Sleepy Eyes - Elohim & Whethan
The fridge in the house had been on the brink of empty for a good week. Nicole was meant to do a big shop during the Sunday she had left for Brighton with Nathan. She had planned to make a trip to the local supermarket as soon as she had gotten back, but she had been unwillingly plunged into work as soon as she had returned to London, therefore had no time. She had been living off Eva's Coco Pops secretly, promising herself that she would buy her a couple boxes to make up for it.
Nicole had been the first to wake up of the pair on Monday morning. She had decided to leave Nathan to wake on his own, knowing how poorly he had slept for the past week. After returning from the gym, she had gone to pour herself a small bowl of Coco Pops when she realised that they had run out of soya milk. Nicole shut her eyes in annoyance, knowing she couldn't use the regular milk. She had to go to the supermarket.
Nathan had woken up to Nicole rushing around the room, trying to grab articles of clothing from all corners of the room as swiftly as possible. Her usually neat and tidy room had turned into a rubbish tip over the course of the past three days. She tripped up on a rogue shoe trying to reach for her keys, resulting in her stumbling forward on all fours and hitting the bedside table. Nathan laughed so hard he felt like his stomach was to implode. Nicole composed herself, trying not to laugh as she crossed her legs on the floor.
'Why are you rushing around at eight in the morning?'
'We're out of soya milk, so unless I want a crippling stomach ache, I've got to head down to Tesco and do a shop. Now, where the hell is your Hard Rock hoodie? It's freezing outside.'
Nathan shook his head, grinning as he sat up. 'Give me ten, I'll come with.'
The pair walked down the local roads dressed in sweatpants, both of them in a lively mood after the mornings events. They had grabbed a basket each and embarked on their journey through the moderately sized Tesco, picking up bits and pieces, playfully dancing to the songs playing through the store speakers. Every few minutes either of them would crack a joke and the two would erupt into uncontrollable laughter. They earned a couple glares from typical Londoners, but that only fuelled their behaviour.
'Eva wasn't home, was she?' Nathan asked as the pair packed items into tote bags at the checkout counter.
'No, to be honest, I haven't really seen her since before we went to Brighton.' Nicole told him, her mind immediately going to Zack. She hadn't seen him since the night she had returned from Brighton, and she was glad. His entire aura reminded her of a past she never wanted to remember. 'I met Zack, though.'
'I know, I saw your text. He's...something else.' Nathan's mood faltered at the mention. He didn't want Zack to be around Nicole when he wasn't there. He knew what Zack was like. 'What happened?'
'He really put me off,' Nicole admitted, almost shivering. 'I walked into the house and saw this almost naked man in my kitchen, so naturally I asked who the fuck he was.' Nathan smiled at his girlfriend. 'He said something really chavy and I realised who he was. Then he started flirting and, God, he disgusted me.'
'Flirting?'
'He called me a "pretty little thing" or something, and then he called me "Nikki".' Nicole shuddered involuntarily. 'He was really close to me too, like I could smell the sweat on him. He was disgusting.' Nathan tensed. Zack had acted exactly how Nathan knew he would around her. That was exactly the reason why he didn't want Nicole to be alone with Zack. 'Why exactly is Eva still with him?'
'I don't know, God knows what she sees in him.' Nathan found himself lying through his teeth to his own girlfriend. He knew the real reason why Eva hadn't left very well.
Fear.
~
Nicole managed to get home an hour or so earlier that night. She was conscience that Nathan was alone with the risk of smothering himself in his own thoughts, so she was determined to arrive early enough to spend some quality time with him. She had opened the door at seven o'clock and found Nathan scrubbing the cooker. He had gone out of his way to make them dinner. The pair spent the remainder of the night sprawled out on the sofa, eating Nathan's lovely food and watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Nicole had become obsessed with the show since Nathan had mentioned it; it had become their little thing. The evening had been tranquil; Nicole had been subconsciously playing with Nathan's hands, whilst Nathan had been trying to braid Nicole's hair.
At around eight o'clock, Nicole's phone begun to ring. Nicole had groaned, shuffling in place to try to reach the device. After finding it somewhere between limbs, Nicole read the screen; Lexi was FaceTiming her.
'It's Anthony's fiancé, she's probably stressing about the wedding.' Nicole explained to Nathan before swiping right to answer the call. Nathan remembered Nicole telling him that her brother Anthony had recently gotten engaged to his longterm girlfriend. Surely enough, a closeup of Lexi's face popped onto her screen.
'Nic, I want to die,' Lexi opened the conversation whining. Her face was free of cosmetic products and her hair tied back, a look she only went for when she was stressed. It appeared as if she was lying stomach flat on her bed with a glass of whiskey. 'I'm this close to calling the fucking wedding off.' Nathan peered down at Nicole with a look of amusement on his face.
'That's actually a very accurate summary of who she is as a person.' Nicole told him.
'Who is that behind you?'
'This is Nathan.'
'Hello!' Nathan greeted Lexi with a smile and a wave.
'Hello stranger,' Lexi took a sip of her whiskey. 'and who exactly are you?'
'The boyfriend.'
Lexi inhaled so quickly she briefly choked on a mouthful of alcohol. 'Boyfriend?'
'Yeah, boyfriend,' Nicole raised her eyebrow. 'Is there a problem?'
'No, there's no problem.' Lexi retracted. 'Nice to meet you, Nathan.'
'So, have you confirmed the date?' Nicole switched the conversation back to the wedding, knowing that Lexi would begin an interrogation if she left the conversational topic as her and Nathan's relationship.
'Yeah, July twentieth. I'll send your novio an invite too, make sure you text me his address,' Nathan shot a smile at Nicole as Lexi spoke. Lexi huffed. 'But I gotta meet this guy beforehand, Nic, when you gonna have us round?'
'I was thinking my birthday, you guys could come down for the weekend.'
Lexi sighed. 'Sounds like a plan. I miss you, niña. Would be a lot easier if you were back here as my fucking maid of honour.'
'I couldn't have done it Lex, you know that.' There was a hint of guilt in Nicole's voice that Nathan didn't hear very often. Nicole was confident in her decisions and stuck with them, but it didn't sound like it had been the case concerning her role in the wedding. 'How's Christina doing as my replacement anyway?'
'Fucking terrible. She doesn't know rosas from tulipanes.'
