The Dramatic Spiel of Arthur and Chardonnay~ (7,122 views)

He was more desperate than he would have liked to admit to hear her answer as he posed his question, his furious eyes still focused on her face, reading every reaction and bracing himself for the insults he knew were coming. She’d probably just say in the moment she wanted to, but now, she regret it ever happening because of how he reacted. Because of him. He disguised the shaking of his hands by clenching and unclenching his fists as she looked away. Fuck. Why did he ask that? He didn’t want to know the answer. He could feel his face beginning to flush darker with embarrassment. She was going to laugh at him now, make fun of him, and as much as her insults usually didn’t hurt him, insults about that, about what they’d done together, those would. He wanted to take his question back and just push her out of his apartment and never have to think about how he had a desire than her that surpassed any casual crush he’d ever had – and as much as he hated to admit it, it wasn’t just because of her body, it was because she got under his skin in a way that no one else did and sex with her just felt so satisfying even if, he was sure, she was about to tell him the feeling wasn’t mutual and that she regret everything.

Her actual answer surprised him because it was exactly the same thing he was thinking. I don’t know. He didn’t know why he let that happen. He always imagined he’d sleep with someone after dating them first. He wasn’t a fan of casual sex, for him, because being exposed like that even if it felt good in the moment it made him panic, and he just – he just freaked out during class about it, that of all people it was her. When she said she’d wanted to do it with him (even though he already knew that from her actions) he felt the desire his nerves had been suppressing again. He wanted to, too, even if he didn’t know. Even now as they were yelling at each other he was conscious of the way her lips moved and remembered how she’d sounded when they got into the bed – the moans were more frequent, and louder, and fuck it felt amazing the longer they went. It was so unimaginable that she’d be the one to make him feel that way, that he made her feel that way, and he was blushing so badly when he remembered her last moan and the way her body clenched that he felt like his cheeks were going to disintegrate.

He was surprised that was her first time – not actually that surprised – but he didn’t think that she would have wanted her first anything to be with him. She seemed to know what she was doing in the moment and she’d been the instigator so he thought that she’d had some experience. He certainly didn’t think she was like Chad and his clique of women, always fucking, but she was hot and he’d seen her at the party with some other guy before he’d been there. He’d seen her at dances with varying dates, and what would he know? Maybe she slept with one of them. The realization that he was wrong made him feel strangely happy, that he had been the only one she couldn’t keep her hands off of. Her last line made him swallow. He could normally do that and take himself out of a situation – but it was too soon. Way too soon.

She countered by throwing the question onto him. Fuck. His answer was literally the same as her.

”I wanted – I, I – you, I – it, I --“ He was sputtering just as badly as he had during the presentation, maybe worse, as he looked at her face and tried to think of a retort. He could say he just wanted to, that wasn’t a lie. But he didn’t want to admit it even though they both knew it was true. There was no denying they were attracted to one another, even if they said it they’d both know it was a lie. He looked away from her face and down at her figure, which was still clothed in that red dress she’d worn to the presentation. It was classy and she looked beautiful in it but all he wanted to do was take it off her and fuck her again, and feel her lips on his and the skin of her bare stomach underneath his fingertips. He wanted her so badly it was pissing him off. This was why he’d fucked up the presentation but for once he didn’t get distracted by thoughts of work and school. He could see the anger he recognized in her eyes. He’d been seeing that fury on her for years, ever since they met in the forest when they were in High School. Was she confident he’d fuck this up? What should he say? Should he say he didn’t know either, or would she get mad? Or if he said he wanted her, what would she do then? No matter what he said he felt like she was going to use it as an excuse to get even angrier.

So before he could think too much about the consequences, he grabbed one of her cheeks in his hand and pulled her in for a kiss. He’d probably regret this later, too, but for now he enjoyed the electric feeling of her lips on his.

This was the exact opposite of what he should be doing right now. She’d come over angry because he’d fucked up their project – and they should talk about what to tell Lockwood or how to make it up or something but all their argument had turned into was the fact that they’d had sex. About whether or not their respective reactions were justified, or faked... he again thought she was stupid to think he hadn’t enjoyed it, when he was pretty sure he made that audible. He couldn’t have hidden it, even if he wanted to. The skin underneath his hand as he held her cheek was smooth, but had a texture to it that was different than rubbing his own cheek. He didn’t know how she kept her skin that smooth – it was probably some ridiculously overpriced lotion or something – but whatever it was, it made him want to touch her. He moved his lips against hers and opened his mouth when she moved back, his heart rate picking up as he realized she still wanted this. Just like he still wanted this. He heard the moan that came from her mouth and his other hand moved from his side to her hip, squeezing it slightly, feeling the fabric of her dress.

When she moved closer to push their chests together Arthur moved back, pushing her up against his wall as he continued to kiss her, the movements turning more aggressive as he felt the pressure of her chest against his. They were the same height, maybe she was a little taller than him with her heels on, and he was more conscious of that now than he had been last night when the beginning of their affair had started on his couch. He tilted his head to the side to get a better angle, his hand sliding down from her cheek to her collar. He felt strands of her hair brushing against his fingers. He pushed her hair back over her shoulder, and slipped his hand underneath the sleeves of her dress, feeling the strap of her bra against his fingertips.

