Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 94(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 94(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
I shake my head and take a breath. Like Nikki, a wave of realization comes over me. Of course, this one is a bit different given how we’re meeting as adults.
“How did you – how’d you find me here?” I ask. “I never told her about this place.”
“I was the one who picked her up from your house that night,” she replies. “I came over to talk to you just as you were leaving, so I followed you here.”
“Right,” I say, downing half of my drink. This is getting…interesting now. I was looking for some time alone, and now I’m sitting face to face with Nikki’s friend. And it doesn’t take a genius to guess what she’s here to talk about.
“Nikki told me everything,” she says, removing any lingering doubt from my mind.
“Ah.” I nod, polishing off the rest of my drink. I motion to the bartender for a refill. “She speaks very highly of you…in one regard.”
“But not in another?”
Alyssa shrugs. “I defended you.”
“That right?”
“I told her you might need some time to get past the fact that you were her teacher way back when,” she replies. “That she should try to see it from your point of view.”
This actually surprises me. I figured any friend of Nikki’s who came to my house then followed me to the bar would be here to cuss me out or give me some kind of a scolding. Maybe she still is, but to start off by saying she’s defending me is not what I would have expected.
“Well, I appreciate that,” I reply. “But I was already thinking of how poorly I handled things that night. And you can tell her that when you see her. That I’m sorry. It was her first time, and I should have focused on making her feel comfortable.”
“Maybe you should tell her yourself,” Alyssa suggests with a shrug. “Don’t you think it’s about time you accept her for the super sexy, nineteen-year-old woman she is and get over yourself?”
I can’t help but laugh as the bartender puts another whiskey ginger in front of me. I tilt my head and raise my eyebrows as I take a sip. “You know, you’ve got a point,” I reply. “I’ve done nothing but think about her every night for the last fourteen days.”
“There we go.” She smiles, slipping a piece of paper in front of me. “This is her number. You call, she’ll answer.”
“I wish it was that easy,” I say. “If the school finds out I’m dating an ex-student, they’ll fire my ass so quick–”
“You’re a great teacher, aren’t you?” Alyssa asks. “Summer’s coming up. There’s a teacher shortage apparently. I’m sure if you tried hard enough you could find yourself another school to teach at.”
With that, she gets up from her stool, pats me on the back, and heads for the door. “She misses you, Russ. You miss her too, don’t you?”
I nod immediately. “Yes.”
“So what’s there to think about?”
She turns her back on me and walks away.
What indeed?
7
Nikki
I don’t know how much longer I can sit here moping around in my bedroom before I turn into a slug. The last two weeks have been abysmal, consisting of nothing more than Chex Mix, Netflix, and my favorite pair of pajama pants. If the men from the mansion could see me now…
I have Mr. Hartford to thank for this. I might as well refer to him as that, right? If he can’t stop thinking of me as Nikki Wilson, his former student, then why shouldn’t I think of him as anything else than Mr. Hartford, my former teacher? Maybe that will help stop all the pain I’ve been going through over the last fourteen days while I sit here wishing he would get in contact with me.
The next step is going to be to get a real job. But what will that be? I don’t even know, but I sure won’t be going back to the mansion anymore. Not now that my dad’s debts are paid off.
I told him this will be the last time I go to work for him, and he looked at me like he understood. It won’t be the last time he gambles, though. I know that. But I won’t set foot in that place again – not in front of those men. Alyssa can do what she wants; she always had a stronger will than me when it came to things like that. I’m finished.
Maybe I’ll waitress, or go work at the movie theater. Anything would be better than having to deal with those men who think they run the world or think they own me.
My phone rings and I glance at it to see a number I don’t recognize. Normally, I wouldn’t answer, but for some reason tonight I do.
“Hello?”
“Nikki.” My heart skips a beat at the sound of Russell’s voice. I sit up in bed, feeling dumbstruck.