wait for it.

Jacob pulled up to the lunch restaurant, unsure if he had the right place or not. It seemed rather crowded and also rather pink. After he found parking, which was not an easy task due to the Saturday brunch crowd of locals and tourists alike, he checked his messages from Liam again. Yep, this was indeed the right place. Jacob sighed, why couldn’t Liam be happy with just meeting up at a more adult restaurant, rather than something he read about in some food blog, he thought rather discontentedly. Walking to the front of the restaurant, which had bright pink umbrellas shading the sidewalk tables, he saw Liam leaning up against the gold and black painted wall (which was no doubt intended to be a tourist photo op). Jacob gave a light wave to his friend as he walked up, hoping that Liam was actually looking at him behind the dark aviator sunglasses he donned.

Liam arrived early to put his name down, knowing that this restaurant would be crowded at this time of day. It was a popular brunch and burger spot in Venice Beach and it was constantly full of trendy LA millennials– so of course, Liam loved it. Though it was a Saturday, he couldn’t help but check his work email while he waited for Jacob to arrive. He didn’t become one of the most sought after CFPs at his firm by taking weekends off, after all. Just as he sent one final email, he looked up and noticed Jacob walking towards him. Liam gave a head nod of greetings and said, “I put our name in with the host about 20 minutes ago, should be any time now.”

Amanda looked at Josh kind of amused; she really just liked all of this: his good looks, the way he talked and what he talked about. He always knew what to say. And it was just two days that they knew each other and he had managed to turn her into a day-dreamy kind of girl, thinking of fate and what-not.·“I hope you’re okay with….”, she started her sentence the same way he did,·“….me showing you stuff about biochemistry and talk about it?”, she said with a smile.·“Technically…well…he told me that he was going out to work out…”and it’s not like we didn’t work out enough today, right babe”, she tried to imitate Liam’s voice but it was unsuccessful, so she sighed dramatically.·“Right?? Right??”, she waved her arms in the air.·“Apparently?”, she furrows her eyebrows,·“I mean…I don’t know? She kind of has…a history with her previous…serious relationship back in High School”, she feels her heart dropping to her stomach and she hates that.·“It’s a sad and long story and…”, she frowns at that, not sure if she could share more than that.·“I thought it wasn’t that serious with this new guy but apparently…what do I know”, she looks down at her fingers.·“And that’s what I told her; thankfully I’m not the one dating him”, she shrugs.·“It is, isn’t it?”, she looks outside the window of the car to check where they were going; a smile on her lips, trying to shake off everything. The Jake situation always shook her up somehow. No matter how long time has passed.

Josh grinned as he pulled the car into an empty parking space. The restaurant was an old favorite of his– a place where his family liked to go to celebrate big occasions like birthdays or graduations or the rare straight As on a report card. He’d never taken a date here before, mostly because it was a bit older and not super flashy, but when Amanda said she wanted Italian food, it was the first place that popped into his head and it just felt right.·“I’m a life-long learner,” he said with a chuckle.·“I’ll do my best to keep up with whatever you tell me about,” he nodded as he turned off the car. Listening to Amanda recap what Liam had said, he made a mental note that she had an incredible memory. That was always a very impressive quality to him because he could be kind of forgetful, especially of small details unless he was trying very hard to remember them.·“That’s a bit weird to say to someone you’ve just met,” he scrunched his nose and cringed a bit. Amanda’s demeanor seemed to change when she brought up her friend’s previous relationship, and he couldn’t quite place why. Josh decided not to touch it for now, feeling like she’d probably open up about it if and when she was comfortable.·“Yeah, I think we’re all·glad you’re not the one dating him,” he smiled before stepping out of the car and hurrying over to Amanda’s side to open the door for her.·

It took Victor a couple of seconds to realize that Melody was staring at him like that. He pulled his lower lip between his teeth and then smiled; maybe she was just letting everything sink in. It doesn’t happen very often to just meet old friends in coffee shops that you haven’t seen since High School, do you? “Maybe another time? It’s a long story. I have lots of them since I’ve been working behind the counter a little too long”, he chuckled, waving his hand. Her next questions do take him off guard, cause he barely had time to think about it? Maybe he missed it? Maybe he wasn’t aware that he was in L.A just yet. “My mind is somewhere else for sure…”, he laughed absent-mindedly. “My body is here with you in L.A”, he nodded. “So, I don’t know if I have missed it yet. I didn’t have the time to do anything else other than be in my family house and searching for jobs via my laptop”, he made a small pause. “But you can take me to our usual hang out spots? All in good time?”, he said to her with a smile.

