by Mahi Mistry
After finishing the lunch with Ben and Andrew, who were now grinning from ear to ear because of the sweet gulab jamuns, I made a quick trip to the washroom and cooled down before two more classes.
I was on my way to my class when I saw a kid trip down the stairs because of his shoelace. I rushed to him and helped him on the stairs, looking for any wound. He had bruised his elbow a little. He seemed about seven to eight years old, much younger than the kids I teach.
I gently inspected his elbow, his shoulders slouching as he tried hard not to cry. “It’s okay, love. I will help you clean it. Come on, I have a bandage in my bag just over here.”
I helped him tie up his shoelace, and he followed me quietly. He said he was going back to his class after having lunch with his friends, but he wanted to go to the washroom first. I smiled and sat him down on my chair, pulling out a bandage and cotton from my bag.
As I cleaned the minor wound, I asked, “So, what’s your name? I am Kiara.”
“Rahul,” he mumbled, biting his lip.
“That’s a really good name,” I said. “I have a friend in India named Rahul.”
“Oh,” his dark brown eyes widened. “I bet he doesn’t trip like I do.”
“I will tell you a secret, Rahul.” He listened to me and I whispered, “He is worse.”
A fit of giggles escaped his lips, and I grinned at him.
“But don’t be afraid to fall, okay?” I said. “It is okay to fall. You know why?”
He shook his head, his attention fixed on me as I took a small bandage.
“Because you have the courage to stand up again.”
He nodded and looked at his elbow where I had applied the bandage. He gasped, “Spiderman!”
“Yes, Spiderman. Just like him.”
His grin was so wide, I could see the freckles splattered over his small nose and cheeks, his chocolate skin glowing. “Thank you, Miss! I will show this Spiderman to all my friends, they will be so jealous.”
I let out a soft chuckle, and he kissed my cheek before rushing out of the classroom.
“Watch your steps!” I called after him, but he was already out of earshot.
I gazed back at my empty chair and nibbled on my lip. I took a deep breath and focused on the next class, which was about to begin.
After the last students left, handing me their assignments, I erased the board and solved the question one girl had. She thanked me when I helped her with my own notes and allowed her to take a picture on her phone. I watched her leave and saw a gorgeous blonde woman in fitted trousers and a blouse as she smiled warmly at me, knocking lightly at the door. I let her in and saw Ben following his mother. I could see the resemblance between the two. Same golden blonde hair, small nose and deep blue eyes.
Her voice was sweet when she introduced herself. “Hello, I am Ben’s mother, Stacy, and I am so glad to finally meet you. Benny can’t stop talking about the new English teacher, and because of you, his grades have improved a lot. Thank you so much for all the extra lessons.”
My cheeks flushed. “Oh, I am sure it’s because of all the hard work Ben puts in his studies. I am very proud of all my students. He worked hard to get the grades he has.”
Andrew kept doodling as Ben went to stand beside him, talking to his friend. Other kids’ parents had already talked to me, but Ben had told me that his mother wanted to personally meet me.
I handed her Ben’s test papers and heat bloomed in my chest when I noticed her face light up. I could see it all. She was proud of her son for all the A’s he scored, way better than the C’s from last semester. She would kiss him on his cheek and maybe treat him with junk food on their way back home. Or their family would go out for dinner, or maybe she would make his favorite dish.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. My mother used to do that when she was alive. She would make delicious Indian sweets for me and Ethan when either of us scored good. Or not. It didn’t matter. She loved to spoil us with sugary goods, and my dad would banter playfully with her while he helped her make the sweets.
Snapping my mind out of the old memories, I focused on talking to Stacy about the next month’s meeting when Ben stood close to his mom and whispered in her ear.
“Mom, can we please hurry? Dad’s visiting us for dinner today and he promised he will play video games with me.”
I smiled at him and looked at Andrew. My heart felt heavy. He looked down at his doodles. I knew that he was longing for his father too, with whom he could play video games and talk about all the boy stuff. But how could I tell him that his father was a douchebag who left his mom as soon as she told him she was pregnant.
