Page 30 of Love, Academically
Rhys was amazed at the variety of her smiles, because this one was understanding and sympathetic. Ah, that was a revelation. That smile must be part of the reason students were always in her office. That, and the cookies.
“That’s okay, there’s plenty of time. Isn’t there? When actually is it?”
Rhys nodded. “Yeah, not for a while yet.”
“Okay, good. So, kickboxing?” Lila prompted.
“Kickboxing,” Rhys echoed, and smiled at her. She was remarkably easy to talk to. She understood that he didn’t want to talk about certain things,couldn’ttalk about certain things, and she didn’t push. It seemed like she was interested in him for him, not for his money or name. And that was rare. “Dan persuadedme to go a few years ago. Work out some of my, what did he call it, oh yeah, ‘massive anger issues’.”
“You?” she said lightly. “Anger issues? I would never have guessed.”
“Miss Cartwright, are you making fun of me?” He scowled at her. He guessed that she was, but sometimes it was best to check rather than make assumptions.
“Yes, Rhys Aubrey, I am.”
“Oh.” Fair enough, asked and answered. “Yes, apparently I have ‘massive anger issues’.”
“Did it help?”
Her blonde hair was escaping around her face, curling over her collarbone. It looked like silk.
“So much.”
It really had. That two hours twice a week had got rid of his pent-up energy and allowed him to release his anger in a healthy-ish way. He also enjoyed beating up Dan.
Her plump pink lips formed a shocked O.
“Wait, so you used to bemoreangry?”
“I know you’re taking the piss now.” He narrowed his eyes at her, but it didn’t have the full force of his usual glare. Not that he wanted to scare her. No, he was enjoying answering her questions.
“What else? Tell me more.” She flung her head back against the sofa theatrically and he suppressed a smile. Overly dramatic was something he would have to add to the list of reasons why Lila Cartwright shouldn’t have got the job as Departmental Coordinator. Although, it was becoming less and less pertinent.
“Um…” What else was there? “Oh, I’m applying for a Fellowship at the Royal Historical Association.”
Rhys felt his face heat. It was a big deal and if (no,when) he failed, he didn’t want people knowing and laughing at him behind his back.
“Shut up!” She sat upright and slapped him on the arm. “You are not! That’s amazing, Rhys!”
He smiled shyly at the exclamation marks in her voice. He hadn’t even told Dan.
“When is the application due in? How does it work? Tell me all.” Lila sat forward, Richard Gere completely forgotten.
“A few weeks yet. My statement is nearly ready.” He hesitated. “I don’t think I’ll get it. It’s a bit of a long shot.”
“What? Why?” Lila said, her eyebrows drawing in.
“I don’t think I have the body of work needed. I came to academia relatively late, and I’ve not had the time.”
God, that felt good. It was a boulder that had rolled off his shoulders. Just that verbalisation that he might not get it, that he might fail, felt so good to say. It didn’t quite get rid of the nagging, twisting feeling in the pit of his stomach every time he thought of having to explain it to his father, but it released some of the tension in his shoulders.
“But you’ve got to be invited to apply, haven’t you?”
Rhys gave her a searching look. “How do you know that?”
“Uh, I think you’ll find I know lots of things, Rhys,” she said primly. “Is your coming to academia later than others something that we’re not going to talk about right now?” she asked astutely.
“It’s just that I haven’t really talked about it with anyone before. I’m not sure how to,” he said, honestly. What was it about Lila that drew everything out of him? “I just need to process it and then I will work out how to tell you, because you should know before you meet my family. It’s not actually a major thing, it’s just hard for me to—” He paused. “I’m quite a private person.”
