8. Nico
CHAPTER 8
NICO
I t was the first day of a new quarter and Nico was in his element. He’d spent most of the morning in a French literature seminar with a small class of soon-to-graduate seniors, which had reminded him why he enjoyed working with literature so much. The students had been intelligent and thoughtful in a way that their several-years-younger peers usually weren’t.
Now, he stood in front of his advanced beginner French-as-a-second-language students. The class was, as usual, mixed. There were a few college-aged students, several professionals who probably worked in the city, and a few expats who were in France for a short time with the main goal of improving their French. He launched into his introductory speech, which he knew by heart after years of teaching here.
“Bonjour,” he began. “And welcome to class. I know I have some varied levels here. Some of you feel confident speaking, while others are still relatively new to French and may need a little extra support. Don’t worry. My goal by the end of the semester is to have you all feeling confident with the basic interactions you need for life in Paris, from ordering in a restaurant to reading an email from your landlord. I’ll start off today with a review of the very basics, just to make sure we’re all on the same page.”
The door of the classroom opened, and a latecomer slipped in. Nico caught a flash of her blond hair as she turned to the back of the room, and for a split second he thought it might be Lauren. That was nonsense, of course. He’d seen women he thought were Lauren across Paris during the past couple of weeks and they had never been her.
“Let’s start with a few survival phrases. Who has an example of a phrase they use regularly?”
One man near the back raised his hand, and Nico called on him. “Yes?”
“ Merci ,” the man suggested. Nico uncapped a marker and wrote it on the whiteboard.
“Good example. Who has another?”
Nico let his gaze wander across the class for raised hands. Near the back, the latecomer had taken a seat. She raised her head, and Nico finally saw her face.
Lauren .
It really was her this time. He would recognize those sparkling blue eyes anywhere.
As soon as he recognized her, worry settled into Nico’s stomach. The look of hurt and surprise on Lauren’s pretty features only made it worse. She had every reason to be angry with him. Nico knew he’d been beyond rude when he’d walked out on her, but he’d had good intentions of taking care of his son. He needed to stand by his actions — but he also needed to apologize and clear the air.
None of that was possible right now. He was in the middle of class and he needed to push on.
“Yes, you had an example?” He pointed to another student with a raised hand.
“How about, ‘ Je voudrais …’”
“Good one.” Nico added it to the board.
“How about, ‘ Au revoir ’?” The voice was Lauren’s. Nico felt another wave of guilt and worry. She had every right to make that comment. He just nodded and wrote the phrase on the board.
For the rest of class, though, Lauren was quiet. She took notes and participated in small-group discussions, but Nico could feel her gaze on him several times. He expected her to confront him at the end of class, but when he dismissed everyone, she grabbed her bag and made a beeline for the door.
“Could I speak to you for a moment?” Nico asked before she could leave. Lauren pulled up short and turned to him, her face closed.
“Of course, professor.”
They stood in silence, facing each other, as the other students filed out. When the last one left, Nico stepped around Lauren to close the classroom door, then turned to her. Her arms were crossed over her stomach and her expression was closed.
“Lauren,” he said.
“Yes?”
“I know we have a history, and I’m sorry for how things ended. But now that we have a professional relationship, I hope we’ll be able to work together.”
Lauren opened her mouth, and Nico thought she might be about to snap at him. He wouldn’t have blamed her. But then she closed her mouth and shrugged.
“Of course. I don’t think that will be a problem.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“Well, if that’s all…” Lauren nodded to the door, and Nico gestured for her to go.
“Thank you. I’ll see you next week.”
“Yes.” Lauren turned and reached for the door handle. At the sight of her leaving, another emotion reared up in Nico. Regret.
He’d closed the door on a relationship between them out of fear that his relationship with his son had been hurt. He wanted to stand by that, but seeing Lauren again, his attraction and affection for her had risen once more. Lauren was truly special. If he let her go again, he knew he would regret it. And Louis hadn’t been harmed by an extra hour or two with his grandmother. Maybe there was a chance…
The least he owed Lauren was to come clean about why he’d left that morning without saying goodbye. Lauren deserved that much. She already despised him after what he’d done, so there was no point hiding Louis any longer. He might as well be honest. And if Lauren wanted nothing to do with him after he’d apologized, so be it.
“Lauren, wait!”
She turned back to him. Her face was still closed, but now she was biting her lower lip.
“I really am sorry for how I left things. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“It’s fine.” But Lauren crossed her arms tighter, and Nico knew it wasn’t fine. It wasn’t fine for him either.
“It’s not. I know it’s a lot to ask, but will you give me a chance to explain why I left?”
Lauren sighed. “I have a class in half an hour.”
“You do?”
“I got a job here as an assistant professor.”
“Congratulations.”
Lauren shrugged. “Thank you.”
“Well, I have a class soon, too.” Inspiration struck. “Will you come for dinner?”
“I don’t know…” Lauren rocked on her toes.
“Please. I just want to explain myself. After that, I can try to switch you to another class or anything you want.”
“Fine.” She gave a little smile. “I suppose I have to eat dinner anyway.”
Relief flooded Nico, along with a new set of worries. He was happy to get the chance to explain what had happened, but he still worried that she might not take the news of his son well. And even if she did, there was no evidence to suggest that she would want to have a real relationship with Nico. Also, he really needed to clean his home before he had a guest over. He was pretty sure that Louis’s toy dinosaurs were strewn across the living-room floor.
“Great.” Nico smiled at her. Hopefully she didn’t notice the whirl of thoughts flying through his mind. “I’ll write my address for you. And perhaps directions?”
“I can figure it out. I’ve gotten much better at navigating Paris.” Nico couldn’t tell if she was just making polite conversation or if it was meant to be a biting remark. Her expression was still neutral.
“Okay. Say seven o’clock?”
It would be shortly before Louis’s bedtime, so Lauren would be able to meet him before sitting down with Nico for dinner. Which he would need to make. Although hopefully, once Lauren met Louis, there would be much less explaining for Nico to do.
“I suppose I’ll see you then.” Lauren gave an awkward little wave, then turned and hurried to the door. Nico slumped against his desk. Overall, this interaction had gone better, if much differently, than he’d expected. Seeing Lauren again reminded him how strong their connection was and how much he would like to make things work between them.
He could only hope that, after tonight, she felt the same way.