Sunday Night - Lost Dinosaurs

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"Alright, don't forget to study those three artists, guys I can't have you slacking now." I rose from my seat on my desk after the teens left and quickly wrote down a reminder to critique their work the following Monday.

They were already doing three projects, two of which had to be completed and presented in two weeks, I wouldn't blame them entirely for not completing this weeks tasks. I glared at the clock. One o'clock. I had Eddie's life drawing next and the weekend hadn't done much to stray my thoughts and reminiscing on when we first saw each other a week ago. 

I'm ashamed to admit I'd... Dreamt about him. It was so entirely involuntary I was almost surprised he'd managed to invade my dreams in the first place. I mean, what man would take a woman in the middle of a supermarket anyway? Did I wake up feeling as aroused as a sexually inactive eighteen year old female, yes. Yes I did. 

I couldn't even concentrate last night when I'd had my Sunday dinner with my father. He'd asked me my usual, "Anything new at work?" and I'd actually hesitated as if telling my dad, 'oh yeah this guy I totally had a crush on when I was twenty is working with me now. Crazy, I know.' was really an option.

I grimaced as I shrugged my jacket on. Hell, maybe Mack and Randy were right. I needed to start dating again. Not one of their blind dates, I couldn't be dealing with men like the ones they set me up with. 

Speak of the devil. Mack poked her head in through my door with a smile. "Lunch?" 

"I'd rather a nice glass of wine, but a coffee will have to do." I half joked.

Mackenzie was still glaring at me as we walked down the steps of the building into the cool November air. "Something have your panties in a twist?"

"What? No. I'm fine."

"You look at bit... Wound."

"Wound?"

"You know wound tight."

I clenched my teeth, aware if I clenched any harder I'm sure I'd break my molars. "You're saying I'm frustrated."

"I'm saying you should go out with that guy I told you about. Let your hair loose, undo that top button, just looking at it makes me feel like I'm choking. I'm kidding, Liv. Lighten up a bit."

I grunted my reply as I followed her out of campus to the Starbucks and ordered our usual ham and cheese toasted sandwhichs. My eyes strayed to the man sitting alone by the window. I pinched my bottom lip at Eddie deftly opening sugar packets and dropping the contents into his beverage. His thick brows arched as he took a long hearty sip of his drink and I forced myself to turn away.

Mack led us to a table further away from him and I was thankful. "I'm dragging Jake around with me this week." I said, attempting to distract myself from you-know-who. "I'm going to see how he's doing what with the wedding being so close. He hasn't said much."

"When does Jake ever say much?" She shrugged. "He's naturally quiet. I'm still baffled how someone as quiet as him could deal with someone like Miranda."

"Well, maybe opposites do attract. Jake is one of my best friends, has been since college. Get him laughing, he won't stop for anything."

Mack bit into her sandwhich and smiled. "His laugh cracks me up."

"I know he's adorable." I smirked.

I only listened with half an ear as Mack talked about God only knew what. I kept glancing over at him. Still alone, he glanced out of the window, rubbing his empty hand over his tanned arm. He stared down at his phone as he placed his lips to the edge of his cup. You slept with him.

I had to mentally snort at that tiny reminder, which reminded me every five seconds might I add, to watch a play of emotions pass over his features. His frown suddenly deepened, his thumb continuously tapping his-

"Hell,"

I blinked, turning my attention back to Mack.

"My daughters asking me to pick her up, she threw up in gym apparently. I swear the girl fakes being sick to get out of gym. I'll have to love you and leave you." Before I could get a word in she was gone. It's like she wants me to go over and sit with him. But what could I say? "Hey sorry I said I forgot about our endeavour half a decade ago. It was really fun?"

"That could be a start."

I jumped slightly and narrowed my gaze upward toward the man that had literally plagued my very dreams.

"I didn't say anything." I sipped at my drink aware he was sitting down without permission.

"You think aloud." I had to drag my focus away from the way his mouth curved into an attractive grin. "You said, 'what could I say; sorry I said I forgot our-"

"Okay, I get it." I grumbled bringing my drink to my lips again. 

As I ate, glancing around the cafe people watching, I could feel his eyes on me. He was naturally a quiet man but having him watch me wasn't helping none. Especially with the giant elephant in the room. 

I quickly finished my sandwhich and tried my hardest not to choke when he asked me, "Are you married?"

