The Red Lounge

Chapter 20

I gingerly placed my hand on Elijah's cheek and pouted my lip. "So, I'm not going to see you until Friday?"

"Most likely. I'll try to find a time to stop by to take you out to eat or just to see you."

"Fine," I sighed. I pulled my hand away, snatched my backpack, and reached for the car handle.

Elijah grabbed my arm, stopping me from opening the door. "Morena," he whispered.

I didn't look at him and held my head down.

"Look at me, baby," he whispered.

I peeked over, my view of him being disrupted by the strands of my black hair.

"I know you're upset and I am too. I don't want to wait four days to see you, but I'm incredibly busy this week with a case. Once I'm done with it, I'm going to take some time off to spend time with you."

I brushed my hair behind my ear and faced him. "Really?" I asked in excitement.

The corner of his lip turned up. "Yes."

I cupped his face with my hands and pulled him in to give him a loving, longing kiss. "You're the best."

"I try," he said, smirking.

I looked down at my phone and realized that I only had five minutes until class started. "I need to go. Call me tonight, or something?" I got out of the car and blew him a kiss before darting to class.

I arrived to class in time and sat at my usual spot. Xavier wasn't in class yet, he was usually five minutes late. Ten minutes had passed and he still hadn't arrived.

Morena:
Hey X, are you okay?

Xavier:
Feeling under the weather.

Morena:
Omg, I hope you feel better. I can stop by the frat house and give you my notes?

Xavier:
Don't worry about it.

I furrowed my eyebrows, and placed my phone back into my jacket pocket. A part of me wanted to think that Xavier was sick, but another part thought it was an excuse to avoid me. I wasn't one to have a big ego, but I was leaning more towards the latter considering how our interactions have been lately.

The rest of the day was uneventful. I had thrown myself onto the living room couch and wrapped myself with the sherpa fleece blanket. I hadn't heard from Elijah, Xavier, or Pia.

Pia worked as an editor for a fashion and lifestyle magazine company. Her hours varied from day to day, depending on the tasks she needed to perform. Though, it was times like these where I wished she could be home. I also hadn't spent much time with her over the weekend so I was hoping to catch her up.

About 30 minutes later, Pia entered the apartment with bags of food in her hands. "I got us Thai!"

I flung out the couch and walked over to the table. "I'm starving!"

While we were seated, I helped her unpack the food and smirked when I noticed that she kept looking up at me with a 'spill the tea' look.

"So over the weekend..."

Pia perked up and dropped her fork. "About time! I didn't want to pry...but I did. You know what I mean?"

I laughed and shook my head. "Yeah, I know. It was a great weekend. We ate, we talked, we hung out..."

She kept nodding, waiting for me to tell her the juicy parts. "And had sex?"

"Yes."

She took a bite of her food and smiled approvingly. "Nice. You used a condom, right?"

I sunk back into my chair and sheepishly smiled. "I took it off him."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Are you serious? Girl, you don't know if he's clean, and are you trying to get pregnant? I'm too young to be an aunt!" She started waving her hands frantically, unable to process the possible consequences.

"Calm down! He was a virgin," I mumbled.

Pia nearly fell out of her seat when I dropped the shocking news. "Did I hear you correctly? Did you just say virgin?"

I nodded, slowly.

She looked at me with deep thought. "Weirdly enough, that's kind of hot."

"Pia!" I screamed.

"Turns me on to know a man isn't a hoe. Can you blame me? I've been cheated on."

"I guess," I muttered.

"It doesn't mean that he's clean though. His mom could've had HIV and passed it to him, meaning he has it too. Perhaps an ex had herpes, sucked his dick, and gave it to him. I'm sure he's done other stuff."

"Yeah, he's pretty well versed in everything else. I mean, sex is amazing too. He's great at everything."

She took a bite out of her spring roll and narrowed her eyes. "Honestly though, how can you be that hot and be a virgin? Baffles me."

"Well, his mom died when we was 18 and he pretty much said it gave him erectile dysfunction. Also, he hadn't met someone that he truly desired." I batted my eyelashes and smiled. "Until me."

"I'm still so baffled," she whined.

The vibrating of my phone on the table distracted us from gossiping. I looked over at it expecting it to be Elijah, but to my surprise, it was Xavier.

"Hey X!" I greeted cheerfully. "What's up? Are you okay?"

"I know it's 15 minutes until 6 and you're probably walking to work right now, but do you still need a ride?" He sounded upset, almost remorseful.

"Oh no, it's cool. I quit my job."

"Oh, so you took my advice?"

"Sure..." I knew it was all Elijah's idea, but I didn't want to tell Xavier that considering he suggested I quit first.

"That's great. So, what are you going to be doing?"

"I'm not too sure, but for tonight, I'm just going to chill."

"Can you want to go to the arcade with me? I'll pick you up in about an hour."

"Sure!" It would be nice to hang out with Xavier. I could apologize for being a horrible friend over the weekend and explain to him my situation. I didn't want to hurt him anymore.

Pia rolled her eyes. "Meeting your side man," she joked.

"He's one of my best friends. Plus, Elijah and I arent even in a relationship."

"Oh, you're right. He's your sugar daddy!" She joked.

I tossed my napkin at her and then got up. "I'm going to get ready."

Pia's cackles faded out as I walked to my room. Even though she knew how to press my buttons, I was grateful to have her in my life. She was one of the few people I could talk to without feeling truly judged.

Xavier called me when he was outside, which was unusual considering he typically walked up. I waved Pia goodbye and she waved her eyebrows in a sexual manner, and my wave quickly transformed into the middle finger.

She laughed and shouted, "Love you!"

"Love you too!" I shouted back.

I jogged down the stairs and pushed the main door open, only to find Xavier leaning against his car with a small bouquet of flowers in his hands.