Stacy patted his hand and calmly said, “Of course, sweetheart. I am thanking your teacher for helping you with the essay.”
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Okay, I won’t hold you guys longer. Be sure to come to the meeting. The principal, Mr. Davis, is very strict about it as we will discuss the syllabus and chat with every parent.”
She promised she would, and I was surprised when she hugged me before walking out of the classroom with Ben as he waved at his friend and me.
Andrew didn’t want to talk, and I decided not to disturb him while he worked on his sketch. I asked him if he wanted me to call his mom, but he just shrugged.
It relieved me when she walked into the class, slipping off her sunglasses and nodding at me. She was in her I-am-a-lawyer-and-I-am-all-business dress code with a nice fitting suit for her slender frame, her sleek black hair in a perfect long bob.
Andrew rolled his eyes at his mom. “About time you got here.”
Anya Wu narrowed her eyes at her son, pinching his ear. “Watch it, you.”
I grinned at them when he whined, “Ow, Mom. Not in the school.”
She let go and turned to me, “So, what did he do this time?”
“Have faith in your son, Anya. He is doing really great at his studies, but Davis wanted to call in all the parents and make sure they are present at the meeting next month. Show how serious we all are.”
She nodded and helped pack up her son’s stationary. “I will be there,” she ruffled his hair and smiled at me, “Come on, let’s go home.”
I always let Andrew sit in the passenger seat as Anya drove the car back to the apartment we lived in. I had rented it two years ago when Anya, with her son and twin sister, shared the three-bedroom apartment. As Leni Wu was getting married, she had emptied her room and rented it to me.
But soon, I have to empty it too.
Smiling, I tried calling him, but his phone seemed switched off. Probably on a flight. He was coming back to San Diego from New York, and he had told me to get ready for a date. My stomach knotted with excitement. I would see him after two weeks.
I helped Anya and Andrew in making the dinner, cutting the tofu and watching her make a delicious curry while rice cooked in the rice cooker. I showered, applied lotion and changed into a navy-blue dress which hugged my body, accentuating my curves. My makeup was minimal, and my hair was down. Wearing black sandals, I waited for him.
Jake would be with me soon.
I smiled giddily, thinking back to the moment we had first met. Lina, Anya and I were traveling to Las Vegas for her bachelorette party and waiting for the gas to fill.
Why did I agree to come to Vegas for a bachelorette party with these crazy twins? Oh, yes, because I wanted to get laid.
“I hate my life!” Lina Wu wailed, and I resisted my urge to throw a sandal at her. Anya patted her sister’s shoulder. The weather was so dry and humid, it made me crankier than our car getting beaten up when we stopped for gas at a gas station in the middle of a highway.
I shook my head and looked at our beaten-up Mini Cooper and kicked the tire. It shook, making me stagger back, tripping on my sandals. I squeezed my eyes, ready to hit the pavement and start the wonderful bachelorette party.
But the fall never came.
“Woah!” A deep husky male voice whispered, catching me in his arms.
I held the fabric of his shirt for dear life, feeling his warm breath caressing my ear.
I opened my eyes and stared back at the most stunning pair of crystal blue eyes. They gazed back at me with dilated pupils, making them look almost black if you weren’t staring closely. My eyes traveled to his sharp cheekbones and sensuous lips. My breath hitched in my throat and I felt a shiver slither down my spine from his touch on my waist, traveling down to my core, making my toes curl in delightful pleasure.
Bedroom Eyes. That was the word for those beautiful eyes. The type of eyes that parents warned about and poets wrote about.
“Wow,” he breathed out, gazing at my face and noticing every curve and flaw as if he wanted to remember me whenever he closed his eyes.
I blinked at him and mustered an awkward smile. I pulled away and felt my knees wobble at the sudden closeness of this gorgeous man. The musky scent of his cologne wafted through my nose. Yet somehow, I stood on my own legs while we stared at each other. More like, I stared up at him because of my short, closer-to-Satan height.
