On what would have been their first date together. Rose and Nate had been thousands of miles apart. Each pining for the other, not knowing what to do. But the whole thing had been a wakeup call for Rose. If she was going to make her relationship with Nathaniel Kiriakis work, then she would have to improvise. It had not happened yet, but there would come a time when work would have him away for longer than a week.
They needed to do something to fan the flame of their love, otherwise it would flicker and die. Rose did not want that option to ever be a possibility. So she had been thinking of how to overcome the issue, looking for inspiration wherever she could. When she had finally found a solution, she had been floored by how simple it was. So when Nate called her one day, informing her that he would not be in the country for the foreseeable future. Sounding all kinds of sorry, she had finally decided to share her idea with him.
Video dates.
If anything, he was even more enthusiastic about it than her. They actually spent the week planning every little detail. Whether their dress code would be formal or casual. The time of the date, making sure it was not too late at night for her, or too early for him. Different time zones were a real pain. When it came down to the meal, they both decided they would be eating whatever they felt like, making as though they were at a restaurant and had ordered different things from the same menu.
The plan was perfect, and the execution should have been flawless. But when it came down to it, things fell apart with a quickness neither of them could have predicted. They had decided on seven pm, but the time came and went with Rose stuck delivering flowers to a long time customer for her thirtieth wedding anniversary. The old man had forgotten to make an order and Rose had barely had enough extra flowers to put everything together.
By the time she had dragged herself home to the phone she had forgotten on the counter, it had been nearing half past eight, and she had been tired beyond belief. Surprisingly, there were no messages or missed calls from Nate. She tried his number several times, but he did not answer. He was not even replying to her texts. With a heavy heart, Rose put her phone down and went to rummage through her fridge.
The plan for the date, had been to order in, but since it looked like it was not happening. She would reheat some leftovers and cuddle with her bee. After popping the meal into the microwave and setting the timer, she went to take a shower. The warm water washed all the stress of the day from her, and by the time she emerged, warm and scrubbed pink. She could almost convince herself that she was fine with the fact that the video date had failed. Settling on the couch, bee stuffed under one arm, her leftovers on her lap, she was just about to start eating when her phone beeped.
Sorry, meeting carried on longer than expected. Are you still up for dinner.xxx
Sure.xxx
Her reply might have seemed flippant, like she was unbothered either way. But her reaction was anything but. Rose stood so quickly she nearly spilled her food, running to her room to retrieve her laptop. Then there came the mad dash back to the living area where she nearly tripped and landed on her face. She avoided disaster at the last minute, but she was still breathing hard when she set up the connection.
It was only once the connection was looking at his grey eyes that she remembered that she had not changed. Still in what Lili lovingly called her 'grandma pajamas', but there was no turning back now, so she decided to just go with it.
"Hey," She raised a hand in a small wave and he returned it.
"Hi," He said, and Rose's heart skipped a beat.
They stared at each other for a moment, just relishing the fact that they could talk face to face. But the longer Rose looked, the more her good mood dimmed. He looked so tired, with bags under his eyes and a slight slump to his shoulders. He had not even changed out of his work attire. Shirt sleeves folded up to his elbow, his top button undone, his tie askew.
"How has your week been?" Rose asked, and when she saw a bit of tension leave his shoulders, she knew she had asked the right thing.
He vented to her, telling her how tired he was of the other party's stalling tactics.
"They need this deal more than we do but they are still pretending to have the upper hand…" He carried on, digging into his meal as he bemoaned the childishness of people who were running billion dollar companies. He complained about the weather, the hotel bed ( very comfortable, but not his own bed). And lastly when he had vented as much as he could, he looked right at her.
"Worst of all, there is no you here. Without you the world looks little bit dimmer," The people who said Nate was cold were idiots. Heart fluttering, Rose held his gaze, her smile threatening to break her face.
"I miss you too," That earned her one of his cute, one canine poking out smiles.
Their date continued, and he listened to her stories of what had gone on during the week. Regaling him with funny stories of the things she had seen and heard. By the time their date ended, mostly because he seemed ready to drop. Rose was feeling eons better.
"Goodnight, Rose,"
"Sweet dreams, Nate," She ended the connection. Staying on the sofa a while longer instead of going to put away her plate, she sniffed at bee.
If she closed her eyes, she could almost pretend Nate was right next to her.