Sometimes he loves me

Chapter 10

EMMA

When I walk into the car park after my last class for the day, the sun shines brightly. I close my eyes for a second and soak up the heat. After a minute or so I open my eyes and sigh deeply while I take off my vest and open my car to throw it on the back seat. As I get in, my eye falls on the black piece of clothing on the seat next to me. I put my hand to my face and rub it, of course I forgot to give him his sweatpants back. I fucking saw him again this morning. I already got into enough trouble because of it. But you know what, I won't see Vincent until Friday, so I've got a few more days to get rid of them. I'm not going to worry about it today, the day is too beautiful for me to worry about anything else.

I start my car and start driving back to campus. Once I get there, I throw my bag on my bed and collect my dirty clothes. My favourite dresses are dirty so I need to do some laundry since I didn't have the energy to do it yesterday.

I collect all the dirty clothing and walk through the building looking for the laundry room. On my way there, I decide to call Vincent. But he doesn't answer, so I look for his work number in my phone and dial that instead. He picks up as I get to the laundry room, which fortunately is empty.

I put my phone on speaker so I can continue with my laundry.

"Hey babe. Can we talk another time? I'm busy." I hear Vincent say on the other end of the line, his voice echoing through the room.

He's always busy...

"Oh, that's okay. Can I call you tonight?" I ask as I put my laundry in the washing machine and throw in detergent.

"Yeah sure. I'm going back to work now."

"Okay, then I'll talk to you tonight." I try to hide my disappointment and not make it his problem that I miss him.

"I love you." He sighs. He must be tired of the long work days he has.

"I love you too." I answer back and let him hang up this time so I can set the right washing program.

"Where were we?" I hear a woman's voice say.

I look around to see where the voice is coming from, but I'm still alone. How weird... I quickly look at my phone and see that Vincent hasn't ended the call yet. I hear a rumble on the other end of the line and the sound of a woman giggling fills the laundry room. Is she moaning?

I turn on the washing machine and walk to my phone.

"Vincent?" I ask in a choked voice. I don't believe my ears. What the hell is he doing? I blink away my tears as the call cuts off.

No, that couldn't have been Vincent, could it? It must be some kind of mistake. It must be...

I look up when someone walks into the laundry room with a pile of laundry. It's the sweatpants guy. What is he doing here? Does he live here too? Of course he does.

When he looks up and sees my facial expression he says "Sorry darling, I didn't mean to startle you."

I try to act normal and clear my throat, I can cry in my room.

"I was just about to leave." I grab my phone and walk past him, towards the door.

"Already? Just when things were starting to get fun." He jokes as he stuffs his clothes into a washing machine.

"I have a few things to do." I lie. I just want to be alone so I can process what just happened.

"You're really bad at lying, you know that right?" He turns to me and then looks at me in a strange playful way. It makes me a little insecure that he seems to know so much about me and I don't know a thing about him. It feels like he reads me like a fucking book. First, he noticed my anxiety and panic attack and now he knows I'm lying? What do I actually know about him? That we share a laundry room? Well fuck, that's a full diary. Not.

I need to change the subject quickly so the conversation doesn't turn to me again.

"I still have your sweatpants." I say. "But it's in my room..." I add softly as I stand in the doorway. My neck turns hot from shame, suddenly I can't remember whether my room is tidy or not. Please don't come with me to my room.

He turns on the washing machine and then walks over to me. I step aside in a bit of a shock so he can pass, but he stops and stands next to me in the doorway, looking down at me.

"You do." He says. He rests his hands against the door frame above his head, the veins under his skin thicken and emphasise his trained body. My gaze falls over the tattoos on his arm, finally having the courage to really look at them. They're the kind of tattoos that I have pinned in my pinterest list, the patch style I'd love to get myself one day, if Vincent allows it.

I hope Vincent changes his mind about tattoos someday. I've had a couple of designs ready for myself for years now. Not to mention the nose piercing I wanted since I was a kid. But he doesn't want to hear about it and I'm not going to do it if that means that Vincent won't find me attractive with it.

Before he can catch me staring, I look away. My eyes look at everything but him and without realising it, I grab my necklace. It's not that I really feel anxious. Maybe a little nervous, but of all things my head feels empty again. Quiet. There are no endless questions and worries right now. Just him, me and the unimportant small talk we're apparently having.

Something about him feels reassuring and peaceful, but it still feels safer to hold the pendant of my necklace, reminding me to breathe.

As my gaze sweeps through the laundry room I feel him grinning at me.

"You can come by tonight around nine, number 18. It's at the end of the hall, on the left as you come up the stairs."

"Okay." I hope he doesn't hear the relief in my voice about him not coming with me to my room. I don't want him to see the mess that might not even be there, but I'd rather not take the risk.

"And don't forget the sweats." He grins as he leaves the laundry room. "See you later, Snow White."