Mitch nodded as he rubbed Skylar’s feet. “So that brought you closer.”
“You could say that.”
CHAPTER 5
Past
Holy shit. It was show time.
Nina had gotten a C+ on her first exam. That was actually way better than I thought she’d do given our tedious first study session.
A few days after she moved in, we shared a beer in the kitchen. I’d been home for lunch when she walked in after her first day of classes. (Alright, so I came home in the hopes that I’d run into her.) I’d been gone all weekend to Boston and hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. Even though she was still acting shy around me, she was really easy to talk to, and I enjoyed her company.
We got to chatting about her troubles in math, a subject she needed to pass as part of her nursing curriculum. Math was so easy for me, so I offered to tutor her. Then, the brilliant idea of a bet popped into my head. She’d have to get an A on every exam or face one of her phobias. Fear, after all, is a master motivator. If she didn’t accept the bet, I told her I’d renege my offer. It was a win-win situation: either she excelled in math or started overcoming things that were preventing her from fully experiencing life.
Since she feared several things—heights, subways, planes, enclosed spaces, crowds—it took me a while to figure out where to start. But by the time the grade came in, I was ready.
That’s how I ended up in the granola aisle of Trader Joe’s.
I wanted to ask the sales clerk what she recommended, but what exactly would I say? Excuse me. I was wondering if you could recommend some light fare that might compliment trapping someone in an elevator and torturing them?
I second-guessed my choices as I stood in the checkout line, but it was too late to go back since I was already running late.
Prime example: hummus. Nothing like garlic breath in a small, enclosed space.
Genius, Jake.
Unsure of how she was going to react to my plan, my heart was pumping the entire way home. It was really more out of excitement, because it would be the first time we’d hung out together outside of the apartment.
Okay, apparently, I had no clue what I was really getting myself into.
Nina wouldn’t even look at me as we walked side by side down Lincoln Street. She was really freaking out about this, and I needed to assure her that everything would be okay. I stopped suddenly while she kept walking ahead of me oblivious. When she noticed I was no longer beside her, she turned around.
“Why did you stop?” she asked.
I walked toward her and placed my hands firmly on her shoulders, causing her to wince. I wasn’t sure if it was because she was nervous or because it was the first time I’d ever touched her outside of our initial hand shake. It was colder out than I anticipated, and neither of us were wearing jackets. The wind blew the blonde strands of her hair around wildly. She had some beautiful hair.
I rubbed my hands firmly along her shoulders to warm her. The need to comfort her was enormous, but I’d recently studied up on cognitive behavioral and exposure therapy and knew it was necessary to be firm today so that she wouldn’t back out. “Nina, I can tell you’re going through all these little scenarios in your head right now. It’s not helping. The only thing that is ever happening to you is what is happening in the moment, not all of the disastrous possibilities in your mind. So, cut the shit, okay? I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
When we arrived at the DeKalb Avenue subway station, it took some prodding to get her to descend the stairs. I stood down a few steps into the dark stairwell looking up at her as she stayed on the sidewalk. The fear in her eyes was palpable. My heart began to beat faster, and I wasn’t sure if it was because I was nervous for her or because of how heart-stoppingly pretty she was as she looked down at me with the sunlight in her hair.
Lifting my hand toward her, I willed her to come to me. “Nina, come on. I’ve got you.”
I continued to silently urge her forward with my eyes.
I’ve got you.
When she slowly moved toward me, the second she was close enough to touch, I took her hand and wrapped her fingers inside mine. I couldn’t remember the last time holding someone’s hand triggered that kind of reaction in me, a sensation I could feel from my head to my feet and everywhere in between.
My hand squeezed hers tightly as I led her down the stairs. Even though I didn’t want to, I had to let her go in order to pay the fare.
The faint smell of urine lingered in the air as we sat down on a bench to wait on the platform. The sounds of a man playing the saxophone echoed through the station. When the approaching train screeched to a halt, I grabbed her hand again and led her into the crowded car.