Sophisticated Sophomore (Love 101 #2) Page 16

  “Laila, I’m glad you made it.” She looks around the room. “Mrs. Douglas wants to speak with you.”

  I look around the room in search of the woman whose picture I’d seen many times on Professor Douglas’ desk. Professor King whispers, “Maybe she’s in the kitchen.”

  Nodding my head, I walk towards the kitchen. There are a few women in the kitchen but I notice Mrs. Douglas leaning on the counter, alone.

  I touch her shoulder, grabbing her attention. She looks at me without speaking and I introduce myself.

  Her eyes light up with recognition and she says, "Come, let's have a seat." Mrs. Douglas leads me to a table near the kitchen window. I sit across from her and admire her beauty. Her smooth skin makes her appear youthful. Her eyes, although downcast, are a shade of hazel that contrasts with her espresso skin tone.

  "Mrs. Douglas, I'm sorry for your loss." I glance away, then continue, "I'm so sorry I didn't come by sooner."

  Mrs. Douglas reaches for my hand. "Dear, this has been a difficult time for us all. For more reasons than one." A younger lady walks towards us but Mrs. Douglas shakes her head and she turns around. "Ray loved his students and he spoke highly of you." I smile to myself, realizing I didn't know Professor Douglas' first name before today.

  Mrs. Douglas' eyes glaze over and she continues. "Even after your article was published he convinced me you were doing what you had been taught." She wipes away a tear with the back of her hand. "I've always wanted to believe women when they have such accusations, but with Ray..." She pauses shaking her head.

  “Mrs. Douglas, we don’t have to speak about it. I understand.” Standing, I wrap my arms around her shoulders. In her ear, I whisper, “If you need anything please don’t hesitate to ask.”

  I find Evan in the living room sitting uncomfortably on the couch between two elderly ladies. When he sees me he hops up. “Please tell me you are ready to leave.”

  I grin and nod my head. On the drive back to my apartment Evan runs his mouth about the memorial service and his ideas for the paper for the next few weeks, but I listen without providing any input. The closure I was hoping for is further from reality after speaking with Mrs. Douglas.

  “Laila, can you cover the campaign? We at least want to interview the candidates for Mr. and Ms. L.U.”

  I turn away from Evan and say, “Sure. Send me the details.” I conceal my grin as I think about how I can incorporate Monica into the interview.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  With my bag almost full to the brim I throw in another bathing suit. Hopefully, the bag doesn't burst open. My phone rings while I sit on the bag in an attempt to zip it.

  "Hey, babe. Are you almost here?" Chris is coming by before I leave for spring break. Getting out of Tallahassee is exactly what I need. But I'll miss Chris. From the sound of his voice he'll miss me too.

  “I’m pulling up now. Can you come down?”

  Chris is standing outside of his car by the time I make it down the stairs. When I catch his gaze he looks down at his hands.

  I lean in for a hug but he doesn't reach for me. "You could have come up. I was just zipping up the suitcase."

  Chris shifts from side to side before he hunches his shoulders. With a long exhale he finally says, “I was thinking about my sophomore spring break and all the foolery I got into.”

  My eyebrows narrow and I wait for him to continue. “Miami is full of people living in the moment.” He stops and looks at me. “If I’d had a girlfriend that year I’m not sure I would have had as much fun as I did.”

  I shake my head as I realize where this conversation is going. “Chris, what are you trying to say?”

  He grabs my hand. “You should experience Miami without worrying about me.” I pull my hand away from him. “I’ll be leaving Tallahassee in a few months. Maybe we should take a break.”

  Tears begin to sting my eyes. I gasp for air as I try to understand what just happened. “Take a break?” I close my eyes, fighting back the tears, and when I open them again Chris is looking at his hands. I tell him, “I don’t need a break from you to enjoy Miami. And I thought we already talked about what will happen when you leave.”

  Chris finally looks up. He rubs his hands over his head and says, “Laila. I love you.”

  “But not enough to maintain a long distance relationship. So instead of trying, you want to cut your losses now.” The dam of tears breaks and I stare at him, daring him to see how he is hurting me.

