*A year later*
Felicia:
"Flight 727 for Florida now boarding."
I grabbed my carry on and walked onto the plane and found my seat. I sat down, put my seat belt on and got my discman out. The plane took off, heading back to where I belonged.
4 hours later I arrived in warm, sunny Florida. I got my bags and got a cab and headed to the hotel I was going to stay at. 15 minutes later I got there paid the cabbie and went into the hotel, and into my room.
I got bored watching TV and decided to go to the mall for a while. I got a cab and it took me to the mall. I walked around for a while and went into Hot Topic. I was looking at wigs when I heard a familiar voice behind me. I turned around and saw AJ and Nick with their backs to me, looking at shirts. They were about to leave, so I grabbed a purple wig and put it on my head. I walked up to Nick and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey Nick?" He turned around and looked at me, confused.
"Um, can I help you?" I knew he didn’t recognize me, but this was just fun.
"I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Felicia." I looked at his face and he had a shocked expression on it.
"Felicia Roberts?"
"Yeah, the one and only."
"Aren’t you supposed to be in New York?"
"I was, but I just go back today."
"Oh, well you’ve changed a lot."
"Yeah, so have you. You look good."
"Thanks. Nice hair."
"Oh, don’t you like?"
"It’s different; I’ll give you that."
"Aw, Nicky doesn’t like my purple hair." I teased. AJ walked up to us.
"Hey Nick, who’s this?"
"Felicia."
"As in Felicia Roberts?" He asked, shocked.
"Yep, that’s me. How are ya, AJ?"
"Good, wow I love your hair!"
"Thanx. At least one of you do."
"When did you get back?"
"Just today."
"Cool."
"Felicia, I can’t believe you dyed your hair, you look so different." Nick said.
"I don’t look that different, do I?"
"Yeah, kinda."
I just laughed a little and then pulled the wig off. Nick’s jaw almost hit the ground.
"You didn’t actually believe that I would do something like that, did you?
"I didn’t know what to think. But I’m glad you didn’t."
"Damn, I thought you actually did!" AJ pouted.
"Aw, AJ it’s ok. Don’t cry."
"I’ll try not to. Well, come here girl and give me a hug. I’ve missed ya." AJ opened his arms and I hugged him.
"I’ve missed you too, J. I’m glad to be home." We ended the hug and I looked at Nick. He had a weird expression on his face, that I just couldn’t read.
"Do I get a hug from you?" I asked.
"Um, yeah sure." I hugged him and it just felt weird for some reason. I guess that best friend bond wasn’t there anymore. Since I haven’t talked to him in a year, but there are reasons.
"Well AJ and I gotta go. It was great seeing you, Felicia. Hope to see you soon." Nick said and he and AJ began to walk away.
"Wait Nick, here’s where I’ll be staying. Call me if you ever want to talk." I handed him a piece of paper.
"Thanks. See ya." They walked away and I waved to them.
I felt bad that I lost touch with him, but I had no other choice. And hopefully he’ll understand. I left the store and mall and went back to the hotel.
Nick:
"Man, are you stupid?!" AJ yelled at me while we walked down the mall.
"What?"
"Why didn’t you talk to her?"
"I did."
"No, Nick, you didn’t. You just walked away from her."
"What are you talking about, AJ? I didn’t walk away, I talked to her."
"Yeah, well it would have been better if you hadn’t at all."
"What are you getting at?"
"Nick, she was your best friend and you haven’t seen her in a year. You need to talk to her."
"Look, it’s her fault that she lost touch. She didn’t call, write or anything. She obviously doesn’t want to be friends anymore."
"That’s bullshit and you know it. She still wants to be your friend. If she didn’t, why did she talk to you in there? And give you the number to her hotel? She obviously wants to explain things. You just have to give her that chance."
"What do you know? What if I don’t want to be friends with her anymore?" Which totally wasn’t true, I did. But I was afraid that if I did, that feeling would come back and I don’t think I can handle that.
"Nick, what are you afraid of?"
"I’m not afraid of anything."
"That’s bullshit. I know you better than you think. Wait, oh my god, why did I see if before?" AJ stopped abruptly and I turned and looked at him.
"What?" I was totally confused.
"You’re in love with Felicia."
Hello! Wrong! I am not in love with Felicia.
"Wrong AJ, I’m not!"
"You don’t want to admit it, because you’re afraid to get hurt."
"You’re wrong. I don’t want to admit it because it isn’t there. I don’t love her."
