The Know-It-All

Ch. 14

When Nini came to the realization of who she had just bumped into, she basically tackled him to the ground.

And because he had his arms behind his back, they made a great surface for having contact with the pavement. Nini wasn't sure how it looked, but they tumbled about four feet to the right of the Starbucks entrance.

He wore this red plaid shirt that was in no way helping her anger. He didn't have a hat on, surprisingly. And his jeans actually had more fabric than holes.

"You!" Nini gasped, pointing a finger at his chest. She, of course, ended up sprawled on top of him.

Ricky grunted his response.

"Glad to see you too. What's new?" He asked sarcastically.

Nini eyed him for a moment.

He had a bruise on his chin and a cut that ran from his temple to just above his eyebrow. Nini frowned for a moment until she remembered that he practically whooped Elliot's sorry ass.

"You know, for such a lightweight, you're crushing me." Ricky muttered.

Nini huffed, scrambling back up on her feet. She made no attempt to help Ricky up, even though it looked as if he's hiding something behind his back.

"You!" Nini said again, still pointing at him with her finger. She didn't know what to say. Her mind was a mess. "You- you asshole!"

Ricky frowned, rolling his eyes. "Oh come on, what did I do this time?"

Nini couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

She threw her hands up in the air. "Y- you... and then— Lily and her posse— but then, that brunette at the club— and Elliot and his sister and— then, oh my god, Sam— but then— how... what?" Nini was so confused at this point. She felt destroyed not knowing what was going on.

She felt dizzy again. And wanted to vomit.

"Slow down." Ricky said, laughing a little. He was laughing. Nini took a shaky breath.

She felt faint so she settled for closing her eyes. "Ricky? Can you please tell me what's going on?" She sounded so whiny. Nini couldn't believe she just resorted to begging. She was better than this.

Right?

Alas, it were true. Ricky Bowen finally destroyed her.

Ricky's eyes showed nothing. No hint of any emotion. Nini on the other hand, probably reflected crazy, desperate, confused, tortured, angry, sad, malicious.

Time seemed to slow in the next few frames of Nini's life. Ricky revealed his right arm, which had a bouquet of lilies and orchids, all in full blossom and fully fragrant. Nini instantly grasped the bouquet of flowers and pulled them to her nose for a long sniff.

"My favorites," she said skeptically.

"I know," Ricky said, slowly. He gave her a look in which Nini could only describe as endearing. It took her breath away.

She eyed him, waiting for whatever was behind his left arm, but he kept it there.

"Since I just saw Sam walking away from here, I figured you must have found out..." Ricky said. There was a hint of regret in his voice. Nini waited for him to continue, using the flowers to distract herself.

Ricky's mouth opened and closed, but no words seem to be forming into sentences. They came out as one-syllable noises. Nini impatiently tapped her foot on the pavement, trying to look as menacing as possible.

Ricky cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck. "I'm not good with this confession kinda stuff," he muttered.

Nini raised an eyebrow.