salvation ⟡ noah sebastian

chapter twelve: lime, the kitty

'You have arrived at your destination.' The sound of my gps telling me I was here. I sighed, putting my car into park, grabbing all my things, and stepping out.

I made my way up to the front door, and rang the doorbell. After a minute or two of waiting, a man answers the door. "Nick?" I questioned. He nodded, "hello Maria, nice to meet you."

"Yes you as well!" Well this was uncomfortable. He told me to come on in, so I did.

His home was smaller, but homey. It was a one story house, with a basement. 2 rooms on the main floor, and one room in the basement. Both rooms upstairs were set up, likely occupied by Nick and someone else. There was one main bathroom next to one of the rooms, and a bathroom inside the master bedroom, which I assumed was Nicks room.

There was a very normal kitchen, with a small island in the middle. The newest thing in this house seems to be their fancy ass fridge. The next room was a living room. Records and posters lined the walls, plants littered the area, and a cat sat on the back of the couch. "Is the cat off limits?" I asked, with big puppy dog eyes. He laughed, "you're cute, no, she's an angel kitty, I promise." I nodded, making my way to the cat slowly, with my hand held out. With just one sniff, she was moving her body against my hand. I giggled, I couldn't help but love these little creatures.

"Her name is Lime. She was on my front porch step one night, after I had gone out to get some limes for my beers." He smiled, reminiscing on the memory. "Shes pretty, Nick. I love her." I sighed at the prettiness of the cat. Mr. Sebastian's cat was cute, but she was a little older so her face sagged a little. This cat still had a kitten look to her, which made me fall in love with her.

"Sorry, your cat is a little distracting. I'll have to take her home with me." I said with a chuckle at the end. "Here's your shooters my guy." I handed him the bags and he took them with grace.

"Thank you much, Maria. Usually he will promises to bring me these, and then gets too drunk to do it. So I've been waiting on them for about two months now." He looked away a little sadly.

I felt bad for Nick. I wasn't sure if I should press the topic, but decided that I might as well go for it to see if I could learn more about my boss. "You okay there, man?" I asked softly.

"Yeah... yeah. I just miss him sometimes. He didn't used to be the way he is now. He used to be carefree, and he spoke a lot more... made time for us more. Now he's.... just different. I still love him the same, I just wish I could see him more often." I nodded along with him speaking to me.

"I've just met him a few days ago so I'm unsure of who he really is, Nick. But he hired me as a live-in chef. Well, he accepted me. Matt pushed him to hire me." Nick nodded along with my rambling. "I'm not sure how to feel about him yet. I mean the first impression most people probably get is 'oh he runs a company? With all of those tattoos, that even go up to his neck?' But I thought he was just hot. Well, I guess women my age probably would think he's hot. Anyway, it's been 3 days now, and I really enjoy his presence for the most part. He doesn't talk much, but he thinks a lot; I can tell. Yesterday he worked until 10pm, so I supposed he had good reason to get wasted this time." I trailed off at the end, realizing I'm confiding in someone who could be his best friend.

Nick followed along the whole time, nodding and chuckling at certain parts. "Let me tell you something, Maria. I agree, usually after a tough day at work, most people are allowed to let go, but he does this every Saturday night into Sunday morning, since he knows he'll get the day off. I don't mind, I just wish I could see him more." I looked in his eyes as he talked, mesmerized by the way he missed and cared for his friend.

"I don't know if this is wrong, but can you tell me more about him? He seems like a hard shell to crack, and I just want to try to understand him... sooner rather than later." It felt weird to ask his friend about him, but my curiosity made it difficult to ignore my need to know.

"Well, he's a good man first of all. For the most part anyway. He loves his cat, his grandparents, and his friends. The people who raised him, hold the biggest place in his heart. But unfortunately, the last few years I think he has become a little unsalvageable. He hasn't been in a relationship in five years, and now he thinks there is no saving him anymore. After he became the owner of the company, his fiancée left him. From then on out he would find women left and right, use them and toss them. So he's a little closed off I guess. He has put it as 'if she didn't want me for the rest of her life, who else would?' Lately, I don't think he takes into account anyone's feelings, not even his own."

I nodded to his explanations, sad that Mr. Sebastian had to lose someone he loved because of a job. Also, sad that it seemed he didn't even care for himself anymore. It made my stomach twirl and twist, making me extremely uneasy.

"Thank you Nick. I appreciate you talking to me and it was nice meeting you. We'll have to hang out again, if Mr. Sebastian can't do it, I can bring you the shooters, just have him let me know when they need to be brought."

Nick nodded with a smile on his face, "you're welcome Maria. It was nice meeting you too, and of course we can hang out again, andddd you can bring me my shooters."

He sent me off with a kind goodbye, giving me a side hug on the way out. It was only 3:30 thankfully, I had spent quite a bit of time with Nick. Time for the hour drive back home.