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Post by Breanna Woodard on May 25, 2016 0:14:53 GMT -5
At least he didn’t seem to mind the small interlude to their flirtatious tour. Bre was happy that he seemed to be as eager as she was to set everything right back on track. It made a big difference, feeling like she didn’t need to worry about him not understanding that she had responsibilities that occasionally had to take priority over a date. Some men really didn’t seem to understand that. Wait… this wasn’t a date, was it? Maybe it was. Ehh, who cared? She was having fun, and that was all that mattered. She couldn’t let anything get more serious than that.
Shen offered the information that his car was close by, which she interpreted to mean that he was willing to drive them both to the cafe. “Okay, sounds great.” Bre followed him to the parking lot and hopped into the passenger side once the vehicle was unlocked. She didn’t mind that his car wasn’t super expensive or anything like that. It got him where he needed to go. Even she didn’t drive a car that showed off her income. What intrigued her about Shen was the fact that he was her age and already a highly respected, tenured professor. He might not make nearly as much money as she did, but he was equally successful in his chosen field, so they actually had a lot of common ground.
“Looks like we made it just in time…” she said, noticing that the rain had just started to fall. It wasn’t heavy, but it would have made touring the campus more uncomfortable. Just getting from building to building without an umbrella would have made sure her clothes didn’t stay dry. At least she knew that Shen would be giving her a ride back directly to her car, so that was a good thing. “So, do you go to this cafe a lot?” she asked, wondering if it was one of his regular haunts. If so, it could maybe even be considered part of the tour.
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Post by Apparition on Sept 1, 2016 18:35:55 GMT -5
"Hiya, professor," one of the waiters said in passing as the two entered the building. "I…no, what would give you that idea?" Shen answered her question with a witty grin. "Actually, I come here a lot to sit in silence and grade papers. The atmosphere is soothing." He led her to a corner table and pulled out her chair for her. The waiter came up to them shortly after they'd both sat down. "Same as usual, prof?" he asked.
"I think I'm trying something different this time, Elliot," Shen answered. "Well having a date is certainly different," the kid smirked and headed off to give them time to look over the menu. "Smart ass," Shen called after him. He turned back to Breanna, his cheeks flushing a bit with embarrassment. "I'm sorry about that." Elliot knew the professor well. This was really Shen's only regular haunt. He didn't go out often, and he never went out with a date. As he'd explained, he just didn't have the time for that. As Breanna also didn't have that kind of time, he really felt a kindred spirit in her.
"Wow. It's really coming down out there now," he observed, as the rain had just begun to fall harder. He was glad that he'd remembered to roll with windows up. "So you see anything that catches your eye?" he asked about the menu. As much as he had intended to get something different, he was going to go for the chicken finger basket that he got whenever he came here. No doubt Elliot already knew that. Smart ass kid….
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Post by Breanna Woodard on Sept 17, 2016 18:02:39 GMT -5
“I can see that. It’s a nice place…” Bre didn’t remember this cafe being there when she was attending this university. There had been several other places she’d called haunts back then, but this hadn’t been one of them. Just a couple of bars and a couple of other restaurants. “Do you know if the Italian restaurant Bertucci’s is still down the street? God I loved that place.” She was surprised she hadn’t gained a bunch of weight with as often as she’d gone there back in the day. And how much pasta she’d eaten. Cheap and de-licious. Music to any poor college student’s ears. But it had been a pretty small place back in the day, tucked away in a corner so not a lot of people knew about it. Bre had mostly kept the place to herself for fear of it getting too crowded.
She laughed at the cashier’s smartass remark. It certainly seemed to support what he’d told her about being too busy to be in a relationship, but damn it was still so hard to believe. “What is it that you’re sorry about? Do you think I’m embarrassed by the idea that someone would think we were on a date?” He seemed to be a little shy and easily flustered, but he was still highly intelligent, funny, and gorgeous. How had he even gotten out of college without some lucky girl catching him? They had to be kicking themselves now for missing out.
He asked her if she’d found anything tempting on the menu, and she smiled. “I judge every place like this by their grilled cheese sandwiches and onion rings.” Some called this little habit of hers childish, but she had a real weakness for melted cheese. Especially in combination with some tomato soup during winter time. Mmm comfort food. “So what about you? What’s ‘the usual’ for Professor Igawa?”
