After major coastal cities sink to the bottom of the ocean at the end of the twenty-first century, the richest inhabitants of Earth escape the planet to build new colonies in a distant solar system. Thirty six light years away from the Milky Way gal...
Author's note: 1) At the bottom of this page, there are aesthetics for Ayumi and Deandra. Those are the work of Vivian a.k.a. Indigo_sky123 and shouldn't be used anywhere else without her permission. 2) The guesthouse is modeled after a traditional Japanese ryokan or simple motel with spacious rooms and sliding doors, while the foldable beds are based on tatami. Meanwhile, the song that Nardhia sings in this chapter is loosely based on a song in an Indonesian movie in the 1990s called Petualangan Sherina, starring Sherina Munaf and Derby Romero.
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The woman called Deandra smiled at Ayumi and pulled her into a hug. Moira had a feeling that the two might be long-time friends who had not seen each other in a while. Kahoko saw the two women embrace and, upon seeing the matriarch, Deandra bowed down to show her reverence.
"Ms. Rivera, it's good to see you again. I'm sorry for dropping by unannounced. I thought it would be great to surprise Ayumi. I'm on an extended vacation." Deandra explained.
"You're always welcome here, Dea-chan. I'm sure Ayumi has missed you, and my husband Ardiansyah would be happy to catch up with you, after all you and Ayumi used to be roommates! So, how's your family? Have you found a job already?" Kahoko greeted her daughter's friend. Ayumi gestured to her mother not to bring up the job search, but Kahoko did not understand.
"Er, yeah, it's a complicated situation. My dad offered for me to take his position, but I'm on the fence, so I told him to give me a month to decide, so I came here to think."
"I see. Well, take all the time you need, dear. My house is your house." Kahoko left.
Deandra pulled away from Ayumi and faced the students. Ayumi shook her head at her former roommate and friend's surprise and then cleared her throat. "So, an introduction is due, I guess. Dea, why don't you tell everyone about your relationship with me? You just came here out of the blue, I mean."
"Hi, kids! As you could hear, I was your professor's roommate and best friend. Although, come to think of it, Ayumi, we had a history, didn't we? Okay if we tell your students?"
"Okay, I guess they wouldn't mind. So, guys, I am a lesbian, and she is too. We used to be in an on-again, off-again relationship as we both questioned our sexuality. We broke it off because I was too busy finishing my doctorate at that time, and she was still doing her Master's thesis. I know that the age gap would haunt us later, but at that time, we really loved each other."
The students all nodded knowingly, and Moira thought, My professors sure are interesting. She never had any teacher being openly honest about one's sexuality and personal life, so what Ayumi did left an impression on Moira. Blue Orchid really has a thing for casual professor-student relationships instead of a strictly professional one, Moira noted in her amusement. She also could not help but wonder if Ayumi and Deandra would ever rekindle their romance. In all the chicklit books that Neesa let her borrow, old flames usually did end up together. Moira wondered about Deandra's last name, Milton, because it sounded familiar. Aha!
