04

She mumbled a resentful ‘whatever’ and shoved his legs to the side so that she could get through. As she walked down the aisle, she spotted the man she was dreading having alone time with, hanging out at the back of the plane. He was nearing the bathroom with a magazine glued to his hand and reading glasses on.

Perfect.

As he entered the bathroom, she made a silent prayer hoping he’d somehow forget to close the door. Hot on his heels, she followed him all the way down the aisle and waited for a few seconds. She respected his privacy enough to let him use the bathroom, well that and the fact that she definitely did not want to see his thing.

« Times up, » Rainy said to herself, grabbing ahold of the door handle and pushing it down. Just like that, the door flung open. She beamed widely, slightly stunned that she had been right.

Men really were useless.

« Excuse me ? »

Her professor froze mid washing his hands, the sound of the water still running filled the awkward silence as he looked into the mirror to see who the intruder was.

« Oh great, it’s you. » He sighed sarcastically in relief, turning the tap off and reaching for a paper towel to dry his hands off with. « You know I still haven’t received that essay from you yet, it’s a good thing you found me when you did. »

Was he being sarcastic ?

When she didn’t get the hint and leave, the frown lines in his forehead only got deeper. A small hiss of annoyance left his lips as he threw the paper towel into the bin. « Can I help you ? »

« We need to talk. » Rainy blew out, her cheeks turning a brilliant shade of pink.

« And that needs to happen right now ? » He mouthed, disturbed. « I haven’t even zipped up my pants yet. » His voice was husky and low, she gathered he had woken from a nap by the look of his dishevelled hair.

Don’t look, don’t look.

The mental note she had made to not look didn’t exactly work. Rainy’s eyes failed her as they darted downwards to see the zipper of his dark jeans still undone.

She flicked her attention back up to his, trying to get rid of the image in her brain by shaking her head manically and held her hands up in surrender. « Just one minute, please. »

He stared at her point-blank.

« Professor Rivera, I don’t think this is a good idea. I mean pretending to not know each other and being on this vacation together is just strange. Don’t you think ? » Rainy started to explain, needing him to listen to her for once.

Instead, he simply ignored her. As per usual.

« I could’ve sworn we went over this already, my name is Silver. Believe it or not, teachers have names too. » He had held out a hand to her jestingly. When she didn’t take his hand in his, he shrugged lowering his hand. « Well if that’s everything, you mind getting out of the way ? I’m feeling a little claustrophobic in here. »

Rainy knew he was fairly young, late twenties to be exact but every time she spoke to him, she simply couldn’t believe his age. He acted a heck of a lot older than just a twenty-something-year-old.

She wasn’t sure why she found it surprising that he could have a name that didn’t sound so old. Did that even make any sense ?

Could a name sound old ?

She predicted that he’d be named Phil or Bob, not Silver. Silver sounded like the name of a stripper, she thought to herself.

Rainy scowled at his calm demeanour turning around to lock the bathroom door before anyone could come in. When she refaced him, he took in her wild bed hair, she had changed out of her dress into some comfy shorts to sleep in and a frilly tank top. On her feet were a pair of her favourite bunny slippers.

Slippers that she was regretting wearing in front of her professor.

She must’ve looked ridiculous.

Her getup didn’t seem to startle him though as he pointed at the door. « When I said get out of the way, I meant out of the bathroom. »

She raised her eyes up to his face to see light brown eyes and a tanned complexion. His jawline had a five o’clock shadow on, enhancing a strong jaw. « You’re not listening, you’re ruining what was supposed to be the vacation of my dreams. You can’t be coming along on this trip with me, it’s weird. » Rainy insisted, waggling an uncontrollable finger at him.

« And locking me in the bathroom isn’t ? »

He made a fair point.

The man she now knew as Silver pushed her finger away from his face, giving her a strange look. « I’ve come on this trip every single year and I’m not going to suddenly stop just because my nephew is dating a student of mine. » He proclaimed, collecting the magazine on the sink and placing it under his arm. Signalling for her to move, he groaned loudly when the twenty-one-year-old didn’t budge.

« Professor Rivera. Sorry I mean Silver. » Rainy wanted to cringe calling her teacher by his name, she pushed the sour taste back and looked at the black-rimmed glasses he had rested on the bridge of his nose.

Messy hair. Glasses. His face.

She cleared her throat to rid of her pesky thoughts giving him one of her famous toothy grins. Her dimples popped out of her cheeks as strands of her curly hair fell from her ponytail and into her face. « I know Elijah is your nephew but he is my first real boyfriend. I’ve never done anything like this before, and I don’t need someone like you to mess up the chances of anything good happening. »

Silver scoffed. « Someone like me ? »

« Oh, you know what I mean. » Rainy uttered with a faded laugh, her mouth going dry.

« No I don’t actually, why don’t you clarify what that means. » There it was, that annoying ‘know it all’ tone.

If he was going to be that way, then fine. Two could play at that game.

« Bitter. You’re a bitter old man. » She conceded a little too fast under her breath, moving her hair out of her face. The word vomit was annihilating her. « At least that’s what some people would say. Not me. Obviously. I don’t believe any of that, people can just be so cruel sometimes y’know ? »

Her smile was full of apprehension- reaching behind her back she found the lock and flicked it open. « Anyway, well this was fun and all but I better get back to my seat. » Rainy tittered nervously.

Bitter ?

That was really what had come to her mind first ? She scolded herself.

Placing his hand right above her head, he blindly reached around her to close the door. He seemed to fumble with the lock before it clicked into place, and then the focus was all on her. To most people, Silver was a vaguely intimidating figure. He was large and powerfully built, and though his facial features were aesthetically pleasing. He wasn’t someone who was gentle or soft.

« Hold on a second, bitter old man ? I’m only a few years older than you and I’m not bitter. I’m straightforward. » He corrected her, clearly offended by her words. « Who thinks I’m bitter exactly ? Name names. »

Rainy shook her head, brows furrowing together. « No one ! I mean who even cares what people think right ? » She laughed, reaching forward to awkwardly pat his chest. Rainy bit the bottom of her lip when she felt his muscular body through his T-shirt and rapidly pulled her hands away. His jaw clenched at the touch of her hand on his chest, swallowing back his pride.

Letting his arm down, he backed away from her personal space and scowled.

Silver couldn’t believe she thought he was bitter. Sure he wasn’t the most welcoming, but that was the teacher mode him. He knew how to be fun, heck, he was the fun uncle for a reason.

« Alright, whatever. » Silver announced with a sigh, coming back to his senses. « I mean I don’t care what you do anyway. »