Hopefully you are still enjoying the series.
Any and all feedback is welcome, especially since I'm still no literary master by any stretch of the imagination.
Enjoy!
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Another day, another set of lectures. Alex truly did enjoy them and he knew he was learning something, although he would've liked it if they ended a little earlier in the afternoon. Due to the way his day was structured, he had some free time around noon, which he used to get some work done and have lunch. Emily was always hanging around with her own clique, but Zack was always eager to join him and chat.
The two of them let out a collective sigh as their latest lecture ended, bringing their day to a close.
"Finally..." Zack muttered.
"It wasn't that bad, now was it?" Alex said as he started to put his laptop away into his backpack.
"It's not, but the professor just keeps droning on and on. Those tangents of his certainly don't grab my attention either."
"That's because your phone does," he responded with a grin.
"He, that's not fair. You know I only met that girl recently, so we have a lot of stuff to talk about," Zack said defensively. Based on the amount of time Zack had been tapping away at his phone, he must have already explained his entire family tree to the girl.
"Do your thing, Zack. Just don't forget about the assignments whilst you are chatting with her."
"Yeah..."
Alex noticed his friend had already shifted his attention back towards his phone. He didn't blame him since he would have done to same if he didn't see Emily that often. Still, it reinforced the belief that Zack might not be the best person to work with on projects.
"See you later," he said as he swung his backpack on a shoulder and left the hall.
Alex made his way through the hallways filled with buzzing students and made his way towards the entrance. He couldn't see Emily in the mass of bodies, which wasn't too strange. She still seemed keen on keeping a distance between the two of them in public. At least she hadn't become any less passionate in private.
The sun greeted him as he exited the building. It shone brightly up high on that blue sky. Alex was used to days full of heavy tropical rains, but the lack of clouds overhead told him those wouldn't come anytime soon. He wasn't sure if he missed those. After all, not being soaked when you're on your way to the store is something he could appreciate.
As Alex unlocked his bicycle, he felt someone tap against his shoulder. He turned around and saw Emily standing there in a floral summer dress that stopped mid-thigh and with a wide smile.
"I thought I'd surprise you here," she said as they hugged.
"Where were you when the lecture ended? I couldn't find you anywhere."
"Oh, I just went to the toilet with a girlfriend of mine. I managed to talk my way out of going shopping with her, so I could be with you."
"I cycled here, so I can't promise you it will be comfortable sitting on the luggage rack. Perhaps you should catch the bus."
"And miss you for another minute of my life? I don't think so," Emily said as she stood on her toes and gave him a quick kiss. "We do have to be quick now. I haven't told anyone about this, about us, and it wouldn't be pretty if they caught us now."
"Hop on and hold tight," he responded as he sat down on the bicycle, one foot on the pedal and the other resting on the ground.
Emily jumped onto the luggage rack, hung her legs to one side and wrapped her arms around his waist. Alex needed a few moments to find his balance, not that Emily was heavy whatsoever, and soon they left the university buildings behind.
Alex looked back as they made their way down a street. Emily's hair was waving in the wind and her dress would have done the same were it not wrapped around a pair of shapely legs. She clearly was enjoying the moment, which put an even bigger smile on his face.
"Alex, I meant to ask you about this before, but we kinda got busy last night. How did your job hunt go?"
"Do you want to take a guess?"
"Poorly?"
"That's mostly accurate, yeah," he told her.
"Mostly? There's more to the story?"
"Well, there is. I wasn't expecting there to be that many shops along the Sol boulevard to begin with, though none was really interested in offering me a position."
"Why not? Who wouldn't want to hire you?"
"Basically everyone," Alex sighed. "They'd rather get someone like you or maybe a younger version of you. Someone that's not only smart and pretty, but also underpaid."
"Are you just going to compliment me all day, or are you going to finish this story?" Emily said with a laugh.
"That sounds very tempting now you bring that up. After you had called I more or less visited all the remaining stores that I could find, although that netted me nothing. I then accidentally found a store that was a little more interested in me."
"Accidentally?"
Alex didn't need to turn around to know she had a questioning look on her face. Her tone told him all he needed to know.
"I dropped my bottle and it rolled down an alleyway. I was half expecting to get mugged, but the street was empty. When I got the bottle, I noticed a store tucked away into the corner with a poster saying they were hiring."
"So, a more or less secret store huh. Is it like an antique thrift store?"
"No, uh..." Alex began as he could feel himself getting flustered. "They sell lingerie and, uhm, vibrators and stuff..."
Emily must have been caught of guard by his answer and he could feel her arms grab his waist a little firmer as she tried to regain her balance.
"Wait, so you signed up to work at a sex shop?" Emily managed to bring out whilst laughing.
Her healthy laughter was contagious, and he couldn't help but join her. Alex slowed down a little in case Emily were to fall off, but she managed to hold on despite her situation.
