Remember Me? (Book 1) COMPLETED

Nick and Not-Nick

NICK

"Does Katherine know that you own the company she's going to work at?" Erland asked, once we pulled onto the highway.

I was so startled I almost got rear-ended by the car behind me. My eyes met his in the rearview mirror. "No." She would've quit today, if such were the case.

"What about my mom?"

"Does she know, do you mean?"

I threw Erland another glance in the mirror, but he stared out the window. He aggravated the logo on his baseball cap with trembling fingers.

"I'm not sure." I answered, moving into the left lane as the traffic stalled. "I never spoke with her directly, and the last time Camille saw me, all she knew was that I couldn't pay for my half the wedding because my business was failing."

Erland was silent for many moments. I tried to move my mind elsewhere, so the kid wouldn't think I was staring at him through the mirror.

"What are you going to do now?" he asked, sounding more composed than before.

Crap. I'd lost track of the conversation. "What am I going to do about what?"

"About paying my mother back for the wedding." His eyes flashed as his head turned to face me. He didn't appear to be fifteen years old anymore, but more like a loan shark collecting an old debt.

I cleared my throat, which had suddenly become dry. "I hadn't thought about it, if I'm honest, Erland."

Erland let out a bitter laugh, slicing under my skin. "Of course not." He glared, throwing his cap to the other side of the car. "You just left. You left Katherine . . . you left us . . . and you left me."

My tongue was cotton in my mouth. How could I not have considered the damage I was doing to this boy? Had I been so cruel before? My thoughts drifted to the events of today, my inner urgings for companionship . . . was I so uncaring still?

The traffic came to a full stop as the sun hung low on the horizon. I sighed, trying to ignore the chorus of honks and road rage.

Before today, the last time I'd seen Erland was a month after the botched wedding. I had come back to the apartment to gather the last boxes Katherine was throwing out, and she gave me explicit times to be there. She didn't want to see me, understandably. At that time, I didn't quite care.

Katherine was not home, but that didn't mean the apartment was empty. Since I'd moved in with her, she'd turned her office into a guest bedroom. Her living room, dining table, kitchen counter—literally any place with a flat surface or a place to sit—became her workspace. When I entered the apartment for that last time, it surprised me how clean the place was. I guess most of the crap around the place was mine.

No one was in the house, and I was thirsty, so I raided Katherine's kitchen in search of a beer.

"She threw all your stuff out. What's by the door is all that's left."

I turned, slamming the fridge door and holding my hands in surrender. My arms dropped to my side when I realized who it was, and a nervous grin tugged at the corner of my lips.

"Hey, buddy," I said, walking out of the kitchen, sorry for my lost beer more than anything. "How are ya?"

A slight frown darkened the boy's round features. "Where are you going?" he asked, eyes following me towards the front door. "Are you and Katherine in a fight?" His eyes grew bright. "Are you not going to come back?"

I didn't know how much Katherine had told him, so I played it safe. "I'm just going away for a while, bud," I answered, forcing as sincere a smile as I could muster.

"Why?" he asked, crossing his arm. His eyes glittered with intensity. Could that be anger?

"I have some work."

"Katherine says you don't have a job," he said tartly.

I chuckled. Of course she would. "I just got one, then."

"Is it far away?" Erland asked, relaxing somewhat now. His tongue loosened and he let out of a flurry of questions. "Is Katherine going to go with you? Is that why you're taking all your stuff?" He nodded at the boxes by the door.

"It's not that far," I answered. Though I think Kat would prefer if I disappeared altogether. "Kat isn't coming with me right now."

Erland paused for a moment. Then his eyes brightened. "Can I come, then?"

"I don't think your Camille would be okay with that—"

"Oh." The boy looked crestfallen.

I looked back at him. At this moment, I had half a mind to hate myself, but I kept a mischievous smile on my face. "Hey, you know what else, bud?"

"What?" he asked, perking up now, like a puppy presented with a ball.

"If you go pack a little something," I said conspirationally, leaning down so my face was level with his, "you can come with me for a little while."

He shrieked with delight. I couldn't help but smile.

"I'll be right back!" he crowed, running out of the room. "Give me five minutes!"

Five minutes was all I needed.

"Sure thing, bud."

I was gone by the time he came out.

Now it occurred to me the kind of crap I'd left behind.

"You know," said Erland, drawing my mind back to the car, "you could've just dropped me off at a hotel near the airport. I could easily catch a flight back tomorrow morning." He must caught the surprise on my face in the rearview mirror because he added, "I can handle myself just fine, Nick."

"I know," I said, after a moment, "but Katherine put you in my charge and I have to take care of you. You're still a minor."

"No more than you," Erland shot back.

"I'm twenty-nine, Erland," I answered, pulling the car forward with the movement of traffic. The pace was beginning to pick up again.

"With the mind of a young child," he said matter-of-factly. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have abandoned my sister for some flooze."

"That flooze happens to be my wife," I snapped back, though out of pride more than wanting to defend Victoria.

My eyes flickered up to the rearview mirror just as Erland scowled. "Sounds like you just wouldn't marry Kat then."

"Things didn't work out with us, kid," I said, fixing my gaze back on the road. I motioned for the right-hand lane with a turn signal. This was our exit. "Sometimes relationships don't work out."

"And sometimes guys are selfish bastards," Erland spat. I could feel his gaze boring holes into my back. My breath stalled in my throat.

"You got me there," I said at last. Could I ever get him to believe anything different?

"I'm not going to be like that when I find someone I want to marry," said Erland, with intensity but not anger. "I'll be Not-Nick."

I chuckled under my breath. I hope my best to join you, kid.