Second Chances (Ricky + Nini)

chapter 16 - even when you and i are miles apart, i hold you in my heart

[a/n : hi guys, hopefully y'all are staying safe and healthy. thank you for reading! Enjoy...]

It had been one week since Ricky went back to Salt Lake City. The two had been texting non-stop, and FaceTiming almost everyday. Currently, Nini was having breakfast in her New York apartment while her boyfriend was frantically looking for something on the other side of the call without a shirt on. 

"I cannot find anything in this house!" Ricky exclaimed. 

"Let me guess, you're looking for the orange hoodie?" Nini asked guiltily. She'd found the hoodie on Ricky's bed while he was packing last week, and she'd decided to keep it for herself. It was soft and smelled like Ricky, and she'd been wearing it to bed for the past week. She felt bad but she just missed him so much. 

"Yes... How do you know that? That's creepy." Ricky said looking straight at the camera. 

Nini sighed, and went off frame to grab the aforementioned piece of clothing. 

"I stole it, Ricky. I'm sorry it gets cold in New York." Nini said pouting. 

"You're a thief. But that's actually really sweet, so I'll let it slide." Ricky chuckled and flashed that boyish smile that always made her knees buckle and her heart beat fast. "Next time I visit you I'm definitely stealing your jacket or something. It's only fair." 

Nini laughed at his suggestion, picturing Ricky in her jacket and how small it would look on him. "There's no way we're trading jackets, none of mine will fit you. But if you promise to come soon, I'll give you like three jackets." 

"Deal." Ricky said smiling. "I miss you so much, Neens." 

"I miss you too." Nini lifted up Bob the Labrador - who was getting heavier by the minute, to the camera. "Bob misses you too. But we gotta go, I'll text you later!" 

"Okay. Bye, Neens. Bye Bobby."
_____

EJ was leaning back in his chair, eating a donut, while Nini was squinting at the numbers on his screen. Nini needed to work out the budget for the YAC program, and EJ was helping her. He had calculated all the projected expenses in a spreadsheet for Nini to review. 

"So I guess it looks good?" Nini asked unsurely, she'd never been great with numbers, and she just needed to know if she was over or under. 

"Yep. We still on track." EJ said, "So what's the next phase of the project?" 

"So I've briefly come up with an outline of the project with the people at YAC, and basically we'd have to present it to our bosses." Nini explained, "After that gets approved then we'll start with the mentoring program. Hopefully we'll be able to start by October." 

"So how's that going to work? The mentoring thing?" EJ asked grabbing another donut from the box. 

"Well, the idea is to have the kids pair up with someone who works at Figment, or one of our connections." Nini said, "They would meet at least 3 times to work on a project together, and then the project would be showcased at the fundraiser and the December issue." 

"You have anyone in mind yet?" EJ asked. 

"Yup. I have a list as a matter of fact." Nini pulled up her notes on her phone, "Kourt and Gina are going to be mentors too... Did you know Gina dances?" 

"Yeah." EJ blushed hearing Gina's name. "We.. uh.. went out dancing on Saturday actually. Well, she danced, I watched." 

"She's basically like a professional." Nini said beaming, "Now all I need is someone who's familiar with photography and writing."

EJ chuckled, making Nini raise her eyebrows at him.