Sapphire Beautiful (17 page)

“Lincoln Park,” Dante says.

Ally slams her beer on the counter. “That bookstore closed a year and a half ago.” Then she narrows her gaze at us. “Have you guys known each other for a year and a half?”

Luckily Ty swaggers into the kitchen sans model girlfriend.

“What happened to your nose?” Jennifer asks him.

“I didn’t feel like putting on the light when I got up to go to the bathroom. I tripped and fell. Smashed my face on the floor.”

“It looks like you got punched in the face,” Ally observes.

Ty grimaces. “I fell. End of story.”

“Maybe you should see Dr. Patience,” Jennifer tells him. “Just to have it checked out.”

Ty shakes his head. “I’m sure it will be fine.”

“At least put some ice on it,” Paul says as he reaches into the freezer and removes an ice pack.

“We’re going to take off,” Dante says as he grabs my hand.

We make a quick exit before anyone has a chance to interrogate us any further.

When we’re in his car and belted up Dante exhales a deep breathe. “Was that as bad as I thought it was?”

“It wasn’t that bad,” I tell him.

“Liar.”

“You’re right. It was awful.”

“The only thing I want to do right now is get back to your place, get naked and get back into bed.”

“I like that sound of that too,” I tell him as he starts the engine and pulls away.

D
ante and I spent all day Sunday and Labor Day at my place, naked and in bed, only emerging long enough to order a pizza delivery and take-out Chinese food.

It never occurred to me that I could have so much in common with a twenty-two-year-old, but Dante and I have a lot of shared interests.

Here are some things I learned about Dante when we took breaks in our two-day love-making marathon:

We both love grunge music, especially Pearl Jam, and we both think Nirvana is a bit overrated.

We both have an irrational fear of horses.

We both want to travel the world and the first trips we’d like to take in order of priority are: Italy, Greece, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Russia.

Our parents forced us to take piano lessons when we were kids when be both secretly yearned to play the guitar.

We’ve both watched the
Lord of the Rings
trilogy more times than we can count and we have apparently memorized large chunks of the movies, which we had a tremendous amount of fun acting out.

“I’m exhausted,” I tell him when the alarm goes off on Monday morning.

He grins. “We’ve been in bed for two days straight.”

“We weren’t exactly resting,” I tell him. “I’ve never had so much sex in my life.”

“Good.” He places a kiss on my lips.

“Remember what I said. We can’t walk over to school together and we can’t arrive at the same time. Let’s walk over there at least twenty minutes apart.”

“Whatever you want,” he tells me. “You know that. I’m like your own personal genie. Your wish is my command.”

***

W
hen I arrive at my office Misty is standing there waiting for me. Shit. I completely forgot about her proposal to assist me with my research.

Her face completely lights up when she spots me. “Did you have a chance to look at my vitae?”

“I’m sorry,” I tell her as I unlock my door. “I was a little tied up this weekend. The holiday and everything.”

She deflates like a balloon that just had the air let out of it.

“I can look it over now, if you don’t mind waiting.”

“Great!” She’s way too eager this early in the morning. I haven’t even had my coffee yet.

She follows me into my office and takes a seat. I toss my bag onto my desk and sit down.

I remove her packets from my bag and take a few moments to look them over. She’s looking at me expectantly, her eyes wide, like a puppy waiting for her supper.

“You did quite a bit of research as an undergraduate,” I observe.

“I’m very fast, but also quite thorough,” she assures me.

“Okay.” I place her vitae on my desk. “I’ll give you a shot.”

Her face lights up like the Las Vegas strip. “You won’t be disappointed, Dr. Pine. I promise.”

“Would you like your first assignment?”

She nods eagerly.

“I’ve just started some initial research on representations of femininity in the Middle Ages. I plan on submitting a book proposal this fall to see if I can interest any publishers. Would you like to do some research to see what’s already been published on the subject? I’d like to find a unique angle that hasn’t been explored yet.”

She’s already out of her seat. “Of course. I’ll see what I can find. How soon do you need it?”

