“Hey come on in, breakfast is just about done,” Veronica smiled as Nick made his way in, shutting the door behind him.
“God it smells good in here.”
“That’s always a good sign right? At least ya know I didn’t burn anything,” she winked.
Nick chuckled, he was hungry. He’d been looking forward to this. Granted he hadn’t been up all that long, but for the time he’d been up and since he’d left last night, he’d been thinking about breakfast…about her.
“Have a seat and I’ll fix you a plate.”
“I can do that ya know, it’s alright.”
“I know you can, but I want to so sit!”
“Whoa, yes ma’am,” he laughed, as he pulled out a chair and sat to the table.
“That’s better, now, I was thinking. How bout later this evening we go to a club or something? We can watch the Harry Potter movies after we get back. We’ll stay up late.”
“Ohh yeah! That sounds like fun, maybe we can go out shopping before. Do you have a mall close by?” Nick questioned.
“Yup, it’s about ten or fifteen minutes from here.”
“Cool, you up for some shopping?”
“Mmmm, sure. I don’t know that I’ll buy anything, but at least I can show you our rinky dink mall. It’s not that great.”
“It’s fine, and you should buy something. Even something small, like a book,” Nick insisted, backing up a bit as Veronica set a steaming plate in front of him.
“Maybe I will, I do wanna read the new James Patterson. Do you like grits?”
“You never mentioned you liked him, and I’m not sure. I think I’ve had them before.”
“Oh yeah, I’m addicted. Do you want some now?”
“Wow, I’ve never read him before and sure, I’ll give em a try.”
Veronica smiled, grabbing a bowl and pouring some in and setting it down next to his plate before fixing hers, sitting down.
“Wow look at all this food!”
“I hope you’re hungry.”
“That’s an understatement. I can’t remember the last time I had breakfast that wasn’t from a restaurant or McDonalds.”
Veronica frowned, “That’s really sad Nick.”
“It’s like I told your Mom, I’m not in the mood to cook when I’m home and I’m not that great of a cook anyway,” he explained, taking a bite of eggs.
“I hope you don’t mind scrambled.”
“Nah, don’t matter, these are really good.”
“Ya know what I like to do?”
He looked up at her, “What?”
“First, add sugar to my grits. This a personal preference, you don’t have to. Anyway, a little sugar…”she spooned a generous amount of sugar into the warm cereal and mixed it. “Then, you take your eggs, and put some in the grits.” Veronica put all her eggs into the cereal and mixed again.
Nick watched in uneasy fascination. It really didn’t look good.
She grinned, “Trust me on this Carter…”
He blinked, “What did you call me?”
Veronica looked up at him, “Huh?”
“Did you just call me Carter?”
She blushed, looking away, “Sorry.”
“Don’t be, it’s cool. My friends I grew up with called me that a lot, I don’t mind,” he smiled.
Veronica cleared her throat, “Now…”
“You’re not gonna...not call me that again now are you?”
“Nick…”
“Aww see, you’re starting already!”
“Ok ok, I’ll keep calling you that ok?” She laughed.
“Alright, continue.”
“Thanks for the permission,” Veronica groaned.
He winked.
“Anyway…next you get a piece of toast,” she grabbed a slice. “Then you get a spoonful of the cereal, glob it on the toast like so and then fold taco style and voila!”
She took a bite and groaned.
“Bis booooo bood!”
“Veronica? That’s disgusting.”
“No, really it’s not, try it! Just put a little cereal on the toast and add a bit of egg to try.”
Nick looked down at the cereal, adding a bit of sugar then grabbed a slice of toast. He spooned some of the cereal on and then a little of his eggs and folded it.
“If I wretch it’s gonna be YOUR fault.”
She rolled her eyes, “Just try it Carter.”
He eyed the concoction one last time before taking a bite, chewing cautiously.
Veronica watched as he chewed, an amused expression on her face. He hadn’t spat it out; he didn’t appear to be grossed out, in fact…
“Hey…this is kinda good.”
“Surprise surprise.”
“Wow, it’s really good. Mmm…” he took another bite, licking his lips.
She laughed, continuing to eat.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“So…where to?”
“Uhhh, I kinda wanted to get a new cd.”
“Ok, there’s a music store in here, but be forewarned, it’s expensive…” Veronica started then stopped, blushing.
Nick smiled, “Thanks for the heads up.”
“That was stupid,” she mumbled, looking away.
“Nah, it’s cool, don’t worry bout it.”
She was sure that’s what he wanted to hear, sometimes she just didn’t think before she spoke.
“It’s right over here,” Veronica announced, leading him into the music store.
“Cool,” Nick smiled, walking down one of the aisles, looking the cd’s over.
Veronica turned, making her way as far away from as she could. She figured she couldn’t say anything else stupid if she wasn’t around him.
