Mending the Soul (6 page)

"Oh, I've just been busy, you know, work and Colby…How's everything with you?"  Jenna asked.

"I've been good.  How's that neighbor of yours, and when are you going to set me up with him?"  Vanessa asked.  She had asked the same thing every time Jenna talked to her since she met him at Colby's birthday party.  Jenna had been pretty good about being able to brush her off each time, but lately she was getting persistent.

"Nessa, I don't think he is ready for any of that stuff.  He's still trying to get over Leslie."

"Well, it's not like I'm looking for a relationship from him, just a night of wild sex.  Everyone needs that now and then."  Vanessa told her.

"Not everyone."  Jenna laughed.  "I think you'd probably give him a heart attack or scare him away or something."

"Well, anytime he wants to take me up on the offer, I'm available for him."  She told Jenna.

"I'll let him know, but I have to go now."  Jenna said.  They said their goodbyes and Jenna hung up her phone and returned it back to her purse.

She wasn't sure why she had never told Nicholas about Vanessa's offers, but she hadn't.  If she was being honest with herself, she would have admitted that it was because she didn't think she could stand seeing him with another woman, other than herself.  But, she also didn't think she could see him with herself either, so it was a hopeless case.  She didn't want to have Vanessa be the first person that Nicholas had sex with since Leslie's death, she wanted to be the first.  She wanted to be the woman who made him smile, who made him laugh, and who drove him over the edge on the brink of his orgasm.

Jenna started to blush as she thought about bringing Nicholas to an orgasm.  'I have really got to stop thinking about that.  It'll never happen.'  She thought to herself.

Meanwhile, outside Nicholas was on his phone talking to his friend Nathan, one of the guys they had gone out with the night before.  "No, man.  I told you that Jenna and I aren't together.  Her and I are just friends.  She's free to see whoever she wants."  Nicholas should have known that Nathan would try to hook up with Jenna.  He wanted to punch the wall behind him, frustrated that Nathan was acting on his attraction to Jenna so fast, and that he was trying to go through Nicholas to get to her.

"Well, if you and her are just friends, you think you could set up a date between her and I?  You think she'd go for me?"  Nathan asked.

"Dude, I couldn't tell you.  Why can't you just ask her yourself and leave me out of it."  Nicholas asked, trying to not let his irritation show.

"Because I don't know her that well.  Besides, I need you to put in a good word for me, buddy."  Nate said.  "Well, that is, as long as you meant what you said when you told me you were just friends."

Nicholas sighed.  "I'll see what I can do.  I'll talk to you later."  He hung up the phone and walked back inside.

Jenna looked at the scowl on Nicholas's face as he approached the table and got worried.  "Is everything ok?"

"Oh, yeah.  Sorry.  Nathan just frustrates me sometimes.  He was calling to ask about you."  Nick told her.

"About me?  And that put you in a bad mood?"  She asked.

"I just hate it when he tries to use my friendship with him to get what he wants."  He said, trying to cover up the fact that he was just annoyed that Nate had wanted to go out with Jenna.  "So, he wants me to talk you into going out on a date with him, and I know he won't leave me alone until you say yes, so will you go, please?"

"Nathan was the loud one, right?"  Jenna asked.

"Yes."  Nicholas said, a little reluctantly.

"Well, I'll go, on one condition.  You go out with Vanessa and we have a double date.  She's been bugging me about hooking her up with you since Cole's birthday."  Jenna proposed.

"Ugh, she better not try to get me into bed with her."  Nicholas said, wrinkling up his nose as he made a sour look on his face.

"She will, but just be clear that you don't want to sleep with her."  Jenna told him.  After she realized how it sounded, she added, "I mean, as long as that's what you want…As long as you don't want to sleep with her."  Jenna stammered.

"No, I definitely don't."  Nicholas told her, chuckling a little at how jealous Jenna had sounded.  "So, I guess it's settled.  We have a double date."

Jenna wasn't looking forward to going out with Nathan, and she was even less enthusiastic about Nicholas going out with Vanessa, but she was happy to know that Nicholas didn't want to sleep with Vanessa.  'Let's just hope he still feels that way at the end of their date.'  Jenna thought to herself.  'And let's also hope I'm not ready to kill Vanessa at the end of the night either.'

