Steven took off somewhere and Cory and I were standing near the center of the room when I looked over and saw him standing about ten feet away from me. His hair was cut and he was wearing a suit, he looked totally gorgeous. I saw him at the photo shoot for this magazine issue but he was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Tonight he looked like a man. I was about to walk over to him when I saw him look behind him and take a girl by the hand and pull her to him before wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Who was she? She was dressed in a cute little yellow dress that wasn�t at all daring. She was the total opposite of me. That must be the kind of girl he likes, cute and normal looking. I was about to walk away when he turned and saw me and we locked eyes. I couldn�t very well walk away now I have to walk over. I smiled and waved and he smiled slightly before turning to the girl in yellow who had tapped him on the arm. They talked and I waited for him to look back over but he seemed to have forgotten about me. I turned and came face to face with Kevin,
�Hi Brehan. Nick is over there, have you seen him? I�m sure he�ll be happy to see you.� He gently took a hold of my arm and led me over,
�I don�t know he looks busy.� What the fuck is up with him? Leading me like I�m fucking cattle. I was about to make him aware of how I felt but before I knew it we were standing before Nick and his date. Kevin smiled as he made Nick aware of my presence,
�Nick, its Brehan.� He looked at me and smiled,
�Hi, this is Colleen, Colleen this is Brehan.� Hi, that was all I got before he swayed the attention to his date. She smiled,
�Hi, it�s nice to meet you. I saw your pictures in Maxim, they were amazing.� Well, isn�t she the chipper one? I grunted and looked around. This was a drag, I�m ready to go, at least get away from this. I could see the expression on Cory�s face and I guess my rude response was noticeable. I turned to see Nick rubbing his hand up and down Colleen�s arm as he talked to her. I don�t know why this is bothering me so much but it is. Howie walked over and joined us,
�Hi Brehan. How are you?� He kissed me on both cheeks and I smiled,
�Hi Howie.� Like Kevin and Nick, he was in a suit. It was like the norm to see Howie and Kevin in a suit. I think everytime I've seen them they were wearing one but I couldn't get over Nick. He looked do different, so mature and handsome. If that chick wasn't all over him maybe I could hook him up with Cory, she's a cute girl and she needs someone to have a little fun with. Although, I have a feeling Cory isn't as sweet as she seems. She's my assistant so we don't chat like we're gal pals but there is always something about the seemingly quiet ones. Like the one on Nick's arm who is now giggling at something he just whispered in her ear. They were chatting back and forth as if the rest of us were not present; they were in their own little world and he was so at ease with her; and so attentive. He was hanging on to every word she said and each word seemed to make him laugh or cause some type of the reaction as he continued to touch her in some way. I've never been all about sweet romance, don't get me wrong, I like to be whined and dined but someone writing me poetry and shit like that is not necessary for me. However, watching Nick be so gentle with her made me long for Steven. I looked around and I didn't see him anywhere. I stepped in closer to the cute couple as everyone else broke off into their own smaller cliques within the group,
"So, I'm sorry. What was your name again?" Nick seemed to be a little uncomfortable. I didn't ask the question to be a bitch I really didn't remember. Her bright smiled dimmed once I honed in on her intimate conversation with Nick,
"Colleen. My name is Colleen." I nodded my head,
"I can remember that. Reminds of a little dog we had when I was a little girl. Her name was Collie." She and Nick were both quiet and I knew I had went far but really, I don't care. No matter what he says, Nick thinks I'm a bitch anyway. He looked around, as if he wanted to escape and she nodded with a fake smile on her face that she couldn't seem to make disappear.
"Nick, when do you want to come by my place and get your things?" He looked over at me, somewhat like a deer in headlights and somewhat like he was a little perturbed,
"It's not important." I stared at him until he appeared to become uncomfortable and broke eye contact with me.
"So Colleen, what do you do?" Once again, Nick's interest was apparent and he looked down at her as she began to speak,
"I'm in graduate school." A college girl and studying for her Master's degree. Nick has a smart girl. So he likes them smart and normal.
"Where do you go to school? NYU?" She shook her head,
"No, I go to school in Boston, Boston College." Boston. What the hell was she doing in New York City? Was she here just to see Nick? Did he fly her in or was she some spoiled little rich girl who had free reign on daddy's platinum card. It always bothered me that some people were born into lavishness. I'm willing to bet money she has no idea what it's like to work. She has probably never worked a day in her life. Probably goes around Boston in a beamer with her equally rich friends Buffy and Millie.
"What are you studying?" It was probably something like history or Chinese studies. What are you supposed to do with that? What kind of job are you supposed to get? It didn't matter because she would go work for daddy or get married. That's what a lot of these girls did. College was a place to find a husband so they could get married, have two point five kids and drive around in a fancy SUV.
"Psychology." Why would a debutante study psychology?
"She's going to be a social worker and help kids." He looked down at Colleen,
"She's going to be great, she's great with kids." There he was gushing again. How does he know she's good with kids? Have they been spending time together?
"How long have you guys known each other?" I wanted to slap them both when they smiled and looked at each other. Nick won, or lost however you want to take it, and answered,
"A few weeks, we met when Howie and I were at this store." They met a few weeks ago and already they are lovey-dovey and wondering who is going to answer the questions? Then again, people are dumb when they first get together; it�s probably just that beginning blissful phase where both of them are being bogus with each other. Out of the blue, Nick�s facial expression altered and suddenly I felt an arm wrap around my waist. I looked down and see a Rolex-adorned wrist lying on my stomach. I knew it anywhere; it was the latest edition I bought for Steven on our anniversary. He kissed he gently on the cheek and whispered in my ear,
�Why aren�t you mingling? I want the editor of the magazine to get a first hand viewing of this dress.� I smiled and turned my head to face him as I nodded, it was always about business. For a moment I thought I was going to get sweet nothings whispered in my ear like Colleen,
�I�ll be over soon.� He didn�t seem to like that answer and I quickly attempted to make up for my verbal shortfall,
�I was about to leave. I want to go to the restroom and touch up on my makeup before I see him.� He didn�t bother to say anything he just looked over at Nick and I noticed the expression on his face, as he looked at Nick, was equally as unpleasant as the look on Nick�s face. Looks like my number one man and my number one kid aren't going to be the best of friends.
Chapter 47
Stranger Than Fiction
Stories
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