced him. “Who the hell is that?” He asked as he scratched the top of his head. For all the tea in china he couldn’t place her. “Please tell me I didn’t have a thing with her.” His eyes widened as he feared the possibility.

  Luke laughed for the first time in what felt like ages. He needed a good dose of Nick, to get his mind off of his troubles. It was like nothing had changed, and they were still the wild and reckless kids who thought they ran this town. “That my friend is Helena Reynolds.”

  Luke waited for Nick to figure it out. Nick stared at him as if he had grown a second head. “Should that name mean something to me? Like ring a bell or something?”

  “Man, she propositioned you to punch her V- card at her sweet sixteen. You don’t remember Helena Reynolds?”

  “Here you go Nick.” She slid the glass towards him and smiled. “Wow, I can’t believe how great you look. I heard you spent the last few years in Seattle.” She bit her lip and let her eyes travel down his body. “The air must be good there.”

  Nick took the drink and tipped the glass towards her in a silent toast. Staring at the liquid in the glass he wondered if he had gone through with it, figuring yes, he threw back his head and guzzled the alcohol. He was going to need it.

  Helena turned and smiled at Luke. “How’s your daughter she must be so big by now.” She kept one eye on Luke and stared at Nick out of the corner of the other.

  Nick would’ve sworn she had a lazy eye or something. He topped off his drink from the bottle she left on the bar and grabbed the rest of Luke’s beer guzzling that as well. It was going to be a long night.

  “She’s great. She’s with my sister tonight.” Luke said as he eyed Nick.

  “Helena, can we get some refills. Maybe you should just bring the bottle here so I don’t have to bother you.”

  “Oh, you’re no bother babe.” She winked.

  Lucky for Nick, there was a guy at the other end of the bar beckoning for Helena. She placed the bottle in front of Nick and promised to return. Thank heavens, he thought sarcastically and turned around to Luke.

  “Did I do it? Tell me, I didn’t do it.” Nick begged for his friend to ease his fears.

  Luke laughed and decided it might be fun to let Nick stir for a bit. “Ask Sam.”

  “What?” Nick’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. “What does Sam have to do with Helena’s v-card?”

  “You know I thought it was weird, Sam offered to babysit Ava tonight.” Luke said, ignoring Nick’s question. He glanced over to the table that Phillip and Mallory occupied. “It’s Friday, she’s usually sitting over there with Jack Tripper and Janet.” His sister and her friends totally reminded him of an episode of Three’s Company.

  Nick looked over to the table that Luke motioned to and caught Phillip’s steely glare. What the hell did I ever do to him? Nick thought, and then shook his head, trying to get back to the subject at hand.

  “Did you and Sam have a fight?” Luke asked as he helped himself to the bottle of Jack.

  “No, we didn’t have a fight. Luke, can we get back to the Helena and Sam thing?” Nick asked as he rubbed at his temples.

  “Seriously bro, I was just joking about the Sam and Helena thing calm down. I have no idea if they even know one another and to answer your question, no you didn’t screw the innocent virgin.”

  Nick punched him in the shoulder. “Not funny Jackass.” Nick took a chance and glanced at Helena. She wasn’t bad, he countered, she, was a petite little thing, with long brown hair. Her eyes met his and she winked at him. Shit, now she thought he was checking her out. Nick turned around and studied Luke as he poured himself a full glass. Desperate for a change of subject, Nick took the full glass and offered him the empty one. Luke growled, but refilled the empty glass for himself.

  “How are things between you and Leah?” Nick asked and watched as Luke shrugged his shoulders.

  “Fine I guess. I think she wants more than I’m willing to give her right now, even though she hasn’t said it.” Luke said flatly.

  Nick looked at him, amazed. Maybe it was the alcohol filtering through his system, but the fact that Luke could figure out what a woman wanted without her actually telling him, well that just made him a God in Nick’s eyes. “Wait a minute, you mean to tell me you can tell what a woman wants and thinks without her saying so?”

  Luke looked at him as if he was off his rocker. “Yeah man, C’mon a woman is an open book.”

  Nick laughed and figured his friend was worse off than he thought. He took Luke’s words and applied them to Sam, she, was the furthest thing from an open book.

  Luke looked at Nick perplexed. “Are you serious? You can’t read a woman?”

  Nick held up a hand in protest. “Now wait a minute. I can read a woman in the bedroom. I can tell you what she wants and what she needs…”

  Luke shook his head and closed his eyes. It was a struggle for him to differentiate the Nick who was doing god knows what with his sister from the Nick who was his buddy, the one guy he could shoot the shit with. “So you’re saying take you out of a bedroom and you’re fucked when it comes to a woman.”

  Nick cocked his head to the side and processed Luke’s words before he nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.”

  “Nick, that’s a problem. If you can’t read a woman how can you be one step ahead of her?” Luke asked incredulously.

