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Second chances in new port stephen
CHAPTER 2
Nick Wu stood in front of the chardonnay section of the Wine Barn with his brow furrowed and his cart empty. He’d assumed that his Christmas shopping was complete, but then his beloved restaurant staff—those fuckers—had surprised their favorite general manager with a truly dizzying array of gifts consisting of shit he did not need. What would he even do with an air fryer? Who needed to fry with air when there were three serviceable deep fat fryers down at the Thirsty Manatee that could cook high-calorie food as nature intended?
Now he was obligated to buy last-minute holiday presents for all the people who had gotten him a present, which was a stressful fulfillment of the social contract and yet another reason for him to consider Christmastime to be the absolute worst. Nick had intended to get this chore done earlier, but he’d been delayed at the intersection where Magnolia met Route 1 because a gopher tortoise was crossing the road. Nick had risked salmonella by carrying the reptile to the other side to save it from being flattened into a pancake by oncoming traffic.
Because he was a good guy, he reminded himself. Good guys saved tortoises from certain death. They reciprocated gifts. They didn’t have meltdowns in the chardonnay aisle seventeen minutes before closing time because they couldn’t decide which bottle of wine best said thank you for the air fryer I’ll never use!
Nick rubbed a hand over his tired face. He needed to pull himself together. The season was ramping up, with snowbirds starting to trickle down south, filling the tables at the Manatee. More business meant more work, longer hours. Though if Nick were being honest with himself, Sandra and the rest of the staff
had their shifts pretty much under control. Even packed weekend dinner services were running like clockwork. The owner of the place seemed happy with the results, which was what really mattered.
But it wasn’t just work that was leaving him exhausted. Juggling schedules with Laurie—Zoe’s soccer practices and day care and all the stuff that came with trying to make Christmas fun for a four-year-old—was also draining. Nick couldn’t even remember being four. Was Zoe really going to be emotionally stunted if her parents didn’t get the requisite pictures of her on a mall Santa’s lap before December 25th? Maybe she’d like an air fryer instead. Two birds with one stone.
This was getting him nowhere. Nick pushed his cart toward the sparkling section. Everyone liked bubbles, he was pretty sure. He’d grab a case of whatever mid-range bottle had the prettiest label.
His shopping cart collided with something that made a metallic clang and glassy rattle. Nick whipped his head up, realizing belatedly that he’d T-boned a fellow shopper. The guy blinked at him, his own cart filled to the brim with more wine and hard liquor than Nick had ever seen outside of the Manatee’s storeroom.
“Sorry,” Nick blurted out. “I was—sorry.” He backed his cart up a few feet so he could maneuver around his victim, keeping his gaze down out of embarrassment. “Wasn’t paying attention.”
“Nick?” said the guy. “Nick Wu?”
Nick lifted his head and took a better look at him. His eyes were wide and his mouth was open in surprise. He was short, had brown hair, a mustache, about Nick’s own age, maybe a little younger. He didn’t look all that familiar. “Sorry, do we know each other?”
“Yeah.” The guy stared at him for a long beat. “We do. We did? We do. It’s— me.” He pointed at his own face. “You really don’t recognize this mug?” Far from being offended, he seemed delighted by the prospect. His hazel eyes were shining, a grin stretching across his lips.
“I’m really sorry, I can’t place you,” Nick said. He was still using his polite business voice in case the stranger was someone from the county health inspector’s office. “It’s been a long day. Refresh my memory?”
“Nick Not-Short-for-Nicholas-No-Middle-Name Wu,” he said in an admonishing tone. The strange man’s voice dropped into a register reserved for whispered secrets. “And they say you never forget your first.”
Nick’s brain clicked into gear. A flood of memory surged through his body. Sharing a back seat in Mrs. Cora’s minivan during preschool carpools. Tramping through the woods that had surrounded his house with his best friend at his side. Laughing until he puked in a Taco Bell parking lot the weekend after he got his driver’s license. Sitting in the back row of the dollar movie theater, a place that didn’t exist anymore, and screwing up enough courage to hold someone’s hand for the first time since they were little kids using the buddy system.
His first kiss. His first—everything.
“Oh my god. K—?” He stopped himself before he blurted out a name that he was pretty sure wasn’t currently in use. The floor felt like it was dissolving under his feet. “Sorry! I mean… Who do I mean?”
“Eli!” Eli threw his head back and laughed long and loud. “It’s Eli now. Holy shit, your face. You really went on a journey, huh? That was wild.”
