Friend-Zoned (10 page)

I decide to wake up early
the next morning and make glazed donuts. I feed Bear then get my
cook on.
I double the dose so I can take some to The White Rabbit for Nik
(and the guys) as a Thank You for the late lunch he brought us
yesterday.
These donuts are baked not fried so I have no problems eating two
of these babies each time I make them. They are soft, fluffy, and a
classic. You can never go wrong with donuts. I mean, who doesn’t
like a good donut?
I’m still in my bathrobe and just about finished glazing them when
Nat emerges from her bedroom.
I take her in as she stumbles into the kitchen. Her hair is a mess,
she hasn’t opened her eyes, and she looks adorable.
I laugh at the state she’s in. “Hey, you didn’t have to get up for
another half hour.”
She finally opens her eyes, sits at a stool next to the counter,
and confesses, “I swear I don’t know how I got here, I just
followed my nose.” She looks at the counter and groans, “No! Not
the cinnamon glaze!” She whines, “You know I can’t resist the
cinnamon glaze!”
Nat takes one of the cooler donuts in hand and takes a small bite.
She lifts her eyes heavenward and moans, “Oh my God, my mouth just
had a freaking orgasm.”
I chuckle and remind her, “Well, it’s been over a year since you
had my donuts so you were due.”
“No wonder I lost weight when you left,” she says with a smile. “No
one was making me delicious baked goods to maintain my
booty.”
Smiling, I tell her to get ready for work. Forty five minutes
later, we’re ready and good to go.
We take the donuts and head to my car.
After battling with my car to let me in, I unlock the passenger
door and Nat climbs in placing the donuts on the floor.
I put the key in and turn. Of course, nothing happens. Because what
kind of car would actually turn on willingly? My baby has
attitude.
Pumping the gas with one foot, I lift my other foot onto Nat’s lap
and kick the passenger door while turning the ignition. Nat laughs
at me. I scowl at her while continuing my morning car routine. I
yell out over the thumps of my kicking, “I don’t know why this
works but it just does!”
After a few more seconds of beating the crap out of my car, the
engine kicks over and we both whoop in delight.
When I brake at the exit of the parking lot, my temperamental
sweetheart stalls. Nat bursts out laughing. I pull my hands up to
my face pretending to sob. I peek up at her through my hands and we
both burst into hysterical laughter.
“Time to get a new car me thinks,”
she
wheezes
through her laughter. I know she’s right.
Crudsickles.
And then I go
about beating the crap out of my car. Again.
***

Nat and Lola open up at
Safira while I make my way across the street to give the guys my
breakfast delights.
I walk into the ‘chill out’ room and there’s nobody there. I try
Nik’s office but it’s also empty. There are three doors at the
opposite end of the hallway and I’m not sure why, but I hold onto
my container full of donuts and tiptoe down to the other end of the
hall like I’m a spy.
Cue mission
impossible theme.
I walk passed the
first two doors and find that the third door is actually an
elevator. This must be how Ceecee gets up here.
I think out loud, “That is
so
cool!”
“What are you doing?”
I gasp, turn quickly and Ghost and I are nose to chest.
I scream at the top of my lungs for a good five seconds right in
his face. When I’m done I clutch my heaving chest and shriek, “What
is with you guys and scaring the crap out of me?!”
Ghost, still looking down at me and frowns, “Skittish little thing,
aren’t ya?” He lifts his head back at the door behind him. “In
there.”
I follow him into what looks to be a conference room. It has a
long, large table in the middle with six seats on either side.
There is a white board on the wall and a projector hooked up to the
ceiling. Max, Nik, and Trick are sitting at the table looking at me
smiling hard.
I’m immediately embarrassed for screeching like a banshee. I feel
my face flush.
Max speaks up, “I thought I recognized that squeal.”
I bite my lip, scrunch my brows, and look at them through squinted
eyes. I quietly apologize, “I’m sorry. I hope I wasn’t interrupting
anything.”
Ghost sits down and states, “You were.”
Nik throws a pen at Ghost, shoots him a dirty look, and says, “She
was not, bonehead.”
I walk over to Ghost, place the container in front of him, and open
the lid just a little so the smell of sugar and cinnamon waft up to
him. I speak in an overly bored tone, “Oh, that’s okay. I can take
my cinnamon glazed donuts back to the Safira if you don’t want
them.”
His eyes widen before he glares up at me and mutters, “You don’t
fight fair.”
I smile brightly at him and stroke his hair, “Never said I would,
honey.”
