Nice Guys Finish Last

Eric Jones hated the city he lived in. He loved his job, working with people with mental disabilities, but that was the only thing he loved about Memphis. He just never seemed to fit in. It had nothing to do with his looks. Being that he is 6'8, weighing 265 pounds of solid muscle, with a dark chocolate complexion, and eyes to match. The fact was that most people his age were about hitting up the club, and Eric would rather be in a book club. His mild mannered attitude also added to his social and dating demise.

That all changed when a friend from college convinced him that Nashville would be a better fit. Eric decided to give it a shot, and it paid off.

Nashville was the perfect fit for Eric. He had no problems finding a job in his field. He moved into a management position, after working there 4 months. Eric's social life flourished greatly as well. Although his dating life started to show promise, Eric decided to take a break, after a few misses. That all changed when a nurse named Nicole Alverez, started working with Eric. Nicole was a 5'10 olive skinned cutie, with long sandy brown hair that stopped halfway down her back, hazel eyes, and a physique that suggested she visted the gym on a regular basis.

Naturally Eric, and just about every other guy at work found Nicole to be attractive. While most of all the other guys tried to be the first one to stake their claim on her. Eric chose to just be friends first, and it took no time at all for them to become friends. They even got to the point to where they would lightly flirt with one another, but neither one took it further than that.

"Oh hey how is going?" Eric said, bumping into Nicole.

"Oh hey. I'm doing ok. Just a lot of stuff going on here at work, and it has me stressed out. But other than that I am fine." Nicole replied, doing her best to hide her frustration with work.

Eric draped his arm around Nicole and pulled her in for a hug. "Well if you are not busy you should come by tonight. I can cook and then we can unwind watching fictional events on television."

Nicole leaned into Eric, slightly resting her head on his chest. "Oh that sounds great!!. A tall, dark, and handsome man wanting to cook and entertain me. How can a girl say no." Nicole said teasingingly.

"Ok then. See you at around seven thirty." Was all Eric managed to say before they were interrupted by Dorian McGregor, the head manager at work.

Although he was not a tank like Eric, Dorian still had quite a fan base with the ladies. He was a lean, chiseled man, standing at a little over six feet, with short jet black hair, and light gray colored eyes to go with his porcelain toned skin. His smile caused women to wet their panties, and go weak in the knees.

Dorian was known to have no problems using his looks, and position of authority to bed as many women as possible. Even with his reputation for being a man whore, women still wanted to get with him.

"Nicole, when you get a chance could you stop by my office? I won't keep you long." Dorian said, giving her that academy award winning smile.

Nicole distanced herself from Eric, as if to show Dorian that there was no interest in Eric. "Ok." Nicole meekly replied, before making her way to his office.

Eric rolled his eyes as Nicole left him standing there. He was never one to get mad, but the way women threw themselves at Dorian really irked him. He could not understand how Dorian, even with his bad reputation. Still got laid as much as he did. "Oh well." Eric shrugged. "It is not like Nicole is going to go sleep with him. Plus I think tonight is the night I try and move our friendship foward." Eric thought to himself.

As the day came to an end, Eric stopped by the store to pick up a few things for dinner. He was no gourmet chef, but thanks to George Foreman and Google, he could whip up a moderately tasty dish. As he put the finishing touches on dinner the doorbell rang. "Perfect timing." he said to himself, as he went to open the door.

"Ohh!! something smells good." Nicole said as she embraced Eric, and made her way to the dining room to eat.

"Well it is nothing special. Hopefully you like it."

"I'm sure it will be just fine." Nicole said, using a tone that put Eric at ease

While eating dinner, Eric waited until the subject of work to come up, before asking Nicole about what happened earlier. "So what did Dorian want want with you?" Eric said, trying to mask any contempt in his voice.

"Oh nothing. He just wanted to know if I wear a thong or not." Nicole said nonchalantly, while keeping a straight face.

"Are you fucking serious?!!" Eric blurted out, before catching on to the fact that Nicole was only teasing him.

"Woah!! Chill out. I was only kidding." Nicole said as she gave Eric a triumphant grin. "Looks like some is jealous."

"No I'm not jealous. I just don't understand what women see in him is all."

