“Sorry we’re late,” Bruce says as we approach the table. “Had to pick up this slacker.”
Nicola and her mother look up and the words that she had been saying die on her lips. She looks shocked. I give her a warm smile, one that I hope is reassuring.
“Tristan!” Bruce’s wife Valerie jumps up from the table and envelops me in a hug. “My god, we missed you.” She hits me in the arm hard enough that it might leave a bruise. “I’m glad you got your head far enough out of your ass to come back here.”
“That’s quite the welcome, Val.”
She makes a face as she sits back down beside her daughter. “You deserve it.”
“Did you order yet?” Bruce asks.
Nicola speaks up, though her eyes are still on me. “No, we were waiting for you.”
“Well, we’re here now,” he says. “Tristan, what do you want?”
Normally I’m a meat guy. I like a good meat-lover’s pizza. And Nicola does too. But there’s one thing that she can’t stand, and one thing I guarantee will get her to talk to me, even if she’s yelling. “I thought I might go for some Hawaiian.”
Nicola’s jaw drops. “You did not just say that.”
“What?” I act innocent.
“You know what.”
The waitress has set down a glass of water in front of me and I just take a sip, locking my eyes with hers. I can play innocent all day. “No.”
She narrows her eyes. “Pineapple does not belong on pizza.”
“Hmm,” I say. “I think pretty much anything you want can belong on pizza.”
Bruce and Valerie laugh, but Nicola doesn’t. “Bullshit. You used to agree with me too. I distinctly remember us having multiple conversations about the travesty that is pineapple on pizza.”
I shrug. “It’s been a few years. People change.”
“Not that much.” Her eyes are fire and I like the spark. That’s the response I was looking for.
“Fine,” I say, raising my hands in surrender. “Maybe I just wanted to see if the hatred of pineapple stood.”
“It does,” Valerie says. “At least for Nicola. But I’m dying to know more about what brought you back to Leighton City, and what the hell you were doing while you were gone.”
This is a minefield, but it’s one of my own creation. I have to be careful. But if I play my cards right, I might be able to send a message to Nicola as well. “The crux of it is that there were some things I realized about myself, and I wasn’t ready to face those things. So the idea of being here, and bringing all the people I love into the crazy with me, was unbearable.” I look at Nicola. “But I’m ready now. It was stupid to run in the first place.”
Her breath catches, and it’s so subtle that I doubt either of her parents notice, but I’m watching for it. Valerie looks a little confused. “Well…okay. You know you have us if you ever need anything or want to talk about it.” She laughs, and looks at Bruce. “I need someone to start getting Bruce out of the house again, so if you two want to have a girl’s night and go out and talk about your feelings, feel free.”
Bruce and I chuckle. “Thanks,” I say. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Nicola is still looking at me, and just like yesterday, I can’t interpret her expression. But it feels like she’s searching for something. I hope I can give her what she’s looking for. We order our pizza, and true to form, I order meat lover’s, though the temptation to order the Hawaiian is still there. But I want to order something that I’ll actually eat.
The tension that appeared when Valerie asked why I’m back disappears for the most part, but I can’t help feeling a little awkward still. It’s bound to happen, when you haven’t interacted with people regularly for years. Your dynamic is going to change, and we haven’t quite found our stride yet. But overall, the conversation is good, and as we casually talk about life and the work plans that Bruce has, Nicola relaxes. She fucking lights up when she talks about all the ideas that she has for regional flavors and the incentives that go along with them, and I fire right back about marketing ideas and pitches for slogans that are off the top of my head. I’m glad that Bruce looks approving but really, I’m just happy that I’m able to make Nicola laugh.
It’s the best sound in the world. Apart from, maybe, hearing her moan.
The pizza is just as delicious as I remember, and I eat way too much of it. But I can’t bring myself to regret it at all. This is great. Especially when she’s smiling at me from across the table.
“Well,” Bruce says, stretching, “I have to get back to the office.”
“And I have a meeting,” Valerie says. “You want to be dropped off at the office, Nicola?”
“I can take her back,” I say. “I’m going anyway.”
Valerie smiles at me. “That would be perfect, Tristan, thank you.”
I catch Nicola’s face as her mother says that, and am rewarded with seeing her mouth fall open in shock. She was definitely going to protest, but I didn’t even give her a chance. I suppose I should feel bad, but I don’t. There’s not a chance in hell that I’m playing fair. Not when it comes to this.
“We’ll see you both later,” Bruce says, clapping me on the shoulder. He’s already taken the bill with him, so I don’t even have to worry about that. All I need to focus on is Nicola, now that we’re finally alone.
“Well,” Nicola says. “Are you going to sweep me into the bathroom here too?”
Fuck. I would in a second. “Would you like me to?”
Her cheeks stain pink with her blush, and it tells me her real answer. But she doesn’t reply, just changes the subject. “I like your ideas. It’s a good thing that Dad brought you on now. We have a lot to do for summer.”
“I agree. We’ll definitely be working a lot together.”
She rolls her eyes. “Which was your goal, clearly.”
Leaning my elbows on the table, I wait until she looks at me. “I didn’t ask Bruce for a job to get closer to you. In fact, I didn’t ask him for a job at all. If I had, it would have been something small, like on the production line just to get me started while I settled back in town. I never imagined that he would offer me Marketing Director.”
Nicola takes a bite of her pizza and looks away. “Well you’re certainly a good fit. But thank you for telling me that. I really believe in the company, and I didn’t want—”
“Me to ignore everything about my job while trying to be with you?” I finish for her.
“Yeah.”
I smile at her. “Don’t worry, I fully plan on doing both.” She looks away again, and I have to ask. “Have you changed your mind? If you have, I won’t hold it against you.”
“Do you think launching a sorbet would be good in the South? That might be nice and refreshing for the summer months. I could do something with lemon.”
“Nicola.”
She looks at me. “What?”
“You didn’t answer the question.”
“And you didn’t answer the one Mom asked you earlier about why you left and why you came back.”