Cadence thought for a moment. “I like when Mark leads. Does that make me a weak woman? That I like feeling protected and taken care of?”
“Absolutely not. I think it’s natural,” Fanny replied. “But don’t discount your own strength, Cadence. The things you bring to that relationship. Mark needs you. Does that make him weak? No. He recognizes the void in his heart and needs you to fill it. Just like you recognize your need to be protected. Neither of you are weak. If anything, recognizing those needs makes you stronger individuals.”
“You should be a teacher,” Cadence said.
“I was,” Fanny replied. She stared off past Cadence’s cheek to a spot in the distance. “Many years ago.”
Silence descended on the tiny kitchen. Cadence didn’t think it was appropriate to talk just then. Fanny was thinking of something in her past, and it was important to let her reminisce.
“I taught history,” she said suddenly.
“History?”
“Yep. American history.”
“Why didn’t you tell me when I told you my course schedule? Could have been coming over here to let you do my American history homework.”
“Cute,” Fanny replied. “Are you doing okay?”
“I’ve got an ‘A’,” Cadence said.
“Then why do you need my help?”
“Oh, it’d just be one less thing I’d have to do—my history homework, that is,” Cadence said.
Fanny chuckled. “Mark is really lucky to have you in his life. Think he knows it?”
Cadence laughed. “I’ll let you know if I go home and dinner’s already made.”
“Ha!”
Cadence stayed another hour, chatting with Fanny about her deceased husband. She shared hilarious stories of their first few months of marriage, and Cadence took mental notes. She wasn’t married to Mark, but she lived with him, so everything Fanny explained to her applied.
She returned home to the delicious aroma of soup. It filled the entire apartment and made her stomach growl as soon as she walked through the door. The dining room table was set. A candle was lit. Glasses of wine had already been poured. Fresh flowers sat in the center of the table.
She pulled out her cell phone and called Fanny.
***
Cadence turned left out of the elevator. She wandered down the dorm hall looking for Room 24. But the numbers were too low, and she realized she went the wrong way. She was just about to turn around before glimpsing a message left on a tiny whiteboard attached to someone’s door:
“Student union at 5 sharp. Got someone I want you to meet. – Lindsay”
Cadence stared at the smiley face beside the word “meet.” She wondered if it was a blind date set-up and if Lindsay’s friend would be happy about it. She knew Michael was waiting, but she decided to read a few more messages.
She strolled the hall in no particular hurry, stopping at each door, reading the notes of students who were experiencing college in a very different way from her. She had no idea how long she stood in front of Room 8 staring at the hearts someone drew on the board. She had no idea why she couldn’t control her impulse to draw her own hearts, and reached for the pink marker hanging by a string. She gripped the marker like it was her lifeline to this other world.
She traced the outline of a heart in the lower corner of the board, then colored it in carefully.
“Hi?”
Cadence jumped back, dropping the marker. It slapped against the door in the deafening silence of the hallway.
“Do I know you?” the girl asked, pulling her room key from her book bag.
Cadence shook her head.
The girl furrowed her brows. “Do you, like, just walk around writing on people’s boards? Because that’s weird.”
Cadence shook her head. Again.
The girl smiled sweetly. “Are you lost?” she asked in a gentle, condescending tone. “Can you speak?”
“Oh my God!” Cadence cried. She turned and headed in the opposite direction.
“Wait!” the girl called. She caught up to Cadence. “Hey, wait a minute! I didn’t know, okay? I mean, you don’t look ‘special,’ but how was I supposed to know? I mean, what were you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“You were drawing a heart on my board,” the girl pointed out.
“Then why did you ask me if you knew already?!”
“Because I’m trying to figure out why some random chick is drawing a heart on my board.” She paused for a moment, realization lighting her face. “Ohhhh.”
“‘Ohhhh’ what?” Cadence asked.
“I’m not, like, gay or anything. I mean, I experimented with a girl, like, two weeks ago, but it just wasn’t my thing. I mean, she was a good kisser and all, but I like guys. That’s not to say I have any problem with you being gay.”
“I’m not gay,” Cadence said evenly.
“Then I don’t get it.”
“Just don’t worry about it. I’m sorry I drew on your board,” Cadence replied. She sprinted down the hall until she found Room 24. She banged on it until Michael opened.
“What the hell, Cadence? Is someone after you?”
“Move!” she said, shoving him aside.
“What’s going on?”
Cadence sank down on his bed and buried her face in her hands.
“I’m so embarrassed!”