The Long Winter #59
Previous Engagements part seven
Clark was surprised at how little he missed Sandra. He strutted from class as he was wont to do, smiling at the girls (some of whom smiled back), and made his way for the common area to pass a few minutes with his phone before lunch. It was nice to be back in the frozen north. France had been nice, the villa was luxurious and he had gotten some sun (not as much as his ex and their foreign friend, though) but he liked it up in the north. It was peaceful. That thought brought half a smile to his face when he stepped out into the wind and the snow it fired sideways at him.
The walk was brisk, to say the least, but the dormitory was made all the warmer and cozier by contrast. The common area’s fireplace was aflame with fresh logs crackling away. He sat down and pulled out his phone. Another message from his mother. She was sad to see him go. If only he could have stayed there. They had had such fun. He snorted. Some fun it had been. Two dinners and then he was ferried off to that villa with Naima to start their engagement. More like arrangement.
Naima had exotic dark eyes and flawless dark skin and her black hair was always perfect and shiny and hung down past her shoulders. She wore modest clothes that still showed off her womanly figure. For being the same age, she certainly looked more grown up than Sandra. Acted it, too. She talked about career prospects and finances, she had discussed budgets and investments and how she imagined their future together. It pleased his logical side and endeared her to him. It did not spark his feelings towards her, however. She seemed too good to be true, the whole thing was far too easy. And perhaps that was the problem.
She was given to him. Thrust upon him. People had plotted behind his back to decide his future and he wanted to hate her for going along with it. It was difficult every time he looked at her, every time she was near, but he was sure he could do it. His friends would help. Only they had not. That foreign devil Penny Stark actually suggested going through with it. And Bart Willis had agreed! He wanted to decide who to date. Who to marry. It was only right that he have a say in his own future, not some overbearing woman he barely knew living halfway around the world. He should have been allowed to give Sandra an honest chance. And that was taken away from him. Although the two of them knew it was going to be a short-lived honest chance. Their fight before the break was evidence enough of that. Sandra would be able to tell people in ten years when he was rich and famous that she had taken his virginity. He might even thank her in his BAFTA acceptance speech.
He looked up and scanned the common area. Braden Garies walked back through with a gaggle of hangers-on. Now two weeks into the winter semester he had made good on his promise to leave Penny (and as such her friends) alone. He recognized a few others, but not by name. His friends were doubtlessly indisposed, he would lunch alone. His tucked his phone back into his pocket when movement from the entrance caught his eye. Someone was approaching him. A young woman. Black hair—
“Naima!” Clark could not keep the shock from his face.
“Darling.” A demure smile on her face, as always, she swept towards him with a grace no teenage girl should possess.
“What are you doing here?”
“My father sent me here,” she said, her words kissed by her French accent. “He said he was going to contact you.”
“He didn’t. Why?”
“I have a hotel room for a spell. Then I will join the classes here. I am a bit late, but they were kind to me at the office this morning and I will have no trouble joining. I was pleased to see we are in the drama class together.”
“But…”
She smiled at him, waiting for him to speak. Words eluded him, and he almost wanted to reach out with his hands to see if could snatch any out of the air.
“You must be hungry. It is nearly time for the midday meal. Shall we?” She took his hand and began drawing him for the doors
“I have…” he glanced over his shoulder towards the dining room receding into the distance.
“I made a reservation at a little place downtown and a car is waiting for us.”
He turned back towards her in time to register a large man opening the door for them. The large man escorted them out to a big, black Bentley sedan parked in the street between the University and the Institute and opened the back door for them to climb inside. Inside it was warm and the seats were plush and covered with leather softer than his blankets. They buckled in and she smiled across the open center seat at him. The large man got into the front seat and drove them wordlessly down the road. He glanced at the Institute one last time before turning his attention, all of it, back at her.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“I told you—“
“I heard what you said inside—“ He glanced at the driver. The driver had broad shoulders that barely fit in his woolen overcoat and curly black hair and a big black beard.
“He is my American cousin, Mo. Mo? This is Clark.”
“A privilege,” Mo said, his eyes on the road. “Welcome to the family.”
“Right, thanks.” He turned back to Naima. “You’re enrolled at the Institute?”
“My father thinks it is a good idea I have more of an education as well.”
“You seem pretty damn smart to me already.”
She tittered an attractive thank you.
“It’s just, I thought we were going to marry after graduation.”
“We can marry before then. And now we can become closer and it will feel more natural to marry when we do.”
