Nero stayed still but saw how abruptly she turned- as if he’d been about to start swinging. But she plucked the card from his open hand relatively gently after. He grinned at her story “I know the type – I was in business school and I don’t think you get more dramatic than a marketing professor on the day a new coca cola ad drops and it had kendal jenner in it.” He joked “What do you study?”
Lottie let out a laugh at the example and let herself relax a bit more as the man clearly wasn’t after anything and wasn’t the Watch. “I’m a chemistry major – but let’s get back to your marketing professsor, just how many times did he make you watch the ad?”
“My Zia is my Aunt. She’s wonderful.. People seem to find her intimidating but she’s always been like a Mother to me” Celia glows while talking about her family, before adding. “…I don’t know if you would have met her, we’re still yet to have our official welcoming party but she’s Lady Celeste Romano. She and my father are heads of our family. We just moved here over the Summer”
It was obvious that the girl in front of her absolutely adored the woman she was talking about but Lottie couldn’t place her at all. “I don’t believe I have met her. I’ve been away for a few months, well over the summer, so I have clearly missed your arrival. Have you moved from far?”
Cade made a face. “Lab work is pretty imperative though; three days of lab work, especially all in a row could easily equal a missed assignment. And depending on the grading scheme I could see it meaning you missing a key component of the class.” He furrowed his brows. “Why not just do the additional assignment? How hard could it be? And definitely beats having to sit the whole year.”
“I get it’s important but I had a good reason for missing it,” she snapped, not impressed at the grading scheme being explained to her. “I will do the assignment, I haven’t got a choice because there’s no way in hell I’m doing the whole year again. It’s just really annoying and there must have been a different way. He could easily have tagged it onto one of this year’s pieces of work.”
“I have never heard of something so utterly ridiculous. I get they have an attendance policy, but shit.” Nadia shook the other’s hand. “Nice to meet you as well, Lottie. I’ve been here about ten years. I went to the University as well.”
Lottie had resigned herself to having to do the work but it was definitely nice to know she wasn’t the only one who thought it was totally ridiculous. “What did you study at university?”
“That sounds really rough and unfair. Maybe you could email him, ask him what the assignment is supposed to be about?” Daisy sighed, not really sure how to help despite the strong desire to do so. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in school so I don’t really know what protocols are supposed to be in place.”
Lottie shrugged, “I’ll need to contact him, that’s for sure. It’s just a case of hoping that he’s in a good mood when I do and maybe he’ll decide I don’t have to do it or it will be something really short.” She took a drink of her coffee before asking, “What did you study?”
“Both it is then.” She laughed a little bit and moved to grab two boxes to put them in making sure they were safe to travel. “What is it you’re doing tonight if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I have to study. Classes start back at the university next week and there’s some stuff I need to have done in advance and some stuff that I need to revise or I’m going to be totally lost.”
Daisy pursed her lips in thought for a moment before she sipped her drink. “Well, what are you going to do about it? Or just not do the assignment?” she asked, a small furrow forming on her brow. It didn’t seem like a rather good solution in Daisy’s opinion.
Lottie huffed slightly before she replied. “I don’t have an option, I have to do the assignment and he knows it. It sucks though because he hasn’t told me in this letter what the assignment is so I could be walking into anything. I don’t have a choice though.”
“Are they seriously upset about you missing three days? What a bunch of cry babies.” Nadia rolled her eyes and then shook her head. “Sorry for just inserting myself into your business. That was rude of me.” She extended her hand to the other. “I’m Nadia Russo.”
Lottie nodded, rolling her eyes in agreement at the ludicrous situation. “It’s fine. I’m glad to know it’s not just me who thinks it’s stupid.” She readched out her hand to shake the blonde’s, “I’m Charlotte Berdini but most people call me Lottie. It’s nice to meet you. Have you been in Verona long?”
“Accounting. I like numbers. They make more sense than people do, even if people do try to trick them. The numbers don’t lie and can’t be deceived. Not forever” Celia’s answer is probably a little too heavy for the light conversation, but she doesn’t mind before nodding and placing her order for a large cup of green tea with honey and two slices of lemon. “..You’d like my Zia, she’s an agricultural chemist”
Lottie nodded, her eyes wide and not quite sure what the correct response to the interesting explanation really was. “Your Zia?” she asks, looking for further clarification on who they are talking about.
Edmund rolled his eyes and tuned his attention back to his own drink, ignoring the young woman to his side. He had little patience for bratty submissives in his limited free time– especially when he’d only been polite.
Lottie took her drink and began to sip, enjoying the taste and glancing around. She kept catching glimpses of the man beside her as she turned her head and she could appreciate his chiselled features. As she finished off that drink she decided she might as well be nice, especially since there wasn’t anyone she knew in the bar that evening. “Do you want another drink?” she asked suddenly.
Lottie's wild adventure 