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Post by Apparition on Feb 14, 2017 17:31:38 GMT -5
"It is," Shen answered. He loved this place. It was a newer establishment, only a couple years old. He figured that it would decline with time, like most did, but he hoped against that. "Bertucci's? It is just down the street a ways. The owner passed about a year back, but his daughter has taken over the family business. It's a slightly different atmosphere from before, but the food's just as good as it ever was." He cracked a sly grin. "If you think you can pry yourself away from the phone, I think I might like to take you there tonight," he teased. He immediately looked away, obviously a bit embarrassed by how forward he'd just been. It wasn't intentional, but when a woman this beautiful was in front of you, there was no other thing to do than flirt a little. Well, there were other things.....stop it! Bad Shen!
He laughed at her comment. "I don't know, it has been a long while. I'll be honest, I'm a little flustered myself. You're easily the prettiest lady I've ever seen." He looked over the menu, pausing just long enough that he heard what she said about grilled chesse sandwiches and onion rings. He cracked a big smile. "Well you're gonna love it here," he remarked. The grilled cheese was great, and the onion rings were to die for. "Well, my usual is the BLT, with extra bacon. I'm a, uhm, bacon-aholic I've been told. And I get the onion rings. I think I'm going to try the grilled chicken sandwich this time," he said with a nod.
Something clattered to the floor beside them. The student had come back, and had a stunned expression on his face that turned into a chuckle, almost a giggle. "And here I was about to write Mr. BLT Man on the ticket," he laughed. Shen shook his head. "I'll let the lady order first," he said to the kid. Elliot laughed and looked to Breanna. "Start with drinks?" he asked, and took her order, then Shen's. "I'll have it all out shortly. And a BLT to go, Prof." Shen gave a slightly embarrassed look before giving Elliot a thumbs up.
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Post by Breanna Woodard on Feb 25, 2017 20:12:00 GMT -5
Well, that flash of boldness was a surprise. And a bit of a turn on, if Breanna was going to be perfectly honest with herself. “A second date so soon after the first?” Some women might find that clingy, but not Breanna. What was it about Shen that drew her in so much? Maybe it was the fact that she was so used to pursuing men, so having this man be so obviously interested in her was refreshing. Maybe it was the fact that he really was the whole package: intelligent, handsome, charismatic… But she’d met other men in her time that didn’t appeal to her in this way. It must be some kind of anomaly, then, some mysterious IT factor that no other man possessed. “Alright, you’re on. If you promise to be good I might even leave my phone at home.” Well, not home exactly, but the flat that Solomon Inc was paying for her to stay in while she was here in town.
Ooh, that was an ugly reminder. She was in Sapphire City, not home in Mooncrest. There was no telling when Marc would decide that his business here in town was completed and it was time to go back home. So flirting and even dating was alright, she just couldn’t let herself get too attached. Until now, she hadn’t expected that to be a problem for her. There was no way to prepare herself for a man like Shen.
Breanna laughed at his admission of his undying devotion to bacon. She liked the stuff too, of course, but not so much that she would ever be known as the Bacon Lady or anything like that. “Well if you want to live long enough to enjoy that tenure of yours, you might want to restrain yourself from putting bacon on EVERYTHING. Not that I would ever be one to stand in the way of true love.” She actually thought it was cute that the student was shocked to hear that he was going to order something other than bacon. Bre ordered the food she’d already planned, along with a cup of coffee to warm up. She’d probably need another one once she got back to her flat with the way that rain was coming down outside. “Wow, it’s really pouring outside. I don’t remember seeing this on the forecast this morning.” If it didn’t let up, that was going to limit her wardrobe choices for their dinner date tonight.
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Post by Apparition on Aug 31, 2017 16:23:58 GMT -5
"Yeah, I uhm, kinda surprised myself a bit with that too, if i'm being totally honest," Shen said with a sheepish grin. It had never been his style to just throw out such a proposition. Could he really call it style, though? It was more like a bit of a lack of smoothness with the ladies. In this particular case though, he didn't seem himself. He smiled at her reaction. How was it that a woman this beautiful was interested in a second date? Wait, was it really a date? Wow, Shen thought to himself. He hadn't exactly intended that, but he wasn't going to deny that it did interest him to call it that. "If I promise to be good? Well I'm always good," he said with a wicked grin. In the distance, from the area where Elliot was, the young man coughed, covering up his yell of "Bullshit!" Shen shot the young man a look.
