Nico was picked up at O’Hare by his buddy Mikey from Wisconsin, he got in the Forerunner and they drove to the air bnb. “How was the flight Nico?”
“It was alright, although I wish I had the window seat, instead of the aisle”
“It’s good to see you man”
“I’ve missed you buddy, how’s everything going Nico, you look bummed out”
“I was dating this super cute rockabilly girl, who I thought dug me, but then friend zoned me, after date number three, because she wasn’t over her ex, who cheated on her. I think it’s bullshit anyway, so I stopped talking to her.”
Mikey is always the voice of reason when Nico is an emotional wreck. He brings up a past example of Nico’s stubbornness when it comes to relationships and friendships. “Do you remember Leah?” Nico a little peaved responded “yeah I remember Leah, Mikey” Mikey’s response was “she was madly in love with you after you guys were friends for a year, after she friend zoned you, and you decided to be an asshole and ignore her. She would come around and be all smiles, excited to see you, and you were ice cold and a complete jerk to her, women need patience and understanding Nico, you lack patience, this one sounds like Leah all over again” Nico was starting to feel his temper flare up “Mikey , first off, Leah wasn’t in love with me ever. Get your facts straight. I got friend zoned by her because she was dating Colin and me at the same time, and was in love with Colin. So instead of being the third party to that bullshit, I went about my business, kept her at a distance and felt great about that decision.” Mikey let out a sigh “Dude are you fucking crazy? How long did her and Colin date after you got friend zoned?” Nico was furious “ I don’t know like two months, I really don’t remember” Mikey responded “ it was one month and he left her for someone else, when she needed your support, you told her that it was unfortunate and she made the wrong choice. Pretty much ignored her feelings and stepped on her heart because of how you felt about the situation.” Nico was filled with a murderous rage at this point “what’s your point dude? What did she expect? Me to be happy that she and him didn’t work out and try to get some sympathy from me in order to get back in my good graces, so she could push me away again, I’ll fucking pass, I really don’t care that she thinks I’m mean and heartless, she fucking sucks anyway, plus she was never in love with me Mikey. I can’t believe you would make something like that up.” Mikey a bit confused and slightly annoyed by Nico’s response “ Dude are you serious? I’m not making that up, I can prove it to you.” Nico still mad “ You go ahead, I’ll be waiting, I can’t believe you dude.” They arrived at the air bnb. Unpacked the truck and went inside to the West Chicago house they were staying in. They got some food and then went to bed, it was a hot night in Chicago so Nico had issues sleeping, it could have been his mind racing from thoughts of Cat, and now thoughts about Leah, someone until now was a footnote in Nico’s history.
Mikey and Nico went to get some breakfast at a place called Whisk in the Chicago burbs. They were eating their breakfast and talking about which bands they wanted to see on opening day of Riot Fest 2017. When Mikey got a FaceTime call from Leah. Mikey answered the phone. “Hey how are you?”
“I’m great Mikey, what’s up are you coming back to Denver?”
“Not right now, I’m in Chicago with someone you might want to talk to.”
“Yeah who”
“Our mutual friend Nico Carrera”
“OMG! Nico is with you, I’ve missed him, of course I want to talk to him, although I doubt he wants anything to do with me”
“Well he’s sitting right next to me, and I want you guys to talk, and I want you to tell him what you told me when you guys had been friends for a year, after all the drama.” Mikey hands the IPhone to Nico, who did not look pleased with Mikey.
“Hey Nico! You look great, it’s nice to see you, even though we live in the same town, I feel like I haven’t seen you for years.”
“What do you want Leah?”
“I see your still an asshole, Mikey texted me because he wanted me to talk to you about, what happened in the past, for some clarification”
“I have no interest in rehashing the past Leah, So I’m not sure why this conversation is even happening, do you have a point?”
“Omg you are such a jerk, since I have got better things to do than be insulted by you, I will get to the point. After Colin left and I was sad, instead of being a good friend you were totally mean and it made me sad. I forgave you even though you were never sorry, then tried to be your friend and you continually ignored me until you felt like being my friend, when it was convenient for you. For some reason I stuck around, and ended up catching feelings for you, I was in love with you but you wanted nothing to do with me because your a callous asshole who has no sympathy or patience, all I wanted was for you to be patient and not be totally cold to me, but you are such an asshole and have zero patience. I hope you can learn to be patient with people instead of being such a stubborn asshole who won’t ever change his mind”
“Are you done?” Nico asked
“Yeah”
“ well Leah I’m glad you said that, it just re-affirms my opinion about you, that your a needy bitch that I would rather not be around. I’m sorry you were ever in love with me, it must have been painful when those feelings weren’t returned, I really don’t care if I’m a stubborn asshole, patience is for hopeless people that don’t know how to get what they want, if you had feelings for me, why did you friend zone me in the first place, your still a pain in my ass, I’m glad I quit talking to you”
“Wow after all these years you haven’t changed, still so goddamn stubborn, and now even more of an asshole, would it kill you to be nice for once, bye forever Nico”
“Later skank” Nico said with venom
“Mikey, I still love you, I had hoped this would have gone differently but he won’t ever change, when your in Denver, hit me up, don’t invite Nico, have a great day!” Mikey hung up the phone. “I can’t fucking believe you dude, she bared her soul to you and you fucking spat her in face, I don’t know about you sometimes.” Nico was about to lose his shit when he responded back “Are you trying to piss me off, we have four days together and this is how you want to start” Mikey was shaking his head “I wanted to prove to you that she was in love with you, and I did, you heard her” Nico was not happy “she was probably lying anyway, this proves nothing.”
The next four days were filled with great music and some interesting people met during the festival, on his last day in Chicago, Nico went to Kumas Corner for a Hamburger. Then he went to the pier to look at Lake Michigan and have a think. When he got a text message on his phone. It was Cat “Hey Nico I miss you and I hope your not mad at me. Let’s hang out soon” he responded with “I’m in Chicago right now, maybe we can hang out when I get back” her response was lightning quick “I would like that” Nico didn’t respond to that text, he would head to O’Hare and leave for Denver, the four hour flight seemed so short because of all the thoughts in his head, did Leah really love him? Does he need to be more patient not just with women but with people in general? Does Cat just need time and isn’t making an excuse? It didn’t matter when Nico got off the train at the Colfax station he was hungry, so he went to the Chipotle by the train station, when he met Madison the cute cashier at the chipotle, they chatted and vibed, Nico got her number and ate his burrito. Could this be the end of Cat he thought, Madison is really pretty and actually feeling Nico, so he texted Madison the next day and set up a date.
To be continued.....