Always You - A Second Chance Romance

Chapter 2

"I'm sorry about last night," Nick said. I looked over at him, my mouth full of foamy toothpaste and nodded. I spit in the sink and rinsed my mouth.

"I'm sorry too," I replied. "I was tired."

"I know," he said. "I was annoyed that you weren't ready when I got home."

"I know, but I had to clean because we're so busy this weekend," I said. "Usually I would've cleaned today since it's Friday, but I had to clean yesterday since we have plans tonight and through the weekend."

"I know," he said. "I'm looking forward to Taylor's party tonight." I nodded half heartedly.

"Me too," I said. I hoped my tone sounded more convincing than it felt. In all honesty, I was drained from the argument last night and the last thing I really wanted to do tonight was go and socialize with more friends and have to put on a happy face.

"It'll be fun, don't worry," Nick said, as if reading my mind. He kissed my forehead before heading out of our bathroom. I followed him and we got dressed for work. Thankfully, we both had flexible Friday schedules, so it wasn't going to be a long work day again.

"Don't forget we have to leave at 3:30," I said as we both packed up to leave for work.

"I won't," he said. James came over and hugged me tightly. I slowly wrapped my arms around him and hugged him back. "I love you."

"I love you too," I replied softly. As the words left my lips I couldn't shake the pit that formed in my stomach as I doubted their meaning. A wave of guilt washed over me as Nick slowly let go of our hug and I tried to conceal my discomfort.

————

Work always proved to be a solid distraction from anything that had me stressed out. I dialed into finalizing my presentation for my business trip next week. Before I knew the day was done and I was heading home to get changed for the party that night.

As I slipped on my shoes I checked the clock. It was 3:30, and Nick wasn't home. I decided to give him a couple minutes before calling to check on him.

Ten minutes later, he still wasn't home and I decided to call.

"Hello?" Nick said when he picked up his phone.

"Hey, where are you? Are you okay?" I asked, concerned maybe his car broke down.

"I'm fine, I'm leaving now," he said.

"Oh okay," I said, hiding the disappointment in my voice. "Do you want me to pull out some clothes for you to change?"

"Sure," he said.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Nick snapped. He let out a heavy sigh on the other line.

"Okay, I just wanted to check. Be safe driving," I said.

"I will." He replied.

We ended our call and I felt my stomach sink. He was going to be late, again. Frustration boiled inside me as last nights argument replayed in my head.

I shook my head quickly, forcing myself to change my thinking before I got mad about last night again. After taking a deep breath and focusing on clearing my mind, I dipped into our bedroom, pulling fresh clothes out for Nick to change into for the party.

At almost 4:30 the door opened as Nick arrived home.

"How was work?" I asked him as he set down his laptop bag. He shrugged.

"Busy," he said with a sigh, barely looking up from his phone. I nodded, biting the inside of my lip.

"I put some clothes on the bed for you to change into," I said softly. Nick nodded and headed into our bedroom, not acknowledging me further. I replayed our interaction this morning in my head as I waited for him to change. Did I do something to upset him?

I busied myself with things around the apartment while Nick changed. By the time we were out the door it was nearing 5pm, and we were going to be late to meet our friends.

The drive to Taylor's apartment was painfully silent, I didn't want to say anything for fear of starting an argument. Nick seemed preoccupied the entire time, not caring to even change the music when one of his least favorite songs came on the radio.

When we finally met up with our friends his whole personality changed and his face lit up. He hugged and said hi to everyone and I felt taken aback by the change in his personality. I sank into the background of the group, mentally not feeling up to socializing much today, but enjoying the opportunity to unwind.

My phone buzzed with a text from my best friend, Kat, asking me how I was doing. She was the only person I had told about the issues Nick and I were having. I chewed the inside of my lip as I typed a quick response to her and then buried my phone into my purse. I didn't want to talk about what was going on right now, every time I did I burst into tears.

"How's work?" Taylor asked me. I shrugged.

"It's good, I'm going to Chicago on Monday for a business trip," I told her.

"Oh that'll be fun, is Nick going with you?" She asked. I shook my head.

"No, he's too busy with work," I lied. While we were dating Nick and I would tag along on each others' business trips, either catching the beginning or end of the trip and having a mini vacation. Since we got married though, that stopped. Right now the trip served as a good way to get out of the house and get some much needed space.

"Well, you should still go do some sightseeing if you have time! My sister still lives in Chicago, you two should get together while you're there!" Taylor said, tearing me from my thoughts. I nodded, forcing an excited smile.

"Yeah that would be great!" I said. "It's been forever since I've seen Jess."

"Hey guys!" I turned to see Alexandria bounding over to us, her blonde curls bounding as she ran over. Her husband, David, waved at us before heading to the group of husbands and boyfriends in the backyard.

Alexandria pulled each of us into a tight hug, handing Taylor a birthday present.

"Happy birthday! Thank you for having us!" She said.

"Anytime! I'm glad you guys could make it," Taylor said. Taylor left us alone to grab Alexandria a drink for a moment.

"Hey, I'm sorry I didn't make it last night for dinner," I said to Alexandria. Alexandria waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh my god, don't worry about it at all," she said. "You know it worked out for the best, David and I were so tired that when Nick cancelled we were kinda relieved." As Alexandria laughed, my stomach sank immediately. I looked across the backyard at Nick, immersed in conversation with his friends. I felt like I needed to puke, the anxiety inside me was overwhelming.

If he had cancelled dinner, then where did he go that night?

"I hope your back is okay," Alexandria said sincerely, ripping me from my internal panic. I looked over at her, my eyes glossy.

"Yeah it's okay, I just tweaked it cleaning the shower," I said with an awkward laugh. Taylor came back with a drink for Alexandria and they started talking about a tv show they were watching. I idly participated as I tried to ignore the anxiety inside me, but all I knew is that something was very wrong between Nick and I, and I was scared to find out what it was.