Crushes and Jealousies

The events of the day ignited a feeling of sorrow in Erica. After she left the Arbor Court apartments, she joined Austin and James at the farmhouse. They talked for a while but Erica was on edge the whole time. She was having a hard time trying to keep a secret that Vanessa had confessed to her. She had to watch her every single word and stay alert of unknowingly uttering something that she shouldn't.

She was still mad at Nicholas and likewise at Austin if not more. Nicholas decided that he wanted to stay at the farmhouse, away from work and his home, for a few more days to help him freshen up. He had rejected Erica's offer to join him, much to her dismay, and instructed her to focus on work.

Nicholas thought about the whole situation and decided that it was futile to go after Vanessa, who was not the same anymore. He promised himself and Erica that he will no longer whine about the past and be more optimistic about the future. The next time he walks out of this farmhouse, he will be full of the joys of spring.

After dinner, Erica got ready to leave after requesting Nicholas not to repeat any of this but her request sounded more like a threat, challenging him to try to do something like this again. Time seemed to fly as they were drowned in conversation, occasionally Nicholas drifted off but Erica and Austin were quick to catch him and pull him back from the endless ocean of his memories.

"Erica, wait up!" Austin shouted behind her as she was walking toward a car parked in the driveway.

She stopped in her tracks and turned around to see Austin dashing towards her, just the way a man would run if he was being chased by a group of wild dogs.

"Slow down, will you? What's the hurry?" she questioned when he reached near and came to a halt.

"I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry. I hope you're not still mad at me?" he said while taking shallow breaths and trying to calm his nerves down.

"I already told you that you're good to go."

"Yeah. But I just wanted to make sure before you left," he said while awkwardly running his hand through his jet-black hair.

"So, when are you leaving?" Erica asked in an attempt to fill in the silence.

"I was about to leave too."

"Well, I will see you around, I guess," she reached to open the door handle when Austin stopped her.

"Hey, listen. Your house is near mine so maybe I can drop you off. The driver has left already and I know you don't like driving."

Erica thought about it for a few seconds but agreed reluctantly. Austin led the way to his car and they both got in. Austin kept talking the whole commute, while Erica secretly slipped in her earphones and occasionally nodded and smiled at him.

When they reached their destination, a dwelling nestled on a dead-end street with greenbelt views. Erica stepped out of the car and thanked Austin for the ride. He lingered around for a few moments, hoping to get invited in for a cup of coffee or something but left after Erica showed no signs of interest. She walked through the front porch and opened the door with her key. She went inside and threw herself on the couch, finally relaxing after a long day.

She got up some time later and went into her walk-in closet to change her professional clothes and get into something more comfortable. She chose a pair of gray shorts and an oversized white t-shirt. After she was content with her outfit, she went back into the living room, grabbed her phone from the coffee table, and scrolled through the notifications.

What surprised her was that she had over ten missed calls and fifteen texts from Mark. She quickly dialed his number, oblivious to the fact that it was already past midnight. The phone rang for a few minutes until he finally woke up to answer it.

"Hey there," he said drowsily while struggling to open his heavy eyelids.

"Hi, it's me."

"Erica? What happened? Is everything alright?" he shot straight up upon hearing her voice, all the negative thoughts flashing in his brain. He rubbed the sleep away from his eyes, which were now wide open.

"Yes, everything's fine. I just checked my phone and saw that you tried to call me. I thought maybe I should check on you," realization about time hit her like a truck, causing her voice to drop low and her eyes to flinch. "I didn't check the time. Sorry. You were sleeping and I woke you up. I'm very sorry, Mark."

"It's alright. Don't worry about it. So tell me, where the hell did you disappear the whole day and where was your phone?" his voice seemed curious with a hint of care. Erica told him the events of the day.

"What do you think we should do, Mark?" she asked.

"Well, for starters, I think we need to talk about it with that moron who let Nicholas escape from Mrs. Beth's cage," he said with a chuckle.

"Yes, I suspect he might help him again so that's a nice start."

"What was his name again?"

"Austin. He is such a dunderhead. I mean there was literally a fight going on at Vanessa's building and he didn't even follow Nicholas inside. He was busy picking up some Russian femme fatale while Vanessa threatened us to call the cops."

"Shoot him a text and tell him to be at the office at eleven. I will see you both there."

"Sounds like a plan. And thanks again for talking to me this late and not cursing for waking you up," Erica was in a fit of giggles when she finished her sentence. Mark had a reputation of being livid when woken up from his slumber but Erica didn't realize that she was an exception to this mood of Mark's.