"It’s totally obvious. It was obvious last year, before she left. You love Felicia. Just admit it."
"No, I don’t AJ. Figure it out, I don’t love Felicia Roberts. And I never will."
"That’s a lie. Just stop lying to yourself."
"I’m not. Just drop it, ok? C’mon let’s go."
I started walking out of the mall and to my car. AJ was behind me. The drive to his place was quiet. I dropped him off and started driving home. Of course AJ saying all that got me thinking, something I didn’t want to do. I was almost home when I pulled over at a 7 eleven and just looked at the piece of paper Felicia gave me.
I was debating whether or not to call her or not. I finally decided to. I dialed the number and waited for an answer.
"Good afternoon, Double Tree of Tampa. How may I help you?" The all too cheerful employee asked.
"Um, could you please tell me where you are located?"
"Yes, we’re located on 275, just north of the airport."
"Ok, thank you." I hung up, turned around and headed to the hotel. I got there, parked, and went inside. I went to the main desk and rang the bell. An employee emerged from the back.
"May I help you?"
"Maybe. Could you please give me the room number that Felicia Roberts is staying in?"
"Felicia Roberts? Sure, how are you related to her?"
"I’m her boyfriend." I lied.
"Ok, she is in room 315 on the 3rd floor."
"Ok, thank you." I walked to the elevators, pushing white ‘up’ button. It came; I got on it and went up to the 3rd floor. I walked down the hall and found 315. I stood there for a minute, debating whether to knock or just go home.
I finally decided to knock, I knocked on the white door and waited for an answer. 3 minutes later I heard the door unlock and slightly open.
"Hi Felicia. Can I talk to you?" I asked, nervously.
"Um, yeah sure. Come in." She opened the door more and walked away. I walked inside, closing the door behind me. I heard music playing and then heard it turn off. I walked into the small living room of the hotel room and sat on the small couch, next to her. She was wearing black sweat pants and a plain white tank top.
"So, what do you wan t to talk about, Nick?"
"I want to know why you never called me or anyone else?"
"There are a hundred reasons."
"I’ve got time. So start talking."
"Look Nick, it doesn’t have anything to do with you."
"You were one of my best friends, so it has something to do with me."
"It’s too complicated."
"Yeah, well I’ve dealt with a lot of complicated shit."
"I know. Look, you’re not the only one I’ve lost touch with. Steph, who was my best friend for years doesn’t talk to me anymore. You’re not the only one, Nick."
"I know that, Felicia. But all I want to know is why? You said you wouldn’t and look what happened."
"Shit happens."
"Stop beating around the bush, Felicia. I have time, so start talking!"
"Fine, well when I moved to New York and got my phone and all that I got a call from Melinda, my mother. She followed me to NY and kept calling me, begging me to help my brother. I wanted nothing to do with her, so I disconnected my phone. But she didn’t like that; she came to my apartment, begging. She wouldn’t leave me alone, kept playing guilt trips on me and all that. The only way of getting away from her was working. So, I stayed at the school all the time and she stopped bothering me. By that time, 6 months had gone by and I thought everyone had forgotten about me. I called Steph once, but she barely talked to me and said she had too much to do. I called you once, but no one answered. So, I didn’t try after that. I then decided that New York wasn’t for me, so I came home. To try and figure out the rest of my life. I didn’t mean to lose touch with everyone, it just sorta happened."
"You should have tried harder."
"Is that all you can say? Try harder?! It’s not that easy. Especially when you try talking to one of your best friends, who barely talks to you and walks away. You try it sometime."
"Couldn’t you have called from a pay phone and at least let me know what was going on?"
"I tried Nick, but you were never home. Because of the tour, which I understand. I left a message, but I don’t know if you got it."
"I guess not, but there has got to be more to it, than just your mom bugging you."
"Fine, don’t believe me. That’s just fine with me. I don’t care anymore."
"You have changed so much."
"I’ve changed?! What the hell?! You’re the one who’s changed. You won’t believe me when I tell you the truth, you don’t listen to me, and I know that you really don’t want to talk to me."
"Like you said, shit happens. But I do want to talk to you and want to know why you stopped talking to me; or else I wouldn’t be here."
"But you still don’t believe me. Nick, understand! I’ve told you the truth; you just have to believe me."
"Maybe, I’ll try."
"Wow, that’s comforting. Well, take as much time as you need. When you have it all figured out, you know where I’ll be." She got up from the couch and went to the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it.
