Just Like Heaven (8 page)

Nick turned and saw Nina. A smile formed on his lips.
“Hi.”

Just as in the past, an irresistible
force drew Nina
towards him
.
Sh
e didn’t know why, and
s
he couldn’t explain how or why
she felt tethered to him
.
The connection went beyond words, and she didn’t even try to give it any further thought.
“Doing some skydiving?” she
asked.

“Yeah, what was that?” he asked Roland. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Well, no, because you’re—”

“Already dead,” Nick said, completing the sentence. He
addressed Nina:
“The Colonel
insists that I’m dead.
H
e’s trying to tell me I’m in heaven.” He glanced around. “But it seems more like hell.”

Mei Lee
narrowed her eyes on him, and he
r lips tightened, as though she refrained from saying something she would later regret. Regardless, when she looked at him, her entire aura changed from relaxed and lighthearted to anxious and…
uncertain
.

As for Roland, he didn’t even seem to notice
Mei Lee
’s presence. But Nina felt that he
intended
to give this impression, based on his reluctance to turn
toward
her,
making it obvious that he snubbed her
as a conscious choice. And
Nina realize
d
they had a history al
l their
own, peaking
her curiosity
level. Yet, she
co
uldn’t call up any insight into
their
relationship
.

“Oh, it’s that way, is it?”
Mei Lee
asked Roland.

He turned to her. “Whatever do you mean?”

“Don’t ignore me.
Your concerns were hear
d
but overruled
.”

Roland’s eyes flared with anger. “You disregarded my concerns. Then you carried on with your own designs.”

“We needed to make a decision.”

“
And I voted against your course of action
.”

“You were the only one. The council even argued against
you
. Don’t put this all on me.”

“What?”
He stepped
up to her
, brushing past Nick, as though he’d forgotten that he stood among others and had entered into a private conversation.

Nina glanced at Nick, who half-smiled at her,
looking
eager to hear Roland
argue with
another person. Indeed, it looked out of character for a man who seemed so precise and articulate
.
Not only that, but until now he’d carried himself with a rigid stance
that made it seem
as though he
took part
in the Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace
in London
,
where
he planned out every movement in advance before carrying
it out
.

Knowing
Mei Lee
as a free spirit, Nina couldn’t imagine that she might consider Roland a romantic partner. But the deep passion that burned in his eyes as he
scrutinized
Mei Lee
proved
otherwise.
It confirmed
that whatever they shared meant a great deal to
them
both. How else could she explain the intense emot
ions that blazed between them during
what seemed like a casual, unexpected visit.

Roland said,
“You recommended
that we set out on this course
. If anyone
can comprehend
the
difficulty of this journey, it’s you. Hav
e you learned nothing from our past
?
”

Nick waved a hand through Roland’s field of view
to get his attention
. “
Previously on
Young and the Restless
…”
He favored
Mei Lee
with a knowing smile. “
One woman scorned.
”
He whirled to Roland. “One man betrayed.”

Thrown off balance,
Mei Lee
looked at him with
a wavering expression, unsure
how to tangle with Roland’s intensity and Nick’s
disruptive nonchalance.

Nick said, “Did Mei Lee sleep with…Roland’s brother?”

Roland turned a blazi
ng glare on Nick. “This is no
time for games, Nicholas.”

He held up both hands. “Just trying to lighten things up a bit.” He smiled at Nina. “While these two work out their issues, let’s go grab a burger.”

That comment interrupted
Mei Lee
’s re
sponse. When she glanced at Roland,
she
either realized
their heated argument didn’
t justify causing a scene or s
he preferred to save it for
later
,
because
she
looked
to Nick. And
burst out laughing
.

Although Nina also found the
remark hilarious,
she appreciated it more for disrupting the dispute. Her earliest memories brought to mind how her parents quarreled, and when people she
cared about argued with each other, she had a difficult time
calming her nerves and maintaining
objectivity.

But she admired how Nick refused to let
their bickering affect him by inject
ing humor
in
to
the sens
ation, thereby diffusing the tension.
It made her feel…safe with him.
Most women would feel secure with a man who could handle any situation with a more potent display of power, but Nick had achieved the same results without raising the tension level.
And if
faced with an outside threat, she would also prize that
temperament
. Short
of that, Nina preferred the easygoing confidence that Nick had just displayed.

She walked alongside him
.
“Where are we going to…get a burger?” She stifled a smile.

“There’s gotta be a Mickey D’s around
here
.” He exited the building
and
glanced in e
ither direction. “Just those three
buildings! And green hills?”