"What are we getting ourselves into?"  Jenna asked and shook her head.

Friday came all too quick for Nicholas and Jenna.  Neither one was really looking forward to their dates, and on more than one occasion, both had tried to think of ways to get out of it.  In the end, nothing worked, and the date was going to happen as planned.

Vanessa showed up at Jenna's early, to help Jenna get ready.  Jenna would have preferred to get ready alone, especially due to the fact that she resented Vanessa for forcing this date on Nicholas, and wasn't really in the mood to make nice with her.  Instead, Jenna bit her tongue and tried to act like nothing was bothering her.

While Jenna worked on her hair and makeup, Vanessa busied herself in Jenna's closet, trying to pick out the 'perfect outfit'.  She laid out a short black cargo mini skirt on Jenna's bed, along with a tiny red tank.  When Jenna came out of the bathroom to get dressed, she looked at the clothes laid on the bed and got annoyed.

"Where the fuck are we going tonight, street walking?"  Jenna cried.  "I'm going to have people coming up to me all night asking me how much I charge for my services!"

"Oh stop."  Vanessa laughed.  "You're going to look great, no one will mistake you for a hooker, just don't wear those over-the-knee vinyl boots that I saw in the back of your closet."

"You're funny Nessa.  You know I don't own anything like that!"  Jenna grumbled.  She sighed and said, "Fine, I'll wear this outfit.  Tonight is going to be such a mistake!"

"Not if I have anything to do with it."  Vanessa mumbled.  "So, where are the kids staying tonight?"  She asked louder so that Jenna could hear what she said this time.

"Oh, they're staying at Nicholas's house.  They stayed here the last time we went out, so he thought it would only be fair for them to stay at his house this time."  Jenna told her.  She knew that wasn't the only reason they were staying over at his house.  Nicholas had begged to let the kids stay with him so that Vanessa wouldn't get any ideas about trying to go back to his place after they went out.  He was trying to do everything he could to let Vanessa know that he didn't want to sleep with her without coming right out and saying it.

"Oh, is there any chance that I can convince you to let them stay here tonight?"  Vanessa asked.

"Nessa!  They are staying at his house tonight.  It's not negotiable."  Jenna said, starting to get angry with her friend.  "You need to calm down and understand that Nicholas isn't ready for what you're offering him.  Just relax and be happy that he even agreed to go out with you tonight, ok?"

"I guess."  Vanessa said, defeated.  "I'll go downstairs and let you finish getting dressed.  The guys will be here soon."  Vanessa left the bedroom, shutting the door behind her so that Jenna could get changed in private.

Jenna groaned and began to get dressed.  She was not looking forward to a whole night of Vanessa's flirting, and she hoped that Nathan wouldn't try anything with her.  The things she did for her friends!  After she was dressed, she took a look in her full-length mirror and was surprised that she didn't look as slutty as she thought she would.  'I bet Nicholas will like me in this outfit!  Wait!  Did I just say Nicholas?  I meant Nathan.  The whole N thing is going to throw me off tonight!  Yeah, that's it, just because both of their names start with an N.'  Jenna thought.  The sound of her doorbell brought her out of her thoughts.  She grabbed her purse and headed downstairs to greet the guys.

Vanessa opened the door to see a tall, very built blonde guy standing there.  He had the most beautiful, crystal blue eyes, definitely Vanessa's usual type of guy…too bad he was Jenna's date for the night.  "Hi, I'm Vanessa.  Come on in, Jenna will be right down."  She said as she reached out and grabbed his arm to lead him inside.  He was wearing crisp khakis and a white polo shirt, filling both of them out well.

"Hi, I'm Nathan.  Nice to meet you."  He said as his eyes swept over Vanessa from head to toe, then back up again.  Nathan smiled in appreciation for what he saw.  Vanessa was wearing a little brown leather mini skirt with a cream-colored halter top.  Her long blonde hair was left down, reaching the middle of her back.  She had styled it to lay in big curls, so it was all bouncy when she moved.

