He emits a low groan. “I have made a decision.”
“Don’t you want the full value of your purchase?” I play with one of the buttons on my sweater. “Aren’t there things you want to...do to me?”
He glares at me. “Yes, but they’re not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“You don’t understand.”
“What do I have to understand? Tell me.”
His eyes darken in a way that makes my breath stall. I want to look away but he’s searching my eyes. I don’t know what he’s looking for, but I want to convey more confidence than I feel, so I keep his gaze.
The valet returns with the car, and I don’t get my question answered.
“Where do you live?” Tony asks after we get in the car.
I give him my address out in the western side of the city, which he punches into the car’s built-in GPS. We pull away from the hotel, and I begin to resign myself that my time with Tony is coming to an end.
As we drive down Highway 280, I realize City College wouldn’t be too bad of a detour.
“Could we make a quick stop to get my textbook?” I ask. “I left it in one of my classes. The college is right off Ocean Avenue”
I point southwest, and he exits the freeway. Once we get to campus, I have him pull up to Batmale Hall at a red curb.
“I’ll be quick,” I say as I open the door. “There’s a parking lot—”
“If I get a ticket, I get a ticket,” Tony says.
I nod. Must be nice not having to worry about things like parking tickets. Just before I make it into my classroom, I bump into Tracy.
She narrows her eyes at me. “I thought you were out sick?”
“I’m feeling better today,” I respond. It’s a true statement.
“Mrs. Ruiz wasn’t too happy that you missed work yesterday.”
I can’t tell if Tracy is saying that just to antagonize me or of it’s true.
“I’ll be back at work,” I say even though it’s really none of Tracy’s business, but I just want to get my textbook and get back to Tony.
Stepping past her, I enter my classroom.
“Didn’t see you in class this morning,” Mr. Parker says as I gratefully accept my textbook from him. He tells his students we can call him Jeff, but I still think of him as Mr. Parker. Guess I’m old fashioned that way.
“I, um, had a work commitment that was hard to get out of,” I reply.
“I uploaded the class notes. You can catch up that way, and I’ll be doing extra office hours tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Mr. Parker.”
I hurry out the classroom and consider that the upside of Tony not wanting to finish out the week with me is that I get to focus on studying, which is what I’m supposed to be doing all along.
Even though Tony said he wasn’t worried about a parking ticket, I worry for him, remembering how upset Mo once got at having to shell out an extra twenty-five dollars when all he needed was another quarter to prevent his meter from running out. And tickets in the San Francisco Bay Area are higher than twenty-five dollars. But a few yards from where Tony is parked, I run into James.
“Hey, Virginia,” James calls. “You want to study for the econ test this weekend?”
I perk up at this offer. James sets the curve in class.