The car ride was silent. Thank fuck. I couldn't have been able to have small talk with him. I was already too damn ashamed to wear something like that in front of him.
After he pulled up at Luke's house, I hurried out of the car but didn't expect him to follow. I turned towards him to say goodbye but saw him walking towards me.
"What?" He asked, noticing how I stilled.
"Nothing." I walked to the door, put my hand on the handle as I took my key out of my hoody with my other hand and froze. The door was unlocked. "Shit." I quietly opened the door, entered the house and looked around. Empty. A relieved breath escaped my lips. I turned to Nathanial to thank him, but the sound of footsteps on the stairs made me glance that way.
If Luke is home...
A hint of relief hit me when I saw Rose. She wore light grey sweatpants with a black sweater and grey slippers she kept here. She stayed at my place quite often which wasn't a complaint on my end or hers, but I wished she had stayed at her place today. She stilled when she caught my eyes.
"Where the hell have you been, missy?" She hurried to me, grabbed my shoulders and looked all over my body to see if I was hurt.
I'm fine, dear mother.
When her eyes caught the man behind me, her brows went up.
"Good afternoon, Miss Arya." Her jaw dropped as she nodded and moved her eyes from him to me. I turned to Nate, my hand holding the doorknob.
"Thank you for driving me home." He smiled as he put on his black sunglasses.
"Pleasure, Miss Bartley. I'll send you the work you have to do. You can have some rest next week." I couldn't contradict him as he walked away towards his car. I slammed the door and walked into the kitchen. I grabbed a glass off the shelf and poured water into it.
"What the actual fuck, Mel!" She squealed like a child. She practically jumped on me as I drank the liquid.
"Rose!" She backed away, plopping her ass on the barstool. I turned towards her, leaning against the island.
"Every damn detail should make its way from your lips to my ears, Amelia. All the way from how this happened to his dick size." I rolled my eyes at her. "You know I can keep your secrets very well, but it comes with a price." The price was my promise to always tell her everything. Not that hard. But I didn't want to do so this time.
"I was drunk, I texted him I wanted him to fuck me, he said no, I sent him a picture of me in lingerie, then he said to be in the parking lot of the mall in ten minutes. I went there, sat in the car, we had sex, I gave him a blowjob, his dick is big, he knows how to dirty talk. Man, he knows how to touch me and I fell asleep on his lap after sex so he drove me to his place and then back here. He even took my damn panties, so if it wasn't for this skirt, I'd be pretty much naked. " Rose's mouth formed an O shape. "I know I'm stupid. He's my damn professor and basically ten tears older than me." She shook her head.
"Listen, you're both of legal age, you're both grown adults, some more than others," I looked down at my fingers. "You can make decisions yourself. If it involves continuing your relationship with him, then so be it. I'm stoked to have someone like him with you."
"He threatened me twice."
"No!" She yelled out.
"I didn't tell you this but the day we met in the classroom, he came to the house with Luke. He's Luke's boss." Her eyes widened. "He came up to my room and heard me in my alone time. He even saw the damn vibrator." A laugh escaped her throat. "Not funny. Do you understand how embarrassing that was?"
"Yes, but this is gold." She wiped a tear from her eye. "How the hell is this real life?"
"He said that if I had known half the shit he had done in life, I'd run from him."
"So he's a bad boy." I rolled my eyes.
"Not helping." She held her hands out in defence.
"I wanted to tell you something that I'm not sure you'll like. Maybe you will, I don't know." I glanced up at her, my brows pinched together. "You know that guy Atlas?" I nodded. "He admitted to me he likes you." I gave her a look as if she was playing with me.
"What the fuck, Rose? Like this helps me out in any way. He doesn't. You're making shit up." She put on that wicked smile I've grown to be afraid of. "What did you do?"
"Get ready, you're going on a date with him." My eyes widened as I stood up straight.
"What the fuck!" She jumped off the stool.
"Listen, he's your age, your type, smart, had money-"
"How much do you know about him?"
