❝ Ṡ𝗶𝚗cₗǟ𝗶ℝ❞

The journey home was slow, but it had more to do with the random snowfall than lines of traffic, and all too soon I was parked. After a quick kiss, Viola climbed out of the car

“I’ll call you, okay?” I called after her.

Viola bent down and looked through the open passenger side window.

“Okay,” she hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” I asked softly.

Viola shook her head. “Nothing. I just... Thanks for yesterday.”

With a smile, I said, “My pleasure. It was lovely meeting your family. Next time, maybe you can come with me to see my mom and dad.”

“Your parents?” Viola said with wide eyes. “Really?”

“Of course. You have no idea how happy it’d make Mom.”

Viola’s expression brightened.

“I’d like that, Sin.”

“Okay. I’ll let you get inside. Don’t want you catching a cold” I chuckled. “I’ll be in touch soon.”

“Sure” Viola stepped back from the car and wiggled her fingers. “Bye.”

After returning her wave, I closed the window and then pulled away. As I  drove, my mind was full of Viola and what came next. I wanted them to spend more time together, just the two of us.

I hope it can happen soon.

The office was busy, and Christmas was right around the corner.

I’ll figure something out.

Once I made it home, I showered, changed into sweatpants and a hoodie, and settled on the couch.

“So tired,” I groaned and raised my shoulders.

With a sigh, I stared at the 3D puzzles on the coffee table. I hadn’t found the time to solve either of them. I picked up the pieces of the dismantled cross and rested them in my lap. I imagined Viola would be able to put them together easily.

Or would she?

Being book-smart didn’t seem as if it would be all that useful. Fishing my cell phone from my pocket, I rang my mother. When she answered, I put her on speaker and lay my phone on the cushion beside me.

“Sin,” she said. “Are you home?”

I examined some of the pieces as I talked.

“Yes, mom. I got back maybe thirty minutes ago. Wanted to wash up first.” I held two of the pieces together as I tried to fit the others around them. “I’ll probably eat, then bring the car back. Is there anything you want me to pick up on the way? I can stop by the store. Food or—?”

“I can’t think of anything. Just bring yourself and the car.”

“Yes ma'am.”

I slotted another piece and, suddenly, felt hopeful about the space remaining to fit the others into.

“Did you have fun?”

“Hmm?”

“It wasn’t work, was it? You said it was a favor for a friend?” There was a hint of curiosity in her voice.

I held the pieces together as I considered what to say.

“No, Mom, it wasn’t work.”

Should I say more?

“And yes, I had an amazing time” I smiled as I remembered.

“Who did you say you were with again? I forget.”

I laughed. “Nice try, but I don’t think I told you anything aside from her being a friend.”

“You’re so much like your father it’s annoying. You’re no fun at all, either of you.”

I twisted the puzzle, surprised when I managed to fit in the last pieces.

“Her name’s Viola,” I said and admired the completed cross.

“Viola. And Viola is just a,” she paused, “friend?”

I held the 3D cross. It was strange how, sometimes, things worked out, came together, and just fit.

“I don’t know” I eyed my cell phone.

Whatever I would label Vie as, it was no longer simply a friend.

“We’re not together, together, Mom. But I asked her out, and she said yes.” Though we hadn’t arranged anything official yet, I was confident in saying, “We’re dating.”

It seemed my mother was lost for words, as she remained silent.

“Are you that shocked?” I swapped the puzzle for my phone, turned off the speaker, and held the phone to my ear.

“Honestly, a little bit” She laughed. “Do we get to meet her?”

I sucked on my teeth.

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

Meeting my parents would probably help put Vie’s mind at ease and her know that I was serious about her.

“Maybe after Christmas? I still have work, and I don’t know what her plans will be for the holidays.”

“Wait,” my mom said. “Are you feeling all right? Did you really just agree to us meeting her?”

I could almost see the dumb smile she most definitely was wearing.

“All right, all right. Do you want me to change my mind?”

“No, no. I won’t tease you anymore. I was just surprised. It’s been a long time since you brought someone over.”

I shuffled to lay on the couch.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had anyone to bring” I stared at the ceiling, a smile curling my lips as I thought about Viola.

I have a good feeling this time, about things working out, about her.

“You can interrogate me more later when I bring the car over. I’m going to go make a sandwich.”

“Sounds good. See you later, baby.”

“Bye.”

I stared at my phone after I hung up. Was it too soon to contact Vie?

I wanted to see her.

So I sent a message to Viola because I at least wanted to put the idea out there.

Me: Let’s get coffee soon.

***

❝ꪜ𝒊𝐨ŀꪋ❞

Coffee didn’t happen the next day, or the day after, although Sinclair messaged at odd moments—about the snow, Christmas,  Mars, or how much he was looking forward to a next date.

I couldn’t help but think that Sin was very busy proving he wanted to date me. But between our chat and the kissing, I had already worked that out for myself. Which was handy, given that all I wanted to do was date Sinclair Bergman.

I loved receiving every single message, but they always appeared when I was busy, or when my thought process was taken up with chemicals and equations. I always meant to get back to them, assumed that Sin would understand why I wasn’t responding, then worried that Sin wouldn’t understand at all.