Melody took another sip of her coffee and noted that her old friend seemed a bit mentally preoccupied. She wondered what she could do to help him feel more comfortable or at home. The wheels were already turning in her mind, trying to plan out a day where they would do all of the things they used to enjoy back in high school. “All in good time, of course! I mean as long as you don’t pack up and leave again, then we have all the time in the world.” She chuckled, but immediately realized her comment could come off as passive aggressive, even though she didn’t mean it that way. “I’m a much better driver than I was in high school, so you don’t have to drive everywhere anymore,” she offered with a small smile, hoping he wouldn’t think she was being rude with her previous statement. 

Things had definitely changed between them; that is something that he had been saying for the last couple of years. He was still in denial that right before Nikki left for college, their relationship changed. And now, after seeing her the first time after a couple of years compared to how they were now, things were different. Situations were acknowledged. But he just couldn’t connect the dots with what was happening with Liam at the moment. Why was Nikki acting like this? Were they breaking up or something so Henry just became the push of that? If that was true, Amanda would stop mentioning Liam every now and then wouldn’t create a plan for him and Penny to date; which again, he had to excuse it in his head somehow that in this fake scenario…maybe, just maybe they weren’t serious.

He didn’t stop looking at her, as he followed, even if it kind of surprised him as she turned around. Pouting thoughtfully, at “not giving them any ideas”, he held himself not to start laughing. ‘Cause Amanda knew. She knew and she had an idea of what might happen with them, if they were left alone.  And of course, later on, just to inspect what happened…to arrange that dinner. “Nothing  really happened, Nicolette”, he smirked at her, right before they reached the cash register and stepped away, closer to the entrance. But he had noticed Nikki’s impatience right before and, he really just wished he could be in her head sometimes. Even if….if he were in her shoes at this point, he would understand. She doesn’t know that Amanda knows or that Penny is their cousin. Either or….he found it completely endearing and kind of guiltily enjoyed it.

Nikki grinned politely at the cashier as she was handed a bag of the clothes and her receipt. In a rush she stepped out of the building and into the cold winter air. “Nothing happened, huh?” She said sarcastically as she pulled her jacket tighter around her. “You don’t tend to call me Nicolette when nothing’s happening, but okay,” she turned her head towards Henry and met his eye teasingly. He absolutely knew what calling her that meant and how it made her feel. She had to turn away to keep from staring, and instead watched her breath form little clouds with each exhale in front of her. “I can order an Uber, I think it’s too cold to walk and also a bit too far.” Pulling out her phone, she entered in the address of the restaurant and ordered the car. “Says it should be here in 5 minutes. We can stand closer to the store, since it’s warmer, and wait.” And with that, she backed up to lean against the store window, waiting for her fake fiancé to join her.

It took just a couple of seconds to let what happened register in his brain, but this was interrupted by Nikki’s laugh. It did have a much more different impact than it has now. He opened his eyes, feeling kind of shy, as he was not willing to look anything else other than the ceiling. He laughs breathlessly at Nikki’s statement; this was definitely a “wow”. Since he couldn’t find the right words himself, a “wow” sounded appropriate. He was brought back to reality as Nikki’s arm leaned on his chest and suddenly her face was close again. Like before. And he had to look at her now. “I’m still reliving the moment you said: “I’m okay with this, if you are?”, he tried to remember Nikki’s words but everything in his head still felt fuzzy. “Things seemed to escalate after that?”, it came more like a question and he wasn’t able to hold his laughter after saying that.

Henry had definitely regretted mentioning Bella. Mostly because of Nikki’s reactions at the moment and less about Amanda. He was so used to his sister just throwing hints of how much she didn’t like covering for him, when he was hanging out with Bella. Not that he has ever pushed her or she disagreed on covering for him. “Oh my God”, Henry gasped as Nikki mentioned Bella again and looked at her, widening his eyes, knowingly, trying to motion her to stop. But apparently, this has just started. “I knew that she’d be back in Chicago during the summer but I don’t know now. We haven’t talked the last couple of months”, he pouted and looked away, not really wanting to look at neither his sister or his…what was Nikki to him now? “I don’t even know if I want to do anything for my birthday this year”, he sighs as he turns to look at Nikki, again. 