  He pulls me into a hug and whispers in my ear, "I love you." Then with a kiss on my forehead he gets into his car and drives away. I watch until the car disappears beyond the parking lot. My eyes are blurred with tears and my legs shake as I try to make it up the steps.

  When I finally reach my room, I slam the door shut and collapse onto the floor.

  My door creaks open and I hear an audible gasp. “Laila.” Jennifer bends down beside me. “Are you okay?”

  My sobs drown out my response.

  “You have to calm down. I can’t understand you.”

  “Chris.” I manage to whisper between my cries. She pulls my shoulders from the ground and wraps her arms around me.

  “What happened?” She rubs my back, calming my nerves.

  “He just broke up with me.” I sniffle as I try to stop the tears from falling. “Just like that. It’s over.” My tears begin to flow again as I hear myself confirm the end of my relationship.

  “Broke up with you… Were you guys fighting? Wait. What?” Jennifer stumbles, and as she speaks I try to calm myself.

  Shaking my head I say, "No, we weren't fighting. His last words were actually, ‘I love you.'" My head begins to throb and I feel my lunch trying to come up. I bend on all fours to crawl to the bathroom but Jennifer pulls me up and walks beside me, gripping both of my arms.

  As she wipes a cold towel on my neck she says, "I wish he were an asshole so I could curse his existence right now." She pouts at me through the mirror. "Up until now, other than his crazy ass ex he hasn't done anything wrong."

  I slam my hand on the counter. “He wants me to enjoy spring break unattached.” I roll my eyes.

  A smile crosses Jennifer’s face before she looks away. “Well you know I’ve been trying to convince you for a while that we should be wild and free before settling down.”

  “That’s just it. I don’t need to be single to have fun. He has to come with something better than that.”

  “Where y’all heffas at?” Nicole calls through my bedroom door. “I thought we were trying to roll out by 1:30.”

  I look at Jennifer through half-lidded eyes. “I can’t. I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer.”

  Nicole walks into the bathroom. “Why would you be a Debbie Downer?”

  I look at her but can’t will myself to explain the breakup again. Jennifer shakes her head and says, “Chris just broke up with her.”

  Nicole pulls my shoulder, forcing me to face her. “What. The. Fuck.” Jennifer fills her in and by the end of the story, Nicole is saying, “If fun is what he wants you to have then the last thing you need to do is mope around. Get your shit let’s go.”

  I exhale and say, “You guys should get going.”

  Jennifer groans. "Laila, really? We can't just leave you here. And Tanya is meeting us tomorrow." Her eyes pleading she continues, "Nicole is right you can't just mope around all spring break."

  I fan them away with my hands. “I’ll be fine. I’ll just head home.”

  “I can’t believe this shit. This negro will be hearing from me.” Nicole stomps out of the bathroom, huffing and puffing like a child.

  Jennifer slumps her shoulders in defeat. “Are you positive?”

  With a smirk I say, “Yeah. I’m good. Have fun for me.”

  Before I can respond to the knock at the door, my mother walks into my room. I lift my head and mumble, “Hey.”

  “Two days in the bed is long enough.” She sprays air freshener in the air. “You are stinking up my house. Please get up
and take a shower.”

  Sighing, I roll to the other side of the bed and avoid eye contact with my mom. “I’ll get up in a minute.”

  My mom sits at the end of my bed. “Just when I was starting to like Chris he goes and breaks your heart.” She pats my feet. “But it’s going to be okay, honey. Enjoy being single.” She sprays more air freshener.

  I cough at the overwhelming scent of fresh linen. "Okay, mom." Throwing the covers off, I climb out of bed. "I'm going to take a shower now."

  “You’ll feel much better once you do.” She smiles and leaves me rummaging through my suitcase.

  After my shower, I pull a halter dress over my head but don't bother to do much else. Had it not been for my bag being packed for spring break I would lounge around in sweatpants, but I just threw my spring break bag in the trunk and headed home to my parent's house.

