Fun In The Sun by repgreece (read people like a book TXT) 📕

optimistic," she chuckled, "They were kind of for if I got lucky one night... you know, for the guy, for afterwards."

"Wow, that is organized Sal," Fay said.

"Now I want to marry you," Nick laughed.

Fay turned to him, contemplating his face. He was watching Sal, who was laughing but focused on Adam for some reason.

"It almost seems a shame that they aren't being used for the right purpose," Nick added. "Can I have one Sal?"

Fay's eyes widened and she checked Sal's response again, but she hadn't seemed to have noticed Nick's subtle innuendo and simply handed him a cigar from the packet.

"Shall we retire to the balcony Nicholas?" Adam asked in an overly upper-class accent.

"Indupertably my dear fellow," Nick replied, rising out of his seat. "And by the way, I only let Sal call me Nicholas," he said, turning to wink at her.

Sal however, was clearing some of the dishes from off the coffee table and appeared to have completely missed the fact that Nick was trying his hardest to charm her. Now Fay was confused. She had originally thought that it was Sal who was yearning for Nick, but maybe she'd got that wrong. Sal seemed indifferent to him. But now it appeared to be the other way around; Fay was wondering if it was Nick who was attracted to Sal. God, she was useless at this; what she really needed was Ruth's insight. Ruth had a sixth sense for matters of the heart.

"Hmm, nice," Adam said, exhaling a long stream of smoke and glancing down at the cigar in his hand. "I've got to say, Sal will make some lucky guy one hell of a girlfriend..."

Nick simply nodded and leant over the balcony railing to look out over the sea as he rose the cigar to his mouth. He felt... edgy on hearing that comment, as if that could happen at any point soon, and time wasn't on his side.

"... or wife," Adam added.

Now Nick felt twice as edgy.

"Let's hope I can get Fay to the altar first though," Adam went on.

Nick turned to him with surprise. "Have you asked her?"

"Well, the problem is that she's still officially already married. I think she has a feeling that I intend to ask her though because she's practically put me off asking until the divorce comes through. I guess she just wants everything to be right, which I can understand, but after that, I'm asking her. The sooner I get a ring on her finger, the harder it will be for her to get cold feet on me."

"Ah I don't think she'll do that mate; you two are solid," Nick replied.

"Yeah, maybe it's just me; I can't stand the thought of us not being together," Adam said.

"You'll be grand," Nick assured him.

"So, what about you?" Adam asked, taking another puff from his cigar. "Think there's a chance for you and this mystery woman? Marriage and all that," he clarified.

Nick began to choke suddenly and puffed out a huge cloud of smoke which hid Adam from view for a few seconds.

"Don't do that to me mate," Nick said, waving a hand in the air to dissipate the cloud. "At least not unless you give me a warning first."

Adam laughed. "You're not afraid of marriage, are you?"

Nick thought about that for a moment. "Err, no, not really...it's just that, I suppose I've never really considered it before."

"Well consider it," Adam pushed. "And it's a test to see how much you really do like this woman. What would you do if she asked you to marry her? Would you want to?"

The reality of that statement suddenly hit him, and the fact that they were, albeit unbeknownst to Adam, taking about Sal. And then a sudden revelation came to him; the way his heart was racing with excitement at that moment, a niggling little 'yes' was playing in his mind. He imagined for a split second, Sal asking him...right there and then...that night...and he knew deep down that he wouldn't be able to resist. It was crazy, but hell...he'd say yes! He would… just because he always wanted to be with her, and she was so exciting; he couldn't fight that. The thought was too much for him. He had to calm down.

"I don't know mate; and anyway, it ain't going to happen, so there's no point in thinking about it," he concluded. "I'm gonna save this for another time," he said, stubbing the remaining half of his cigar out in the ashtray. "Cigars are good for the first few puffs, but then I've usually had enough."

"Alright, no problem mate," Adam replied, watching Nick do an about turn and open the balcony sliding door. "Oh Nick," Adam called out, halting him, "I was going to ask you if you wanted to come back to work with us. I assumed that you would. I could do with your experience and expertise."

"Yeah, for sure. I think Sal assumed you'd need me; she's already signed me up," he laughed.

"She's not bad; she can read my thoughts before I've even thought them," he replied.

"You want help tomorrow night?" Nick asked.

"You mean tonight." Adam glanced at his watch. "You know what, why don't you start on Tuesday? We will be busier then."

"Oh, sure. Tuesday then," Nick answered, moving through the door.

"I'd like you to do some trips too," Adam went on, "but let me get back to you on that, okay?"

"Sure. I'll leave you to finish that," Nick said, indicating to Adam's cigar, before closing the glass balcony door behind him.

Hmm, maybe Adam had been a bit too pushy about all the marriage talk. Still, if Nick was in love with a woman, what was wrong with thinking about marriage?

Adam savoured the cigar, taking in the distant view of sparkling lights on the horizon.