"It must be difficult moving around like you do for your job," he said flatly. How could she live like that? Well, he figured the undoubtedly massive paychecks helped out with that a lot. But he also knew from experience that money didn't cure everything, and loneliness was the last thing that it could cure. Oh, sure, you could easily buy companionship, but that wasn't lasting. There was also the difference in safety between Sapphire and Mooncrest. Sure, Sapphire had flying men and superpowered weirdos running around, which reminded him suddenly that he was one of those superpowered weirdos, but Mooncrest was more dangerous that dangerous should ever possibly be. For that, he knew that Breanna had to be one tough cookie. That was completely and totally respectable.
Shen blushed a bit when she mentioned bacon and true love. There was no doubt, and how pathetic was it, that bacon probably was just that to him. "Can't help it," he shrugged. "I'd rather be happy for a short time than long lived and miserable. No bacon equals not happy Shen," he said with a smile. He took a sip from his drink and looked outside. "Yeah, it really is, isn't it. We don't often get this kind of weather. I really hope there's no supervillain plot about to go down." That would put a damper on things. He looked away for a moment, thinking that if this was going to go anywhere, into a serious relationship or something to that extent, then he would have to tell her about his powers. That wasn't a conversation he was ready for. But somehow, this woman seemed to him that she'd be worth it 100%.
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Post by Breanna Woodard on Nov 5, 2017 20:05:09 GMT -5
Well, he didn’t need to be good ALL the time. Just in this one particular instance. In fact, Bre found herself curious about what he’d be like if he really let his inhibitions go for a while. The brief flashes of boldness she’d already seen only made her want to see more. It was rare for her to want to encourage less cautious behavior, but it had been a long time since a man had intrigued her this way. It made her want to see all aspects of his personality, not just the side that everyone got to see. That was probably why she smirked when she heard the waiter call bullshit on Shen’s statement. Looks like she wouldn’t have to worry about him being totally straight-laced if even their server knew better. “You and Elliot spend much time hanging out when he’s not serving you bacon?” If he was too busy for a relationship, she doubted he spent much time socializing with students. Then again, how would Elliot know that what he’d said was bullshit unless he’d seen the professor exhibit naughty behavior. Could just be a joke, she guessed. The two of them did seem to like giving each other a hard time.
Was it difficult for her to move around for work? Hmm… she had to admit she’d never really given it much thought. “Honestly, it’s not so bad. This is the first time Marc has taken an extended trip like this. Usually I’m not away from home for more than a week. Plus, it’s not like I’ve got someone waiting for me at home, so it’s not so bad.” It did tend to make things difficult on those rare occasions when she actually was in a relationship. Her long hours did that anyway, though, so it wasn’t like it was the travel alone that caused the difficulty. Most men couldn’t understand their girlfriend running off at 2am because her boss needed something. It was easy to understand why they might get jealous, or suspect her of cheating, but that was the way it was for her. Any man who couldn’t understand that was not going to have a place in her life long-term.
“Well, we wouldn’t want that now would we?” she said with a laugh. “Please tell me you don’t drink that awful bacon-flavored alcohol though…” She distinctly remembered someone bringing that flavor of vodka to a party one time. Just the smell of it alone had left her feeling a little queasy. She figured that she could even take him combining it with sweets like ice cream, but the artificial flavoring was where she drew the line personally. Not that he had to agree with her on everything. Bre actually found that she enjoyed a good debate when arguing with someone who really knew what they were talking about. But… bacon flavored vodka? Please god no...
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Post by Apparition on Apr 7, 2018 21:00:13 GMT -5
There were times when Shen actually did cut loose a bit, though they were few and far between. What Elliot had been alluding to was the one time that he'd seen the professor out at a strip club. The two had joined up to just hang out and watch the dancers, enjoying a good night of booze and boobs. Some of Shen's comments had been a little inappropriate, or would have been had they actually been in a professional setting. But Shen was drunk at the time, and had just been through a very trying day at work. So best behavior wasn't really a thing that Elliot would believe at all. "I wouldn't say a lot of time," Shen answered. "He helps me out sometimes after class. He's a good kid, when he's not being a little shit." He finished the statement just loud enough for the kid to hear it, and they'd both hear the chuckle coming from the student.
"Well, as long as you enjoy it, right?" he responded when she said moving around wasn't so bad. He couldn't believe that there wasn't someone waiting at home for her. She must have men just lining up to be with her. That, or she just didn't know that she did. Either way, Shen knew that he'd be the envy of any man that walked into this little place now. "I can't really say that I understand how business trips work, but I imagine he's probably working some long hours. I say work, but I don't really know...what exactly does a multi-millionaire do?" Sure, that question could be misconstrued as a sarcastic quip, but Shen was seriously curious about it, and he figured that she would get that. "I'm guessing you put in equally long hours too. It must be tiring sometimes."
