"Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still" -Dorothea Lange
Chapter Five;;
Like all good things, my vacation in paradise had to come to an end. With it, came an end to my vacation romance. Nate wanted to exchange phone numbers but I said no. Being the persistent bother that he is, he gave me his. I stuffed the little slip of paper into the pocket on the seat in front of me on the flight home.
As fantastic as the Bahamas were, I was sort of glad to be home. I missed Nikki, Ronni and my family. That was the only downside of going on vacation alone. I sort of wished someone were there to share it with me. Luckily I took almost two hundred pictures in the four days I was away so after looking at them all, they'd feel like they had been there.
I pulled into the parking lot of our apartment building and let out a sigh of relief. The flight there had been exciting but the flight home had been tiring and long. I slid out of the car and pulled my suitcase from trunk before pulling it into the building. I stopped and checked the mailbox, which was empty, before lugging my suitcase up the stairs.
I dug through my pocket and pulled out my key to unlock the door before opening it and stepping inside. Judging by the lack of noise, I decided Ronni and Nikki must be out. I pulled the suitcase and left it by the door with a sigh as I dragged my feet towards my bedroom. The further from the warm, salty beach air I got the more tired I became.
I dropped down at my desk and slid open the top drawer. Carefully I pulled out a green notebook and flipped open to the first page. Stopping right at the top of the page, I pulled out a black pen from the same drawer and crossed out the first line: 'Swim with Great White Sharks'
“That was total crap” I heard voices coming from the living room.
“Are you joking? I thought it was great. Taylor Lautner looked amazing” Another voice responded as the door swung shut. Nikki and Ronni must be home.
“Hey guys, I'm home” I called, sliding the list back into the desk and shutting the drawer. I got up from the desk and turned around just in time to be tackled to my bed by the girls.
“We missed you” Nikki said with a grin as she rolled onto my pillows.
“You better have some good stories” Ronni said as she stood up.
“I have pictures” I suggested with a small smile. “Give me five and I'm get the cord and hook the camera up to the television”
Ronni and Nikki rushed into the kitchen, presumably to get popcorn while I changed into sweatpants and a tank top before digging through my carry on bag for the camera. I grabbed the cables out of my desk drawer and headed into the living room where I plugged it in. I flipped the camera on and sat down next to the TV just as Ronni and Nikki were settling in, popcorn in hand.
I began to flip through the pictures slowly, explaining what each one was.
“This was the hotel from the outside” Click.
“This was the view from my room” Click.
“The view again” Click.
“The sun rise” Click.
“The sharks” I paused and looked at the picture.
“Wow, that's huge” Ronni exclaimed as she popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth. I flipped to the next picture which was of me in the dive suit with the sharks swimming behind me.
“That's a Christmas card shot right there” Nikki joked with a grin. I continued to flip through pictures of the beach. After that, the sky in the pictures grew dark and soon they were of the luau. I had decided not to tell them about Nate so I was really hoping there weren't any of him in there.
“Woah, freeze right there, missy” Ronni demanded. I had been clicking through them quickly without really looking.
“Whose the hottie?” Nikki questioned, a surprised look on her face. I looked up at the screen and thought back to the taking of the picture.
“Let me take a picture for your wedding album” The waitress insisted in a thick island accent. At the beginning of the night, I would have objected but after a few drinks and dancing I was okay with it.
“We'd like that, thank you” I answered. I wrapped my arms around Nate's neck as he slid his around my waist and pulled me in close. His arms were strong and warm. It gave me that safe feeling. It also gave me that butterfly feeling but that's a different story.
“Smile” Nate whispered before grinning at the camera.
“So, who is it?” Ronni demanded.
“When were you planning to tell us about this?” Nikki asked.
“Geez, don't let the dogs out yet,I was getting to it” I lied with a small smile that I couldn't hide. “His name is Nate and he was down there for baseball spring training. We had dinner together and that was it” I explained.
“So, when are you calling him?” Ronni asked bluntly.
“I'm not” I answered. “I...don't think-I'm just not-” I didn't know what to say. Luckily, Ronni understood and cut me off.
“We get it.” She answered with a smile. I nodded and kept flipping through the pictures. Oddly enough, Nate kept showing up. There were some of us sitting at the bar. Others showed us walking down on the beach, grinning.
“I forgot about all of these” I said, watching them go by. Once I had gone through all two hundred pictures, I unplugged the camera and looked to the girls.
“So, how as everything here while I was gone?” I asked.
“You know, the usual” Ronni asked, leaning back on the couch.
“Well, actually” Nikki started slowly, leaning forward and curling her legs under her. “I got this call from a law firm in New York City. They're offering me a job” She said with a small smile.
“Are you going to go?” I asked, my mind running a mile a minute.
“I've thought about it a lot, and yeah, I think I am” She answered. “I mean, I don't want to leave you guys, I don't” She said, starting to tear up. Ronni threw her arms around her and I got up and did the same, joining them on the couch.
“It's okay, we understand” I said.
“You've got to reach for your dreams” Ronni added.
“Veronica” Nikki said sternly, pulling away with a serious face. “Tell me you did not just quote a hallmark card”
“It was one my Grandma gave me for my high school graduation” She laughed. I joined in and so did Nikki. “And besides, now we can call up Amanda's hot boyfriend and ask him to be our third room mate”
“He's not my boyfriend” I said defensively.
“Not yet” Nikki said with a sly smile, wiping the tears from her face.