"Yeah, very funny," he replied sarcastically while attempting to stop his lips from spreading into a wide grin that flashed his pearly whites.

"Good night, Mark."

"Good night, Erica. Sleep well and don't think about this too much. I am sure everything will be fine."

"Thank you, Mark. I'm feeling a lot relieved."

"Bye, Erica. And if you feel like talking at any time, call me. But I can't guarantee that I will pick up the call," he teased her playfully and heard a titter on the other side of the end, making him chuckle.

"Bye, Mark. See you."

"See you."

After they ended the call, Mark dozed off right away while Erica had a difficult time falling asleep and kept tossing and turning in her bed. Giving up on trying to fall asleep, she went into the kitchen and fixed herself a quick snack. She got back in bed and started watching her favorite tv series on her laptop. She fell asleep just before the crack of dawn.

~~~~~

Erica arrived at the office later than usual. Her usual sublime personality and energy radiated through her and into the whole conference room as she presented new ideas to old clients. Mark was busy with some work in his cabin and had told his secretary not to let anyone in unless it was Erica or Nicholas.

Austin arrived a little early than the predetermined time and was led into the viewing area for conference room 3 as the waiting rooms were occupied and the lobby was crowded. He noticed that Erica was deeply involved in the presentation and hadn't noticed him, oblivious to the fact that it was a one-way mirror. He took a seat and was drowned in Erica's fluid hand motions in front of the huge led screen which covered half of the wall.

He was mesmerized by her beauty and the way she looks so elegant and appealing without even trying. The way she moves the delicate strand of her hair out of her face and locks them behind her ears, the way she paces back and forth while talking, the way she unknowingly rolls the pointer stick in her hands when immersed in the presentation. All these things added fuel to the fire of desire which was burning in his heart since the day he met Erica a few months back.

Erica wrapped up the meeting in half an hour and went to meet Mark. Mark too had finished his work and was waiting for her and Austin. Austin was right behind Erica once he saw her leave the meeting. Mark's face lit up on seeing Erica as they entered his cabin. Mark stood up to shake her hand followed by Austin's as Erica introduced the two men.

"What got you late today?" Mark asked Erica as she went towards the four-seater sectional sofa in the right corner of Mark's cabin. Mark and Austin followed her.

"I couldn't sleep last night. After we talked, I spent the night thinking about Nicholas and the stuff," she said as she went to sit on the far left side of the sofa. Mark sat next to her while Austin left a seat between him and Mark and sat on the far right seat. Austin felt a tinge of jealousy and anger on seeing how close Mark was sitting to Erica but decided to suppress it for the time being taking into account the fragility of the moment.

"This was your fault, Austin," Erica said while shaking her head slightly.

"How is this my fault? You talked to Mark and couldn't sleep after that. How am I involved here?" Austin couldn't ignore the annoyance he felt while the girl he liked was sitting next to another man and he couldn't do anything but sit and watch.

"I'm talking about the whole Nicholas-Vanessa altercation. If you hadn't driven him to her place, none of this would have happened," Erica was on the verge of losing control of her calmness and Mark seemed to have sensed this.

"He could have found some other way, Erica. What's done is done. We should focus on what's to come next," Mark said in an attempt to stop the quarrel before it started.

"You're right," Erica lazily said as she rested her head on Mark's shoulder. "But why is she running away from my brother? I mean you know, right, how close they were," Erica closed her eyes to feel some much-needed comfort. Mark wrapped an arm around her shoulder to make her feel safe from the problems for a short while.

"Wait, how does he know about Vanessa and Nicholas?" Austin was genuinely confused by this connection. He noticed the change of position in Mark's arm and sounded ruder than he intended to.

"I studied at the same school as Nicholas and Vanessa, and her disappearance was a topic of discussion for a lot of months if not years," Mark said instead of Erica as he rubbed soothing circles on her upper arm with his thumb. "How do you know Nicholas?"

"I was his roommate in college but he never said anything about Vanessa. We lived together for like half a decade," confusion was visible in Austin's voice.

"He avoids talking about her as much as possible. But I guess that's not gonna happen anymore," Erica said in a soft and defeated voice, with her eyes still closed.

"So, what now?" Austin asked timidly. He couldn't look at Erica and Mark without getting angry so he decided not to look at them at all. He leaned back on the couch, resting his head on the back and staring at the ceiling above him with his legs slightly stretched in front of him and his arms folded over his chest.