They made their way into the store, Nick watched as she smiled and waved at some people she knew. After she’d changed, Veronica suggested them going to her job so she could introduce him to some of her co-workers. Nick had agreed, all the while trying hard to act normal, he wasn’t sure he was succeeding, though Veronica didn’t seem to notice.
So here they were, she led him over to the counter and he recognized the woman he’d first met when he was here last time come cover.
“Hey V!”
“Hey Carla, I thought I’d finally bring Nick by so he could meet everyone.”
“Cool, Hey Nick, I’m Carla, Veronica’s told me a lot about you.”
Nick smiled, offering his hand, “Nice to meet you Carla, Veronica’s told me a lot about you as well.”
Veronica watched the two, feeling slightly out of place, which was odd considering the situation. A few other people came over and Veronica introduced them all to Nick. Some knew who he was and others, mostly the older adults, had no idea. Nick seemed to be greatly relieved. He was relaxed and charming, offering several smiles. They made their way from the deli over to the bakery and Veronica introduced him to some of the people there that she was friendly with. From there they headed over to the meat department.
“Hi Geoff! C’mere,” Veronica called to a tall thin guy.
He made his way over, staring intently at Nick, “Hey girl.”
“What’s up? I decided to be the nice one and say hi since you obviously weren’t going to,” Veronica smirked.
Her and Geoff always teased each other about who said hi first, he’d always mess with her when she went into the meat cooler to get the chickens; she enjoyed the mini flirting even though he was dating someone.
“Please, I ALWAYS say hi but you’re always too busy to respond, and where have you been anyway? I haven’t seen you in like, fifty years!” Geoff exclaimed.
“I’m on vacation thank you.”
“Again?!” He grinned.
“Whatever, I want you to meet someone. Geoff, this is Nick, Nick this is my friend Geoff.”
Geoff brought his gaze back to Nick smiling, watching him, “Hey.”
Nick offered his hand, “Hey.”
“You look familiar, aren’t you ummm…” Geoff narrowed his eyes in thought.
“Don’t strain yourself Geoff,” Veronica grinned.
“Hey!”
“It’s hard I know.”
“Girl, you better stop,” Geoff laughed.
“Ohhh sorry, I’m scared now,” Veronica chuckled.
Geoff shook his head and looked back over at Nick, “Do you see how she treats me? And it’s like this all the time man; I don’t know how you put up with her.”
“That wasn’t very nice!”
He grinned, looking over at Nick again, “Damn, I know you from somewhere.”
“Give it up Geoff, you don’t have a clue who he is, so just forget it.”
“Well if you’d just hush and let me think, I’m sure I could figure it out,” Geoff groaned.
“No way, you can’t and you know it,” Veronica giggled.
He’d watched the whole interaction with interest and a lot of discomfort. She flirted, not blatantly, and teased Geoff with a subtly that he didn’t see often anymore. She wasn’t bold, she didn’t throw herself at him or make suggestive comments or anything of the sort, it was almost…classy. Nick felt the mild twinges of jealousy sparking in him as he watched Veronica and Geoff tease each other, Geoff reached out, poking Veronica in the side, she batted his hand away and shoved him gently, telling him she’d see him later.
Nick looked away, why wouldn’t she do that with him?
He couldn’t stop thinking about what’d happened earlier that morning. He kept going over it in his mind. It didn’t seem to bother her, not at all. It looked like she’d forgotten last night already, content in not mentioning it, not talking about it. She’d said that she hadn’t expected anything, and part of him was glad for that, but he also didn’t want to act as if it hadn’t happened. It’d been a huge thing; it’d been a first for her and for him in some ways. Nick just couldn’t make it stop hurting.
Veronica continued to lead him around the rest of the store until they were back at the entrance.
“Well that’s everyone, was there anything you wanted to get before we left?”
“Nah, I think I’m ok.”
“Aright.”
“Hey, can we rent some movies? We can just hang out today,” Nick offered, wanting any excuse to get her alone.
“Ohh yeah, there’s a video store right behind here.”
“Isn’t there a video store in here?”
“Yeah, but we don’t much of a selection,” Veronica explained as they made their way out and over to her car.
They got in and headed over to the plaza and then into the video store. Once inside, they got a couple movies and headed out and at Veronica’s suggestion, headed over to get Chinese before heading back to her apartment.
