"I still can't believe Serena said that KNOWING he was there," Destiny spoke into her cell phone as she came to a red light.
"Her defense was that HE didn't know that she knew he was there," Faith answered.
"She just didn't give a damn. It was uncalled for. I mean, there wasn't any reason for it. I felt so badly for poor AJ."
"I know," Faith agreed. "You could almost hear his heart breaking."
"Well, I talked to him later that evening. He said he was fine, but he sounded bad. He still refuses to see how wrong she is for him. I don't know what that girl has on him, but it must be pretty damn bad for him to put up with all of her crap," Destiny said as she pulled into Nick's driveway.
"Hopefully he will see the light soon."
"I sure hope so," Destiny said. "Well, girl, I'm gonna go. I'm here."
"So you're finally getting the grand tour, are you?" Faith laughed.
"Finally."
"I can't believe you haven't been inside his house yet."
"Well, you know, things always seem to come up. We've just never had the time. And, really, we don't actually have it now. If my boss finds out I'm not sick, I'll be taking the grand tour of the unemployment office."
"I know nothing," Faith laughed. "Now you go have a good time."
"You know I will. Talk to you later."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, hello there, beautiful," Nick smiled, greeting Destiny at the door.
"Hi, handsome," she smiled.
"Come right on in," he motioned, holding his arm out.
She walked past him, admiring the very well decorated house. She'd imagined a nice, yet plain house. A single man's home. But, she was pleasantly surprised. She was looking at the well placed photos of his family when he walked up behind her, wrapping his strong arms around her waist and dropping light kisses on the side of her neck.
"So, what do you think so far?" he asked.
"It's very different from what I expected," she admitted. "But I love it."
"What did you expect?" he laughed. "Posters of half naked women and empty beer bottles?"
"No," she laughed. "But I didn't expect floral scents and candles either."
"A man has to get in touch with his feminine side sometimes," he smiled, twirling her around to face him and those crystal blue eyes.
Nick reached out and placed a hand on her cheek, softly stroking it with his thumb as he leaned to close the distance between their lips. Closing her eyes, Destiny allowed the sheer ecstasy overtake her. As the kiss deepened, he pulled her closer, tightening the embrace. Feeling his soft warm tongue gliding along hers, Destiny knew if she didn't stop things, they would never make it through the rest of the house. Pulling away gently, she smiled up at him.
"Is this the only room I get to see?" she asked.
"Of course not," he smiled. "I thought maybe we could make out in each one, though."
"Break it in all at once, huh?" she laughed.
"Hey, why not?"
"Pervert!" she laughed, pushing him away lovingly.
"Alright then, follow me, my dear," he said, taking her hand, leading her into the dining room area.
As he showed her the house, room by room, she was simply amazed that he lived here. Not only that; he had decorated it himself. What a nice touch he has, she thought. Most men would have never thought to do some of the things he did.
After seeing all the other rooms, he led her into the last one.
"And, last but certainly not least, this is my private chamber," he said, allowing her to enter the room ahead of him.
In the middle of the massive room was a huge white four poster bed. In the corner was a shelf stand with a unique candle placed perfectly on each shelf. On the tops of the matching chest of drawers and dresser were matching candles and ocean pictures. Pictures of dolphins, beach scenes and seashells adorned the walls.
Turning back to him, she said, "You suprise me sometimes."
"How's that?" he asked.
"Just this," she said, referring to the room.
"You like?"
"I love it. Especially the bed. It's gorgeous."
"Thank you. It's comfortable, too. Wanna try it out?" he asked, a sly smile on his lips.
"You just don't give up, do you, Carter?"
"Not until I get what I want," he said softly, walking up to her and pushing her back on the bed.
Destiny dropped her purse on the floor beside the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck as she felt his weight on top of her. He looked deeply into her eyes, her reflection shining in his, and lowered his lips onto hers once again. Closing his eyes, he tried to calm his nervousness. He hadn't wanted anything this badly since.... Well, in quite a while. He deepened the kiss trying to rid his mind of the painful memories that always seemed to creep in. Feeling her body moving under his was heightening his desire. The taste of her soft lips, the scent of her skin, the feel of her touch; all these things were pushing him to the point of no return.
Destiny's passion was rising just as quickly as Nick's. It had been so long since she had been in the arms of a man as caring and sweet as he was. She felt almost like a princess in his arms. Just as she was beginning to give in to the emotions, her cell phone rang. Slowly, Nick raised his head.
"Let it ring," he whispered.
"Nick, I can't. It may be something important from work, since I WAS supposed to be there today," she said.
"Ok," he sighed, rolling off of her, running his fingers through his spiked hair.
Destiny got to her feet and pulled her cell phone from her purse.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Hey. It's AJ. I need to talk to you," a soft smooth voice said softly.
"Uh, ok," she said nervously, looking at Nick, hoping he wouldnt realize who she was talking to.
"Can you meet me?" he asked.
"Sure. I can do that," she answered vaguely.