He chuckled at her response. "Oh, God, no," he answered. "bacon flavored alcohol, no." He'd heard about it before, but it never occurred to him to try it, not that he was a heavy drinker anyway. The thought of it turned him off completely, but the smell of the bacon coming from the kitchen fixed that. "Oh yes," he said with a smile. "Didn't spit in it, did you?" he asked with a smile. "You'll just have to find out, prof. Don't screw with the people that handle your food, right?" he teased back. "I've still got to grade your mid term, buddy. Don't forget that." Elliot laughed and looked over to Breanna. "Do you need a refill of your drink? I'm not refilling his," he teased with a thumb pointed at the professor.
"Little bastard," Shen shot back with a laugh.
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Post by Breanna Woodard on Apr 16, 2018 1:03:49 GMT -5
Bre definitely had the feeling there was something Professor Igawa was leaving out of this story, but she let it slide for now. If he wasn’t telling her, she had to assume there was a reason for it. If he really was trying to get a second date out of her, that meant it was probably a pretty embarrassing story that he might be afraid of her looking down on him for. Or she could be totally off-base. He’d just seemed to be a pretty open book so far, so if there were details he was leaving out it just made her all the more curious. Oh well. Maybe she’d find out eventually. Maybe she wouldn’t. It wasn’t really any of her business anyway. “I guess he’s not too worried about getting a tip from you then, if he’s comfortable enough to try to make you look bad when you bring a lady into this fine dining establishment.” She chuckled. The banter between professor and student only made her like both of them more.
“Definitely. Marc has been great to me over the last few years. He’s a good boss.” She took another sip of coffee and managed to get it down before he made her laugh again. “It’s a common question, to be honest. A position like Marc’s means a lot of meetings. With the board and other executives, with the VPs to go over process improvements, with vendors to negotiate prices, with big-name clients when the sales team isn’t enough. My job is basically to help him keep track of everything. He’s got his fingers in a little bit of everything related to the company. Right now, the Sapphire branch’s numbers had been trending downward so he decided some quality face-time would be a good idea. You know, spend a little time out here and get to know the team. It can be a really good morale booster when the employees feel like their CEO actually gives a shit…” Then once the numbers started going back up, they would probably return to Mooncrest. If Marc’s other business here was completed, of course. “Sorry, too much work talk.”
Luckily, Elliot’s offer of a refill came quickly after. Bre was grateful. “Yeah, more coffee would be great, thanks.” Hopefully Shen hadn’t been turned off by how much she talked about work. He’d asked, after all. But the truth was it wouldn’t be the first time. The number of guys who couldn’t handle her long hours, or thought she and Marc had something going on. If she had a dollar for every time one of those situations occurred, she’d be as rich as her boss. Shen didn’t seem like the type to misunderstand the situation like that, though. Hopefully she was right about him.
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Post by Apparition on Jun 14, 2018 13:36:54 GMT -5
Shen would eventually tell her everything...maybe. But for now they were just talking, having a good conversation, and enjoying each other's company. That was all that mattered to him. He was out of practice when it came to dating, so this was both terrifying and exciting for him. Didn't hurt that he had one gorgeous woman across from him. She surely was something else. Talking about Elliot again, Shen could only laugh. "No, he's not. He's a good waiter most of the time. He's just showing out a little bit more than normal. Trying to embarrass me." "That's because I know you like her," Elliot shot back loudly. Shen's palm quickly slapped his own face and ran down it a bit. "Sorry," he apologized.
He listened intently about her work. If they were indeed going to get any closer, it was surely something he'd have to know about, and listen to at times as well. A guy could hope, right? Hearing her talk about it though gave him the clarity of just how much she did enjoy her work. And just how much she knew about it as well. Not only was she devoted, but she was damn good at what she did too. Marc had surely struck gold with her. "That sounds like a lot." Then she spoke of how the employees morale would boost with the CEO showing up. That made sense to him partially. In truth, no one really ever wanted to see their boss. Maybe it was different with the higher ups though. Shen had to admit that he wouldn't have minded meeting those who really funded the school. That would be a story for another time, for sure. "No, not at all. I enjoy hearing you talk about it," he answered when she apologized. "It's good to see someone so devoted to something. I'm glad you enjoy your work."
