Nothing Less

Chapter Nine.

Songs for this chapter are:

Meet Virginia - Train

Metal Roses- Emily Wolfe

Before You Were Mine- Emily Wolfe

Rear View- Zayn

....

"So, do I have time to change before we go to this place?" I ask Nora as I clock out. Posey is standing in the break room, tying her apron. Lila isn't with her today, so I hope that means her grandma's health is improving. Posey smiles at me and Nora as we leave and I'm happy to know that Cree, the newest employee to Grind, is coming to relieve Aiden in an hour. Posey can tolerate Aiden better than anyone, but Cree is much more pleasant.

"Nope. No time to change," Nora's eyes rake over my stained gray t-shirt.

I follow Nora out of the door and onto the sidewalk. The sun is out today. It's not warm, but not as chilly as it will tonight. September weather in New York is my favorite weather. Football season and good weather, what more can I ask for? To be honest, I haven't watched any games so far this season. It's different now that Ken's not around. Watching the games was something we did together. Sports were the bricks that built our father-son relationship. Well, the closest thing to a father-son relationship I've ever had.

"I want to give you the proper welcome to Brooklyn. Have you been to Juliette in Williamsburg? Or the flash frozen ice cream place?"

I shake my head. I haven't done much of anything involving leaving my apartment since I moved here. I've walked and jogged around my neighborhood plenty, but I haven't actually been inside many places. Who would I go with, anyway? Tessa is so busy working and I haven't had the chance to make any friends here yet. No one on campus talks to me much. Every once in a while I get a random person asking me for directions, but that's it. WCU would have probably been the same if Tessa wouldn't have introduced herself to me.

"I haven't heard of either," I tell her. She seems pleased and eager to take me wherever she has planned.

"Where were you going last night? When I followed you?" I ask Nora while we wait for the crosswalk.

"Well, straight to the point," she laughs.

I wait for her to answer but her lips stay closed. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

She shakes her head and touches her finger to the tip of my nose. "Nope."

I should care that she's hiding something from me. I should ask more questions about the secrets she hides, I know that I should.

Instead, I ask, "So, Juliette? What is it exactly?"

Nora seems pleased with my transition of topics. I promised her before that I wouldn't try to fix her and it's easier to keep that promise if I don't pry into her life.

This plan is awesome, except the small fact that I want to know everything about this woman. I want to know how many sugars she puts in her coffee and what her favorite song is. I want to hear how it sounds when she sings mindlessly and I need to know how long it takes her to get out of bed in the morning. I have an obsessive, over powering need to know everything about her and she's going to drive me completely insane by not giving me what I need.

When we arrive at the French bistro, named Juliette, Nora is bursting with excitement. "This place is the best. Everyone says that Le Barricou is better, but don't let them fool you. Just because Yelp says so, doesn't make it true."

"What's Yelp?" I ask, trying to keep up with Nora's quick feet. The chalkboard sign on the sidewalk says, Try Our Tuscan Kale Salad. A little green leaf is drawn next to the words.