“Okay. Well, college was as great as it could be. It took some time to adjust, of course, but everyone was very helpful and friendly there.”
She went on to tell Nicholas about her year. She mentioned how busy she stayed with taking extra classes and doing work study, which Nicholas said that he was proud of her for.
Deborah got really excited about telling Nicholas about her roommate and the good times that they shared. When she mentioned how often she bowled the past year and that she was way better than before, Nicholas chuckled.
“We’re going to have to play sometime so you can prove that to me,” Nicholas teased.
“We’ll see. Maybe some time.”
Nicholas was enjoying watching the beautiful women beside him talk with excitement about her experiences. He watched her mouth as the words flowed freely from it, and her mannerisms that coincided with how happy she was about the memories she had. Every now and then he had to remind himself to focus because he realized he was thinking more about her than hearing what she was talking about.
Even though Deborah wasn’t sure if she wanted to mention it or not, she decided she would bring up her semi-long-term boyfriend she had. She talked about how nice he was and the places they dined at.
Nicholas found it hard to hear this part because in a way he wished he was the one experiencing this stuff with Deborah. However, he understood the fact that she was a gorgeous, available, young woman that any man would have been lucky to have.
“So why did the two of you break up?” Nicholas asked curiously, thankful they were no longer together.
“Honestly? I liked him and all but every time we were together I kept thinking of someone else, which I told him wasn’t fair to him.”
Nicholas had a pretty good feeling who that someone else was that Deborah referred to, which got him a little excited.
Maybe she doesn’t totally hate me, he thought.
Before Nicholas could ask who that person was though, Deborah quickly went on. “That’s pretty much it, I guess. I mean, now I’m home and I plan on staying.”
That was music to Nicholas’ ears.
“What about you? What have you been up to all year?” Deborah asked.
Nicholas gave a little laugh. “Not as much as you, that’s for sure.”
By the time he filled Deborah in on his very uneventful year, he noticed he only had a few moments left before he had to go to work. And yet there was still something he wanted to discuss with her today.
“Hey, I’ve got a question.”
“What?” Deborah asked.
She was starting to get a little more uncomfortable again so she reached for the laundry basket, which Nicholas pushed away. He then placed his hand on top of Deborah's. It was that small gesture that made Deborah look sincerely into Nicholas’ eyes.
“Did you get any of my phone messages?”
Deborah really didn’t feel like answering that question, especially seeing that Nicholas would not like the answer.
“Yeah, I did,” she said slowly and softly while looking down.
Looking up to catch Nicholas’ reaction, right away she could see the pain in his eyes.
“Why did you never call me back then? I mean, it's like you were trying to avoid me or something. You never even called on my birthday, which is so unlike you. I thought we left things on good terms and that we were friends.”
“You thought we left things on good terms? What I remember is that you basically pushed me to leave!” Deborah exclaimed. She got a little defensive and refused to have all the blame put on her for the way she acted.
“I thought we cleared that all up though the day you came to say goodbye.”
Nicholas was beginning to realize he had been wrong all along regarding last year's supposed reconciliation.
“Maybe a little bit, Nick, but not entirely. I mean, I sort of understand why you did what you did, but the pain is still there. More than once you pushed me, your “friend”, away. All I wanted to do was be there for you.”
Deborah's eyes started tearing up due to anger, rejection and a myriad other emotions, and Nicholas noticed. Her words stung him, but not near as bad as seeing her start to cry. He decided right then that she deserved to know the truth, the whole truth. He looked at his clock to make sure he had time.
When Deborah saw him do that, she got the wrong impression. To her it meant that he looked at the time in hopes this would be over soon.
“Look, if you have to go then go. You know where the door is.”
Deborah started to get up so she could head back upstairs, but Nicholas pulled her back down.
“Deborah, just wait a minute. I probably should go, but there’s something you need to hear and I don’t care if it makes me late.”
Deborah was a little taken aback so she gave him the go ahead to speak.
“First of all, you have to know that I didn’t mean to hurt you by anything said or done last year while in the hospital or at my mom’s house.”
Nicholas held up his hand to quiet Deborah when he noticed she wanted to say something, and then he continued.
“Secondly, at the time I thought I was doing the right thing. Looking back I see the mistakes I’ve made. I mean, I could have gone about every situation a little differently. And lastly, I know I told you that it was all because I didn’t want you to waste your life on me or however I put it. Truth is I loved the fact that I saw you every day because you kept me from going insane. I loved that you wanted to take care of me and were willing to hold off on your future for me. I’m so grateful for you and this whole past year has been torture for me not seeing you or being able to talk to you.”
“Okay. Why did you do all that stuff then?” Deborah squeezed in, puzzled.
“To be honest with you, a lot of it has to do with the fact that it hurt my pride. I hated having you see me in the state I was in: weak, pale and not able to take care of myself. I hated that I needed help from you or anyone for that matter. I didn’t want your pity or anyone else’s pity. Then when I found out you were willing to put off school for a while I just felt horrible about it. I mean, that was your dream and here you were giving it up for me. I just wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let you do that.”