“There’s no rush,” I tell her. “I don’t want this to take any time away from your school work. Work on it in your free time.”

“I won’t let you down,” she tells me as she hurries out of my office.

“She’s a keener,” Andrew says as he enters my office carrying two cups of coffee.

“And you’re a life saver,” I tell him when he hands me one of the cups.

He frowns. “Why do you look tired? We had a three day weekend.”

“True,” I tell him. “I was busy.”

“The new boyfriend?”

I nod.

“So when are you going to show him off to your colleagues?” he presses.

“Nice try. I like to keep my private life private.”

“Is that why you never gave me a chance?”

I heave a sigh. “It’s not you, Andrew. The timing just wasn’t right.”

He nods. “Is it wrong for me to hope things don’t work out between the two of you?”

“Kind of.”

When Dante pokes his head into my office it scares the hell out of me. “Dr. Madden. I was looking everywhere for you. I hope I’m not interrupting.”

When he stares right at me a chill runs through my body. Why do I feel like I did something wrong? Andrew and I were just talking.

And he was kind of flirting with me again.

“It’s good to see you again, Dr. Pine.” Dante makes a point of exaggerating Dr. Pine. At least he didn’t call me
Baby
, which he’s been making a habit of doing at home. “How was your weekend?”

He’s biting back a grin. Luckily Andrew isn’t paying much attention to him.

“My weekend was fine, Dante. How was yours?”

“I spent most of it in bed.”

That gets Andrews attention. “You’re not sick, Dante, are you?”

Dante shakes his head. “Nope. I feel great.”

“Good, because we’ve got a lot of work to do this week. Missing yesterday really put us behind.”

“Let’s get to it then, Dr. Madden. I’m ready whenever you are.”

“It was great to see you again, Dante,” I tease.

“Always a pleasure to see you, Dr. Pine.”

After Andrew makes his way out the door Dante gives me a quick wink before he follows him out of my office.

***

O
ver the next few weeks Dante and I fall into a routine. He spends his weekdays going to class, studying in the library and doing research with Andrew. I spend my days teaching class and working on my research projects with Misty.

In the evenings we make dinner, talk about everything and anything then spend the night making love or fucking, often both.

Things with Dante are easy and comfortable. For the first time in a long time I feel content. We’re almost like a normal couple, except that we can’t really be seen in public together anywhere close to campus. On the rare occasion that we want to see a movie or go out to eat we drive to a far suburb where the chances of us being spotted together by someone at the university are slim.

Neither of us talks about the arrangement. We pretend it doesn’t exist. When the money is deposited into my account on October 1 I don’t even mention it. I just transfer it into my bank account without a word to Dante.

Then one chilly evening in mid-October I find Dante sitting on the front porch with his nose in a textbook.

“What’s going on? Why are you sitting out here? It’s getting cold.”

“Dr. Walter’s class was cancelled. He got hit by a bus.”

“The Latin professor?”

He nods.

“Is he okay?”

“He’s in the hospital. They have to do surgery on his hip. It sounds like he broke a number of bones. They believe he’ll be out for the rest of the term, so they’re trying to find a replacement. There was some kind of sorority scavenger hunt going on at the library. It was way too noisy to study. So I just came here.”

“I feel horrible that you had to sit outside like this. Why didn’t you text me?”

“I knew you had class.”

I bite my bottom lip. I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I tell him, “Come with me.”

“Where are we going?” he asks.

“You’ll see.”

We take the short walk to a small locksmith shop a few blocks from my townhouse. When we go inside I hand the older gentleman behind the counter my house key and ask him to make a copy.

When I glance over at Dante he’s grinning. I point over to a spinning display of keychains. “Pick one.”

As the locksmith makes the key Dante and I pick through the keychains until we happen upon one that’s absolutely perfect. It’s Gandalf from
Lord of the Rings
.

Once the locksmith is done I pay for the key and keychain. Dante and I exit the store.

As we’re walking back to my place I put Dante’s key on his new keychain and hand it to him. “A key to my house. It’s yours.”

