No, this was that kind of hard, sleety stuff that seemed to come at us sideways, causing us to keep our heads down and not gaze at anything more than where to place our next footstep.
There were people milling around. Not many, but after three weeks of walking around campus nearly alone, it seemed odd to see so many of my fellow students trudging through the snow.
Montrose took our fellow companions in stride, just bidding me good night, that he’d see me Monday, and heading off in the opposite direction from me.
I hadn’t expected a hug and kiss—I knew we could never do anything like that in public.
Still, I walked back to Creyts with a feeling of…not exactly rejection. After all, we’d just spent over an hour proving we wanted very much to be together, in whatever capacity that turned out to be.
I guess I was feeling a sense of uneasy acceptance. A new reality forming for me. If I wanted to be more than just an employee to Montrose (and, oh God, did I), then this was how it would be. Stolen time in his office, scurrying to right ourselves when people dropped in. Him having his own life and social events, me having mine. I suppose it wouldn’t set off campus gossip alarms if we had the occasional cup of coffee or slice of pizza in public—I did work for him after all. But that would probably be it, and it wouldn’t be too regular.
I saw a lot of Chinese delivery in our future.
I guess it should have added an element of excitement to the idea that Montrose and I were…going to be Montrose and I, and what all that entailed.
The taboo of it all, the secrecy. But honestly, I didn’t need the added thrill. I was quite thrilled enough that I would be able to spend a semester in the company of Billy Montrose.
And his kisses.
* * *
When I gotto my room, I knew immediately from the open doors, the lights and music (something from the seventies) coming from the other side of the suite, that Jane was back.
Sure, Jane and I certainly had our bumps early on, but a warm feeling buzzed through me to know that my suitemate was back. I threw my backpack, coat, beanie and mittens on the empty bed and quickly made my way through the empty bathroom to Lily and Jane’s side of the suite.
“Welcome back,” I said as I entered, delighted to find not only Jane, but Lily as well.
“Hey,” Jane said from her bed, where she was sprawled on her back, phone in hand. She put the phone down and propped herself up with some pillows. “You survived the barren halls of Bribury. No ghosts?”
I chuckled. “Nope. I made it. It was kind of weird, though.”
Lily was standing near her bed, but came over and gave me a hug, then returned to unpacking her bags. “Oh, my God,” she said, looking me over. “I got the same boots for Christmas.” She pointed at my new combat boots as she held up a pair of her own, pulled from a huge duffle bag on wheels. It looked like Louis Vuitton had gone Army or something.
The inner relief I felt was huge. I had indeed gotten the right pair. Now, I know most girls might have been pissed that they had the same piece of clothing as their roommate, but not me. Not if said roommate was Lily Spaulding, who innately knew the right thing to wear. I would blend with Lily, and thus with Bribury.
“That’s random,” I said, like I hadn’t agonized over getting the right pair only a few weeks ago. I noticed my new boots were leaving small puddles underneath me from the melting snow. I undid them and placed them on the little mat by the door, then went to join Jane, crawling onto the foot of her bed, my back against the wall, my feet hanging over the side. She nudged me with a toe—Jane’s version of a big welcome hug—and I squeezed her thick wool sock in reply.
“How long have you guys been here?” I asked.
“I’ve been here a couple of hours,” Jane answered. “Lily just showed up about twenty minutes ago. I was going to text you, but figured you’d be back any minute. Where have you been?”
“I was at work,” I answered.
“On Saturday?” Lily asked. She’d finished unpacking, flattening her duffle and sliding it under her bed, then sacked out on her stomach, pulling a pillow under her head and turning on her side to face Jane and me. “Man, that new system must be pretty shaky if they’re still doing testing the weekend before classes start.”
My mind raced with how much to tell Jane and Lily about my job with Montrose. I didn’t want to lie to them, but I was not prepared to talk about even the clerical work I was doing for him, let alone the…other activities he and I had been engaged in.
I wanted to keep it to myself for a while, it felt so new and so fragile. And I wasn’t even sure what “it” was.
“Actually, I was able to pick up another job for the semester, some more of the same kind of clerical work, also on campus, but I can work around my other job, so…weekends and evenings.”
I could feel Jane’s laser-like focus on me and I tried hard not to give any kind of tell that I was holding back something important. I ignored her, and kept my gaze on Lily.
“Well, that’ll be nice for your checkbook, but are you sure that won’t stretch you too thin? Two jobs, full load of classes?”
“And partying,” Jane added, making Lily and me smile, for which I was grateful.
“No worries,” I said and tweaked Jane’s big toe through her sock. “I will have my priorities well in place. Partying first, for sure.”