I got up, walked to the door, opened it and walked out of the room, the door closing behind me. I walked out of the hotel, climbed into my car and drove out of the parking lot.
I didn’t want to go home, because it was too quiet, but I wanted to be alone to think. So, I decided to go to the spot at the beach, where I always go to think.
45 minutes later I got there, parked, got out of the car and began to walk to the spot where I did my thinking. I sat down on the warm sand and looked out at the waved crashing against the shore and began to think.
Why didn’t I want to believe Felicia? I knew she was telling the truth, but for some reason I didn’t want to believe it. What was I afraid of? I just want my best friend back and yet I’m pushing her away. Just because I didn’t want to believe her. I’m an idiot! And if I don’t go do something, I’m going to lost. But why did it matter? I’ve only known her a few months, or a little more and yet I didn’t want to lose her friendship. But those feelings that I felt, what are they? I didn’t know, and I was too afraid to find out.
I sat there for about 2 hours, racking my brain to try and figure out those feelings. Every time I got close to her, I would feel them. Every time she smiled, and laughed I felt it. She understood me, and I understood her.
After sitting there for almost 4 hours straight, it finally hit me. Why hadn’t I figured it out earlier? AJ knew, and lord only knows who else knew and yet I had just figured it out. Took me long enough. I love Felicia, more than a friend. She’s special and I don’t want to lose that. But the thing that scared me the most was finding out if she felt the same way and I’m not sure that she did.
I decided that I would regain that friendship we had and make it stronger, before I told her that I love her. That way it’ll be better. I smiled to myself, got up and walked back to my car. It was about 11:45pm when I figured everything out. I got to my car, jumped in and drove back to the hotel, parked and ran inside. Got on the small elevator, went up to the 3rd floor and ran to her room. I knocked on her door and waited. About 5 minutes later no one answered, so I knocked again and louder. I heard movement on the other side and her yell that ‘it better be good’. She unlocked the door and slightly opened it, peering out into the hall.
"Nick, what are you doing here?" She sounded tired, like she just woke up.
"I came to talk."
"We already talked. It’s 12:15 in the morning. Go home."
"No, not ‘til I make it up to you."
"Make what up to me?"
"Our friendship. I want it back."
"I do too, but..."
"Please, let me say what I have to say and I’ll leave you alone the rest of the night." I cut her off.
"Fine, come in before you wake anyone else up."
She opened the door more and let me in. I closed to door and followed her to the little living room and sat next to her.
"Alright Nick, what is it you have to say that couldn’t wait ‘til tomorrow?"
"Ok, I went to my thinking spot at the beach and did a lot of thinking and I mean a lot. Like 4 hours worth of thinking." I paused.
"And?" She asked.
"And I decided that I do believe you and I was an idiot for not in the first place. And that your friendship is more important to me than anything. And I want that friendship back. So, what do you say? We friends again?"
"Hmm..I dunno Nick. I mean, you didn’t believe me in the first place."
"C’mon, Felicia! I was being stupid earlier."
"Nick, you’re being stupid right now! I was teasing you. Of course we can be friends! We’ll always be friends." She smiled.
"Thank you! You scared me there for a sec."
"I know, but it was fun making you sweat."
"You’re so not funny."
"Yes, I am. That’s why you love me." She pouted.
‘Oh, believe me, there are more reasons why I love you." I thought to myself.
"So, do I get a hug? I didn’t give you a real hug at the mall."
"Yeah, sure. Why not?"
We hugged and I just didn’t want to let go. But unfortunately I had to. I yawned a little.
"You look exhausted, Nick. I don’t think you should drive home. You can stay here tonight, if you want?"
"I don’t want to burden you, or anything."
"Don’t be silly. You won’t burden me at all. You’re staying whether you like it or not."
"Yes ma’am!" I saluted her. She just hit me in the arm and got up. She got some sheets and a pillow and handed them to me.
"You don’t mind sleeping on the couch do you?"
"Nope, I don’t. Thanx." I took the sheets and pillow from her hand and started putting them on the couch.
"You’re welcome. If you need anything, you know where I am. Just wake me, ok?"
"Ok, will do. See you in the morning."
"Yep, night Nick."
"Night Felicia"
I smiled and she smiled in return. She climbed into her bed and waited for me to finish. I climbed on the couch, laid down, and got comfortable. She turned off the light and the both of us fell asleep...