“Eli.” The name was new in his mouth, but it also felt strangely fitting there. He stared at what had once been the most familiar face in his life, now made different. Was there a trace of the old Eli in the way he squinched up his nose? In the laugh lines around his mouth? Nick could feel his neck getting prickly and hot; only Eli had ever gotten that kind of reaction out of him. “I knew that. I mean, I’d heard that. I’m not on Facebook, but Penny—You remember Penny? From middle school? We’re co-workers. She said she’d seen your posts about it. Not that you were some hot topic of gossip or anything! And this was years ago, I think, so—”
“Yeah, I know. I was living it.” Eli’s smile did not abate. Now that Nick knew who he was, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t realized it before. That smile was as unique as a fingerprint with its little curl downward at the corner. Lopsided. That’s how Nick used to think of it back when they were—
When they were kids.
Friends.
Dating.
When they were other people. People who knew each other by the shape of their smiles.
“Wow, what’s it been?” Eli said. “Like, two decades? You look good, man.”
“Thanks,” Nick said in an automatic daze. “You look—” He struggled for something to say. “Different.” He shook his head. He was messing this up. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize who you were, it’s just—very different.”
“Hey, no sweat. It’s actually a big ego boost, you know?” Eli leaned over his stuffed cart, using that secret whisper again. “I want to look different. That’s kind of the goal.”
“Right. Exactly.” Nick nodded a bit, then lapsed into silence. He was still having a hard time believing that this was really happening. That after all these years, he was in a wine store talking to his first—girlfriend? No, that seemed disrespectful…. Boyfriend? Except Nick had never dated boys. Except that he had, apparently. Retroactively.
Eli waved a hand in front of his eyes. “You okay there, bud?”
Nick blinked back to himself. “Yeah! Like I said, long day.” He groped for anything normal to say and focused on Eli’s jam-packed cart. “You throwing a party?”
Eli looked down at his selection of wine and booze like he’d forgotten the bottles were there. “Oh. No. I mean, I’m not. My mom is. I’m just doing a liquor run for her.”
“Right, your parents’ Christmas thing.” Nick snapped his fingers. “My dad mentioned it.”
“Yeah, I saw him. Well, literally saw him, period. I didn’t have a chance to say hi or anything.” He looked suitably embarrassed. “The cat made a break for it— long story—and then I got sent on this mission.” He rattled his cart, bottles clinking. “Anything for the party people.”
“Sounds like a fun time,” Nick offered.
“Yeah, I guess, if you’re a drinker.” Eli’s nose squinched tellingly.
Nick couldn’t recall either of them ever drinking much during their teenage years. “Never got the taste for it?”
“Uh, no. I did. Got too many tastes, actually.” Eli’s smile went brittle. “Had to give it up.”
“Ah.” Nick gave a worried glance at the shelves that surrounded them. Bottles of premixed margaritas and piña coladas sat in rows of neon-painted labels. Not exactly the most comfortable place in the world for a person trying to stay sober, he thought.
Eli must have noticed his wary look. “I can be around it. It’s not going to kill me to watch other people drink. It’s just kind of boring.”
A weak laugh left Nick. “Yeah, I was going to say—”
“That would be bad,” Eli finished for him.
They stood in awkward silence for another moment. Nick wondered if now was a good time to say their goodbyes, but Eli spoke before he could broach the tried and tested Well, I’ll let you go….
“I heard about your mom,” he said, gnawing on his lower lip. “I’m really sorry.”
Nick’s breath caught. When his mom had died six years ago, before Zoe was even born, most people didn’t know what to say. She’d been walking along a newly opened stretch of road that bordered the wildlife preserve, always wanting to get her exercise in. It had been early morning, and a car hit her. The driver kept going. A year or so of stilted condolences, worthless thoughts and prayers, and then no one seemed to mention her. Even Nick’s dad didn’t go out of his way to talk about her or the accident anymore. The hit-and-run had been a nightmare, but the ensuing erasure of his mom was the thing that hurt the most.
Nick swallowed. “Yeah, I—thank you for those flowers.” Even with the haze of funeral planning, he remembered the wreath of white mums from the Ward family and the accompanying card that contained all their names, including Eli’s old one.
“Least I could do,” Eli said. “Your mom was such a nice lady. Always had the best snacks.”
That made Nick feel less heavy. “Remember the cake she used to make?”
“Yes! My mom called it air cake because it was so light and fluffy,” Eli said with a laugh. “Your mom would give us a slice for breakfast on the way to preschool. Fuck, she was awesome.” He looked at Nick warmly. “I think about her all the time. Hope that’s not weird to say.”
