Getting Under Nathan

21: "Tomorrow's another day."

Chapter 21 - "Tomorrow's another day."

"How was Paris?"

I'd been rustling up some lunch in the kitchen, in a world of my own, and was startled by Jack's voice. He'd entered the kitchen seemingly silently, and had proceeded to open the fridge door.

"Oh, hey," I smiled quickly. "It was really nice thanks. We managed to get a lot done."

"Cool," he said, still rooting around in the fridge. "I'm really sorry about that phone call by the way."

His whole body language and casual demeanour suggested that he really didn't want to make a big deal out of it. I decided to respect his decision and move on from it. Nathan may have wanted to dissect the whole argument and apologize profusely, but all boys were different. Jack clearly just wanted to forget it all.

"It's fine," I replied, just as casually, flicking on the hob and waiting for the ring to heat up. "It was none of my business."

Jack pulled a coke out of the fridge and slowly unscrewed the top before taking a quick swig.

"It was your business, Izzy," he sighed. "You were just looking out for me. I was too proud to admit that at the time."

"Have you spoken to her?" I asked.

He shrugged, which I took as meaning yes. "I can't believe it's happened to me twice," he muttered. "Although I guess this time I did sort of bring it upon myself by mouthing off about what a player I am," he added, laughing bitterly.

He pushed himself up onto the table and took another sip of his coke. 

"So tell me about Paris," he said with an easy smile. "And don't leave anything out."

With the argument well and truly forgotten, I launched into recounting the details of my romantic weekend away with Nathan. Jack listened politely, asking questions every now and then about various places in Paris.

"Did you exercise your linguistic abilities?" he asked during a pause.

I laughed softly. "I tried. They all spoke back to me in English."

"God, it's annoying when that happens!" Jack sympathised, nodding. "To be honest, I don't know why Nath took you to Paris instead of me. I'm the one learning French. The whole experience would have been much more beneficial to me than you."

I snorted. "Maybe because I'm the one who's sharing the anniversary with him?"

"Don't be jealous of our bromance, Izzy," Jack sighed dramatically. "You have to learn to share."

"Well he's coming to visit on Friday so you'll be reunited," I said dryly.

"Is he?" Jack's eyes lit up. "Fantastic! Then you really will have to learn to share."

I didn't doubt it for a second. That reminded me of Nathan's sleep-talking though, when I felt like I was sharing a bed with not only him but this mysterious Louisa too.

"Has Nathan ever mentioned someone called Louisa to you?" I asked him.

He frowned and tilted his head to the side as he considered it. "Louisa...? Is that his assistant?"

"Yeah," I said. "How do you know that?"

"Oh we were once playing FIFA and she sent him an email about a load of translation stuff that was overdue," he shrugged. "The only reason I remember is that he got quite wound up about it and made a comment about how he hates that she emails him on the weekends."

"Oh," I murmured, thinking back to what Nathan had been murmuring in his dream. He just kept saying 'no' and then murmuring about how much he loved me. So was he saying no to all the work? What did I have to do with that?