The Educator

Elliot smiles, "What? You cried in the bathroom?"

I closed my eyes and I nodded in embarassment, "Yes, yes I did. I cried so loud in the bathroom that one of the PR girls came out from her cubicle to soothe me. Then, my mom came in and asked me to fix myself. She retouched my make-up and then I went out of the bathroom with her" I continue to tell. Elliot starts laughing really hard and I was annoyed. I pushed his shoulders and he was still laughing. "Stop!" I tell him but I was still laughing myself. "So then, the whole night I was not even listening to the speeches, I wasn't able to enjoy the food and wasn't able to mingle. I was a mess that night" I tell him. Elliot finally settles from laughing, "Wait, why did you and you boyfriend break-up that time?"

I leaned back and blew a breath. I looked out and tried to remember what the whole issues was back then. "I think it was about me not being able to balance the relationship, school and being involved in the family business. He found it maybe stressful? I don't know" I say. I shrug and sigh a little.

"Was that your first heartbreak?" he asks.

I nod, "Well, we all have our firsts. How about you? I read somewhere that someone claims you had their baby?" I raise the issue to him.

He sighs, "You read that huh?"

I nod, "It's not something you could hide, Elliot. It was in the tabloids. Plus, my friends have searched more about you than I ever did and I married you" I tell him.

He smiles and nods but falls silent again. There was a period where Elliot and I was just sitting and it felt like forever. I know that he was being reserved about it, even though there's basically nothing else to be reserved about.

"What do you want to know?" he asks

I shrug, "Everything. Anything" I say, "there's nothing else that could change my mind about you anyway. I just want to know more about you, Elliot. Like we said, if we're going to make this work, we have to be transparent" I tell him.

"Well, the child isn't mine, I know that's what you really want to know" he mutters, "but it was true that I was in a relationship with the mother. She was my longest partner. We went our separate ways when she told me she was pregnant with another man's child. I helped her migrate to the states. She gave birth there. Every once in a while, she would send photos of the child. He's really smart" he says.

I smile at Elliot. I think I've come to like Elliot more today. He's not only a gentleman because he needs to. He actually is a gentleman as it is. "Elliot?" I call out his name.

"Yes?"

"Why did you help her?" I ask him.

He looks at me, "Because, she we have history. We shared moments, strengths and weaknesses, we grew together, Eli. So it matters to me that I help her" he says.☐☐☐☐