The outside of the hotel was beautiful, but didn’t do the hotel itself justice. It was a quaint hotel, stashed away in the midst of New York City, but it was gorgeous. My heels clicked lightly on the tiled floor below me. The lobby was decorated in dark green colors, but the light from the windows made the place seem so beautiful and so alive. The receptionist at the front desk smiled at me. “Is there anything I can help you with?” She asked softly.
“Yes, actually,” I smiled and walked over to her, flattening my gray business skirt in the process. “A friend of mine is staying here for a little while. He asked me to stop by. His name is Nick Carter.” I could tell the receptionist was trying her hardest not to laugh at me. “I know, you probably get hundreds of teenage girls in here asking this, but is there any way you could call up and tell him I’m here?” As the words rolled off my tongue, my brain told me to turn around and walk away. But this time, my heart stood in the way of the door, blocking my escape.
“Could I have your name?” She asked me. She hadn’t picked up the phone, and ninety-nine percent of my heart told me she wouldn’t call.
“Rachel LaRoe,” I sighed and tapped my fingernails on the ceramic counter. Her eyes grew wide and her cheeks became pink.
“I-I’m so sorry, Miss LaRoe. I’ll call up right away,” she hurried to pick up the phone and dial a room number. My heart began to pound in my chest and the color in my complexion rose to meet hers. “Mr. Carter?” She paused. Oh God, he answered the phone! I screamed out in my head. “Rachel LaRoe is in the lobby to see you.” She paused once more. What am I supposed to do now? It was almost like my brain was having a battle with my heart. My brain wanted nothing more than to pick up my body and walk out the revolving glass doors. But my heart, on the other hand, wanted nothing other than Nick Carter himself. “Okay, I’ll tell her.” She hung up. “Mr. Carter asked me to tell you he’d be right down.” She smiled.
“Oh, that’s not necessary,” I smiled and grabbed my purse off the counter, realizing I had set it down when I got there. “I really need to be somewhere anyway. I’ll come by another time.” Liar! My heart yelled out.
“No, please don’t. He’s on his way down now, and if you leave, then you might not catch him for a while. His guard said he was going to be busy the next few days,” she explained. Maybe she was right. I had come in here and she had already called him down, so I may as well stay. I sighed in defeat and took a seat on a sofa in the lobby. I clicked my nails together, the nervousness creeping into my stomach and up through my throat almost feeling like a wave of nausea. I looked at the clock on the wall. 12:14.
“Rach?” I heard him say. I tore my eyes away from the clock on the wall and smiled up at him. He smiled as his eyes fell upon me, almost as if he didn’t believe the receptionist when she told him I was here.
“Hey, Nick,” I smiled and stood up from the sofa. “Sorry to bother you, I was actually walking down the street and saw the hotel.”
“You didn’t bother me,” he laughed softly. “I didn’t think you would come, actually. So, it was a pleasant surprise.” He smiled.
“Good,” I smiled back. There was that awkward silence again.
“Have you had lunch yet?” He asked me. I shook my head ‘no’. “Well, there’s a restaurant here at the hotel if you’d like, or Time Square’s only a five minute walk from here if you want to go find something in that direction.”
Did he even ask me to lunch? I pondered in my head for a moment. He could see the confusion on my face and began to question it.
“Oh, sorry. I, uh, I meant to ask if you’d like to go to lunch with me,” he blushed. “I mean, not like a date or anything…just a casual lunch with an old friend. I mean, you’re not old --.”
I laughed out loud as he scrambled to find the right words. That was always Nick, trying to find the right thing to say, yet I knew what he meant in my heart. And I really knew what he meant this time. We both wanted more than just a casual lunch with an old friend. But only the Lord knows I wouldn’t admit it.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you for all the reviews! Keep them coming!
