Chapter 56

Nick was avoiding her… Michelle could tell.

Since she found out the truth about Emma there had been no calls from him and no replies to her texts either. To make things worse at the office he seemed to be doing everything possible to stay out of her way. Michelle could understand that he was probably embarrassed by the way she'd found out that Emma was a cat, but he was her best friend and they were supposed to be comfortable with each other. They didn't have to be embarrassed about anything for this long.

The meeting was taking too long, and Michelle was bored out of her mind. As she watched Todd Maniscotto, she concluded that the man just loved hearing the sound of his own voice. It had to be the only reason why he could talk for so long without a pause or getting exhausted.

She glanced in Nick's direction, hoping to to make eye contact but the few times she succeeded in getting his attention, he glanced away immediately.

Michelle sighed in frustration. Her friendship with Nick meant everything to her. Now that Candace was gone, and Nolan had retired to “avoiding everyone” planet, Nick was all she had and that was why she had to get to the bottom of this right now before things got out of hand. .

Finally, Todd Maniscotto ended the meeting. Thankfully he'd run out of things to say, and Michelle didn't hesitate on her plan to her Nick to talk to her. She cornered him right in front of his office and tried to hide the pain she felt when she saw the look in his eyes as he stared at her. Nick never looked at her like that. He was always glad to see her. Always wanted to know how she was doing. How she felt… But now, what exactly was going wrong with their friendship?

“Oh, hi Michelle. Good morning,” he said.

Michelle lifted a brow. “Really, Nick?” she asked, “That's all you've got to say to me. You've barely spoken to me for two weeks.”

Nick looked away. He wasn't a very good liar, and it was harder when he was lying to his best friend… the woman he loved. The woman he could never have… Because she didn't see him. She saw everyone else though… Not him. For days he'd tried to come up with a reasonable excuse for his lie about Emma but he couldn't come up with one, so he'd just settled for avoiding her instead.

How could he possibly tell his best friend that he had been in love with her… probably since the first day they met. He'd made Emma up because on some level he'd felt like he didn't deserve her. Like he didn't have a chance with her. He was nothing like the men Michelle usually went out with and he was pretty sure he was stuck in the Friend Zone. It was a place no man wanted to find himself but what choice did he have?

Having Michelle as a friend was much better than not having her in his life at all. So he'd lied. Okay, maybe he didn't lie, he just didn't tell the whole truth and had decided not to clarify when Michelle had concluded that Emma was his girlfriend. He regretted that move now.

“I've been busy,” he told her and almost winced as the words left his mouth. Another lie. How many of those could he keep up with?

Michelle didn't look like she believed him and he wasn't surprised. Sometimes he really hated having someone in his life who knew him so damn well. In fact right now she looked heart broken.

“Busy? Since when did you become too busy to call or return any of my texts. Is something wrong? You're clearly avoiding me so cut it out and tell me if I did something wrong.”

It was the last thing Nick wanted her to think. Especially when it was his fault that he couldn't bring himself to tell her how he felt about her. “You didn't do anything wrong,” he said remorsefully, “And I'm sorry, but I've just been busy that's all. Could we talk some other time?”

Without waiting for her to reply he turned around. “I have to go. Todd is putting all this work on me and I have to finish it in time. I'll see you later.”

Michelle watched Nick walk away and narrowed her eyes. Something was definitely up. If it wasn't about his girlfriend…or cat now that she knew the truth, it was something else and she was determined to find out what it was.

If Nick wouldn't talk to her at the office, then he definitely would at his apartment and she wasn't going to wait for an invitation this time. After work that evening, she deliberately waited a full thirty minutes before she got in her car and headed for Nick's apartment. She wanted to give him time to relax a bit before she got there, and hopefully his uncomfortably hot brother wouldn't be there either.

Sledge's door was locked when she passed by, and as usual Michelle sighed in relief. She had one awkward encounter in front of her and she didn't need another.

Nick answered the door almost immediately she knocked, but the usual excitement whenever he saw her was absent. He didn't even looked surprised to see her. He had a glass of wine in his hand, and he sipped as he opened the door further so she could come in. Didn't even bother to ask why she'd come.

Michelle's eyes took in the glass, “Celebrating something?”

“I got promoted today,” Nick replied, and then lifted the glass as if to say ‘cheers’. “What some?”

At least he was sending her away. Michelle nodded, “Sure, and congratulations,” She wanted to give him a hug. That was what she would have done before, without any hesitation, but a wall had been erected between them. Something was happening to their friendship and Nick was… Different. Would he have told her about this new development if she hadn't shown up?

Not wanting to know the answer to that question, she silently followed him to the living room where the wine bottle sat on the table. She remained standing while Nick disappeared and returned with another glass. He poured out some wine and handed it to her. Watched her lift it to her lips and took a big sip.

“Todd gave me the news just before we left the office for the day. Big raise too and all,”