"Oh, I'm gonna bleed all over your midterm, kid," Shen said with a wink. Bleed all over it was a term he used because he always used a red pen to grade papers. Elliot laughed. "Not worried," he said after filling her coffee. Shen shook his head. "So I hope you don't have too early of a morning tomorrow. I don't want to be keeping you too long. But I really am enjoying your company. I....," he started to say something else when they'd both hear a shout from the back.
"He likes you!"
Dammit, Elliot..... Shen's palm slapped his own face again.
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Post by Breanna Woodard on Jul 21, 2018 12:22:33 GMT -5
Breanna remained quiet for a while as she watched the interaction between Shen and their waiter. The more Elliot teased, the more obviously embarrassed her date became. It was cute, but also unnecessary. She figured that she’d already made her interest in him pretty well-known. Maybe she hadn’t been clear enough, though. Some men could be truly dense. Or maybe there was another reason Shen was so uncomfortable with the situation. She was no mind reader unfortunately, so she had no idea what he was thinking.
It was the second time in only a few minutes that it happened when Bre became a little concerned. She tilted her head slightly to the side. “Are you that embarrassed by the idea of me knowing that you like me?” It had happened twice now, and each time he’d slapped his own face like he was ashamed of it. Did he not want to be attracted to her? Hmm. That wasn’t a good sign. It was also possible that his discomfort was caused by the fact that Elliot knew he liked her, but even then she didn’t really see a problem. She was the kind of person who didn’t believe in tiptoe-ing around an issue if she saw one coming. If there was something wrong or he preferred not to be very open about this kind of thing, it was important for her to know that. She wasn’t the kind of person who wasted time with anything she didn’t have to. Not that she thought spending time with Shen was a waste, he was just sending out some very strange and mixed signals for the last few minutes.
It was tough for Bre to admit because she found him incredibly alluring, but maybe it would be better for her to keep him more at arms’ length. When she’d only known him for a couple of hours, but had to keep reminding herself that she was only here temporarily, she knew the potential was there for something major. Maybe she was overreacting, but when it started to feel like she was a guest on the Elliot and Shen show… well, in a way that is exactly what she was. It was all she could be, considering the circumstances. Not an upsetting thought, just a sobering one. In the end, she just didn’t really belong here. Luckily, he seemed to have given her an out already prior to Elliot’s latest shout. “Yeah, I’ve had a really great time too. I probably should head back to my flat soon, though. Make sure nothing has burned down at work since I’ve been gone most of the day.”
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Post by Apparition on Aug 18, 2018 11:00:44 GMT -5
"No, no, not at all!" Shen said quickly, noting that there was a bit of a hesitation in himself. The facepalms weren't out of embarrassement so much as just someone pointing out something obvious. He was starting to think that the location was a mistake, but in all honesty, at least she knew he liked her. So it was still a win as far as he was concerned. "I'm not embarrassed by it. I honestly just wanted to be able to tell you that myself instead of someone doing it for me. I'm sorry if that's how is seems." How incredibly sorry he really was. If he ever had time to date he'd probably be better at this. But he'd have to re-learn it as they went along. So long as she'd still date him.
All that said, he was having a good time, and he really hoped that she was at least marginally enjoying his company. Elliot had a way of overdoing things, sometimes it was good, sometimes it wasn't. This woman was freaking perfect. He'd be a fool to just let her go. It didn't even matter to him that there would be that distance whenever her boss decided it was time to go back to Mooncrest. Hell, there were colleges there that would accept a professor of his esteem. He was getting ahead of himself though. First, he had to really start a relationship with her. And he definitely wanted that. There was no intention from Shen to show any mixed signals. He liked her, a lot. And he wanted to make sure that she knew that.
"I do really like you. I'll be frank, I already don't want to see the day come when you have to go back to Mooncrest. That's a rough city," he said, finishing by lowering his head. She had to be extremely tough to be able to live in a city like that. A cesspool, some had called it. "Hell's waiting room" it was dubbed by many. "I'm glad you've enjoyed this. I have to. Yeah, I understand," he said when she mentioned getting back to her place. He even chuckled when she said she had to make sure nothing had burned down. Billionaires and their toys.... He understood, somewhat anyway. "I can't wait to see you again."
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Post by Breanna Woodard on Sept 15, 2018 20:00:58 GMT -5
So it had all just been a misunderstanding. That did make her feel a bit better. Under the circumstances though, it would seem like Elliott was not being the world’s best wingman. He was trying to help, she figured, but was just going a little too far. He was young. He’d figure it all out and calm down eventually. Or he’d find the kind of woman who was attracted to that kind of enthusiasm. Either way, she was glad she’d been wrong about the way Shen was feeling. She didn’t want to walk away. “Well you’ve been flirting with me pretty shamelessly since we met, so I had a pretty good idea of that already. I appreciate you wanting to tell me yourself.”
