He sat down beside me and put his hand on my thigh. I looked up at him to see he was already looking at me. In that moment I got back on top of him like it was deja vu from yesterday. But he quickly pushed me off. I was confused until I heard his phone ringing on the counter. He went over to go and answer it and I watched his facial expressions. His face almost dropped when he picked up the phone and he was not happy.
After a few "okays" and "yeahs" the call ended and he put his phone back on the counter. He saw me watching him and started to head into his bedroom. "Tell me you know what shade I am" he says and I follow him into his room. "I have to go to Topeka to work on a bill." I see him going over to his closet and finding a suit. "When?" I ask and he stops and looks at me like I've just asked the most stupid question known to man.
"I have to be there in 2 hours" this seems like a long time but really wasn't considering the circumstances. I head over to the bathroom where my clothes were from the night before and I start putting them back on which wasn't a pleasant feeling but I had to. I go back into the room and put his clothes on his bed before he asks me "How do I look?"
He doesn't look too bad. I'm just worried the makeup will get on his collar. "I think you look fine but I would change the white shirt to a dark one" he looks through his closet and finds a black button up shirt. He puts it on and starts walking into the living room. He starts putting all his work things in a briefcase looking bag. "We can run up to Walmart before I have to leave. I'll drop you off at your dorm" I nod my head and put on my shoes while he's still rushing around.
Soon enough he finds everything and puts on some dress shoes. He makes it to the door before turning around and saying "I'm so sorry. I promise I'd never do this willingly" he tells me and I nod my head "It's fine" I follow him down to the lobby trying not to trail too close behind. We make it to his car which was parked in the buildings garage and it's so nice. He unlocks it and I get in. He does the same and hands me his briefcase.
We take maybe ten minutes to get to a Walmart and he parks near the front. He starts going through his wallet and finds his card before handing it to me "Just find something you think will cover this up" I nod and start to walk into the Walmart. I get to the makeup section before finding some concealer I think would match him but buy some shades around it for good measure. I checkout before heading back to the car.
I give him back his card before getting the concealer out of the bag. I make my way over to his seat straddling him like the day before except this time it wasn't as fun. This time it was serious or at least to him it was. I start putting the concealer on his neck which matched pretty well. I unbuttoned his shirt a bit so I could get all the visible marks and more. I finished covering up all his marks before leaning back to see if I missed any spots.
"Did you finish?" he asked and I nodded yes. "I'm just letting it dry" I tell him and he tries to look in the rear view mirror to see how he looks. "It'll dry on the way to Topeka or even by the time we get to my dorm. I say and he just looks at me for a second. "Here's the color if you need to reapply" I tell him holding up the cheap bottle. I get back in my seat trying not to get concealer everywhere.
"Do you have anything I can wipe my hand with?" I ask him and he replies quickly with a "No" before starting to drive me back. We ride in silence the whole time. He was definitely irritated or mad at something but I don't know. We make it back to my dorm and I tell him goodbye. "Goodbye Dahl" he replies and with his English accent makes it sound like he said doll. I shut the door carefully with my messy hands and walk into my building.
I took the stairs hoping that nobody would see me or my neck. I make it back to my dorm with nobody noticing and my dorm mate not even being there. I switch into some clean clothes before I make myself a cup of Mac and Cheese. I lay down and feel like taking a nap. I think about all that had happened today. How he was a completely different person under stress. How I caused half of his stress. I felt bad but I knew it wasn't all my fault.
I fell asleep but was jolted awake the next morning when my phone buzzed right next to my head.
Cal
Will you come over? I need some help.
Me
Yeah I'll be over in a bit.
I started to get ready. I took a shower and blow dried my hair before putting on some light makeup and getting dressed for a chill day of classes. I grabbed all my things for today and started to walk over to his complex. I made my way up and knocked on his door. This time I did have to knock twice.
He opens the door and dosent say anything before walking into his bedroom. I put my stuff down on the counter before following him into the room. "What do you need help with?" I ask and he hands me the concealer. I guess he's gone non verbal today. He sits down on his bed and I start to do what I did yesterday. I unbutton the first two buttons on his shirt and I start to apply the concealer.
His neck did look a little better but still not that great. I finished applying it all and walked over to his bathroom to wash my hands. We had about an hour before his class started. "Do you want anything?" He asked me from the other room and I stood there confused while drying my hands off. "What do you mean?" I say while making my way back into the room. "I mean do you want anything? Anything before class? Anything outside of class? I feel like a bad person" he says and I walk over closer to him.
"No I don't want anything Cal. You're not a bad person. I just want you to be okay" I say and place my hand on his shoulder. He looks up at me, giving me the most puppy dog eyes I've ever seen. I am so confused by this man. His hand finds the small of my back before he pushes me onto him. He falls back and I find myself on top of him. He smiles and starts running his hand up and down my back. "When can I see you again?" He asks and I take a moment to think "Well I'm free tonight" I say and he flips me over, pinning me to the bed with his long legs and arms.
"Good, I'm free tonight as well. Will you help me grade some papers? It's what we'll do today in class" he says and I reply with a yes. "Perfect" he says and gives me a kiss on the forehead before leaving me on the bed. I raise myself up with my forearms and see him walking into the kitchen. I follow him and find him grabbing two mugs of coffee. "Here you go" he says and I smile.
"Thank you" he nods and walks over to sit down on the couch and again I follow him. "Why aren't you with someone your own age?" He asks and I shrug my shoulders "Why aren't you with someone your own age?" He laughs a bit and leans back a bit more. "I don't know" he says and we continue to sit there waiting for class. Just two different versions of class. We finish our coffee and I take our mugs to the sink. He grabs his briefcase and all the things I brought for class. "Do you think we can walk together?" He asks "Sure, I don't see why not" I reply and we head out.
I find myself knocking on his door again and this time he seems much more happy to open it. "I've got the papers ready" he says and I can't believe I forgot this was what our night was going to be like. I follow him to the couch where he looks oddly comfortable. He's wearing a T-shirt and some shorts which isn't odd but isn't his normal attire. "Here's your stack" he says handing me some papers "And here's your pen" he says handing me a red pen. "We can order something in tonight or whatever you want to do" he tells me "Okay" I say
We get comfy and get to work. Grading was easy. It was just time consuming and I'm surprised at the amount of college kids who don't know basic political and governmental functions. I couldn't be talking though. I didn't even do the assignment today because I knew I'd get an A either way. Either I grade it and give myself an A or he grades it and gives me an A . "What is this?" Cal says putting my paper on my stack. "It's my paper" I say looking at him.
"Your paper with nothing on it but your name?" He asks and I nod my head yes. Cal takes the paper back and takes the papers I'm grading out of my lap. "What's a filibuster?" I look at him with an "are you serious?" expression but he's still adamant that I answer. "Cal you know that I know" he shakes his head "No I don't" I roll my eyes and he marks the question off my paper "You're at a 0% right now" he says and I again look at his with an "are you serious?" expression.
