Out of My Element (6 page)

“I guess I will try to get a hotel
room,” I spoke more to myself than her.

“I hope that’s possible. There is
the convention happening for the Academy of Natural Sciences for the next four
days. It seems like there aren’t any rooms to be found in this area right now.
We have someone working on it, though. Would you like to be put on the waiting
list?” Could this night get any worse? “Yes, please,” I sighed. I knew this
woman was just trying to help, but I was becoming increasingly frustrated with
her. I gave her my cell number and decided to try one last stop before settling
on the shelter.

I walked back to my car and pulled
out my phone. I started to dial Nick, but decided to just head over to his
apartment instead. I didn’t want to try to answer any questions over the phone.
I would just knock on his door, apologize for waking him up, and ask if I could
crash on his couch.

The events of the night were
seriously beginning to take a toll on me as I pulled into the parking garage
across from his building. I crossed the street and walked through the lobby,
admiring how beautiful it was. Hell, if this is what the lobby looked like, the
apartments must be phenomenal—much different than mine. My building was much
older, and in serious need of updates. I almost chuckled out loud at the
thought. I guess it would be getting updates now.

The elevator ride was quick, with
no stops, due to the late hour. I couldn’t believe it was just after one in the
morning. I was definitely not going running in the morning. The doors swung
open and I could almost feel the relief, knowing that I would be able to lie
down soon. Thank God Nick had told me the number of his apartment earlier
tonight when I dropped him off.

I turned down the hallway and walked
in the direction of apartment number six-thirty. The hall was empty except for
a gorgeous blonde woman who looked like she had forgotten to wear her pants;
her dress was
that
short.
Good grief!
Slutty much?
Great,
now I was getting cranky.

I kept walking in the direction of
Nick’s apartment when the door suddenly swung open in front of the woman.
“Nicky!” she squealed and bounced up and down, as a pair of strong arms pulled
her into the apartment and closed the door.

I stood there, stunned, for a minute,
before I walked a bit farther, just to make sure, but the number on the door
confirmed it. Nick had company, and I would not be the one to interrupt him. I
walked back to the elevator and pressed the button. I let my head fall back
against the wall as the elevator took me back down, willing myself not to cry.
“Well Chelsea, it looks like you are heading back to the elementary school for
the night,” I groaned. I was so exhausted that the thought of calling anyone
else just didn’t make sense. It was so late anyhow. I would just head back to
the school, get a few hours of sleep and then decide what to do in the morning.
Times like this, I truly wished I had family in the area.

My family was still back in
Colorado, where I had grown up. I had gone to Penn State, mostly because I had
it in my mind that it would be cool, and I needed to get away from my parents,
who were dead set on sheltering me for the rest of my life. I had spent one
semester at Penn State before transferring to the Community College of Philadelphia.
I just wasn’t cut out for a big school. I had gotten my degree in business and
was hired with the advertising agency after an internship. I actually enjoyed
my job very much, and I loved Philly.

***

At some point I must have finally
dozed off on my small floor mat in the sterile, cold gymnasium. I had a much
greater respect for those who had been displaced in disasters and had to stay
in shelters night after night.

Before I settled in last night, I
called and left a message at work, letting them know I wouldn’t be in due to a
personal emergency. I would call Ava later and fill her in. I hated to leave a
message with details on the Human Resources line. I didn’t want anyone to
panic. My phone had been on the verge of dying, so I left it plugged in to
charge in the car before heading into the school.

I folded up my blanket and headed
for the restroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, thankful that I always
carried an extra toothbrush in my purse. I groaned when I saw my reflection. I
had dark circles under my eyes and my hair was all over the place.
Nice
Chelsea, try not to scare any small children.

As I exited the bathroom, there was
a small table with bottles of water and juice, as well as bagels and doughnuts.
I grabbed a bottle of water and a cinnamon bagel and sat down. It was
ridiculous that I lived in the same building with all of these people, but I
had only actually met a handful of them. I watched as families huddled
together, and my heart broke for those with little children, who were scared
and didn’t understand why they couldn’t go home.

