Chapter 6

When Dom finally got to the Kiwi an hour later, Nila was already there. She was sitting in front of the bar going through some files. She looked up when he came in and smiled when she saw the bouquet he’d brought her.

“See, that’s a first,” she commented. “No one’s ever brought me flowers before.”

“Really? Never?” Dom had a hard time believing that.

“Really, never. The only gifts I ever get are typically raunchy and left on the floor of the pub’s bathroom.” She took the bouquet from him and inhaled deeply. “Beautiful,” she sighed, then went behind the bar to find a vase for them. She didn’t have one, so she found a glass pitcher and put the flowers in it instead.

“So, Ms. Simon, rugby player extraordinaire,” Dom said, trying to force his eyes away from her shapely form. She’d dressed up to an extent. She had on a black, a-symmetrical skirt and a camel coloured sleeveless shirt with a wide neckline. Her hair was down. “Can I take you out somewhere?”

She smiled. “Sure. Where would you like to go?”

“Well, I debated taking you to my favourite pub, but then remembered that you’re there all the time anyway. So I found another place I thought you might like.”

She came back around the bar and took him in. He was wearing a coffee-coloured button-down shirt with a short silver chain around his neck and khaki pants. Her breath caught in her throat slightly as she thought briefly about tearing him out of his clothes and jumping him right then and there. She let a smile play on her lips. “Well then, let’s get out of here. This is my first day off in months. If I don’t leave now, something’s bound to happen to keep me here.”

He offered her his arm and she took it.

Dom drove her to a small but elegant restaurant in downtown London. The food was delicious, the wine was just right and the conversation was brilliant. Both couldn’t help but think that this was the best date they’d ever been on. The only problem was that a die-hard Lord of the Rings fan approached their table and practically begged Dom for an autograph. Nila had almost forgotten that he was a celebrity till then. It was definitely a complication she wasn’t sure if she liked. Her enjoyment of the date decreased in proportion to the amount she internally struggled with this dilemma and at the end of the night, when they’d finished their supper, she’d decided what she needed to do.

“Do you have time for anything else or do you need to get back?” Dom asked her.

“No, I really, I should get back. Saturdays are always crazy and they might need me.”

“You work too hard,” he said, putting a hand over hers.

A slight shiver went down her spine at his touch. “I know. I can’t help it, really. I get separation anxiety when I’m gone too long.”

“Well, at any rate, I’m glad you were able to hang out with me for a while.”

“Me too.” She felt like her heart was going to burst.

They drove back to the Kiwi in relative silence. Dom was debating whether he ought to tell her how much he liked her and Nila was debating how she was going explain why she couldn’t go out with him anymore.

“Just drop me off at the back,” she told him when they’d neared the Kiwi. “There’ll be a line-up already.”

Sure enough, when they pulled onto the street, there were about a dozen people already in line. Dom swung the car down a back lane to get to the back of the pub. He put it into park. He looked at her and grinned.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so disappointed to be here.”

She smiled sadly. “Me either.”

They got out of the car and Dom walked her to the door.

“You know,” he said, reaching out and gently running his fingers through her hair. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with your hair down before.” Nila put her hand over his when it rested on her cheek. “I like it,” he said softly as he leaned in to kiss her.

It was sheer electricity. Her whole body thrilled at the gentleness and sincerity of that kiss. All Dom could think was, I can’t believe this is actually happening!

“Can I take you out again sometime?” Dom asked when they’d pulled away.

She still had her eyes closed, savoring the kiss. “Yes,” she murmured, then realized what she was saying. Her eyes flew open. “I mean, no…”

“No?” Dom was confused.

“I mean, it’s just – well, you can’t because – well, it’s complicated…”

“What’s complicated?” he asked, kissing her again.

Her body and her mind were in a fight for her life. Her brain was screaming at her to leave while her body was demanding that she stay.

“I’m sorry,” she said against his mouth as she gently pushed him away. “I, um, I have to go.” She gave him one last distressed look as she went through the door to the pub and closed it behind her.

Dom stood there in complete shock for about 10 minutes, just staring at the door. His heart had dropped to his feet and he didn’t quite know what to do. He walked toward the door, then backed up again. Then he walked towards his car and backed up again. He walked up to the door and knocked, but nobody answered. He banged his head against it once then got into his car and left.