He felt her hands moving towards his waist and the fabric of his pants. The flips were starting in his stomach as he broke the kiss, biting down on her lower lip and half-moaning at her touch. He’d regret this. They both would, right? He stared at her, pressed up between him and the wall, his mouth still inches from hers. He was conscious of her fingertips and how they played with the hairs on his nape. Her nails were like little pens drawing on his skin and it sent a tingle down his body. He could feel her breasts against his chest. But there was a layer of clothing that shouldn’t be there. He stared away from her face, at her dress, his eyes darkening.

He could stop this and they could explain that something awkward happened to Lockwood – he could pull away and tell her that they still weren’t going to see each other again. He thought that was what she would have wanted, when they first started this project. But now he didn’t know. And that was fine – because she didn’t know either, but what they both knew was that they wanted each other again. And he wasn’t going to stop it – not unless she changed her mind.

He did have a problem, though. His eyes narrowed as he stared at her dress. How the fuck did it work? Was there a zipper in the back? Or... did it slide over her head? Or did she shed it like a snake? He decided he’d figure it out later. He slid the hand on her hip down lower, until he felt the skin of her thigh just underneath the hem of the dress. He slipped his hand up, half expecting her to swat him away even though this was basically what he’d done the other day. He then connected their lips again, his hand sliding farther up, conscious of how much warmer it was underneath her dress than his hand was.

Arthur continued to slide his hand up her skirt, slowly, almost hesitantly because he was worried she’d get mad at him for it. But she seemed to move into his touch. And god, did he want to touch her as much as he wanted her hands to roam his body. He pushed her legs apart as he slid his hand up, stepping closer so that he was between her legs. He would have ventured up farther if the hem of her dress wasn’t too damn tight. He was cut off teasingly close to her ass. He slipped his hand out of her dress and slid it up her back, feeling the warmth of her body on his palm and the coolness of his wall on the back of his hand. He was feeling around for a zipper but in his distracted state of mind he couldn’t seem to find one. Fuck.

He felt her hands on his chest and fumbling with his tie and he didn’t actually think that she’d have any problems with it. He continued to kiss her even though her motions were slightly distracted as she tried to take the material off. He didn’t notice anything was wrong until he felt her lips form words. His kisses slowed as he opened his eyes and focused on her face, listening as her voice complained about his tie coming off. The last time they’d slept together there hadn’t been any words, except for the brief conversation about beds and condoms. Of course, there was the occasional apology he’d uttered when he thought he might have hurt her accidently, usually followed by a dismissal of his concerns or a demand to keep going. He felt blood beginning to flow down his body as she swore.

The fact that she couldn’t get his tie off made him feel a little better about the whole dress problem he was having, so he grinned against her lips before he kissed her back and removed his hands from her back and body, bringing them instead to his neck. He broke the kiss as he undid the tie, unfortunately, because as much as he’d love to just keep kissing her he didn’t want to choke himself. As much as he might like being shoved around by Chardonnay in the moment, he had a pretty good feeling asphyxiation wouldn’t turn him on. He got the tie off of his neck and strung it through his collar, letting it fall to the floor. He put his hands back onto her body, more specifically onto her hips. He leaned towards her ear as he pulled her body closer to his. He shuttered, breath ghosting across her skin. He got a whiff of her scent as he breathed.

”So does your dress, except I can’t figure this shit out. How’d you even get it on?” His voice came out deeper than he thought it would. Everything was beginning to feel uncomfortable again – he was starting to feel suffocated in his pants and his skin was too hot in his stuffy button down shirt.

After he got his tie off, he felt her hands on his shoulder and chest. Even though there was a shirt between his skin and her touch it still made his body want to arch into her, and it was worse when he felt her beginning to undo the buttons of his shirt. With each one that came off he felt relief as the sweltering material of his clothes started to come off. He heard her tell him it was a zipper but that didn’t really do him much good – even if she said that he didn’t know where the zipper was. Was it at the top of her dress? The bottom? Inside? His hands were still fumbling when he felt hers stop lowering on his chest. He missed the feeling and wanted to tell her to keep getting his shirt off when he felt the fabric of the dress rustling.

Oh. While normally he might have tried to insist he’d figure out the challenge himself, he was appreciative of it here. That meant her dress would be coming off sooner.

It took her longer than he thought it would to find the zipper, and he didn’t want to stand there twiddling his thumbs while she unfastened herself. So he moved his head to the skin just underneath her ear and kissed it, trailing his mouth down her neck, his hands lowering to his waist as he tried to unfasten his belt. Since he was going at it blind with his hands, they wound up slipping lower on accident and he moaned against her neck before he finally got the belt undone, slipping that through the loops and throwing it to join his tie on the ground. Finally she got the dress down and he pulled away, glancing at Chardonnay. It almost looked like she was going to say something when she blinked but then she pulled him into another kiss and he kissed her back eagerly. Though he liked kissing her skin, he’d missed her lips.

He slid the fabric of the dress down her body, slowly, because when he did that he got to feel all of her curves. Her chest, her stomach, her waist, her hips, her thighs... God, he wanted to touch them all. He could feel her hands on his shirt again. When he got the dress down he moved closer to her, brushing his lower half against hers and decided, immediately, that his pants were in the way because fuck that felt good, but he knew it could feel better. He moaned again but didn’t stop kissing her, the sound remaining mostly in his throat as he put his hands on her thighs, pulling her lower half away from the wall and closer to him. The feel of the inside of her thighs against his legs, despite his pants being in the way, made his breath hitch as he stopped the kiss again. He knew he should remind her about the bedroom again but in the moment he didn’t seem to care if it happened there, which was probably a dangerous idea because the condoms were in his room.

