Strong policy

It was warmer inside than outside and much louder than Quin anticipated.It was not a pub; wooden tables, dim lighting, a chalkboard menu with many words already rubbed off, but it had a Friday-night atmosphere of people who had escaped their offices and did not want to go back to work yet. Eli had taken a table near the window. Once he saw her, he stood up, and the simple pleasure of being awaited settled into her chest like a pleasant surprise."You made it," he said."You sound like you had doubts.""I had hopes, not doubts. Doubt seemed too arrogant."She took a seat. Their knees were practically touching, but neither of them moved away. Looking at him closer, she realized that he did not look like the man who leaned on the partitions with folders in hand, but somebody who chose a particular table on purpose. The scar above his eyebrow glinted in the dimmed lights whenever he smiled.When the waitress came, Quin ordered wine without thinking twice. Eli ordered a beer and mocked t

Provisional status upgraded

They drank another round. The hour passed without them realizing it. Surprisingly, Quin was having a great time.Eli looked at the window and then back at her as if measuring how long this night still had."Okay," he said. "Truth for truth. Are you the type of person who leaves on a high note, or the type who risks one more story and one more possibly terrible shared dessert?"Quin looked at him; the ink stain, the scar, the face full of patient kindness, and felt the liking spreading slowly and clearly. Not that dark kind of liking that she knew from the locked doors. But something bright. Something wanting another hour.She set her glass down and smiled. "One more story," she said. "Then we negotiate the dessert."His grin widened even further, bright and a little disbelieving, as if the evening decided to stay open. "Deal," he said, and leaned in like he had all the time in the world.The dessert appeared without fashion.Quin took a bite without saying anything and then had to cl

Not as a distraction

Quin drove home without turning on the radio. The ordinary bits of the town flew past the window, stripmall lights, the bus sound at the stop, and the dark mass of the tree next to the river. Somewhere ahead, her house waited, still lit and echoing with the show on Martha's TV, the silence carefully arranged in the rooms like furniture. Nothing of that negated what happened during the evening. She could feel it on her face, and in the relaxed grip of her hands on the wheel, it made her realize that she liked Eli. Not as a distraction. Not as a counterbalance. Just him.She turned on her street and saw herself reflected in the window for a second, somebody returning from a night that she enjoyed.There was light on the porch.Quin could see it even from her car as she drove into the driveway; it was a little gold square set against the larger darkness of the house, and she could also see Douglas’s car parked there and the windows in the living room glowing. It was all normal.She

Her journey had begun

The email came in on a gray Tuesday between two enrollment calls.Quin recognized the sender line and did not open the email at once. She finished the call she was on, filed the note under the right category, and only then angled her phone beneath the lip of her desk. Her pulse was loud in her ears.We are pleased to offer you admission…To the school she wanted. To the big one. To the name that had topped every list she wrote in silent rooms, hostel nights, library carrels, and the edge of her childhood bed, with the portal reading under review.For a moment, the research wing faded away. No phones. No printer. No smell of toner. Just the sentence and the long road leading to it.She wanted to squeal, but it would be so unprofessional.Priya noticed her face over the partition. "Portal?"Quin turned the screen. Priya's mouth opened, then formed a grin sharp enough to slice the afternoon in half."Congratulations baby, you deserved it." Priya said. "Call your mother before you pretend

All Chapters of I Just Wanna Get Laid: Chapter 191 - Chapter 194

Strong policy

Provisional status upgraded

Not as a distraction

Her journey had begun