Nila had shut the door behind her and had stood with her forehead against it for a good 20 minutes. She’d heard him knock and it took all her effort to not open the door. She sighed heavily when she heard his car drive away.

“What have I done?” she asked herself. She turned away and ran into Luke, one of her bouncers.

“You okay?” he asked her.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Could you get Jeff to bring me a few bottles of wine and vodka to the green room?”

“Sure. You sure you’re okay?”

“I’ll live. Oh, and if Sophia Bloom shows up, just send her back there to find me.”

“Absolutely.”

“Thanks,” she said, and walked to the green room with her arms crossed tightly in front of her and her head down.

Sophia did show up, not two hours later. “Hello Luke,” she said with a smile, “All right?”

He smiled, “Just fine Sophia. Nila’s not working tonight but she told me to send you to the back VIP room when you got here.”

“How did she…” she started to ask then laughed at the expression on his face, “Right she’s Nila, she always knows.”

“You got that right.” He laughed and let her in; “Just go through that door past the bar it’s the second door on the right.”

“Right, cheers Luke.”

He waved then turned back to the people who were still trying to get into the bar.

She was exactly where Luke had said she’d be, except he’d failed to mention that she was drinking.

“Sophia! It’s about time you got here!” she said with a sardonic laugh. Pulling a glass seemingly out of nowhere she poured Sophia a drink. “You look as good as I feel.” She added as she pushed the glass towards her.

“I take it your date didn’t go all that well.” Sophia said.

“It was bloody brilliant.” She said with a sigh and long sip of her drink, “He’s a gentleman, hilarious not to mention a bloody brilliant kisser.” She sighed and finished off her drink; “He’s also famous so it won’t work.”

Sophia downed her drink and nodded, “Amen to that sister. Why is it that we’re miserable and drinking then?”

Nila looked at her with sad eyes and poured her another, “Because we’re celebrating the fact that we don’t have to put up with celebrity boyfriends.”

“Right.” Sophia said as she tapped my glass to Nila’s, “Celebrating.”

“I feel like shit,” Nila said.

“You feel like shit? I haven’t even been able to admit that I like the plighter yet,” Sophia laughed, downing her first drink and pouring herself another.

Nila almost spewed her drink in her laughter. “Haven’t you, then?” she said, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

“Nope. Decided to get hung up about his age.”

“Nice. I guess the celebrity argument doesn’t work as well, considering your cousin.”

“You got that right.”

“It’s a pity they’re so fucking gorgeous,” Nila sighed, breaking open a bottle of wine.

“And that they have fucking perfect personalities.”

“And are fucking good kissers.”

“Fucking good.”

They both toasted each other again and gulped back their wine.

“I can’t go back there,” Sophia said.

“So don’t. Crash at my place,” Nila offered.

Sophia laughed. “It’s funny that we just met, what a week ago, and are already like, best friends.”

“Birds of a feather,” Nila said, pouring more wine and raising her glass.

“Birds of a feather,” Sophia agreed, raising her glass back.

“So, Sophia,” Nila said, slurring heavily. They were already onto their second bottle of wine. “What is it about Elijah that you like so much?”

“His eyes. They’re the most amazing fucking things I’ve ever seen. And he’s easy to talk to. You know, no pretense or anything – at least not when he’s being normal. He figured out I liked him and all of a sudden he was full of piss and vinegar, you know?”

Nila laughed. “Or porn and chocolate!” she started laughing hysterically.

Sophia started laughing too. “God, I would pay to meet the person working at that convenience store that day!”

“You don’t have to. I could tell you hundreds of ridiculous things that boy has said whilst drunk here,” Nila said.

“I’m sure you could,” Sophia sighed and poured herself another drink. “What about you? What is it about Dom you like so much?”

“His mouth. He’s got this crooked smile that I just adore. And he’s fucking hilarious. No one can make me laugh the way he does.”

“We’re fucking idiots, you know that, right?”

“I sure do, love. Fucked right up in the head, you and I. Letting two fucking fantastic men slip through our fingers.”

