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Chapter 23

Three days had passed since the incidence at the club. Nick hadn’t spoken to Cass since, and Cass was avoiding the subject of Nick every time Holly brought it up. Holly didn’t know exactly what had happened that night, all she knew was that Cass was miserable, and according to Aj, so was Nick. Holly had kept in touch with Aj, and they had spoken on the phone every night. Mostly about Nick and Cass, but they were also getting to know each other pretty well.

The two girls were sitting in Holly’s kitchen having a cup of coffee, when Holly decided it was time to bring up the subject again. She sat down across Cass, and leaned her elbows on the table.
“Are you ever going to tell me what happened with Nick?” She asked.
Cass sighed. “Do we have to have this conversation again, Holly? You know I don’t want to talk about it.” She wasn’t angry, but Holly thought she looked rather sad.
“It won’t help keeping it to yourself, you know. I could help you get past this, but I can’t do that unless you tell me what happened.”
“I can’t…” Cass looked down. Deep down, she knew Holly was right, but she felt like she had told her story more times than she wanted to lately, and every time she opened up to someone, she felt she was losing a piece of herself. “I’ll tell you eventually, but right now, I can’t even think about it.”
“Actually, I think you’re thinking about it too much.” Holly said. She was not going to give up that easily.
Cass shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re right, but I’m still not in the mood to talk about it. It’s too soon.”
“But if you could ju…”
“Holly. Don’t! I don’t want to argue with you, k? I’ll tell you some day, just not today.”
Holly sighed, and nodded her head.
“Listen, I have to go. I have to get ready for work. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Cass stood up, and walked over to the front door. Holly followed her.
“If you change your mind, you know where to find me, ok?”
Cass smiled a little. “Yea, I know. Thanks.”

A couple of hour later, Holly was sitting in her living room, watching a movie, when her phone rang. She smiled, and knew who it was even before she answered it.
“Hello stranger.” She said.
“Hi there.”
“How are you Alex?”
“I’m good. You?”
Holly sighed. Aj sensed that something was wrong, and before she could answer, he continued. “What’s wrong?”
Holly shook her head. “I’m just worried about Cass, that’s all. She looks so sad. I just want to know what happened between her and Nick. I tried to ask her again today, but she just won’t tell me.”
“I know how you feel. It’s the same way with Nick. He’s spent the last few days in his room. He only comes out to eat. I’ve tried talking to him too, but he just yells at me. My room is next to his, and I swear I heard him cry the other night. The other guys want to know why he’s acting like this, but I just don’t know what to say to them.”
“It’s weird though. I mean, they haven’t known each other for more than a few weeks, and they were never together, but still they’re acting this way. It makes me wonder if it’s more to it than we know about. And I’m not just talking about what happened the other night.” Holly stood up from the couch and walked into the kitchen to get something to drink.
“You know what? I’ve been thinking today.” Aj said.
Holly chuckled. “Oh no, this can’t be good.”
“Oh, shut up.” Aj laughed. “I mean, I kinda think they need someone to push them in the right direction. Say, someone like… us.”
Holly sighed. “Alex, I’m not playing match maker. I’ve done that before, and it never turns out the way you want it to.”
“We’re not going to play match maker,” Aj argued, “we’re just going to help them start talking to each other again.”
“Alex…”
“No, I’m serious. They’re not going to do this on their own, and I’m not planning on watching Nick being this miserable. He’s my brother man. We start recording again in a few days, and he needs to focus on other things than this.”
Holly realized that Aj was right. “Ok then. What do you have in mind?”

Nick was standing in the kitchen, eating a sandwich. He didn’t bother sitting down, he just wanted to eat as fast as he could and get back to his room where no one could talk to him or confront him. He was pacing around while eating, but stopped dead in his track when he heard someone walk up behind him.
“So, finally got out of your room, huh?” Aj asked and sat down by the table.
Nick shrugged, and started to eat even faster.
“We’re having dinner with Johnny tomorrow to discuss the new record. You have to be there Nick.” Aj continued as he watched Nick pour himself a glass of juice. He shrugged again, and drank a few sips.
“Now, me and the rest of the fellas are all busy tomorrow. I don’t assume you have any plans, so you have to get to the restaurant by yourself. We’ll meet you there at 7 sharp. Johnny expects you to be there Nick, and you know very well that you don’t wanna disappoint him.” Aj gave Nick the name of the restaurant, and walked out of the kitchen without bothering to wait for Nick to say anything. He knew that Nick would be there, and he wasn’t a bit concerned that Nick suspected anything. After all, it made perfectly sense. Johnny wanted to talk to them before they started recording. Aj knew that Nick had no reason to doubt that.

The next day, Nick was sitting in a taxi on his way to the dinner. He felt uncomfortable taking a taxi after what had happened the last time. His mind wandered off to Cass again. He felt like she was the only thing on his mind lately, and he knew perfectly well that she was the reason he was acting the way he was. He felt so bad for yelling at her. If he had known what she had been through, he would never have said what he said. All he had wanted to do for the past few days was to call her and make sure that she was ok, but he was afraid that she wouldn’t talk to him. He wanted so bad to take her in his arms and tell her how sorry he was, but he felt that she should be the one to make the move this time.
“We’re here, sir.”
Nick jerked out of his thoughts. He paid the driver and got out of the taxi.
He looked at his watch. He was a couple of minutes early, but he figured that they had a table reserved, so he decided to wait inside. He walked over to a waitress who was standing just inside the door.
“Hi, I’m meeting someone here at 7. I think we have a reservation on Wright.” He said.
The waitress nodded. “Yes sir. You’re the first one to arrive, but I’ll show you to your table.”
Nick followed her inside and over to a table in a corner. A table for two.
“I think there’s a mistake here. There’s five more people coming.” He looked at her confused.
The waitress shook her head. “I don’t think so. We only have a reservation for two. But give me a minute and I’ll check, just to make sure.”
Nick nodded and sat down to wait. He started thinking about Cass again, and didn’t notice someone walking up to him.
“Nick?”
He looked up.
“Cass?”