“It’s not weird. I’m—I’m glad.” Nick realized that if his mom were there, she’d be chiding him to remember his manners. “You must be in town to see your folks for Christmas, right?”
Eli opened his mouth to respond, but he was cut off by the sudden appearance of a Wine Barn employee in the requisite orange vest, looking harried.
“Excuse me, gentlemen, but the store is closing.”
“Oh.” Nick looked around and saw that the sprawling warehouse of alcohol was completely empty except for them. He’d forgotten he was working against a ticking clock when he ran into Eli. His shopping cart didn’t even have anything in it yet. “Uh—”
“I should get going,” Eli said, pushing his cart carefully around Nick’s. “It was good seeing you, though.”
“Yeah, good seeing you.” Nick turned to watch Eli and his overloaded cart trundle toward the registers, escorted by the beleaguered Wine Barn employee. Something about the line of Eli’s shoulders reminded him of another time Nick had watched him walk away. Without thinking too hard about it, he called out, “We should catch up while you’re in town.”
Eli paused somewhere around the malbecs, the orange-vested staff member stopping alongside him with a huff. He turned to look over his shoulder, curiosity pinching his face. “Totally,” he said. “We should.”
“I’m running the Thirsty Manatee now,” Nick said. “If you ever want to swing by.”
“Wow, that place is still open?” Eli leaned one elbow on the handle of his shopping cart. “I’m impressed. Waterfront property and all, I was sure some horrible condo developer would have bought it by now.”
“Nope, we’re still there.” Nick tried to inject some pride into this statement, but it sounded more weary. Like he wasn’t talking about the bar and grill anymore. “Still… sticking around.”
“Gentlemen, I really hate to break this up—” the Wine Barn employee said.
“Right! See you, Nick.” With a wave, Eli departed, shoving his squeaky cart the final dozen yards.
Nick watched him for a moment, seeing Eli’s mouth moving without hearing what he was saying to the staffer. Probably a self-deprecating apology disguised as a joke if the cashier’s half smile was anything to go by. The more things change, Nick thought, the more they stay the same.
It was impossible not to notice that they hadn’t actually made any solid plans to meet up. Not that Eli was obligated to. Maybe he thought it was weird for high school exes to hang out. For all Nick knew, it probably was.
Yep, Nick thought as he rushed to get all his shopping done before he was thrown out of the store. In all likelihood, he would never see Eli again.
Second chances in new port stephen
CHAPTER 2
Nick Wu stood in front of the chardonnay section of the Wine Barn with his brow furrowed and his cart empty. He’d assumed that his Christmas shopping was complete, but then his beloved restaurant staff—those fuckers—had surprised their favorite general manager with a truly dizzying array of gifts consisting of shit he did not need. What would he even do with an air fryer? Who needed to fry with air when there were three serviceable deep fat fryers down at the Thirsty Manatee that could cook high-calorie food as nature intended?
Now he was obligated to buy last-minute holiday presents for all the people who had gotten him a present, which was a stressful fulfillment of the social contract and yet another reason for him to consider Christmastime to be the absolute worst. Nick had intended to get this chore done earlier, but he’d been delayed at the intersection where Magnolia met Route 1 because a gopher tortoise was crossing the road. Nick had risked salmonella by carrying the reptile to the other side to save it from being flattened into a pancake by oncoming traffic.
Because he was a good guy, he reminded himself. Good guys saved tortoises from certain death. They reciprocated gifts. They didn’t have meltdowns in the chardonnay aisle seventeen minutes before closing time because they couldn’t decide which bottle of wine best said thank you for the air fryer I’ll never use!
Nick rubbed a hand over his tired face. He needed to pull himself together. The season was ramping up, with snowbirds starting to trickle down south, filling the tables at the Manatee. More business meant more work, longer hours. Though if Nick were being honest with himself, Sandra and the rest of the staff
had their shifts pretty much under control. Even packed weekend dinner services were running like clockwork. The owner of the place seemed happy with the results, which was what really mattered.
But it wasn’t just work that was leaving him exhausted. Juggling schedules with Laurie—Zoe’s soccer practices and day care and all the stuff that came with trying to make Christmas fun for a four-year-old—was also draining. Nick couldn’t even remember being four. Was Zoe really going to be emotionally stunted if her parents didn’t get the requisite pictures of her on a mall Santa’s lap before December 25th? Maybe she’d like an air fryer instead. Two birds with one stone.
This was getting him nowhere. Nick pushed his cart toward the sparkling section. Everyone liked bubbles, he was pretty sure. He’d grab a case of whatever mid-range bottle had the prettiest label.