He could almost hear her voice uttering his male when he moved against her. As if the sound of her pronouncing his name wasn’t rare enough for her to use his actual name rather than jackass, she was moaning it and he felt his pants get tighter. He didn’t know why she of all people was having this effect on him but he didn’t stop to think about it as he allowed her to remove his shirt, tossing that to the floor, too. His movement was less hesitant than it had been the first time she’d taken his shirt off, especially when she kicked off her heels and moved her lower half against his again, causing him to bite back a moan in distraction. He longed for her hands to graze his skin and he wasn’t disappointed as she felt his body again and he shuttered at it, adding fuel to the rising temperature of his body. The touch sent pleasant tingles down his body. Her hand continued lower and fumbled with the button on his pants. When she got it undone the feeling of relief made him sigh when the kiss was broken.

He stared at her face as she started to form words. He could feel her hand on his shoulder, and wished it’d find its way back into his hair again. His eyes were still darkened as he waited for some kind of cue from her, his eyes darting down to her swollen and tempting lips. He was completely unaware of what a mess he looked like right now but in the moment he didn’t care – he was horny and almost desperate for her to kiss him again.

She seemed to have similar thoughts to him in regards to the bedroom, anyway – she mentioned it and condoms and he knew that both the setting and the packaging were important. As much as he wanted to fuck her right here he had windows. He was expecting her to pull him in for a kiss again and drag him to his room when he felt her hand slip into his pants and he bit back on his lip at the sensation that sent throughout his body.

”Oh, fuck,” He moaned, before he bit down on his lower lip and tried to control his body’s movements – it wanted to thrust into her touch and while he was tempted to let that happen, he knew he wouldn’t be making it to his room if he let her touch him like that much longer. He stared at her face for a few seconds, distracted by the way she bit her lip and the feel of her hand. Jesus Christ. He let out another half moan, half groan. ”Bedroom.”

He slid his hands on her thighs underneath and hoisted her up, conscious of the dress that pooled at the ground. He better not trip, he better not fucking trip. He got to the wall adjacent to his bedroom door before he couldn’t resist anymore and pinned her against it with a hungry kiss, his hands sliding up to squeeze her now attainable ass, covered only by her underwear, which he was desperate to get off of her.

Arthur rolled slightly in his sleep when Chardonnay woke up, but otherwise didn’t stir. His breath came in even intervals as he curled up underneath the blankets, only his head and shoulders visible. At some point in the night, probably after she’d fallen asleep but before he’d nodded off, he’d grabbed the pair of sweatpants he usually reserved for pajamas off of the floor and slipped them on. He’d never liked sleeping naked much and, though he’d crashed almost immediately after the sex the first night, tonight he hadn’t. Not that he’d lasted much longer, anyway. Just long enough to put on pants and hit his light, before he curled up and was out for hours.

He heard the faint buzzing of a phone but ignored it. It was probably just some stupid steam notification. He was still pretty bad at figuring out the mechanics of his phone and couldn’t figure out to un-notify them. Or whatever the word was. He groaned a little and pulled the covers up closer, now conscious of the sunlight tickling his face. No... no... he wanted it to be night again so he could continue sleeping. There was a tug as something fell out of his bed and then he registered a female voice and, though he tried to pull the blanket up to him again, he knew any attempts at a return to his sleep were futile.

Lazily he blinked his eyes open, registering the thud of an object landing on his stomach. He propped himself up to his elbows and turned to the side, spotting Chardonnay in her state of undress as she tried to clip on the bra he remembered throwing off of her last night.

Oh, fuck. They’d had sex again.

He closed his eyes and ran his fingers across his jawline as he remembered it, the feeling of her lips across his skin and her skin in his hands. He could see her hair was a wild mess from the back, with strands sticking up everywhere. The last time he’d seen her look so frantic and disheveled (aside from the first morning after, of course, though then none of this registered then) was when they’d been lost in the woods and she had various parts of nature strewn about her hair. The sunlight hit the skin of her shoulder and he could see her profile, looking slightly different, less picture perfect. It almost made him grin but he was too tired to grin and instead just furrowed his brows.

”Morning?” He asked, sounding vaguely dissociated. He then became conscious of the fact that it was morning. Tuesday morning. He had a job. A job that he had to go to every Tuesday because he had no classes that day. ”Jesus FUCKING Christ, what time is it?!”

He shot up, making a grab for his phone but failing miserably as the device topped to the floor. He groaned in irritation and bent over the bed, revealing that he’d changed into sweatpants at some point during the night. He pressed the home button and swore – 10:30. Opening was at 9. And he should have been there for setup hours ago. The missed notification was a call from his boss. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He saw an email but that didn’t register immediately as he unlocked his phone. But then he saw the name on it and everything came crashing down on him.

He pulled open the email. It was about the presentation and he could see that another participant in the email was Chardonnay. The email itself was very formal and direct, as all of Lockwood’s emails were. It said that he was disappointed in their grade for their project and knew that they had better potential. He didn’t know why they messed up so badly but was willing to hear them out if they’d come to his office and said that he might offer some way to help their grade. The latter offer was enough to make Arthur pause. Improve their grade? Well, that’d be fine and all, but...

He glanced over at Chardonnay again. Though he was slightly distracted by the curve of her waist as she sat on the other side of his bed, reality was too heavy for his mind to wander. How the fuck was he supposed to explain to Lockwood that the reason he’d messed up so bad was that he got distracted by memories of sleeping with Chardonnay?! And for that matter, his boss, too! What the fuck was he going to say to get out of this?

