Delayed (13 page)

“Olivia?” Nick asked. He scanned her, as if she were a strange sort of sculpture.
 

She wanted to hide back in the aisle. But it was too late. Olivia reached for the bottle but he had already lunged for it. She took a step back. The two of them stood up together.
 

“Hey,” she managed. “Long time no see, huh?”
 

The shock wore off his face, and then a smile.” Two years,” he said. “Two long years.”
 

His emphasis on the words, made her pulse speed a bit.
 

The two of them stared at one another, the cashier waiting in the background. Finally, without warning, Nick reached out to hug her. It was a quick embrace, one of new friends, not as engulfing as the one on the plane.
 

The cashier was still watching them. “Sir, how do you plan on paying for your gasoline?”
 

Nick still had her pushed close to him; he took a step back, turning to face the boy.
 

“Are you sure there’s no way you can accept credit cards? Is there an ATM I can use?”
 

“We don’t have an ATM. It’s cash or nothing.” The cashier’s voice was flat, dry as the Shepton beaches.
 

Olivia reached into her pocket, pulling a wad of bills. It was a combination of emergency money her mom had given her and various graduation presents.
 

“I can pay for it. I owe you like four years of birthday presents,” she said. Not that she even really knew when his birthday was.
 

Nick shook his head. “You don’t have to. I can call…”
 

She placed a twenty-dollar bill in his hand, “Don’t worry about it.”
 

He didn’t argue this time. “Thanks. I’ll pay you back. If we ever see each other again.”
 

“Don’t worry about it,” Olivia said, remembering now that she had a half dead rental car parked outside.
 

The cashier took the cash from Nick. He scanned all the snacks she’d purchased. She didn’t say anything when Nick used part of the cash to pay for the junk food.
 

“Do you know where the closest repair shop is?” she asked him. “I need to take my rental car there.”
 

Nick followed her finger out to the parking lot. He squinted his eyes toward the battered vehicle. “Do you need a ride somewhere?”
 

“No. I think it can make it to a repair shop. My GPS died so I can’t find a place to take it to.”
 

The cashier handed Nick the bag of snacks. “I can take a look at it if you want,” Nick said.
 

Olivia stared outside, the rain was only pouring down with a greater force. Her options were limited, and she was no in place to reject the help. Besides, a part of her, didn’t want to part ways with him just yet.
 

“You can try,” she said, realizing it sounded almost like a challenge.
 

The two of them ran outside, neither one in possession of an umbrella.
 

Nick followed her to the rental. She let him take a spot in the driver’s seat, while she jumped in the passenger side. They shut the doors. Rain beat against the windshield.
 

“What’s wrong with it?” he asked.
 

Olivia turned the engine on, hopeful the car wouldn’t explode on them. All the warning rights flashed on.
 

“The engine is overheating, and your battery is low” he said. He leaned his head toward the dashboard, surveying the damage. Then he looked back up at her. “To be honest, I know nothing about cars.”
 

She scanned the lights, three more had turned on. “You know more than me. I thought that light meant I needed to change my oil.”
 

“The light for that just flashed on,” Nick said. He remained calm, but whatever comfort had possessed him to hug her was vanishing.
 

Olivia sighed. “I’ll just have to take it to the nearest mechanic.”
 

He shook his head. “You can’t drive it like this. Besides, most mechanics in Shepton close down when the weather’s this bad.”
 

Thunder crackled in the background, as if to support Nick’s statement.
 

“Then what do I do?” Olivia asked.
 

“Well I could give you a ride to wherever you need to go. When the storm passes call the rental company and they should send out a tow truck.”
 

She stared at him, his black hair stuck to his forehead, coated with fresh rainwater. She knew she could call a cab, but there were probably no drivers who were as handsome as Nick. She struck the thought away. And she found that she was staring at his lips. They were thin, barely a line, but red.
 

“Olivia?”
 

“Huh?”
 

“I can give you a ride. I don’t mind.”
 

Olivia forced her gaze away from his lips. The kiss hadn’t meant anything back then. So why was it all she could think about now? She gave in.
 

“Do you know where Green Cove Storage is?” she asked.
 

Nick nodded. He turned the engine off, handing her back the keys. “Yeah. It shouldn’t take more than ten minutes.”
 

Olivia nodded, accepting the ride. Yet, a part of her found that ten minutes might not suffice.
 

15

June 18, 2008

Nick had lied for the sake of getting a few more minutes with her. The choice had been desperate and out of character, but it was not something that he could ever regret.
 

“That’s it,” Olivia said. She had a finger pressed to the fogged window. The sign for
Green Cove Storage
became visible.
 

Nick pulled the car into the parking lot. There were a few cars parked outside, scattered in different spots. The place looked lifeless.
 

Olivia unclasped her seatbelt. She looked eager to go. He didn’t blame her. The entire situation was unexpected. He knew his first strike had been to hug her, his second had been lying about the closed mechanic shops, and the third, well that one was pending.
 

“I can go in with you if you want,” he said.
 

She shook her head, turning back to face him. “You’ve done plenty. I’ve got it from here. Thanks for the ride. It was nice seeing you again,” she said.
 

He nodded. It was all Nick could bring himself to do. They hadn’t even talked on the car ride over. This encounter felt forced and every part of him tensed whenever he thought he would have to continue a conversation.
 

“I’ll wait out here, just in case,” he said.
 

Olivia paused, as if she were going to reject the offer, but merely shrugged. “Okay.”
 

She leaned over and gave him a half hug. “Like I said. It was good seeing you again, Nick.”
 

He felt himself crumble at the sound of his name. The way she spoke it was airy and whispered, as if it were some secret meant only for his ears.
 