He stares at the key for a few long moments before he slips it into his pocket. “Does this mean we’re living together?”

“It means that I don’t want you to have to sit out in the cold the next time one of your professors gets hit by a bus.”

We’re both quiet for a while until Dante says, “I really want to hold your hand right now.”

“You know we can’t do that. Not while you’re still a student in the program and I’m one of the professors.”

“The program is two years long.”

“I knew there was a reason everyone says you’re absolutely brilliant.”

He rolls his eyes at me. “I could always quit the program.”

“No you can’t. I don’t want you to. You were born to be a medieval scholar just like I was.”

He stops in front of me. “You’re more important to me than anything. If it means we can be together as a real couple I’ll quit the program.”

I shake my head. “And what about your trust fund?”

“Screw the trust fund.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You need to finish your Master’s degree. And you need to go on for your doctorate.”

“I need to be with you.”

“We’re together, Dante. I just gave you a key to my home. We just can’t be together in public.”

Disappointment crosses his face, and it tugs at my heartstrings, but there’s really nothing more I can do. 

***

W
hen I wake up I’m dizzy and nauseous. I fly from the bed and just about make it into the bathroom before I throw up.

Did I eat anything last night that could have possibly made me sick?

Dante and I made pasta with garlic and mushrooms. Bad mushrooms maybe? But Dante doesn’t seem to be sick.

He pounds on the door. “Are you okay, baby?”

“No,” I manage to get out before I vomit again.

“I’m coming in.”

“Don’t,” I get out a little too late. He’s already hovering over me.

“What can I do?” He sounds worried. I am a little too. I’m never sick. I’m the one who the flu seems to bypass every year.

He wets a wash cloth in the sink and hands it to me. Then he crouches down beside me and places his hand on my forehead for a few moments.

“You don’t feel hot. Any hotter than you normally are anyway.”

When I heave again he holds my hair back for me.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him as I blink back tears. I had forgotten how much I hate being sick. The last time I threw up I was a kid. I cried then too.

He places a soft kiss on my cheek. “Do you want me to get you a glass of water?”

“No!” Just the thought of drinking anything makes me gag.

“I need to lie down for a few more minutes,” I tell him.

“Let me help you back to bed.” As he rises he grabs my elbow and pulls me up with him.

“Oh, God.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I feel really dizzy.”

“Okay, we’re going to deal with this another way.”

He scoops me into his arms and carries me back into the bedroom. Then he carefully places me back into bed.

“Do you want me to rub your back?” he asks. “My mom used to do that when I got sick when I was a kid.”

“Okay,” I agree.

He lies down behind me and gently strokes my back.

“How do you feel?” he asks.

“I feel like I’m on a roller coaster and I can’t get off.”

“Close your eyes and try to relax.”

I do as I’m told. I take in a deep breath and try to concentrate on him caressing my back.

“I have to go to work,” I remind him.

“You’re sick.”

“I have to teach class.”

“Don’t they have substitutes or something?”

“They’d have to cancel class. I’ve never cancelled my classes.”

“How are you going to stand up in front of a class when you’re dizzy and vomiting?”

It’s a good question. “Maybe I can just prop myself up somehow.”

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”

I close my eyes and try to relax again, but it’s nearly impossible. All I can think about now is my classes.

“Maybe some tea and biscuits will settle your stomach,” he suggests.

“I don’t keep tea or biscuits in the house.”

“Crackers?” he suggests.

“I don’t have those either.”

“There are stores close by.”

“I don’t want you to go to any trouble,” I tell him.

“It’s no trouble,” he whispers in my ear. “I’ll be right back.”

I’m just starting to nod off when Dante comes into the bedroom carrying a tray with a small pot of tea, tea cups and a plate with several different kinds of biscuits.

“You went all out,” I tell him. When I sit up in bed the room feels like it’s spinning again. I take in a deep breath and will myself not to vomit.

I take a tiny sip of ginger tea and a nibble of a biscuit. Then close my eyes and do my best to keep it down. I do this a few more times until my stomach feels like it’s settling down a little.