Part 5
“Break another heart tonight Carter?”
Nick stopped and looked around the hotel lobby. Seeing no one, he shook his head and chuckled, heading once again for the elevators.
“Over here!” the voice called again, and Nick laughed when he realized the potted ficus tree on his right was calling to him.
“Dorian?” He grinned as she leaned her head around the tree and smiled, patting the seat beside her. “What are you doing down here?”
“People-watching,” she answered with a shrug. “My room was too quiet, so I came down to do some character studies.”
“Girl, you have the night off and you’re down here working? Are you sick?” Nick laughed, resting the back of his hand on her forehead to check for signs of fever.
“Stop that!” she giggled, swatting at his hand. “No, just bored. And the only friend I have here went off on some hot date tonight,” she added, looking at him pointedly.
“It was just coffee, Dore, not a hot date,” he chuckled.
“Well then, that’s too bad. I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” she sympathized, laying her manicured hand on his arm.
“Just because it wasn’t a ‘hot date’,” he said, marking the air with his fingers, “doesn’t mean it was a bust. In fact, I had a great time.”
“Now who’s the one with a fever? Carter, there’s more to this than you’re telling me.”
“It’s nothing. I just met an old friend for coffee, that’s all.”
“An old friend with long, curly auburn hair?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.
Nick sighed. “I knew her a long time ago, Dorian.”
Dorian watched him in thoughtful silence. There was more to this, a lot more to this than he was saying. “Tell you what, the lounge is still open. Let’s go have a nightcap.” Rising to her feet, she reached for his hand. When he hesitated, she sighed dramatically. “Nick, you know I detest drinking alone. Come on, just sit with me for a while, okay?”
Taking the hand she offered, he hauled himself up and out of the chair, wondering how he was going to explain his whirlwind … whatever it was … with Katy.
* * * * *
The lounge was typical for a hotel, even an upscale hotel such as this. It was dark and smoky, and Nick and Dorian could blend in, and blend in they did.
“So,” Dorian began, stirring her drink with her pinky finger. “Tell me all about her.”
“Not much to tell.” Nick was concentrating on his own drink so intently that he completely missed the knowing smile on Dorian’s lips.
“Then this won’t take long and you can escape to your room, right?” she quipped, barely holding back her laughter.
Nick looked up in time to see her try to hide behind her hand, and he smirked. “Bitch.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing! Come on Nick, tell Auntie Dore all about it.” Signaling the waitress for a refill, she sat back and watched in fascination as at least a dozen different emotions crossed Nick’s handsome face.
“I met Katy on the set of my first movie,” he began with a smile. “She hated me.”
“Then you’ve always been this charming?” Dorian giggled.
“Good night, Dorian,” Nick said, scooting out of the booth and standing.
“Nick wait! I’m sorry.” Dorian caught his wrist as he tried to move away. “Please stay. Really, Nick, I was just kidding. Sit?”
The sudden anger he felt had deflated, and he was suddenly very, very tired. “Look, Dorian-”
“Her name is Katy?” she whispered, gently rubbing his wrist.
“Kathryn, really,” he said, sinking back into his seat.
“And you call her ‘Katy’? No wonder she …”
“She worked on the set. She hated me, Dore. And I …” Nick sighed, draining the last of his drink.
“And you …?” Dorian asked encouragingly.
“I loved her.” Nick stared down at the remaining ice cubes in his glass. “I loved her, Dorian, and I never got to tell her.”
Wow. Dorian sat in stunned silence. This was much, much more than she’d bargained for. Hearing about Nick’s little movie set dalliances was always amusing, but in all the years she’d known him she’d never seen him like this.
“Tell me about her,” she asked.
Nick laughed. “She was a hotheaded little kid. Well, I thought she was a kid, she was so damned short. So I guess I got off on the wrong foot with her right from the start. I’d rag on her about her height, and she’d get all huffy and mad …” Nick smiled at the memories, and his face softened.
“So how old was she really?”
“Only two years younger than me, Dore.”
“And about a foot shorter?”
“At least!” Nick laughed.
“Musta made kissing pretty awkward, huh?”
“Oh no. We managed just fine.” Nick raised his eyebrows at Dorian, and she just laughed, raising her own in answer.
“So what happened?”
“I never found out. We’d been … umm … ‘together’ for about a week, then one day she just didn’t show up.”
“Didn’t you ask?”
“Didn’t I ask? Hell Dorian, of course I asked! Confidential. ‘No Mr. Carter, I’m sorry, we can’t divulge that information.’ After about three days I gave up. I was screwing up my scenes and they were threatening to replace me. Another week or so, and we’d wrapped up filming and I was on to the next gig.”
“But haven’t you-”
“I’ve thought about her every day, Dore. Every damn day for the past five years. I mean, what are the odds? I look up in the rain in a damn foreign country in time to see her trip over some kid in the park?”
“You’re going to see her again.”
“Hell yes, I’m going to see her again. Every damn day until it’s time for us to leave.”
“Does she know this?”
“She will after tomorrow,” Nick said. With a satisfied grin he signed off on the bar tab, rose from his seat and headed for his room.
Dorian sat in shock, wondering whether to warn the poor girl or simply take a seat and watch the fireworks.