  The past two days I’ve been holed up in my room, hardly even coming out to eat. I smell cinnamon coming from the kitchen that can only be from my mother’s heavenly French toast.

  “Ready to eat?” My mother looks over her shoulder, smiling as she places a thick slice of French bread into the skillet.

  "I am. No amount of heartbreak could keep me from your French toast, mom."

  “If that’s all it took I would have made it a couple of days ago.” Looking in the refrigerator she snickers. “But we are all out of orange juice.” Crinkling her nose, she asks, “You wouldn’t mind running out to the store now that you are up, would you?”

  Contemplating breakfast without orange juice, I’m in the car headed to the grocery store without even checking myself in the mirror.

  Strolling down the aisles, I stop to raid the candy. Chocolate always makes me feel better.

  “Laila? Is that you?” I turn to look up the aisle and see Josh standing there with a confused look on his face. “Ugh … what are you doing here?” Josh’s hazel eyes have typically made me warm and fuzzy, but today I’m not phased.

  I look down at my bag of Twix and say, “I was here for orange juice but decided I needed something sweet.” Looking at him, sharing his look of confusion, I say, “Why are you in Fort Walton?”

  “Exactly what I’m thinking. I dropped Tanya at the airport yesterday to meet you in Miami.”

  Explaining my sudden break up to Josh is the last thing I want to do. But I’ll have to convince him I didn’t just randomly ditch his sister. “Right. She’s there with my roommates. I had a last minute change in plans.”

  He looks at me, waiting for more, but I leave him hanging without details. "Your turn. What are you doing here? This is your last spring break in college. You should be partying hard."

  He shrugs his shoulders, bringing my attention to his muscle-bound arms that are bulging out of his too-tight t-shirt. "Well, I'm only here for the first half. I had an interview, but I'm headed to Vegas tomorrow night."

  Josh finally closes the gap between us, and glaring down at me he says, "What caused your sudden change of plans?" My body betrays me and his proximity makes my heart flutter. His cologne invades my senses and my face turns flush.

  I’m sure he’ll find out soon enough. “Chris broke up with me right before we were going to leave and I just couldn’t do it.”

  Josh’s eyes buck open and he stares at me for what seems like forever. “I would say I’m sorry to hear that but honestly I’m not.” His lips pull into an endearing grin.

  My mouth drops open. “Well damn. At least you’re honest.”

  “Timing hasn’t always been on our side. Maybe this is the universe attempting to correct its wrongs.”

  The universe could have given me fair warning. The sneak attacks I’ve faced in my relationships are overwhelming. First Travis being arrested on my graduation night, and now Chris loving me but not wanting to be with me. The universe owes me. After all, the third time is supposed to be the charm… if only I could convince myself of that.

  Grabbing my bag of Twix, Josh nods toward the end of the aisle. “OJ right?”

  After paying for my candy fix and orange juice, Josh lingers near my car. “OJ and Twix is probably the worst breakfast combination.”

  Laughing for the first time in a couple of days, I abruptly stop and look at Josh. "The way I feel I could probably make it work." He eyes me and his smile fades. "Josh, don't worry about me. My mom is making me breakfast. The Twix will probably be for lunch."

  Relief covers his face and he grabs my hand through the window. “How about I take you out for something even better than Twix?”

  My head cocks to the side and I contemplate my options. “Better than Twix?” He nods his head. “Sounds like a plan.” Although I’m not interested in starting anything with Josh, moping around the house, thinking about Chris, isn’t making me feel any better.

  He runs his hand through my hair. "I'll see you around noon."

  My mom’s face lights up as I approach her sitting on the couch. “Glad you decided to do something with that head.” She squints her eyes. “If my eyes aren’t fooling me it looks like you even put on a little makeup.”

  I turn my head to avoid rolling my eyes at my mother. Smiling I say, “I’m going out for lunch.”

  She pats the seat beside her. “You look much better than you did this morning. What happened at that grocery store? I know chocolate works wonders, but my goodness.”

