Love You Hello (bk2)

Chapter Two

Nic's POV
Just as I put Addie into bed for the night, my phone rang. I told her good night and ran to grab the phone before it stopped ringing.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Nic."
I sat down, "Hey, El. What's up? Did you get home okay?" I looked at the clock. She should be home and in bed.
"Um, yeah I did. I'm fine. I just wanted to tell you that I talked to Sam. He told me something. Something I didn't expect."
"What's that, El? Is everything okay?"
"Yes, well, actually I don't know. Um, he said that Luke was the one who requested you in Dublin. He said it wasn't him or Cade. I-I don't know what to believe, but I thought I would let you know."
I set the phone down ran my hands through my hair. I sighed and then picked up the phone. "I'm not surprised actually."
El paused, "What? Why? Luke is your best friend, Nic!"
"Well, yeah, Luke is. But not when he's Mr. Pike, my boss. He's cold to me when I'm at the offices for meetings."
"Why?"
"Because he knows he can't give me special treatment anymore. Honestly, El, I appreciate you trying to fight this for me, but I don't want you to, okay?"
"O-Okay, Nic. I won't."
"Thank you for telling me."
"Of course. Any time."
"Goodnight, El."
"Goodnight, Nic."
I disconnected the call and dialed Luke.
"Hello?"
"Luke."
"Hey, Nic. Business or Personal."
I sighed, "Should it really matter, Luke?"
"Unfortunately, yes it does matter now, Nic. So which is it?"
"A little bit of both."
"Okay. Shoot."
"Apparently Sam told Elise that it was you who wants me in Dublin."
"She's right, Nic. It was me. As your boss, it's very difficult for me to reason with other employee complaints against you."
"Against me?!"
"Yeah."
"How come this is the first I've heard of this?!"
"Because you've had special treatment since you started and that's my fault, Nic. I let it go for too long and now it's coming back to bite me in the arse. We're practically family and it's messy with Cade being Addie's uncle and Sam being her step-father. It's fucked up, mate."
"I know that, Luke. But I didn't think we were letting that matter. If you wanted me in Dublin, why didn't you just ask me to move from the beginning?"
"Because when I met you, you were fresh out of uni trying to get on your feet with a baby! I felt for you. Then we became mates and I spent a lot of time in Mullingar with you. Then Cade came into the picture and we all worked together to join companies. You're my vice president, Nic. It's difficult for you to do your job miles away behind a computer screen."
"Well, I'm moving now so you don't have to worry about it anymore, Luke. But I'd like to go back to the way things were between us. I kind of miss my best mate."
"I miss my best mate, too Nic. And I'm sorry this got so difficult."
We were silent for a few moments before he spoke again.
"Is Addie home now?"
"Yeah. I just put her down for the night. I'm packing up the last of her things that she won't need soon, tonight."
"Do you need any help packing or moving? I'll be in Kinnegad tomorrow night. I could stop by for a few hours."
"You know, I'd love it if you could watch Addie for me, actually. My parents are going to Greg's place in London for the week and won't be able to watch her. She's not much help when I'm packing."
"I'll bring Cade and we can work it out."
"Sounds great, Luke. Thank you."
"No problem, mate. See ya."
"See ya."
I let out a breath and chuckled to myself. All of this nonsense because I'm a single father. What a mess.

Elise's POV
I dropped off Benny at his daycare and drove to Dublin for the day. I was meeting up with Josie, an old friend of Nic's. I have an idea and I can't wait to share it with her. She was hesitant at first however. Not that I could blame her. I was a huge reason why they stopped seeing each other four years ago. I was the one who told her that Nic had a secret.
I walked into the restaurant and got a table. I was a bit early.
Five minutes later, the waiter led the shorter girl toward my table. I stood to greet her. "Josie."
"Elise. Nice to see you."
"You too."
We both sat down and the waiter took our drink orders.
"So? What did you want to meet about?" She asked after a bit.
"Nic."
"Nic? As in Nicholas James?"
I nodded. "Yep. The one and only."
"Why, El? I thought you wanted him for yourself."
"The old me did, but the new me is happily married with a son and weekends with my daughter."
"Oh. So you're not with Nic anymore?"
I shook my head, "Oh, no, no. I haven't been for years, Josie. I think he'd like it a lot if you called him."
She let out a sigh, "Can I be honest? I don't know if he's even interested in me anymore. I mean, he seemed so distant at the charity ball and he never called me."
"Well, that's when I fell apart and he returned home, and so once again it was my fault. I'm sorry Josie. I just know that you two were great together."
"He lied to me, El."
"He didn't lie, he just wasn't ready to tell you yet. He didn't want you to run off."
"He should have just told me from the beginning."
"I could have too, Josie and I didn't. I didn't even tell you what the secret was. I was terrible to you."
"We barely knew each other, El. It wasn't really fair for any of us that any of it happened. He wasn't ready for a relationship anyway; even I could tell that. How do I know I won't get my heart broken again?"
"He's ready now, Josie. Trust me."
She smiled. And deep inside my heart, I hoped I was right.