“Marry… Jesus.”
Mo glanced at him in the mirror.
“Forgive me. I meant no offense.”
“Ignore him,” Naima said, touching Clark’s cheek. “He would have seen me married to some goat-fucker in Tunis instead of a future star of stage and screen. And your French is already quite beautiful. That night under the stars when you told me about your father, I will never forget that.”
Clark snickered at the sound of such profanity coming from her, and then he thought back to that night. She had listened intently as he described his less than fortunate upbringing. She expressed sympathy as she recounted her own tribulations growing up in her own brand of poverty before her father whisked her off for the big buildings and dazzling lights of Paris. He had almost felt something that night.
“There is so much to experience here, finally away from my parents and on my own. This may be the only time we have together like this in our lives.”
“You’re not allowed to get into trouble,” Mo said.
“Shush, you big bully. I am not a troublemaker, and you know it. If anything, Clark and I will have to pull your fat ass from the fire.”
Mo chuckled, his beefy shoulders shaking as he piloted the big, black car down the snow-covered road. Naima reached over and took Clark’s hand. He thought about Penny’s suggestion to see it through.
“We are here,” Naima announced as the car pulled up in front of a tiny restaurant/bar he had not even known was there. He got out and she hurried after him and Mo disappeared down the road with a dozen cars trailing after him. He followed her up to the restaurant with half a smile on his face.
What the hell, he thought. And in they went.
***
The quartet eased seamlessly into their second song without waiting for applause. Penny leaned forward, pulling the hem of her skirt back over her knees, and did her best to listen to them as opposed to the argument behind her.
“I can’t help where she goes, this is a small school,” Maddie hissed.
“And you chose to stand right here behind her, even after we talked about this,” Travis answered with a snort.
“There are only so many chairs, and I’m not even close to her—“
Someone shushed them and Penny thanked whoever it was for the moment of silence provided before Travis piped up again.
“I should have known you would try to defend her. I never should have asked you to come to this in the first place.”
Penny could feel Maddie glare at him without looking back. She was thankful her ex-roommate did not argue back and she let out a long breath as the sonorous sounds of the quartet finally began washing the tension out of her shoulders. As were all her classmates at the Institute, the musicians were highly skilled, all first chairs at their respective high schools or academies or conservatories now learning how to achieve greater heights than their prior teachers were capable of pushing them to. And she was thankful for it, and for these increasingly frequent public performances—
“What, now you’re going to ignore me?”
Maddie appeared in the corner of Penny’s eye as she leaned forward over an empty chair two places down from Penny. The half-Asian girl kept her attention on the performance but her hand went to her wrist and she rubbed where he had grabbed her.
“This is ridiculous.”
“No, Travis, you’re being ridiculous,” Maddie jerked out of Penny's sight and hissed at her fiancé. “This is supposed to be their performance and you’re ruining it by starting a fight.”
“No, she ruined it by showing up and putting us all in danger.”
“She can’t just close herself off in her room.”
“Fine, side with her. I see how you are. I see how you’ve been this entire time.”
“No, we’re not doing this again…”
And their voices faded as they moved away. Penny let out a long breath—
I was holding it again??
And finally leaned back in her seat. They came to the end of another song and she joined her classmates in applauding them. She glanced around at the crowd and smiled when her eyes met Professor Fairchild’s. She stood up and scooted through the crowd to join the professor.
“How nice to see you here,” Professor Fairchild whispered.
“I’m going to come to more of these,” Penny whispered back. “They’re so good, and I don’t even know anything about this kind of music.”
“There’s no need to know much about it so long as you can enjoy it.”
They sat back and listened to the quartet play through another song, this one lilting, almost haunting, the cellist in particular drawing unfathomable depths with each stroke of his bow across the strings of his instrument. When it ended they applauded once again, Penny’s fast and enthusiastic, Gwen Fairchild’s slow and measured. They wrapped up their performance with one last song, a classical take on a modern song Penny recognized from somewhere that left her grinning foolishly when they were done.
“Are you enjoying your winter semester so far?” the professor asked as they walked down the hall away from the performance.
“It’s fine, I suppose. I was sad I didn’t have you for any classes.”
“I’m busy with a lot of administrative things in the winter, this year more than usual. We’re recruiting a very exciting young man with an incredible project, and with any luck you’ll be able to meet him at the end of this summer. Until then, that we get to be friends this semester since I won’t be your professor.”
“How fun! Aren’t I going to make the other students jealous though?”
