One Chicago: Linstead

Chapter 6: Just A Friend

A week later, Nathan and Erin were finally dating. They had been going out a lot, and she'd go straight to his house after work.

They hadn't had sex yet, because they just started dating, but they actually like each other. Not love...yet.

"Voight! I'm taking off, is that fine?" Jay asked from his desk.

"Yeah, finish up paperwork first!" He shouted.

"Hank, can I use my vacation days?" Erin asked.

"How many?"

"All of them?"

"All 24?"

"10. Starting tomorrow?"

"Yeah, and Erin, where are you going...for Vacation?"

"I was thinking about St. Louis. It's close, but not too close. Easy to get to, great scenery."

"Who's going with you?" Hank asked.

"Nathan." Erin replied.

"Him? Didn't you just start dating?"

"Yeah, but he's nice and he doesn't even want to sleep in the same bed, let alone the same room. He wants us to have different hotel rooms, and he doesn't like kissing in public, he feels like people are watching him."

"Sounds like a good kid, Erin. Don't screw him up." Hank teased.

"I'm leaving!" Jay shouted. Both Jay and Erin walked side by side all the way to the parking walk. They walked in silence.

"Erin, before you leave, I have a question. Double dating, possibly triple? You up for that?" Jay asked.

"Yeah. Why not?" They got in their cars and drove.

Jay walked into his apartment to see Zoe standing in her underwear and bra. "Jay! You're home early!" Zoe stated surprisingly.

"Yeah, is this a surprise? For me? Are we gonna have a little fun?"

"Yeah, I've been waiting for you." She said, looking back at the room.

"You're lying, aren't you?" He asked, already headed towards the bedroom. As he opened the door, he saw roses on the bed. No one in the room. He'd thought she was cheating.

"I don't lie, but I guess that was a little suspicious, so...." She kissed him and pushed him onto the bed.

Erin got to Nathan's house. Nathan is a lawyer, and he's taking off ten days too, so they can go to St. Louis. "Ready?" Erin asked.

"Yeah, come on. I've got my bags, you've got yours?" He asked.

"Mhmm. I can't wait." As Erin walked out of the house she noticed something pink on the floor, something unusual. "I'm gonna grab a glass of water before we go, wait for me in the car?"

"Yeah. Hurry though." He ordered. He exited the house, so she walked over to the dining room where the pink underwear lay. They weren't hers, and they were brand spanking new, as she looked to her left, she saw a pink bra too. She knew immediately he was cheating.

She walked outside. "You're cheating on me? With who? A skank?" She shouted at him as she took her leg and kicked his car repeatedly.

"How did you...?"

"Pink!? What kind of woman wears pink underwear and a bra!?" She shouted. She got in her car and drove home. She stayed in her apartment all 10 days of Vacation. She finally found a nice guy...a nice guy that cheated on her. That's why he didn't want to have sex, because he had already been having sex.

The next morning, Erin went out to get some Starbucks coffee before heading to work. At Starbucks, coincidentally, she saw Zoe kissing someone, whom wasn't Jay. She got her coffee and pondered if she should tell Jay or not.

She drove to the district. She saw Jay, and felt bad. She had just been cheated on, how was she going to tell him Zoe was cheating too.

"Jay, Zoe's cheating on you." She stated.

"No, she's not. You were just cheated on, you just want to get back together. You don't have to lie, this isn't ever happening. Don't waste your time lying." He said, going into the break room to get a good cup of coffee. Erin followed.

"Then why, exactly, do I have a photo of Zoe and a guy kissing at Starbucks, this morning?" She asked.

"You don't."

"Wanna bet?" She pulled out her phone and flipped through her photos. She must've forgotten to save it or something because it wasn't there.

"That is one good photo...oh wait, there isn't one." He said, not surprised.

"I swear Jay! It was there, it's...it's true. If you love me, you'll trust me."

"That's the thing. Erin, I don't love you, not anymore, not like that anyways. Your my friend. Just a friend." He shouted. "Nothing else!"