His shopping cart collided with something that made a metallic clang and glassy rattle. Nick whipped his head up, realizing belatedly that he’d T-boned a fellow shopper. The guy blinked at him, his own cart filled to the brim with more wine and hard liquor than Nick had ever seen outside of the Manatee’s storeroom.
“Sorry,” Nick blurted out. “I was—sorry.” He backed his cart up a few feet so he could maneuver around his victim, keeping his gaze down out of embarrassment. “Wasn’t paying attention.”
“Nick?” said the guy. “Nick Wu?”
Nick lifted his head and took a better look at him. His eyes were wide and his mouth was open in surprise. He was short, had brown hair, a mustache, about Nick’s own age, maybe a little younger. He didn’t look all that familiar. “Sorry, do we know each other?”
“Yeah.” The guy stared at him for a long beat. “We do. We did? We do. It’s— me.” He pointed at his own face. “You really don’t recognize this mug?” Far from being offended, he seemed delighted by the prospect. His hazel eyes were shining, a grin stretching across his lips.
“I’m really sorry, I can’t place you,” Nick said. He was still using his polite business voice in case the stranger was someone from the county health inspector’s office. “It’s been a long day. Refresh my memory?”
“Nick Not-Short-for-Nicholas-No-Middle-Name Wu,” he said in an admonishing tone. The strange man’s voice dropped into a register reserved for whispered secrets. “And they say you never forget your first.”
Nick’s brain clicked into gear. A flood of memory surged through his body. Sharing a back seat in Mrs. Cora’s minivan during preschool carpools. Tramping through the woods that had surrounded his house with his best friend at his side. Laughing until he puked in a Taco Bell parking lot the weekend after he got his driver’s license. Sitting in the back row of the dollar movie theater, a place that didn’t exist anymore, and screwing up enough courage to hold someone’s hand for the first time since they were little kids using the buddy system.
His first kiss. His first—everything.
“Oh my god. K—?” He stopped himself before he blurted out a name that he was pretty sure wasn’t currently in use. The floor felt like it was dissolving under his feet. “Sorry! I mean… Who do I mean?”
“Eli!” Eli threw his head back and laughed long and loud. “It’s Eli now. Holy shit, your face. You really went on a journey, huh? That was wild.”
“Eli.” The name was new in his mouth, but it also felt strangely fitting there. He stared at what had once been the most familiar face in his life, now made different. Was there a trace of the old Eli in the way he squinched up his nose? In the laugh lines around his mouth? Nick could feel his neck getting prickly and hot; only Eli had ever gotten that kind of reaction out of him. “I knew that. I mean, I’d heard that. I’m not on Facebook, but Penny—You remember Penny? From middle school? We’re co-workers. She said she’d seen your posts about it. Not that you were some hot topic of gossip or anything! And this was years ago, I think, so—”
“Yeah, I know. I was living it.” Eli’s smile did not abate. Now that Nick knew who he was, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t realized it before. That smile was as unique as a fingerprint with its little curl downward at the corner. Lopsided. That’s how Nick used to think of it back when they were—
When they were kids.
Friends.
Dating.
When they were other people. People who knew each other by the shape of their smiles.
“Wow, what’s it been?” Eli said. “Like, two decades? You look good, man.”
“Thanks,” Nick said in an automatic daze. “You look—” He struggled for something to say. “Different.” He shook his head. He was messing this up. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize who you were, it’s just—very different.”
“Hey, no sweat. It’s actually a big ego boost, you know?” Eli leaned over his stuffed cart, using that secret whisper again. “I want to look different. That’s kind of the goal.”
“Right. Exactly.” Nick nodded a bit, then lapsed into silence. He was still having a hard time believing that this was really happening. That after all these years, he was in a wine store talking to his first—girlfriend? No, that seemed disrespectful…. Boyfriend? Except Nick had never dated boys. Except that he had, apparently. Retroactively.
Eli waved a hand in front of his eyes. “You okay there, bud?”
Nick blinked back to himself. “Yeah! Like I said, long day.” He groped for anything normal to say and focused on Eli’s jam-packed cart. “You throwing a party?”
Eli looked down at his selection of wine and booze like he’d forgotten the bottles were there. “Oh. No. I mean, I’m not. My mom is. I’m just doing a liquor run for her.”
“Right, your parents’ Christmas thing.” Nick snapped his fingers. “My dad mentioned it.”
“Yeah, I saw him. Well, literally saw him, period. I didn’t have a chance to say hi or anything.” He looked suitably embarrassed. “The cat made a break for it— long story—and then I got sent on this mission.” He rattled his cart, bottles clinking. “Anything for the party people.”
