“Gosh, for the millionth time, absolutely not! This dinner was my treat. But please remember this every time you think of writing anything negative about me,” he joked.
Giggling, she stepped into her room and smiled at him. “I promise I will keep that in mind. Thank you, Nick.”
“Good night.” He leaned in, and his lips grazed her cheek.
Suddenly, she thought of Joel, and she quickly pulled away, a wistful look in her eye. “Good night.”
She was hoping he had missed her moment of sadness, but he didn’t. He was about to leave, but then decisively turned back around and met her eyes. “Liz, I know this isn’t my place to ask, but is everything all right? You’ve had this sad look on your face ever since we left for dinner. I don’t mean to be nosy, but…” he trailed off.
“I’m kind of…” she hesitated. “…kind of homesick. I know I should be used to this, being a reporter who travels all the time, but I’m not.”
“No, Liz, this is normal. Even I get homesick a lot, and I’m on the road nine months out of the year.” He paused. “Is that all that’s wrong? I’m sensing something else.”
She almost laughed, realizing she had basically asked her boyfriend the same thing a few hours earlier. Then she realized she had to answer the question. “My boyfriend, Joel…he’s nervous that I’m gonna find someone else while I’m here. In his words, he’s at home worrying for three months while I’m hanging out with five gorgeous sex symbols.”
“How serious is your relationship, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“No, I don’t mind at all. It’s really serious. We’ve been together for four months, and I love him a lot.”
“I hate to say this, but it sounds like he doesn’t trust you.”
“No, no, no, it’s not that he doesn’t trust me. He’s just insecure because he doesn’t think he’s very attractive, especially compared to you guys. I guess I can’t blame him. If he went on tour with the Spice Girls or some other girl band, I’d be pretty damn worried. Not that I’m comparing you to the Spice Girls or anything, well, I am, but, you know what I mean.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I guess I see what you’re saying. Would you ever leave him for one of us, though?”
“No way. I mean, no offense to you or anything, but not a chance.”
Though part of Nick was happy to help Liz with her problem, half of his heart sank with those words. “Then tell him he has nothing to worry about,” he advised, hiding his disappointment.
“That’s what I told him. I just hope he believes me because I wouldn’t want him to worry the whole time I’m away.” She looked at her watch. “You should probably go. It’s late, and I’m sure you have a ton of stuff to do tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Thanks a lot for the advice.”
“No problem. I’m always here if you wanna talk.” He gave her a friendly hug and closed the door.