CHAPTER 30

Audrey opened the door to Enzo's office but he wasn't there. That's two days in a row now he's missed work.

She checked the time, it was past noon, he was supposed to be there already.

"Looking for someone?" Darcy asked behind her, her face devoid of any emotion.

"I was looking for—"

"Maybe you should look for him on the courts."

"The courts?"

"The basketball courts, the ones next to our building, obviously not the ones under maintenance."

"Thank you, Darcy," Audrey said with a nod. For some weird reason, she couldn't wait to see what Enzo was up to now.

Yeah, more like you can't wait to see him, you liar.

She rolled her eyes, trying to hide the smile on her face.

***

There he was. The backboards outside were all missing a basket, except one, where Enzo played two-on-two with some students.

Some other kids sat on the ground, the moment they saw her they stopped their trash talk and behaved.

That meant kids respected her. Audrey smiled. That said a lot, especially about kids in this area.

Enzo passed the ball to Tyson, a black kid whose parents worked two jobs each, and the kid dribbled, did a three-sixty and threw the ball for a two pointer.

Everyone cheered.

Enzo stepped to position but the kids didn't follow, he turned to see where they were looking at and finally saw her. His face lit, then immediately faded into a regular smile. He didn't want anyone to see him.

But I saw.

To be honest, she was a bit worried she might have fucked things up not talking to him, or trying to contact him via phone or email or anything. Yeah, it was a stupid idea —a childish one— that something like that meant the end of the world, but she couldn't help herself. We're all kids inside, in a way, I guess.

"Yes, Miss Rodriguez? How can I help you?

"Hi, sorry to interrupt your game."

"No worries," he said, shaking his head.

"I was wondering if I could see you before the end of the school day."

He held up a grin.

"Sure, I'll meet you at your office in an hour if you're available."

"Great, see you there."

Some students made a teasing sound, looking away from her so she couldn't know who.

"Stop it," she told them in a firm voice, "you're old enough to know better."

The students grins instantly faded, all of them went back to their respectful stance, nodding. Enzo looked at her with his knowing half smile.

"I wouldn't want to teach you all a lesson," she pointed at the ball and a kid passed it to her.

Audrey stared at them, they think I'm going to take the ball away. She savored the moment, she'd be a bitch if she did so. But no, she knew better.

She squeezed the ball hard, as if she tried to burst it apart with her bare hands, everyone looked at her in silence.

Then she bounced it on the ground and took a shot. The ball went up in the air in a high arc, and fell clean into the basket. Three pointer.

Everyone either stared, yelled or jumped in excitement.

"Woah!" they screamed as she walked away from them, not even looking, as if that was a trick she could pull at any time.

She might be earning a reputation as a hardass... the kids thought so, at least.

But she was always fair. And cool, of course. Always cool.

***

Three knocks on Audrey's door. Her gut tightened, this was it.

"Come in," she said, watching Enzo come in his sports pants and skin tight shirt. He carried a big bag on his shoulder.

He was disheveled, sweaty and his hair was a mess. He looked completely delicious.

He sat down across her desk, looking around.

"Wow, this place looks completely different."

She hung a few photographs, fixed the lights, and rearranged the furniture. The office was much brighter now, which made it look more alive.

"A few touches here and there. And of course, a new coat of paint."

"You have good taste."

"Thank you—"

"But I already knew that," he interrupted.

She stared at him. Yes, he visited her apartment, but never mentioned anything.

"So," he continued, "you said you wanted to meet me?"

"You haven't been around."

He shrugged, "I had to move my appointments, I couldn't be here yesterday."

"Is everything all right?"

He considered. That's how she knew that the answer was no.

"Yes."

Silence. Awkward silence, actually. They could hear Larry mowing the grass outside her window. And that damned A/C unit. It started making noise again for a few seconds before it stopped.

"Sorry I acted weird the other day," she said.

"You mean cut me off almost completely?"

She pressed her lips, yeah she'd done that.

"No worries," he said.

She didn't reply immediately. His body language told her he meant it. He smiled easily and she hated him for that. How could he be so... relaxed about everything?

"I figured it was better if I stepped back," he continued, "at least until you realized you were being an ass."

Her mouth fell.

"I was not!"

"Not a little bit?"

She bit her lip, "maybe a little bit."

"Didn't take you too long though. You're even smarter than I thought."

"Smarter than you... who the hell—?"

"Wait. That came out wrong. I know you're super smart. I said smarter."

He scratched the back of his head, mumbling.

"You know what I meant, right?" he finally said.

She sighed, men. Always saying the opposite of what they mean.

"So, where are we now?"

He's the one who asked. Holy shit I was trying to get to that question and I don't have an answer.

"What do you mean?"

He licked his lips, fixed his eyes on her and shrugged, "you know. Do you want to keep this going?"

Her face turned bright red. The butterflies in her stomach fluttered violently. Fuck.

She tried to reply but no words came out of her mouth, yes, you want to keep this thing going. You want to—

"'Cause I don't know if I want to."

A bucket of cold —ice fucking cold— water fell over her.

"You don't want to..."

"Of course I want to. But enough with this hiding and shit. We have to act professional at school and around students, that's a given, but all this sneaking around is not really my thing."

"So, you're saying..."

"Let's go out on a date."

Her eyes widened. She wasn't expecting that. She wanted to say the exact same thing, but what the hell.

"I... I..."

"Friday, ice cream, nothing too serious."

"Have the students started to talk?"

Enzo's eyes narrowed to a slit, "what do you mean?"

"Joe saw us, have they said anything?"

"Not that I know of."

She sighed audibly, almost grateful.

"But what if they do?"

"I was worried—"

"Worried about what? That they weren't gonna take you seriously? Audrey, look at all the things you've done for this school. The repairs, the fund raiser, even the freaking halls themselves... are way cleaner thanks to your 'Keep-It-Clean' plan, you hired more help. What else do you want? The teachers are grateful you arrived, they needed the leadership."

She didn't know what to say. She kept busy but she was just doing her job, there was still much to do.

"So what if the kids talk?" Enzo continued, "they're kids, they're probably gonna talk whether you like it or not. We might as well let that go and focus on the things we can control."

"Like you and me?"

"I can't control that."

His tone carried a fire that turned her on instantly. He was her perfect complement. The Yin to her Yang. Whatever that meant.

"Friday?" she said, and that took him by surprise. He probably expected more fight out of her.

"Shall I pick you up at five?" he said in a funny British accent.

"Five o'clock shall be fine," she replied in kind.

He laughed, standing up. She shook his hand. Enzo leaned forward to give her a kiss but stopped instantly.

"Stay professional," he said, then looked at her from head to toe. The way his eyes studied every inch of her body made her shiver.

"See you then, Miss Rodriguez."

He turned around and left. She wanted to jump and cry out of joy. But that wasn't professional at all.