Guess That Is How I Know You

Chapter VIII

April 30, 2016

Being friends worked, sort of.

The day after Bailey went out with her ex, we ran into each other at the community laundry by chance. It is funny to think how intimate something as ordinary as doing laundry can be.

She did not seem to have noticed I was there at first, which gave me the chance to observe, it is something I soon realized I took a habit of doing—she is captivating, and I can never help myself but to stare.

When I began to feel like it would be too creepy if she saw me watching her like that—almost obsessively looking at her—I figured I would best make myself noticed.

I said good morning and I swear I thought Cecilia would die out of a scare, she jumped back and almost fell.

We talked mostly about how her date went. I do not think I had seen someone over their thirties looking as in love as she was while talking about Miranda. I felt jealous someone who was not me was able to make her glow like that.

The friendship seemed to go well though.

For almost a month we would drive to campus together, which was good because first, she was always on time now, and second, we would chat all throughout our ride.

Every now and again I would feel something was off though, I just could not pinpoint what at first. That is, until a few days ago.

She often became this whole different person whenever I talked about Nay.

The professor would shut down at times when I started talking about my dating life, and those were the good times.

Whenever she did not shut down, she had something bad to say about Nay—which is hilarious to say the least, considering they had never really met.

Sometimes Nay would come over—I am only human after all—and not often, but consistently, she complained about the neighbor slash friend of mine who had crossed paths with her on the elevator and would not stop looking at her as if she had a contagious disease, her words, not mine.

To be honest, I did not think it was true at first, because Cecilia had no reason to treat her like that, if anything, every little thing I ever told her about Nay would be reason enough for her to be happy for me.

As the weeks passed, I started to think, maybe, even though she was once again with the infamous doctor, and seemed happy and completed, she did not quite like the fact that she had to share my attention with Nay.

It led me to avoid talking about my dating life with her, and maybe I even unconsciously started to avoid Nay altogether, which I was not being as smooth as I would have liked because she realized I was pulling away and it only made her clingier. She would wait for me outside my classes or walk me to them.

She did not know about my carpool buddy at first. But a week or so ago, she was waiting for me at the law building and saw me park my car right in front of her as the professor got out.

I am fairly sure that was the moment she figured out the reason to my unconscious actions. Especially because, the second the older woman noticed the younger one's presence the whole thing became a lot tenser.

Cecilia—instead of doing what she did every morning, and parting ways to head to the professor's lounge—decided to stay and sort of... stablish dominance, which I think made Nay feel almost as if she was the third wheel.

Nay was not even able to get too close before the bossy and dominant side of the professor kicked in.

At first, Cecilia would just talk over Nay's voice and pretend she was not even there, but as we got to her classroom—the one place where she was completely in control—she basically banished Nay away.