I blanched at his question opening and closing my mouth without any means of answering. He was very... Forward wasn't he? When he did speak, he seemed to speak whatever was on his mind from the first time we spoke last Monday and even now. And he seemed patient enough to wait for my answer as well. 

But then his gaze darted down to my empty ring finger deciding to answer the question himself. "Boyfriend?"

I leaned back with a narrowed stare. "I seem to remember you being quieter."

His eyebrows lifted in obvious interest as he shifted in his seat. "I'm just trying for conversation, Olivia."

What an odd topic of conversation.

I glanced down at his tan left hand and then paused. A very faint - very, very faint -tan line where a ring would rest. So he was married. A small, odd part of me, I didn't even want to know which part of me, felt a little deflated. Of course he was married. Look at the man, he could seduce a nun from a nunnery with his smile for crying out loud. 

"Divorced," He said obviously seeing where my eyes were and that surprised me further. "Of three years."

Of three years? How long was he married for? "I'm sorry, I didn't, well..."

That caused another smile to spread across his lips but this one wasn't as sincere as his other. This one I truly couldn't take my eyes off. It was a glimpse of something else. But I couldn't distinguish what that else was. "It's fine, really. I started it."

Silence descended between us again. Thoughts hit me left, right and centre about what woman in their right mind would want to divorce him? Then again did I know him? No. I didn't know Eddie Marshall. And he didn't know me either. We weren't friends, we were barely acquaintances.

"So," He stretched his thick arms upward, the muscles on his arms tensing for only a second... Before he once again took me off guard by saying, "You have a problem with me."

He was full of surprises today wasn't he? "I- I what?"

Another smile. "Have a problem with me."

My shoulders tensed as I swallowed and stuttered, "I do not. I- I have no reason to."

"Can you really not get over what happened?" He pressed, an oddly determined glare sparking within his grey stare.

I adjusted the suddenly too tight neckline of my shirt and swallowed again. Wow, Mack was right about the top button, I felt like I was suffocating. His unnerving eyes slid to the movement and without thinking I stood. "I'll see you in class."

I breathed a heavy sigh, slowly making my way back to the creative arts building. It was like he was trying to make me uncomfortable. Well he'd succeeded. Not just that but he'd succeeded in pissing me off a little. It was like being questioned by the Spanish Inquisition. What could he gain from being so inquisitive, so forward I wonder.  

'You think I forgot about that month you skipped every class I was in?'

I groaned slightly. Why did he have to come to Pace.

"Well?"

I jumped and scowled upward, squinting at the sun shining a halo around his head. But, I continued walking, not caring one bit that he was following me, repeating his, 'well?' Or prodding by saying, 'are you going to answer me?'

He was annoying me and he was doing it in purpose. And I finally snapped. "What? What do you want me to say? It's like you're deliberately trying to piss me off. I may dwell on the past but this is ridiculous." I muttered more to myself. "I'll say this only once so you can get off my back about it: what happened isn't even a big deal Eddie, it was an hour of meaningless," - albeit brilliant but I wouldn't say that - "sex. You kissed me, I responded. You're a man, I'm a woman. Do you need me to go into the subject of reproduction or can you figure the rest out for yourself?"

I exhaled the remainder of my breath, the back of my head beginning to throb. He was giving me a damn headache. There was that glint in his eye again and I didn't like it one bit. It was almost a glint of triumph but what the hell could he be so triumphant about? My anger?

Then again by the twitch of his eyebrow, I had a feeling mocking him wasn't the best of ideas. He hid his annoyance well though, I'll give him that much. "Go ahead and explain it to me, sweetheart. I'm all ears."

"Grow the hell up, Eddie." I scowled.

The glint turned into an outright self-satisfied flare as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You really do have a temper."

I backed up toward the steps. This conversation was over before it started. "You don't know me."

"But I plan on getting to know you." 

"And I'm planning on staying the hell away from you." Which were my parting words before I walked, maybe stomped a little, inside the building.

That infuriating man! Like he'd purposefully set out to get under my skin! I wanted to... To... I don't know, hit something!

It was safe to say all of my students tiptoed around me during life drawing. Eddie wasn't entirely naked; he was supposed to be but I changed my mind and made him cover himself with the sheet almost repeating last Monday and Fridays classes. Plus I don't think I'm mentally prepared to see him entirely nude.

