“ What the Hell are you doing?” Natalie schreeched as she got out of the limo the
next day at seven. Nick also got out of his car and looked slightly embarrassed as he
inspected the dent in the limo.
“ Oops, sorry. I didn’t see your-...”
“ Christ, I am already late,” Natalie snapped, feeling another headache creeping in her
temples.
“ And what the hell are you doing with all the people at your house four in the morning?
I was just about to get some sleep when all of a sudden I hear some loud ass music. I
mean, I already have trouble sleeping-”
“ Ms. Trevante, we should get going, you’re going to be even later,” Hal interrupted
from her angry ramblings and she glared at Nick.
“ I’d be happy to pay for any dam-...” He trailed off when Natalie stormed back inside
the limo. He slowly got back inside his own car and was about to proceed in pulling out
when the limo beat him to it. He hit the brakes with a screech and sighed, glancing in
the rearview mirror. The driver shot him a dirty look and drove off. Nick sat for a full
minute, making sure the limo was completly out of the gated community before he
went on his way. He could never have his way with her, she obviously didn’t like him
for whatever reason. Nick let his thoughts trail off as he drove his car through the
streets...
*****
“ Where did you go so early this morning?” AJ asked curiously when Nick walked into the
kitchen, an angry expression on his face, a piece of paper in his hand.
“ $568 for one stupid dent,” Nick muttered, going to the refriderator and swinging the
door open after dropping the paper at the table where AJ was sitting at.
“ What happened?”
“ Moving here was the biggest mistake I could have made,” Nick snapped, glancing at
AJ who waited for him to continue.
“ Miss Natalie Rose Trevante hates my ass,” He said, slamming down a glass on the
tiled island.
“ What about the rest of you?”
“ I’m not in the mood for your jokes, AJ,” He proceeded in pouring himself a glass of
orange juice and putting the carton away.
“ Are you going to give me an answer or should I just ask you in the morning?” Nick
just walked out of the kitchen and pounded upstairs. AJ retrieved the paper from the
other end of the table and scanned over it.
“ The damage to the limo adds up to $567.57. Send a check over asap.
Natalie Rose Trevante”
Damage to the limo? AJ shrugged and placed the short note back on the table, getting
up. It was 9:39 and the day had left his night free of any errands or tasks to be done so
he picked up the book he was reading and opened the kitchen’s sliding back porch
door’s. The night was starrier than usual and the moon made the whole backyard well
lit enough for him to keep off the light. AJ settled down on the rocker and opened his
book. He soon found himself unable to concentrate and his gaze drifted over to
Natalie’s room and he was surprised to see her sitting on the window seat next to her
balcony doors, talking on the phone. She looked upset but he could only see half her
face because of the lack of light in her room. She was sitting in total darkness but the
moonlight was cast directly into her eyes. He studied her face, well aware of the infinite
melancholy written on her. Looking away, he stared guiltily down at his book, feeling
as if he was intruding on her privacy. A few minutes passed when he looked up to
check if she was still there and was slightly alarmed to see her eyes filled with tears.
She wasn’t on the phone anymore but instead, looking up at the sky, her back slightly
towards him. He could tell she didn’t see him out here yet or else she probably would
have gotten up. AJ weighed over whether he should say something to her or just get up
and go back inside and pretend he didn’t see her at all. He couldn’t decide so he
watched as the tears fell and wished he himself didn’t recognize the sadness in her
eyes. Fifteen minutes passed when Nick opened the door.
“ Your Mom’s on the phone,” Nick informed him and AJ jumped.
“-Oh-...Ok, thanks,” He stood up and followed Nick inside. When he got off the phone
ten minutes later, he went back outside and his eyes were automatically drawn to her
window but there was no sign of her. He hesitated for a second before he cut across the
stretch of grass and walked to her front door, half expecting an alarm to ring as he rang
the doorbell. The door was opened by what he assumed was the maid.
“ Uh, Hi. Can I talk to Natalie for a second?” He asked as her eyes ran over him
scrutinizingly.
