Growing Up Neighbors

by Frances Hoelsema

  I do not look good, he thought, as he started to brush his teeth.

  Then he started to think about Deborah and what she might look like in the morning.

  She would probably look beautiful no matter what.

  His mind wondered about what she wore to bed, but didn’t know if she was the nightgown or shirt and bottom type of girl.

  Wait. I shouldn’t think of Debbie in that way. She’s my friend, Nicholas contemplated.

  He then tried shrugging his thoughts off. However, deep down he started realizing that maybe this growing attraction meant something more.

  One thing he knew for sure was that all these thoughts were going to make getting through work torture for him. He wanted to see Deborah again.

  Nicholas finished getting ready and made it to work by six thirty a.m., the whole time thinking of Deborah and their date that afternoon. He wasn’t looking forward to having to work first, but that dislike was tiny in comparison to the delight he’d feel once he saw Deborah’s face.

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  All week long Deborah grew more and more apprehensive about the lunch date she was supposed to have with Nicholas. She had questions regarding what he meant by this date and what may or may not happen from here on out. The worst thing she feared was that she might be making a big mistake by allowing herself to get close to Nicholas again.

  Another thing that went through Deborah’s mind was that she was crazy for even looking so deeply into a simple lunch with someone she grew up with. She tried her best to downplay the situation and vowed to act aloof when the date came so as not to give Nicholas the impression that she liked him for more than a friend. For she was certain Nicholas didn't feel the way about her as she did about him.

  Deborah sat in front of the TV in the living room flipping through the channels trying to find something worth watching to bypass the time. She was excited for the date and looked forward to getting some answers. Everything she wanted to know she could probably tell from the things he would say or do or even how the date would end. If Nicholas was really sorry for how he acted last year and truly meant that he missed her and wanted to be friends then somehow he’d prove it. If Nicholas didn’t mean what he said last week then Deborah would let bygones be bygones, but she’d move on and rid herself of the feelings she’s had for Nicholas once and for all.

  After viewing the clock, Deborah saw that she had about an hour left before heading out to the little café she and Nicholas agreed on. Now was as good a time as any to finish getting ready seeing as nothing was on TV. Having so much time to spare allowed Deborah to go slow and pick out just the perfect outfit.

  She came across a pair of her favorite jean shorts and put them on. They had a faded look to them, but fit her well. The only downside was that they were a little shorter than what she liked to wear, but knowing she had the legs to pull it off, it didn’t stop her from wearing them or buying them in the first place. They had a mid-rise waist to them that helped the shorts to flow over her hips and flatter her curves in just the right way.

  For a top, Deborah decided on a two-layer look. She put on a form-fitting white spaghetti strap tank that stopped just above the belly button of her stomach. Then on top of that she put on an extra short sleeve, button down shirt. The sleeves were ribbed and the collar was wide, almost from shoulder to shoulder. The shirt was white, but made of see through material, and had a flower print to it. The shirt flowed down to Deborah’s hips so that her belly button was at least covered, something she was self-conscious about even though she had the body of a runway model.

  Wanting her shoes to match, Deborah put on a pair of brown flip flops that had a huge sunflower on top. Sunflowers were one of her favorite flowers so when she saw these in the store she had to buy them. Deborah knew she had a great summer look to her and felt like this would be the perfect look to see Nicholas with.

  Deborah went to the bathroom to comb her blond hair and put on just a tiny amount of makeup and perfume. She was satisfied with the way she looked after all was said and done.

  Still having a half hour to spare before she had to leave drove her crazy. She didn’t know what she wanted to do or could do to make the minutes fly by just a little faster so she just decided to sit in front of the TV once again. With all the channels they had, one would think there would be something to watch, but there wasn’t. It seemed that Saturday morning TV was for children or people with no lives.

  When noon came and Deborah had rotted her brain for the last half hour, she jumped up and headed out the door, glad the clock in front of her finally signaled the time to go. Deborah hopped into her car and made her way to town to find the restaurant she and Nicholas would be dining at. Finding it proved to be no problem at all.

  The café was on a corner and looked small from the outside, but once Deborah made her way inside and took a quick peek to see if Nicholas was there, it was a lot bigger. She didn’t notice him, but then again she was early. A nice gentleman asked if he could seat her and she allowed him to. She was given a window seat close to the front so that she could keep her eyes open for Nicholas when he walked in.

  Deborah looked through the menu she was handed so that she could figure out what to order. For being a smaller café they had quite a selection. It made it hard for Deborah to decide. She had time though seeing as it wasn’t even twelve thirty yet.

  While casually browsing the menu, she also took time to analyze her surroundings. Deborah had never been to this place before and wanted to get a feel for what it was like. Her first impression was a good one. It was cozy and cheerful with yellow walls and lighting that wasn’t too bright. There were booths along the walls with tables in the center, none that were too close to the other. If the food was as good as everything else she’s noticed so far, Deborah would have to come back again.

