She wanted to hear from him. Though a part of her could put it together. It was an easy things to do since she wasn’t a child.
“We kind of knew each other three years ago during the fundraiser,” he answered.
“You slept with her.” She put it out. She wasn’t a fan of his word game, so she spelled it out for him.
He nodded, and that explained how became so different at the realisation of Aaron’s presence.
“You slept with a staff member at Stanford, and you didn’t tell me,” she demanded, doing her best to keep her voice low.
He held his hands up and said, “That was three years ago, Zera, many months before we got back together.”
“It changes nothing. Don’t you think I would have handled things much differently if I knew about your affair with her?” She frowned, not very happy with him.
He shook his head and said, “It was just once; do not give too much into it.”
She knew she didn’t have any reason to be mad; they weren’t a thing when all that happened. They were enemies, or at least not on the best terms, but being left in the dark about it didn’t seem right. He should have told her, especially since he knew they worked together. Maybe she was being petty, but she considered this important information.
She folded her arms over her chest and asked, “Is there someone else you slept with that I need to know about?”
He stared at her as if asking if she was serious, but then realised that she was. “Oh wow. We are doing this now?”
“If it’s taking you so long to answer, I should be worried.”
“It’s no reason to be worried; I am just surprised that we are doing that here instead of enjoying the night.”
“We will enjoy the night right after you tell me if you’ve been with another at this university. It’s not that complicated.”
She didn’t want the answer in order to judge him or be jealous, but she felt Ms. Raymond’s coldness as soon as she saw Aaron beside her. She wanted to know and not look like a clueless fool in the midst next time.
“Let’s have it.”
“There’s no one else. She was the only one.”
She raised a brow. “You sure?”
This made him glare at her and say, “Yes, I am sure I haven’t slept with another staff member at Stanford University.”
“Thank you for your honesty and transparency.”
“That was humiliating.” He said, and stared at her as if he couldn’t believe she did that.
“I am sorry, but if you found out I slept around with multiple men at your company, you would ask questions.”
His face reddened. “I didn’t sleep with multiple women; I slept with only one and then you.”
“It’s the same thing,” she replied, and she tried to walk away, but he caught her by the wrist and pulled her back to himself. Her body pressed against his, and her breast pressed against his midsection. She gasped at the collision, and her lips parted.
“It’s not the same thing.” His finger came up to graze over her face, and chills ran south. “I am not some man whore, as much as I look like it.”
His words made her stomach flutter, and she wanted to kiss him here and now and tell him she believed him.
“I don’t ask for much, Aaron; I just ask that you don’t hide things from me. Is that too much?” She asked, staring at him with curious eyes.
His lips grazed over hers. “It isn’t, and I’ll try.”
She shivered at the touch of his lips on hers. He didn’t waste time before claiming her lips for a hungry kiss.
The rest of the night, they stayed by each other. After the first thirty minutes, they were urged to take their seats in an arranged number, and everyone did. Just like them, a few staff and professors came with their significant others, others came with their children, and some others came alone. And so, as much as the discussion went on, it was not filled with language kids didn’t understand. It was fun-filled, and each staff member got to share their struggle with the university, while others shared both home and university.
Ms. Raymond asked if she had anything to say, but she told her she didn’t. There was nothing to say, actually. No complaints, not really.
She took notice of Davine from the third table to the left and caught his gaze on her a few times, and she didn’t feel comfortable about it. She always felt uncomfortable with him, and it had to mean something. Her discomfort didn’t come because she thought he was evil-far from it-but because she felt he knew some things he shouldn’t.
He reminded her of Daniel, and that was what she didn’t want. He has made a few friends around the university and even shared his experience. At his table now, he sat with a few staffs-two of the new ones.
“You’re not here.” She heard Aaron’s voice, and she snapped out of her thoughts and glanced up at him.
“You’re not here.” He repeated it and squeezed her shoulder, which he had his arm around.
She sighed, “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. What’s wrong?” He asked with concern.
“That’s Davine Yates,” she answered, and his eyes travelled to the third table to his left immediately.
How he knew where to look surprised her. But then again, they were connected, which meant he would probably know.
“He looks like he couldn’t harm a fly.” Aaron said this and glanced down at her.
Perhaps he couldn’t, but they would never know that. Davine had the most calm and harmless expression and those around him seem to be at ease-that was the opposite of how she felt around him. “For all our sakes, I hope that’s true.”