“ I’m sorry but Ms. Trevante can’t be bothered at the moment. May I ask who you
are-?”
“ I live next door. We just moved in a few days ago,” AJ explained, hoping it would take
the suspicion out of her eyes. It didn’t.
“ Ok, well, she is very busy at the mom-”
“ Mary? Who’s at the door?” He heard Nat’s voice and she appeared a second later.
“ Oh, hi.” She offered him a forced smile and looked back at her housekeeper.
“ You can go back in, Mary. I’ll be in in a minute,” Mary nodded and walked back
inside.
“ So, did you need something?” His words faltered and he decided not to say anything
about her crying.
“ Uh...I was just going to ask if...You want to come over and watch a movie? I was bored
and...so...” He improvised quickly, waiting for an answer. She thought it over for a
second before nodding.
“ Ok. What movie?”
“ Your pick,” She gave him another small smile before walking back inside her house.
AJ exhaled, wondering how in the Hell he had Natalie Rose Trevante at his house to
watch a movie. He waited nervously until she finally appeared in the doorway.
“ Ready?” He asked.
“ Yes,’ She shut the door behind her and followed him inside through the back way
which he had left open.
“ Don’t keep your alarm on, do you?” He asked when they walked into the kitchen. She
shrugged.
“ Don’t really feel the need to, I guess. Gated community, you know? Who’s gonna
come in?” She watched as he threw some popcorn in the microwave before turning to
look at her.
“ You can go on down to the den, I’ll get us some drinks,”
“ This door?”
“ Yeah,” He watched as she went downstairs before looking through the refrigerator for
the drinks.
“ Yo, Natalie. You want a beer or a coke?” He called from the foot of the stairs. She
replied ( coke just in case you’re wondering) and he put the can along with his beer on
the table, waiting for the popcorn. He hummed lightly to himself, not noticing Nick
again for the hundreth time that night.
“ You drinking both of those?” Nick asked, glancing at the drinks on the table.
“ Um. No,” Nick looked at AJ suspiciously because of his tone.
“ Ok. Do you mind if I take the coke then?” He asked slowly.
“ Yes, I do mind,” Nick sighed and shot him a wierd look before rifling through the
refrigerator for another can.
“ That’s the last one,” Nick complained, looking at AJ.
“ Sorry, Nicko. You got here too late,” He shrugged.
“ AJ, who’s can is that?” Nick asked finally.
“ Christ, that took forever,”
“ So?”
“ It’s Natalie’s,”
“ Natalie’s? What is she doing here?” Nick asked, his voice adopting an angry tone
again.
“ We are watching a movie,”
“ Did you invite her?”
“ No, Nick, she barged in and insisted we watch a movie in my den,” AJ said
sarcastically. He looked over as the microwave timer went off and took the bag of
popcorn.
“ Which cabinet are the bowls in?” Nick shrugged and observed as AJ looked through
the cabinets. He finally found one and dumped the popcorn in it.
“ What movie are you watching?”
“ Don’t know yet,” AJ called over his shoulder as he grabbed the drinks and the bowl
and walked down to the den, dangerously close to dropping everything as he shut the
door. He walked down the steps and flashed a smile to Natalie who was looking
through the DVD library.
“ Find a movie?” He asked, sitting the bowl of popcorn on the couch and the drinks on
the table.
“ How about Summer of Sam?” She suggested, holding up the case.
“ Always a good one,” He put the movie in and sat down on the couch.
“ You guys already unpacked everything?” She inquired.
“ Not everything. Upstairs is a mess and the third floor is even worse. We started
moving things in a couple of weeks ago but just actually moved in the other day,”
“ How come I never saw any trucks or anything?” She asked, glancing at the movie
credits.
“ Because we did it in the middle of the day and I assume you were working,” She
nodded and they fell silent as he fast forwarded through the previews and played the
movie. The opening scene unfolded as they leaned back with the popcorn bowl between
them for added space apart...
