Being Harrison Bloom’s Girl

Chapter 10

Leigh was roused from fitful slumber by a knock on the door.

“Go away,” she mumbled.

She’d been saying that to people who wanted to see her a bit too much. It had been two days since she’d gone anywhere except classes that she really needed to attend, and none of them had been Roger’s.

Over the last forty-eight hours, she had convinced herself that fate was showing her that she couldn’t fool it even if she tried to fool herself. She had spent the last few months pointing out everything that was wrong with her relationship with Harrison. Then she had met a man with whom she had spent time that she could’ve spent with Harrison, if she’d wanted to.

Now Harrison was with a woman who wanted him, and who was prepared to give him what he wanted. She could hardly complain, after she had denied him what he needed and ignored him as if he were a footnote in her life.

“Open this door or I will kick it down.”

What followed were a few sounds that progressed from knocking to thumping to punching to, probably, solid kicking.

Damn, it was Emily. She would follow through on that threat, Leigh knew that perfectly well.

“Hold on,” she mumbled, and kicked her legs out from under the covers. She couldn’t seem to find her feet. They were numb. Damn it all, they were numb because she hadn’t closed the window and had fallen asleep with her foot sticking out from under the covers.

As if she didn’t have enough troubles already. As if she needed a foot she couldn’t feel as well as a heart she could feel a bit too much.

The assault on the door got steadily more serious and threatening.

“Goodness, Emily, for heaven’s sake, hold on, will you? I’m just looking for my damn foot! I’m opening the door! I’ll have to pay to get the damn thing fixed if you kick it down.”

Stumbling a little, Leigh opened the door and blinked blearily up at Emily. Emily didn’t look too happy.

That suited Leigh just fine. She wasn’t very happy, either. She knew that Emily had come to kick her ass, and maybe she deserved it a little bit, but she wanted a fight with somebody, and Emily would do.

“What’re you doing here?”

“Your roommate, who, may I say again, is a very sensible young woman, called me. I was free. Now I’m here. Step aside, Leigh, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself. I called Martha. Do you know how worried Martha has been? Did you even check in with them to see how they were taking the news? Those photos are all over the tabloids.”

Leigh winced. All the fight seemed to leak out of her at that little jab.

No, she hadn’t, because she had been too busy wallowing in self-pity.

“Do you know what Martha told me? That she had tried calling you, to see if you were all right, and you hadn’t even answered the phone. Do you know who is taking care of them? Harrison is. He’s being there for them. That is supposed to be your job, Leigh. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Leigh covered her face with her hands.

“I’ve been a little sh*t.”

Emily softened a little as she sat down beside Leigh on the rumpled bed that definitely needed a change of linen.

“You have. It’s unlike you. You’ve never been so self-centered. So what if your relationship went south? Last time I saw you, you were going to deal with your life here and put your parents first as far as everything else was concerned. What happened to all that?”

Leigh met Emily’s eyes miserably.

“There might’ve been something that I didn’t tell you.”

“I had a feeling there was. What would that be?”

“Well, there’s this guy.”

Emily snorted.

“Leigh, is a guy really what you need right now? The whole trouble started with a guy!”

Leigh nodded.

“I know, but, well, there’s sort of this guy.”

Emily looked like she might explode, before calming down and taking a few deep breaths.

“All right. Tell me about this guy.”

“This guest lecturer.”

Emily snorted again.

“Really, Leigh?”

“I know! I know, all right? I didn’t plan any of it, and it’s not like it’s such a big deal, he’s only taking the rest of the fall semester and then he’s leaving.”

“If he’s leaving, what’s in it for you?”

Leigh had to chuckle, despite everything. Emily had always been very practical and to the point that way.

“It’s a long story, but anyway…”

“Say it anyway.”

Leigh tried to find the words, and spoke carefully.

“He’s never taught before, apparently, not for an extended period like this. He’s very absentminded and keeps forgetting to take off his reading glasses. He wears odd socks sometimes. He cooks, but only occasionally, which is a good thing because otherwise we’d need a cleanup crew on standby all the time. He’s very intelligent, sees patterns that most people miss. He lives in his own world half the time. And… He seems to like me. I’m the only person on campus who he’s really clicked with, or so I think. I helped him with setting up the house, and he helped me figure out a paper I’d gotten a bad grade on. But… He makes me feel comfortable. We can joke and laugh, and he understands what I want to talk about now. He understands being on campus after living a completely different life, he understands the pressures of all of this.”

Emily nodded slowly.

“It sounds like the two of you have a bit in common.”

“He has an ex-wife. He’s friends with her now. I hoped Harrison and I could at least be friends, but he doesn’t want to talk to me.”

“Did you try?”

“I did. Well, I turned up at his doorstep the night Roger – that’s the guy – and I had this long conversation about relationships. He doesn’t ask questions, Emily. He doesn’t insist on knowing what I’m thinking, or how I feel, unless I want to tell him.”

“So, he’s very unlike Harrison. Maybe the opposite of Harrison – except that he’s just as insightful.”

Leigh nodded.

“He is. I know, it’s all messed up. I shouldn’t have any feelings for him.”

“Do you?”

Leigh hesitated before deciding to be honest.

“The man is adorable and charming, Emily. If it weren’t for Harrison, I would’ve slept with him by now. He’s the kind of man I saw myself with – supportive, sweet, not very demanding, but still there for me. Not as intense and all-consuming as things were with Harrison.”