At least I only had myself to worry
about. I watched a woman struggle to get her two toddlers to settle down with a
bagel while she tried to change her baby’s diaper. The two little boys kept
trying to run off, and I could tell she was struggling. I couldn’t just sit
here and feel sorry for myself, so I walked over and sat next to the woman.
“Hi, my name is Chelsea, apartment three-nineteen. Would you like me to read a
story to the little ones while you tend to the baby?” She looked so relieved.

“Thank you! I am Alicia and this is
Eric and Mason, and this is Abby,” she said and pointed at the baby. “My
husband is in New York on business until tonight, and I am feeling a bit
overwhelmed, so if you are serious about reading the boys a story, I would be
so grateful.” She smiled.

“I would love to.” I grabbed the
book that was sitting by her and showed it to the boys as they settled in next
to me.

After reading the same book three
times, the boys were sprawled out on the mats, sound asleep. “I can’t thank you
enough, Chelsea,” Alicia whispered so she didn’t wake them. I squeezed her hand
as I stood up. “My pleasure.”

I was just about to the doors when
I felt a hand grab my arm. “What in the hell is wrong with you, Chelsea?” My
heart almost jumped out of my chest as I turned and looked up into the eyes of
a very pissed off Nick.

Nick

I had shown up at the river trail
at five this morning for our run and waited for Chelsea for an hour before I
started to look for her. I must have left a dozen messages on her phone and
probably just as many text messages. When I couldn’t get a hold of her, I
called Trevor. He informed me that she had called out due to an emergency, but
they hadn’t heard from her directly.

I was only slightly worried until I
drove to her place and realized that there had been a major fire the night
before and the building had been evacuated. At that point, I just about lost
it. It took me twenty minutes to locate someone who knew that a temporary
shelter had been set up at one of the schools for the residents. By the time I
pulled up and spotted her car, I was shaking with both relief and anger.

“Excuse me?” She pulled her arm out
of my grasp. “What exactly is your problem, Nick, and what are
you
doing
here?” I pulled her outside before I completely lost it in front of everyone.

“What am
I
doing here? For
fuck’s sake, Chelsea, what are
you
doing here?” I clenched my fists.

“First, I
really
don’t
appreciate your attitude, Nick.” She put her hands on her hips and continued,
“Second, I’m here because there was a fire in my building, and I couldn’t get
into my apartment.”

I ran my hands over my face, trying
to calm myself. “Listen, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound angry,” I said
through clenched teeth, “but I have been going fucking crazy this morning
trying to find you. Where is your phone, and why in the hell didn’t you call
me? You could have stayed with me last night.”

“I’m sorry you were worried, Nick.
My phone died last night, so I left it on the charger in the car.” She
shrugged.

“That explains why you didn’t
answer my calls or texts, but why would you stay here in the first place? Why
didn’t you stay with me?” The thought of her staying in a room full of
strangers, on a hard mat, completely crushed me. I thought we had begun to
develop a trust between each other. I had hoped that she would feel like she
could come to me if she needed something.

“You had company,” she quipped.

“What? How did you know that?” 

“I did come to your apartment, Nick,”
she murmured as she looked over my shoulder.

“What do you mean? When?” I asked.

“I came by last night after I left
my building. I was going to ask if I could crash on your couch, but I saw your
… uh … friend go in your apartment, so I came here instead.” She shrugged.

“Fuck.” I couldn’t believe I
managed to screw things up with her again by hooking up with some random chick.
When I had gotten up to my apartment last night after Chelsea dropped me off,
one of my past hook-ups called. I was so wound up with my feelings for Chelsea
that I wanted to just try to forget it all for a while. Once again I let my
dick get me into a hole, no pun intended.

I sighed. “Chelsea, there is
nothing
I wouldn’t drop for you. I wish you would have called or even knocked on my
door.” I grabbed her and pulled her into my arms.

