The Educator

I stand by the breakfast nook and pace my phone against Elliot' laptop. My friends and I are on call and they have been asking about Elliot and I. "Did you gain weight, Eli?" one of my friends asks. Elliot peeks

from his laptop and glances at me.

I narrow my eyes at him and he goes back to working. "Did I?"

"Are you pregnant?" Samantha asks me.

"Sure. I spend five days at a hotel in Thailand only to be pregnant" I joke.

"When are you coming back?" Venice asks as she stares at me, laying on her bed.

"Uhhh I think I have, like, eight more days to go" I say

"What have you and Elliot been doing?" Samantha asks

Nothing, if I am being honest. We're either eating in the hotel room, at the restaurant or he's having a business meeting. We're friends. We're not husband and wife, we don't need to do anything for real. I smile at them, "We're been going around, island hopping, eating out and eating it" I tell them.

"Are you going to stay at your husband's house or what? Where are you guys going live?"

Elliot stands and rests his elbows on the breakfast nook, next to me, "We're going to stay at a condominium. We'll be hosting a blessing for the condo and I would like to meet you all soon" he says.

I just stare at him and he looks down at me. My friends were all quiet for what felt like hours. Elliot greets them his goodbye and walks towards the kitchen. I didn't realize that there was this activity in the air. I honestly did not even want people to find out that I was living elsewhere.

"I'll call you girl tomorrow. I have something to discuss with my husband" I tell them and end the call. Elliot starts making coffee, his back to me and his attention focused on grounding the beans.

I walk up next to him, "So, when were you going to tell me that we're going to host a small party at the new house?"

He clears his throat, "Isn't that already given? I mean moving a new house, the owners have to host some sort of get together. Plus, I could personally meet all of your friends"

I rest my palms on my waist, "Yeah but still, why didn't you talk to me about it?"

He stops grinding the beans, "What would you have answered, supposing I did ask you?"

I click my tongue, "I guess I'd say, okay or something"

He then picks up the grinder and continues grinding, "Well, then. Problem solved"

I laughed but not the type of laugh that I was amused. I was irritated. "Elliot, if we're going to live together, we have to respect each other"

"Really? Respect, each other?" he repeats what I just said

"Yes!"

"Privacy counts right? Then why were you snooping on my laptop?" he asks.

I press my lips together. So, he knows. "Okay. How about we call it even? And I'm sorry for snooping" I tell him, "It was an accident and to be honest I found it really sweet that you were trying to book us something to do together"

He leans his back against the counter of the kitchen, "You're welcome. I'm sorry for not telling you about the house warming, It's just something I thought of while you were talking to your friends"

I stand next to him and say, "That's fine because I sort of like the idea anyway. It's not going to be a big deal. Let's just call a caterer and host the house warming a day after we land home" I tell him. "That sounds good. Do you want coffee?" he offers me a cup. I giggle and roll my eyes. I reach over the cupboards and get two mugs.

"How many guests are going to fit the condo?" I ask

"Around fifty. Let's make it intimate. Just family and friends" he says.

Elliot and I start drinking our coffee as lean against the counter of the kitchen. Elliot's hands are pale, his veins visible and his fingers long. From where I was standing, I could see the side of his neck and his broad shoulders. I feel something in between my legs, something warm and dripping but not continuously. He then looks down at me as I look up at him. I glance at his lips as he leans closer to me. He touches the side of my face and he comes closer and closer. Our breaths clashing in the air that's left between our lips. I lean closer to him, his upper body pressing against by breast area. He holds on to me by the waist, runs hands down underneath my thighs and hot coffee starts spilling on our bodies. We quickly pulled away, our hands waving on the spots where the hot coffee spilled. "Jesus!" I scream and I run upstairs and take off my clothes to take a bath. There's a big red mark on the upper part of my body.