Nick flipped through the cd’s, plucking a few here and there. He’d forgotten just how expensive cd’s were, Veronica had been right. Most of the time he got cd’s for free; he never really had to worry about buying anything, not really. Looking at the prices now, he could see why people downloaded and burned cd‘s, not that he was for it, but he understood a bit more.
“Hey, have you…” Nick stopped when he realized he was by himself in the aisle.
Looking around he saw Veronica all the way at the other end of the store, flipping through cd’s, trying it seemed to be inconspicuous. He watched as she looked around cautiously, a hand going to her hair to smooth it down, she kept tugging nervously at her clothes, her tongue darting out to lick her lips unconsciously. Nick blinked, his eyes resting on her now moist lips. He had the insane urge to walk over to her and…
Shaking his head, he made his way down the aisle to the one right in front of the one she was in. Turning he looked at the rack of cd’s facing her aisle so he could see her. He shuffled through the cd’s not really paying much attention, his gaze kept wandering to her. She’d pick up a cd, flip it over and then put it back. When she moved down a bit, he moved with her. To anyone looking, it probably seemed like he was following her, and he wasn’t he was just…making sure she was ok.
Nick made his way down the aisle and slowly around to her aisle, quickly he started looking through cd’s, stealing glances of her and there. He inched down closer until he was right next to her. Leaning in he whispered in her ear.
“Find anything good?”
“Oh! God Nick you scared me!”
He grinned, “I can be really scary I know.”
“No no, I just…I thought you were still over…there.”
“Well I went to tell you something but you were gone.”
She blushed, looking back down at the cds, “Yeah.”
“So did you find anything?”
“Nope, nothing out that I’ve been wanting.”
“Aww that sucks.”
“It really doesn’t. I spend an obscene amount of money on cds, this little reprieve is nice.”
“I feel lame buying all these and you’re not getting anything,” Nick pouted.
“I see you got a huge stack. That Gorillaz cd is really good. I have that.”
“That’s what I hear,” Nick nodded, making his way up to the register, pulling his wallet out and then his credit card.
A few minutes later they made their way out.
“Are you hungry, do you want something to eat?” Nick asked, as he let his bag sway back and forth between them.
“Nah not really, but feel free to get something.”
“I’m still full from breakfast,” he laughed.
“Yeah, it’s really filling.”
“Oh hey, let’s go in here,” Nick pointed to a store.
Veronica turned and looked, it was a store she shopped in regularly, but hadn’t been in a while because the prices were so high.
“Sure, ok.”
They made their way into the store.
“We have these in Florida, I really love the look,” Nick smiled.
“Do you uhh…do a lot of shopping in here Nick?” Veronica grinned.
“Well…hey! I used to shop in here for some exes of mine! Geeze!”
Giggling, Veronica made her way over to a display, sighing wistfully.
Nick made his way over to another display, looking through the various blouses and skirts. He grabbed a couple and folded them over his arm.
Veronica made her way towards the back of the store to the clearance rack, it was the only clothes she’d be able to afford at the time, but nothing there was her style. Turning she looked at some of the other clothes, wincing at the prices. It was absolutely amazing, prices rose within a matter of months. Everything was just too expensive. Sighing, she made her way back over to Nick, feeling slightly self conscious in a store of petite pretty girls.
“V, what do you think of these?” He asked, holding up some blouses and skirts.
“They’re nice, very pretty.”
“Would you try em on? I’m not sure of your size and all. I can take you to the racks and you can get your size, I won’t look or nothing,” Nick smiled.
She looked down at the pile of clothes he had hanging on his arm, “Huh?”
“Would you try these on? I mean, I suck at coordinating, but you can mix and match. I thought…I dunno, I thought I’d buy you an outfit for the club tonight.”
“Buy me an outfit?” She was stunned.
His eyes widened, “Hey, I’m not trying to say anything or insinuate nothing, I just thought I’d do this cause I wanted to, that’s all.”
“Nick…”
“I KNOW I don’t have to, but I want to Veronica, so let me ok?”
“Uhh…o-ok.” She took the clothes and went over to the racks, looking the sizes over grabbing the right ones then headed over to the dressing room.
Nick headed inside the dressing room and sat on one of the couches. A few minutes later, Veronica came out in one of the blouses and a skirt.
“Mmmm…”
“No good?” She asked.
“I don’t know…it’s not…you.”
Veronica smiled, “Ok, I’m taking your word for it.” Turning she made her way back into the dressing room. She came back out again a short time later. “How bout this?”
“Eh,” Nick shrugged.
She headed back in.
Nick hoped she’d find something, granted he picked them out, but there had to be something in there. In his head they’d looked good, but now that he’d seen them on her, he realized that they didn’t compliment her, didn’t show what he knew about her. Sighing, he looked over when he heard the door open and she stepped out.
“What do you think?”