“I didn’t want to be a
cock-blocker,” she mumbled against my chest.

“Did you seriously just say that?”
I chuckled. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me, but I can
tell you right now, with certainty, you are
not
staying here for another
minute.” I walked her to her car, and told her to follow me home.

I called Trevor as soon as I
started my car. “Hey, I found her. Her building caught on fire last night.”

“Shit, is she okay?” I could hear
the concern in his voice.

“Yes, but I fucked up again,” I
groaned.

“What do you mean?” I heard him ask
before relaying the information to Ava.

“Apparently she came by to see if
she could stay with me and saw another girl go into my apartment. She stayed in
a fucking shelter at the school, Trevor!” I hit the steering wheel. I was so
pissed at myself.

“Shit, Nick, why didn’t she call
us?” 

“Christ, I don’t know, but I’m
feeling like shit.” I shook my head and glanced in the rearview mirror to make
sure she was behind me. “Trevor, she is my friend. She has become so damn
important to me, and I keep messing up with her.” Why couldn’t I just figure
this out? It shouldn’t be this hard to be a friend to Chelsea, right? I was
fooling myself if I thought that it was only about friendship. Each time I saw
her, I felt myself falling a bit over the platonic line. I messed up with her
twice now—the first time at the wedding, and now when she needed me most.
Pretty soon she was going to realize what a screw-up I was and move on. I
couldn’t let that happen.

“Nick, just take care of her
today,” Trevor insisted.

“I plan to. I’ll talk to you
later.” I hung up as I pulled into my parking spot, motioning for her to take
the visitor one next to me.

“Are you hungry?” I asked as I held
the door for her.

“Not really, just tired.”

“Well, you can take a shower and
then get some rest.” I pushed the button on the elevator.

“Aren’t you going to work?” she
asked, tilting her head to the side.

“No.” I was still trying to control
my emotions.

“No?” 

“I called in when I couldn’t find
you. I’m taking the day off.” I grabbed her hand as we exited the elevator and
didn’t let go until I opened my door.

“Oh, Nick, what a beautiful home! I
thought it would be after I saw how nice the hall was last night.” My heart
swelled, as I watched her turn around and take everything in, but at the same
time, it crushed me knowing she had been right outside my door last night when
I was doing the same shit I always did.

“Come on, let’s get you settled.” I
led her into my room, where she paused as she looked at my un-made bed. I
couldn’t be sure, but her face looked almost hurt.

I grabbed a fresh towel, in
addition to a t-shirt and boxers for her to put on after. “Here, you can use
these. Set your clothes outside the door, and I will put them in the wash.” She
nodded and closed the door.

I grabbed the sheets off my bed and
took them to the washing machine. I was half tempted to just burn them, knowing
that while I was having a good time last night, Chelsea needed me and was
alone. After I had put them in to wash, I went back and collected her clothes
and tossed them in, too.

I heard the bathroom door open
moments later as I was tucking in the new sheets. “Better?” I asked. She looked
beautiful, and I had to hold myself back from pulling her into my arms again.
My shirt was so big on her that it draped to her mid-thighs, looking like she
had nothing underneath. Her legs were damn near perfect.

“Come climb in.” I pulled the
covers back.

“In your bed?” 

“I don’t have another one in the
second bedroom,” I explained. “I changed the sheets for you.”

“I could sleep on the couch.” She
moved toward the door.

“Forget it, Chelsea. Get in.” She
looked back at me and raised her eyebrows. She was so stubborn that I was sure
she would argue with me, but instead, her shoulders slumped, and she walked
over to my bed.

I pulled the covers up, tucking her
in, before leaning down and placing a kiss on her forehead. “Get some rest.
You’re safe now.” I closed the door behind me and pressed my head against the
cold wall. I needed to get my shit together.

Chelsea

What was that sound? I sat up and
took in my surroundings, slowly remembering the last eighteen hours. Wow, I had
slept like the dead. It was almost two in the afternoon, and I was hungry.