Nick came home around ten o’clock. I was sitting in the living room attempting to read a book. Having read the same paragraph for the last hour, I was glad to have Nick home. Maybe he had cooled off and was ready to talk to me.

Nick walked past the living room and went straight up the stairs. He was still pissed at me. I couldn’t really blame him, though I thought it was immature that he would ignore me. You would think being mature adults we would discuss our problem.

I placed my book on the coffee table. I quickly took a breath and ran up the stairs. Nick was sitting on the bed when I entered the bedroom.

“Are you going to ignore me?” I asked. I stood in front of him.

“Yes.”

“That’s mature.”  I scoffed.

“Mature or not, I don’t really care. It’s better than saying something I may regret.” He got up and started pulling his shirt off.

“Are we ever going to talk about?” I was frustrated.

“Eventually.” Nick walked towards the master bathroom. I followed him. “Would you quit following me?”

“Fine, Nick. I’ll be here when you want to talk. Are you sleeping in here or the living room?”

“I’ll be sleeping in the guest room for a while.”

I huffed out of the bathroom. He was such an ass.

--------------------------

The next morning I was sitting at the island in the kitchen eating my bagel and tea, when Nick came in. I chose to ignore him.

He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down across from me. I continued to read my magazine.

“Aren’t you going to talk to me?” I chose to ignore him. “Are we in grade school?”

I looked at him. Then I went back to reading the article on choosing the best washing machine. Nick took my magazine and tossed it aside.

“What are you doing?” I glowered at him. He was really starting to piss me off.

“I’m trying to talk to you, but you would rather read about recipes or furniture or some other shit.”

“For your information, I was reading about washing machines. Does the world stop because you want to talk?”

“I thought you would be happy I wanted to talk. Make up your mind.” He ran his fingers through his hair.

“Oh so now you want to talk. When I wanted us to talk, you acted like the world was coming to the end. Now you want to talk, and I have to stop what I’m doing and listen.”

“That’s not true. I was still pissed off last night. I didn’t want to say something I regretted.”

“Funny, you said a lot of things the other night that were regrettable. Do I need to remind you of those things?” I stood up.

“I don’t need reminded.” He looked at his watch. “Damn, I’m going to be late for rehearsal. Can we talk when I get home?”

“I would like that. What are you doing for lunch today?” I asked quietly

“I’ll just eat at the studio.”

“Okay. I’m going to be in Orlando doing some job searching. I thought we could meet for lunch.”

“I would but I don’t know what time we are going to break for lunch. I wouldn’t want you to be hungry all day.” He stood up and grabbed his keys from the bowl.

“Oh, okay. I guess I will see you when you get home.”

He nodded his head and left.

-----------------

My job search was going nowhere fast. Literally no one wanted to hire me. They kept telling me I was over qualified and over educated. All I wanted was a job.

It was around noon and I was getting hungry. I found a small café and decided to check it out. I walked in and found a small table. I was looking at the menu, when someone came over to the table.

“Hello Emma!”

I looked up and saw Howie. I smiled in surprise. Shouldn’t he be at the studio?

“Hi Howie. This is a surprise.”

“Yeah, Brian got sick so we called it a day.”

“Poor Brian. Would you like to sit down?” He pulled out the chair and sat down.

“Sure. So, what are you doing in Orlando?” He smiled at me. Even his warm brown eyes were smiling at me.

“Job searching. It’s not going well.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

The waitress came over and quickly took our orders.

“I’m just getting bored sitting at home everyday. With Nick recording, I’m getting lonely. I need something to fill my time up with.” I admitted honestly. I hadn’t even told Nick that.

“I bet.  Do you have a degree?”

“Yes, in business. You know I had my own business in Los Angeles. I’m just not ready to open a new one. It devastated me when my store caught on fire.”

“I could just imagine.” Howie took a sip of his water.

“So tell me about yourself Howie. I don’t know much about you.” I place a strand of hair behind my ear.

“What do you want to know?” He answered with a smile. His smile could make your heart melt. It was warm and genuine.

“Anything you’re willing to tell me.” I joked.

“Well, I’m thirty seven. I’m a Backstreet Boy. I invest in real estate.”

“You sound like you are interviewing with a teen magazine.’ I chuckled.

“Do I? Well I could tell you all my favorites.” He teased back.

Our waitress brought our food. I quickly dug into my food. I was starving.

“Besides being so busy, what do you do in your free time?”

“Free time. What is that? I don’t really have much free time. I’ve been busy at Tabu.”

“Your club is nice. I enjoyed it, even though I caused all that trouble.” I looked down at my plate.

“You didn’t do anything but defend yourself. I’m sorry Kevin acted like an ass.”  Howie answered softly.

I looked up at him. He was staring at me with those brown eyes. I had to stop staring at them.

“I still feel bad. My temper gets the best of me sometimes.”

“It happens to all of us. I was just thinking. I need an assistant at the club. Now that I’m recording, I just don’t have the time to get over to Tabu everyday. Would you be interested?” He said seriously.

“Really? What would be my responsibilities?” I questioned. Was this a real job or did he feel bad for me?

“Basically you would be me, when I’m not there. You will manage the staff, purchasing, seeing that things are in order. The hours would be nine to five, with some extra hours for special events.”

“You’re not giving me this job just because you feel sorry for me?” I whispered. He took my hand in his. I felt a spark but decided to ignore it.

“I don’t give jobs to just anyone. You seem like a strong, educated young woman. You have spunk and confidence. I think you would be perfect for the job. Plus I pay really well.” He smiled at me.

“I don’t care about the pay. I’ll take the job.”

“Great. I wasn’t taking no for an answer, Emma.”