Chapter 9

Lista Playlist: The Only Exception - Paramore

It’s Saturday. I’m thankful to be at work, occupied, so that I have little time to actually think about what happened yesterday at the faculty social. I left Quins late last night and practically collapsed onto my bed. Being in Quins arms made me feel like I’d found my safe place, but I’m trying not to think about it too much. He is my lecturer after all and he’s so quick to make sure personal relationships stay away from campus. It still doesn’t stop me wanting to be around him all the time though. I’m just finishing off the last few bits at my part-time job. I’ve been helping fix some machinery and perform maintenance tasks. It’s been a rather sweaty day so far and I’ve been pretty hands on since I’m one of the only engineers on site today. It’s kept my mind from spiralling though, so all is good.

I clock off at 1pm thankfully. I know what you’re thinking. Lucky you, finishing at 1pm. Give me a break.

It’s Saturday and I’ve been at work since 5am. After everything that happened yesterday. I’m mentally and physically exhausted, and I still have to work through a long ass session with Quin this afternoon. I open my phone to message Quin and see a text update about a parcel being delivered.

Parcel Delivery: Miss Harper, your order is running late. It will now be delivered between 4pm and 7pm.

Fuck. Sake.

It’s always the case, isn’t it?

Lista: Hey Quin, I’m clocking off at 1pm from work. I’m really sorry but I’ve just had a message about a parcel being delayed. It’s now expected between 4pm and 7pm so I can’t leave the house. By the time I get home from work it’ll be about 1.45pm and I’d have to get ready. I’ll end up being at Cosy Corner about 3pm, which means we’d have an hour to work, so do you want to cancel? I’m so sorry! This is not like me at all.

It takes about one minute for his response.

Quin: Let’s do the session at yours if you’re comfortable with me coming over. I can drive to you in 10 minutes, so any time suits me when you’ve gotten home and wound down a bit. If not, just say, but I’m more than happy to continue with the session. The location is irrelevant ?

Quin Russell. In my home. What a dangerous scenario. Especially after last night. I can still feel the bliss my body experienced when I was wrapped in his arms.

I agree to it anyway .

Lista: As long as you’re ok with it, so am I. Would you be ok to come over at around 4/4.15pm. Just so I can make myself less smelly and more presentable. I’ve been working since 5am and it is horribly obvious by my appearance ?

Quin: Send me your address and I’ll see you later ?

He arrives at 4.15pm. I’ve had enough time to shower thankfully, otherwise I would have personally offended his nostrils with the scent of my body. No one wants that. I now smell like strawberry and vanilla, thanks to my lush perfume. I’m nervous about having Quin in my home. This is where I sleep, shower, wee, cry, pass wind… and it feels overwhelming. I’m scared that my professionalism may dwindle in the comforts of my home. Also, it just occurred to me that it’s Saturday night. The majority of work sessions are on the weekend. Does Quin also not have anything better to do? I guess it does make me feel slightly better about my lack of weekend life.

He's wearing a casual cream shirt with the top two buttons undone. His sleeves are rolled up, revealing his ink kissed skin. His casual jeans are tucked into doc martens. Omg. How is he insanely intelligent, kind, handsome and fucking stylish. This man. He comes in and takes his shoes off. Gentlemanly. He’s so big compared to my doorframe. Why am I picturing him picking me up and pushing me against it. I really do need to stop. This is the kind of thing I was talking about! A dangerous mindset whilst in my own personal space.

“Welcome to my home. I’m sorry to have changed plans so late. This stupid package. Thanks for giving me some time to make myself less… ew”. His jaw tightens and he seems to hold his breath for a few seconds.

“It’s no problem having our session here. If anything, there’ll just be less distractions”. He says. Yeah sure. Less distractions. Other than the fact that a fucking gorgeous man is in my house.

“I’d image it’s quieter than the coffee shop, and plus we can be as loud as we want –.” he says but immediately realises how it sounds…we both stand with our eyes wide.

Luckily that’s when itty bitty kitty Edith comes walking in. She’s finished crunching on her cat treats and now she’s interested in seeing who our guest is. Our very handsome, well dressed, smoky scented, lusciously low-voiced guest. I’m grateful for her waltzing in and saving that…moment.

He bends down and she headbutts his hands.

“Well, hello there. It’s good to meet you. I’d image you’re the boss of the house” he says to Edith whilst glancing up at me with a smile and raised eyebrows whilst running his hand gently over her shiny coat.

“I should’ve warned you that I have a cat before you came over, in case you were deadly allergic, but I’m assuming you’re not, right?”.

