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 “Lindsey, please don’t hang up,” Nick pleaded.  “Hear me out.”  He had waited until a reasonable hour to call Lindsey.  He lucked out that she actually picked up the phone; he feared he would be apologizing to her voicemail.

“Nick, there is nothing for you to say.  I thought you were someone you obviously aren’t.  Just proves to me I should always go with my first impressions.”  Lindsey whispered into the phone.

Nick cringed as he remembered her first impression of him.  Nobody thinks highly of a person who t-bones their car.   “I was getting ready to leave to meet with you when Veronica called.”  He started not waiting for her to tell him he could continue.  He had to get it off of his chest.  “She invited me over and I forgot I was meeting you. There is no other explanation other than I am an idiot.” 

There was a pause on the other end.  Nick thought that maybe she had hung up, but he could hear the steady sound of her breathing after awhile so he stayed on the line.

“Well you are an idiot.” She said with both vehemence and playfulness in her voice. 

“I know, and I am sorry.”  Nick apologized wondering why she was whispering.   “Were you there long before realizing I wasn’t coming?”

“Actually I ran into a friend and he waited with me and when you didn’t show up we went to a movie.” There was warmth to her voice as she spoke.  He could see her smiling and possibly blushing as she spoke about the other guy. 

“So it turned out for the best?” Nick questioned hoping that she enjoyed her time with the other guy well enough that she would forgive him for standing her up. 

“So you think because I was able to salvage my evening that it would let you off the hook?” She scoffed in the phone.  Nick wondered how she did that, could she read his mind or was he that transparent?   “Nick, forget about it. You were excited the girl you liked asked you over.  It’s not like we were doing anything but hanging out as friends.”

“Friends…” Nick said the word, it didn’t sound too bad. 

“How about you take me out to lunch to make it up to me?  Do you have free time today?” She asked still whispering. Nick told her that he could meet with her and asked if she needed him to pick her up. She agreed to him picking her up and they set a time and she gave directions to where she worked.

 “I will see you then.” Nick smiled as he hung up the phone.  He picked up his guitar and started strumming a few chords, determined to get some work done before he met with Lindsey.

The hours passed like a blur and soon Nick was rushing out to get Lindsey at the time they agreed.  He sped some but was careful not to run any red lights.  As he sat at one light waiting for it to change to green he couldn’t help but laugh at himself.  He never thought he’d be meeting the girl whose car he hit for lunch.  He never thought the girl would give him the chance, but it seemed that she had forgiven him for the accident and she should have plenty of money to cover any expenses the insurance wouldn’t cover since she did call his finance guy to get a check.

Nick pulled in front of the building Lindsey was standing in front of, a smile on her face.  “Sorry, running a bit late.”

She shrugged and put her seatbelt on. “I knew you weren’t going to forget about me.” She laid her head back on the back of the seat and closed her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“Just a rough day at work, I found out today that I didn’t get a job I had interviewed for.”  She shrugged again and gave him directions to the restaurant.   “Hard to work with this,” She held her arm with the cast up and glared in his direction.

Maybe she hadn’t fully gotten over the accident like he’d thought she had.  When they arrived, Nick hurried out of the car to open the door for her.  “M’lady,” He bowed and laughed as he saw a smile break out on her face.

“Dork,” She muttered in an annoyed tone, though her bright red checks were saying something else.

They sat down, ordered and received their food somewhat faster than Nick had hoped.   Lindsey was quiet during as she started to eat. She had been quiet since they got there.

“Is there something else wrong?” He asked.

Lindsey sighed and shook her head.  “Just upset about not getting the job.” She attempted a smile.

Nick put his hand on hers and looked her straight in the eyes.  “I am sure you will find another.  Think of it this way, it was practice for another interview.”   He nodded confident that he had just made her feel much better.  When she pulled her hand away and kept eating in silence he realized it hadn’t worked.

He shoved his fork in a piece of lettuce and shoved it in his mouth trying to figure out what else he could say or do to make things up to her.  She said that standing her up wasn’t the problem that it was the interview but he still felt he needed to make it up to her.

“Hey, did I ever tell you that I record music?” He couldn’t remember if he had told Lindsey anything about his career or not. 

“No. You do?” She asked sitting up a little straighter.

Nick nodded.  “I was thinking maybe you would like to hang out while I record some stuff, maybe tomorrow?” 

She shook her head.  “Work.” She replied. 

Nick mentally slapped himself.  How could he forget that she worked a job during the week?  “What if I set a time up for this weekend?”   He asked grinning when he saw a smile break out on her face.

“That would be fun.  I’ve never been in a recording studio.” She didn’t ask him what kind of music he recorded, she just seemed excited for the experience and maybe, to spend time with him.  He found he was hoping for the latter he could always use more friends.

Nick dropped her off back at her workplace after they set up a time to meet for dinner before they would hang out in the studio.  Nick playing his music, Lindsey listening.  He really hoped she would enjoy the experience.