Sophia put her head in her hands and rubbed her eyes. “I need more alcohol. I can still think straight.”

“Coming right up.” Nila found a phone tucked away in the corner of the room. “Jeff? It’s Nila. We’ve run out of alcohol. Could you bring a few more bottles back? Don’t you say no to me, I’ll fire you if I have to. No, I won’t really. Just, please, two more, that’s all. Okay. Thank you.”

Luke found the two girls passed out on the couches at the end of the night. He shook his head sadly then went over to wake Nila up. “Nila, love, wake up. It’s Luke.”

“Hmm? Luke? Oh, hon, I’m sorry. I’m so drunk right now. I need to get home.”

“What about Sophia?”

“She’s going to stay with me tonight.”

“Okay. I’ll go get Brent and we’ll take you home.”

“Thank you,” Nila said as she fell back on the couch and went back to sleep.

Fortunately, Nila lived just next door to the pub, so Luke and Brent were able to carry them over. Luke gently placed Nila in her bed and kissed her forehead. “Sleep well, boss. I hope you can get this all sorted out.”

Brent had put Sophia on the couch and covered her with a blanket.

“I don’t know if we should just leave them,” Brent said.

Luke looked around. “This place is full of couches. I’m sure Nila wouldn’t mind if we stayed to keep an eye on them.”

“I’d just feel horrible if anything happened,” Brent said.

So it was settled. Luke and Brent made themselves comfortable on two of the various couches Nila had throughout the house. Luke was close enough to Nila’s room to make sure he could hear her if she woke up and Brent camped out on a couch across from Sophia.

In the meantime, Dom sped across town to Sophia’s flat to try to find someone to talk to. He found Elijah packing his car when he got there.

“What are you doing?” Dom asked him.

“Moving,” Elijah said, carefully angling a box into his backseat.

“So I guess the car ride didn’t go so well.”

“She said I was patronizing her.”

“Oh.”

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with Nila?”

“You’d think that.”

“The date didn’t go well?”

“It was fucking fabulous. I don’t really know what happened.”

“Well, what happened?”

“We went for dinner, talked, laughed, flirted, the whole bit. Then I took her back to the Kiwi, walked her to the door, we kissed and then she bolted.”

“Bolted?”

“Bolted. Said it was complicated.”

“Complicated?”

“Is there a fucking echo in here?”

“Sorry.”

Dom sighed heavily and plopped onto the front stoop. “Is there something wrong with us? Do we smell or something?”

“Hell if I know.”

They sat there in silence for a while. Elijah lit a cigarette and offered it to Dom who took a drag.

“Don’t know how you can stand these. They’re disgusting,” Dom said.

“Acquired taste,” Lij explained.

“So, why are you moving, anyway? Did it really go that badly?”

“No. I just figure she needs some space to figure her shit out. She knows where I stand.”

“Does she?”

“Well, okay, maybe not. I don’t know. I just feel like if she doesn’t want to try anything with me, then I should just go, you know?”

“So you’ll just give up, just like that?”

“What else can I do?”

“Well, I don’t know. I just don’t think we should take this lying down, you know?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, are these girls worth it or not?”

“Worth what?”

“Pursuing, you daft blodger.”

Elijah furrowed his brow and took a long drag from his fag. “Sophia’s worth it.”

“Yeah, Nila’s worth it too.”

“So what are we gonna do?”

“Give me a minute, I haven’t got that far yet.”

They sat there and furrowed for a good while before Elijah finally spoke up. “Does Sophia like flowers?”

“Yeah. Roses – the orange ones with the red tips. You have a plan?”

“I think I just might.” Elijah explained to his friend what he had in mind.

“Yeah, that’s good. She won’t be able to resist you then. What about me?”

“What about you?”

“Fuck off!” Dom exclaimed, shoving his friend.

Elijah laughed. “I don’t know, man. I don’t know Nila well enough.”

Dom groaned and rubbed his face. “I’m gonna need a woman’s perspective on this, aren’t I?”

“While you at it, could you score some info for me?”

“On what?”

“Me, of course.”

“You’re a selfish bastard, mate.”

“So I’ve been told. Could you help me move the rest of my stuff?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Return to Relative Nonsense Chapter Seven