Ready To Go (20 page)

“Fine,” she said. “When we get there, I’ll draw something. You really are weird though.”

He leaned back against his seat and sighed. “So, any chance I can get you to come back to Pennsylvania with me?”

“No way,” she said. “Remember the whole point was to get
away
from there?”

“Well, yeah, getting away from your parents,” he said. “But Pittsburgh is already pretty far away from Philly.”

“It’s not worth it to just turn around and go back now,” she insisted. “Sorry.”

“I’m just really going to miss you.”

She glanced at him and smiled. “I know. I’ll miss you too. But honestly, right now, I’m excited about getting there. Starting a new life. Plus, I’m hoping that you’ll change your mind and stay here with me.”

“No,” he said. “Sorry. I just can’t.”

“I know,” she said sadly. “I just wish you could.”

“Would be nice,” he agreed. “Although I have no idea what I’d do out here. And you can’t tell me again to be a singer, because no.”

“Be a singer,” she said with a mischievous grin. “Really, you’d be good at it.”

“No,” he said, but he grinned as well. “But thanks for saying so. A pretty girl giving me compliments is kind of awesome.”

“You should stay,” she pleaded. “You know you’re not going back to med school, and there are good schools for other jobs out here. Plead with your parents and let them choose the school if you want, but you don’t need to be in Pennsylvania. And I really don’t want to lose you.”

“I told you, we’ll talk every day,” he said. “You won’t be losing me. We’ll be friends.”

“Best friends forever?” she joked.

He laughed. “Yeah. Definitely.”

They drove on in silence for a while, until Daniel started singing again. Nicole joined in, smiling as she sang. The sky grew darker overhead, streaking with pink and red as the sun set. They passed stretches of desert followed by bright city lights and billboards around them.

“We’re almost there, aren’t we?” Nicole asked, a grin on her face.

“Yeah,” he replied. “I’ll put his address in the GPS. Shouldn’t be long now.” He reached to the device and typed in the address, then turned it to face Nicole. The electronic voice started saying the directions.

“Wow,” she said, glancing at the screen. “Only half an hour away. We really are almost there.”

Daniel nodded. “You know, I may stay a couple of nights. I’m not really eager to start driving again, especially not alone.”

She smiled. “I don’t blame you. But you know every single day you’re here I’m going to try to convince you to stay.”

“I know,” he replied. He turned to look out the window, watching the bright lights pass by. He really didn’t want to go back. He knew that the longer he stayed with Nicole, the more he’d be tempted to stay permanently. Of course he realized they hadn’t been together for very long, and there was no guarantee they’d even be friends a month from now. But he wasn’t going to be a doctor, he didn’t know where his life was going now, so why couldn’t it be with this great girl?

“You’re suddenly quiet,” Nicole remarked. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” he said. He looked back at her and smiled. “Just wondering what the hell I’m going to do now.”

“Simple,” she said. “Stay with me. Duh.”

He laughed. “All right, you might be talking me into that.”

“Really?” she asked hopefully.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll think about it before I eventually leave. How’s that?”

“How about no thinking, just staying?”

“Can’t do that,” he replied. “I’d like to, but I know I can’t. You know it too.”

She sighed, but nodded. She pulled the car off the highway as the GPS directed, and found that they were suddenly in a large city full of lights and cars trying to go everywhere. “Okay, I think I’m lost.”

“Just follow the GPS,” Daniel said. “See? Only five minutes now. We’re really close.”

Five minutes turned to another fifteen as they sat in traffic. Nicole groaned as she pulled into the parking lot for the apartment complex. “I’m going to hate driving around this city. Which reminds me, I’ll have to buy a car at some point.”

“I’m sure there’s buses,” Daniel said. He got out of the car and headed to the entrance of the apartments. While Nicole got her suitcase out, and a few things of his, he pressed the intercom button for what he thought was Ethan’s apartment number.

“Hey dude!” a staticky voice came from the box in the wall. “Give me a minute and I’ll buzz you in.” Daniel waited until a loud buzz came from the door unlocking, and then he opened it. Nicole ran up behind him, dragging her suitcase, so he held open the door for her.