He laughs. “Well, I have a cat, so if I were, I’d be fucked”. I feel my body shiver when he swears in his deep, smooth, delicious voice.

“Awhh, I didn’t become acquainted with them yesterday. Maybe next time” I say and again, feel awkward. Why would I ever need to go to Quins house again. “Well, meet Edith. My home bestie”.

“Edith it’s good to meet you. I wonder if you’re named after a certain famous female engineer” he says as he looks up at me.

“You are most certainly right” I say, as my ovaries are clearly having a moment to themselves to celebrate the proximity of such a fucking delightful gentleman who knows about female engineers.

“Oh, and you can definitely meet Edison next time you come over” he says, before standing to his full height and waiting for me to lead the way.

I pull a knowing face at him as he emphasized the word Edison. He’s also named him cat after an engineer. Where is this man from? And why did I get so lucky to meet him? We work in my living room on the sofa for a while, using my nest tables to work on. Eventually we give in and sit on the floor so we’re closer to the table. Saving our backs and necks in the long run. It’s actually been very productive so far. I thought it’d be weird, but it’s nice. My doorbell goes off, pulling us out of deep thought. I jog to the door and start bringing in the parcels. Quin appears and starts helping me.

“Don’t worry Quin, I can manage” I say through strained breathing as I carry the first parcel.

“I know you can manage, but it’ll be quicker if I help”.

Once we’ve brought them all in, I head to refill the drinks. Making good use of the time I can stretch my legs after being cross legged on the floor for an hour. My leg started to cramp so the relief is wonderful.

“Need any help” Quin says from behind me.

“I was just going to grab us both another drink. Anything in particular you’d like?”.

“Hmm” he think’s dramatically, rubbing his chin. “What do you stock in this fine establishment?” he ends up saying.

I laugh. “Well, I have a coffee machine. I make a delicious hot chocolate. I have herbal tea, regular tea, soft drinks, juice, squash, filter water or something stronger. Is that a good enough list sir?”. Well, calling him sir was a weird call. Considering he’s technically my tutor.

“What are you having on this fine Saturday evening?” he asks me.

“Well, I wasn’t going to drink anything alcoholic due to working, but it should be ok to have one. It is Saturday after all. Care to join me?” I say.

He winks. “Sounds good”.

It's been another hour since we sat down to start working again. We’ve managed everything from the list we set ourselves, so start to wind down and put things away. Quin asked me a few questions about my prosthetic and his interests made me feel so much more settled. He even asked if I needed to remove it to give my residual leg a rest. As much as I’d love to, it makes getting around the house harder and I’d rather not have to use my crutches. Plus I removed it earlier after work and had a good few hours of relief. The sentiment was lovely, as usually people would prefer that I keep my prosthetic on.

It just makes me like Quin even more.

“What are those parcels by the way? When you said waiting in for a parcel, that was not what I had in mind?”.

“Oh, it’s two separate chests of drawers. I chose to avoid the extortionate amount for someone else to make it for me, so I’m putting it together myself. And yeah, they’re fairly large parcels. Hence why I needed to be in for them to be delivered” I say rolling my eyes.

“Building furniture is great. I loved putting it all up when I moved into my house”.

“Feel free to help” I say jokingly.

“I’d be happy to. Let’s do it. We’re finished with our session, so I’m happy to stay and help. I’m just glad your place doesn’t have stairs. Saves a lot of hassle having to drag them up”. He says, deadly serious. The perks of living in a ground floor flat.

“ Tonight? I mean, I’m super impatient with things like this so I was planning on doing it when we’d finished work, but I don’t want to make my problem, yours. Plus, we haven’t eaten. This is going to take a few hours. And Quin, you could do more damage to your ribs and hand”.

“Like I said, I love doing this stuff. I have nothing better to do. And we could just order food. Or I’m happy to grab something when I get home” he says with no hesitation at all. Also avoiding my nudge about his broken and bruised ribs. He actually wants to stay and put up with me for longer. He’s a saint. Or does he just feel bad again?

“I never say no to takeout, but only if you’re sure that you’re ok staying, and if you’re sure you’ll be ok. I know you like to keep work and personal life separate, so I don't want you to feel uncomfortable being around me for anything other than work”.

“Lista, if this is about what those students said, please don’t worry. I’m happy to be around you. More than happy. On campus, we’re professional. Outside, we’re… us. And it’s no one’s business but our own. My ribs will hold up. I’m not exactly engaging in a full body workout” I blush “Plus, right now I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else”.