Prose: A Turn of Tide

  “Hey, I have a work thing tonight… My dissertation prof is throwing a small party. He’s an older British gentleman, so I promise there won’t be anything weird or feeling you up.” He had thrown in the puppy dog eyes for good measure as well as an awkward shuffle with the flowers still in his hands. She had gone and slammed the door in his face. After being chased incessantly for months now by the blond man, it was reflex? Still… it was not excusable in any way. Raven sighed. A trickle of guilt wormed into her chest as she cringed slightly upon the memory of how loud the slam was. That was actually rude on her part. Despite his unwanted (unwarranted and illogical) advances, she had to give it to him for his tenacity. This time, for the first time, there was this uncharacteristic softness to his voice as he asked, wincing slightly as he did. There was none of that arrogance and sleaziness which accompanied every one of his previous attempts. She heard something there that wasn’t there before but she couldn’t quite pinpoint what exactly it was.  A breath was exhaled softly and a hand reached […]