God he hoped that Fay wouldn't turn him down when he asked her to marry him. He didn't think she would, but with Fay, he just never knew. She was very touchy on the subject of marriage and tended to avoid it, but then, considering her experience so far in that area, he didn't entirely blame her. He would make her see though, how good it can be.

Glancing behind him, through the glass balcony doors, he could see that they were tidying things away. Fay would want to leave soon. Well, they did have a heavy evening shift to get through later. Right, time to go.

Adam stubbed out his cigar and reentered the lounge.

"Shall we leave Sal to get some sleep now?" Adam said to Fay, who was already picking up her handbag to go.

"Yes, it is getting rather late...or should I say, early," Fay replied, noticing that the sky was already showing signs of lightening up. The sun would be out in just a few hours time. At least now Sal would be tired though and not have time alone to sit and feel depressed. And she knew she could phone them if she needed to... and Nick. That was nice of him to insist on being there for Sal.

Now ready to go, Adam and Fay turned to Nick, who had by that time turned on the television and was sitting comfortably on the sofa watching it.

"Do you want a lift back to the hotel?" Adam asked him.

Nick had preempted this, but the thought of going back alone to that hotel room, with all the memories of what had happened earlier on that night, was not something he was looking forward to.

"Nah, I feel like stretching my legs, so I'll walk back. Thanks anyway," he answered.

"Are you sure?" Adam asked with surprise.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'll see you two later."

"Okay, if you're sure," Adam said.

Hmm, that was odd that Nick didn't want a lift home with them. Now Fay was really wondering what was going on between the two of them. Still, if there was something going on, Fay would be pleased for Sal; Nick was a nice guy. However, she didn't like the fact that Nick was supposedly still with Jen. Then again, maybe she was imagining the whole thing. She'd talk to Ruth.

Adam and Fay kissed Sal goodbye and left with orders for her to telephone if she ever needed anything, or just felt down in the dumps.

Nick stayed seated on the sofa, reluctant to move, whilst Sal saw Adam and Fay to the door. He had settled on watching the late night film: some murder mystery with no one famous that he knew of in it. It gave him an excuse to stay a bit longer though. He could hear the front door close, and then Sal's footsteps around the apartment for a while before she reentered the lounge. He didn't turn to look at her though, choosing to stay focused on the film in hope that she'd maybe let him stay a while longer. As it turned out however, she proceeded to open the balcony door, prompting Nick to flick his eyes in her direction to see what she was doing. He watched as she hung out some clothes to dry on her washing line. He recognized those clothes; they were her airport uniform.

"So, Adam said you can start on Tuesday at the airport," Sal commented, closing the balcony door behind her and hovering by the coffee table, wondering what to do next.

"Yeah, I guess you'll not be busy enough tonight. So, you got your uniform this year then," he observed, turning his attention back to the clothes that she'd hung up outside.

She glanced back at them. "Yes. I think it was a good idea to have uniforms; it makes the reps look more official."

Nick laughed. "Yeah, but that wasn't the reason you wanted a uniform last year, if I remember correctly."

"It wasn't?"

Damn it! Why did she never remember that first time they had met? He wished she would.

He shook his head. "Oh no, you wanted to drive all the men at the airport wild, remember?"

"Well, it's just a uniform Nick. I think I was being a bit overly optimistic on that score," she replied.

"I wouldn't say that," he grinned. "you look pretty hot in it."

Okay, now Nick had always made throw away comments like that before to tease her, so why now did that particular comment make her heart suddenly beat so nervously?

Nick was sure that Sal's face had turned a deeper colour pink just then, before she had turned again to glance out to the balcony. "Well, it's okay I guess, but I don't really like the neck tie much," she replied, irrelevantly, still avoiding eye contact.

"Maybe I just have a weakness for women in uniforms," he laughed.

"Hmm," she responded, unsure of what else to say on that subject. She fiddled nervously with her earlobe. "Well, guess I should get some sleep before work."

Damn, now she wanted him to leave. He only had one option; the direct approach.

"Come sit here for a while?" he said, holding out an arm. "This film is nearly finished," he lied...or at least, he didn't have a clue how much was left of it.

She moved hesitantly towards him, wondering where he expected her to sit. She plumped for leaving a cushion between them and sitting stiffly in her seat.

"Okay, what's up?" he frowned, watching her.

"What do you mean?" she replied.

"Do I smell or something? Come here," he gestured again with his arm. "I need a cuddle."

She leant back to observe him. "Why," she asked suspiciously.

There was a short pause. "'Cause I'm scared of monsters, and you're the only one who can save me," he joked.

She chuckled.

"Because you give the best cuddles," he amended. "And because both of us have had a...an...well, you know... an emotional night since we got back here."

She sighed, wriggling across the sofa towards him. "Some nights are just like that; don't know why. Everything just feels all... out of sorts."

He moved his arm over her head as she got closer, and around her shoulder, pulling her to his side. She curled up next to him, yawning and resting her head on his