He groaned and sent an apology text to his boss – saying he’d call in a few minutes to tell him what the situation was. Fuck, he was so screwed. Chardonnay was literally ruining his career one step at a time, wasn’t she! Or... well, he was the one letting her ruin it, because when she moaned like that and slipped her hands into his pants, he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her no. Even though he knew he should have.

”Chardonnay, what the fuck are we going to do about this?!” He practically threw his phone beside her in irritation, the email from Lockwood still open so that she could read it. He was too seriously frustrated with his life choices right now to use his nickname for her. He got up and bolted to his closet, opening the door to reveal a small mirror on the inner door. He took in his reflection. He flushed when he saw a few marks on his collar from her lips, and made a face when he saw what looked like lipstick on his lips. He brought a hand up to them and wiped the material. It came away. That shade of red might have looked nice on Chardonnay but in his opinion it looked ridiculous on him. He swore underneath his breath as he leafed through his closet and grabbed his work shirt, throwing it on over his head. ”I don’t think Lockwood will appreciate hearing that we got distracted from the project by sex, this isn’t anatomy class, God damn it,” he was mostly talking to himself, though he did steal the occasional glance at Chardonnay as she attempted to dress herself while he did the buttons on his shirt.

Normally he would have wanted to get himself looking more professional than this but he was already fucking late – and he had cologne. He’d just spritz it on himself and wipe off his face and he should smell decent enough, right? Fuck, fuck. He was so fucked. In many senses of the word. He was definitely wearing his glasses and a sweatshirt today, for sure he thought, oblivious to her surprise at hearing her name come from him. He’d just say he was cold and then when he got home he was showering and – his thought process was interrupted when Chardonnay shoved him out of his own mirror. What the fuck?

He glared over at Chardonnay as she pat her hair down and looked at her smeared makeup and face. It was an unusual sight to see because he was used to her looking well composed and put together, and there was an odd sense of satisfaction he felt when he realized he was the reason she looked like that. He looked at her hair and imagined his fingers going through it to mess it up again, he looked at her face and imagined kissing it again, and not just her lips but her cheeks and jaw and he had to stop himself before his thoughts made getting ready even harder. As much as he wanted to complain to Chardonnay about her shoving him out of the way he didn’t want to start an unnecessary fight so he just shoved back against her, conscious of her naked arm against the sleeve of his shirt. His eyes bounced down to her chest, covered in her bra again but still there, still existing. He watched her self-consciously try to flatten down her hair. He knew Chardonnay liked to be presentable and, as annoyed as he was that she was trying to shove him out of the way and pick more fights, he couldn’t deny that he felt slightly bad that she was late for... whatever the fuck it was she did on Tuesdays. Sure, it was entirely her fault in his mind because she’d willingly come over and then slept with him, but still. He wasn’t an asshole who’d just laugh... and he knew if he did try to impede her, she probably wouldn’t be coming over again.

”You can use my shower if you want.” He said. As he said that he imaged maybe if he talked to his boss he could get enough time for a shower if he was given an afternoon shift instead. But instead of just imagining using the shower he imagined taking one with her. And for the places she couldn’t reach he could wash, and have an excuse to touch her, even if it wasn’t sexual. And if it did turn sexual he wouldn’t mind if they fucked against the wall, and no, stop, he was going to fail his classes and lose his job if he kept thinking about Chardonnay. But he couldn’t help it and it pissed him off. When she went on the clothes hunt, he glanced over at the bed again, completely messed up. He swallowed when he thought about what happened the night previous to make it look that way. He really hoped she was still willing to come here again. When she told him this was his fault, he glared at her and tried to say something but failed, because she was right. And her face was so close to his, too. He had two things working against him.

When she was out of the room he splashed on some deodorant and self-consciously smelt himself. Oh God. He still smelled like sex. He grabbed his phone off of the bed and saw a return text from his boss. He said that Arthur should call him but there was already someone there to cover his shift – if he was still able to come in for the afternoon, that’d be fine. Arthur groaned loudly as he slammed his forehead against the wall. Fuck. Those were hours he was missing. That was rent money he was missing! Even though he had plenty of money put away to cover his rent saved up, missing a shift for any reason gave him anxiety. Especially when he was always punctual and on time. He supposed he did have time to shower now. He slipped the polo shirt off of his body again, but suddenly became conscious of the way his naked torso looked and tried to cover it. He decided that he’d just throw on a really baggy tee shirt he slept in when Susan, Adelaide, or Maxine came over and he didn’t want to walk around his apartment half naked. He pulled it down over his waist and it was almost long enough to be a dress on him. He felt a little childish in it but it covered him up, and getting something to do that had been his end goal.

He heard Chardonnay’s voice as she suggested he say someone died. What the fuck?! No! He already had a limited family as it was. His sister and his niece (and Maxine, he supposed, though she wasn't really family). If any of them died he wouldn’t have been embarrassed and bolted from the classroom – he wouldn’t have even gone because he’d have been such a wreck. He wasn’t going to pretend any of them died.

”I wouldn’t go to class period if someone I cared about died! What the hell! Lockwood sure as fuck won’t believe that!” Arthur snapped in response. But if he wasn’t going to say that then... then what could he... he groaned and exited his room, staring at Chardonnay as she tried to get her clothes. He folded his arms over his chest. ”My fault?! The only reason I fucked up was because I was thinking about you! God damn it! You have just as much blame here as I do! Maybe I could have gotten over it if we just kissed but – but we did more than that – twice – and it’s a little overwhelming! I’m sorry!”

