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“Gallivanting?” I giggled.
“You’re not the only one who’s a walking thesaurus.”
“For the record”—I cleared my throat—“I’d rathergallivantaround you—in panties.”
“Stop teasing. Promise me you won’t go walking the streets at night on your own.”
Now he was back to the “protective dad approach.”
“Aria…”
“I promise,” I sighed.
“Good—and sleep on time tonight.”
“I’ll try. Although, I wish I could make a cameo appearance in your steamy sex dreams.”
“You already do. I promise.” He simpered. “Good night, beautiful.”
“Good night, Noah.”
Reluctantly, I ended the call and signed out of Skype. Lying on my back, I closed my eyes and drowned in love drunk feelings. How was this man mine? I couldn’t wait for that day when we could finally hold hands in public, introduce each other to our friends, and share a kiss on a bench in Central Park… in the rain, just like that couple I’d seen years ago. I’d gone through a series of tower moments in life, but I was happier than ever. Even though Noah was out of the country, at least we were no longer related.
There wasn’t much to complain about. I was living with my best friends, my mother was finally leaving the sperm donor, and Evan was in the same area code as me. I felt lucky, but also worried that something terrible would happen, as if I was never meant to stay happy for too long. Perhaps I had done something horrible in my past life (if I had one), and I had to brace myself for karmic retribution. Or maybe I was still traumatized by my childhood.
My first year at Columbia was off to a great start. I chose psychology as my major. Studying human behavior and thought process was interesting to me, which included learning aboutdifferent fields of psychology. My relationship with Noah was a head trip within itself. Our love story would have made such a controversial film on the silver screen. I’d probably get attacked by religious fanatics, even though the Bible is littered with incest.
Transitioning from high school to university had not been as hard as I’d expected. I enjoyed having more freedom and meeting new people. There was this guy I met in my sociology class who was cute and funny; his name was Josh, and he had asked me out last week, but I told him I had a boyfriend who was “studying abroad.” I hadn’t told Noah about him because he would have worried for no reason. Noah was always paranoid about our age difference, especially since he believed it made things challenging for us. It was important for him to know that he was never holding me back. I knew I was much younger, but I was serious about my commitment to him. There was no way I’d mess up what we had by cheating on Noah. I often wondered if Vanessa’s infidelity had hurt him, but he didn’t seem depressed. He was a self-aware, self-actualized individual, all of which I aspired to be. I wanted to achieve self-mastery.
I need to quit daydreaming; I have a paper to write.
“Mrrrrowwww…”
Baxter suddenly hopped on my bed, demanding attention as I sat up and cuddled him. Evan had given him to me when I’d offered to take care of his kitty. His loft was not a great environment for a cat since he constantly had clients and models at his place doing photo-shoots. Baxter was skittish around strangers.
My stomach kept grumbling as I made my way to the kitchen; it had a retro feel to it: sky blue backsplash, white cupboards, and laminate countertops. Our refrigerator was lime green, with a round retro table set (also lime green). The girls and I normally ate breakfast there and had dinner in front of the TV.
I was about to fix myself a meal when the doorbell rang.
Weird. I’m not expecting company.
Heading downstairs, I glanced at the security cam and smiled.
“Evan!” I beamed, opening the door.
“Hey, love.”
“Oh my God, you pierced your eyebrow!”
“And my cartilage.” He grinned, flashing his piercing.
“Wow! I love it!”
“Thanks.”
He looks… hot.
“Sorry about dropping in unannounced. I was in the neighborhood, and I thought I’d just swing by and give you these…” He held up some shopping bags.