Amanda tried to follow what was happening; what Henry was saying-what Nikki was saying and in midst of all this she wanted to bash on Bella.  Widening her eyes as her friend mentioned something but didn’t dare to look at her, so that it wouldn’t seem like they had actually talked about it. She stared at Henry as he replied to Nikki and raised her eyebrow, contemplating whether they should invite her to the party and create havoc. And maybe rekindle the flame. Finally turning to look at Nikki, just to glare at her for almost revealing something they had just started planning. “I have seen her on the mall; she’s here”, she hums and doesn’t know what to say next because she would reveal something important about the party. “Right like…you always say that”, she turns to her brother and sits up to poke him. 

This gathering was turning into a right mess– Nikki and Amanda trying to keep their surprise party plans under wraps, Nikki and Henry trying to hide their feelings for each other from his sister, and Nikki trying to hold in her simmering jealousy over someone who she thought was Henry’s ex. As she floated near the edge, Nikki’s head felt like it could explode from all the tension. “Not interested in doing something with her for your birthday? I’m sure she’d just love to hear from you.” Nikki rolled her eyes and then shot a glance at Amanda as if to say, he’s not onto us! “Also, is anyone going to join me in the pool or am I just going to be here alone all afternoon?” she complained, feeling quite annoyed at just about everything. 

Riley: They usually do, yes.

Liam: Don't apologize, I'm always messing with you– even over text.

Victor: Hmm maybe Saturday afternoon? I'll come by after work! I can bring chips!

Victor: Awesome!!! I haven't either, but I really want to.

Victor: I can already imagine pausing it a million of times and like...remember random things we haven't mentioned to each other xD

Melody: LOL of course that's going to happen.

Melody: I'll make sure I have some candy and drinks too!

It wasn’t the first “Oh my God” that came out of Nikki’s mouth that night; but he did love the sound of it, the more she went. This last one, though, was right into his ear. And her tongue on his neck. He would definitely admit that everything was driving him crazy and that he was keeping the pace steady as it went, but all this…It didn’t take more seconds, that he started moaning, holding himself not to finish this just yet, but…His pace went from a little abrupt and slowed down, as he came, feeling goosebumps all over his body. It was probably Nikki’s tongue, he thought for a brief moment, as he tried to breathe. Letting go of her thigh, he held her hand that was touching his and caressed it lightly, before moving slowly out of her. He was about to just stare at her, but he was so light-headed, he wasn’t able to do anything without closing his eyes. He landed next to her, though and tried to pull himself together; not really sure what would come of them right after that.

Amanda has a lot of thoughts, as Josh talks. She doesn’t want to talk about fate; she should stop thinking of all that and jinxing it. But, she was almost manifesting into making that thing with Josh something that would last into the future? She knew for a fact that all this turned out for her to stay in Chicago, because she did feel a tiny bit jealous (never was going to admit it) of …mostly NIkki leaving but…things were turning around. And this thing with Josh had just started. So, she closed her eyes, and tried to push everything away. “I’m biased…together with you”, it’s the only thing that she could admit and it probably said everything. “Yeah, I might need to do more research. In other news, I might need to search for something else, as well. Be a Biochemist or something”, she hums; hopefully she wouldn’t push herself into searching   right at this point. She rolls her eyes; it’s clear….the thought of Liam and even Liam & Nikki annoys her a lot. “It’s not only the vibes, per se”, she answers and turns to look at him. “I just…can’t shake off the fact that he basically introduced himself like: “Hi. This is Liam. Nikki’s new boyfriend. This is my big great apartment that’s so great and much more awesome than Nikki’s. Oh and also, we just had sex”, she taps her knees lightly but abruptly; still can’t believe she had to live through that. ”I’ve said a lot of things too. I shouldn’t have judged her like that”, she finally pouted and looked away from Josh. That a couple of seconds later, Josh started talking about his day. So, she had to turn around and look at him. Again. “It’s okay, though. I doubt it was uneventful but at the same time, I’m glad it’s about to change”, a small smirk playing on her lips, as she started looking ahead.

