Page 8 of Oops, My Professor Got Me Pregnant!

“Okay.” Lauren fell into step beside Nico, adrenaline still surging through her from her request. Lauren had done much harder things than ask a guy out to dinner — from uprooting her life to move to a foreign country, to standing by her grandfather as his daily life had grown more and more difficult — but this still hadn’t been easy.

“So, tell me more about growing up in Paris.” She smiled at Nico. “What was it like?”

“Well, of course it was normal for me.” Nico grinned back. “I went to school and played football — er, soccer — with my friends. I spent time with my parents and dreamed of becoming a spy or an astronaut or a soccer player. Normal stuff.”

“Did you have siblings?”

“No. It was just me and my mom. My dad wasn’t in the picture from the time I was very young.”

“Mine wasn’t either.” Lauren wasn’t sure why she’d shared that. Her father was a small part of her story — she’d never known him and rarely thought about him. But something about Nico’s openness made her want to be open too.

“I’m sorry,” Nico said.

“I’m not. My childhood wasn’t exactly usual, but it was wonderful all the same.” A memory of her grandfather pushing her on the swings, both of them laughing, flashed through Lauren’s mind. He’d stepped up for her when she’d needed someone most, and that would always mean everything to her.

“That’s a good way to look at it. My mother was all I needed, but I still can’t forgive my father for walking out on us.” Nico gave Lauren a slightly strained smile. “I’m sorry. This isn’t exactly a pleasant conversation.”

“Don’t worry about it.” It was clear Nico wanted to change the subject, though, so Lauren searched for an alternative topic. “What do you like to do in your free time?”

“I don’t have all that much free time,” Nico admitted. “But when I have some, I like to read and go to the cinema.”

“The cinema,” Lauren repeated, grinning.

“Is that not the right word?”

“No, it’s right — it just sounds so fancy. I’d usually just say the movie theater. Unless you’re one of those people who like pretentious black-and-white films about the sufferings of the human spirit.”

“Maybe I do.” Nico raised his eyebrows.

“Oh! I didn’t mean to offend you?—”

“I’m kidding. I mean, I do like some classic highbrow cinema, but I also like action movies and the occasional rom-com. And I liked that new animated movie about the goat who opens a Chinese restaurant.”

Lauren laughed. “I saw that with one of my friends and her three-year-old — but why did you see it?”

“Because I enjoy a wide range of cinema,” Nico told her, his face straight. Then he grinned. “Anyway, what do you do in your free time?”

“I don’t have a lot of free time either.”

“What a pair we are,” Nico quipped. Lauren’s heart skipped a beat at the thought of her and Nico as a pair, but she didn’t let herself get caught up on that.

“I like to run, though. And I like to read, too.”

“What do you like to read?”

Thus began a conversation about books that lasted all the way down the bank. Lauren shared a few of her favorite books and found out that Nico had read and enjoyed some of the same ones. They swapped recommendations and soon became caught up in a vehement debate about the value of a classic they’d both read recently. By the time they’d agreed to disagree, the sun had started to set and the air was taking on a chill that cut right through Lauren’s thin jacket.

“Shall we head to dinner?” Nico asked after Lauren couldn’t hide a particularly forceful shiver. “I’d lend you my jacket, but I don’t have one with me.”

“Well, thank you for the sentiment. And yes, let’s head to dinner — if it isn’t too early.”

Nico made a show of checking his watch and seeming to consider, then gave a nod. “I think we’ll be all right. We’ll need to take the metro to the restaurant. Are you ready?”

“After the mess I made of public transportation this morning, I’d really better learn, ready or not.” They started walking away from the river towards the direction Nico had indicated the metro was.

“I have to ask, though. What mess did you make of public transportation?”

“I took the metro in the wrong direction,” Lauren admitted. “And when I got off, I couldn’t get in through the pay gate for the other direction, so I went back above ground to look for another way to get to the apartment I was trying to see. I finally found a bus, but suddenly it turned off the route I expected it to follow, and I found out that it was a special commuter bus. I ended up walking like a mile to get back on track.”

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