"My FBI skills are immaculate." By FBI, she most likely means digging on Facebook. Something she called Facebook'al bureau of investigation. Not my idea, hers.
But fuck it. Nathanial isn't for me. He can't be. I need someone who'd be my age or a bit older. Nathanial isn't someone who'd make me happy. Whereas Atlas seems like the perfect guy.
"Where?"
"Your place."
"Really? My place?"
"He asked me on the spot and it just came out." I nodded.
"Fine. When?"
"In two hours." Shit. My head was in pain, the hungover was still clear. But something inside me couldn't stop hurdling. Maybe I was trying to fool myself but perhaps this will help me forget what happened last night.
————
Rose left the house thirty minutes ago, leaving me completely alone with an island covered with snacks and a wine bottle on the side as well as the silence. Just the house though. My brain was on full blast going from one thought to the other.
I changed into something more appropriate for a first date. A date that I haven't had in years. Not that I complained much. I wore a light beige sweater, which was tucked into my black pants, paired with black heels. My hair was straightened and pushed back, while my make up was lightly done.
As the doorbell rang, my heart rate sped up to a million miles per hour. I walked over to the door, took a deep breath and opened it.
Atlas stood there with red roses in his left hand and a faint smile on his face. He wore a light brown coat with black jeans and a white dress shirt underneath. He looked very handsome. How did I, in the span of a month, find two men gushing over me?
"Hey," I said, awkwardly. This is not going well.
"Hi. You look really nice." I think I just blushed from his words. Why was I so mushy all of a sudden? Alcohol really helped me to be tougher.
"Thank you, Atlas. Come inside." I opened the door further, letting him in. I closed it immediately after, not letting the cold air get inside. He turned to me and handed me the bouquet.
"These are for you. It's like a late birthday gift and a first date gift." I smiled as I took it in my hands and gave him a tight hug.
"Thank you. You really didn't have to." I pulled away, seeing the uncertainty on his face. I walked over to the kitchen to get a vase and poured some water into it to put the roses inside. "So, this is a bit unexpected," I said as he sat down on the lounge couch.
"Yeah," I took the wine bottle and two glasses in my hands, walked over to the lounge and set the things down on the table. "I can open that." He grabbed the bottle, as I ran into the kitchen to grab a corkscrew. I handed it to him as I sat down.
"How are you?"
"Good. I can't lie, I was disappointed when you didn't show up today." Don't know if he'd be disappointed if he had known where I was.
"Yeah, I didn't feel too well after yesterday. Partied too much." He smiled, pouring the wine into the glasses.
"I just wanted to say thank you for being so nice to me. The day I walked into the classroom, I was scared to even talk to anyone. When you showed up, you accepted me, I guess, so thank you." I didn't really know why I had done that. I guess it was nice of me. But who was I kidding? He's a good looking dude that I might get on with.
"You have nothing to thank me for. I like having more friends. My social bubble isn't big so I don't mind that." He smiled, bringing the wine glass up to his mouth. "Besides, it's nice to have someone who enjoys math at least somewhat."
"Do you have any other hobbies?"
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"Yeah, I couldn't believe that happened," I said, wiping a tear off my eye. His laugh echoed in the lounge as we shared our favourite funny moments. Mine was my eighteenth birthday when Rose took me to a male strip club. I got so drunk, I climbed on the stage and danced with them. Strangely, I didn't get taken away. And the video still sits on my computer. Something to remember.
"I guess drunk you is the wild you." I smiled.
"Yeah."
"I remember-" he was interrupted by the doorbell.
"I'll be right back." I didn't even notice how the sky began to darken. The clock right by the stairs stated it was around five-thirty. We chatted for four solid hours. Hardly happens. I opened the door and saw a delivery guy.
"Amelia... Bartley?"
"Yes?" He handed me a black box which had a light pink ribbon wrapped around it. It was very light. Not much was inside.