From his doorway he glared back over at Chardonnay, watching as she got herself dressed. She did look a lot different than when she’d first stormed over here. The clothes were wrinkled, and now that he knew where her zipper was, he could see that it had hastily been pulled up. The top was a little loose and he was almost tempted to go over and fix it – if he trust himself to help her put it back on rather than take it off. Which he didn’t. So he remained where he was. His face flushed slightly when he saw Chardonnay’s eyes look him over. He knew she was probably disgusted by how lazy his outfit was. He confirmed his suspicions of her disgust when she sneered and looked away. In response, all he did was roll his eyes. This was his pajama outfit, not his ‘impress Chardonnay’s impossible standards’ outfit. Not that he had any outfits that would fit that criteria to begin with.

He grumbled out a fine in response when she admitted they both had a hand in this, not expecting her to agree so readily. What was worse was when she called him out on definitely enjoying it. His face flushed even more as he avoided looking at her, biting down on his lower lip as he caught sight of his belt and tie lying in a heap on the floor by the door. She was right. He definitely didn’t regret it. He didn’t want graduation to be the last time he saw her, he didn’t want last night to be the last night he slept with her. But the more he thought about that, the redder his face got, so he tried to shake it off.

”It’s a huge distraction, but I don’t... uh,” Before he could stop himself he glanced over at her and caught the confident smirk on his face and felt his resolve beginning to slip when he found the look she gave him hot and he wanted to kiss that cocky smirk off of her face. No. He shook his head to stop that thought before he continued, ”sick? That... maybe he’ll buy it. But it’s such a generic excuse. I don’t think he’ll be very impressed. I’ve had him for other classes, he knows me, so maybe he’ll be inclined to believe me, but... shit. Lockwood’s not dumb. And if we get caught in a lie we’re so fucked. But if I just say I got sick then I can tell Susan that, too, fuck, wait—“ had he called his sister back?! No! God damn it, god damn it, he scrambled to grab his phone as he pulled up her number. If he didn’t text her some excuse immediately she’d probably invite herself over and see the state of disarray he was in because of Chardonnay. He told her that he felt sick during the presentation, and that he was going to talk to Lockwood about it after. Saying he felt ill would actually be a good excuse for all three of the issues he currently faced – Lockwood, Susan, and his boss. He finished his text to Susan and sighed of relief as he put it back into the pocket of his sweatpants. He glanced over at Chardonnay again, watching as she wiped her face. It was so weird to see her in his apartment, cleaning her face up, looking more down-to-earth than he’d ever seen her. It was... odd, but he actually kind of liked the sight. ”you’ll have to help me if we’re going to sell this. Maybe something I ate could have been food poisoning or something, so whatever ‘sickness’ I have isn’t contagious? What else would cause a reaction like that?”

He could hear the clock ticking overhead as he watched Chardonnay remove her makeup and waited for her to respond. This morning was drastically different than the first time because Chardonnay didn’t just leave – they had to plan what they were going to say to Lockwood and they couldn’t really do that if Chardonnay left. This wasn’t a discussion they could have on the phone. Besides, given that he was going to feign sickness, he should call out of work entirely today, which would mean his whole day was free. The thought made him twitch. He hadn’t missed a shift in over three years. And that was because he’d been shot in the leg. And he’d had no choice in the matter. This time he missed work because... because what? He forgot to turn on his alarm after sex. Sex that he didn’t ever knew he’d be having. He took a deep breath. He had always thought of himself as above guys like Chad, who only thought with their penis, but lately he was falling into the same trap of letting that stupid thing think for him. Actually, Arthur had it worse, because even though Chad was a womanizer and slept with half of the female population of Metric, he did exceptionally well in his art courses. And now Chad ran the marketing section of RichCorp (it was hard not to know who he was with how often the news mentioned him). But then here he was, he slept with one woman and suddenly his brain was mush. He swallowed a lump in his throat.

He had to get his shit together.

Feigning sickness... as much as Arthur hated to lie to a professor, he knew he could do it. There were a few times he’d missed classes, and most of the time the teachers didn’t care as long as he didn’t exceed three absences and got the work done. He’d never missed such a major assignment, though. He grit his teeth together.

Of course she found a way to make the damn argument personal. Arthur rolled his eyes and shook his head as she insulted his food options. To be fair, he didn’t have much to object to. He was usually too easily distracted when he got home to eat. Sometimes he skipped meals altogether, and when he didn’t skip them, he usually ate leftovers or hot pockets or whatever else he picked up on sale at the grocery store that week. He massaged his temples and glared at her little cocky look. God. Could she stop insulting him for five minutes, though? It wasn’t his fault he didn’t have to cook for anyone anymore. When he’d lived with Susan he did a lot of cooking for her and Adelaide, but when he moved out... his interest faded. He wasn’t some five star chef like Chardonnay like to imagine she was. Or... actually, okay, she was. His arms remained folded across his chest as he looked at her. He never knew she had freckles. His eyes were drawn to them for a second, before he pulled his eyes up to meet hers. His breath caught in his throat for a minute as he forgot how to say words. Fuck. He was even more attracted to her when she looked like that.

