Two weeks. That's how long Imogen was gone before I decided I had to do something to cheer up Nick. He was moping around all the time, only smiling when people spoke directly to him and even then it was usually forced, much like the fake smile he plastered on while teaching. So, on Friday, I gathered up Nathaniel and Alexis, taking them with me to Nick's house to stay the night. I'd planned for Amber to watch them for a couple hours and she met me on the front porch.
"So, you're taking him out?" Amber asked me as we waited for Nick to answer the door.
"Yep. He needs to stop thinking about this for a few hours."
"Charlie? Amber? Why are you here?" Nick had a frown on his face when he opened the door to find us on his porch.
"Amber's watching the kids for us. You're coming with me." I informed him, pushing past him into the house. Nathaniel and Alexis went over to the sofa in the living room where Abby was kneeling up to watch. The three kids soon started talking and laughing together while Amber went over to the kitchen to get food for them. Meanwhile, I dragged Nick to his bedroom and made him sit on the bed, rummaging through his wardrobe.
"What are you doing, Charlie?"
"Here. Put these on." I replied, shoving a clean shirt and pants at him. He took them and went into the bathroom to change, clearly getting that I wasn't about to argue with him.
"Happy?" When he emerged, I was busy looking at his collection of shoes to choose the perfect ones for the night ahead. I looked up and had to swallow back a flirtatious comment. I couldn't be doing that tonight, but, damn, he looked good.
"That's better. Here are your shoes. Put them on and we'll go."
"Where? Charlie, I really don't want to go anywhere tonight."
"That's exactly why we're going. Now come on." He gave in with a roll of his eyes and sat on the bed to put on his shoes. "Perfect. Let's go."
"Charlie..."
"Nope." I cut him off, grabbing him by the arm and practically dragging him along behind me to the front door. "Bye guys. We'll be back later. Have fun tonight and don't get into too much mischief."
"Bye, daddy."
"Bye, dad."
"Bye, Papa."
"See you later guys." There was an overlapping chorus from the kids and Amber just before I close the door behind us.
"Okay, Charlie, I really don't feel up to playing whatever this game is. I just want to spend the night at home. With Abby."
"Nick, that's all you've done for the past two weeks. You need some time off from being a dad. And from worrying about the next time Imogen will call. So, we're going into the city to this club I found and you're going to have fun."
"I don't know that I can."
"That's what alcohol is for, Nick," I told him with a smirk. Since I was driving, I wasn't planning on drinking, but I had a backup plan in case I ended up drinking to convince Nick to.
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"Charlie! I love this song!" Nick yelled in my ear, hanging off my shoulder. He stumbled a little but managed to steady himself by catching the bar with one hand. I laughed and raised my own glass to my lips.
"It's a good song." I agreed.
"We had it at our wedding..." His face fell as he obviously thought about Imogen, and I bit my lip, waving to the bartender for another drink.
"Nick, don't do that. You're not supposed to be thinking about her, remember?" I passed him his new drink, but he looked at me instead.
"You're boring, Charlie. You should have a drink too."
"If I have a drink, will you have that?"
"Yes."
"Alright then." I turned the bartender who was watching us, clearly amused. "His wife is away. I'm cheering him up. I'll have a vodka soda."
"Coming up." The guy said, shaking his head as he walked away.
"Then you have to dance with me. I wanna dance." Nick insisted.
"Sure. Now drink up." Only a few moments later, I had my own drink in my hand, and we were headed to the dance floor where dozens of people were already drunkenly moving around each other in some form of dance. Since the first drink of the night, Nick had already been bopping along to some of the songs but when we finally found a semi-clear spot to dance, he let loose and busted out some pretty good moves.
"Dance with me, Charlie." I blinked and sipped my drink before dancing a little too. It didn't take long for me to really get into it and pretty soon, Nick and I were right up close, his arms over my shoulders as he slurred the words of the song into my ear. I knew that he was a clingy drunk, so I didn't try to push him off, plus, a selfish part of me wanted to know what it was like to be in his arms.
"You're a good dancer," I observed when the song ended.
"My childhood best friend dragged me along to dancing lessons when we were younger 'cause she needed a partner and wasn't comfortable dancing with strangers."
"You're a good friend. I never would have let any of my friends do that." I admitted.
"You need another drink." He proclaimed, grabbing an orange drink off of a tray being carried by a waitress. The girl rolled her eye but offered no other form of complaint. Clearly, it was something that happened often.
"Uh, thanks." I took it from him and watched as he began to dance again, his own drink dangerously close to tipping over.
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It was well after midnight when we stumbled out of the club, Nick with his arm draped over my shoulders. I was pretty drunk too but not enough to forget my back up plan for getting us home. Slowly, I led Nick down the street, listening to his endless nonsensical chatter.
"Charlie, stop." We were almost to the taxi pick up spot when he pulled me to a stop. I turned to face him, wondering what was wrong.
"Are you okay? Do you feel sick?"
"No." He put his hands on my shoulders and looked me straight in the eye. "I want to say thank-you. I had fun tonight."
"So did I. It's good to see you happy."
"I am happy. Thanks to you. You're wonderful, Charlie. I don't know how Ben could leave you like he did. He didn't deserve you. Nobody does. Well, someone does. Someone one day will be really lucky to get you. And they'd better hold on to you 'cause it's stupid to let you go." I don't think he fully knew what he was saying as he rambled on. I just smiled and agreed with him but inwardly, my heart was racing at him being so close to me, at the feeling of his hands on my shoulders.
"Thanks, Nick."
"I'm serious. If I didn't have Imogen, I'd totally want to be with you." My eyes went wide. He really didn't know what he was saying because he didn't even seem to register the sentence at all.
"Nick, I..." I couldn't say anymore because he was suddenly kissing me and even though part of me was rejoicing that I finally got to feel his lips against mine, alarms were going off in my brain. He's married to Imogen. The only reason he's doing this is because he's drunk. With every ounce of strength in me, I pushed him off, breathing heavily as he stumbled back a bit.
He finally seemed to realise what had happened and walked backwards away from me, his hands covering his mouth. I couldn't form words as I watched him, my own mouth simply opening and closing like a fish.
"I'm sorry." He called, before turning and running away down the street.
