Page 10 of The Other Side
4
“Why do you stay at Montgomery if you don’t like it?” Chance asked after a bout of companionable silence on the drive back to campus.
“Do you want the professional answer or the real one?” I giggled softly, repeating myself from earlier. The buzz from my second drink had given way to a mixture of drowsiness and deep-seated lust as the darkness enveloped us both, driving alone, in the middle of nowhere.
I couldn’t say what it was about him that put me at ease; surely his intervention at the bar was a major factor, but there was a gentleness about him that made me feel safe. It also made me that much more attracted to him.
Chance laughed as he took the exit for Montgomery, off the county highway. “Go on,” he goaded me.
I sighed. This wasn’t the kind of story you just shared with a stranger. But Chance didn’t quite feel like a stranger, despite the truth of the matter. “I was dating someone who preferred to take care of things, so all I had to do was worry about my student loan payments. I was still working.” I felt it necessary to add,“But I had a hard time finding a job in my field, and I couldn’t contribute much. So when things started going south, I found his dick in someone else and myself out of a place to live, with barely a penny to my name.”
Chance pulled in a breath through his teeth.
“I’m not originally from the East Coast and didn’t know anyone—”
“Where are you from?” Chance interrupted me.
“Michigan,” I offered.
Chance nodded his head in acknowledgement.
“So I started calling around to any contacts I had for a lead on any kind of job that would make me enough to get by. As luck would have it, my master’s advisor was a Montgomery alumna, and when she heard I was looking, she called about a sudden vacancy in the history department that they were having trouble filling. I guess they have really high expectations, but like most places, don’t want to pay for them.” I wondered if he could see me rolling my eyes in the darkness.
“Anyway,” I continued, “I fit the bill. Decently educated. But young and a woman, so they can justify underpaying me.” I leaned my head against the cold glass window. “But it’s not all bad. I get free room and board, and when I’m not teaching, I have plenty of time to myself. Even have a secret cozy little space that’s my own.”
I glanced over at Chance. A dreamy smile softly settled along his face.
“That does sound nice,” he agreed.
“I’ve spent all this time talking about myself and you’ve told me nothing about you,” I suddenly realized. “What do you do?”
“In between jobs,” Chance said. “But I like photography.”
“What kind of photography?” I asked, allowing my eyes to trace the sharp contours of his face and jaw as he drove. I couldn’t help but let them settle on his perfect lips.
“Old school—I’ve got an antique camera that takes gorgeous shots. It’s a nightmare to have to set up a darkroom for development, because I don’t trust modern places with my prints—too easy for the negatives to get ruined or lost, but the results are worth it.” His passion and enthusiasm for the hobby was apparent.
“What kinds of things do you like to shoot?”
“Mostly nature, but occasionally portraits.” Chance’s lips again lifted into a smile. “Maybe you can be my muse.”
“I’d like that.” I smiled to myself in the darkness. Butterflies swarmed in my stomach at the thought of seeing him again…of being more than his muse. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt a connection like this with someone, almost as if I’d known him for a long time. Kindred souls, perhaps?
But all too soon, we arrived at the Montgomery campus, the trees of the surrounding forest receding to reveal menacing stonework in the clearing that held the campus grounds.
“You can park just over there.” I pointed to the lot on the side of the carriage house.
Fidgeting in my seat as he pulled into a parking spot, I gathered every ounce of courage I could muster to ask, “Would you mind walking me up?”
Chance put the car in park. “I’d love to.”
“I’m on the fourth floor. There’s only stairs.” I wanted to be honest about the trek. Thankfully most of the faculty that stayed on campus had not yet returned, and I had always been the only resident on the fourth floor, so we wouldn’t have to deal with anyone seeing us.
“I’ll survive.” He chuckled, getting out of the car and making it to my door just before I could open it myself.
“Thanks.” I took his offered hand as I exited. My mind was racing a million miles a minute, trying to figure out what I was going to do as we walked toward the carriage house.
What do I want to happen here?
