More Issues In Aruba | ✔️

Chapter 27

A/N: last. chapter. ugh.

Chapter 27

"Wait, you live here?" I said, eyeing the inside of an apartment I knew every square inch of. It was almost ironic that after three years, I'd be standing in the living room as a guest to the place.

"Yep. I moved in about a year ago. It's a bit smaller than my old place but way closer to work."

I spun my body around and did a three hundred and sixty degree turn of the familiar place I knew too well. I could picture everything. The time me, Kevin, Tony, and Bessa had popped champagne before our first night out. The times I had almost set the apartment on fire in the kitchen. The coat closet Nate hid in.

Memories came flooding back, some I had even forgotten about. I smiled to myself, the nostalgia hitting my like a wave. It looked as clean as I had left it.

Everything looked the same except it had housed all of Max's belongings, not mine.

I pointed to the spot on the counter where a coffee maker now stood. "Does that have a really deep black mark on the counter underneath it?"

"Yeah, it does and I've been trying to-" Then Max did a double take at me and scrunched his eyebrows. "Wait, how did you know that?"

A small smile formed on my face. "I burned the countertop with my curling iron because I had blown out the plugs in both my bedroom bathroom and the hallway bathroom."

He now had a surprised look on his face. "You blew the plugs out? Have you been here before?"

I giggled into my hand. "I used to live here. This was my first apartment in the city."

Max's eyes bulged out. "What? This exact apartment?"

"This exact apartment," I repeated in the same shock. "I can't believe it either. There are a lot of memories in this place."

"No way," Max covered his mouth in awe. "Do you want to take a moment?"

"No," I laughed, shaking my head. "I've said my goodbyes to this place already. I hope you're taking care of it."

"Well, now that I know I have big shoes to fill," He nudged me. "I guess I don't have a choice. I can't believe what a coincidence this is."

"Me either," I said. "But, enough going down memory lane. Let's go eat!"

We took a cab to a new Thai restaurant that opened up in Chelsea that was just a ten minute drive away. As we settled into our table and got the menus, Max stared at me wearily.

"What is it?" I asked him, feeling his eyes burn into me as I scanned the menu.

He shifted, looking around. "You're sure Nate's okay with this?"

My eyes slowly lifted up at him.

It'd been one week since we got back from Aruba and since then, things between me and Nate has been, for a lack of a better word, utterly blissful. Despite the fact that he was halfway around the world right now, he never failed to call to tell me good morning and also goodnight.

I know, very cheesy, but it felt assuring to know that I was the first person he thought of when he woke up and the last before he went to sleep. Besides, now that I had gone full fledged back into work, it was easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of things and forget to say the simple things like a good morning or a goodnight.

He hadn't shown any alarming signs of severe jealousy or possessiveness that would render me uncomfortable to spend time with my guy friends. I know a few years ago, he was a completely persistent and ignorant pest who wouldn't take no for an answer, but he's definitely settled down from that type of behavior. He's learned to put his trust in me and considering half my friends were men, he would have to get used to my platonic friendships with Kevin, Tony, and Max.