43. Week One
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
week one
IMOGEN
“The application’s good, darlin. It’s clear and concise, and you’ve got a solid framework.”
“You really think so? Every time I re-read it I keep thinking it’s getting shittier.”
Roman decided pretty quickly that it probably wasn’t a good idea for us to go out in public, especially since he’s still waiting on his disciplinary hearing, so we’ve been Facetiming a lot lately to make up for it.
“Trust me, I’d tell you if it was,” he chuckles. “So when’s it due?”
“Next week. I’m so nervous.”
“Don’t be,” He reassures me. “You’re brilliant, and so is your work. Any school would be lucky to have you.”
The wild thing is even the slightly distorted sound of his voice through my headphones turned out to be a much bigger comfort than I expected.
I roll onto my side, staring at him through the screen. He’s nestled in bed, his hair and his beard grown out a bit longer than usual, giving him a bit of an unkempt look. But more than that, he looks tired.
God, I’m sure we both do.
I miss seeing him every day, and I wish we could just go back to the way things were. It all seemed so much simpler back then, even while we were keeping our big secret.
“So, how are you holding up? Have you heard anything about the hearing?”
“No, but these things are slow,” he sighs. “They’ll probably wait until the holidays are done to rake my ass over the coals.”
I’ve been a mess lately, staying in my pajamas and carrying my laptop with me everywhere around the house, like a security blanket. I hate waiting, but I feel like I can’t start working on other parts of my life when this one is still in fucking shambles.
“It’ll be okay, I promise. You’ll get into another school, I’ll get through my hearing, and we’ll start fresh from there.”
His smile is hopeful, but some of that usual twinkle in his eye is gone. I can tell he’s trying to be strong, but what if things don’t work out?
What happens then?