”I could have had some bad fish or something,” He said, though the second he said that he remembered what fish was sometimes an euphemism for on the internet and he cleared his throat, praying she didn’t think he meant that as some jab (which he most certainly did not), ”I mean seafood has that affect right? My stomach doesn’t usually agree with it anyway. And, yeah, I’ll say I was trying to just get through the presentation and couldn’t do it. Uh, we’re supposed to... well, he suggested a few days. If I’m pretending to be sick I can’t go into work...” he looked a little sad at that, as he shook his head, ”haven’t missed a damn shift in three years, and then this...” he grumbled as he scrolled down the email, ”so you can just reply to the email that today works. And I’ll do it, too. It’ll be weird if we confirm at the same time, or for each other... so let’s just try to be as separate about this as possible. I can act like I’m sick. It won’t be that hard.”

He took a deep breath as he went over the story in his head. Since Chardonnay would have been over Saturday night, that gave him all of Sunday to have eaten this fish. He couldn’t say he’d been out with Susan and had it then – though it might make his lie more believable to Lockwood, he wasn’t dumb enough to try to mix up the story between people he told it to. Number one rule of making a story believable, don’t give yourself any excuse to fuck it up. And that was a big excuse to fuck it up.

He pulled out his phone and hit the reply button on his email. He hovered over the keyboard for a few seconds before he started to clack away. He apologized for the inconvenience and said that he could drive up to Lockwood’s office hours that afternoon to explain. He didn’t hit send for a few minutes as the reality of his grades being on the line caught up with him. And not just one class. This wasn’t like Writing I, where he could bomb the class and have it bring his GPA down but otherwise face little consequence. No, this was his very important business class. One of the most important classes for his major. He could not afford to fuck this up. Though he was nervous, he was determined. He hit the send button and then took another deep breath.

”Sent.” He said. Then he pulled up his contacts and saw his boss’ number. That was the next one he had to call. He’d have to call out for the afternoon, too. He couldn’t do that with Chardonnay right in front of him. He’d get distracted, and that wasn’t something he could afford. He could feel his heart rate beginning to pick up at the thought of how long today was going to be. God, he needed a cigarette. When she asked to use his bathroom he was confused as to why she didn’t just shove him aside and go for it. He cleared his throat and gestured to the door across the hall from his bedroom, which was closed. ”Yeah, sure. You can use the shower too if you want, I don’t care. I have to make some phone calls before I’ll need it.”

Part of him wanted to ask if she’d ever come over again after this. Once they got shit squared away with Lockwood... assuming they fixed this anyway... they’d have no excuse to see each other again. He looked like he might have said something before he shook his head and turned to go to his room to grab the package of cigarettes shoved into his nightstand drawer.

After Chardonnay had gone to the bathroom to get herself looking decent, he grabbed his box of cigarettes and headed out to the little patio, staring at the ashtray in front of him. He knew he had to make these calls but which to do first? He opted for his boss. Then when he knew he wasn’t coming in today, he’d call his sister. The conversation went well – too well. Not for the first time Arthur was mad that his boss was so understanding. It was good, in a sense, for now, but that man got himself walked all over by the rest of the staff so often it was a miracle he hadn’t gone under yet. That was another reason Arthur hated to skip out on work like this – there were only so many reliable people. And since he was still only part time, he didn’t exactly have any authority like the boss did.

His excuse was that he’d vomited during class yesterday and again today – that he thought he ate something bad and couldn’t come in. His boss talked over his schedule with him and when Arthur realized that meant he wouldn’t be working again until Thursday his brow twitched and he pulled a cigarette out of the pack. Fuck. He accepted these terms and wrote down his hours before he hung up, after another apology, and flicked the lighter and lit the cigarette resting between his teeth.

He always swore he was going to quit. And he was trying, sort of. But whenever he caved and let himself light a cigarette he felt the desire to quit cave because it felt so good to just let the nicotine into his lungs. It helped him de-stress. He never really wanted to give it up. He just didn’t want Adelaide or Susan to know he did it anymore. It was kind of sneaky, but it was what it was.

He kept the cigarette in one hand as he called Susan with the other. He was careful not to take any drags while he talked to her, keeping it simple, his voice a little strained. She sounded sad and wanted to come over and take care of him but he told her not to – he had to go talk to Lockwood and make up the presentation somehow. Susan sounded sadder when he said that, and he knew that was because she really wanted to be there to help him. She told him to tell Chardonnay she said ‘hi’ (he cringed at that) and then he hung up the phone.

He took a long, well deserved drag of his cigarette. He heard the door shut as she left to go and do... whatever, before they had to go to Lockwood’s that afternoon. He peered down at his phone as it lit up from another email from Lockwood. His office hours were from 3 to 5, and he was just waiting for a confirmation of the time from Chardonnay (who was referred to as Ms. Nicholas, he noted) and he groaned. Oh, Lockwood was so pissed off.

Being alone for a few hours was dangerous. Arthur finished his cigarette and extinguished it, then walked back into his apartment, eyes jumping to the couch again. What had come over her, to kiss him like that? He’d just said they were never going to have to deal with each other again, and she just... kissed him. He remembered the way she looked right before she did it. Annoyed, but maybe there was something more? Or, probably not. Maybe curiosity, if anything. He was weird when he looked over at the wall, and heard the clock ticking, and all he could think about was her. God damn it. He had to focus. Thinking of Lockwood’s disappointed face was a major turn off, though, so when he found his thoughts wandering to sex again he just thought of Lockwood and the desire subsided.

It was really hard when he walked into his bedroom to get his clothes, though, and saw how messy the bed was. He bit down on his lower lip as he remembered last night, that he’d been the one to practically carry her to his bed and put her on it, his lips wandering farther than her lips that time as he kissed her chest, her stomach, her neck... no. No, think about Lockwood. He squeezed his eyes shut as he went over to the bed and attempted to make it. He needed to wash his sheets again, but he didn’t have time if they were going to Lockwood’s office for 3. He’d do it when he got home.

