10 Chapter Ten: Ardor

'I broke up with Naomi' the girl who he cheated on with her. So? She thought. It couldn't be undone, she slept with someone else's boyfriend. Something she never thought would happened. Especially not when her last boyfriend cheated on her because she wasn't sure about giving up her virginity to him.

She shrugged it off. She remembered how he was when she opened her dorm room that night. He was drunk, he said he couldn't sleep, he was smelling like booze with a tint of Hugo Boss, he had an unopened bottle of Vodka in his hand.

Preston always smelled nice, even under a stale cigarette odor. He took his jacket off, leaving his thin worn out The Doors T-shirt hanging loose above his jeans. He threw himself on the floor next to her, their backs leaned on the bed. He opened the bottle with his teeth and they started drinking.

He went on about the thousands of fights he had with Naomi, that night being the peak of all the shit that's been accumulated throughout their flimsy relationship and he hung his head on Julie's shoulder. He took her hand as they talked, he played with her fingers. "I wish every girl I dated could be more like you," he told her. "They talk shit all the time and got angry when I wasn't interested ... they want to fuck and then nag about their girlfriends," he blabbed about it. "They said I spend too much time with you, it's not healthy," he went on.

"Really? She said that?" Julie didn't realized that his girlfriend was jealous of her.

He nodded, "They all did ... well I told them that you never nag, and you don't talk shit about Kelsey borrowing your blouse or whatever shit they always made a big deal of." They laughed. "Oh my God ... I can't believe Stacy said this about me to Amanda ... and Amanda told it to Megan when they met in the club and now everybody thinks I'm wearing fake eyelashes ..." Preston made a mocking gesture pretending to be his girlfriend and they laughed about it.

It's what they do, they laughed about his girlfriends and he loved her for it. She was nothing like them, she was like a guy friend who listened and made fun of his silliness and told him what a jerk he was but still hanging out with him. But she was a girl, and he was a slut, it wasn't a good mixture particularly that night.

"Is it though? Is it unhealthy?" his drunken eyes was searching her. She tilted her shoulders and sucked on the bottle. "I think you're the best thing that ever happened to my fucked up self," he said.

She fell silent, his words felt real and honest, her stomach was turning. That's when he grabbed her face and slipped his tongue inside her mouth. She went over it a thousand times and wondered if she hadn't been drinking that night, she might never have let that happened.

She cringed in her seat, covered her eyes with her hands. "Hey ... you okay?" Nathan's voice broke her out of her daydream.

She gathered her thoughts and smiled, just what she needed, someone to pull her back to reality. "Hey, yeah, I was just a little tired," she lied.

Nathan took a seat next to her and saw she was drinking black coffee that morning. "A little too much to drink last night?" he assumed.

She looked like she was having a hangover but she didn't. Her night was a bit sleepless after Preston. As much as she didn't want to think about it, what happened between them was a big deal to her. "Yeah, I kinda need something strong this morning, do you want to order first?" she offered as she cranked up her laptop to start her day with the boss.

"I think I'll have the same, do you want something else?"

She nodded, "I'll have another one, too."

"Okay, wait here," he said and stood up to order at the counter.

When he came back, it was all business. His presence was directing her to a path of work, immediately her mind was sharp and her vision was clear. He was going to be a great leader, and a good employer, she thought. It was a favorable trait for the both of them.

"Ardor" was the name he chose for his restaurant. Ardor means 'passion' and 'enthusiasm' which was suitable for his persona. Nathan was mature for his age, he knew exactly what he was doing and what he wanted. The more they interact, the more she knew the professional side of him.

Her phone rang. It was Preston. He had been texting her since morning to ask where she was, but she didn't reply. She turned it off, she needed to concentrate on her project because Nathan was leaving the next weekend. And they won't be seeing each other again until December.

Preston's face on her phone didn't escape him. When he saw her rejected the call and turned off her phone, he was right about her, she was not like any other girl that was swooning over the rockstar.