  “I’m never one step ahead.” He said and took a gulp of his drink. He was feeling a nice buzz going on. “I’m usually three or four behind, depending on the girl. For example, with your sister, I’m like on a whole fucking different continent.” Yeah he was definitely getting buzzed.

  Luke genuinely laughed out loud as he mentally pictured Sam driving Nick nuts. It was an amusing thought, and for the first time he could see them together and he accepted it. “Well, Sam’s not like any other woman.” He patted Nick on the back. “Hey, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “No, she’s definitely not.” Nick said thoughtfully as he leaned against the back of the stool.

  Helena made her way back to them and this time she helped herself to a shot. Luke raised an eyebrow at her and then Nick. “So I get off in a few minutes and I’ve been thinking the three of us should g
o somewhere and catch up.”

  It was Nick’s turn to laugh out loud. Had she just propositioned him and Luke? He may be on a different continent, but this chick was on a different planet, Nick mused.

  Helena’s cheeks reddened as if she was able to read Nick’s mind. “I’m sorry that came out all wrong.”

  “Nothing wrong in wanting to catch up with old friends,” Luke offered trying to defuse Helena’s embarrassment.

  She smiled at him and stumbled forward when the bartender relieving her bumped right into her. Helena straightened up, finding her balance. Her eyes went back to the two men she had been having a conversation with before and noticed she no longer had either of their attention.

  Luke looked right passed Helena into the haunting hazel eyes that belonged to Cara. “I didn’t know you went back to work.” He said softly. He wasn’t expecting to see her, the truth was he had barely seen or heard from her. He had no idea what she had been up to because she ignored all his calls. She made it damn near impossible to keep his promise to his deceased brother.

  “Well, why would you?” She nodded towards Helena. “You can take off now, I’ve got this.”

  Helena looked back and forth between them before untying her apron. She glanced over at Nick, who was watching Luke intently, well to the best of his drunken ability. She tucked the apron under the bar and made her way around to the other side. She took the seat on the opposite side of Nick and reached for the bottle that sat between the two men. Cara grabbed the bottle from her before she could pour any.

  “Let’s get something straight. I’ll be the one pouring the drinks.” She turned around and placed the bottle back on the shelf. She had one hand tucked into the back pocket of her skin tight jeans and with her free hand, she wiped down the mess that had been made by allowing Luke and Nick to pour their own drinks.

  Cara nodded towards Nick. “Do you want a refill?”

  “Sure.” He sighed and looked over at Helena. “What would you like?”

  Helena glared at Cara. What the hell was this chick’s problem? “I’ll have the same as you.”

  Nick turned to Luke. “Luke?”

  Luke sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “I’m good.”

  Cara nodded before turning around to busy her hands with preparing their drinks.

  Helena leaned closer to Nick, her head nearly rested on his shoulder. “What’s her problem?”

  “Her fiancé died.” Nick said, his voice barely above a whisper. He turned his gaze back towards Luke. “Tell me something.” He leaned closer so that only he could hear him. “If all women are an open book and you’ve got the magic touch, why can’t you figure her out?”

  “She’s not mine to figure out.” Luke answered automatically before turning to look Nick dead in the eye. “Jake asked me to watch out for her. He asked me to take care of her and make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid. But for some reason she hates me and has made it damn hard to keep tabs on her.”

  Cara slammed Nick and Helena’s drinks on the bar. Luke stared up at her, noticing the dark circles under her eyes that she tried to conceal with makeup. She turned away and sauntered to the other end of the bar. Luke watched as she helped the other patrons, shooting him daggers every time their eyes happened to connect.

  “So, Nick, how long have you been back in Riverdale?” Helena asked, trying to break the tension that had abruptly filled the air.

  “A while now,” He sighed and wondered where the time went. He felt someone poke a finger into his hard shoulder. He glanced behind him and saw Phillip standing beside him with his arms crossed at his chest. “Phillip, how you doing buddy?” Nick asked as he turned back around and grabbed his drink. He couldn’t look at Phillip without picturing Jack Tripper, thanks to Luke. He took a gulp of his drink to hide his grin.

  “Don’t you buddy me!” Phillip said and shoved himself between Helena and Nick. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Luke looked over at them, dragging his eyes away from Cara to see what the ruckus was about.

  “Nick?” Helena asked from behind Phillip.

  Phillip turned around abruptly. “Do you know you’re cozying up to an unavailable man?” He sneered at Helena.

  Nick began to choke on his own saliva, and coughed. Luke slapped him on the back, hard. “What’s he talking about Nick?”

  Phillip crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side, daring Nick to deny his accusations.

  “Phillip, I don’t know…” Nick started as he tried to move away from the death grip Luke now had on his shoulders. What the hell was going on? Phillip grabbed his phone and waved it in his face.

