Hacking The Relationship Code

Chapter 22: Claustrophobia

Although one thing really annoyed me about Adrian was him constantly poking fun at my vegetarianism. He would roll his eyes when I got fussy at restaurants to make sure that they cooked the vegetarian stuff and the meat in different pans and would constantly remind me how I was lacking essential proteins. For a second there, it irked me but I couldn't show him that I got offended easily like that. 

***

I had lunch plans with Andy today which I had to get a rain check on since Adrian and I lost track of time at his place while doing stuff. But in my defense, things got pretty hot, so I wasn't going to complain. My feelings for him were quadrupling with the days and I found myself thinking about him all through the day.

Our first trimester exams were approaching nearer so I decided to direct some of my energy towards academics. On Sunday morning, I woke up early to go to the library to study peacefully for sometime and work on my yearly project. Phones weren't allowed in the library and I had switched mine off before working diligently on my draft. In midst of it, I was hit with the realization that I had neglected a lot of work while living my newfound love-story. One other such realization was that I missed working with Andy.

Studying with Adrian was cool and he did help me with a lot of stuff but with him, I always felt the pressure to match-up to his speed. He would finish his work quickly and then help me with mine. And by help, I meant he would do it for me. I didn't mind it at first since it gave us more time to spend with each other but I kind of missed Andy whose pace matched with mine and who would rather help me figure a way rather than doing it for me. Andy and I had been learning together for years. We had developed a sense of comfort in each other's company.

I took a break around 11 and checked my phone. I had multiple texts and calls from Adrian. I called him back.

"Hey", I whispered on the phone when he picked up.

"Where the hell are you?" He sounded desperate.

"In the library, why? Is anything wrong?"

"No, I was just wondering why didn't you show up in the morning today to wake me up. You usually check in before going to work. And then you didn't even pick up my calls."

"uhh...I had some work to do for school."

"We could have done it together in the evening.", he insisted.

"It was regarding my project."

"Ooops...thanks for reminding me. I haven't even started working on it yet."

"So what are you waiting for, start working on it from today."

"Yes, have a good day at work. Bye...see you soon."

"See you soon.", I hung up.

Uff.....how do I tell him that I want to study by myself. He's gonna get upset since we spend most of our time studying together and suddenly I wanna back out.

In the evening, I spotted Mia prancing around in the kitchen pretending to use the ladle as a mike and raging a full-on concert. She was dancing across the kitchen singing to herself while making dinner. I drop my keys along with my bag on the couch and join her in the kitchen.

"Hey babe. How was your day?", she asked jollily.

"It was good, how was yours? And what are you doing in the kitchen? You know you are no good for our kitchen.", I explained.

"My day was good and you know; I got hit on by this really cute chef at the diner and he asked me out to dinner next week at his apartment. We are going to cook together and I don't want to show him that I suck at this."