Chapter 4.
Unsurprisingly, Nate and Rae were the first ones to wake up in the morning. The fact they were the only ones hangover-free probably had something to with it.
Rae had just made coffee when Nate entered the kitchen wearing tracksuit bottoms and white t-shirt. The white fabric tightened around his biceps and throbbing sensation passed through her stomach. In her mind, she blurted “Damn,” but decided to go for “Good morning” instead.
“Morning,” Nate smiled back at her, sat at the kitchen counter opposing her, grabbed two cups and nudged them towards her. She poured in the black liquid. They sat in silence for a few minutes; each of them engaged in their own thoughts.
“So how did you sleep?” Rae broke the silence.
“Honestly, not so good. I have a lot on my mind.” Nate remarked tiredly.
Rae wondered if it had something to do with her. However, judging by the look on his face, whatever was on his mind, it didn’t seem to be a pleasant thought.
Nate read her face and quickly added, “Work, meetings... You know.” The truth was she was on his mind as well. Work was something he could deal with, but Rae was something new.
“Oh", a sigh of relief escaped her.
“How are your toes?” Nate asked half-seriously.
“Well, I’m happy to inform you that their original color is coming back.”
“Great, cause I hear indigo blue is not the color of the year,” he jokingly added.
“Indigo blue? Nathaniel Summers, did you read Vogue during your insomnia period last night?” Rae faked a state of shock.
Pretending to be greatly offended, he tossed a napkin at her. Rae was about to toss it back when Dorothy, George, Alice and Brad walked in.
“Honey, did you hear the forecast for tonight? Snowstorm, they say.” Alice breathlessly said while looking at her phone. Brad put his arms around his wife looking at the forecast at her phone. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they cancel all the buses for tonight.”
“But I have to be at the university tomorrow. I have to turn my paper in.” Rae jumped from her chair,
“Why don’t you go back with Nate? I know you wanted to stay a little longer but I trust him more than some bus driver. Especially in the middle of the snowstorm. Your safety comes first,” Brad suggested.
Rae wasn’t worried about her safety as much as she worried she’d miss her deadline for turning in the paper. It was a last step before getting her degree.
With an inquiring look, she turned to Nate.
“That’s fine by me,” he reassuringly said not even waiting for her to ask. “But we should leave soon. I don’t know how long it will take us to get there and I have a meeting in the afternoon.”
“I'll get ready.” Rae agreed and left the kitchen to pack. This wasn’t part of her plan, but she had no time to contemplate. Turning in her paper was too important and leaving with Nate was the best option. And the most tormenting option.
“Ok, be still,” Rae told her heart. Lately, that heart of hers had some crazy ideas.
*
Thirty minutes later, as Rae said goodbye to her family, she got into Nate’s Range Rover. He had his one leg inside the car as her dad was just finishing another “drive carefully” lesson. She grabbed Nate’s arm and pulled him inside the car.
“Ok dad, I think he got it the first time,” she leaned towards her dad and shouted, so he could hear her from the noise of the car engine. Brad shrugged his shoulders, then smiled and shouted, “Love you honey. Call us when you get there.”
“Ready?” Nate finally closed the car door and winked at Rae.
“Beam us up, Scotty,” she boldly said quoting one of her favorite Star Trek lines.
“Really, you’re a trekkie, too? Not long ago you quoted Lord of the Rings.” Nate looked surprised.
“It’s called being versatile.” Rae smiled confidently.
“Well, thanks for informing me.” Nate smiled back and they drove away.
After barely twenty min, heavy snow started. They didn’t talk much because Nate was focused on driving. At one point, their car almost drifted off-road and Rae instinctively grabbed Nate’s leg. Realizing it wasn’t very wise of her to disrupt him; she covered her mouth in a gesture of self-reproach and started apologizing.
“Oh God, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s ok.” Nate pulled over and didn’t seem to be angry. He tried to assess the road looking through the car window.
“It doesn’t look good. But don’t worry. I’ll bring you home safe, I promise.” He placed his hand on top of hers and let their fingers intertwine. Both of them stayed silent and just let their hands say everything on their mind and heart. Because their mouths had no courage.
“Now, are you ready for another round of snow vs. us?” Nate tried cheering Rae up.
“Bring it on.” She bravely nodded.
*
Instead of three hours, it took them five hours to get to his building. Nate had a meeting in twenty minutes, and he was nervous while trying to come up with some solution. Rae’s place was another fifteen minutes in an opposite direction from his office. Mr. Sasaki was coming to go through some details about upcoming merger. Not even a tsunami could stop that businessman from coming, so Nate knew a no-show on his side would cause a bad outcome.
“Why don’t you wait for me in my apartment? I’ll take you home when I come back,” he suggested.
“Yeah, if it’s not a problem for you...” Rae knew he was on a tight schedule, so she had no choice.
“God, no. Just take a shower, eat something, feel yourself at home. I won’t be long.” He gave Rae his keys and she prepared herself to face the surge of cold air while exiting the car.
“Drive carefully. It’s getting worse,” she warned him. The streets were empty and covered in snow, and she thought it must have been a hell of an important meeting for him.
“I drove all the way here, what’s another few minutes?” Nate smiled tiredly. He waited for her to enter his building and then eased away from the curb and slowly down the road.