It’s different in the university. Very different. Nobody gives a shit if you are in school. Well, Ben does. I am not allowed to miss classes except I have really important photoshoots. Even at that, Ben hardly lets me get away with it. Mum likes it. In her own words: Ben keeps me grounded. Too grounded sometimes, I think.
My car backs away from our apartment’s garage and onto the main road. Ben left before me but I’ll have to pick him up later. It’s our first year of living together but I think we do okay. I roll down the windows to let the cool afternoon air in.
There was a photoshoot last week Sunday. These days, it’s easy for me to get modelling gigs since my face is pretty familiar now. Plus, everyone wants to jump on the chance to show off the girl with a different skin. It’s annoying but I’m used to it. Sometimes, I get letters or emails from other girls living with vitiligo. And they are glad to be represented.
My first class is literature. And I don’t enjoy it as much because Ben is not in my class. We don’t have any classes together, chances of us seeing each other while in school are low. He switched to business and that’s okay since he is interested in handling Josef’s businesses but it means I don’t get to see him as much as I did in high school.
I park between two cars and exit mine with my bag slung over my shoulder. Buildings lay in rows, mine is to the front. In a few short strides, I’m across the parking lot and in the corridor.
The lecture hall is half-filled. We are too little for such a big class anyway. Unlike Crescent High, the sitting arrangement is different and more spacious. The chairs are elevated by the stairs with a stage below that everyone has a view of no matter their position. I jog up the stairs and stop at the last row. No one sits there and I can hear our professor.
Other students begin to troop in and the hall soon fills with gossip and chatters. Another difference to notice from high school is the aloofness. There is no unspoken fashion contest between the students like we had in Broadway Heights. They wear whatever they like even if it means looking like they walked right out of bed to the class. Now, I take more time with my appearance because my style has revolved.
A student enters before the professor walks in. You won’t be marked present once she has entered. The student, a black haired lady with freckles scattered over her nose strolls up the aisle. Her confusion is evident as she eyes the rows. She’s a stair below my row and I don’t want her to join me. Selfish, I know but I don’t want anything to interrupt me.
Her lips stretch in an apologetic smile and she plonks her bag on the table. “Hi,” she says.
“Hey,” I reply without looking up.
Professor Lara begins the lecture for today by asking about the paper we should have turned in yesterday. A few murmurs follow, then the sounds of zips opening as we all try to retrieve the assignment from our bags. Other lecturers don’t mind e-copies but she requires us to print a copy every time.
The assignments are passed to the front rows. My seat partner smiles at me and I shove my phone into my pocket. I should be texting Ben. There’s a twenty minutes break before his next class so we use that time to catch up. On some occasions, Ben indulges me, other times, he won’t reply till the end of my class.
“I’m Laura.” She stretches her hand and grips mine in a firm handshake. “Nice to meet you.”
“Yeah. Tessa.”
Her eyes shift to my promise ring. When I’m bored, I move it to my fourth finger. “Are you married?” I shake my head but offer no more answers. Everyone has asked me to try and make friends but it’s harder than I thought. “You’re that girl, right?” My brows raise. She lets out a small laugh muffled by her palm. “The one on the cover of... I can’t remember.”
“It’s probably me,” I reply. But I can’t say for sure what cover she’s talking about. I get to be on a lot of magazine covers. Mum works a lot as my manager to fix my schedule and squeeze in some photoshoots every now and then. The choice is on me to stop whenever I want but I’m starting to warm up to the attention. “What’s up?”
“Nothing.” She stares straight ahead and I return my focus to our professor. Professor Lara is saying something about reading between the lines to understand the author. “How old are you, Tessa?”
“Nineteen.”
Ben never forgets to remind me he will be twenty in two months time whenever we have an argument that requires a decision. The last time we ordered pizza and we had to decide on a topping, he won because he was older. I don’t mind when he does that since I also pull the—I am a girl card on him.
“Cool. If I were you and half as popular, I would ditch school. Who needs the stupid degree anyway?”
I do. I think. Modelling is not permanent for me. I’d like to stick to acting or combine the two of them. Maria will like Laura. She is still a huge fan of: school isn’t necessary because it worked out so well for her.
Laura and I don’t talk again for the rest of our class, when she asks about my next class, I make up a lie and run out. My car looks out of place but I don’t care as I drive out. Ben should be done by now. He will make a stop at Josef’s firm before he leaves for the house.
