After Hours

23. Ordinary

"That only brings me onto my next point, does Wittgenstein's view of the mind make space for an inverted spectrum?"

Rainy held back the groan that she desperately wanted to let out and stared ahead at nothing in particular with narrowed eyes. She wasn't sure how but time seemed to be getting slower the more she tried to focus on the boring words being spewed at her.

She needed to change her major.

There was no way she'd really be able to graduate with a degree in something she despised. And if it was possible, she hated the subject more now that she could hear the familiar deep voice echo throughout the large lecture building.

"...prosed by Jackson who uses the example of a scientist raised in a black and white room and sees the colour red for the first time. Does that su-"

She bit her lip, trying to stop herself from thinking about the unfortunate situation. She had returned to New York and life had settled back into its usual routine. It had been an entire week since Palm Springs and to say Rainy was still embarrassed would be an understatement.

She was mortified.

Switching her attention away from nothing and over to the figure she could make out to be her professor by the front, she found herself studying him. It was like she was looking at a completely different person, Professor Rivera was nothing like the man she had met a few weeks ago.

Rainy couldn't understand how he could be so unrecognisable in his teacher mode, the clean crisp navy blue shirt he had on was done up properly, though, the sleeves had been rolled up to his elbows and he wore black slacks paired with polished Oxford shoes. His black reading glasses were on, and his usual messy curly hair was kept neatly while he moved his hands expressing whatever it was that was pouring out of his sinful lips.

He seemed a lot more focused, with his brows furrowed in concentration and no sign of the lazy grin he often supported plastered across his face.

Nevertheless, he still looked attractive doing what he did.

Thinking about the situation made her cringe slightly, she still had yet to tell Elijah everything. She was certain it wouldn't happen again, and that she had made a mistake. A big one at that, but she knew in her heart that Elijah was the one.

He made her happy and that was all that mattered.

She couldn't even fault his flaky behaviour, not when she had lied and cheated on him many times. Cheated on him with the same man that was currently draining her of her energy with his mundane words. She knew she was in the wrong, and there was no sugar coating it. She wouldn't be the one to pity herself, but it was hard not to. Even though she messed up, she felt a rush of anxiety trying to come to terms with it all.

Surely, if she truly didn't care for the professor like she thought she did, it would be easier for her to admit her act of infidelity.

So then why hadn't she done it yet?

Eventually, the loud booming started to drift off slowly and the sound of people collecting their things and getting up from their seats in a hurry notified her that the lecture was finally over.

Thank god for that, she thought to herself.

Rainy packed up her things shoving them into her bag in a rush and stood up whilst she put the bag onto her shoulder and waited for her row to clear out. When she had enough space to move, she walked down the row and followed the sea of people up towards the exit.

She paid no attention to the man preoccupied at the front, it wasn't like he had even noticed her at the far back since he was busy talking to a couple of confused students who needed his help.

The cloudy grey skies were the first thing that she saw when she had left the crowded building and walked outside. Cursing herself for forgetting an umbrella, she walked down the stairs quickly and practically ran for shelter. In a pair of black tight jeans and an oversized cream knitted sweater she didn't feel the cold breeze which she was grateful for, she knew never to trust the New York weather.

Rainy had learnt the hard way.

A sudden vibration broke her train of thoughts and she sighed, blinding reaching into her bag and searching around for her phone. She grabbed it, and pulled it out to look down at the flashing name across the screen.

There was no hesitation, immediately pressing the answer button, she lifted the phone to her ear and the corner of lips curled upwards. "Hey, babe." She walked down the pathway and made her way to one of the many lunch spots the campus amassed.

The deeper voice responded urgently, "Are you doing anything tonight?"

The random question itself made her pause, and she frowned. "Not that I'm aware of, no. Is everything okay?"

Elijah sighed. "Yeah, it's fine. It's nothing, it's just that it's family game night tonight and I forgot to tell you about it last week when we were away. But every Friday we have dinner at someone's and then play a bunch of stupid board games. It's a silly tradition, and you don't have to come if you're bus-"

"Hm." Rainy smiled at the nervous rant, and she let out a soft laugh. "Is there something you'd like to ask me Elijah?"

Upon hearing her blatant teasing, he scoffed in annoyance down the phone. "Would you like to come to family game night?" The forced murmur only made her smile even wider.

She didn't think when she uttered the next few words. "Of course, I'd love to."

There was a sigh of relief, and then she heard him say. "Thank fuck... I'll pick you up around seven."

After a brief conversation about each of their day, and a loving goodbye later, she had hung up the phone in a daze. Rainy was so lost in his words that she hadn't fully registered what exactly she had signed herself up for.

She had absolutely no idea what the long night would entail.