How could I stay away from him when I spent three hours every Monday and Friday with him? Just eleven more weeks. I didn't know if he'd be with other classes but it'd only be a eleven weeks with me.

After an aching three hours my shoulders were stiff, my headache wasn't easing one bit not even after the students left and I wanted nothing more than to sink into a hot bath and forget that he even existed. I waited for him to come out from the changing area they'd set up last week inside the large supply closet, keeping my hands busy by adjusting the easles at the back of the room and unbuttoning the top button of my damn shirt before I stopped breathing.

He finally emerged zipping up his jacket with a ghost of a smile on his lips and I couldn't help but scowl. 

"Goodnight Liv."

I tried to ignore the way his eyes darkened on my nickname and the way he eyed the open neck of my shirt before he walked out of the studio. Have mercy. I blamed my headache for the slight sway of my legs as I packed up my stuff to leave. He was too intense to be real. 

Eleven weeks... Give me strength.

**

Miranda was holding in her laughter later that evening; it was getting harder and harder not to throw my remote at her. So I settled for my couch pillow instead. "This isn't funny."

"Yes it is! He purposefully provoked you and you took the bait it's so obvious! If it went exactly how you just described it then he tried to get a rise out of you. For whatever reason I don't know, but you gave him exactly what he wanted Liv."

"You think he was trying to get me angry." I clarified.

"Of course he was!"

"Why are you shouting?"

"Because you're as blind as a bat!" She stressed. "That man is still attracted to you, a moth could see that for Pete's sake. I don't even have to see him again to know he's still attracted to you. But I do want to see him again by the way so I might be coming in to say hello at some point this week."

"Stop it, you won't. Why would he be trying to get me angry?"

Randy shrugged a shoulder and I frowned. "You're the over thinker, can you figure it out?"

In truth, I'd already tried thinking up multiple scenarios in why he was trying to get me angry already but none of them made sense. One: he could be the most childish adult I'd ever met and he was trying to grind my gears because he knew he could. Two: he was rubbing me the wrong way so he could rub me the right way, pun intended, but then again how did he think getting on my nerves would do that?

"I can hear the cogs in your brain. Don't worry about it, he probably just wanted to know what you thought and you let him know. Maybe he'll leave you alone now..."

From the slight curve of her mouth I knew she was talking right out of her ass. "You don't think he'll leave me alone."

"No, I don't sorry honey. So he was married though. I'm kind of shocked." Miranda stood and grabbed the wine bottle from my coffee table to refill our glasses. "A man like him, he looks like someone that would settle down and stay settled down."

"I figured him for the same. But we don't know the in's and out's do we?"

"I wish we did. Twenty bucks says his ex was a bitch."

"Randy."

"What?" She smirked. "I just have a feeling. And did you really mean what you said to him? About it not being a big deal?"

I released a sigh and shrugged. "I've been telling myself it wasn't a big deal for ages so, yeah."

"Was it a big deal?"

"No. It wasn't. We've talked about this a thousand times, Randy."

"Liv, I remember what you were like in college. You had a huge crush on him."

I couldnt help the roll of my eyes and the sarcastic chuckle that escaped my lips. "I was twenty."

"It was your first 'stand'."

"I was young."

"You're being short with your answers and you're tugging your lip."

"Can we stop talking about him and this?" I said, the edge to my voice making it come out harsher than I wanted it to. I sighed and sunk into my couch further. "For the past week he's been our topic of conversation and I think I'm done with it. Feels like I'm having the same conversation over and over again." 

"Okay, okay. We're done with him."

"Completely done." I finalised taking a long gulp of my red wine and tipping the glass toward her. "If I mention him again then I give you permission to... I don't know pinch me. You know I hate pinching."

"What if he does something worth telling me about?" She challenged, her knowing smile making me wonder if Eddie Marshall did have anything up his sleeve. 

"He can try." I sent her my own smile but it shook at the corners. 

Did I have the willpower to say no? Of course I did. But did I have the willpower to push him away if he touched me? 

...That factor could only be determined if it actually happened.

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So many plans for Eddie, he's so delicious.

Don't forget to drop a comment guys serously! I need to know if it's going ok! I don't wanna make it fast pace but neither do I want to drag it out; that gets boring so please please let me know :)