[a/n : hi guys, hopefully y'all are staying safe and healthy. thank you for reading! Enjoy...]
It had been one week since Ricky went back to Salt Lake City. The two had been texting non-stop, and FaceTiming almost everyday. Currently, Nini was having breakfast in her New York apartment while her boyfriend was frantically looking for something on the other side of the call without a shirt on.
"I cannot find anything in this house!" Ricky exclaimed.
"Let me guess, you're looking for the orange hoodie?" Nini asked guiltily. She'd found the hoodie on Ricky's bed while he was packing last week, and she'd decided to keep it for herself. It was soft and smelled like Ricky, and she'd been wearing it to bed for the past week. She felt bad but she just missed him so much.
"Yes... How do you know that? That's creepy." Ricky said looking straight at the camera.
Nini sighed, and went off frame to grab the aforementioned piece of clothing.
"I stole it, Ricky. I'm sorry it gets cold in New York." Nini said pouting.
"You're a thief. But that's actually really sweet, so I'll let it slide." Ricky chuckled and flashed that boyish smile that always made her knees buckle and her heart beat fast. "Next time I visit you I'm definitely stealing your jacket or something. It's only fair."
Nini laughed at his suggestion, picturing Ricky in her jacket and how small it would look on him. "There's no way we're trading jackets, none of mine will fit you. But if you promise to come soon, I'll give you like three jackets."
"Deal." Ricky said smiling. "I miss you so much, Neens."
"I miss you too." Nini lifted up Bob the Labrador - who was getting heavier by the minute, to the camera. "Bob misses you too. But we gotta go, I'll text you later!"
"Okay. Bye, Neens. Bye Bobby."
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EJ was leaning back in his chair, eating a donut, while Nini was squinting at the numbers on his screen. Nini needed to work out the budget for the YAC program, and EJ was helping her. He had calculated all the projected expenses in a spreadsheet for Nini to review.
"So I guess it looks good?" Nini asked unsurely, she'd never been great with numbers, and she just needed to know if she was over or under.
"Yep. We still on track." EJ said, "So what's the next phase of the project?"
"So I've briefly come up with an outline of the project with the people at YAC, and basically we'd have to present it to our bosses." Nini explained, "After that gets approved then we'll start with the mentoring program. Hopefully we'll be able to start by October."
"So how's that going to work? The mentoring thing?" EJ asked grabbing another donut from the box.
"Well, the idea is to have the kids pair up with someone who works at Figment, or one of our connections." Nini said, "They would meet at least 3 times to work on a project together, and then the project would be showcased at the fundraiser and the December issue."
"You have anyone in mind yet?" EJ asked.
"Yup. I have a list as a matter of fact." Nini pulled up her notes on her phone, "Kourt and Gina are going to be mentors too... Did you know Gina dances?"
"Yeah." EJ blushed hearing Gina's name. "We.. uh.. went out dancing on Saturday actually. Well, she danced, I watched."
"She's basically like a professional." Nini said beaming, "Now all I need is someone who's familiar with photography and writing."
EJ chuckled, making Nini raise her eyebrows at him.
"Nini. Your boyfriend is literally a photographer who has won a competition at our magazine, and also did you forget you're a writer?"
Nini hadn't thought about that. Ricky would be absolutely perfect for the role, plus it means she'd get to see him a few more times, if he agreed that is. He was insanely talented, and he was patient too. She made a mental note to ask him later.
"That's actually a great idea. I don't know about me though. I'm pretty overwhelmed with the project and this next edition of the magazine." Nini said doubtfully, "Not sure I can handle being a mentor too."
"Just think about it." EJ said. "I think you'd be a great mentor."
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Ricky was having the worst day. The video call in the morning with Nini was literally the best part of his day so far. He had come to work today expecting to photograph 5 of his clients. But a few minutes into his first session, the power went out and he had to reschedule some of the appointments to the afternoon, and others had to be moved to another day. To make matters worse, one of his clients had made a scene.
She was one of the lovely bride-to-bes and she was supposed to have a session with her and her bridesmaids, which had to be rescheduled to a different day. But this bridezilla basically crashed his session with a different client. She'd barged into the studio and basically yelled at Ricky saying that he didn't understand how precious her time was, and basically wanted a full refund. Ricky tried to calm her down and assured her that none of this was within his control, and that if she really wanted the money back he would gladly give it to her. She then proceeded to knock over some of his equipment, yell at Ricky again because now she had to find another photographer and exited the studio. Effectively traumatizing his client.
