Chapter 42

“Wow, I can’t believe how warm it is here in December,” Andrea noted as she popped open the trunk of the rental car that she had rented for the duration of their stay in sunny California.

“Yep, I don’t think it will be hard to adjust from Wisconsin winters to California winters at all,” Annie joked as she took her sweatshirt off and revealed a tank top. “No sleeves in December, it’s all good!”

“And this gives me great incentive to visit you quite often from October to April.”

“Do you really need an incentive? That’s so unkind,” Annie said with mock sadness on her face as Andrea nodded her head up and down to tease her cousin even more.

“You should know by now that I am just not a nice person,” Andrea chided back with the most serious face and tone of voice she could muster. Annie cracked up as soon as she said it, causing Andrea to “break character” and laugh too.

“You’re the devil,” Annie squeaked out in the best Mike Myers on Saturday Night Live impression she could handle between her fits of laughter.

“Okay girls, we have to leave, like now,” Nick interrupted with a hint of panic in his voice as he emerged from the airport with his bags.

“What’s going on? What’s wrong?” Andrea asked as she watched her frenzied husband throw a bunch of luggage into the trunk and slam it shut.

“AJ and I were recognized when we were getting the rest of the luggage,” Nick stammered as he was trying to catch his breath from his jog through the baggage claim with his and AJ’s luggage flung over his shoulders. He stood next to the car frantically watching for the exit doors to the airport to open.

“Where is Alex?” Annie asked as she noticed the blatant stare down Nick was having with the two sliding pieces of glass.

“He threw his bags at me and told me to run. He ran the opposite direction and yelled that he would meet me at the car and then I lost sight of him. When the girls saw me just standing there, they started running towards me and I took off. Luckily there were some security guards monitoring baggage claim and they held the girls back while I got away. I hope Alex got that lucky too.” Nick grabbed his cell phone out of his jeans pocket to call Alex and find out where he was, but before the phone even rang once he heard Alex yelling.

“In the car, now!” AJ screamed as he came bounding through the doors, his arms flailing in front of him. Annie, Andrea and Nick jumped into the car and Nick started the engine as AJ approached the car. Annie had propped open the door for him and he leaped into the car and slammed the door shut quickly.

“GO!” he yelled at Nick as seven screaming girls emerged from the airport in hot pursuit. The squeal of the tires on the pavement almost drowned out the screams of the fanatic girls trying to get a piece of what they always felt would be unattainable. Just as the car shot out of its parking space, one of the teenagers made an attempt to jump onto the car, but unfortunately for her and fortunately for the passengers in the car she was about a half a second too late and she came crashed down onto the ground as the car sped away.

“Holy shit, did you just see that?” AJ exclaimed as he, Annie and Andrea were staring out the back window of the car. “She just totally took a body dive for the car and missed!”

“Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m laughing at that, she could have been hurt,” Annie stammered in between bouts of muffled laughter. “But that was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen! Too bad we didn’t get that on tape!”

“Dude, that is so mean! I guess you’re the devil now,” Andrea laughed as she copied Annie’s impersonation from earlier.

Nick and AJ started laughing along with them when Andrea continued her re-enactment of the entire skit that Mike Myers and Nicole Kidman had done on Saturday Night Live. By the time she had finished everyone had tears in their eyes and a sore stomach from laughing so hard.

“You are so funny,” Annie squealed as she gasped for air.

“For real,” Alex concurred as he wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. Andrea glimpsed at him before she turned around in her seat and their eyes met. She gave him a brief smile then looked away quickly and turned her focus to the road ahead of her. I wonder what he is thinking right now, she thought to herself. Has he put his feelings for me away? I don’t know how he could just turn them off like that, because I sure as hell can’t seem too.

Andrea placed her hand on Nick’s and entwined her fingers in his as if that would mask the thoughts that were running through her head of another man and bring her back to the man she had married. Nick looked over at her and smiled, ignorant to what was under the surface of those emerald green eyes he adored so much.

“You’re beautiful, you know that?” Nick commented rhetorically as he lifted her hand to his mouth and softly kissed it. “I love you Dre.”

“I love you more,” Andrea said with a smile, then turned her face away and continued looking out the window.

Alex looked out the window after his brief eye lock with his fiancé’s best friend, a million thoughts running through his head. What was that look about? He wondered to himself as the car moved closer and closer to his house. Are we ever going to be able to just hang out together again without one of us desiring to make a move on the other? She loves Nick and I love Annie, so why are we so drawn to each other?

Knowing that he needed to get his mind off Andrea and focused on something else he started asking Annie about the final wedding details that needed attention before Saturday. They quickly became enveloped in their own conversation, which spared AJ the anguish he would have surely felt had he witnessed the tender moment Nick and Andrea had just shared.