If he was talking about her going back to Mooncrest already, he was planning pretty far ahead. Obviously he was a smart man, a planner if he’d been able to become a tenured professor at such an amazingly young age. He knew she was going to have to go back to where she lived, across the country, yet he was still pursuing her. Wanting to spend time with her. It was possible that he was starting to look into the potential of having her be a factor in his future plans. Very interesting. And Bre found herself equally drawn to him. If things stayed this way between them, it would be difficult for her to leave this city. “Well, Marc hasn’t mentioned any plans of going back to me yet, so I’d guess that’s pretty far off if that makes you feel better.” When it came time for them to go back, she would be the first to know. Mostly because she would be the one who would be making their travel arrangements.
He couldn’t wait to see her again, huh? Maybe he wouldn’t have to. “Well, you did sort of offer to take me to dinner earlier. If you give me a few hours to check on things, you could pick me up at… 8?” It was still the afternoon so she would be able to get a little work done and make herself a little more presentable for an actual date. After all, she was just wearing regular business clothes right now. There was no way she could have foreseen the possibility of meeting someone like him on a stupid tour of her old campus.
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Post by Apparition on Dec 15, 2018 10:44:00 GMT -5
Okay, so he hadn't made too much of a mistake now with the whole facepalming. At least she'd realized it and understood. Shen was just nervous. It wasn't often that he found himself so smitten, and so easily so. Breanna was wonderful in every way. "Flirting? Me?" he said with a smile and a chuckle. "I can't help it. You're so beautiful. And yeah, I really did want to say it myself. Elliott is a good kid, but sometimes he just takes things too far. I really wanted to say it to you. I'm not a game player, you know." Most men were like that, hated games. They were simple, not in the sense of being stupid, but in the sense that they liked things straight up and immediate. He was happy that she appreciated him wanting to tell her straight up. He shrugged. "It's just how I am."
He didn't exactly relish the idea of her going back to Mooncrest, but he knew that it was inevitable. Her job just seemed like it might get in the way a lot if they were to really get into a relationship. But somehow Shen knew that it would be worth it still. Just the thought of being with her made him a little crazy inside, in a good way of course. "Well that's good," he answered. "It does make me feel better. I'm going to hate the day you have to go back." The idea of her leaving hurt him to his core. He didn't want to see it come, but he knew it eventually would. "But I want to spend as much time as I can with you before it does come." He smiled.
"That I did," he said with a smile. "Yeah, that sounds great. I'll be there at eight." This was going to be great. He didn't really know what he would talk about with her at the dinner date, since they'd talked about their respective jobs, but he was sure something else would come up. Just let it happen. He was just happy she was okay with him taking her out again since the whole thing with Elliott doing his thing. At least the student would be there tonight.
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Post by Breanna Woodard on Jan 19, 2019 22:01:20 GMT -5
“That’s definitely a good thing. I don’t like playing games either. But I should warn you, if this is something you really want to pursue while I’m in town… I take my career very seriously, and I’m very dedicated to it. And, unfortunately, that place really needs what I have to offer. I try my best to make time for the men I date, but it means sometimes I might have to take a phone call in the middle of dinner or a movie. Or even in the middle of the night, though usually Marc is good about only crossing that line when it’s an emergency.” It scared a lot of men off, or made them angry. Especially if they somehow got it into their heads that she and Marc had a thing going on. If they only knew how wrong they were. “I do really like you so far, and I’d love to spend more time with you, but you’ll need to decide for yourself if that is something you’ll be able to live with.”
It was a risk, putting all of her cards on the table this way. More than one man she’d been attracted to had just walked away at this point. They couldn’t handle the idea that someone or something else might have a higher priority in her life. She really did try to break away for people if she really cared about them, but after being hurt more than once by this same thing she tended to have a more trial-by-fire attitude about it instead of trying to ease them into it gently. There was no point in wasting time if the men said they would be alright with her workload but then couldn’t walk the walk in a few months’ time when she had a big project or something.
“Great, then I guess we should get back to campus so I can grab my car,” she said when he agreed to dinner, remembering that they’d come together in his vehicle since he’d been parked closer. “So, how about the check, Romeo?” she joked to Elliot, who she knew was listening to their conversation. How much of it he’d heard, she wasn’t sure. He did have other tables to tend to. Still, it wasn’t long before he’d brought them the bill.
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