He pulled out some clothes from his closet and avoided looking at himself, knowing he’d just remember when Chardonnay stood beside him in front of the mirror. He then took a shower and had to keep imagining things that weren’t Chardonnay’s naked body pressed between his own and the opposite wall. Which made it weird, because the biggest turn off he could picture right now was Lockwood’s disappointed face. So... he was thinking about Lockwood in the shower. Which was really weird. At least he had somewhat of an excuse if he was thinking about Chardonnay. But... he was getting better at this. Sort of.

Lazily he dried his hair with a towel, letting the black strands stick up at odd angles. He got dressed in a steel blue shirt and a pair of jeans, trying to ignore the odd feeling doing his fly and belt gave him when he remembered how it felt taking them off. But he had to focus.

The drive to the school wasn’t that long, but it felt it. He took a deep breath and craved another cigarette, but knew if he started smoking one he’d smell like smoke and Lockwood wouldn’t appreciate that. He glanced in the mirror with hollow eyes. He did look slightly sick. His hair was messier than it usually was and he had thick bags underneath his eyes. He glanced at his phone as the clock said it was 3:25. Here went nothing.

He got out of his car and locked it, not recognizing anyone there. Good. He moved through the crowds, feeling somewhat naked without his backpack. He had his thumbs hooked into the loops of his jeans and his head was down. Just... take deep breaths. He’d get through this. Fortunately, his nerves helped him look extremely under the weather.

When he rounded the corner to Lockwood’s office, he saw Chardonnay waiting outside it and realized this was the ultimate test. If Lockwood came over and he was eyeing her up, or she him, the game would be over. Lockwood knew Arthur and Chardonnay had their problems, but if he sensed an attraction between the two of them, it might be harder to make his story believable.

Despite that knowledge, though, Arthur couldn’t help the quick glance he gave her before he focused on her face, which looked more like he was used to seeing it. He sighed and looked towards the door, reading the sign.

”Is Lockwood not – “ he started, but then he saw him down the hall. Lockwood looked annoyed, his bag in one hand and a pile of papers in the other. He didn’t looked surprised to see Arthur and Chardonnay there and came to a stop in front of his door, pulling his keys from his pocket.

”Good afternoon, Ms. Nicholas, Mr. Summers. Please come in.” He said. The door opened and he flicked on the light. Arthur glanced over at Chardonnay. Usually he referred to them by first name, so the fact he’d taken out the professional titles was unnerving as it was.

Well, here went nothing.

Lockwood had shown up and the two slipped into his office. Arthur had been here before for other appointments and meetings, and those usually went so much better than this did. He felt ashamed to be here for such a horrible reason. He felt like a child compared to Lockwood as the man straightened up his desk and sat down, staring at them with a disappointed expression. Arthur sat down on one of the chairs and squeezed his knees in his hands, not daring to look up at Lockwood even though he could feel the man’s eyes on him. The room was painfully hot, but he knew he couldn’t bolt now. He squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment as Lockwood lectured. He knew Chardonnay was next to him, his leg close enough to hers that they brushed slightly, but his mind was no longer wandering. Reality was a hard pill to swallow. Sex took a backseat to his worries about failing this class and having to take it over again, of getting fired and losing the respect his boss had for him. He really was in over his head now.

He slowly looked up and over at Lockwood, swallowing a lump in his throat. Though he wasn’t actually sick, acting wasn’t hard because he felt it. Being lectured like this was humbling, and insulting, almost, but he knew he deserved it. His hands on his knees clenched into fists.

Here went nothing.

”It was my fault. I’m sorry, professor.” He said. Not only was this humiliating in general, but he was conscious of Chardonnay beside him. Oh fuck, the last thing he wanted was for her to see him grovel. Though she was in the same boat he was in this was mostly his fault. His eyes looked anywhere but at Lockwood as he fixated on the files of his desk. His throat trembled and he looked pale. What if Lockwood didn’t buy this? Or what if he dismissed Chardonnay, and just blamed him? And then he’d fail, and she’d leave, laughing probably, because she succeeded in messing his life up and – no. He couldn’t think about that. He had to keep talking. His voice was trembling as he continued. ”I felt queasy Monday morning...I thought I’d be fine for the presentation. But when I got up there I – I, I ran from the class because I... I got sick, and I didn’t come back because I was too embarrassed. I know it’s just an excuse. I made Chardonnay mess up, too, because my performance suffered. So, I’m sorry.”

He took a deep breath and finally stared over at Lockwood. Despite the embarrassment he felt his face was paler than it usually was, his hands clenched into fists so tight that the knuckles turned white. This was humiliating and he wanted to go back to his apartment and never face Lockwood or Chardonnay ever again. He just hoped Lockwood didn’t get angry at him for trying to make up an excuse.

Arthur expected for Lockwood not to buy his words at first. The long sprout of silence that followed was deafening and he wanted to meld into the floor, sink lower and disappear forever. Lockwood was mulling what he said over and he knew that there was going to be a challenge of winning the guy over, of making his excuse more believable. But he knew he could do it. He knew enough about the teacher-student dynamic Lockwood ran. He knew the guy would admire his maturity about the situation – he always admired mature students rather than the students who spoke out of turn or tried to cover up their mess-ups by blaming him. So when Lockwood asked him a question Arthur took a breath before he went to respond – but in that moment, Chardonnay spoke up, and he regret pausing to take a breath.

