Chapter 6

 

‘I had fun last night. Can’t wait for the next.’

 

‘Really? There’s a next?’

 

‘Now you’re just playing with me. Of course, there’s a next time. Don’t I get a discount? Third time’s the charm?’

 

Valerie purses her lips. She tries hard not to show the disappointment threatening to surface on her face. She reads the thread between her and Lucas, and when she reads his last message, she feels her heart plunge to her stomach for the nth time.

 

‘Don’t I get a discount? Third time’s the charm?’

 

She knows the hurt and disappointment she’s feeling isn’t warranted. He’s her client; he pays her to have sex. It doesn’t matter if she’s started to grow feelings for him. Nothing genuine, much more a relationship, can come out of the couple times they’ve had sex.

 

Valerie suddenly remembers what her friend, Amanda, said a few nights ago.

 

“You don’t even know his real name. You know the chances of us getting a relationship with this kind of job are close to none. There’s a reason we’re hired in secret…”

 

Fuck you, she curses herself mentally, trying hard to retain the smile on her face. There’s no way her students can know of her internal conflict. That would be extremely unprofessional.

 

“Ms. Summers, this activity is too long. Can we please take it home instead?” one of her students asks from his chair.

 

She looks at Matthew, the star student of the class, and gives him a small smile.

 

“Yes, you can,” she then says. “But I’ll be giving you homework as well, so it’s best to finish the seatwork before the class ends.”

 

After that, the room falls silent once again. She can see her students buried deep in the activity. They’re actually adorable with their heads bent down. Valerie decides to walk around the room to distract herself. She doesn’t want to read the thread with Lucas for nth time today. She still hasn’t replied to his last message though. There’s no way she can reply to that without sounding bitter.

 

Valerie then checks each of her students’ papers as she moves from desk to desk. Matthew and a couple other students manage to answer everything correctly without her assistance. A few others though need her direction to get through the more complicated Math problems. When she finishes circling the whole room, she walks back to her desk and flips her laptop open. Maybe, she can distract herself by going through her website. Maybe, she has new clients to message and schedule an appointment with. Anything to stop herself from thinking about Lucas.

 

It’s funny how every time she tries her best not to think about the man, the more she ends up thinking about him. She remembers the way he looks, his jet black hair sticking out in random directions every time she runs a hand through his mop. She remembers the many variations of his face, from that sexy devilish smirk to his boyish seemingly innocent grin. Then, there’s a picture in her head of his blindfolded face. She wonders about his eyes.

 

What color are they? Are they expressive or void of emotion? Are they as beautiful as the rest of him?

 

Valerie breathes out a heavy sigh as she tries to relax her shoulders and wracks her brain for something else to think about. There’s no way a man of Lucas’ wealth, looks, and attitude can ever fall for her – an escort and a single mother. Then, she wonders what he does in real life. Stalking him would be futile what with such a common name – Lucas Hill. There are at least fifty-six accounts on Facebook (yes, she checked) with the exact name; a number of those don’t even have pictures.

 

She looks at the clock right behind her. There’s still fifteen minutes to go before the class ends. It’s her last class for the day, and she’s excited to pick Trent up from school. She’s made plans to take him out for dinner since he’ll be confined in the hospital over the coming weekend. He’ll be having his transplant tomorrow, so Valerie wants to take him out tonight. When the bell rings, Valerie’s students run out of the room, and when she’s left alone, she picks her phone from the desk.

 

‘I know what we can do next time to spice thing up.’ Valerie reads the new message from Lucas. ‘Having an agreement is always a nice touch.’

 

Valerie can’t help it and her self-control flies out the window as her fingers fly over the screen as she types up a reply.

 

‘No, you’re not going to take the blindfold off.’

 

With that, she puts her phone back in her bag and leaves the room. It takes her half an hour to get to Trent’s school, and when she sees him waiting by the steps, she runs over to him.

 

“I’m starving,” is the first thing he says. “I can eat a whole cow.”

 

Chuckling lightly, Valerie wraps an arm around Trent’s head and plants a kiss on his mop of hair. Then, she lets her arm fall to his shoulders as she leads the way to the train station. The restaurant, which specializes in Southern comfort food, is just a couple train stops away. When Valerie turns her head downwards to look at her son, she sees the widest grin on his face. Seeing him happy and worry-free relaxes her chest. Her son has much more strength than she has. He’s the one with a transplant tomorrow, and yet he looks like nothing in the world can ruin his night.

 

“I love you, my dear,” she says, the words leaving her mouth so naturally.

 

Trent grimaces in return, then responds with, “Eww, mom. Are you okay?”

 

Valerie shakes her head, laughing at the same time. She remembers that time when he’d be all sweet and loving to her. “You’re growing up too fast,” is all she says, as she keeps her arm around his shoulders and pulls him closer to her.