"Yeah I mean he only has the most beautiful shade of alabaster skin I've seen on a man, and looking into those gray eyes of his would turn any woman's nether regions into a wet sloppy mess." Nicole said as she playfully kicked Eric under the table.

"Ok I've heard enough. Sorry I asked." Eric sighed.

"Oh stop being a baby. I was only joking." Nicole said, while dismissively waving her hand. "You know I know better than to fall for his type. Only thing he wanted was to tell me that I have been selected to go with y'all to that conference in Atlanta."

Eric's mood softened upon hearing this great bit of news. He was already mentally planning all the fun they could have together while out of town. "It will be like a mini vacation on the company's dime." He thought to himself.

"Oh ok cool. Listening to some boring ass speeches during the day is a small price to pay for a free trip to Atlanta." Eric said with a hint of excitement in his voice.

That excitement was about to come to an end. Nicole's work cell phone ringing, would be the first in a series of unfortunate events for Eric.

"Dammit, fucking, shit!!" Exclaimed Nicole as her phone rang. As she picked up the phone Eric could tell the news was not good. "Fuck!! Ok I'll be there shortly." Nicole said, as she jammed her finger into her phone to turn it off. "That was Alice. She said Clint (one of the clients they work with) fell and gashed his head open. I'm sorry, but I am going to have to take a raincheck on t.v. watching. Maybe this weekend?"

Eric hated the fact that a huge monkey wrench foiled his plans for the evening, but the trip was around the corner. So he still had a chance to win Nicole over. "It's cool babe. You know work comes first, and this weekend is perfect for cashing in that raincheck."

"Awww you are such a sweet, understanding man. If you are not careful I may decide to snatch you up, and keep you for myself." Nicole joked, as she stood up, and kissed Eric on the cheek before leaving.

That last sentence made Eric's stomach flutter a little bit, but he managed to say, "goodbye," before Nicole closed the door behind her.

Well the statement "when it rains it pours" could not be more true for Eric, because on his way to work the next day he was hit by a teenager, who cared more about what was being said on her phone. Though there were no serious, life-threatening injuries, Eric did suffer from several cracked ribs. However, it was a serious enough injury to cause him to be out of work for awhile, and more importantly, miss the Atlanta conference coming up in 2 weeks.

Eric did not have to spend a long time in the hospital, but he did have quite a while before he could be back at work. While at home, his friends came in and frequently checked on him. Nicole made sure she stopped by on a daily basis to check on him. This helped him feel better about his chances with her, once he recovered.

The day before the conference in Atlanta Nicole stopped by, and assured Eric that she would text and talk to him as much as she could. Staying true to her word, Nicole kept frequent contact with Eric. Eric was apprehensive about Nicole going to the conference, since Dorian would be there too, but the fact that she kept steady contact put his fears to rest. That was until his phone buzzed late one night. It was a message from Nicole.

"Girl I am so glad you talked me into it. I think it is going to take a day for my pussy to dry up, and my toes to unclench."

By this point Eric was shaking with rage, as he sat there contemplating on how to respond to what he just read. "WTF!!" Was all he could manage to send, and his phone buzzed again shortly afterwards.

"Oops I am so sorry. I meant to send that to Jennifer. Please don't be mad at me :(."

Knowing it would just rub salt on the wound if he sent anything back, Eric just threw his phone across the bed and muttered, "that stupid bitch. She is just like the rest of them."

Eric spent the rest of the night tossing and turning, unable to get any sleep. Over the next few days he ignored all calls, and texts from Nicole. What he could not ignore were his friends Craig and Derrick, blowing his phone up, trying to get in touch with him. After seeing it was futile talking to him on the phone, Craig took it upon himself to show up at Eric's house unannounced, making it impossible to avoid him any longer.

Craig rushed in as Eric opened the door. "Man you have missed all the action since you have been at home. I have it on good authority that Dorian laid the pipe to your girl Nicole." Craig said in an almost boasting manner. "I told you dog, you should have hit it before someone else did."

Craig was the type of friend that if he saw any type of a weakness in someone, he would tease them unmercifully. So it was all Eric could do to keep his emotions in check, less he wanted to be verbally eviscerated by Craig.

"Yeah yeah yeah. You were right. But if that is the type of dude she wants then more power to her." Eric said trying to convince Craig, and more importantly himself, that Nicole would not be good for him anyway.

