Chapter 7
They continued looking through photo albums, boxes, drawers, everything they could to find pictures or proof of their relationship.
“I feel bad that we’re snooping, taking pictures off her wall was one thing, but to go through the rest of her stuff? It feels wrong,” Justin said. “She thinks I’m cute, that’s a good sign, right?”
“Yes, but let’s not put our eggs in one basket…” Heather said.
“Actually, I think this would be a situation of don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched…” JC chimed in.
“ANYWAY,” Heather huffed, “it’s in her best interest right now. If she gets her memory back, we just explain everything to her. It’s not like we’re getting rid of them, we’re holding on to them for her.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Justin shrugged.
“It’s been a few hours. Go see her. Maybe bring some flowers or something?” Heather suggested.
“Maybe go with the ‘something’, flowers might be trying too hard too soon,” JC said.
“Am I ok to drive myself, JC?” Justin asked with a slight mocking tone.
“I’ll allow it,” JC jibed back.
Justin grabbed his keys from JC. “Do I look ok?”
“Just be you. Flash her that smile, you’ll be fine,” Heather assured him.
He got in his car, feeling better sitting behind the wheel. He drove to the hospital, taking surface streets to avoid going past the accident site.
I know I’ll have to drive that eventually, he thought, but not until things are better, if I can help it.
He pulled up to the hospital parking lot when his phone rang. He smiled. It was Nicki.
“Hello?” he answered, playing it cool.
“Hi, Justin? It’s Nicki. How are you?”
“Pretty good. How are you feeling today.”
“Better physically. Everything else is still a blur.”
“I’m glad you called,” his voice became more genuine and relaxed.
“Can you come by to see me today? Trying to see all my friends, see if something comes back to me…”
She’s lying. I can still tell when she’s lying, her voice gets a little muddy. There’s another reason she wants to see me.
“Sure, I can head over now. See you in a bit.”
He smiled, getting out of his car and going into the gift shop. He walked past all of the baby related gifts at the front of the store, heading towards the back. He saw the rack of cards, turning it to find the perfect one. There was a card with a watercolor painting of the ocean, one of Nicki’s favorite places. It was blank inside. Perfect, he thought, this lets me write something for myself.
He purchased the card, and borrowed a pen from the cashier. He wrote a note inside, put the card in the envelope, and walked up to her room.
He knocked on the door, waiting for her to respond.
“Come in,” she said. “Oh, you got here fast…”
“I was in the area,” he laughed nervously.
He could tell she was nervous too. He knew her so well, this was the same Nicki, she just needed to find her way.
“So, how did we meet?” Nicki asked.
“At a party for JC’s birthday. Heather brought you so she wouldn’t be alone.”
“She seems really nice, she’s been here a couple times…”
“She’s great. Feels like I’ve known her forever.”
“Did you ever like her that way?”
“I honestly never thought of her like that. JC and the guys, our group of friends was my focus for a long time. I had one girlfriend for a long time, so I never really thought of Heather that way.”
“Would you think of her that way NOW?”
“I mean, I guess she’s pretty, but again, I hadn’t given it much thought.” Is she trying to set me up with Heather instead?!
“Your girlfriend, what happened?”
This was a turn. It felt like everyone knew what had happened with Britney, he felt odd having to try to explain.
“She broke my heart, let’s put it that way… It’s still tough to talk about 3 years later.”
“How long ago did we meet?”
“About 2 and a half years, a little less I guess, if I did the math…”
“What can you tell me about myself?”
“You’re smart, kind, funny, extremely caring and compassionate.” He wasn’t lying.
Nicki hesitated. “I don’t know if the old me would have done this. Once I’m out of the hospital, would you wanna go on a date?”
Justin smiled. “You’re more like the old Nicki than you know. What’s wrong with a date here, now? I mean, I can wait til you order dinner, I get something from the cafeteria, and talk.”
“I’d like that,” Nicki smiled back. “You’re welcome to stay until then, I don’t have anywhere else to be.”
“Well then, I’ll have a seat,” he said, sitting down in a chair opposite her.
“How did you meet JC?” she asked.
“I moved to Orlando, JC was part of this group I joined. We sang, danced, acted…”
“So like a theater group?” she asked.
“Something like that. They were looking for younger kids, so I ended up getting in. JC was nice to the younger kids, so he became a role model for me. Once that was done a couple years later, we still hung out and kinda formed our own little group of friends. We’ve been really close ever since. He’s like a big brother almost, but I was the youngest in our group, so they all were like my brothers, at a time where I was an only child.”
“You have siblings?”
“Half brothers. Mom and Dad divorced when I was little, Mom remarried and I lived with her, but still close to my dad when he remarried. They’re a bit younger than me so it was weird, especially not living with them.”
“How did you end up in LA if you were in Orlando?” she probed.
“Well, the music scene out here is big. It’s easier to be here to do what I do sometimes.”
“What do you do?”
“Starting the date questions early..,”
“I thought you said we could start now, so why not?”
“So I did…” he said sheepishly. How much do I tell her?? “I’m a musician. I sing, play piano, guitar…”
“You any good?”
“I like to think so, but I’m super critical so it has to be perfect.”
“You’ll have to play for me sometime.”
“I’d like that,” he laughed.
Nicki called in her dinner order- pasta with meatballs, a side of veggies, and cake.
“I’ll be back, we’ll continue this over dinner,” Justin said. Jenn smiled and nodded before he left.
This is great. This is REALLY good, Justin thought to himself.