She took her bag and suitcase out of the backseat. The sound of rain filled the car until the door shut again. He saw her run toward the small offset building, probably the main office. She disappeared behind a wall of storage sheds.
 

Nick turned up the radio. His fingers felt numb against the tiny dial. His shirt still hadn’t dried off. The fabric clung to his skin, making him shiver.
 

He waited. Five minutes passed by. Then ten. Olivia had probably found her way to whatever business she needed to tend to. He hesitated, but pulled the car out of park. He leaned his head over, taking a mental image of the sky. It was no longer gray, but a lurid combination of whites and blacks.
 

He didn’t want to go. Nick knew that once he left, the chances he would see her again, were slim. It had taken two years. Grant it, he had been dating Rita for most of that time, but even then, Olivia had always found a place in the back of his mind. The fact he still kept the keychain in his pocket made forgetting her that more difficult of a task.
 

What if it took another four years before he ever saw her again? Ten? Twenty? Or what if she never crossed his path again. The universe was probably growing tired of intertwining their paths together.
 

Maybe there was no universal involvement, and it really was a coincidence. Nick pulled the brake down. He sighed. Five minutes. He should give her five more minutes. No. Maybe. No.
 

He took one last look in the rearview mirror. Droplets of rain blocked his view. He pulled the palm tree key chain out of his pocket, placing the car in park one last time. The metal felt slippery in his hand. This would be the last time he would carry it with him. It was a dramatic step, but seeing Olivia one last time, it was his chance to return it to its rightful owner. Thunder struck, closer than it should have. Nick jumped. The palm tree slipped from his grasp.
 

He began to rummage through the floor of his car. A knock came from the passenger side door. He sat up.
 

Olivia waved from the other side of the fogged glass. Her brown hair framed the heart shape of her face. She pushed back a wet strand, revealing a smile. Nick unlocked the door. She pulled it open barely escaping another strike of lightning.
 

She was soaked, from head to toe. Her jeans looked almost black, and her gray shirt hung over her like a wet rag. She coughed into her bare arm.
 

“You waited,” she said with a sigh of relief. “I thought you would be gone by now.”
 

“Were you able to get in?” he asked.
 

She coughed again, shaking her head. “I wasn’t. The place is closed. The guy inside said he wanted to wait for the storm to pass. He tried referring me to a cab company, which is why I took so long. But none of the local companies want to drive in this weather. There was one in the next town over, but the prices were insane.”
 

Nick pictured Olivia standing in the rain, alone, waiting for a ride that might never come.
 

“What were you planning on doing?” he asked more seriously that he wanted to.
 

She pressed her wrist to her nose, wiping away a drop of water. “I don’t know. I thought about walking back to the gas station, maybe waiting out the storm there.”
 

“You were going to walk through the highway, with a suitcase, in the middle of a storm?” he asked her. Nick knew he was sounding more and more like a parent with each second that passed.
 

Olivia shrugged. “I didn’t have that many options.”
 

“What did you plan on doing when you go to the gasoline station?” Nick asked.
 

 
“What’s with all the questions?” Olivia asked. She threw her suitcase back in the back seat. The tone of her voice lightened. “Sorry. That wasn’t meant for you. I just… I’ve had a long day. I’m starving and wet, and nothing is going the way it was supposed to.”
 

Nick watched her again. She stared off into the distance, in the direction of the passing storm. Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence.
 

“Let’s go back to my grandparents’ house. You can dry off. There’s food there, and we wait the storm out.”
 

Olivia wiped a few more water droplets off her cheeks. She looked at him, sighing as she did. “Your grandparents won’t mind?”
 

He shook his head. “They’re in Peru. They lent me their house for the summer, as a graduation present.”
 

She raised her eyebrows. He realized it sounded like he was suggesting they go back to his place, alone of all things.
 

“Mimi’s there. She bought her plane ticket with her savings, and showed up at the airport. We won’t be alone.”
 

The expression on Olivia’s face softened. “I wasn’t thinking about it that way. I don’t think you’re the type of guy who lures girls into empty houses.”
 

“We’ve only seen each other twice,” Nick said, realizing he had wanted to keep the thought to himself. He had no choice but to continue. “What I mean is, we don’t really know each other.”
 

She leaned back in her seat. “You have a point.”
 

They made small talk for the rest of the way. Soon they were at his grandparents’ house, a one-story peach colored home, stuck in the middle of suburbia. It had been built in the sixties; his Grandma Joan had designed it while Grandpa Felix sent money over from Peru. The two of them got married and moved right in. It retained its retro veneer, half Shepton half Peru.
 

“This place is like right of a fifties movie,” Olivia said as they approached the house.
 

“Yeah,” Nick said. He reached for the key, remembering now that the palm tree key chain was still in his car, alongside the rest of his keys. He couldn’t go back for it. Then Olivia would know.
 

He knocked on the door hoping that Mimi wasn’t too busy blasting music in her room to answer it. Roughly eight knocks later and a push of the doorbell, and his sister opened the door.
 

“You know you have a key…” Mimi stopped as she scanned Nick’s guest. He watched as his sister tried to hide a smile. She bit her lip and stepped to one side. “You brought a friend.”
 

Olivia moved out of the pouring rain. The small front porch roof did not shield them from it. Nick followed her inside. His sister closed the door behind them.
 

“I’ll get you guys some towels. You can explain later,” she said to Nick.
 

Olivia gave Mimi a mock bow. The floor was soaked with their footprints.
 

“Your sister grew. How old is she now?” Olivia asked. She began to undo her ponytail, or what remained of it; most of her dark hair had come undone.