She walked through the door of Applebee's and was lead to his table by the hostess. He was sitting with his back to the door and she smiled as she walked towards him,
"Hi stranger." He jumped up and grabbed her in a strong hold,
"Hey how have you been? It's good to see you again." He pulled back to an arm's length, still holding on to her hands as he admired her standing before him,
"Wow Quinn, you look great." She smiled,
"So do you, it's been so long." He nodded as they took their seats and continued to smile and look each other over,
"How long has it been?" Her face dropped and he immediately regretted causing her to have to remember the last time they saw each other,
"About thirteen months ago, New York, when Nick kicked me out of his hotel," she tried to laugh to lighten the mood,
"and his life." His downturned smile greeted her own until he picked up his menu,
"So, did he ever talk about me?" Larry looked up from his menu,
"A couple of times right after. But you know Nick he keeps everything inside." She nodded,
"What did he say?" Larry shook his head,
"Nothing important and stop asking. You know I can't do that to him. If he can't trust me to say and do things around me I can't guard him like I'm supposed to." She nodded as she looked away, she felt like a heal for asking, she knew better. Many times in the past she had run over in her head Larry's loyalty to Nick when she wanted to know how Nick felt about her. He cleared his throat,
"So what are you doing here in Orlando? Here for the concert?" She shook her head,
"No, I'm over on the coast, visiting my parents. Since you guys were so close, thought I'd come over and visit with you for a little while." He smiled,
"So how is NASA and your family?" She shrugged,
"Everyone still struggling with the loss of the shuttle. It hits home really hard but it's moving along. My dad was close with a couple of the astronauts, they even went to the same church as my parents. My parents are doing fine and my brother is too, he just moved to Atlanta." The waitress came to take our order,
"Oh, sorry, can we have a couple more minutes? Thank you." She nodded and walked off,
"Why don't you come to the show tomorrow night?" I shake my head,
"I can't...family obligations. Sneaking away for this long was something of a struggle." He urged,
"Come on. You don't have to see Nick. You know Howie asks about you." She smiled,
"Really? I can't believe they remember me." He nodded,
"Yeah and so does Kevin but I think that's because of his wife. They all kind of wondered why you seemed to drop off the face of the Earth but Nick told them you guys just don't talk anymore. He got really pissy about it so they stopped asking him. Howie and Kevin overhead me talking to you so that's how they know I still stay in touch." She smiled,
"Tell Kristin that Nick's mafia struck again." She saw the look on his face,
"She'll get it...I think, it has been a while since that little joke we had in Mexico." He nodded and she couldn't help it, she had to know,
"So, do you know what happened with Nick and me? You don't have to tell me, I just wonder if you know." He sighed as he looked down at his menu,
"Yeah I know about the boyfriend." She looked down at her menu and sighed. It wasn't something in her life she was proud of and it still caused a lump in her throat when she thought about it. Cheating on her boyfriend with Nick changed the course of her life.
In the middle of their lunch she looked over at him,
"So, who's guarding Mr. Hot Stuff while you're here with me?" He chuckled and shook his head,
"He was hanging in the hotel but one of the others will take care of him if he needs anything. And I seem to recall you thought he was pretty hot. I still have nightmares of hearing you two while we were in Mexico." I frown,
"Huh? How did-?" He laughed,
"You don't think you guys were being discreet do you? Everyone knew, especially me considering my room was next door." Her eyes widened,
"I didn't know that." He laughed and she was a little embarrassed,
"How could you? Besides, it worked for me. I wish you would come on tour with us when we do Rio. It was the easiest time I had with Nick in a foreign country, he never left his room. It was like a vacation for me." She covered my face with her hands,
"Ah man, I didn't even realize." He laughed,
"Of course you didn't. So, what's been up with you? How's this new boyfriend you were telling me about?" She smiled at the thought of the new man in her life,
"He's great, it's great. Everything is fine. Got a rasie at work. Told you I moved into a bigger place. Life is going well." They spent the rest of the time with him telling her little tour stories and him trying to convince her to go to the concert.
Chapter 2
Reunited
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