Things To Say Before I Go

Chapter 24: Nate

I picked Jess up and carried her towards the edge of the bridge. I laid her on one of the nearby benches on the street corner until I hailed a taxi and got her into the back seat. Climbing in next to her, I adjusted her so her head was again resting on my lap. I could feel her softly breathing against my leg. 

It had been such an amazing night. I had said it before and I was willing to say it again, I loved her. And she said it too! Unforgettable. The only word to describe the night. The only thing weighing on my mind though was our conversation on the bench. Nothing she said made me any more confident that if I made the decision to move that she would be on board with me. I couldn't quite say as to whether or not I had made a decision yet, but I hadn't looked at the listings in the email Jack sent me for a couple of days now. There were some nice houses and they seemed reasonable enough for me, as well as my mother. But Arizona? And the company that Jack's cousin worked for was very similar to the work I was doing now with the firm. I wasn't entirely sure that's the profession I wanted to continue pursuing, which would defeat the purpose of moving. 

So, basically, just as Jess's head was swimming with questions and concerns, so was mine. I had a feeling that the entire time she was talking about change, she had the idea of me moving on her mind. Plus, the 'Don't leave me' as she fell asleep felt like more than just not leaving her in the park overnight. The internal conflict going on inside my head ruled my thoughts until we arrived back at my apartment. 

I paid the driver and reached back into the taxi to pick Jess back up. I carried her through the front doors and into the elevator. I used her shoe to hit the button for the fifth floor and waited. Once we got into my apartment, I managed with some struggle, to get my bedroom door open and laid her on the bed. Mark hadn't gotten home yet and I figured it would be okay if Jess stayed over, even though I hadn't checked with him. That's just the way it goes when your roommate has a girlfriend.

*****************************

The next morning, I woke up and found Jess missing from her side of the bed. I went out into the kitchen and found a plate of pancakes on the island. There was a note sitting next the bottle of syrup she had also taken out of the fridge. 

"Nate, thanks for taking me home last night and for the amazing night! You are an amazing boyfriend. Thanks for listening. Love you! Yeah, I said it and I'm going to keep saying it! Love, Jess". 

Jess herself was no where to be seen, but I figured she got up early so she get back home, get changed and get to work on time. I gratefully ate the pancakes and was rinsing off my dish when Mark came out of his room. 

"You didn't make me any?" 

"Any what?" I asked. 

He grabbed the dirty griddle sitting by the sink. "Pancakes. The griddle is out and the syrup is on the table. I'm not stupid, Nate." He wasn't lying, he did know his food cues. 

"Jess made them for me," I explained. 

"Oh," he said, a grin slowly forming on his mouth. "She stayed over last night, huh?" 

I shook my head at him as I put my dish in the dishwasher. "It's not what you think and it's not like we haven't done that already," I said. "We had an awesome night last night, but she was tired and fell asleep before we even got back here." 

Mark grabbed a bowl and filled it with some cereal. "So what, did you carry her here or something?" He started pouring in the milk and stopped to look at me when I didn't answer his question. "You did?" 

I nodded. He chuckled and shook his head, finishing with the milk. "Dude, I kind of wish you were my boyfriend. You're making me look bad!" 

I laughed. "I try, Mark, I try."