“This is so great,” she said, grinning at him. “What apartment is it?”

“4D,” he replied. “Stairs or elevator?”

“Elevator, definitely,” she said, heading to the doors of the mechanism. She pressed the button to call the elevator, and the doors immediately opened.

“You seem excited,” he commented, noting her grin.

“We’re
here!
” she said. “This is it! A new place to stay, a new home. This is what I’ve been waiting for
for
months
!”

He smiled with her. “Yeah. This is going to change your life, isn’t it?”

“It definitely is,” she replied. The elevator stopped, and the doors opened onto a hallway. Nicole wheeled out her suitcase and started looking at the numbers on the doors. “4D. Here it is.”

She knocked on the door, and a man about Daniel’s age but much shorter answered. “Hey! You must be Nicole! Where’s Dan?”

“He should be just behind me,” Nicole said, glancing towards the elevator. “Yeah. He’s here.”

“Hey,” Daniel said, joining the girl at the doorway. “Gonna let us in?”

“Yeah,” Ethan said, standing aside and opening the door wider. “You guys don’t mind sharing a room, do you? It’s not a big apartment.”

“It’s fine,” Nicole commented. She was still looking at Ethan, trying to figure him out. “I thought you’d be taller. No offense, though.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” he said. “I’m not even taller than you.”

“And I’m tiny,” she admitted with a laugh.

Daniel watched the two. He knew Ethan wouldn’t flirt with his girl, even though he couldn’t actually call Nicole his girl. But he was slightly jealous at the thought of Nicole flirting with him. He trusted her, but it was one of those bizarre moments where he remembered he didn’t know her. Of course he couldn’t stay with her. But he still had to stay a while, just because a wave of tiredness hit him and he knew there was no way he could keep driving.

“So, where can I drop this?” Nicole asked, gesturing to her suitcase.

Ethan waved his hand for her to follow as he headed into the next room. “Guest room’s over here. Well, I call it the guest room, but it’s the same size as mine. Last roommate moved out. I’m handling the rent fine on my own, so don’t worry about that unless you end up staying for a while.”

“Thank you,” Nicole said gratefully. She rested the suitcase beside the bed in the room, and sat down. “I am
so
tired.”

“I’ve got some leftover pizza in the fridge if you want dinner,” Ethan offered. “Or, just go to bed if you want. I’m gonna be up for a while, but I can be quiet.”

“I’ll take some pizza,” Daniel said. “We didn’t eat yet.”

“Yeah, pizza does sound good,” Nicole added, standing from the bed. She headed back into the kitchen.

Ethan started to follow, but Daniel said, “Hey, I’ve got a question.”

“Yeah?” the other guy asked.

“Is it cool if I stay a couple more days?” he asked. “I’m just way too tired to drive back now. I need a break.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Ethan replied. “Just no loud sex.”

“I can promise that,” Daniel said. “Come on, let’s get pizza.”

Nicole had already found the pizza, and the microwave, and was heating up her own dinner. She glanced at the guys when they entered and smiled. “This is so great, Ethan. Thanks for letting me stay. I promise not to be a bother, except maybe for the first few days because that idiot let a jerk steal my money and I’m broke right now.”

Ethan glanced to Daniel, who shrugged. “Mechanic had to fix the car, ripped us off, she had the money. I’m paying her back, but my parents cut me off right now.”

“You two are messed up,” Ethan said. “But you’re welcome here anyway.”

After the pizza was eaten and Nicole felt comfortable in this new place, she decided to go to bed. Daniel followed her. They didn’t do anything but sleep that night, Nicole wrapped in Daniel’s arms. Sleep was blissful and dreamless, and the night passed quickly.

The next morning, Daniel woke up to an empty bed. He pulled on pants over his boxers, and left the room to find Ethan and Nicole in the small kitchen area. Nicole was still in her pajamas, those damn sexy little shorts. Daniel noticed Ethan’s eyes on the girl as the two talked and cooked something. Smelled like bacon.

