Not What I Expected

Part 8

12 Years Ago

Nicole was a mess. She was an absolute nervous wreck, but she was lucky to have Beth with her at that moment to talk her off the ledge. She was going on her first real date with Chad, a guy she had met a few months after Ryan had broken up with her. It wasn't an immediate attraction she had with Chad, but they definitely had a connection.

Nicole and Beth had gone out on the town one night after Beth had finally had enough of Nicole wallowing in self-pity and sadness over Ryan breaking up with her. She had been absolutely heart broken when Ryan called it off and even after four months Nicole still couldn't let him go. Beth had never understood how in love Nicole was with Ryan until it was over.

That night Nicole had been introduced to Chad by a mutual friend of theirs and they became fast friends. The three of them hung out together a lot, but over several months Chad and Nicole grew closer until one day he asked her if she wanted to go on a date.

That brought Nicole to now, the night of their first date and she had no idea what to wear, how to act or what to say to him when she saw him. She remembered being the exact same way with Ryan when they first started dating so she had assumed that this was a natural feeling.

"Here Nic," Beth said as she walked out of Nicole's closet, "Wear this. It will be perfect for dinner and a movie."

Nicole looked over at her friend who had a pair of blue jeans in one hand and a cute fitted t-shirt in the other. It was casual but cute and it was perfect. She ran over to her best friend and quickly kissed her on the cheek.

"It's perfect," Nicole exclaimed happily, "I don't know what I would do without you."

"Crash and burn?" Beth questioned her with a grin.

Nicole rolled her eyes and then disappeared into the closet to change. Her hands were shaking, her stomach was flipping and flopping and she was completely and utterly excited to see Chad. She stepped out of her closet and looked at herself in the mirror and smiled, hoping that Chad was just as excited to see her...

Present Day

Chad sat in his truck in front of their house, but was unable to force himself to get out and go knock on the door. He had been so nervous when she had said that she would like it if he came over. He was afraid to ruin the moment, he was afraid that when she saw him she would regret inviting him over. He was afraid that the moment she saw him, she would only see the monster that he had become.

Over the last two weeks he had buried himself in work as he was in the middle of preparing for a big trial that Ryan Wilson just so happened to be opposing counsel on. He didn't think that it would be wise for him to mention to Nicole that over the next month or so he would be dealing with her ex-boyfriend. He had also made an effort to see Hudson as much as he could and as much as Nicole would allow. He didn't realize how much he missed his family until everything was on the line for him.

He sat there and looked down at his ring finger and smiled. Just maybe there was a chance that he and Nicole could work through all of this and save their marriage.

He took a deep breath, looked at the clock in his truck which said it was 6:45 p.m., and then he jumped out. He slowly made his way up the walkway to their house and knocked on the door. He was sure that he could have just walked in, but he didn't want to assume anything at this point in the game. He was just here to visit and talk and he was prepared to answer any questions she might have and he would just give her the reigns. He would let Nicole have complete control over the evening.