He slowly looked her up and down, his mouth suddenly dry. Clearing his throat he looked up into her eyes. “That’s it.”
Her eyes lit up, “Really?”
Nick stifled a groan, “Absolutely.”
The purple blouse clung to her body, the soft swells of her breasts just visible over the v cut at the neck. The basic black skirt hugged her curves, accentuating her legs. She’d hidden herself behind baggy clothes, Nick had no idea she looked like this.
She watched him closely, an unreadable expression on his face. He was staring at her in such a way that she felt the need to cover up. Veronica brought a hand up to her chest.
“It’s not too low cut is it? I feel so exposed.”
“Trust me on this Veronica, it’s fine. Guys are…visual people, you know that.”
“Guys? I don’t want guys looking at me,” she moaned.
Nick raised an eyebrow, “Women?”
“What? NO! I don’t mean like that!” Veronica blushed, looking away.
“What do you mean then?”
“I’m not going to this club for guys to look at me.”
“Well they’re going to, why not have a little fun,” Nick grinned.
“Nick, I’m not much to look at. I look stupid, I don’t have the figure to pull something like this off, you and I both know that,” she mumbled, her face turning bright red.
“Whoa whoa hey…”
“It’s the truth, I‘m taking it off. This is a joke,” she finished, turning to head back into the dressing room.
“Wait a minute,” Nick bolted up off the couch and gently grabbed her arm. “Veronica stop.”
“Nick please…”
“No. Let me get this for you.”
“No way, for one it’s too expensive and two I can’t wear this out in public.”
“You can,” he stated, staring at her intently.
Veronica looked into his eyes, her heart dropping, her eyes drifting to his lips.
“Veronica…let me get this.”
“I don’t know…”
“I do, trust me. You look sexy as hell in it. Get it.”
Her eyes widened.
“Go in and get dressed and bring it back out, ok?”
She stared at him, her breathing labored and nodded. He let her go and she turned, making her way back into the room, shutting and locking the door before resting against her. Her heart was pounding, her hands trembling. She’d never had a guy look at her like that, like he actually liked what he saw.
Nick slumped back down on the couch, rubbing at his eyes. He shouldn’t have pressed, but she deserved it. The outfit looked great on her, and if she wanted guys to notice her, which Nick figured secretly she did, this was the way to start. She hid behind the clothes she wore, it was time she used what she had. He’d been pleasantly surprised, and he knew other guys would be too and for some reason, that thought made him angry.
“Ok…”
Looking up he stood, taking the outfit from her, “Ok, let’s head up to the register.”
“Are you sure you want to do this Nick? It’s really…”
“I don’t wanna hear about the cost.”
She tried a different tact.
“This would be the only time I wore it. Wouldn’t that be a waste of your money?”
“No, you’d be just like any celebrity,” he winked, heading over to a display of earrings. “How bout some earrings to go with it?”
“No! Nick no!”
“Yeah!” He swiped a couple pairs. “Your ears are pierced right?”
“Nick it’s too much!”
“It’s not enough,” he brought the clothes and earrings up to the counter. He paid for the stuff and handed her the bag as they headed out the store.
“Thank you Nick,” Veronica sighed, looking over at him.
Nick looked at her, reaching out to take her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“You’re welcome.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Ok, so I’m gonna go to the hotel and get ready and I’ll be right back.”
“Alright, so I’ll see you in a bit,” Veronica smiled. She gave a wave as he took off.
She hurried in to get ready.
About an hour later Veronica hurried out the bathroom to answer the buzz letting her know someone was there. She pressed the button and flung the door open just as Nick appeared.
“Ahh I’m almost done, c’mon in!”
Nick stared at her, his eyes widening. The transformation had been amazing. Turning Veronica hurried back into the bathroom and Nick had the urge to follow her in. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Cautiously, he made his way down the hall and over to the bathroom.
“Honey you look great.”
Veronica poked her head out, “You’re just saying that, but thanks.”
“No no, I’m being serious,” Nick let out a breath.
Smiling, she ducked back in and emerged a few minutes later, hurrying into the living room, grabbing her sandals, slipping them on, bending over to hook them.
“Here, let me, you sit down” he knelt down suddenly, taking her ankle in his hand and bringing the strap over.
Veronica stared down at him as she sat, watching while he hooked both of her sandals.
“There you go,” he smiled, looking up at her.
Their gazes locked and held.
“You look very nice Veronica,” Nick whispered.
“So do you…you…smell great.”
He chuckled suddenly, standing. “Thanks, so do you.”
Cursing herself inwardly, she stood, grabbing her purse.
Nick stared at her, she’d applied light make up, and it wasn’t too much, just right. She looked beautiful.
“Ready?”
He nodded, wiping his sweaty hands on his jeans. “I can drive if you want.”
Veronica smiled, “Sure.”
They made their way over to the door and headed out.
