With Love, Étienne | ✓

Chapter Eleven

"SORRY FOR MAKING YOU WAIT."

Louella stumbled back to her seat after what felt like ten hours. Her hair was frazzled from the constant action of running her hand through it. She leaned against the back of her chair and her head was faced up towards the ceiling; eyes shut in brief exhaustion. I remained silent and let her have her moment of peace. I worried that she was working herself too hard and I wanted to speak up and tell her to go home and take the rest of the day off but she was stubborn and I knew she would never listen. Louella was a hard-worker and she was determined to achieve her goals in the future which were – hopefully – to be become a psychologist.

"It's okay," I said when she poked one eye open to peek at me, "I don't mind waiting for you."

"It took a lot longer than we had hoped," she sighed and shook her head in annoyance, "I hate group work. Honestly, why is it a thing?"

My lips twitched and I shrugged my shoulders, "I guess the lecturers thought it was a good idea to try and make us be friends with everyone."

"I don't want more friends," she grumbled, "I have you. Who else do I need?"

Although the comment was said casually, it still left a comforting sensation swirl around in my heart and I angled my face away from hers so I didn't have to hide my growing smile that lit up my entire face. It didn't go amiss the way she didn't mention Milo. She left his name out on purpose and there was a reason for that – one I had yet to figure out.

"Is he your classmate then?" I tried to casually phrase the question but I winced when there was underlying sense of jealousy. Thankfully, Louella didn't seem to pick up on it and she straightened herself up and nodded.

"Yeah. His name's Ren," she said, "He's nice enough I guess."

"You guess?" I echoed and immediately frowned, "Did he do something?"

"No, no, no," Louella quickly shook her head but smiled at the protectiveness of my words, "I promise, Étienne. He's sweet, you know? Just. . . too nice for me. It feels like I'm talking to a robot sometimes."

It was like a weight lifted from my shoulders. The dark cloud that seemed to linger around my head cleared and the mood I had gotten myself into while glaring over at them for the past hour dissipated. I leaned back in my chair and stretched my arms towards the ceiling, exhaling a tired yawn. My neck was sore from constantly being bent over and I cracked it while rotating it sideways – making Louella cringe at the noise and she blocked her ears while I did the same to my knuckles.

"You're disgusting," she complained, "God, I hate that sound."

I flashed her a grin, "It feels so good though."

"It makes me so uncomfortable," she shuddered dramatically and I rolled my eyes at her reaction, "It's like you're doing it to me."

A mischievous smirk crossed my lips and I playfully edged closer to her. Louella blinked and her eyes widened at the glint I displayed. Although a smile was tugging on her mouth, she held her hands up in surrender and pushed her seat back until it hit the stone wall behind her. Realizing she had nowhere to run, she softened her gaze and pouted her bottom lip in an attempt to beg for mercy.

"Étienne, come on. Don't do this to me," she squealed quietly and her chin disappeared under her neck when I pretended to reach over to her. Her eyes slammed shut and a giggle escaped through her lips. The sound was joyous and it had the power to make even the coldest man break into a grin.

"Okay, okay," I backed away from her with an exaggerated sigh, "I won't do anything."

Louella breathed in relief. She pushed the wild strands of dark hair out of her face and glanced down at her deserted notes before groaning. I had finished most of what I needed to do but even an hours' worth of work felt incredibly draining. Suddenly, all the memes online about college students became scarily relatable once I had started.