  “Well, if you don’t remember, why don’t I refresh your memory with a phone call hot stuff?” Phillip quickly found his contacts and dialed Sam.

  Nick rubbed his temples as the room spun around him. “Go ahead.” He may be three sheets to the wind, but he knew one thing for certain. He wasn’t the one who ended shit between him and Sam. That was all her.

  “Samantha, guess where I am?” Phillip said into the phone. “I’m sitting at the bar with Nick.”

  “Give me the phone.” Nick said through clenched teeth. He heard a laugh from Luke behind him, and silently cursed his friend to hell. Nick snatched the phone out of Phillips hand before attempting to stand. He made it to his feet, swaying until he steadied himself. “Sam?”

  Sam bit her lower lip and glanced at her niece who was tucked into bed beside her. Carefully, she slipped out of bed, not to wake her, and made her way into the living room. “Nick?”

  “I take it you didn’t tell Phillip that you were keeping your distance from me.” Nick said as he walked towards the hallway where the bathrooms were, looking for someplace quiet to talk to her.

  She hadn’t realized how much she missed hearing his voice. “I didn’t tell Phillip anything. Don’t mind him, he’s probably drunk.” She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling cold and lonely.

  “Yeah, well you might want to, seeing as how he was about to throttle me because I’m talking to an old friend.” Nick said as he leaned against the wall. Hearing her voice and knowing he couldn’t go to her and take her in his arms was tormenting him, making the last two weeks of hell seem like a walk in the park.

  Sam felt her heart stop. “An old friend?” She closed her eyes regretting the words the instant they slipped from her mouth.

  “Yeah, she’s a bartender here that Luke and I went to school with.” He closed his eyes already forgetting her name. He was so screwed.

  “Oh.” Was all Sam said for a moment, “I’m sorry Phillip got in your face, I’ll talk to him okay?”

  “Yeah, well…..” Nick whispered, feeling calmer and then opened his eyes. “Sam?”

  “Yeah…?” She asked hoarsely.

  “I’m still waiting.” He said and then before she could answer and tell him not to hold his breath, he ended the call.

  He stared down at the phone as the call ended catching a glimpse of the picture Phillip had assigned to her number. She would be the death of him.

  Nick sighed and pushed off the wall heading back towards the bar to give Phillip his phone back. Nick held it out for him to take and Phillip eyed him suspiciously.

  “You should probably talk to your friend if you have any questions. She’s the one with all the answers.” Nick said sadly.

  “Yeah, she’s your best bet.” Luke offered, adding his two cents. “This guy is on another continent, apparently.” He said as he motioned towards Nick with his thumb.

  Nick had enough for one night. He patted Luke on the back. “I’m heading upstairs.”

  Luke nodded and looked his friend over, he looked like shit. It was probably best if he bailed now, while he still could make it up the stairs to his apartment.

  “I’m going to hang out for a while. Leah’s working an overnight shift and Ava’s with Sam, so might as well take advantage.”

  Nick nodded and threw some money onto the bar, for whoe
ver wanted it, because he wasn’t sure who was even his bartender at this point or if he had paid for any of the alcohol he had consumed. “Good night…” Shit, what was her name again? “Everyone.” That was safe enough, he, figured and waved to everyone who was in his vicinity.

  Luke watched him stagger off towards the door before turning back around and coming face to face with Cara.

  “Luke, either order a drink or follow Nick out. I don’t need a babysitter.” She said and for the first time there wasn’t malice in her voice.

  He considered her words and nodded. “I’ll have a Jack and coke.” She stared at him for a moment, studying him, and then she nodded slightly.

  “Okay.” She whispered as if they had an understanding between one another. If she only knew he would drink himself silly if it kept her from lashing out at him.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Nick pulled his truck into the lot of Lanza Automotive the following morning, with a piping hot cup of coffee from the deli and sunglasses on to shield his eyes from the cheery sunny morning. He grunted as he turned off the ignition. He was late as usual, but was certain he would get a pass from Luke, being as how he had stayed at Rudy’s last night. In fact, as Nick scoped out the lot, he didn’t notice Luke’s car. It brought him a profound sense of joy that he had beaten Luke to the shop, hangover and all. He glanced at his watch and noticed it was almost noon, and there was no sign of Luke. His friend must’ve had one wild night, chuckling, he pictured Luke feigning off Alaina that was her name wasn’t it? He shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of his coffee as he walked into the garage.

  One of their mechanics was working diligently on a Mustang. Nick nodded towards Johnny, who lifted his head when he heard Nick enter the garage.

  “Hey boss, how’s it going?” asked Johnny as he wiped some grease off the gears he was holding.

  “Shitty.” Nick admitted as his head throbbed. “Luke never showed up?”

  “No, it’s just me. I opened the shop and got started on this beauty.” He said as he ran his hand down the hood of the cherry red Mustang.