“But I was willing to do that because I care for you. It wasn’t because I felt like I had to or that I felt sorry for you.”
“I know. And I’m sorry that my words and actions hurt you. I wish I could take everything back.”
Nicholas looked sincerely at Deborah while placing his right hand on Deborah’s left knee and said, “Forgive me?”
Deborah looked from his hand to his eyes and saw that he meant what he was saying.
She gave some thought to what he just said and gave a sigh before answering, “I can’t promise you things will be back to normal right away, but I do forgive you and thank you for being honest with me. Next time just be honest from the start.”
“I should have been and I will be from now on. I promise.”
Glancing again at his watch, Nicholas added, “Look, I don’t want to rush this, but I should get to work or my boss will probably be upset.”
“I understand,” Deborah said.
“Can we get together again? Maybe go out next week?”
Deborah had no clue if he meant a date or just a get together, but either way she was a little unsure.
“Can I think about it and give you a call with my answer?”
“Sure.”
Nicholas wasn’t expecting to have to wait, but he’d take what he could get. Just the fact that she was willing to think about it gave him hope.
“Can I give you a hug?” Nicholas asked.
“I think that would be okay,” Deborah said with a little grin on her face.
The two of them stood up and embraced each other. In doing so, Nicholas didn’t want to move away because her scent, especially that of her hair, was enticing. However, he forced himself to break away from her and then they said their go
odbyes.
Nicholas had a smile on his face as he headed towards his car. Deborah, about ready to head upstairs to help Felicia finish the painting, also donned a smile, actually feeling slightly glad that Nicholas made his surprise visit.
---------------
As Deborah neared the top step, she suddenly remembered she didn’t have Nicholas’ phone number unless that tiny piece of crumpled paper still lay in her wastebasket in her bedroom. That was the first thing she started to look for too when she entered the domain that Felicia was busy painting.
Felicia thought it odd that Deborah rushed in and went straight to the wastebasket, rummaging through it. So she asked what she was doing.
“Just looking for a phone number that I threw away,” Deborah answered.
“Okay,” Felicia said slowly as if to say, “Deborah, you’re crazy.”
Deborah knew it was a while ago that she tossed away Nicholas’ information Alex shared with her, but she also knew that neither she nor Robyn took out their trash all that often so it was possible for the piece of paper to be there. Deborah silently hoped that it was.
“Aha, here it is,” Deborah rejoiced with a smile. She then smoothed out the paper and placed it by her bed to reference later.
“So how far did you get?” Deborah asked, turning her attention to the project at hand.
“Just finishing up some rolling.”
“Want me to do it since you did the rest on your own?”
“Sure. I could use a break anyway.”
Felicia carefully handed over the paint roller to Deborah and then sat on one of the beds. She watched Deborah finish up the paint job, noticing she was in a more cheerful mood.
“So how did it go downstairs?”
“It went okay, I guess,” Deborah stated.
“That’s good. I know you were trying to avoid him.”
“Yeah, but I’m actually kind of glad that he came by. We got some things cleared up. He even wants to go out next week.”
“As in on a date?” Felicia asked inquisitively.
“Well, I don’t know. He never did specify.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him I’d call him later with an answer because I’m not sure what I want to do.”
“It couldn’t hurt, Debbie,” Felicia suggested. “I mean, you guys were good friends and it’ll be good for you to reconnect some more I think.”
“You really think so?”
“Yes. And do you still like him, like him?”
Felicia was the only one that knew about Deborah’s feelings for Nicholas because she got it out of her during one conversation they had while Deborah was in college. However, ever since Deborah got home she tried to avoid Nicholas like the plague so Felicia didn’t know where her friend stood in that department at the moment.
“You know I do, Felicia. I told you how I felt about him. I just don’t know if I want to go down that road again. Besides, what does that have to do with anything anyway?” Deborah questioned.
“Well, if you like him then you have to go out with him,” Felicia explained.
“Why?”
“Because it could turn out to be something really great.”
“What if he meant he just wanted to hang out though?” Deborah asked, seeing as Felicia seemed to have all the answers.
“Then at least you got to hang out with him and hopefully start to rebuild your friendship with him.”
“That is true,” Deborah said aloud, pausing what she was doing to think about everything. “And I do miss how things used to be. So I should call him and tell him yes, shouldn’t I?”
“Yes! Now what are you waiting for?”
Felicia took the paint roller from Deborah and gave her a little nudge towards the phone so that she could call Nicholas. As Deborah dialed the number listed on the crumpled piece of paper, Felicia finished the last wall, thus completing their paint job.
Deborah grew increasingly excited as she started to hear the phone ring in the receiver. In her mind though she hoped she wasn’t making a big mistake.
