Half-truth

"It flatters me that you think I'm a beautiful table," he chuckled. "Because, that means there is hope for you and I. But cherry, from this day on, you will be the only one who can have a seat at my table," he said matter of factly.

Julian took his tie off with one hand. I noted that his arms looked strong. "But that does not mean others will not try to join," I countered.

He sighed. "Fair enough. They can watch from afar, and are never allowed to sit down," he promised as if he were dedicating his life to me.

I swallowed. "We really have too intense conversations, for two people who don't know each other," I sighed. "Intensity is good, because the opposite is indifference. And cherry, I don't want something fleeting with you," he stated.

I opened my mouth, but hell... I didn't know how to respond.

"Do you have enough slack in terms of time if you arrive at 09:00 on Saturday?" I questioned, changing the subject again. "I mean, we had agreed to meet at 10:00 am," I frowned.

"Look at who is trying to change the course of our conversation again," Julian laughed. "Feeling a little heated?" he went on chuckling.

I pursed my lips. "I'm not feeling heated," I grumbled. "Well, your cheeks are flushed. Incredibly sexy, so I'm not complaining," he said with a flirtatious look on his face.

"If I was with you, I would have thrown something at your head," I said half-angrily. "Mhh... little violent thing you are," he said, shaking his head entertained. "I'd rather hold you in my arms if you were with me," he said sultry.

I sighed. Strangely enough, I would have liked to feel what that would be like as well. "When was the last time you had a relationship," I asked Julian curiously. "Never," he answered briefly.

I had to let that sink in for a moment, and so I remained quiet for a while. "Never..." I repeated him, not believing it. "Never," he stated again.

"Well uhm.. Let's face it, you don't necessarily look like a virgin," I blurted out. Immediately I bit my lip. Jeez, why did I just say that.

For a moment his eyes got big, but he composed himself rather quickly. Julian's mouth opened and he closed it again, as if he were deciding how to respond. Good, let him feel as uncomfortable as I feel around him.

He smiled softly, and then gave me a very sweet knowing look.

"I've never been in a relationship, but that doesn't mean I don't have desires and fullfill them," he said without blinking an eye. "So you're having casual sex," I blurted out.

It was clear on his face; I had upset him. Julian ran his right hand through his hair. Ah, he did touch his hair once in a while. Maybe only as a nervous tic.

"If you put it that way," he said hesitantly, "I guess."

That wasn't necessarily what I wanted to hear. So he admitted to being some kind of player. "And are there people with whom you... well.. have regular pleasure... uhm... with" I asked without hiding how nasty I found that.

Julian sighed, but he didn't answer. "When was the last time you had fun with someone..." I bit, without expecting an answer. And then something dawned on me. "The waitress," I said reproachfully.

Julian supported his head in his hand, and his lips were slightly pouted. I didn't know why, but I got really angry. "You were supposed to meet the waitress tonight," I said indignantly, now that her comment clicked in my head.

"Emilie..." Julian tried to calm me down. "No, sir 'I want commitment'. That's not how this works. I mean... I would go on a dates. I mean very PRUDENT dates... but you..." I swallowed. "So you just have causal sex."

For a moment he seemed distracted and that made me even angrier.

"Shit," Julian said, suddenly startled.

"What's up," I asked annoyed.

"Yes, uhm... well... I just went through the list of students for this comming semester. Maybe I should have made this link in advance, but there are 70 students for Christ sake."

Tomorrow would be the beginning of a new semester. Wait, what?

"And you're enrolled in my next course as well," Julian said with a tremble in his voice. He ran his hand through his hair. My head was spinning with everything that happened today.

I met a guy. An extremely handsome guy. A guy that made me regret not having intimacy with anyone for so long. A guy that made me wait an entire month for the strangest date ever. A guy who wanted me give him comitment after only one hour of seeing each other.

For a moment he had his eyes closed. When he opened his eyes he seemed to be really stressed... There were thinking lines around his eyes. Strangely enough I wanted to straighten the folds.

"You are the professor for my next law course," it suddenly dawned on me when I opened my college agenda. "Mhh mhh.." nodded Julian.

"Whoa," was the only thing I could manage to say.

It was silent between us for a while.

"How could I not know this," I stammered, looking at his name on the syllabus of my next class.

I saw a small smile play on his lips. "Young lady," he said, suddenly entertained. "Are you one of those," he laughed broadly.

"What kind, is one of those?" I asked reluctantly. "One of those that doesn't prepare her classes and doesn't read the syllabus." He just said I was a bad student. I was not going to take that.

"That is not true," I said iddefensively. "I've read the book until chapter three, which is about the origins of the constitution," I said defending myself. "And I already have a potential topic for my paper," I said with my chin raised.

His gaze softened, and his eyes tried to tell me that he was joking.

"But hey, something's not right," I remarked. "What's not," he asked intrigued.

"You said you weren't back in Calverie until Saturday morning," I let him know he was caught. "That wasn't the truth," I added. Today was Sunday, and that class was on Tuesday. I was starting to dislike him more and more.

"The half-truth indeed," he admitted, clearing his throat. "Honey, I'm only back for that class and an hour later I'll be on the plane to New York," he told me.

Julian moved from his chair behind a desk, to a giant white sofa and laid down there, I think.

"To New York???"

"Mhh.." he murmured.

"I actually have to call the rector magnificus, in order to see if this causes a problem," he said more to himself than to me.

"If this causes a problem," I repeated to him, with my heart in my throat.