Part 154
The two couples were seated in a booth, given menus, and left to decide what they wanted. Nick grumbled the entire time and Sarah kept shooting him dirty looks while Becca and Howie tried to ignore him.
The waitress, who was excited to be waiting on Nick and Howie, returned to take their orders and Sarah still hadn’t decided what she wanted.
Nick whined, "Jeeez…. you’re the one who wanted seafood."
"Leave her alone, Nick," warned Howie. "Angel, she’s waiting. Do you see what you want?"
"I want several things but I’m afraid to get it."
"Are you nauseous?" asked Becca.
"No…I’m starving but I never know when it’s gonna hit and I don’t want Howie to spend the money on dinner and then I puke it back up."
Howie leaned to her and kissed her, "Angel, go on and get what you want and don’t worry about that."
Sarah looked at him and asked shyly, "Are you sure?"
"I’m positive."
Sarah closed the menu. "Okay…I want the stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer, then the seafood feast, salad with extra ranch dressing, baked potato with sour cream and butter, and a strawberry daiquiri."
"Make it a virgin one," corrected Howie. The waitress took the menu and left quickly to place the order and Howie said, "Not hungry are you, Angel?"
"God, Sarah…talk about ME blowing up," teased Becca.
"So I’m hungry…sue me."
Howie pulled her to him. "I’m just glad to see you eating. Do you feel dizzy?"
Nick laughed, "Dizzy? And you call me blonde!"
"Yeah cuz you FIT the description of a DUMB BLONDE," shot Sarah.
Nick shot the paper on his straw at her and Sarah threw her napkin back.
"You two…BEHAVE!" scolded Becca. Then to Howie, "God, have they always been like this?"
Howie laughed, "Yeah…they have."
"How do you put up with it?"
"It’s love, I guess," smiled Howie as he gazed into Sarah’s eyes.
Nick groaned, "Oh god…here we go again with the goo-goo eyes and kissy face. You know, you two should be LONG past this stage as long as you two have been together."
Howie had begun to kiss Sarah as Nick was making his remark and he pulled away to say, "Nick, how do you think we stay so…"
Nick finished, "Horny? That’s NOT hard to figure out. You two are all over each other whenever you get the chance."
"Oh, and you aren’t all over Becca?" shot Sarah. "Give me a break."
As Nick and Howie talked, Sarah watched Becca. In fact, she’d been watching her best friend all afternoon and knew something was definitely wrong. Becca had been quieter than usual and had even fussed at Nick for his antics. Normally she ignored it or thought it was cute.
Sarah nudged Howie under the table when Becca’s attention seemed to drift away from the conversation and she looked at him. Whispering, she said, "Something’s NOT right."
"I see. Why don’t you mention some girl time? Be a good way to bring it up."
"Hey, Bec…what d’ya say we ditch these two clowns after dinner and go back to the hotel for some girl time?"
Becca looked at Nick before saying, "I don’t know. I’m not really in the mood to talk."
"Fine. You don’t have to. We can just hang and watch some movies. I need to work on the websites since I didn’t do it this afternoon and make some arrangements for the lupus cruise."
Becca looked at the guys. "What are you two gonna do?"
Howie shrugged his shoulders, "Thought we’d check out the club scene. I want to get some ideas for ‘Tabu’. I’m always looking for new stuff."
Sarah teased, "Yeah…what you’re REALLY doing is looking for someone who isn’t hormonal or gonna be fat as a cow in a few months."
Howie hugged her close. "I could never replace you, Angel. So, Bec…what do you say?"
Becca hesitated and Nick suggested, "Why don’t we hit the game room in this place before we part company?"
"Cool…I can kick your butt in basketball," taunted Sarah.
"You wish!"
And it continued through dinner. Becca agreed to the girl time hoping that between now and then she’d get the courage to talk to Sarah about her last checkup.
After dinner, Nick led the way to the gameroom in the back of the pub. Thankfully, it wasn’t very crowded, probably because it was the middle of the week. Howie and Nick signed a few autographs as they went and when they got there, the guys gave Sarah some money to get the tokens for them. Nick and Becca wandered through the games checking out what was there to do and Howie went to the pool tables at the far back.
Sarah caught up with Nick and Becca to give them their tokens and then went in search of Howie. She found him leaning against the wall watching the guy he was playing break.
"Hey, you!" she said leaning against him.
Howie gave her a kiss, "You gonna play some games?"
"I guess. How long are you gonna be here?"
"One or two games."
"I’ll hang here with you."
Howie smiled, "Lady luck."
"Yep."
The game didn’t take long and then the two headed to find Nick and Becca. Sarah knew exactly where to look for Becca and Nick wasn’t too far from her shooting basketball.
"Ewww….time to kick some Carter butt!"
As Nick made his last shot, he laughed, "In your dreams!"
"Put your money where your mouth is, Kid Kaos!" taunted Sarah putting her token in the game.
Nick did the same and set the game for the most difficult level thinking he’d throw Sarah. In an exaggerated bow, Nick said, "Ladies first!"