---------------
Ever since Nicholas left Deborah’s house he couldn’t take his mind off of her. The way she looked, the way she felt as they hugged just before he left and the way she smelled all brought a huge smile to his face. His heart started to race a bit as he continued to ponder over his surprise visit.
He contemplated their conversation and felt good about things getting out in the open. He was hoping for some more time with her, but he couldn’t upset his boss either. That’s why he hoped she’d agree to go out with him, if not this week then soon.
Nicholas was five minutes from work when he got a phone call. He immediately wished it to be Deborah letting him know they could go out, but when he looked at his caller ID he saw that it was only his boss.
Great, he thought sarcastically.
He knew he was going to be late, but it wasn’t going to be as bad as what others have been before.
Upon answering, his boss immediately inquired as to his whereabouts and then talked a little too sternly for Nicholas’ taste. It was something about how important it was to be on time for his job and they need his help with one thing or another.
Blah, blah, blah.
Nicholas could sense his boss was stressed out, which at the end of the call he found out why: someone had called in sick so they were even more shorthanded than before. Apologizing a few times seemed to have eased his boss’ demeanor and he finally got to hang up just as he had less than a mile to go.
Nicholas parked his car and turned off the engine. Again, his phone started to go off. He was now in a little bit of a sour mood, but looked to see who might be bothering him this time.
It was Deborah.
Seeing her name across the screen of his phone made him forget everything that just happened. He hurried to answer.
“Hey, you,” Nicholas said, perhaps sounding a little more intimate than he tried.
He and Deborah talked briefly, but the conversation meant the world to him. She agreed to go out with him and they made plans for next Saturday to meet for lunch.
Nicholas got out of his car and started his workday with a bounce in his step and a smile that reached from ear to ear. He didn’t care about his boss being mad at him or that he had to work on a Saturday or that they were shorthanded today.
Nothing mattered anymore because Nicholas was going to go out with Deborah Harrington.
13
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Nicholas’ alarm clock went off, signaling that five in the morning had arrived. He turned over in his bed and reached an arm out to turn the noise off.
Five a.m. comes way too early, he grumbled within himself.
Nicholas slowly sat up and put his legs on the floor. When he eventually stumbled his way into the kitchen, the first thing he did was turn on a light and start a pot of coffee. He then stretched and let out a big yawn before turning his TV on so he could catch the news while he sipped on his coffee and ate some Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. This was the same routine Nicholas did every morning before he went to work.
Work wasn’t something Nicholas planned on doing today or wanted to do today. Today was Saturday, the day that him and Deborah had plans to go out for lunch. They decided to meet each other at a little café in town around twelve thirty.
However, just before punching out for the day yesterday, Nicholas’ boss gave him a call to say he had to come in. They were still shorthanded, which Nicholas believed was going to be the norm seeing as they haven’t hired anyone new yet, and there was some moving around of classrooms going on over the summer that made some extra work. This would be the second Saturday in a row that he would be required to work, something that was extremely rare. All week long Nicholas was told he wouldn’t have to come in today. But go figure, right before the end of his work day yesterday would be when he got the news.
But Nicholas had plans, extremely important plans in his opini
on, so after explaining to his boss about them, he was able to get out of working a full day. He still had to put in some time, though, but was grateful it would no longer interfere with his upcoming date. Nicholas thought he’d just start earlier in the day so that he could get done by eleven thirty, which gave him an hour to clean up at home and get to the café and meet Deborah on time.
As Nicholas finished the last of his coffee before heading into the bathroom to get dressed for work, he saw a news article come on the TV that had something to do with marriage, divorce rates and couples in love. It reminded him of another reason why he was extra tired.
Waking up at five a.m. was not the only culprit. Last night, after Nicholas had been in bed and had just about drifted off to sleep, Alex called him. It didn’t upset Nicholas too much because Alex was just returning the call Nicholas made earlier. And knowing Alex was working weird hours, the late-night call wasn't a complete surprise.
Towards the end of the conversation, though, Alex brought up the date that Nicholas and Deborah were to have the following afternoon and got a little annoying. He first asked questions and then started teasing Nicholas, proclaiming Nicholas was in love, which made Nicholas realize for the first time that his best friend could be very immature at times.
At the time Nicholas denied it left and right, but it got him thinking and it even caused him to have a dream about it. He knew there were a lot of things he loved about Deborah, especially the way she looked when he saw her last week, but he didn’t know if he loved Deborah herself. He cared for her. He loved being with her and would never want to hurt her. He was even thinking about her all the time recently and dreams about her were becoming more and more the norm. However, seeing as neither of their parents set a good example, he knew love could be a tricky thing and he wasn’t going to tread that road lightly.
If I love her I’ll just know, he thought and truly believed.
Pushing his thoughts aside and turning the TV off, Nicholas made his way into the kitchen to put his empty cup in the sink and then to the bathroom to get ready for work. One glance in the mirror proved he wasn’t a pretty sight. His short, dark blond hair was in disarray and his white t-shirt and brown boxers were wrinkled.
Growing Up Neighbors Page 22