Chapter 7: Chapter 7

“Are you okay?” Clara asked, “you are sweating?” Being aware of how warm I am, I nod. For this part, I hate workshop days; with this heat everything is unbearable.  My friend smiles, "you're blushing, very ...very blushing, it won't be Black who makes you like that. No? Look, I don't want to lose this competition, I want to keep watching him and tell him by all the nicknames that come to mind to get paid for today,” she winks at me, amused I shake my head.

“You relax your ass because what I have is heat,” I take my bottle of water in hand and drink it as if I were passing the Sahara.  I can't believe I'm thinking about Mr. Hamann, I shouldn't do it, I have a boyfriend. I close my eyes tightly, what the hell am I getting into? Is it normal that I think a lot about what will happen on Saturday? God! I feel really bad about what I will do to Ian, I am a daughter of my reverend mother.

My friend focuses on me, she looks at my canvas and then looks at me, “Hey what I'm going to tell you, you asshole, you do it for your mother, Ian can't give you what that man will give you, so stop thinking stupid things and focus on your work, you're doing it wrong and you never fail on time to draw.” I huff and I listen to her, she's right, but what I don't understand is why the hell that man doesn't come out of my fucking head, you can tell he's a tyrant. Grunting I do my part and focus on what really matters right now and that's my job.

The hours go by and I try to cope with all the thoughts that come to me without warning, I can't stop thinking about everything I'm about to do, I have a strange feeling.

“Clever,” I squealed happily, working decentralized is not easy. "I made it," “I applauded.

"Well, it's about time, let's sign it and let's get out of here. I want to go have a drink."

I put my signature, it's a shadow work, we only use pencil.  As we left the workshop we went to the cafeteria. "Girls," my boyfriend's voice echoes behind us, turning and there is my boy.

"My love," I open my arms and he without thinking lifts me up into the air. “How has your Literature project been going?”

He winks at me. "It was great for me," he says excitedly, I don't know why he gets so excited, he does well in everything. "Go Carla, love is good for you," he smiles looking at my friend.

"Shut the fuck up or I'll give it to you," she warns him.  "You are a fool."  She growls at him. Ian laughs, making my friend's mood worse, they've never told me, but I know they don't get along; they just act in front of me.

“Come on love, leave Carla alone, you can't stand her and you get angry.” Holding hands we buy something and lie out on the grass, the university I go to is public but I like it.

"Miss Cook" I hear that thick voice and my breath disappears instantly, I turn immediately, it does not take me two seconds to get to my feet.

“What is he doing here?” I ask defensively.

"Mr. Hamann is waiting for you in the car, we must go."

I look at my wristwatch and when I realize the time I glared at him. "Tell Mr. Hamann that it is not time yet, that if he wishes to make himself comfortable and wait for me, I am not going to go with him, not if it is not yet the agreed time."  I turn around.

"The lord demands your presence at this very moment."

Hearing that makes me laugh, forgetting that my boyfriend is present, I turn around again and look at the man who is not to be blamed for anything, he only does his work, but every backslider pays for the delivery. “Tell your boss that he is not my owner, the hours and dates are agreed, I am not going to displace my plans because "The Lord Owner of the World" requires my presence, now I will ask you in the best way to go to that car and tell him if he want, he can wait for me and if  he don't want to, we'll meet at the agreed place, I know where it is and at no time did I ask you to come and get me. Do you have it recorded or will I write it down for you?” The man looks at me seriously and I look at him in the same way, they won't dominate me at will.

"Sweetheart, what is it?" Ian's voice makes me nervous.

“Nothing, love, it's about some Mommy things, nothing to worry about,”  I smile at him.

“Carla come on, let’s talk on art history.” Not caring about the poor guy's gesture, I take my boyfriend's hand, who doesn't say more and we walk away from him. “See you tomorrow?” I ask my boy, he smiles at me and giving me a kiss on the lips he accepts.

"It will be great to see us tomorrow, it's Friday and I can have you to myself all day." I smiled at how he says it.

"Well come on, say goodbye,” Clara pulls me hard, I know she wants answers and explanations.  When we get to the classroom, it was empty.

"Who the hell was that?" She asked, almost annoyed.

"He's Mr. Hamann's chauffeur, the same one who will pay me to sleep with him."