Howie squeezed her hand for luck and watched as she moved to take the first basketball. He and Becca stood back watching in amusement as Sarah quickly ran up her score hitting every shot she made. They both knew that Sarah had played basketball in high school and had been quite good but she’d never shared that with Nick.
When Sarah’s turn ended, Nick stepped up and started. Every time he missed a shot, he’d get flustered and they could tell he was getting upset. As time ran out, Nick threw the last ball in frustration.
"YESSSSSSSSSS!!! You’re butt is grass and I’m smokin’ it!!" cheered Sarah as she began dancing around Nick. She started chanting, "I won! I won!"
Nick growled, "Oh, shut up!"
"What’s wrong, Nicky?" teased Sarah. "Can’t stand the idea of having your butt kicked by a GIRL?"
Nick started after her and Howie grabbed her by the waist pulling her out of his way to protect her. Laughing, Howie said, "Angel, don’t rub it in."
"Awww…the poor baby. He would be doing the same damn thing if HE had won."
"It was a fluke! There’s NO WAY you’re better than me! Let’s go again!" said Nick angrily.
"Fine, I’ll even let you go first."
So Nick and Sarah played again with the same results. Again, Sarah won and Nick got even madder. He insisted on playing, again and again and again. He wanted to win but Sarah didn’t back down.
After almost ten games, Sarah was tired. Howie was holding her from behind and he whispered, "Angel, he’s NOT gonna quit until he’s won."
"I know and don’t worry."
"You gonna let him win?"
"Yeah….I’m tired and I want something to eat."
"GO!" commanded Nick.
"No, you go ahead."
Nick didn’t argue with her and started the next game. They all watched Nick concentrating on the game. He was intense…exaggerating his follow threw and scoring his highest score the entire time.
When it was Sarah’s turn, she took her place and started shooting. Howie watched as she purposely missing easy shots and smiled as he watched Nick begin to puff when he realized that he was going to win.
The buzzer sounded and Sarah tossed the last ball into the net.
Nick started gloating, "YEAH! I DOMINATE! I WORE YOU DOWN AND DOMINATED!!"
Sarah laughed as he conceded, "Yeah, you won."
"Come on, Nick," said Becca. "I want to play something else before you two take off for clubs unknown."
Nick and Becca headed away as Howie took Sarah in his arms. He hugged her close kissing her on the forehead.
"You know, Nick’s not gonna let me forget this."
"Don’t worry. He gets too bad I’ll tell him you let him win. Come on, let’s go get some ice cream, star!"
As the two passed Nick and Becca, they gave them the rest of their tokens and tickets and then went to get some ice cream. They chose a booth where they could watch the couple in the game room and talk.
"So, been thinking about what you’re gonna say to Becca?’
"I’m not gonna push her, just let her know that I’m here if she wants to talk. I still feel guilty for what I said about her last night, even though she has no clue what I said."
Howie smiled. "You were kinda mean."
"Gee…thanks," said Sarah sarcastically. "So, what are you gonna say to Nick?"
"Don’t know what he wants to talk about. You know, Becca looks a bit apprehensive, even with Nick with her."
"I know."
The two continued talking and Nick and Becca finally joined them. Nick handed Sarah a stuffed rabbit as he sat down across from her.
"What’s this for?" asked Sarah.
"For letting me win," grinned Nick. "All-state two years running, huh? You could’ve at least SHARED that bit of info with me."
Sarah and Howie laughed as Sarah said, "You never asked."
"Nick, it’s getting late. Ready to go?" said Howie looking at his watch.
"Yeah."
Becca asked, "How are we getting back to the hotel?"
As if by magic, Billy and Raoul appeared and Howie said, "Here are you escorts now."
Nick and Howie walked out with the girls and said their good-byes.
Sarah hugged Howie, "You two have fun and behave."
Howie kissed her and said softly. "I promise, Angel. Don’t wait up for me, okay. You need your sleep."
Sarah kissed him again and whispered, "I love you."
At the same time, Nick and Becca were saying their good-bye. "Baby, promise me you’ll get some sleep?"
"I will. Behave, please!"
Nick grinned, "Promise!"
Raoul held the door to the waiting car for Sarah and Becca and the guys helped them in.
Watching them leave, Nick said, "Where to first?"
Howie thought for a moment. "Not sure, Nick. Let's walk down that way and see what we can find, sound like a plan?"
"Lead on," Nick agreed, and they set off on foot.
They walked for several blocks before finding anything remotely interesting, but finally they came upon a small, intimate looking club. The music from inside sounded interesting enough, so they paid their cover charge and went in to look for a table.
They were on their second round of drinks before either ventured to start a conversation.
"This place is kinda cool," Nick said.
"Not bad," Howie agreed.
So much for conversation. Howie leaned back and watched Nick. He appeared to be engrossed in the music, but he knew his mind was a million miles away. Sipping slowly, he sincerely hoped that Sarah was having better luck with Becca. This could turn out to be a long night.