Chapter 99:
Rafe was sitting at his desk and filing some paperwork. A knock on the door sounded, and Rafe looked up to see Eric. "Hey, I hope I can come in."
"Sure," Rafe said, motioning towards an empty chair opposite him across the desk. Eric walked in and shut the door, sitting down across from Rafe. "So how have you been? I know you and Nicole took a pretty risky trip to save her baby," Eric said.
"Yeah, I've been good. And it was pretty dangerous. We were lucky to even find him, let alone get into Cuba and make it out alive."
"Yeah, I can't imagine how hard it must've been. But I know you and Nicole got really close on the trip..."
Rafe sighed, smiling a bit. The conversation just became really awkward. "We did. Look, the truth is, we slept together...more than once."
"I suspected as much," Eric laughed. "I've known for a long time now that Nicole loves you. She didn't know I knew, of course. I'm rather good at hiding my thoughts."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Rafe asked, dumbfounded. He was still reeling from what happened between EJ and Nicole the other night at the party. Nicole and him had not talked since, and things had been very awkward.
"Because we shouldn't have been together in the first place. Our relationship was so wrong, on so many levels. The both of you were growing close, and then I had been sleeping with her best friend before, and I'm a priest! I knew it wasn't meant to be, and that's part of the reason I dumped her."
"Look, man, I'm sorry-"
"Don't apologize, Rafe. I know you feel bad for the whole situation, but the truth is that Nicole and I are over each other now. And you two are in love."
"Are we? Maybe I was just being crazy, or stupid. I mean, the other night at the party, I caught Nicole and EJ almost kissing. How do I know she doesn't love him?"
"Maybe you can't," Eric said. "But from what I've heard from her, it was mostly EJ pulling her in. And she did defend you to EJ. I think she's made it clear who she really wants to be with. The bigger question is, do you still want to fight for her, or do you think she's not worth the effort anymore?"
Rafe considered this for a while. Eric eventually had to leave and get back to work, but Rafe thought carefully. Did he love Nicole enough to accept all of her flaws? Or was he ready to move on with someone with no ties whatsoever to another man?