Ben’s volunteering at the firm but he has an office there. I suspect Josef gave him an office because Ben refused to accept payment. He volunteers only four hours a week and Josef is willing to pay for those hours. But Ben is still bummed about Josef paying our rent, his tuition fee and other bills so he doesn’t let him do so much stuff for us.
To me, Josef is just trying to be a parent and that involves spending on his stepson but if Ben says no, it’s also a no for me. Plus, we don’t need so much money when I’m making enough in addition to both of our allowances.
I stop in front of one of Josef’s firms. They handle contracts here. I race to the elevator. Goosebumps spread over my skin at the thought of seeing him. It doesn’t matter that we were together this morning but I already miss and I’m excited to see him.
The elevator opens. My fingers drum against my thigh and my eyes close. I count the second till I arrive at his floor. The elevator pings and the door slides open.
I navigate through the corridor and stop in front of the door leading to his mini cubicle. I push the door open, take a step in and stop. My heart flutters and I forget how to breathe.
Ben is outside his office. But he’s not alone. There’s an older lady with him. They are talking in whispers. I clench my hands when she touches Ben’s shoulder and laughs. It’s nothing but she touches him again. My spine stiffens as I cover the gap between them. He catches my eyes and a wide grin takes over his lips. I expect him to cross over to meet me but he stays put with the lady, chatting.
My stomach clenches. The lady is pretty in a mature way and she waves awkwardly at me. I don’t wave back. Ben hugs me and spins me in a circle. He’s laughing as he lowers me to the floor. Some of my excitement chips off due to her presence but I manage to smile.
“Benny.” My arms slip around his neck and I breathe in his scent. “I missed you.”
“I missed you more, babe.” A quick kiss on my lips earns him a mini-smile. He turns to the lady. I don’t like her. She touched him five times and the conversation didn’t seem to require body contact. “Elena here was telling me about a building in...”
The smile I offer her during the introductions must be the fakest in the world. Elena returns it with a smile just as fake and I drag Ben out of there the minute I get the chance. He’s quiet until we are inside the elevator. The air is thick with tension.
“What was that for?” Ben asks. “That was rude, babe.”
My knuckles run over the scruff on his jaw. Ben doesn’t appear pleased with me and he lets me know by retracting my arms around his neck.
“She was giving you the eyes, Benny.”
I am jealous and overprotective of him. We reach the ground floor and Ben steps out first. Pushing his hands into his pockets, he purses his lips. My eyes lower to his biceps. All those hours at the gym are paying off.
“What eyes?”
I take his hand and he stiffens lightly. My heart skips. “The eyes a woman gives a man if she likes him.”
Men can be so oblivious and Ben is one of such men. He continues staring at me like I have grown another head. I force one foot in front of the other till we are by the car. He heads to the driver side and I toss the key to him.
“I didn’t notice the ‘eyes’ or whatever you called it,” he murmurs when we are inside.
Tone clipped, belt fastened, I reply, “Well, I did.”
“You shouldn’t have been rude to her, Gracie. It was glaring. You could have pretended and talked to me later. What if she’s my boss?”
Then he shouldn’t be comfortable with a boss who flirts with him. His glare draws me back to reality. He is making sense and maybe I was a bit rude but I’m not used to the attention he gets and he gets a lot of them. And he revels in it. It’s one thing to have a handsome boyfriend, it’s another to have people ogling him. Elena likes him. He could have told her off. Or not. It sounds possible in my head.
“Maybe you like her too.”
The car sputters and dies down. Ben turns to me. “Of course I don’t like her. I like only you.” I cross my arms on my chest and let out a huff. Ben cracks a smile. He pinches my cheeks. “I love only you.”
“I love only you too,” I say. He makes a throaty sound and my gaze lowers. “I was just jealous.”
“We have a new branch. I can have Josef transfer me there, somewhere there’s no Elena.” With Ben’s help, I crawl on his lap and straddle him. “But it doesn’t mean there won’t be more like her, Gracie. You just have to trust me.” Holding my gaze, Ben grins and a small smile lifts my lips. I do trust him and that’s more important. “I love only you, babe.”
Warmth spreads through my heart. I kiss him. “But you have to let all of them know you have a pretty girlfriend,” I state. “And that you want only her.”
Ben laughs. “I always show them my ring.” He waves his ring in my face and my grin widens. We chose right with each other. “Elena knows. Everyone in the office knows you are the love of my life.”
“Okay.” I take both of his hands. “Okay. I’m the love of your life and you’re the love of my life.”