Second Chances (Ricky + Nini)

chapter 10 - if i could go back and change the past

[a/n : just some cute fluffy things. the song quoted here is enough for you by olivia rodrigo - all credit go to her and her team.]

Nini and Ricky were both on cloud nine after their weekend picnic. Throughout the week they texted one another, and arranged for dinner on Thursday at Nini's place. They would have liked to meet up sooner, but Nini was swamped with deadlines, and Ricky actually had a gig on both Monday and Wednesday.

Ricky would have liked to spend every minute of everyday with Nini, but he also still needed to pay the bills. So he had looked for some freelance photography jobs in New York and to his luck he found a few for the next two weeks. On Monday, he was going to be photographing a post-wedding shoot. The couple did not initially want a huge wedding celebration, and they chose to get married at the courthouse without a reception. But at the last minute they decided they wanted some memories of their wedding and hired Ricky. 

Ricky spent Tuesday, working on editing the photos, and replying to his emails. Apparently, some of his customers have been asking him when his studio back in Salt Lake would be opened. Other than that, he just made a quick call to Big Red and his dad to check in and catch up, to distract himself from counting the hours til Thursday would roll around. 

On Wednesday, he had a photoshoot with a model. She's apparently new to the industry, and is trying to get recognized on Instagram. It was supposed to be an outdoor shoot on the streets and parks of New York. But sometime around 3pm it started raining heavily, and Ricky offered to continue the shoot on another day, or to move it someplace indoors for the time being. The model, however, felt that the rain would add to the aesthetic of the photos, and basically since she's paying Ricky, he had to do what she says. 

By the time the shoot was over, Ricky was exhausted and soaking wet from head to toe, and when he got home, he could only muster enough energy to shower, change and get under his covers. He was glad to get through the day, and that tomorrow would finally be Thursday, so he could see Nini again. 
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NIni sat through the meeting distractedly as the design team proposed the concept for the October issue of the magazine. She had been checking her phone every 5 minutes since last night. Ricky had been oddly quiet all day, and the last time he replied her text was around lunch time on Wednesday. 

She wondered if he was having second thoughts about their dinner tonight. Since they were both busy this week, they didn't really have time to go out and explore the city, so Nini had offered to cook for the night. Nini wondered if it was too soon for a home cooked meal, but it's Ricky Bowen, she'd known him since they were both in diapers, so it wasn't like things could ever be awkward between them.. right? 

As she walked back to her office, she checked her inbox to find that it had been bombarded with unread messages, so she pushed all thoughts of the curly haired boy aside, and decided to focus on work for now. She needed to leave early to stop by the grocery store to get a few things before dinner, so she'd better buckle up and start replying these emails.
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Ricky was dying. He'd woken up with a fever and a runny nose. He hadn't been able to get out of bed at all, except to get the occasional glass of water or go to the bathroom. When he stood up his head throbbed and he felt nauseous. He somehow felt hot and cold at the same time. He suspected it was a result of being in the rain for hours on an already windy and cold day, coupled with the fact that he hadn't eaten anything since lunch yesterday. He fumbled for his phone on the nightstand and groaned when he realized that it was Thursday, the day he was supposed to have dinner with Nini. 

He was definitely going to have to cancel, he could barely walk to the bathroom, so there was no chance that he could take the subway all the way to Nini's and make it out alive. He dialed her number, but she didn't pick up so he left her a voicemail to cancel, and buried himself under the covers again. He felt a thousand times worse now that he wouldn't be seeing Nini after all, and decided to just sleep his sorrows away.
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Nini was greeted by Bob the puppy upon her arrival at home. She gently placed the groceries on the kitchen counter and bent down to pet the labrador. She checked her phone quickly to see if there were any texts from Ricky and found none, but there was a voicemail from him. She quickly pressed play and started to worry when she heard his frail and raspy voice on the other end.