"Please sign here." He handed me his iPad, letting me put my signature where I needed to. "Have a nice evening." He gave me a smile before he walked away. I was left in confusion. What the hell? I closed the door and walked over to the kitchen.
"Who was it?"
"Someone delivered me something. Probably Rose." It was the only logical explanation. I set the box down on the island and untied the ribbon. I opened the box, and my eyes widened. A light ping lingerie set with a light pink silk robe sat inside.
That can't be him.
No, Nate. No.
I didn't take it out of the box, since I was not about to explain myself to Atlas, but I did look for a note. I noticed a black card on the bottom of the box. The brand caught my eye.
Fucking hell.
These were signature pieces. Ones that are specially made from requests, and cost thousands of dollars. Mariquet. Fucking Mariquet lingerie. Does he not have where to spend his money? I grabbed the note.
To my princess
His handwriting was beautiful, I have to give him that. I flipped the card, seeing the white ink.
Thank you for yesterday and happy late birthday, Amelia.
-Nathanial
Something inside of me twisted. Of course, this was very sweet and generous of him, but this was a bit too much. It's not every day your professor sends you a damn lingerie piece as a gift. I closed the box and walked back to Atlas. I sat down across from him, grabbed my glass and drank the wine. My phone buzzed.
Rose: how is it going?
"Everything okay?" Atlas's voice interrupted my voyage to another dimension.
"Yeah. Just thanking Rose." Yeah, thanking her for something she didn't give. "One second." I stood up and dialled her. If there was someone who could assist me right now, it was her.
"Girl, I'm going to kill myself. He sent me Mariquet lingerie." She gasped.
"Atlas?" I tolled my eyes as I entered the downstairs bathroom.
"Nathanial, for fuck's sake. I doubt that man could spend money on shit like that."
"Send me pictures."
"What do I do?"
"Thank him!"
"No."
"Bitch, you got expensive shit from him. At least thank him." I tried to calm myself by taking deep breaths. Fuck that shit. It doesn't do anything. "What did the note say?"
"' To my princess' on one side," she squealed. "' Thank you for yesterday and happy late birthday, Amelia' on the other."
"I'm going to die, that is so cute."
"You are the worst help right now."
"Just thank him. It's all it takes."
"Amelia!" Luke yelled.
"Shit. Luke's home. He saw the box."
"You are stupid to leave it out." I ended the call and ran out of the bathroom. Luke stood in front of the box which was opened.
"What the fuck is this?"
The note.
The damn note.
I rushed to the box, quickly looking around for the note. "Amelia?"
"Rose surprised me, why would you open what's mine?" I found the note on the bottom. I closed it as quick as I could and grabbed the box in my hands.
"Rose bought you Mariquet?"
"Mariquet?" Atlas questioned.
"Alright, get the fuck out of my shit. What I got is my business and mine only." I rushed to the stairs.
"Who is the strange admirer?" I'm sure Luke didn't care about the fact I received lingerie, he's more interested in the person that sent such a gift to me. "Amelia! Who is the guy I have to murder?" Your goddamn boss.
I shut my bedroom door behind me and called Nate. He didn't pick up the first time.
"You fucking moron."
"You're very welcome, princess."
"My brother saw it. You should be glad he didn't read the note." A laugh escaped the other end. "Nathanial!" I quietly yelled.
"You like it?"
"Yes I do, but it's seriously too much."
"Try it on. I wouldn't mind seeing it on you."
"Not gonna happen." He chuckled. I sat down on my bed, the box on my lap. I took out the note, sliding my thumb across the rough paper.
"I hope the size is right."
"Yeah, it is."
"You don't have to come to class for the next week. I'll come by to give you some of the material tomorrow." I inhaled deeply.
"Sure."
"Alright. Anything else, princess?"
"I'm going to get addicted to the way you call me." What the fuck was that?
"Good. That's what I'll call you. I have a meeting. Speak to you soon, princess."
"Bye, Nate." I hung up and collapsed on the bed.
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