The Merger

Chapter 12

Harvard, Around 16 Years Ago

Talia Nassar

"You're taking forever. Can we please go already?" Gary huffs out from the edge of my twin-sized bed.

I'm finishing up with my mascara, careful enough not to hit the long lashes against my eyelids. "Jeez, it hasn't been that long. Someone's in a mood today," I say over my shoulder as Gary jumps up and crosses his arms, looking like he's ready to leave without me.

He faces the vanity mirror in front of me to fix his gelled black hair and adjust one of the buttons on his forest green shirt. "I'm not in a mood," he says in the moodiest way possible.

I scoff and pick up my Chanel purse. I take one last glance in the full-length mirror. My cream-colored sweater dress with a matching belt is tied around my waist. Paired with my sienna brown thigh-high boots, I've managed to create a Christmas At the Cabin look. I do a little foot pop before turning to Gary with a smile. "I'm ready."

"Thank fuck. Now let's go," he says before leaving my dorm room and leading the way to his car.

The short walk to Gary's car is mostly silent except for the chatting students passing by. Outside, we're met with light snow flurries. Christmastime is my favorite time of the year. Not only is it the coziest season, but it also means that the semester is ending soon, and I can get somewhat of a reprieve from the mountain of coursework.

I can't remember the last time I went out and didn't hole up for the night studying. Gary's friend-of-a-friend's Christmas party seems like the perfect event to get back into the social stratosphere. At least I hope I can. I typically can't stand the people at Harvard with their know-it-all attitudes for more than five minutes.

My boyfriend isn't technically the exception with an arrogance he often proudly admits to, but Gary is always there for me. When I first met him during freshman year orientation, he was laser-focused on getting to know me. He always knew the right things to say at the right time and ended up sweeping me off my feet.

While I didn't plan on dating anyone when I got to college given the expected workload, Gary ended up being a good companion. Sure, we argued a lot, but what couple didn't?

For the past year and a half, my priorities have been school and Gary and that works just fine for the most part. However, a small part of me wonders if I should be socializing more with other people. While it's easy to just hang around Gary, a sliver of excitement presents itself at the thought of finally having enough breathing room from school to go to a party.

When my thoughts drift back to the state of the brooding man beside me, I turn to him. "So are you going to tell me what's got you all worked up? It can't just be because I needed five extra minutes to put on makeup."

Gary is practically speeding us through campus in his Range Rover. I hope we don't get pulled over. He lets out a huff without turning to me. "I still don't understand how you got a better score than me on our Business Strat exam." Annoyance drips from his voice.

"Are you serious right now? You're still stuck on that?" I roll my eyes and glance out the window, admiring the passing light decorations on the snow-dusted homes outside the campus grounds.

"I studied way longer than you. I didn't even see you look at the textbook once when we did our study session."

"I studied before our session! And so what? It's not like it's a competition." I make a face and my muscles tense. When Gary doesn't respond for a moment, I turn back to him. "Right?"

"Do you even like being a finance major?"

"Of course I like being a finance major! What are you talking about?"