  While waiting for Nicholas, Deborah had decided to order a chocolate milkshake and then slowly sipped on it when it arrived two minutes later. Every few minutes she took a glance at the giant clock that hung above the cash register. This time the clock read twelve forty five. Nicholas was fifteen minutes late which made Deborah begin to think he wasn’t going to show. However, she tried to remain positive and talked herself into thinking there had to be a good reason for his tardiness.

  Then when Deborah sipped the last of her chocolate milkshake she again viewed the clock. This time it said twelve fifty eight. Nicholas was practically a half hour late. He hadn’t even called and she didn’t see any sign of him outside from the window she sat next to.

  Deborah had gotten her answer.

  Nicholas apparently didn’t mean anything that he had said the week before. He apparently wasn’t interested in dating Deborah or even wanting to spend time with her. She didn’t have a clue as to why he didn’t show, but she wasn’t going to wait around much longer. Deborah asked for the bill and then got up to pay for it. When she got her change back and said thank you to the gentleman that helped her, she walked back out the door to her car. By this time it was six minutes after one.

  Deborah headed home feeling like Nicholas had stomped all over her once again. She managed to keep herself from crying because she had to focus on the road, but every now and then a stray tear fell down her right cheek and Deborah would have to wipe it away.

  One good thing happened today in Deborah’s opinion. She knew where she and Nicholas stood so now she could move on for sure this time. It might take a while to get over him, but there were no more what ifs or maybes. Deborah vowed to put this all behind her and move on with her life, Nicholas to be no part of it.

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  Nicholas glanced at his silver watch and realized he was late for his date with Deborah. Over an hour ago his boss had called him to let him know that a machine had broken down and needed to be fixed pronto. Seeing that Nicholas was the only one working today that could fix that particular machine, there was no choice but to stay on the job until it was done. His boss also told him that once the machi
ne was fixed that he could leave for the day. This was a perk for Nicholas because fixing the machine should have been a quick job, and so he got excited that he might be able to leave earlier than planned. He also didn’t mind having to fix the machine because it sure beat moving the heavy furniture around from one classroom to the next.

  This all started over an hour ago. What Nicholas believed to be a quick fix turned into one long, drawn out mishap after another. First, the tools that were needed to fix the machine were misplaced. Nicholas had looked everywhere that they kept the tools. He almost gave up and called his boss back to let him know he couldn’t find the tools and therefore couldn’t fix the machine. But then the tools showed up in a dark corner underneath some tarp that also happened to be in the wrong place.

  That was one thing that bothered Nicholas about his job. He sometimes felt that if something had to be done right, it had to be him that did it. He didn’t want to give himself a big head, but it just seemed like no one else on the grounds/maintenance team knew how to keep things clean, organized and in working order. Shaking his head in disappointment, he grabbed the tarp and put it where it belonged then grabbed the tools he needed.

  After getting to the broken machine with the correct tools, he opened it up to figure out exactly what was wrong. Realizing the issue would be easier to fix with two sets of hands, he started calling the other guys on duty to have one of them come help. There were three other men that came into work today with Nicholas, and not one of them was able to help him. Each man came up with a different excuse, which was more than frustrating.

  I’m just going to have to try and do this myself, I guess, Nicholas thought, angered.

  Even though it was taking a while, Nicholas was managing to get everything working again. However, just when he was almost done, he accidently scraped his knuckle on his right middle finger as he tried to put a part in place. The scrape bled and couldn’t be ignored so Nicholas had to go tend to the wound.

  As he made his way to the bathroom, he again took a quick peek at the watch he was wearing. It read three minutes after noon, which meant Nicholas would have no time to go back to his apartment to change his clothes and freshen up before he met Deborah for their date.

  Oh, well, at least I should still make it on time, he thought optimistically.

  Nicholas carefully washed his wound, put an anti-bacterial ointment on it and then a bandage, all while thinking how this wouldn’t have happened in the first place if he had someone helping him.

  When he got back to the machine, he put all parts in place and closed it up. He gave it a test and it still didn’t run quite right so he opened it up to see if he missed something. In doing so, he noticed two issues. One was that something wasn’t tightened down good enough, which was a quick fix. The other issue, though, would take a little longer as it was that something else had to be replaced. It was a small part they had on hand so it wouldn’t take as long as before and he didn’t need anyone else’s help this time, but it would still delay when he’d get to leave work.

  After completing the needed tasks and believing again that the machine was fixed, Nicholas tested it a second time. Immediately he could tell it was as good as new and so he breathed a sigh of relief. He got everything turned off and put away in the proper place and then headed back to the bathroom to quick wipe off any grease or dirt he had gathered from working this morning. This is when Nicholas checked his watch and noticed it was after twelve thirty.

  He was late!

  On the way to his car Nicholas called his co-workers to let them know he was going home for the day so that they knew he would no longer be at any of the schools. By the time he was done talking to his co-workers, his phone had died.

  Great! Now I can’t even call Deborah to let her know I’m on my way, Nicholas thought in despair.