Brushing away the strands of my hair from my face, I noticed his sharp features and lowered my eyes to his v-neck black t-shirt. It hugged his broad shoulders, stretching over them. I clenched my fists trying to control my hormones and looked down at his long legs clad in pants and sneakers.
I felt heat surge my face under his scrutinizing gaze and chuckled nervously, “Um . . . thank you for catching me.”
I ignored the sound of Lina and Anya as he smiled warmly at me, his teeth gleaming like white pearls, “It was nothing really, I feel honored.”
Smiling at him, I felt my insides melt at his smooth, sultry voice as if he wasn’t even trying to make his voice sound deeper. He was—what I like to call, ‘Fuck-pussy on legs’, just another idiom of ‘sex on legs,’ because I could imagine myself riding hi—
PG-13, Kia. PG-13.
I looked away, heat rushing to my face, neck, and ears as I sneakily checked his left hand to look for a ring and sighed in relief when I found it empty.
His voice snapped me out of my dirty, filthy thoughts, “So, what are you doing out here?” His voice traveled down to my core, and I had to clench my thighs because I wasn’t wearing underwear.
Fuck my life.
I cleared my throat and pointed to the Mini Cooper we had rented for our drive to Las Vegas. “We were traveling to Vegas, but it broke down after we paid for the gas, and now we are hanging out here until the car service shows up.” I looked at Lina who was crying about her no-bachelorette party and looked back at Blue-eyes who was gazing at me.
He watched me longingly and finally looked over my shoulder at the twins like it was a hard task to take his eyes off me. I blushed instantly, thinking about it, and bit my lip when his eyes dropped to them, making me release it instantly.
Why the fuck am I acting like a teenager?
Licking my lips, I straightened myself, and I swear I saw him hide a smile as his eyes glowed with mischief.
“Bachelorette?” He even checked my left hand for good measure.
I bit back my laugh, “Yeah, it was . . . but I bet it won’t happen. The twin in the red top; her wedding is next week, and she’s been acting like a bridezilla since last month.”
“That’s sad,” I looked back at him and saw him biting his lip as he ran his hand through his smooth raven hair, “This is weird, but we have some space in our Safari and we’re going to Vegas too.”
I noticed his sleek black 1957 Pontiac Safari—my God, a hot guy with a hot car? I also noticed that he said ‘we’. But as I squinted my eyes, I saw a ginger head guy bobbing his head to some 90s jam he was playing. I looked back at Blue-eyes and found him staring back at me with patience. Well, he didn’t look like a serial killer. But who am I to judge a person to know whether he was a serial killer?
“Oh, and—” I almost jumped back when he stepped toward me. Almost. “I am Jake,” he extended his hand to me. I stared at it like it was a baby dragon about to blow fire on me.
Not to mention he already blew fire on my pu—
I raised my hand, ignoring the zing of pleasure when he squeezed it. “Nice to meet you, Jake. I am Kiara.” I smiled and realized how wonderful his name sounds from my lips.
It would sound much better if I was moaning it.
I clenched my thighs and let go of his calloused hand. Jake smiled, “Pleasure is mine, Kiara.”
Was it bad that I wanted to hear him groan when I—hold your thoughts, Kia. He is a respectable gentleman and he could be gay for all you know. He’s a fine ass man with a fine ass, but don’t forget that God created fine ass men as gay.
I just said fine ass three times in one sentence. I needed to get laid. Oh, Lord.
Almost six months later, we were dating each other and next month, after the parents’ meeting is over, I had asked Mr. Davis for a week vacation because—
My phone lit up with a text message, and I felt bubbles in my stomach seeing it was a text from him. My excitement died down when I read the text.
Jake: Sorry, sweetheart. Flight is late. Might not make it.
I groaned into my pillow and sighed. I removed my earrings and replied,
Me: It’s alright. Missing you.
He didn’t reply, and I quickly changed out of the dress into my pajamas. As soon as Anya saw me in his hoodie, she narrowed her eyes at me and kept her hands on her hips. This look was her special mom look, which was only meant for Andrew. Not for me. But I snuggled up to her and wrapped my arms around her and told her that his flight is late. She patted my hair and told me to sit with Andrew on the couch.