As the two stared at each other, they almost missed Jenna walking into the foyer.  Thank god for the loud noise her shoes made on the slate floor or else they never would have known she was there.  Nathan broke the gaze first and turned to look at Jenna.  "Wow, you look great."  Nathan said, a little less than enthusiastic.

"Yeah, you look so pretty."  Vanessa said, a little too cheery, as if she was trying to hide something.

"Thanks, I think."  Jenna said, getting more and more annoyed by the minute.  Thankfully the doorbell rang again.  "Why don't you two go sit in the living room and I'll get the door.  It must be Nicholas, so we'll be right in."

Nathan and Vanessa walked into the living room and made themselves comfortable on the couch while Jenna went to answer the door.  As she pulled it open, her breath caught in her throat when she saw Nicholas.  He was wearing a red button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up his forearm a little, with nice black pants.  His hair was gelled to perfection, and his brown goatee was trimmed short.  He looked nothing short of…hot!  "Wow!"  was all Jenna managed to get out of her mouth.

Nicholas stood at the door not able to move.  He saw Jenna and was taken aback by how great she looked.  "Yeah, I could say the same for you.  Aren't you the same girl I went out with last weekend?  The one that keeps hiding my little Jenna away?"  He asked when he finally got his mouth working again and stopped drooling.

"Glad to see that someone likes the way I look tonight.  I think our dates are over before they even started."  Jenna laughed.

"What do you mean?"  Nichols asked.

"Well, I think that out little Nathan and Vanessa have hit it off.  I came down earlier and the two could barely pry their eyes off each other to look at me when I came in."  Jenna laughed.

"Cool, maybe we should go with this.  It might just work out better for both of us if they take a liking to each other."  Nicholas said, as if he was calculating a plan in his head.  "Let's just run with this.  If they end up liking each other, then good for them, and better for us.  We can't make it obvious that we know though, or that we're trying to get them together."

"Sounds good to me.  Nathan kind of scares me anyways."  Jenna laughed and led Nicholas to the living room where Vanessa and Nathan were already waiting.  "Hey guys, are you ready to head out?"  Jenna asked the two people sitting rather close together on the couch.

"Yeah, let's go."  Vanessa jumped up off the couch as if she was a 15-year old caught making out with her boyfriend by her parents.  "Oh how cute, you two match."  Vanessa said, pointing out that Nicholas and Jenna were both wearing black and red.

Jenna rolled her eyes.  "So do you and Nathan.  Weird, huh?"  She said flippantly.  "Oh, hey, did you remember to give the babysitter money to get the kids some pizza for dinner?"  Jenna asked Nicholas.

"Yeah, I remembered.  Do you take me for a moron?"  Nicholas joked.  "But that reminds me, I have to stop at home quick before we take off."

"You forgot, didn't you?"  Jenna laughed.

"Yup.  Thanks for reminding me."  He laughed as they walked out the door.

Nathan and Vanessa looked at each other and rolled their eyes, they didn't enjoy the joking between Jenna and Nicholas as much as Nick and Jenna did.  They also didn't really like the tight bond that they shared.  It didn't help that neither one of them had kids themselves.  They just didn't understand what it was like to be single parents.

After Nicholas brought the babysitter the money and Nick and Jenna said goodbye to their kids, they all piled into Nicholas's SUV and headed to the restaurant.  Vanessa had made reservations at a nice Chinese restaurant.  Conversation over dinner was strained between the two dates, but Jenna and Nicholas never seemed to run out of things to talk to each other about, and Vanessa and Nathan were enjoying their conversations too.

After the meal, the waitress brought over four fortune cookies and placed them in the center of the table. Nathan reached for the first one, without hesitation.  Everyone looked at him with annoyance, but he didn't notice.  He was too busy opening his cookie to get his fortune.

"Ladies first."  Nicholas said looking at the girls and the last three fortune cookies.  Vanessa picked one then Jenna got hers.  Nicholas took the final cookie and opened it.

"What?  I don't get it!"  Nathan exclaimed.  "It says 'A liar is not believed even though he tells the truth.'  What kind of damn fortune is that?  This sucks.  I got ripped off, I want a real fortune!"