At her statement Arthur’s face flew from Lockwood’s to hers. What the fuck?! She sounded so snappish. She should have left the talking to him because even though he hated doing this he could make his voice sound sincere and explain this in the way that Lockwood would appreciate. He’d had the guy for classes before. He knew what he was doing! His expression went from sickly to furious as she responded to Lockwood’s inquiry with another sassy question. God, he could have killed her right there! He had this! And now she was making him angry and Lockwood looked even more disappointed than before! Fuck, fuck, fuck.

He violently nudged her knee with his, and glared at her, but didn’t say anything because he knew if he acted too angry Lockwood would call him out on it. He was surprised she didn’t just try to snap at him, to blame him herself. That was something he expected from her. The more he thought about the unusual way in which she’d... defended him? Was that what she’d done? Or did she actually think sassing Lockwood was a good idea? Anyway, the more he thought about that, the more his anger started to give way into confusion as he stared at her. He wasn’t even looking at Lockwood as he chided them, thought he words made their way into his unconscious. When Lockwood spoke up his last question, Arthur was still too shocked by Chardonnay’s outburst. He heard someone clear their throat, but didn’t register it for some reason. Did Chardonnay seriously just say you’re intelligent enough to know that to their professor?! How long had she been in college?! His jaw almost dropped.

”Mr. Summers, I asked you a question.”

Fuck! God damn it, Chardonnay distracted him. Again! He muttered out an apology and turned towards Lockwood. His face was flushed now and he still looked uncomfortable. What was the question? His face must have said that because Lockwood sighed and folded his hands together, resting his elbows on the desk.

”Why did you take this course? I thought I knew that you two were better than what you gave me yesterday. But, as I said, perhaps I was wrong about that.” He repeated, tone testy. Arthur felt a frown twist down his face.

”You’re wrong. We are better than that. I took this class because I need to for my degree – because it’s probably one of the most important classes of my entire college career – “ he would deny that his voice cracked a little there until he died, but it did, as he felt his stomach flip. ”and I messed up. I know I did but I know I can do better. I know she can, too, better than when I distracted her, anyway, I’ve seen it,” He stared over at Chardonnay then, his expression somewhat unsure. Before he could get too distracted by her face he looked back at Lockwood. ”and we put a lot of work into our project. I... I tried to keep going because I know what you say about business. That you need to put your presentation before everything else, so I thought I could put my body second, but I was wrong and I couldn’t control my body.”

Please, please, please let Lockwood buy this crap he was spewing. He hoped that whatever Chardonnay’s response to that was didn’t involve her cussing either him or Lockwood out because if she did that he didn’t have any idea how they’d get through passing this class.

Lockwood stared between the two students in front of him. They both looked apologetic and even though tempers had almost been lost, he knew they meant what they said about his class. Both of their work ethics prior to this project were excellent. He had grades from the past, and assignments from this semester, that proved that. He sighed and saw how even that motion from him caused a reaction in Arthur. The boy shifted and bit down on his lower lip, eyes focused on Lockwood, heart pounding, waiting for a verdict. Lockwood glanced over at Chardonnay. He was glad she didn’t snap in response to what he’d said. It was maturity that was wasn’t there when he had them as freshman, and they begged to have their partnership changed. He drummed his fingers on his desk as he looked on his laptop at the class schedule.

There was one more period of this honors seminar, and there were only supposed to be a few groups presenting that day. As much as he hated giving out handouts, these two were some of his best students, and he never liked to fail students who he knew could do better. It wasn’t as though they’d bullshitted the entire project – the parts he’d seen from their slides and their presentation hat had gone well were exceptional material. He stared between the students in front of him.

”I don’t do extra credit.” He said. Arthur felt his stomach plummet as his hopes for passing the class began to teeter. If he didn’t walk in the spring, if he didn’t pass this class, oh fuck, what was he going to tell his boss? He was supposed to officially start full time in the summer and be promoted – what the hell would he do if he didn’t graduate? He’d have to wait another semester and by then his boss might choose someone else to be promoted. Or hire someone else entirely. As much as his boss liked him Arthur wasn’t his son. He wasn’t guaranteed to inherit the business. He was just the most likely candidate because he worked well with his boss and knew how to run the damn theater. But if he faltered here then his entire projected career... he knew he could find another, but never one that worked out as perfectly as this. His palms grew clammy.

”But I will give you two one more chance to impress me. You’re lucky this wasn’t the last class period. After your classmates present, I’ll let the two of you attempt this again. I won’t give you a perfect score... but you’ll be able to attempt to get better than a 1.0.”

Ouch. Was that how bad their grade had dropped? Arthur flinched at the low number before he peered over at Lockwood. Wait. They had one more chance. His eyes lit up with hope. Lockwood still didn’t look happy. He was wondering if he’d regret this as he looked from one to the other.

”Redo it? Tha—“

”Let me make this clear. You will not be getting higher than a 3.0, and that’s if your presentation is flawless otherwise. I am still disappointed that the two of you messed up that badly. In business, if you messed up like that at a conference, you’d be fired on the spot. This is me giving you one more chance to impress me, because I think you’ve learned a lesson that will help your careers. However, if you do badly again, I will not hesitate before I fail both of your final projects. Is that clear?”

”Yes, sir.” Arthur felt deflated even though they had another chance. No higher than a 3.0? But they could have had a 4.0. He knew they could have! Oh, he was so mad at himself. He unclenched his fists, knuckles stiff. He took a deep breath and looked over at Chardonnay, waiting for her response.