Trick is up and by my side in a jiffy and asks, “Wha- wha- what
kind of donuts?”
Laughing, I open the container to show him the twelve cinnamon
glazed donuts. He groans dramatically, hunches over and puts a hand
on his knee as if to steady himself.
He straightens up and begs in a whisper, “I need one of those
donuts.” He sounds like a junkie.
I hold out the container to him and he takes two straight
away.
Greedy
guts.
I know Ghost is dying for one;
he keeps swallowing because he’s salivating. I walk over to the end
of the table where there are clean plates, pick them up and place
one in front of each of the guys. I put two donuts on each plate,
apart from Trick’s. Then comes my favorite part; watching them
enjoy.
They each take a bite and the room erupts in moans and
groans.
I start giggling at their over enthusiasm.
Trick speaks around his donut, “They’re like little clouds of
cinnamon goodness.”
Ghost moans in agreement.
Max looks up at me and says, “These are so freakin’ good. Why the
heck didn’t you open a bakery?”
Nik finishes his first donut. He has glaze all over his lips and
doesn’t even know.
He looks adorable and adds, “Yeah, Tina, you’ve got a real talent
for baking. I know we’ve only tried the cupcakes and donuts but
I’ve never tried anything so good in my life.” Nik looks at Max and
threatens, “If you tell Mom I said that I’ll kick your ass.”
I’m a little uncomfortable with all the praise so I explain, “I
love working at Safira. It’s my whole life. Every girl’s dream is
to work at a clothing store. Don’t get me wrong, there was a time
in my life when I was actually considering opening a bakery. But
this,” I point to the donuts, “is all me. And when I bake for
someone, I give them a little part of myself. It’s like giving
someone a part of my heart every time.” I look up thoughtfully and
shrug, “I don’t know if I like the idea of people buying pieces of
me. They’re mine to give away when I feel like it. And that makes
them special.”
All the guys have stopped eating and stare at me.
“That actually makes sense,” Nik says, his face soft.
I’m embarrassed and decide to cut my visit short.
I clear my throat and utter, “I need to get back so I’ll see you
guys later.” I turn and leave without waiting for their
goodbyes.
Halfway down the hall I’m stopped by a hand on my shoulder. I turn
and face Nik.
“Tina, I actually wanted to see you for a minute.” His face is
serious and I’m a little worried by it.
He looks so handsome today. He’s rocking day old stubble on his
cheeks and I want to put my fingers to it.
Must you be so beautiful, Nik?
I nod, “Uh, sure.”
Am I in
trouble?
“Am I in trouble?” I
ask.
I must sound apprehensive because he puts an arm around my
shoulders and chuckles, “No, sweetheart.”
Still caught up in a Nik hold, he leads me down the hall to his
office. I’m even more nervous when he shuts the door behind
us.
He pulls out a chair for me, ever the gentleman, then sits himself
behind the large mahogany desk.
Looking a little anxious, he starts ,“So we’ve known each other a
few weeks now, right?”
Where is this
going?
I nod, “Uh, yeah.”
He comments, “This is never easy to tell
someone.”
Grab your shit and run like
hell!
Quiet, brain.
I quiet my voice and ask, “What is it Nik?”
He blurts out, “I had you investigated.”
Uh, what?
“Uh, sorry. What?”
I’m so confused.
He looks ashamed and explains. “When we met, and under the
circumstances we met, I was really unsure of you. There have been a
lot of women who have tried to get close to me for my money and I
really needed to know if there was a possibility that you might be
one of those people.”
I don’t have anything to hide from Nik. I actually feel sorry that
he’s had those past experiences and that they’ve made him unsure of
people’s intentions towards him. I’m sad for him.
In saying that, I’m really distressed about the fact that he might
know about Mia. When people find out about her, they start treating
me differently and looking at me with pity. That’s normally the
time I start avoiding them and I really don’t want to avoid Nik.
I
like
Nik. I
just would have hoped to be able to tell him about Mia in my own
time.
I try to steady my thick voice, “Oh, Nik. I can understand that.
And I don’t have anything to hide from you.” I force a laugh. “I’m
not after your friendship for money.”
Looking shocked, he jolts slightly in his seat and agrees, “Oh, I
know. I just didn’t want any secrets between us. And I wanted you
to see the file yourself.”
Sliding the file over to me, he smiles a small smile, “Knock
yourself out”
I throw him a wary look before opening the
file.
Oh My
God!
There are at least ten pages.
