6|Dead Romance
I blinked as I watched him hold his credit card out to the cashier.
When she took it, he immediately looked down at me. "What?"
"How did you-" I shook my head. "When did you..."
He raised his eyebrow, trying to figure out what I was trying to say.
"You don't need to do this for me," I told him as I pulled out my credit card.
"I'm not," he said coldly as he faced the cashier again. "My legal team is watching. I'm doing this for them, not you."
"Wow, and here I thought you were trying to be romantic," I tried to speak softly to myself, but it came out louder than expected.
"You know I was never much of a romantic," he reminded me as he took his card back.
"Yeah, it definitely wasn't your way with words or romantic dates which made me fall for you," I said and he smiled a little before looking at me.
"Then what was it?"
...
Nathaniel looked exhausted.
His tie was loose, sleeves rolled up, and his usual sharp confidence was blunted.
I had my books open in front of me, pretending to struggle through an analysis I'd nailed three days ago.
"Okay, walk me through this part again?" I asked, circling a section I had already memorized.
He squinted at me. "Naomi, you literally answered this question better than I did on my midterm."
I shrugged innocently. "Just one more time."
An amused expression appeared on his face before he started to pack up. "You'll be fine. What you need to do is sleep."
"No, wait," I said rushing to find something I didn't understand.
"I have to go, Naomi," he said, avoiding my gaze now. "My parents set me up on this...thing."
I paused before slowly looking at him. "What kind of thing?"
He finally glanced at me.
"A date," he answered. "Some girl from their country club seems like 'my type'. Whatever that means."
I didn't say anything at first.
I just sat there, staring at the textbooks.
"That's...cool," I finally said, but it came out wrong.
He raised his eyebrow. "You okay?"
I nodded. "Yeah, just tired. Maybe I do need to get some sleep."
But the truth was, I didn't like the sound of someone else sitting across from him at dinner, making him laugh.
Watching him loosen his tie the same way he did when he was frustrated but trying not to show it.
He gave me a small smile. "Don't worry, you'll be the first paper I mark. I'll make sure of it."
I clenched my jaw as he packed up his bag.
Why I even his type?
Did he like girls like me?
I soon felt something being wrapped around my shoulders.
"Take my jacket," he said. "Knowing you, you probably forgot yours."
My heart started beating faster as the scent of his cologne evaded my nostrils.
I totally forgot about a jacket because I was in such a rush to come see him.
"Go home, Naomi," he warned before rushing off to his stupid date.
I'd spent all semester pretending I just needed help with coursework.
But the flutter in my stomach and the anger I felt when he talked about another girl?
That told me everything I needed to know.
I didn't want his notes.
I wanted him.
...
"You were marking my papers, so I figured I should get on your good side," I made some dumb excuse.
He scoffed. "Oh, really?"
"Yeah, really," I confidently said.
"Weren't you crying on my doorstep the night before your midterm, ranting about how you were in love me and didn't know what to do?" He asked his eyebrow and a nerve of embarrassment passed over me.
"No, I don't recall," I lied.
He slowly nodded. "Sure."
The cashier handed me my bagel and we fell into our usual awkwardness.
"Well, I'll see you at home," he said as he scratched his head.
I nodded. "See you at home."
I began to make my way to my car before someone held me back.
I had hoped to see Nate when I turned around, but I was even more surprised when I saw it was his assistant.
"Can I help you?" I asked her.
"Yes," she nodded. "Come and sit with us."
Nate soon appeared with a glare on his face. "Jessica, I said no."
She ignored him and looked at me.
"Please, we barely know anything about you," she begged. "We didn't even know who his wife was until we found out that you two lost your..."
I felt a pain in my chest when she didn't finish the sentence.
"I'm sorry for bringing that up," she frowned.
"Naomi's busy, let's go," he said, ready to turn away.
I remembered how much he hated spending time with me, so I smiled.
"Actually, I'm pretty free," I said and his jaw ticked.
"Well, we're working on a case, one not meant for your ears," he argued.
"It's okay, we'll finish it later," his assistant said before motioning for me to follow her.
Before I could take a step forward, he grabbed me. "What the hell are you doing?"
I smiled. "Eating lunch with my husband and his coworkers."
"We made a deal, Naomi."
I pulled away my hand from his.
"We also made a deal to love each other forever and that didn't work," I told him. "Deals don't mean shit."
He glared at me before I ignored him and followed his assistant.
When we got to the table, there was another man.
"Naomi, this is Ted," she introduced. "Ted, this is Naomi."
"Nice to meet you," I said as we shook hands.
"I wish I could say the same," he said. "But I've only heard bad things about you."
I slowly turned to Nate, feeling a bit hurt that he would go so far with his hatred towards me.
Talking shit about your wife to your coworkers? Really?
He kept his gaze away as he sat down beside me.
"Not from your husband, of course," Ted quickly added. "It's the DA's office. They hate you over there for always winning against them."
Well, that's a relief.
I smiled. "Not my fault they're shit at their jobs."
Nate rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Is there a problem, my love?" I asked as I raised my eyebrow.
He kept quiet a for few seconds before he exploded.
"They're not shit at their jobs," he angrily said. "You corporates just use dirty tactics."
I rolled my eyes knowing where this conversation was going to go.
There's always been conflict between us because of our different views.
He strongly believes in the system; whereas, I believe in the people the system fails.
"That's not true," I told you. "You just can't stand the fact that the minority wins with us."
His jaw tightened. "That's not what this is about and you know it."
"Isn't it?" I asked. "You're mad that I put my faith in whatever it takes to win."
"You defend murders and serial killers, Naomi," he snapped. "Stop making it sound like I'm your enemy. I just want you to do the right thing for once."
"Sometimes it feels like you're the enemy," I said without remorse and the space around us went quiet.
He immediately started packing his things.
"I'm not doing this," was all he said before angrily walking away.
"Asshole," I said under my breath before I looked up to see Ted and Jessica watching me awkwardly.