As Josh drove, he felt a calm taking over him– like he could drive with Amanda in his passenger’s seat for a long time. It was very comfortable and nice to just hear her talking and being able to focus on pretty much nothing else. “Biochemistry, huh? I hope you’re okay with me knowing essentially nothing about all of that. I took an epidemiology elective in college, but it was an elective and my knowledge starts and ends there. Well, I should say– it starts and ends with what I’ve retained since then, which probably isn’t a lot.” He smirked playfully before letting Amanda continue about Liam and Nikki. She included their names right away, rather than saying “my friend” and “my friend’s boyfriend”, which Josh found both helpful and endearing. “Wait, wait. He actually said they’d just had sex?” He asked with an incredulous chuckle. “That’s really weird. I can see why you were put off. Does she just tend to go for that kind of guy?” Josh asked, remembering some of his female friends in college would just consistently pine after absolute assholes. “You’re right, this feels like a pretty big event,” his smirk transformed into a wide smile as he put on his blinker to turn into the restaurant parking lot.

Amanda listened to Nikki’s mom’s and sister’s voices behind the door and she looked down smiling. She caught half of what they were saying, but it still made her smile. As the door was finally opened, her face lit up. “Happy Saturday”, her voice chimed, as she walked in and leaned in to hug her friend. “Pizza’s awesome”, she said loud enough for Evelyn to hear that and looked around. She made a few steps towards Nikki’s bedroom, smiling at Nikki’s compliment on her choice of snacks. “Hey Mrs Sumner-Violet”, she greeted them , not sure from where they were going to appear from. She sucked on her lower lip. “Yeah, I’m covering for Henry, tonight”, she whispered. “But, as for movies-I really want to watch Legally Blonde again. Not sure why”, she said louder at that and widened her eyes, motioning Nikki; she was almost sure that Nikki got that=it definitely meant her nagging-gossiping on Bella, the new girlfriend of her brother’s.

Nikki sat down on her bed and gestured for Amanda to join her. Her eyes grew large with intrigue as Amanda said she was covering for her brother. If there was any flaw that Nikki was needing to work on at that moment, it was her love of gossip. But the work would need to be saved for another day, because she was all too curious to hear what shenanigans Henry had gotten himself into and what Amanda thought of it. “Covering for saintly Henry? Oh boy, what’s going on?” She giggled. And Legally Blonde sounds great, she nodded scooting over to the bedside shelf where she kept all of her DVDs. Pulling out Legally Blonde, she set it on the bed, waiting for Amanda to say more before starting it. 

Victor: Great. :) I can come over this weekend?

Victor: What about....hmmm

Victor: Schitt's Creek? Have you heard of it?

Melody: Okay, sweet! I'm free both Saturday and Sunday, so just let me know when.

Liam: I'm sure she'll be too busy at the wedding to worry about me anyway, so that's a relief.

Riley: I don't really know you that well, Liam. But.

Riley: Is that "she" your girlfriend's friend or your girlfriend?

Liam: Damn, that's a hard-hitting question.

Riley watched her friend react and sucked on her lower lip, thinking that she was getting cuter and cuter. “It really really does”, Riley nods, her smile still there, she now wants to just refrain from giggling. “And I really really get that”, she says and then realizes that she says “really” a lot. “I get that…but…I bet you wouldn’t blush to Victor, when you’d tell him. I met Riley; My old High School friend and offered to come move in with me”, she tries to imitate Melody’s voice and mannerisms but she ends up giggling with how cute everything was. She widens her eyes slightly, as Melody shows her the text.  “Awww”, she exclaims. “See…you’ve had to mention him to me, to text you”, she pokes her friend’s shoulder playfully.  “I think that it would be super nice to have a roommate around. You’ll never be alone, if he actually agrees”

Melody stared at the text message wide-eyed for a second or two before looking back up at Riley. With her best friend pointing out that she may have a crush on Victor, Mel was now questioning everything. She did her best to shake off those thoughts before responding. “Exactly, I’m not a fan of being alone and I already know that we get along well, so it wouldn’t be a bad roommate situation or anything!” She set her phone down and bit her thumb nervously. “Jeez, Ri– I’ve known him for like over ten years and all it took for me to question my feelings for him was you saying, ‘Oooh maybe you have a crush!’” she rolled her eyes and giggled a bit. “Now I don’t know... It’s been too long since I’ve had a crush. Does it make you feel sweaty all the time? Because if so, I don’t like it.”