“Sounds like a fun time,” Nick offered.
“Yeah, I guess, if you’re a drinker.” Eli’s nose squinched tellingly.
Nick couldn’t recall either of them ever drinking much during their teenage years. “Never got the taste for it?”
“Uh, no. I did. Got too many tastes, actually.” Eli’s smile went brittle. “Had to give it up.”
“Ah.” Nick gave a worried glance at the shelves that surrounded them. Bottles of premixed margaritas and piña coladas sat in rows of neon-painted labels. Not exactly the most comfortable place in the world for a person trying to stay sober, he thought.
Eli must have noticed his wary look. “I can be around it. It’s not going to kill me to watch other people drink. It’s just kind of boring.”
A weak laugh left Nick. “Yeah, I was going to say—”
“That would be bad,” Eli finished for him.
They stood in awkward silence for another moment. Nick wondered if now was a good time to say their goodbyes, but Eli spoke before he could broach the tried and tested Well, I’ll let you go….
“I heard about your mom,” he said, gnawing on his lower lip. “I’m really sorry.”
Nick’s breath caught. When his mom had died six years ago, before Zoe was even born, most people didn’t know what to say. She’d been walking along a newly opened stretch of road that bordered the wildlife preserve, always wanting to get her exercise in. It had been early morning, and a car hit her. The driver kept going. A year or so of stilted condolences, worthless thoughts and prayers, and then no one seemed to mention her. Even Nick’s dad didn’t go out of his way to talk about her or the accident anymore. The hit-and-run had been a nightmare, but the ensuing erasure of his mom was the thing that hurt the most.
Nick swallowed. “Yeah, I—thank you for those flowers.” Even with the haze of funeral planning, he remembered the wreath of white mums from the Ward family and the accompanying card that contained all their names, including Eli’s old one.
“Least I could do,” Eli said. “Your mom was such a nice lady. Always had the best snacks.”
That made Nick feel less heavy. “Remember the cake she used to make?”
“Yes! My mom called it air cake because it was so light and fluffy,” Eli said with a laugh. “Your mom would give us a slice for breakfast on the way to preschool. Fuck, she was awesome.” He looked at Nick warmly. “I think about her all the time. Hope that’s not weird to say.”
“It’s not weird. I’m—I’m glad.” Nick realized that if his mom were there, she’d be chiding him to remember his manners. “You must be in town to see your folks for Christmas, right?”
Eli opened his mouth to respond, but he was cut off by the sudden appearance of a Wine Barn employee in the requisite orange vest, looking harried.
“Excuse me, gentlemen, but the store is closing.”
“Oh.” Nick looked around and saw that the sprawling warehouse of alcohol was completely empty except for them. He’d forgotten he was working against a ticking clock when he ran into Eli. His shopping cart didn’t even have anything in it yet. “Uh—”
“I should get going,” Eli said, pushing his cart carefully around Nick’s. “It was good seeing you, though.”
“Yeah, good seeing you.” Nick turned to watch Eli and his overloaded cart trundle toward the registers, escorted by the beleaguered Wine Barn employee. Something about the line of Eli’s shoulders reminded him of another time Nick had watched him walk away. Without thinking too hard about it, he called out, “We should catch up while you’re in town.”
Eli paused somewhere around the malbecs, the orange-vested staff member stopping alongside him with a huff. He turned to look over his shoulder, curiosity pinching his face. “Totally,” he said. “We should.”
“I’m running the Thirsty Manatee now,” Nick said. “If you ever want to swing by.”
“Wow, that place is still open?” Eli leaned one elbow on the handle of his shopping cart. “I’m impressed. Waterfront property and all, I was sure some horrible condo developer would have bought it by now.”
“Nope, we’re still there.” Nick tried to inject some pride into this statement, but it sounded more weary. Like he wasn’t talking about the bar and grill anymore. “Still… sticking around.”
“Gentlemen, I really hate to break this up—” the Wine Barn employee said.
“Right! See you, Nick.” With a wave, Eli departed, shoving his squeaky cart the final dozen yards.
Nick watched him for a moment, seeing Eli’s mouth moving without hearing what he was saying to the staffer. Probably a self-deprecating apology disguised as a joke if the cashier’s half smile was anything to go by. The more things change, Nick thought, the more they stay the same.
It was impossible not to notice that they hadn’t actually made any solid plans to meet up. Not that Eli was obligated to. Maybe he thought it was weird for high school exes to hang out. For all Nick knew, it probably was.
Yep, Nick thought as he rushed to get all his shopping done before he was thrown out of the store. In all likelihood, he would never see Eli again.
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