She refrained from stating that those who
felt at home
in heaven experienced a different
awareness than those shrouded with
doubt. As for Nina, she saw more than the three buildings behind them, which everyone saw regardless of their expectations, but not as much as she would have observed if she belonged in heaven. She didn’t know if
she was supposed to remain here or return to her life on earth.

Nick
halted and
said,
“There’s s
omething freaky going on here, a
nd I’m going to find out what it is. But not before I find a McDonald’s. I want a cheeseburger, some fries, and a vanilla shake. After that, I’ll be back to normal. I just need…” He continued onwards again but after one step, he stopped.

The Golden Arches were
straight ahead.

“What the…can you believe that?
There’s Ro
nal
d waving us over. He
wasn’t there a second ago. This is insane.”

“It’s right where it’s supposed to be.”

“It’s a miracle!
”
He grinned. “Let’s go get a bite.” He held out his arm.

Nina la
ughed at his chivalrous manner and linked her arm with his.
“
For our first date,
you’re taking me to McDonald’s?”

“Ask yourself: can you find better fries on the planet? Wait…this is a date?”

“
You mean i
t’s not?”

“
Well, I mean, I’d like it to be. I just don’t remember asking you out.”

She shrugged. “Then it’s not.”

“Wait a minute. If I say it’s a date, it’s a date
.
”

“To
McDonald’s
.” She snickered.

“
I’m treating you to one of the world’s finest cuisines, and you’re
being difficult. You
trick me into saying this is a date and now
—”

Nina co
uldn’t help laughing. He was boyish yet very
mas
culine at the same. She got the impression that he’d be a wonderful father.
“A cheap date. You obviously don’t think much of me. Where do you plan on taking
me
after our world-class meal?
It better be
really
amazing, because not many places
could surpass M
cDonald’s
in the
excitement category
.”

A smile peeked through his annoyance. “I’ll think of something.” He reached the door and opened it for her.

She entered the vestibule.

He followed her inside. “You have an adorable smile. Did anybody ever tell you that?”

“Yes.”

“Way to kill a guy’
s confidence
.
”

“I can’t kill your confidence because—”

“It’s alr
eady dead. Yeah, v
ery funny.” He reached for the
door before she could grab the
handle, so he could open it for her. When they entered the restaurant, they found it
completely empty
. “What the…”

Nina ignored his confusion. She went up to the front counter. “What do I want?”

“There’s no smell,” Nick said, coming up to her. “It doesn’t smell like Mickey D’s in here. And where are all the people? This is a sham. A fake
McDonald’s
.”

“Fake?” She pointed to the menu listed
overhead
. “What would you like? I’m getting some chicken McNuggets. And since you’re so hung up on fries—”

Frustration mounted on Nick’s face. “This is all wrong. There’s no one working here.” He gestured to the wrapped up burgers in silver trays then directed his finger at the fries sizzling in a vat of oil. Is this a self-serve
McDonald’s
?
Is there even such a thing?
Who made the food?”

She swung
herself
onto the
countertop, spun around, and landed on the opposite
side
. “Welcome to McDonald’s. May I take your order, please?”

“
You’re hilarious
.
Don’t you find this weird?
” He turned around. “Hello. Is anyone here?” He walked around the corner but didn’t see anyone, so he
returned
to her.

She
so enjoyed seeing Nick
frustrated that she
play
ed
to his
mood
by forcing a smile and remaining still
, as though she was a robot.
“Welcome to McDonald’s. May I take your order, please?”

“I’ve never seen anything like it. Hey, what’s with your smile?”

“Welcome to McDonald’s. May I take your order, please?”

“Oh, not you, too.” He closed his eyes then put both of his hands to his temples and rubbed them. “I’m going insane.”

“I’m kidding,” she said, disappointed to have
unnerv
ed him. She’d hoped to get a laugh or at least a smile.
“
It’s just…you seem to be having a difficult time accepting the truth.”

“What, that I’m dead? Give me a break. This can’t be heaven.
It should be better than…this. I don’t belong in hell;
I haven’t
committed any sins or anything. Okay,
I tried stealing something once, but I got caught
so that’s not a sin because I had to gi
ve those candy bars back.”

“You tried stealing candy?” Nina
picked up a brown plastic tray and removed a couple cheeseburgers and a large container of fries
then set them down on the tray
. She grabbed a plastic cup and pushed down on the white lever, which deposited his vanilla shake inside the cup. When she finished
,
she
placed the cup on the
tray
,
put a lid on top
, and slid a straw through the lid opening. “There are so many cool things out there
in the world, and you go for…candy? Wow, the Lord
must
be so disappointed – that you
couldn’t commit
a sin on a more valuable
item. It’s sort of like giving him the middle finger, don’t you think?”