Page 41 of Love, In Balance

It’s Monday. I’m feeling anxious but excited to see Quin after how our night ended on Saturday. We’ve agreed to have a morning meeting in his office to plan sessions and catch up after our research session. I walk onto campus and see Pierce walking in the distance, so I put my head down and speed walk past him. Sadly, I’m unlucky in my attempts to avoid him.

“Hey you. What have you been up to over the weekend. I didn’t get to see you after our little encounter at the social. You ran off and left before I could scoop you up and have a proper catch up” he says, rubbing my arm. I don’t look at his face. I just continue looking down.

I’d love to grab his arm and twist it backwards. Watch him squirm. I don’t, however, carry it out as I’m rather opposed to being arrested. I settle for dismissing the idea of putting thoughts into action, and instead, allow myself to dream.

“I’m late. I have to go” I say, running off before another word can leave his disgusting mouth.

The annoying thing is, he would be so handsome if his personality were less...prick-ish.

That’s the charm though. He lures you into a false sense of security with his large stature, his confident stance, muscles and smile. But as soon as the motherfucker starts talking, you realise you’ve been conned. He’s toxic, degrading and makes me feel sick just being near him.

Out of breath, I get to Quins office and knock the door.

I may be anxious to see him, but I’m more eager to escape the potential grasp of Pierce and avoid any triggers. So I’m happily welcoming the idea of an awkward first greeting with Quin.

“Come in…”.

I hear most of it, but before he even finished his response, I busted in and shut the door behind me.

“Lista. Is everything ok?” he says, standing up quickly.

He moves to the other side of his desk, closer to me, leaning against it.

“Oh… I’m” I try and get my words out, through the panting.

“I’m fine. I just didn’t want to be late. And I was just… avoiding someone in the hallway. It’s fine. I’m fine” I say.

“Avoiding someone?” he says concerned, frowning and crossing his large arms.

Damn he looks good.

“Don’t worry about it Quin. I’m fine. I’m here now so, all good. Would it be ok if I locked the door?” I ask.

It came out before I could even think about the question to be honest.

“Erm… Sure. Go ahead”, he says, clearly confused at my bizarre behaviour and request.

He remains leaning against his desk for a while, looking… It’s best not to think about how good he looks right now.Highly inappropriate.

We discuss Saturday’s research session, leaving out the part where he pushed me against the wall, held my waist with those fucking hands, and kissed me. Or the part where I stripped him of his shirt and touched his bare skin.

We put a few dates in the calendar for our future sessions and overall, the meeting is short, swift and productive.

“We could have our sessions here, if need be, or we can continue in coffee shops or wherever suits us both. Where’s good for you?” he asks.

“I’d say coffee shops work well, or here. Maybe we should avoid my place” I say, laughing.KnowingI shouldn’t have brought it up.Knowingthat on campus I need my professional hat on.

“I wonder why that is?” he says raising his eyebrows.

“Well, we wouldn’t want to get carried away or distracted again would we?” I say.

We’re flirting now. This wasn’t supposed to happen. But damn it feels good.

He flirts back with me even more and it feels dangerous.

“I mean, distractions can happen anywhere Callista. Even in professional spaces” he says, gesturing to the room around us.

I lose all my will to stop.

---