My friend opens her eyes with exaggeration. "Don't screw me!" She whispers, “has he come looking for you without you asking? Mana ... That man wants to rattle ahead of time ... But are you queer? You should have gone with him.”

I roll my eyes, “that is your mistake in relationships, you are very permissive and you always do the will of your partner.  Carla, in life you have to know who to be like this with and believe me that you can't with that man, he's used to being in control and doing his will, I don't like being ordered around, I don't like them wanting to do things their own times without thinking about mine."

My friend twists her mouth, “yes, I am the weakest when it comes to men," she says annoyed.

“I didn't mean to offend you and you know it, I just can't get carried away because he has money, or why he has been kind enough to come for me, in these cases you must think carefully, analyze what I'm telling you.” She nods, “he is a man whose power is an essential part of him, it shows that he has always had what he wants, the way he spoke to me and wanted to play with me the day I signed the contract, that say loudly that he is a tyrant and manipulative, I did not get carried away and made it clear that I could be the same or worse than him. Isn't it normal for him to try to win me over by other means?”

My friend ponders it and finally she looks at me and nods, “you are absolutely right, skinny, sometimes you scare me.”

It doesn't take long for me to laugh, “my mother may be young, but what she has had to live on has made her wise, you should consider the advice she gives us and not go over it.” The bustle in the hall tells us that class is about to start. “Now come on, let's go to our desk, we have the funniest class.” I say sarcastically. Art history is the class we hate the most and I know it's because of the teacher who teaches it, the most bland and boring woman it can be.

Classes begin and half the classroom tries not to fall asleep, the teacher is sane and I don't think she will run out, it is always like that. Tremendously boring, I beg that those two hours go by quickly.

"Professor Campbell?" We all looked at the door.

“Damn!” I whisper in a low voice, "Mr. Hamann is at my goddamn classroom door." The teacher, putting a smile, approaches him, I try to hide so he doesn't see me.

"Miss Cook," the teacher calls, after a few minutes, I don't answer, I'm not going out.  "Miss Cook, don't be funny, I've seen you." I hit the chair with some force, who does that man think he is? Getting up from my seat without taking a step, I look at her, "he is looking for you."

I frown, "I’m not expecting anyone Miss Campbell, I do not wish or intend to leave the class in the middle." I affirm, although the truth is that is what I want, I know his rule and I'm not willing to take the information half way. The teacher turns around again and looks at that man who always wants to do his will.

"Easy, Miss Cook,” says the teacher, after talking to that damn man, “you can withdrawyou’re your classmates have permission to provide you with the information of the class, I will not lower points either.” All my classmates look at me, I give a glance to my best friend who shrugs her shoulders.

"If so, then I accept it, thank you very much, teacher,” I pick up my things and put them in my bag, take a deep breath and go to meet that man who is turning into an odyssey. I leave the room and without waiting for him, I start walking away.

"You made me wait.”

When I heard him, I stop and with a smile, turned to look at him, “I don't know what you mean, we meet at 4:00 p.m. and it is barely 2:00 p.m, for being an entrepreneur, you are very bad in terms of respecting schedules and agreements.” I keep walking, being near him means wanting to kill him or wanting to fuck him?

“Are you angry?”

A tedious laugh breaks free from my mouth, “what would I gain by getting angry? On the contrary, I thank you for having convinced my teacher not to follow her rules.” I like his silence.

"You do everything for a purpose, right?”

I nod, “what's the use of doing things if we don't have a purpose in the end? Well, I was able to come with you since you asked me, after all it is the class that bores me the most, but I was not willing to lower my grades and be without today's information, so I used it and now I am getting to know you. I know you always gets what you wants, it was a good weapon.” I look at him, "thank you for that," I say mockingly, his gesture amuses me, he didn't like at all that I used him, don't he realize that I'm lying?

"Besides being pretty smart," he nods several times, that makes me smile.

"Beauty without intelligence is just a decoration and I'm not just that," I inform him so that he is clear.

"You know that was a compliment, right?"

"I know, but those compliments aren't worth me." When we got to the car, he opened the door for me, as we were both inside, we looked at each other.

"I didn't know you had a dwarf limousine," I scoffed with amusement.

"You like them big and flashy, right?"  His provocative look tells me that he means it in a double sense.

"I prefer a small and playful one, than a big one, asshole and sleepy." I shrug my shoulders and hold back the laugh.

"You are playing with fire, miss.”

Turning back to him, I look at him seriously this time.