“Good morning,” he said, alerting them two his presence. They both said the same, greeting him with friendly smiles. He was jealous, but he had no reason to be. He had to remind himself of that. But it didn’t hurt to remind Ethan to leave the girl alone. He walked over to her, wrapped his arm around her waist, and kissed her. She looked flustered after that, but happy. “Good morning,” he repeated. “What’s for breakfast?”

“Bacon and eggs,” Nicole replied. “Apparently this guy had them in his fridge but didn’t know how to cook them. I was teaching him.” Then why could Daniel remember Ethan bragging about making breakfast for his high school girlfriend?

“And she was telling me how she wants to be a chef,” Ethan added. “So I told her about a restaurant across the street that’s hiring. It’s not fancy, it’s like an Applebee’s but not a chain.”

“So I’m going there today,” Nicole said. “Wish me luck.” She turned to the bacon in the frying pan and lifted the pan off the stove. “This is done. Let’s eat!”

Ethan moved past Nicole to grab a few plates from the cupboard. The space in the kitchen was small, so his body brushed against hers. Daniel noticed this, but also noticed the smile on Nicole’s face falter slightly. It wasn’t right that he felt good about that.

As they ate, Nicole eagerly asked Ethan about the restaurant. She was clearly excited to get a job. When her plate was empty, she took it to the sink, and announced, “Okay, I’m going to shower and get ready. Don’t worry, I’m not one of those girls who takes hours.”

As soon as she was gone, Ethan turned to Daniel. “Dude,” he said. “What’s up with you two?”

“Nothing,” he replied. “We kind of had something, but I’m going back home, she’s staying, and I don’t do long distance.”

“So, it’s cool if I go for it?” Ethan asked. “I mean, she is gonna be living with me.”

Daniel frowned. He couldn’t really say no. “Wait till I’m gone,” he replied. “Our thing’s still kind of going on. And don’t be creepy about it.”

“I’m not creepy.”

“Yeah, but you were in college,” Daniel said. “Remember Becca?”

“Oh, yeah,” Ethan said. “Yeah, I’m not that guy anymore. Don’t worry.”

Daniel stood from the table. “Good. Don’t make it weird for her.” He cleared his dishes, and then headed back to the bedroom to get dressed for the day. He had no plans other than hanging out with Ethan, catching up with his old friend, but he didn’t want to do that in pajama pants.

As he was digging in his pile of clothes for a clean shirt for the day, Nicole entered the room, wrapped in just a towel. She smiled at him.

“Fuck, do you have to be such a tease?” he asked.

“Yes, I do,” she replied. She dropped the towel, and bent down by her suitcase to dig out clothes. Daniel looked away. She noticed this, and she frowned. “What, I’m not pretty anymore?”

“You are,” he said. “But I am leaving pretty soon, teasing me more isn’t going to make it better for either of us.”

“You
just
kissed me out there,” she pointed out. “When you got up. You had really bad morning breath, by the way.” She pulled on her clothes as she talked. “So, why the sudden change?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I was jealous, I guess.”

“Of who?” she asked, even though she really already knew. “Ethan? I’m not into him.”

“Good,” he said. He strode across the room so he could pull her close and kiss her. His hand twisted in her hair, and she pushed him away.

“Sorry. I need to have my hair looking nice today.”

“Yeah,” he said, backing away. “It’s okay. You look good.”

“Thanks,” she replied with a grin. “I really hope I get this job. I know it’s only a slight step up from my job back home, but it’s money, and it’s what I want.”

“Doesn’t matter if it’s not the best job in the world, if it’s what you want,” Daniel said. He stepped towards her and kissed her forehead. “Good luck. If you don’t get this job, you’ll get another one.”

She grinned. “Thanks. What are you going to do today?”

“Probably hang out with Ethan,” he replied. “Haven’t talked to him much since we were undergrads, so we should catch up.”

“Good idea,” she said. “I’ll see you later.” She kissed him again before leaving the room, but then poked her head back in. “Wait, can I have the car to get there?”