“You handle yourself fine, and I’ve seen that friend of yours standing up for you. Anyone still complaining about how your family got you in here has long since made their final complaint. Everyone likes your work.”
“Even Lyle?”
“Even Lyle.”
“It would be nice if he showed it sometimes.”
“Lyle presents a series of unique challenges to us. Every class has someone unique in his own way to challenge us.”
They shared a laugh and came upon the exit.
“I’m going to go meet Leah for dinner. We should plan to eat together some time, too.”
“Absolutely. If we can’t work anything out during the week, you’re more than welcome to join Martin and the kids and I. And even better if they’re gone, you can keep me company!”
“Even though you’ll be busy?”
“I’m not too busy for you. I know you’ve started seeing this Becca of yours, but she’s busy herself, right?”
Penny did not reach out for the door.
“Something on your mind?” the professor asked.
“Well, you see, Becca told me she has friends at robotics companies. She said she can get me an internship for the summer.”
“Oh, that’s great, then!”
“She said it was in Miami.”
Gwen Fairchild frowned. “What’s wrong with Miami?”
“My parents don’t want me going to a big city, they’re dangerous, what with the occasional riots and muggings and, you know, things like that.”
“Hm. I suppose if you were talking about Chicago or New York or any big city in California you might have a point. But Miami's not so bad. Of course, if you’re really interested in an internship this summer I could set you up with one in a much more rural atmosphere.”
“Yes, but then I couldn’t spend all summer with Becca.” Penny gasped at her words and looked up at Professor Fairchild with a sheepish smile. “I mean, I really want to get to know her better.”
“And I’m sure she does you, too. Get the name of the company from her and the neighborhood and I’ll do some checking of my own. Then we’ll talk to your dad together when we have a plan and see what he says.”
“Thank you, thank you so much. I’m so grateful for your help, I know you said you’re busy this semester.”
“This is technically just another one of my duties, and it’ll be a pleasure to help you out. Just let me know when you’re free to share a meal and we’ll spend some more time together without all this work/school baggage!”
They laughed together and exchanged goodbyes before exiting the buidling and dashing away in opposite directions. Penny smiled despite the wind and snow and made her way back to the dormitory. She stepped back into the warmth and shook the snow from her jacket. She recognized Clark near the fire, but who was that with him? She was incredibly beautiful with lovely, full lips and a delicate nose and silky black hair that ran down past her shoulders.
“Clark!” she said, rushing up to him. “Hey! Who’s this?”
“Oh. Penny. Hey.” Clark rose stiffly and gestured to the girl. “This is Naima.”
“Naima…” She paused and looked at the girl again. She had a lovely smile on those lovely lips and something of a naughty gleam to her eyes. Then the name clicked and Penny gasped. “Your fiancée!” SHE IS A TEN…
“Yes, Penny, my fiancée. Naima, this is Penny Stark.”
“Enchanted,” Naima said, reaching out for Penny’s hand as she awkwardly bowed. “You’re not American…”
“Oh!” Penny grabbed Naima’s hand and gave it a weak shake. “I’m from Port Matthew.”
Naima’s lovely eyes widened ever-so-slightly and she smiled.
“What an exciting place. I’ve been there several times.” She turned to Clark. “You did not tell me you had friends from Port Matthew.” She pronounced “Matthew” as “Mathieu.”
“I had no idea you’d ever even heard of it, let alone been there.”
Naima laughed. “Well, Penny Stark, I am sure we will be seeing much, much more of each other this semester. And I, for one, am looking forward to it.”
Penny managed a giggle and found herself settling down beside them—beside her with Clark scowling over her head at Penny.
“Don't you have plans?” Clark asked.
“Don't be silly, she can stay.” Naima smiled at Penny, turning slightly and brushing Penny's hand with her own. “You wish to stay, do you not?”
“I...” Penny stood back up and took a long, slow breath. It was difficult to look at Clark. It was difficult to do anything but look at Naima. “Leah...”
“You okay?” Clark stood up and stepped between her and Naima. “You look a little pale.”
“Sorry.” Penny blinked the pink haze from her vision and smiled up at Clark. “I'm sorry! I'm meeting Leah, I can't be late!”
“Tell her I said yo.”
“Affirmative.” Penny saluted him and bolted for the stairs. She was beautiful, that Naima, the most beautiful human being Penny had ever seen. And Penny wanted to see more of her. Much, much more.
Follow The Long Winter into #60 Previous Engagements part eight here.