Noah (5th Street series)

Chapter 13 - Part 1

Since Veronica had started working out at 5th Street, the gym seemed to have picked up more members. The place was a lot busier these days. She often had to park out on the street as she did tonight because the small parking lot that once had plenty of parking was always full now. Noah said it had everything to do their boxer friend who once trained here. He'd been doing a lot of plugging for the gym lately in television and radio interviews.

She hurried in a little earlier than usual. Before last night, she hadn't even planned on getting a Christmas tree, but after deciding she needed to get back to her old self, getting a tree seemed like a normal thing to do, something she normally would've done weeks ago. Before her mother got sick, the holidays had been the best time of the year for her. This was it. She was determined to get back to normal. So tonight, she was cutting her workout short and leaving early to buy a tree.

Her heart sped up when her eyes met Noah's as she walked in. He smiled, but there was something cautious about his smile. She thought about his call. He was probably still worried about last night. She'd almost called him back but decided that would be making too big a deal about their little exchange, and that's the last thing she wanted.

"Hey," Noah still wore his boxing gloves. "You're early."

"Yeah, I need to get out of here early tonight."

He'd started taking off his gloves but stopped and stared at her. "Oh yeah? You have plans tonight?"

She dropped her gym bag on the floor and began to stretch. "Yep."

She knew he was probably thinking something social not a pathetic solo tree-shopping trip, so she let him think that instead of admitting the truth. Unfortunately, he kept on.

"With who?"

She came up from her bent position and pulled her leg up from behind her, holding her foot with her hand. "I have a date," she grinned. Not surprisingly, his eyes opened wide. Of course he'd be shocked, but he'd find out the truth soon enough, so she added with a shrug, "with a tree."

His shocked expression turned into a confused one. "A tree?"

"Yeah," she nodded, smiling. "I'm getting my Christmas tree tonight. I wanna have enough time to get home and decorate it tonight. Christmas is just around the corner."

Noah started working on removing his gloves again, but his eyes remained on her. "By yourself?"

She dropped her leg and picked up the other one. "Uh-huh." She smiled big, trying to appear more excited about it than she really was. The truth was she wasn't looking forward to it. She'd always had someone to go with her. Before her mom died, they went together and took forever to pick out the perfect one. When her mom got sick, Nellie took her mother's place and Rick helped get it in her house.

The thought of Noah accompanying her had crossed her mind, but after last night, she wasn't sure she should be spending so much time with him. Obviously, her feelings for him had grown way past the friendship or even crush stage. She needed to back up and get a hold of the situation. Christmas would be rolling around soon, and she was going to have to deal with him and Rita.

"I can go with you."

She shook her head a little too hard and too quickly, so she caught herself and tried to be a little more subtle about it. "No, that's okay. You don't have to."

His eyebrows pinched as he placed his glove under his arm and pulled his hand out. "Look, Roni about last night—"

"Can we just forget about last night?" She shrugged. "They said the holidays would be tough my first year without my mom, and I think it's just been making me a little weird."