"Yeah that's what I'm talking about brother." Craig chimed in, while holding his hand in the air for a high five.

Eric slapped his hand against Craig's and asked, "so is there anything else I need to know or is that it?"

"Naw man that's it. So when do you think you will be back at work."

"Probably another week or so." Eric said, relieved that Craig quit talking about Nicole.

Eric spent the next week in misery, wanting to shoot himself for not really pushing anything with Nicole sooner, and cursing that dumb ass teenager for running into him. Causing him to miss out on a golden opportunity. Nicole took the hint that he did not want to be bothered, and ceased to make contact with him. Eric dreaded the next day because that is when he would go to work, and deal with what happened in Atlanta.

Eric pulled into work, and made his way inside. He just wanted to go to his office unnoticed. That would just not be the case. Co-workers swarmed him as though he were a celebrity, or a long lost child returning to the fold. Eric said his pleasantries, then went into the break room to get some coffee, before burying himself in his work. A couple of hours went by, and Eric was thankful for the peace and quiet. Until he heard his door open and it was none other than Nicole.

"Oh great." Eric sighed under his breath. "Just when I thought I was in the clear. I guess it was inevitable." He told himself.

"Well hello there stranger." Nicole said with an apprehensive smile. "Long time no see. I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to come back."

Eric was all to familiar with this game of guilt. He has seen it one too many times, and he learned the best approach is to play it cool, because once you flare your temper, it will get somehow turned around on you. "Eh well you know a little thing called a car wreck had me out of work for awhile."

"Well looks like you had quite the welcome back." Nicole said before switching to a more serious tone. "Ok all jokes aside, go ahead and let me have it. Tell me how stupid I am for hooking up with Dorian."

Again Eric knew what Nicole was doing and was not about to give her the chance to turn it on him. "Ahh for what. You are a grown woman. I not your father, or your keeper. So you can fuck whoever you want." Eric said, making sure his eyes locked with Nicole's, hoping she could feel the venom in his delivery.

"You robotic, emotionless asshole. This is the very reason why I hooked up with Dorian. He has machismo, a swagger if you will. If you would let your testicles drop and be a man for once, it would have been you drilling this pussy."

"My my such language." Eric retorted.

"Gah!! Why did I even bother coming in here." Nicole said, while throwing her hands up.

Eric could not help but to smile inwardly. Seeing Nicole blow up confirmed his suspicion she felt guilty, and looked to blame him to ease her mind. "You know me Nicole, getting all mad and emotional is just not my way of doing things. Anyway are you done now? If so I got a lot of work to catch up on." Eric said in a casual, deadpan manner.

"Yeah I'm done here, you fucking jerk!! Do me a favor and pretend like we were never friends."

Before Eric could open his mouth to say anything, Nicole stormed out of his office, slamming the door behind her. As she walked out Eric took a moment to relish in the fact that he was able to keep his cool, and not go on an emotional tirade.

A few minutes later Derrick, Eric's more levelheaded friend strolled in. "Man I didn't know I was across the hall from a war zone. Had I known that, I would have popped some popcorn."

"Ahh you know how people are when you get the best of them. I guess she thought I was going to go off on the deep end. Then she could flip it on me. I mean she still tried to blame me, but whatever, I am the one who does not have a guilty conscience."

"Whatever you say man. Anyway you need to invest in sound proofing this room. I am sure half the company heard that little meltdown."

"Good!! they can see what an unstable bitch Nicole really is."

"Yeah yeah you ain't fooling anybody. Name call all you want, but I know for a fact if given the chance you would still get with her, even if Dorian beat you to it."

The truth was that Derrick was right. Even though Eric was able to keep his cool, he still would drop everything in a heartbeat for Nicole.

Dorian made it no secret about his latest conquest. Every chance he got he would rub it in Eric's face, that he got Nicole first. Whether it was having her excessively coming in and out of his office, or them going to lunch together. They made sure that Eric was able to see them come and go. There was little Eric could do about the situation. Except just ignore them, and not give them the satisfaction of thinking they got the best of him.

Eventually like all women before Nicole, Dorian moved on and found a new girl to play with, leaving Nicole devastated. Since she thought she was going to play him first. So it wasn't long before Nicole went to Eric seeking forgiveness.