We all ate our dinner together, and I helped Andrew with his homework while Anya read through one of her case files. I finished reading a fantasy novel and started braiding Anya’s silky black hair.
She groaned, dropping the case file, “I swear to God, your hands have magic in them. Keep going.”
I snickered and continued doing the champi on her hair without any hair oil, relaxing her. Andrew saw us and demanded it too, so his mom massaged his scalp while I did hers.
Another memory flashed in my brain. My mom applying hair oil on my hair, doing champi with her soft hands and me doing the same to Ethan’s hair.
Closing my eyes, I tried to shake off the shivering feeling and excused myself to my room, sliding under the covers. Someone knocked on the front door and I heard muffled voices, but I ignored them. Why was my brain still not over him? I guess it had to do with spending most of my life with him.
“Kiara, your boyfriend’s here,” Anya knocked and opened the door, keeping her hand on her hip and glaring at Jake when he kept his suitcase down and came to me, hugging me in his arms.
“Fiancé, Anya,” he corrected her.
I smiled and nuzzled my face in his sweater. I heard the door close, leaving us in our own bubble as I breathed in his musky cologne. This was what I needed right now. Him. His hands tightened before he moved back, kissing me on my lips. I melted in his arms, cupping his face, his lips soft on mine.
“I missed you,” I whispered and pulled away to look at him.
His wavy onyx hair was tousled, blue eyes bright and shining, little stubble peppering his sharp jaw and cheekbones. A wide grin tugged his lips. “So did I,” he kissed me again, “I brought something for you.”
“You did?”
He nodded and pulled away to show me a box. I started drooling at the scent of cocoa in the air when he opened it and wriggled his eyebrows at me.
“Ta-da!” He exclaimed, bringing the chocolate cake closer to me.
“You’re the best fiancé ever!” I said and grabbed the cake box, digging in the chocolate goodness with a spoon he offered me.
He told me he bought one for Anya and Andrew as well. We both ate it together, sharing it and feeding it to each other while he talked about his New York Fashion Show. When we had first met, I had told him he might be a pornstar because he looked famous. He had laughed at me and told me he was a mo
del, and then it had clicked. The man who had saved me from a fall at a gas station was none other than the Jake O’Neal.
“Babe, what are your plans for next week?” Jake asked, his arms on my waist as we cuddled on the bed.
I shrugged, “The usual work stuff. Why do you ask?”
“Did you talk to your agent about your second book?” he said, his hand running through my hair.
I shook my head. After finishing university, I had published my debut novel and within the first three months, it had sold over a million copies all over the world. Even though I was glad to have writing as my job, I moved back to San Diego to teach full time.
“Later. I will talk to her later.” I promised and trailed my hand on his sweater, feeling his heartbeat.
Jake faced me, his sharp, handsome face glowing in the dim light of the lamp. “I need to ask you about something.”
I waited, wanting him to continue.
“There is this fashion event next week,” he started but paused when he saw I was about to deny him. “Babe, just listen. It is a fashion event but also a fundraiser for children who have cancer. I am invited, and I wanted you to be my date for the event.”
I wondered about it for a moment. I would definitely go for the fundraiser, but going with Jake also meant that the media would finally know about our engagement. As Jake was one of the best models in the fashion industry, we had decided to not let the media know about our engagement. I didn’t mind it because it meant less attention on the both of us since he proposed to me on my twenty-fifth birthday.
“Are you ready to let . . .” I didn’t need to finish the sentence.
He kissed my knuckles. “Yes, Kiara, I am. I want the entire world to know that I am getting married to one of the most brilliant women I know.”
Shaking my head with a grin, I kissed him. “Fine, I will go with you. But you better feed me chocolate cake after the event.”
He winked. “You know I will.”
I admired his handsome face and blurted, “Jake . . . do you, do you want children after marriage?”
His eyes widened, and he stared at me. “Children?”