MY HERO

He never said a word, and his face was smoothed with calm. Then he moved his arms, and with a breath intake, shoved me off of him. He'd used too much force that the back of my head, bounced against the wall and then I went face first onto the cold hard floor. Quickly I covered my face with my hands. Luckily I managed to avoid bruises on my face that would send Bill to a state of panic, but the same couldn't be said for my skirt. The familiar sound of fabric tearing haunted me until the rip stopped on my upper thigh.
The other kids formed a ring around me and the raucous laughter filled the corridors. I leaned my hands palm first on the walls and I pushed myself to my feet and brushed the dirt off me. Trying to sew back my skirt with my fingers was of no use and then Roman was suddenly there. Mute. He took off his jacket and then turned around to look, no, glare at the students before us.
The laughter died so suddenly that I thought I'd imagined it in the first place. Some guiltily shrunk back against the crowd and then hurriedly left for the parking lot. Only a handful remained, standing as far away from Roman as the hallway allowed.
Roman removed his shirt, buttoned it up and left the last two buttons undone. He handed it to me and it took me a second to realize he'd made a makeshift skirt for me.
I quickly pulled his shirt under my ruined skirt and made a knot with the sleeves at my waist to hold the shirt in place. I took off my skirt and threw it in the garbage bag, just outside the door.
I looked for my bag and frowned when I saw it slung over Roman's shoulder. My heart was racing. I ran up to catch up with him and a sense of... fulfillment washed over me as I walked beside him.
He pushed my backpack across the back seat of his car and I tried not to blush. I failed.
"What are you doing at my school?" I asked Roman as he reversed out of Port Edward High.
His expression turned hard. "It's pouring buckets."
"So?"
This seemed to horrify him.
"You didn't actually expect me to let you walk in the rain, did you?"
"I've been doing that ever since dad... um... left."
He clenched the steering wheel.
I bit my lip nervously.
He groaned. "Told you that's annoying."
"Then stop making me nervous."
He sighed.
"Why are you always angry with me?"
He glared at me. "You make naive decisions, ones that could get you killed."
"I wish I could die," I laughed, trying to lighten the mood with my joke. "It would solve all my problems."
His eyes blazed. "You think you're funny."
My laughter died and I settled back into my seat. "Would it kill you to be a sport?"
He frowned.
"Oh God!" I threw my hands up in despair.
He didn't answer.
And then I began a string of complaints about how unfair the universe was, how unlucky I was, how much I hate school, how tired I was of being known as the quiet girl in the corner with weird social skills.
He interrupted me with a growl. "Do you have to talk so much?"
I flushed. "Sorry."
And then I started again, unable to stop myself. I was angry, I couldn't believe that Sebastian could embarrass me like that. I stopped suddenly, remembering he preferred silence.
He frowned down at me. "Why did you stop?"
I looked up at him, bewildered. "I thought I was annoying you."
"Quite the opposite, actually."
I frowned.
"Your voice is," he hesitated, taking a huge breath. "Soothing." The last word come out in a rush. He sounded terrified and frightened by the prospect.
My damn cheeks reddened again. I sighed, scowling at the dashboard.
"I hired you again," he said. "...for the next couple of weeks or so."
I turned to look at him. "Why?"
“Because, you’re my Ma...” he sighed. "I don't know." It sounded like he'd just confessed to murder. He was... worried.
I stared back at him, expecting him to look away, but he didn't. My jaw dropped.
"Did you know that your eyes have a gold ring around the iris?"
His lips twitched, fighting against a smile. "I know now."
"Stop being so angry all the time," I told him sheepishly. "It's not very attractive."
He stared at me in disbelief. "No one has been bold enough to tell me that before."
I closed my eyes and it was only then that I could make out the song playing in the background.
My eyes flew open. "An jour tu verras?"
He stared at me in astonishment. "Yes, Ruggero Raimondi."
I smiled and closed my eyes again, relaxing against the seat. I did my best not to acknowledge the sudden jump of my heart for the rest of the car ride, but, since it was pounding louder than the music, I knew he heard.

The next month and a half followed a comforting but frustrating routine.
It easily became familiar to me, the freezing winds, going to campus and handing out assignments.
What came as a surprise was that Roman never tried to have sex with me, particularly bewildering because he paid huge amounts of money and it was astonishing because Roman Reeves wasn't talking to me at all.
Every day I would go back to Jennie's house after school to change and then Bill would drive me to Anton's house. The ride was almost tolerable when I reminded myself of what awaited at my destination. At Anton's I'd knock, open the door and walk in to find Roman sitting on the couch watching the news or something as serious as that, his gaze would sweep over me in the strangest way.
"Hi," I'd always mumble shyly.
He'd acknowledge me with a nod and then ignore me like I didn't even exist. To him I probably didn't. Like always my gaze would travel to his face.
A small part of me wanted to strike up a conversation, to hear his voice at the very least but every time I got close to talking I would chicken out, my cheeks reddening. Roman would raise an eyebrow at my blush and I always dismissed him with a light shrug.