I’m shocked at how much the person put to this task was able to
recover. There is my birth certificate, my address and phone
numbers, most of my bank account statements (
yikes
), the deed to Safira’s
building (
well that cat’s out of the
bag
), business name certificate which
shows my name registered as Safira Boutique’s owner, and a couple
of pages of personal interests/schedules.
Holy Cannoli!
This guy was
actually
watching
me. That’s kind of creepy.
There is nothing about Mia. Nothing about Jace Weathers. Or my Mom.
He doesn’t know about Mom’s inheritance money. I relax
slightly.
Nik is waiting nervously for me to say something.
I hold up the file and ask, “Can I keep this?”
He smiles again, “Of course.”
I smile back, “Thanks, Nik.”
Frowning down at the table, he softly says, “I hope I haven’t
overstepped a line here. I would hate for things to become awkward
between us.” He clears his throat. “I like having you
around.”
I beam on the inside and assure, “No, not at all. It probably
would’ve been weird if I found out some other way but you came
right out and told me. And I understand why you did it.” I chuckle,
“After all, who sends a guy candy?” I cover my face with my hands
and laugh out of embarrassment.
His shoulders slump and the look of relief is obvious on his
face.
He laughs at my reaction. “I have to admit, I thought it was a
little weird but now that I know you I think it was really
sweet.”
I lower my hands, turn my flushed face to his and smile, “So, we’re
still friends right?”
He grins, “Oh, yeah.”
Awesome.

Chapter Eight
The object of my
affections

“
He did what?” Lola looks
like she’s about the spew fire.
I answer, “He had me investigated.” I go about my business and try
to ignore the stares from Lola and Nat.
“But, why?” This from Nat. She’s quiet and sounds confused.
Lola chides, “Oh, hell no, this conversation doesn’t go any further
until we have Mimi add her wisdom to it.” She walks up to the
counter, puts the phone on speaker, and dials what I assume is
Mimi’s number.
The phone starts ringing and then we hear Mimi give us her usual
greeting, “Yo.”
Lola clears her throat and begins, “Meems, we’re all here and need
you to be a part of this conversation. The topic up for discussion
is why Nik had Tina investigated.”
Mimi actually sounds amused through the speaker, “Well, hot damn,
that’s awesome!”
The three of us at the store all say, “What?” a little too
loudly.
Mimi sounds exasperated, “C’mon guys, don’t you know what this
means?”
The silence is enough to let Mimi know we have no freakin’
idea.
She sighs and enlightens, “It’s because he wants to keep her
around! And I’m guessing since you guys know, that he told Tina
about it which means he trusts her. Excuse me for being happy about
this because, yes, it’s a breach of privacy but Tina doesn’t have
anything to hide. So, teeny Tina, you’re in!”
I whisper, “I’m in?”
I look around to Lola and Nat whose expressions have changed so
abruptly from scowls to small smiles.
Mimi laughs over the speaker, “You’re in, babe. Listen, I have to
go. See ya later.” She hangs up.
Nat nudges my shoulder and admits, “I guess I was a little too
shocked to see what Meems just pointed out.” She looks me in the
eye with a meaningful look, “How much does he know?”
I know what she’s asking. Nat is the only one who knows I own
Safira apart from my dad.
Rawr
Raaawr
A customer walks in and Lola
straightens up, “I’ll take it.” She walks over to them with a big
smile.
Nat and I are alone so it’s safe to tell her ,“He knows I own
Safira. He doesn’t know about Mia, Mom, or Jace. He doesn’t know
about Mom’s inheritance money, either.”
Nat looks thoughtful and clarifies, “So he thinks you have very
little money and still wants to keep you around even though he was
worried you were after him for money. That’s awesome.”
I’m glad the girls are letting this go. It wasn’t even that big of
a deal to me. I get people having trust issues. It’s why I’ve only
had one relationship in my twenty eight years. I want Nik to trust
me. I understand that’ll take time and I’ll have to be patient.
That’s all right with me. He’s the kind of guy who’s worth it. I
want him around. So, I’ll be patient.
It’s only been a few weeks and he’s already changed so much towards
me. I know he was weirded out by my need to be affectionate and
touchy. When he brought Nat and I lunch and I hugged him, he
actually hugged me back. It wasn’t just a hug, he stroked my hair.
And it felt
nice
.
So nice that I want to hug him every time I see him and feel his
big, muscular arms around me, keeping me
safe.
Keeping you
safe?
I guess I feel protected by
him, which is strange, but it’s also nice. I just came from his
office and I want to see him again. Like,
now.
You’re getting too
attached.
No, I’m not. I just like my
new friend.
***