I came home and went out to check my mailbox the next day during my lunch break.
“Bills, bills, bills…” I mumbled to myself and I heard heavy breathing nearby.
I looked up from my mail and didn’t see anyone. Hmm…that’s odd…
I started to walk back to my house when I heard a dog bark. I turned around to see Houston standing there panting beside of me.
“Aww, hey baby!!” I cooed, bending down to pet him.
“Geez, he must really like you. I couldn’t keep him from coming over here. Sorry to bother ya!” Nick apologized, running up to us.
“Nah…it’s fine. I love puppies. I really need to get my own,” I said, catching myself staring up at Nick’s tall figure.
“Yeah, you should. Hunter has a lot of cats, so I told her she needed to get a dog,” he laughed.
I wasn’t laughing at all. I smiled slightly so it wouldn’t seem so obvious that I didn’t like talking about her.
“So what about Hunter? I heard you two got back together…” I ventured, looking down at my bare feet.
“Uh, yeah, how’d you know?” he questioned.
“I heard you two last night. I mean, um…I wasn’t listening or anything, but I was outside on my deck and I heard her screaming,” I tried my best to explain myself.
“Oh, man, I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to disturb you,” he apologized, attempting to change the focus off of Hunter.
“It’s fine. I thought you two were over,” I said seriously, practically begging for an explanation.
“Me too!” he laughed a bit. “She came over and apologized last night and well, things just sort of went from there.”
“I see…,” I said. Spare me the details, puleeze…I thought to myself.
“Yeah, so how are you and AJ?” he asked.
I thought for a moment. I hadn’t heard from him since we talked on the phone last night.
“We’re great! In fact, we’re going out tonight!”
I smiled, watching Nick’s face for that twinge of jealously. The thing was, it didn’t seem to be there this time…
“That’s cool! Maybe Hunter and I could join ya?” he invited himself.
“Oh yah, sure. That would be great! Meet us at the Palimino club at 8, ok?” I said, making plans that I still had to clear with AJ.
“Will do! C-ya!” he called, jogging off as Houston followed him.
Maybe Nick never did like me…I thought to myself. Oh I get it, I was just his rebound girl until he got over Hunter, or until they got back together! I started to become infuriated at the thought that I was being used. How could he?
I rushed into the house and told AJ the plans for that night. He happily agreed to them as I left to finish up at work.
I arrived home from work and decided to curl my hair for that night. I applied my make-up and left the most difficult task for last…my outfit. What to wear? What to wear? I thought to myself, searching through my overstuffed closet, pulling out everything.
I finally decided on a black leather skirt that had a small slit in the left side, right at my thigh. I wore a red wrap around v-neck shirt with it and my leather black platform sandals. Just as I spritz on a bit of perfume, the doorbell rang.
“Wow! You look hot!” AJ said very bluntly.
“Gee, thanks,” I said, glancing him over. “You look pretty hot yourself, stud!”
He smiled and led me to him car and drove us to the club. We walked in and immediately spotted Nick and Hunter sitting at a small table across the room. We made our way over to sit beside them.
“Hi Nick! Hunter,” I greeted them, glaring at Nick’s on-again girlfriend.
“Wow! You look great!” Nick complimented me.
“Thanks, so do you,” I returned the gesture, looking him over.
“Nickypoo, can we go dance?” Hunter pleaded in a baby voice, walking her fingers up the front of his shirt.
“Uh, yeah, sure…” he said, getting up walking to the dance floor.
“Well, my lady, we shall dance as well,” AJ said in an old-English accent.
I laughed and followed him to the dance floor. We danced to Whitney Houston’s song “I Will Always Love You”. AJ tightly held me close to him as I tried to keep a bit of breathing distance between us. I looked over at Nick and Hunter who were enraptured with each other. At that, I pulled AJ closer to me, no longer restraining the distance and gently swayed to the music. We finished that song and decided to go sit down and order some drinks.
“Excuse me, I’m going to the ladies room,” Hunter said, her tall model-like figure rising from the table.
“Oh, I love this song!” I said as Boyz II Men’s “On Bended Knee” blared over the club speakers.
“Oh, me too!” Nick spoke up.
“Wanna dance?” I asked, staring at Nick.
“Yeah, sure,” he smiled, taking my hand and leading me to the dance floor.
He placed his arms around my waist and I placed mine around his neck. We danced a bit like this and then I gently placed my head on his shoulder. I took in a deep breath of his cologne and let out a gently sigh.
As we twirled around the dance floor, I noticed that Hunter had come back from her extremely short visit to the restroom and was now watching Nick and I like a hawk. I also noticed that she and AJ were adamantly whispering about something. Oh well, who cared. I was with Nick and that was all that mattered to me!
“Excuse me?! May I cut it?” Hunter’s sharp voice cut in as she practically ripped me out of Nick’s arms.
“Yeah, I suppose you can,” I snapped, glaring at her and walking away.
“Hey babe! You and Nick were getting a bit close out there, dontcha think?” AJ said, sounding a bit irritated.
“No, actually I didn’t. As if you have room to talk. I saw you and Hunter over here, getting a bit friendly if ya ask me…” I retorted.
He gave me a stunned look as if I had seen something I wasn’t supposed to.
“What?” I questioned bewildered.
“Oh nuthin’…come on, let’s dance,” he said getting up from the table.
“No, I don’t feel like dancing. What’s going on AJ?” I asked.
He glanced nervously over at Hunter and Nick and back at me.
“Well…??” I said, crossing my arms.
“Look, it’s confusing. Can we talk about this later?” he begged.
“Fine, but I don’t want to dance anymore. Will you just take me home?” I asked, feeling rather tired.
I’m sure I was more tired from worry and stress, than from sleep deprivation.
AJ and I arrived at my house.
“Thanks, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. Night!” I said climbing out of the car.
“You mean you want to go out again?” he asked a bit surprised.
“I didn’t say that, but I have to do a photo shoot with the Backstreet Boys in the morning and that means that you’ll be there,” I said, standing completely out of the car now.
“Oh, I see,” he said looking out of the windshield.
“Well, goodnight!” I said, slamming his car door shut, ending this very miserable night.