  Laughing uncontrollably I grab my chest. "That felt good." My mom has always been on team Josh, but I don't want to excite her over anything. "I saw Josh at the grocery store." I put my hand up before she can speak. "He invited me to lunch, but that's it mom. Just lunch."

  She pats my leg. “I’m just saying that you look like a different person than the one who barely wanted to shower this morning. I won’t get in your business I just want you to be happy.” She nudges my arm. “Just be careful not to send him mixed signals.”

  Josh hasn’t stopped smiling since he picked me up. As I reach for a roll I contemplate telling Josh I’m not over Chris, but that smile warms my heart. The universe will have to figure this one out. “Are you ready to be out of school?”

  He hunches his shoulders. “To be honest, not really. Who in their right mind is ready to be a true adult?” We both laugh and I can relate completely.

  “You could always prolong your time in school and get a master’s degree.” Chris crosses my mind, and as if Josh can feel my mood change, he changes the subject.

  Looking out the window he points out a family of dolphins playing near the dock. "We should get a closer look. Hopefully, they'll be there when we finish our food."

  “I’ve always loved watching the dolphins.” I appreciate Josh for distracting me from my somber mood. “What type of foolery do you have planned for Vegas?”

  His face lights up and he begins to describe his Vegas plans, then jokes about me not being old enough to drink or gamble. “Vegas should be fun, but if I knew you were going to be home I would have stayed here for spring break.”

  I avoid eye contact and plead the universe to be kind to me. “I’m supposed to be in Miami being wild and free.” Realizing neither of us has mentioned Tanya, I ask Josh if he’s heard from her.

  “I called to check on her after I left you at the grocery store.” He frowns at me. “You know the two of you are supposed to protect each other, but I understand you not going down. I can’t say the same for her.”

  Tanya probably hates me for leaving her with my roommates. Pouting I say, “I’ll have a lot of making up to do.”

  He nods in agreement. Josh pays the bill and grabs my hand as we stroll down the dock in search of the dolphins.

  Josh grabs my feet and unclasps my sandals, and then takes off his shoes and socks. “Can’t sit on the dock without getting our toes wet.” I dip my feet in the water then splash him and he starts to tickle me in return. We are eye to eye and his lips hover over mine. I lean in but Josh backs away. “Sorry, Laila. I don’t want to make things awkward for you.”

  “Mission accompl
ished.” This couldn’t be more awkward. I haven’t even been single for an entire week and I’m already pushing up on Josh. “Maybe we should leave.”

  Josh shakes his head and turns to face me. "We've… well, I have been waiting for this moment for over a year. As much as I want to kiss you, I don't want it to be at the tail end of your breakup."

  “You’re right. It’s probably not wise for me to rush into anything new right now.”

  Josh looks at me with a devious smirk and says, “But in about a month, I know exactly what you can give me as a graduation gift.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Monica paces in front of the library as we wait for the final count of votes to be announced. Nicole points to the group of guys making their way through the crowd. Before I realize whom she’s pointing to she runs up to them.

  It’s been a few weeks since I’ve seen or heard from Chris, but when I see his face as Nicole points her fingers at him, I feel flush. Just when I thought I was getting over Chris, one look at him has me forgetting about my late night calls with Josh.

  Monica jumps up and down, screaming. She runs up and hugs me. “Thank you for all of your help. I can’t believe we did it!”

  Jennifer and I encircle Monica, jumping and screaming. Nicole walks up and joins us. When we finally stop celebrating I ask her what she said to Chris. She rolls her eyes, “I told you he had to hear it from me.” She looks away and says, “But he reminded me that he loves you.”

  “So he says.” I scan the crowd, looking for Chris, but I can’t find him. “I find it hard to believe that he loves me but didn’t even speak.”

  Nicole grabs my arm. “I think I may have snapped a little hard on him.” She looks defeated. “He may have left early.”

  I’m thankful for Nicole speaking up on my behalf, but I’m disappointed that Chris didn’t have the courage to face me. “Whatever, only a few more weeks until summer.” Nicole nods in agreement. “I can probably get through without seeing him again.”