Which was why I was pacing my small apartment and fretting about how to be a girlfriend.

“I’m not very good at this,” I announced to Marcelina, who was on the phone with her friend. “Mars? I’m not very good at this,” I said louder, forcing her to stop talking.

“Saint? Iʼm err... Iʼm going to have to call you back. It seems I have a code red.”

What?

I groaned as Mars ended the call and reached for the coffee at her side, sipping it and wrinkling her nose in distaste.

“How did it get so cold?”

“It’s the thermic process—”

“Rhetorical question, Einstein” She placed the mug back on the table and faced me. “Wassup?”

“Sin is messaging me. Sending me pictures of... things.”

Mars raised an eyebrow.

“Things? What kinds of things? Actually, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”

“Look at this” I shoved my phone under Mars’ nose, and she covered her eyes.

“Shit. Is it his junk? I genuinely don’t want to look at Sinclair’s junk right now.”

“No, no, it’s a cat wearing a reindeer hat. Look!”

“If that’s a euphemism for Sin with antlers on his cock, I will kill you” she opened her eyes and peered at the card. “Aww, that’s kinda cute.”

“I don’t know what to do with it,” I said. “I mean, do I need to find an animal wearing a Santa hat to send back to him? I tried to find one, but there is a joke with his; read it.”

She took the card with its sad cat wearing knitted antlers front and center.

“So, the cat is saying; ‘What do you mean Santa has enough reindeer?’” she chuckled. “Yeah, I can see the joke with the cat’s sad eyes” She glanced up at me who stared back because I really needed her to be specific with her advice. “It’s funny.”

“Is it really though? Because the only other picture I found was of a puppy, and there was no joke. It was just a puppy in a Santa hat.” I blew out a breath. “Should I send him something with a joke? It’s all so confusing.”

“Sit down,” Marcelina said and pointed at the chair opposite her.

I took the seat and shuffled to face my friend, waiting for the wisdom to be given.

“You’re overthinking this, and you only overthink things when your brain is already going a million miles an hour. So, what’s up?”

“Nothing, work is good. However, a whole new set of results came in, which is interesting because—”

“Okay, so work is good,” Mars summarized quickly. “Are you worried about this thing with Sin? He’s one of the good guys, you know.”

There was so much to tell Mars. From taking Sin home to meet my family, to stopping at the hotel on the way back, to possibly the most erotic experience I’d ever had. And to the fact that now Sin and I had slid into some kind of relationship that involved sending each other cute pictures.

We were dating, right?
But was it actually a relationship?
What even was a relationship?

We hadn’t managed coffee yet, but every time Sin messaged me, I was knocked sideways by the force of the feelings inside me.

So how to sum all that up?

“Yesterday, I was running a timed experiment, working within the properties of... you don’t need to know that. Anyway, my phone vibrated, and I actually looked at it. Just to see if it was from Sin. And it was. It was that cat wearing the antlers, and it made me smile, and Denzel wanted to know what was so funny about single and double replacement, and I had to explain to him that there was nothing funny about single and double replacement, and he did this weird face thing” I gestured to my face and frowned. “So, I stopped talking about the photo and went back to my experiment. But I really love it that Sinclair is sending me these things, and I’m sending things back, and I really want to have coffee with him. So actually, I think we’re dating, and the Sinclair thing is going okay, in its own way.”

Marcelina smiled.

“That’s great news. So, if it’s not work, and it’s not Sin, then what else is making your mind run a million miles an hour?”

I rested my chin on my fists and stared at my friend.

“Open doors. Marvin at prom. I can’t figure things out, and I think I’m supposed to be figuring it out. Like, when Marvin came into the bathroom, and it was just him and me, he seemed softer, as if he wanted to say something to me. But that all changed when Zephyr and Jason barreled in after him, and I saw something in his expression that I just can’t forget. I just don’t know what it was.”

Mars reached for my phone, and typed out a quick message, pressing send before I could even ask what she was typing.

“What did you send?” I asked. “Was it the puppy thing? The one without a joke?”

Before Mars could answer, my phone lit up with a reply, and she turned the phone so I could read. The message that Mars had sent was to Sinclair and was to the point.

Me: Want to meet up and drive to fix something? xx

The reply was sweet and direct.

Sin: Fix something? Sounds ominous. Sure. Pick you up in thirty? I’ll bring coffee. xx

There were returned xxs and I felt all warm inside. Then it hit me what Mars had done.

“Wait, I told you that Sin and I are okay. You don’t need to arrange dates for me. I know I’m not answering his messages as much as I should, but he knows—”

Mars leaned over and flicked my forehead.

“Get Sinclair to drive you to wherever Marvin works or lives. Talk to the guy, and close the door. Then you can let your big brain cool down. Also, drink coffee with Sin, and talk to him. And maybe enjoy that, for the first time, you’re more interested in someone, rather than chemical equations.”

That made me smile. And I nodded.

“You're right.”

“When am I not?” Mars rolled her eyes with a smile.

I'm going to do just that.