"Sad beyond words," Nick sighs.
"Poor guy. Why didn't you stay longer to comfort him?"
"He wanted to be alone." He looks at me laying on the bed watching T.V. "Why aren't you ready for dinner?"
"I am ready," I say, looking down at my sweatshirt and jeans.
"When I said we should go out to dinner, I meant a fancy dinner. Not just McDonalds or something," he chuckles.
"Oops," I laugh. "Well, you're not ready either," I say, pointing to the jeans and t-shirt he's wearing.
"Yeah, but it doesn't take me an hour to get dressed."
I jump off the bed. "How long will it take you to get ready?" I ask.
"Fifteen minutes."
"Then I'll be ready in fifteen minutes too... And I'll look fantastic," I smile and dash for the washroom to put my makeup on.
"I'm timing you!" Nick shouts after me.
"I'm ready! I'm ready!" I shout as I run out of the washroom and grab my strappy sandals that look incredible with the strapless black dress I'm wearing.
"Wow, I'm impressed," Nick smiles. "You're actually ready on time and you do look fantastic!"
"Thank you. You look awesome too."
He smiles.
"So, where are we going to dinner?" I ask as we go into the hallway and wait for the elevator.
"There's this really nice place a few blocks down. I went there a couple of years ago when we stayed at this hotel."
"Sounds good."
"I'm glad you think so because I made a reservation," he smiles. The doors to the elevator open and we get in. "And I thought we could walk there since it's pretty close. You know, a romantic walk under the stars... and streetlights," he laughs.
"How romantic." I lean in and give him a quick kiss before the doors of the elevator open in the lobby and we get off.
We leave the hotel and begin walking to the restaurant.
We walk about seven blocks when suddenly I slip on something and fall to the ground.
"OMG, are you OK?" Nick asks as he bends down to help me up.
"Yeah," I grumble. "But I broke my heel."
"You broke your heel?!" he exclaims. "We've got to get you to a hospital."
"No Nick," I laugh. "I broke the high heel on one of my shoes," I say as he pulls me up off the ground.
"Oh," he laughs. "That's good. Well, that's not good, but it's better than breaking your actual heel," he laughs.
"Well, I guess we can't go to dinner," I sigh.
"Why not?"
"'Cause one of my heels is about two inches taller than the other, and by the time we get back to the hotel so that I can get another pair of shoes, we will have missed our reservation," I explain.
"Hmm," Nick says in a pondering manner. He looks around the street. "There's a shoe store," he says, pointing across the street at a cute little shop. "We'll go in there, get you some new shoes and then we'll make it in time to the restaurant," he smiles.
"Umm... OK," I laugh.
He makes sure no cars are coming, and then goes to cross the street, pulling me by the hand.
"Nick!" I yell, pulling him back to the curb.
"What?"
"I can't run across the street, sweety," I laugh, holding up the broken heal in my hand. "We should go to the cross walk so that I don't fall over and get hit by I car."
He laughs. "Nah, I've got a better idea." He then sweeps me up off the ground and into his arms.
"Ah!"
He looks in both directions to avoid any cars, then walks hurriedly across the street, carrying me in his arms.
"There," he smiles, as we reach the other side and he places me gently back on the ground.
"Oh thank you, you strong, brave man," I say jokingly, kissing him on the cheek.
"My pleasure," he laughs. "Shall we?" He places his hand on the small of my back and leads me into the shoe store.
"Thank you," I say as he opens the door for me.
We walk over to a section of black, strappy shoes and I immediatedly see a pair that I absolutely love.
"Oh, these are perfect!"
Just then, one of the sales ladies comes over. "May I help you?" she asks politely.
"Yes, do you have these shoes in a size eight?" I hold the shoe up to show her.
"Certainly. I'll be right back," she smiles, taking the shoe into the back to find my size.
"Was that biotch just checkin' you out?" I laugh.
"Well, I'm pretty hot stuff..." he laughs.
"Don't I know it," I smile and kiss him.
After buying the shoes, I put them on my feet and we leave the store to go to the restaurant.
"OK. Now we gotta hurry 'cause we've only got a few minutes to make it to the restaurant in time," I say, walking hurriedly.
"We can make it. We're unstoppable," Nick jokes.
Just then, I trip over an uneven part of the sidewalk and fall flat on my butt, into a puddle.
"OMG, are you OK?" Nick asks, as he extends his hand to help me up.
"No," I say as a tear escapes my eye. "My dress is ruined, I'm soaked, my ass is hurting, and to make matters worse, everyone on this street is staring at me."
"Oh baby, come here," he says, wrapping me in a hug, as he lifts me from the puddle.
"Nick, I just want to go back to the hotel," I say, feeling sorry for myself.
"Of course, sweety." He hugs me tightly.
We then go to the curb, hail a cab and go back to the hotel.
"Whoa, what happened to you?" Carolyn asks as we get out of the elevator at our floor and
she happens to be in the hall.
"She fell in a puddle," Nick answers for me.
"You fell in a puddle?" Carolyn repeats, holding back laughter.
I just glare at her and head to our room. I unlock the door and go inside. Carolyn and Nick
both follow me in.
"So, you OK? You didn't actually hurt yourself, right? Just got a little wet?" she chuckles.
"Actually, if you must know, I hurt my ass," I snap back.
"Geez, someone's a little touchy," she says, realizing I'm not in a joking mood. "Hey, are
those new shoes?"
"Ugh..." I groan.
Nick chuckles. "She broke the heel on the ones she was wearing, so we stopped at a shop and
bought new ones," Nick explains.
"Oh, when you fell in the puddle?"
"No, before that," Nick explains for me.
"You fell twice?" Carolyn asks, fighting back laughter.
I nod.
"Rough night," she chuckles.
I glare over at her from where I'm sitting on the bed.
"OK, I'm sorry for laughing," she says as she walks over to me and gives me a hug.
"You OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Good."
"So, have you seen Brian since we left?" Nick asks as he takes off his jacket.
"No. Poor guy. I feel so bad for him."
"I better go see how he's doing," Nick says, heading for the door.
"See ya," Carolyn says as he closes the door behind himself.
"So, I've been meaning to ask you about A.J."
I smirk. "Oh really?"
"Yeah." She smiles and sits next to me on the bed.
"Did he say anything to you? I mean, about me?" she asks, nervously.
"Hmm, well, he might have mentioned that he's into you again," I smile.
"Seriously?" she asks happily. "What else did he say?"
"He said he's kind of emotionally beat and that he's not really looking to be in a relationship right now, but maybe in a few weeks there's a chance of you two getting back together. Of
course, that is if you want to," I explain.
"Awesome," she says, happy with the news. "It's so ridiculous that I'm asking you instead
of asking him. But, I just feel kinda nervous about all this, kinda like when me and A.J. first
met."
"It's good that you feel that way," I smile "That way you two can really start over. It'll make
your relationship stronger than if you just picked up where you left off, you know."
"Yeah, I guess," she laughs.
Just then, Nick rushes back into the room with a look of concern on his face.
"Nick, what's wrong?" I ask, as he rushes to the other side of the room and grabs his jacket.
"Brian's gone," he says, rushing to leave.
"Wait! Babe, what do you mean Brian's gone?" I ask worriedly.
"He left a note on his door. He's gone after Leighanne. He's flying back to Florida to get her back.
Me and the guys are going to try to catch him at the airport and talk some sense into him," he explains all in one breath.
"Nick, come on!" Kevin yells from the hall, as the elevator doors open.
"Oh my god," Carolyn and I say in unison.
"I gotta go." He kisses me quickly on the lips then runs out into the hall and gets on the
elevator.