Page 87 of Love, Academically
The hug was tinged with guilt because she had done something wrong. She’d doubted Jasmeet. She’d been so selfish when frankly, there were other, more important things going on.
“Tell me what’s going on,” she said to Jasmeet, her arms still tight around her.
“Oh god, it’s just a horrid kid and a horrid parent,” Jasmeet said, extricating herself. “I want to hear about Rhys.”
Rhys. How was she supposed to tell her best friend about the filthy things Rhys had said to her. Answer: she wasn’t going to. No way.
“The evening went well, really well,” she said, turning back to the pan.
“And…?” Jasmeet pressed. “Why was he miserable? What happened?”
“Oh,” Lila said. “Well, we came back here, and we were, you know…”
This was so awkward. Lila was not used to talking about thisstuff.
Jasmeet, however, did not have any such issues with talking about sex.
“You were getting down to it, you dog,” she said, clapping her hands gleefully. “I’m so proud of you! Well done! Was he good? I bet he was good, that tight little ass—”
“Uh, you’ve got a boyfriend.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t look!” she said. “Was he?”
“Didn’t get that far. He stopped it before we could.”
Jasmeet raised her eyebrows.
“Is that Comfort Carbonara ready? I feel this is a story we need it for.”
Lila smiled and dished up.
Over a bottle of wine and the creamiest, most garlicky pasta ever, Lila told her everything. Well, noteverythingeverything. Certainly not repeating Rhys’s words from earlier in the day. She couldn’t even think them without blushing hot-rod red.
“Lila’s got a boyfriend,” Jasmeet sang, her eyes slightly wobbly after two large glasses of wine.
“You’re silly,” Lila said with a tipsy laugh. She most certainly did not. It was just a shag she was after, wasn’t it? Someone tofill the coldness of her bed now and again, because Rhys’s touch would be infinitely better than her own.
Obviously, Rhys wanted to sleep with her, he’d said as much. Taking her out on a date was a courtesy. He hadn’t said anything about arelationship, he’d said ‘fuck’. He’d said it a lot.
“Dessert?” she asked, changing the subject.
“I usually have Dan for dessert,” Jasmeet said, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Oh God, I donotneed to know that.”
Lila cleared the table and served vanilla cheesecake, with the remnants of the cream. Calorie counting was not on the agenda tonight. They decanted themselves to the sofa and curled up under blankets.
“Can I stay tonight? I don’t want to get a taxi and then come back for my car tomorrow,” Jasmeet said.
“’Course you can,” Lila said. She’d anticipated as much. “Tell me what’s happening at work.”
“Well,” Jasmeet said, launching into a story about a tantrumming child disrupting the entire class for hours on end, and a parent who – after having an equal tantrum – felt that Jasmeet, as Miss Patel, should effectively parent this child to the exclusion of all other students.
“Stupid parent went to the Head. Had to have a meeting with her.”
“What happened?”
Jasmeet rolled her eyes. “I have to ensure that all students are treated equally. There may be additional learning factors for this child and I need to assess him. Which is damned hard to do with a class of thirty-two already, and only one teaching assistant for two children with Special Educational Needs.”