"I'll be at that new little Chinese restaurant downtown in about 20 minutes," he said.
"Ok. I'll be there," she answered.
"Thanks," he said, hanging up.
She put her phone back in her purse and was trying to figure out what to tell Nick when he spoke.
"They just can't live without you can they?" he asked, smiling up at her.
"I guess not," she smiled half-heartedly. "I'm sorry."
"It's ok," he said, pulling her down in his lap. "If you have to go, you have to go. I understand."
"Thank you," she smiled, kissing his lips softly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All the way to the restaurant, Destiny kept asking herself why she lied to Nick. Well, she thought, I didn't exactly LIE to him.... I just didn't tell him the truth. That really didn't make her feel much better, though. Why didn't I just tell him? It wasn't a big deal. He wouldn't have minded. And it's not like I have anything to hide, she thought.
"Hey. What's up?" she said as she found the table AJ was occupying in the corner.
"Thanks for coming," he smiled. "I needed to talk to someone.... someone who'd be straight with me. And I knew you would."
"Ok. What do you need to talk about?" she asked.
"I want you to tell me what I'm doing wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"What am I doing to cause Serena to act the way she does towards me? Am I an asshole? Do I come across that way? What is it? Tell me, please. This is driving me crazy," he said.
Destiny was floored by what he said.
"Do you mean you actually believe it's YOUR fault that she acts the way she does??" she asked.
"It must be. What other reason is there?"
"Maybe she's just a bitch!" Destiny answered, speaking before she thought.
AJ didn't seem to be offended by the statement, though.
"No. It's gotta be something I'm doing wrong, or not doing at all," he answered.
"Look, AJ. You wanted my straight opinion. Well, I'll tell you then. Personally, I think you already do too much for her. She doesn't deserve you as far as I can tell. You are a wonderful man, loving and supportive. She doesn't seem to appreciate the beauty of you as a person. She treats you more like a servant."
"Well," he said. "I did ask for honesty. But, I totally disagree. Can you give me some hints that may help some?"
"Ok," she said. "If you insist on continuing to run blindly through this thorn bush, then here are a few tips to keep from getting pricked so much. Try sending her flowers.... not just on occassions. Send them just because. Leave her love notes, small gifts. Cook her dinner. Spend alone time with her. I can't guarantee these things will help. They usually will 'butter up' the typical woman. But, Serena is far from typical. I will tell you once again, and then I will let it go. My honest opinion is you should kick her ass to the curb. But, like I said, that's just my opinion. You're the one that has to live in hell with her," she finished, noticing AJ's attention was now focused on something different. "Did you hear me?"
Turning to look back at her, he said, "Uh, yeah. Hey, look over there. Isn't that Maddie?"
Destiny turned to look and, sure enough, saw Maddie at a table across the room. From the angle the tables were at, Maddie couldn't see them. Destiny was just about to get up and go speak, but AJ grabbed her hand, stopping her.
"What is it?" she asked.
"You can't go over there," he said.
"And why not?"
"Well for one reason, do you really want everyone to know we were here together?"
"Why wouldn't I? We aren't doing anything wrong," she answered, then remembered her little misrepresentation of the truth to Nick. "You're right," she finally admitted.
"And number two," he said, "just sat down beside Maddie."
Destiny immediately turned to look again. Sitting there, very close to Maddie, was a man, but it wasn't Kevin.
"So," she started. "Maybe it's a business lunch."
"I don't think so," AJ shook his head. "Look at them."
She looked once more and saw that they were not only sitting very close, but were also leaned in towards each other talking, almost secretively. Their lips were mere inches apart.
"Nope. Doesn't look like a business lunch to me," AJ said again.
Sitting back down, Destiny said, "What should we do? Should we tell Kevin."
"Hell no!" he said. "If Kevin finds out we were here together, he will tell everyone. And, besides, we aren't positive what Maddie is doing. It could be innocent."
"Well, it sure doesn't look innocent," she stated.
"No. It doesn't look good, that's for sure," he agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nick rubbed his rumbling tummy as he entered the new place. He'd been looking forward to trying this place out ever since it opened, but had never had time. He finally had some free time, and was taking advantage of it. He was standing at the counter, reading the paper menu when a familar laugh filled his ears. He immediately turned to see where it was coming from. It was Destiny. As he made his way towards her, he saw something that stopped him dead in his tracks. There, sitting across from her, was AJ, smiling from ear to ear. Nick froze. He didn't know what to do. He slowly turned around and walked out.
Making his way back to his car, the scene replayed over and over in his mind. The sight of them there together, laughing and talking. He could still hear her laughter clearly. The odd thing about it was that it didn't bother him at all. He realized as he pulled out of the parking lot, that he should be upset. But he wasn't. He should have been mad, or at least jealous. But he wasn't. What is wrong with me? he asked himself. He began to wonder if past tragedies had hardened him so much that he was numb to it all now. And would he ever be able to get past the pain that still haunted his memory and really love again?