During the long minutes that Henry waited for Nikki to come out of the dressing room, Henry tried to re-evaluate of what was happening at this point. And if he was completely honest with himself, how much he could hold himself so that he wouldn’t end up in a different bedroom in the end of the night, other than his. He didn’t realize that he was looking down all this time until Nikki appeared and stopped slouching against the wall. “Sure”, he says and the closeness between them becomes unbearable for those couple of seconds. He follows her immediately like he was a magnet. “Of course we are forgetting what I’m going to wear and what you will be choosing for Amanda and Josh? Right?”, he finally reaches her and walks in front of her. “Or we will have another shopping day as the honorary testing couple of this wedding?”, he smiles, and his tone is beyond teasing.

Nikki turned on her heels as Henry pointed out that there was still more shopping for them to do, a bit embarrassed that she forgot. “Oh, right!” She said, pulling out her phone to look at the time. After their little tryst in the dressing room, there were only 30 minutes left to get to the restaurant to meet Amanda and Josh. “I think we’ll have to go shopping another day,” she smirked. “We don’t want to be late and give those two any ideas about what we were doing,” a giggle escaped her lips as she finished that sentence. She began toward the checkout line once again, trying to hide how much she was blushing. Upon reaching the register, she set the items on the counter and waited rather impatiently for the woman to scan each one. Nikki’s heart was still beating rapidly and she was anxious for another opportunity to be with Henry again– just like when they were younger. The employee seemed to pick up on the impatience and Nikki explained, “Sorry, we’re just in a bit of a hurry to get to dinner,” and with that, she ceased tapping her fingers on the counter. 

A giggle escaped her lips at Josh’s response and rubbed her temple nervously, as her fingers shook a little. Was it out of excitement? “Oh well…I wasn’t accepted in the universities in Illinois, I applied in. And I was wait-listed in a few. I didn’t check the colleges of California or New York. So, I guess this is a sign that I did something wrong. ‘Cause I realized I am not sure I want to leave Chicago, anytime soon”, she turned to look at him almost instinctively- like her intuition was showing Josh in her future. “I guess my best friend’s future is in LA and probably my brother’s is in New York…but I think I belong here. Maybe I should search for something else to study. Maybe Medicine isn’t it.”, she declared, feeling like all the pessimism was substituted by some weird confidence. Or she was just showing off to Josh. “Also, I’ve Skype-met my best friend’s boyfriend…and let me tell you, I don’t approve at all. He could be a generally great guy. But not for her”, she declared yet again. “That’s what I meant in our phone-call”, she continued, taking a deep breath and looked down at her knees-hoping she didn’t scare Josh away already. “Anyway, how was your day?”, she asked, looking at him again and a smile formed again on her face.

As Josh drove, he listened to Amanda talk and did his best to keep up his promise of showing that he was listening by letting out an “Awww,” or shaking his head every few moments. He definitely was interested in what she was saying though, and could already feel himself loving the sound of her voice. “Well, I’m very selfishly glad that you don’t want to leave Chicago any time soon, but alas – I’m biased.” He chuckled, trying to lighten her mood a little bit. “But I’m sorry you didn’t get into that school. There are plenty of other ones here though, or even online ones. I think it’s too early to give up on medicine just yet, personally,” he shrugged. Reaching a stoplight, he had the chance to look over at her for a longer moment, since he couldn’t help it. She really did look great, but he turned away quickly so as not to come off creepy. “Why isn’t he good for her? Do you just get weird vibes from him?” He asked, curious about what qualities she found in this man that were so off-putting. “My day was rather uneventful up until now. I worked an early morning shift, talked to you on the phone after I got home, hung around, eventually got ready, and now I’m here! Sorry there’s not a more intriguing story about my day,” He laughed, stealing another glance at Amanda, despite trying his best to keep his eyes on the road.