A couple of days later, Nick work up and looked at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were swollen and bloodshot. He combed his hair with his finger and shaved for the first time in three days. Three days crying himself to sleep every night. Three days.
"I gotta do something about this" he thought to himself.
He put on his baggy beige pants and a buttoned black shirt and went straight to the phone.
"Hello?" a female voice came over.
"Hey Amy" Nick answered to his best friend, who was best friends with Rachel too.
"What's wrong Nicky Boy?"
She always teased him with that nickname.
"Wanna go out for lunch? I need to talk to you"
She sighed. "Is it about Rach?"
He was silent for a moment. He knew it was about her but didn't want to tell anything for now.
"No" he mumbled. "I wanna go out with you... as on a date"
"W-what?" she stuttered. She always had a huge crush on Nick but didn't even dare to think that anything was going to happen between them. Rachel was her best friend and she respected that, although she disappeared.
"You heard me"
"W-what about Rachel?"
"She would want me to be happy... she always said that to me" he reasoned.
"I know, Nick"
"Well, what do you say?"
Silence.
"I'll go" she answered uneasily.
"Alrighty then, pick you up at 2?"
"Okay" Amy agreed. "Rachel would want me to be happy as well..." she thought "...but with her husband?"
She wasn't sure about the decision she took. She was going on a date with Nick. She didn't plan on going further with him. Rachel was her best friend after all... but Nick was too.
"One date... only one date" Amy thought
She flopped down on her bed and thought about Nick and Rachel and their relationship.
"Oh God... I don't know" she mumbled, burying her head in her hands and closing her eyes.
It was 2 o'clock and Nick was politely waiting outside Amy's house where she asked him to wait for her. Brian had agreed to stay with Colin, who was already 3 years old, for the whole afternoon. When Amy came out of the house, she looked stunning. A simple black dress covered her tanned skin, and her hair was brought up in a simple ponytail.
Nick grinned "You look gorgeous"
She blushed slightly. "Thanks" she whispered.
"Shall we go?"
"Sure" she smiled sweetly. They linked arms and walked towards Nick's car. As a true gentleman he opened her door and took her to an Italian restaurant, knowing that she loved Italian food. He was determined to concentrate in Amy. He was also determined to move on with his life and maybe Amy was the one that he would rather do that with. But at the same time it was as if he looked at Rachel through Amy. She had light brown hair and beautiful green eyes, she was fairly slender and had beautiful features. But she looked so much like Rachel, even in her expressions and her way of talking. He definitely saw Rachel in Amy. They were like sisters.
Nick snapped out of his thoughts. "She's gone Nick" he thought to himself.
He parked the car in front of the restaurant, got out and opened Amy's door.
"Thank you" she grinned.
"No prob" he said, taking her hand and leading her inside.
The conversation ran pretty smoothly. They talked about anything and everything: movies, friendships, relationships... After all, they were best friends.
Nick was soon concentrating a little bit more on Amy. The real Amy. He had to move on someday and this was the perfect time to do it. He started laughing about a comment that Amy made when he felt something in his leg. He decided to ignore it but couldn't.
"Gimme a sec" Nick said to Amy and looked under the table. Two piercing blue eyes met his. He looked up again to Amy and back under the table.
"Hi!" the little girl said cheerfully from under the table.
"Hi sweetie... what are you doing there?"
She giggled mischievously as she started tugging at his pants. Nick chuckled a little, picked the girl up and put her on his lap. She had dirty blond hair and blue eyes.
"She's gorgeous" he thought.
Amy started making funny faces to the little girl. She was a baby still but she was pretty intelligent for her age.
"Where's your mommy?" Nick asked, stroking her hair. She giggled.
"Cat got your tongue, huh?" he said as he started tickling her. The little girl laughed uncontrollably.
"Now, where's your mommy?" Nick asked again. She grinned.
"Alyssa Marie! Don't you ever do that again... you scared me to death" a voice came from behind Nick and Amy.
"Momma!" Alyssa screeched, extending her hands towards her mom.
"Come here sweetie!" she approached the table and extended her hands towards her daughter. "I'm sorry about this, sir... I lost her from sight and she darted off into space I guess"
Her voice was familiar to Nick. When he looked up, his jaw dropped open. Literally.
"This can't be happening" he thought.
The woman looked at him and smiled politely.
"R-Rachel?" Nick managed to say, unwilling to get his eyes away from hers.