I walk out of my last class for the day, and it's only a little passed three. I take my phone out, and I dial up Rose, who tells me she's waiting for me by the student union. I meet her over there, and we walk together to my car. My phone buzzes in my pocket as I get into the driver's seat. I instantly take it out before I put the car in drive. When I see his name show up on my screen, butterflies instantly flutter in my stomach.
I slide my finger across as I read the message: "Good afternoon, love. I miss you. Work isn't the same without you. H" I smile to myself, feeling like a little girl who just got her dream Barbie house for Christmas. My cheeks begin to heat up each time that I reread over the message; I almost screech from excitedness until Rose clears her throat next to me, and I remember that I'm not alone right now. I lock my phone back up, making sure to reply as soon as I get home, and I put the car in drive.
"Who was that?" She curiously asks.
"Oh.. Um.. It was Harry, just giving me the plans for work tomorrow," I half-lie. At least I told her it was Harry who was contacting me. She arches her eyebrow in suspicion, and she grabs my phone from the middle. I try to take it away from her, but because I'm driving, she just takes it out of my reach. Damn me for telling her my passcode. She repeats the message out loud, and I almost want to drive the car off road from how embarrassed I feel right now.
"What the fuck is this, Liliana?" I know she's upset every time she uses my full name. "Why is he calling you love? Why is he saying he misses you? Isn't he engaged?" I roll my eyes as she continues to ramble on, and I ignore her as I raise the volume on the radio up. She immediately pushes the knob in, shutting it off.
"Rosemary, just stop, okay? We can talk when we get home, not right now.. Just please.. stop," I turn the radio on again, and we drive the rest of the way, with the melodies of The Fray and no words spoken between us. The tension in the air can be sliced with a knife, and I hate arguing with her. She acts like my older sister, or my mom, depending on the situation, and I'm seriously tired of her always having to get into my business. As I turn into our street and enter the gate code, I can feel my stomach doing leaps. Rose doesn't say a word as she quickly hops out of my car and pushes through our front door. I have yet to reply to Harry, but I have more important matters to take care of first.
When I walk inside, she's already seated on the sofa waiting for me. "Explain yourself," she glares at me through her dark brown eyes. I sit on the separate couch away from her.
"We have... I don't know, I guess, hooked up.. twice already."
"What?" She hollers as her pupils dilate. "I know I made jokes about your little crush on him, but I didn't think you would actually try anything with him when he has that ring on his finger," her words ignite my anger, but I suppress it down as I try to explain myself calmly.
"Just listen, okay? Um, the morning after the club, I sort of threw myself on him and kissed him because he was just being so sweet to me, but I ran away after he pulled back. Then, yesterday was so awkward at work, but when school let out, we.. I guess, hooked up? I don't know. We made out against the wall and on top of his desk, and then, I ran out again, but he followed me this time.. And we're just, you know? Having fun?" Saying it out loud makes me sound like a complete homewrecker, but I can't help it. He's always somehow around, and every time we're in the same room, I feel a strange magnetic pull towards him; my body, my mind, all of it wants him. "He came over yesterday when you were at the library, and we just both agreed that we don't want to be away from each other," I shrug.
"Are you fucking stupid?" Rose stands up from her seat and places her hands on her waist. "He is a 25 year old man, with a stable job, and a stable fiancee, and you're just going to get in the middle of that.. of someone's happily ever after? You know, you've done some dumb shit in the past, but this is just ridiculous. What do you expect to come from this? A relationship? Because that's not going to happen. It's going to be random hookups for him when his woman isn't around and then, he'll run off and marry her, and you'll still be here, trying to pick up the pieces from your shattered heart."
