IN LUST

Chapter One

"'My dearest Lorena, I am so sorry I couldn't be at your graduation and send you off to college physically. Just know I'm always in your heart and that I'm so proud of you. You'll be the next Marilyn Monroe of your time. Don't ever give up on your dream. Never doubt yourself. Talent and success is in your blood. I don't have much time left, You're waking up by my side now. Just know that your father loves you. Don't give him a heart attack okay?

All the love, mom x"

Lorena read the letter her mother wrote to her over and over during the car ride to the university. As she stepped out of the vintage taxi her grandfather kept from when he was a taxi driver in the 1950s, She looked at the beautiful university and then looked up at the sky. "She's very proud of you, you know? I bet she's bragging about you right now." Her grandfather says then chuckles. When Lorena walks into her apartment that she shares with two of her friends, she feels butterflies in her stomach. Penny, Lorena's friend runs up to her and hugs her tight.
Violet, Penny and Lorena's other roommate and friend walks into the apartment with groceries and beer.
Violet looks at Lorena with puppy dog eyes and tears up a little bit. "Lolo, I've missed you! How are you guys?!" Violet asks. Lorena just opened her beer and replied with, "I missed you too, we've been good. It's been tough to cope but we finally did it." The three roommates eat their lunch while drinking beer. "Lolo, what should we do for your birthday?" Asked Penny. "I don't know yet, maybe go to a bar." Said Lorena.
It's a beautiful sunny morning in Southern California. Summer is over, and Lorena has her first day of college. "Lolo! You're not the only one running late!" Violet yells as she bangs on the bathroom door. All of the girls have plans today but as normal 21 year olds they're looking forward to drinking beer at a bar together finally. Of course, on a big day for a determined young lady, there is traffic by a bus stop due to a minor car crash on Lorena's way to her first class. When she is waiting in traffic; Lorena sees an attractive man at the bus stop watching her from afar as she is being impatient and bratty. The man had beautiful brown hair in a man bun, tattoos all around his slightly tan, muscular arms and gorgeous green eyes. That's all she noticed within the 10 seconds of looking at each other.
Finally the traffic has cleared and Lorena makes a quick stop at a coffee shop close to her college. It took her 15 minutes to get to the coffee shop and she has 30 minutes left of class. At the coffee shop she saw the guy from the bus stop waiting in line to get her coffee. "Pumpkin spice latte, for Nate!" The server shouted in the quite loud coffee shop. In that moment, Lorena found out his name. She didn't care to think too much of him, but she did think he was very attractive. Now it was her turn to order. Her usual order is the pumpkin spice latte but she thought about getting something different, to start off a new year. "Toasted Graham Latte, for Lorena" the server yelled. Lorena quickly grabbed it and fast walked to her car.
When Lorena got to her school it took her a few minutes to find her class. Finally she got to her class but she was too late. She was so embarrassed when she walked in. Somewhere in the middle, she saw Nate sitting down, comfortable and chuckling at her once again. The professor usually didn't care about his students being late or early because all he cared about was getting paid. But for some reason he wanted to help her catch up on all that she has missed. So, the professor dismissed the class and asked Lorena if she would like someone to fill her in on the project. Lorena didn't understand why he was being so caring to her out of all the students in his classes but she couldn't say no. Maybe it would help her future career. "That would be so nice and helpful, thank you professor." She said to him. "Lorena, this is my intern Liam. He will help you with anything and everything in this class. This is strictly professional, do you two understand?" Both Liam and Lorena nodded their heads. "You two start working together tomorrow."
When Liam met Lorena, he was so charming. Lorena automatically was physically attracted to him. He was a very masculine 25 year old. And the fact that he was soon becoming a professor for the arts drove her crazy inside. You see, Lorena never really dated ever. She always focused on her education and dream of becoming an actress. But this recent year has been intense for her alone, so she had to put her education and dream aside for awhile. Because of everything, Lorena learned to hold in her feelings.
The next morning Liam and Lorena meet at the auditorium. "You look lovely today. Are you ready to start?" Said Liam. Lorena blushed, "Yes. Thank you" she replied.
The project is a play about a young couple in love in New York. Lorena plays a lost girl that just moved to New York. Liam is acting as a handsome New Yorker who introduces her to the city, the good and bad parts then falls in love with her. "You're a natural" Liam compliments Lorena on her acting before the big scene. "We should finish this scene" Lorena says, trying to avoid unprofessional feelings. The two finish the scene by sharing a passionate stage kiss. After the kiss, they were quiet for a minute. "So-so um, I was wondering if you wanted to get coffee before class?" Liam Shyly asked. He then added, "to practice more?" Lorena was nervous. She didn't know how to respond. Since she couldn't respond, she chuckled to the ground and left without saying goodbye.
    That night Lorena started to feel something she never felt before. She couldn't stop thinking about him. It was so surreal to her to feel this way about a man she barely knows. The next day, they worked on the project again. Liam looked at her differently this time. He looked at her with the same green eyes  but with a different, good vibe.
    When they finished the project; Liam asked, "Would you like to go over the big scene again?" Lorena knew he just wanted to kiss her. What she didn't realize in that moment that she wanted to kiss him. "Just to practice, right?" Lorena replied. He smirked and nodded. Liam grabbed her  with his right hand holding her chin up, pulling her closer to him as they kiss passionately. Lorena was quite nervous and curious the whole time they were "practicing the big scene". Was that just an excuse for her to taste his soft lips again? She wasn't sure. All she knows is that she wants to see more of Liam. But she doesn't know how to spend more time with him.