Page 17 of Beautiful Beginning

“All you had to say is you wanted me there with you. Shoot me the address and I’m on my way.”

Redeemed.

“Sending it now.” All eyes looked my way as I pulled the phone from my ear.

Lauren blurted, “He’s fucking perfect? Isn’t he?”

“Something like that.” I winked.

Most Saturdays, I hated how long the instruction took before people could start the lesson. But when Chaz walked in, I was glad the woman was still in front of the room on point three of five.

Our eyes connected, and I raised a finger. I navigated the room until I stood in front of him. Pulled him by the hand and found a corner where we wouldn’t disrupt anyone.

“What is this?” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I was expecting Hillside students, or little kids. Not…”

“Grown adults?” I hunched my shoulders. “This is a program for the community to learn financial literacy. People come in to discuss budgets, investing, and tax implications.”

He uttered, “Economic improvement.” He nodded. “I like it.”

I smiled. “Me too.” I pointed to a couple of chairs and said, “Let’s sit. We have a bit before she finishes, and they need our help.”

“Can I…” he looked behind me first, “have this first.” He leaned forward and kissed my lips.

My arms wrapped around his neck, and I deepened the kiss. For the shy guy, with no relationship experience, his kissing did everything it needed to do when it needed to do it. “Damn,” I whispered when he pulled away.

He rubbed his hand over his mouth. “Damn is right.”

With my eyes on him, I couldn’t remember what it was I wanted to discuss. Kissing him till the instructor reached point number five could replace whatever it was. I rubbed a hand across my forehead. “There was something I wanted to talk about.”

“Campaign?” There was a satisfied grin on his face.

“Campaign,” I pointed at him, “right. I know you haven’t decided yet, but there’s only a week before the special election. Seven days for the students to love and respect you, for them to check the box next to your name.”

“If I run, what do you think that’ll look like? I imagine I’d need longer than a week to make someone fall in love with me…”

Our eyes connected and I counted back the days. From the coffee spill, to then. A little over two weeks. “You’d be surprised.” I shifted in the seat then said, “You’ll need a running mate. Someone who has the same aspirations, someone trustworthy like you.”

“Can’t think of a single soul.” He rubbed his hands down his leg. “Unless you plan on running.”

It’d be hard for me to give him a hard no. Especially if I was trying to convince him to run himself. So, I tried an easy one instead. “How about someone from your major. I imagine they would like to see themselves on a local, state, or national ballot one day. They can start here, on campus.”

It was cute when his nose scrunched up. The way his eyes crinkled. “I’ll have to think about it.”

I reminded him, “We don’t have long.” On to the next thing. “And because you are running for SGA president, you’ll need more than the senior class’s support. You’ll have to get out and meet the underclassmen too.”

Sheer panic replaced the cuteness. Behind us, I heard shuffling, and no longer the monotonous voice of the instructor.

“I’m not sure about all this,” he said with a deepening frown. “Kissing up to people for their vote.” He stared straight ahead. “That’s the part of political campaigns I like the least.”

“It’ll have to be your thing.” I joked, “Unless you think you can be SGA president from your apartment. Hide out and never be seen.” I emphasized, “It’s not only the campaign that you need to be out for.Whenyou become president we’ll need to see you.”

“Ha. When.” He stood from his seat, “I seeyou.” He winked.

People moved into groups, and I said, “In these groups, we answer questions. Help with budgets. Or discuss options from what they learned today.”

He grabbed my elbow and leaned in close to my ear. “I’m not a finance guru. And somebody talked through the lecture. So…”

So?Had me heated. Ready to grab him and lead us back to the corner. “If you can’t piece it together I won’t be far from you.”

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