  As he turned on to the road from the parking lot, the clock read twelve fifty one, just slightly faster than what his watch read. He hit his steering wheel in frustration for being late and not being able to call Deborah. He then started to drive faster to the café in hopes Deborah would still be waiting for him. When the clock showed just after one and he knew he still had almost ten minutes to go, he sped up more and even almost missed a stop sign, which another car had honked at him for. All he could do was mouth, “Sorry,” to the guy in the other vehicle.

  Finally, Nicholas had made the last turn and saw the little café up front so immediately started looking for a parking space. Just before he turned off the car he saw that it was one eleven in the afternoon.

  Shoot! Deborah’s probably gone by now, he thought.

  Nicholas quickly exited the car and then almost bumped into two people as he ran to the café.

  “Sorry. Excuse me,” he spoke to the couple as he continued running.

  Once inside, Nicholas looked around to see if Deborah was there, but had no luck.

  “Shoot,” he softly muttered.

  Someone asked him if he wanted a seat, but he declined and then walked back out. He took a quick glance at the cars around and didn’t notice Deborah’s so concluded she had in fact left already. Then he got back into his red vehicle feeling horrible about the situation and trying to think of what to do.

  Way to go, Nick. You let her down again, he condemned himself.

  The best thing he could come up with was to just go see if Deborah went home. He had to give her an explanation as to why he didn’t show up. After explaining what happened at work and everything else, maybe, just maybe, Nicholas hoped, Deborah would agree to set up another time to get together. He knew it was wishful thinking at best, but even if she didn’t want to go out with him anymore, he still wanted to give her a reason for his actions.

  So before heading to Deborah’s house, Nicholas headed back to the café to see if he could use their phone. Luckily they agreed. Three different times he let the phone ring until it reached the part he was asked to leave a message. After waiting a little bit, he tried a fourth time, this time leaving a message, just explaining he was on his way and that he was sorry.

  Nicholas put the phone down, thanked the person that allowed him to use it and then got back into his car so he could drive to Deborah’s house.

  The whole way there he kept silently begging for her not to be mad at him.

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  Immediately when Deborah had gotten home she threw her car keys into her purse and her purse onto the living room couch. She then ran up to her bedroom, fell on her bed and buried her face in the pillow, allowing herself to cry freely.

  Deborah didn’t really know why she was crying. Perhaps it was because she expected Nicholas to have really wanted to go out with her and catch up. Or it could be that she hoped he missed her so much that he realized he couldn’t be without her. Perhaps it was even the fact that she loved Nicholas deeply and wished he felt he same, which he obviously didn’t. Whatever the reason, the reality of the situation sucked. Deborah’s feelings were hurt once again by a man she grew to love.

  Why do I have to love him? she thought as she sobbed into her pillow and occasionally came up for a breath of fresh air.

  It wasn’t long after she got home and lay on her bed that she heard the phone ring, but she was in no mood to answer it.

  A minute later and the phone rang again. A little bit after that it did again. Each time the phone started to ring it would go all the way to the messaging system, but the person on the other end didn’t leave a message.

  Then there was silence. It seemed that the mystery caller had given up.

  Deborah’s cry was lighting up and she found herself just laying on her bed in a daze, recapping last week’s visit from Nicholas. She thought for sure she saw remorse in his eyes for what happened the previous summer. She also thought she had seen something more in his eyes that coincided with the way he acted and spoke. However, after what happened today, she began to wonder if it was just the fact that he maybe didn’t sleep well or had his mind on other things. She even won
dered if perhaps it was all a big act.

  Maybe someone made him come and visit me last week, Deborah wondered.

  As soon as she realized the stupidity of that thought she shifted gears a little.

  I’m just going to move on. I have to move on. I’ll be okay, she thought.

  The phone started ringing again. Deborah again let it go to the messaging system. She laid in silence to see if anyone would leave a message this time. After the greeting played and then the beep, Deborah heard Nicholas’ voice.

  “Deborah, if you’re home, please pick up.” A brief moment passed and then Deborah heard, “Anyway, you have to know how sorry I am. I’m coming over to your house right now to explain what happened. Please let me see you. I’ll be there within five or ten minutes.”

  “Ugh, can’t you just leave me alone? How can I move on if you don’t leave me alone?” Deborah shouted frustratingly.

  She reluctantly sat up in her bed and slowly walked to the bathroom to make sure she was at least presentable. Deborah knew that she really didn’t want to see Nicholas, but seeing that he was on his way already she’d at least be nice enough to open the door and let him explain. Perhaps after that he’d finally leave her alone she hoped.

  What Deborah saw in the bathroom mirror was not a pretty sight. Some of her makeup looked worn off, her hair was slightly messed up and you could tell by looking at her eyes that she had been crying. The last thing that she wanted Nicholas to see was that she was crying so she tried her hardest to wash her face and put on some fresh makeup. Even the best she could do didn’t mask her teary-eyed face.

  Oh, well, Deborah thought and then did her best to don a smile.

  Just then the doorbell rang. Deborah quickly brushed her hair and then took one last glance in the mirror to make sure she looked as presentable as possible. Then she went downstairs and to the door. She took a deep breath before twisting the knob, preparing herself the best she could for the conversation that lay ahead.