On top of that, when she backed out of her parking spot, she purposely bumped into Ricky's car. It was safe to say that she was not coming back, and Ricky was refunding every penny he'd gotten from her. After work, he took his beat up car to the shop, and the mechanic said that it would take at least one week to fix it. So he had to walk and take public transport for the rest of the week. It was a hell of a day and Ricky just wanted to get some lasagna at Slices, go home, call his girlfriend, and go to bed. When he arrived at Salt Lake Slices, Big Red was swamped with arranging deliveries, and so Ricky had to eat alone. They were out of lasagna for the night, so Ricky ended up having spaghetti and meatballs.
Instead of going home, Ricky found himself at the skate park. It was always the place he went to when he needed to cool down and have a think. He thought about calling Nini, but he didn't want to bring her down with his mood. So he opted to do some tricks on the ramps instead. He was practicing his ollies, when his phone rang, causing him to fall to the ground with a thud. He laid on the ground, rummaging through his pockets until he found the phone. As he suspected, it was Nini.
"Hey, you.. I missed you today, what are you up to?" Nini said brightly. Ricky was glad that his girlfriend was having a better day than him.
"I missed you too, Neens. So much." He said sadly. "Nothing much just work as usual."
"Wait. Where are you?" Nini asked, "Are you at the skate park? Is everything okay, Ricky?"
Ricky loved that she knew him so well. In the past, whenever they'd argued and it had been too much, whenever Ricky had to run away, she would find him right here. in this park. But he didn't want her to worry, so he tried his best to pretend everything was okay.
"Yeah. I'm at the skate park. Don't worry I'm okay. It's just been a while since I skated, and Big Red was busy tonight, so I thought I'd hang here for a while." Ricky lied, "What about you though? How was your day? Someone seems happy."
"My day was alright." Nini said, "Remember the project I told you about? with YAC?" NIni went on to explain her project and how it was a good opportunity for her, and she seemed really excited about it. Ricky was glad for her, but sometimes he couldn't help but think that Nini was doing so well, while he was just an ordinary guy. Was he holding her back? She was just a small time journalist when they were dating, they break up, and she gets her dream job.
"-so will you do it?" Nini asked.
"Do what?" Ricky had been lost in his thoughts that he hadn't paid attention to what Nini was asking. The disappointment was evident in Nini's face and he hated being the cause of it.
"I was talking about the mentoring program and how I think you'd be a great fit. Are you sure you're okay, babe? You can tell me." Nini said, tilting her head. Ricky knew he couldn't hide from her, so he decided to come clean.
"I'm okay, I promise. I just had a long day that's all." He proceeded to tell her the story, but reassured her that he was fine. "I just didn't want you to worry."
"I'm so sorry you had a bad day. If I see that bride I'm going to give her a piece of my mind." Ricky loved it when Nini was being protective and defending him. "But you could have told me. I don't want you to hide your problems from me. It's me. I've known you all my life. Even when we're miles apart, I still wanna be there for you."
Nini always knew what to say to make him feel better. He felt loved and cared for whenever he was with her.
"Thank you. You're my rock, you know that?" He wished he could kiss her right now, but he would have to settle for a smile. "Tell me again about your project."
Nini explained it again to him, and Ricky wondered why she thought he would be qualified to be a mentor. She'd always thought too highly of him, and he always thought that she kept giving and giving and he was just taking from her all the time.
"So.. what do you think?" Nini asked hopefully. Ricky could see the glimmer in her eyes, this was a special project for her, and he didn't want to be the one messing it up for her.
"It sounds amazing, don't get me wrong." Ricky watched as her face fell internally cursing himself. "I just don't know if I'm qualified."
Nini frowned at that. "Of course you are! You're like the most talented photographer I know, and think about the difference you can make. I'm not just saying this because I'm your girlfriend." Nini insisted, "You basically won a competition at our magazine last month, which shows that it's not just me, Ricky. Other people see it too. You're special, your work is amazing, and you're perfect for the task. Please, Ricky?"
Ricky sighed, there she goes again. He wanted to ask her if he won the photo competition by default because she was judging, but he didn't want to get into it with her right now. She wouldn't do that to him right?
"Look. I'm just asking you to think about it, okay?" Nini sighed. "If you really don't want to do it, I understand, just give it some thought before you dismiss it, okay?"
The last thing he wanted was for her to feel dismissed. Ricky shook his head. If Nini believed in him then he must be worth something, right? "No. I don't have to think about it, okay? I know this project means a lot to you, and I want to support you. Like you've supported me all my life." Ricky said, "I'll do it."
"Are you sure?" Nini asked, but Ricky could tell she was trying her best not to smile, "cause I don't want you to do it just for me."
"No. You're right, it's a chance for me to make a difference, and it gives me a lot of reasons to visit you, so I'll give it a try, Okay?"
Nini squealed excitedly and kissed the phone screen. "You're the best. I miss you. I'll see you tomorrow okay?"
"Okay. I miss you too babe. So much."
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