"Got a minute?" The text said, as Eric's phone buzzed.

It was from a number that was not saved in his phone, but Eric had no problem recognizing who it was. "Dammit after all this time I'm still weak." Eric cursed himself. "Sure what's up."

After a few minutes passed with no reply, Eric resumed working again. Thinking it was some sort of game Nicole was playing. Before too long his door was opened, and there stood Nicole. "Damn." Eric mouthed softly, as she stood there looking good as ever.

"Look I am very sorry for the way I have been treating you these past few weeks, and I know that a few words won't change anything overnight, but I would like to have my friend back."

"Well I never went anywhere you are the one who ditched me remember." Eric said firmly.

"Yes I remember. It was because I felt guilty about what I did, and when you didn't yell or act like you were hurt. It was like you didn't even care." Nicole said as she looked away trying not to cry.

"Well I did care and still do, as a matter of fact, but I just didn't want to get into a screaming match with you."

By this point Nicole had tears forming in her eyes, and Eric made his way over towards Nicole and gave her a light embrace. She in turn wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hard squeeze. "You have to forgive me, you just have to." Nicole pleaded as her tears started to streak Eric's shirt.

Nothing softned Eric more than a crying woman. Even at his maddest, he did not have it in his heart to kick Nicole while she was down. "Ok, you are forgiven. But it is not going to happen overnight." Eric said, with a hint of defeat in his voice.

"Oh I promise to do everything in my power to make sure I don't mess up again." Nicole said as she coiled her arms tighter around Eric.

Eric grimmaced a little as Nicole hugged him tightly. "Easy girl, you know my ribs are still tender."

"Oh I'm sorry." Nicole said, as she quickly unlatched herself from Eric. "I just carried away. But anyway if you are not busy this weekend we should go out, and rekindle our friendship."

"Sure that is fine with me. I don't have any plans." Eric said, as he felt his testicles retreat to his abdomen.

"Oh good. I was hoping you would say yes." Nicole said in a gleeful tone. "Anyway I know you are busy. I just thought I would come by and bury the hatchet. See ya later." Nicole winked and walked out of Eric's office.

"That damn girl is going to be the death of me." Eric said to himself.

Little did Eric know that although Nicole wanted to rekindle her friendship with Eric, she also wanted to use this as a chance to get back at Dorian. Nicole was the type of girl that sought vengence no matter the cost. Even though she liked Eric, her desire for revenge trumped any other logical thought.

Nicole and Eric started off slow, but eventually things started to heat up again. Nicole used this as an opportunity to set her plan in motion.

"So have you fucked him yet." Said a voice on the other end of the phone.

"Nope, but I plan on it tonight." Nicole replied.

"Ohhh you are so bad. Leading this poor man on all this time."

"Oh shut it Jennifer. Not even a few months ago you were cheering me on to sleep with Dorian. So don't pretend you care for Eric's well being."

"Well in my defense. You and Eric were not together, plus Dorian is hot. If you didn't sleep with him I'm sure someone else would."

"Very true. I just hate that I let Dorian get the drop on me like that. It is usually me who gets to play the guys, not the other way around."

"Well I guess you have to lose sometime." Jennifer said, trying to help Nicole feel better.

"Yeah, but I am a very sore loser dammit. Although I do feel a little guilty for dragging Eric in all this. Oh well. At least he will get some pussy out of the deal. That is what most guys want anyway. Right?"

"Very true." Jennifer said. Knowing that Nicole had her mind set, and nothing she said would change it.

"Eric will be here soon so I better get off here."

"Ok girl bye. Please text me the juicy details later." Jennifer said before hanging up the phone.

Eric was at Nicole's doorstep not too long afterwards. A bulge in his pants started to stir, as Nicole answered the door wearing nothing but a sports bra and boy shorts.

Nicole immediately picked up on the excitement in Eric's eyes, and in his pants. "Got him right where I want him." Nicole said to herself.

"Umm ok well looks like someone is comfortable." Eric said examining Nicole from head to toe.

"Well you should feel free to join me." Nicole said with an evil grin, while tugging at Eric's shirt trying to take it off.

Eric wasted no time taking his shirt off, then he took his pants off, leaving him standing there in just his boxers. After pausing and admiring Eric's half naked body, Nicole took him by the hand, and led him to the bedroom.