Realization

[Arcadio Buendia]

When Arcadio had met Cora, it was not supposed to be anything more than a one night stand. He met her at the bar, they bought each other drinks, exchanged numbers. She ended up going home with him to his brand new apartment, rented so his cousin Oscar could have somewhere to stay until he got his own place. Oscar was rarely home, and Arcadio usually had the place to himself. So, the one night stand turned into booty calls. Arcadio never had an absence of beer or liquor, so he'd text Cora, "drinks?" and would offer to pay her cab fare to come over for the night (he was always too drunk to drive). It had only been going on for a few weeks, but Arcadio was crazy for her. He knew it was stupid to let his heart be taken so quickly, but waking up in the middle of the night to find her still in his bed was the highlight of his week.

It all came crashing down around him that morning. He had spotted Cora on campus. She hadn't seen him, because he flushed bright red with shame and hurried away, but he could recognize her anywhere. He was distracted and upset for the rest of the day, but fielded any well-meaning questions by brushing it off as being tired.

As soon as he got home at the end of the day, he texted Cora to come over immediately. "We have to talk," he said in the text. "I've got the cab. Come ASAP."

And now, he was just waiting for her to arrive. For the knock on his door. For the conversation that could end one of the only good things in his life at the moment.

She knocked on his door. Arcadio's heart froze, but he got up to answer it.

[Cora James]

With a glance at her vibrating phone, the brunette's brow furrowed gently, but any notion of distress was completely and utterly lost on her. She had learned a long time ago not to take anything in stride and not let herself worry over things without knowing if she really had to. She didn't see the point in responding to the text, but figured it would be rude not to, though, she didn't owe her new booty call any forms of commitment. She could only hope that he felt the same way.

Stepping out of the cab, Cora walked towards the door leading to Arcadio's apartment. Once she stood outside the door she raised her hand to knock. Once it opened, though, she swooped to walk underneath his arm and into the apartment, immediately starting the process of buttoning up her white blouse while kicking off her shoes in the process.

"You know," she started, opening another button. "You don't have to be so cryptic - if you want a booty call, you can just say that," she continued as she pondered - the couch or the bedroom?

[Arcadio Buendia]

She walked into his apartment like she owned the place, kicking her shoes off and unbuttoning her shirt. Arcadio was sure that his blood pressure was shooting through the roof. He closed the door and went to her, catching both her wrists to stop her from undressing.

"No," he said, "Just wait." He could feel her pulse in her wrists through his finger tips, a faint beating. She was beautiful. Regret made his chest tighten. How had he never realized that she was a student before? Cora was younger than him but he had never considered exactly how young she was. They met at a bar, so he assumed she was at least 21. This was obviously not the case.

"I know you're a student," he said softly, dropping her wrists. He stepped away from her, shoving his hands into his pockets. He wanted to keep his distance. This was an ethical issue. He had never taught her (or else they wouldn't be in this predicament) but he felt that he couldn't go on seeing her now that he knew the truth. "I saw you on campus. I teach there. You never told me you were a student."

[Cora James]

Cora's eyes narrowed at the sudden touch - or rather, the sudden touch of a kind she wasn't used to receiving from the older man. She looked at him, curiosity tinting the corners of her eyes. He told her to wait, so she did. Still, her eyes couldn't quite stop watching him - curiosity slowly mixing with apprehension.

He wasn't about to do something as stupid as confessing, was he? No, of course not. He knew as well as she did what they had going on here... Didn't he?

At last, what had seemingly brought on this behavior came tumbling through his lips and Cora found herself staring at him, her expression equally deadpan as well as humorous. She couldn't quite help thinking 'so what?'. Still, she allowed him to finish. "You never told me you were a teacher," she countered with a simple shrug. It was nothing if not apparent that the young woman didn't see the issue. Who cared what he or she did - what they were or what they weren't? If his morals hadn't stopped him from sleeping with a younger woman, what did this matter?

Placing her hands on her hips then, she cocked her head. "Are you getting undressed, or what?"

[Arcadio Buendia]

Arcadio stared at her, dumbfounded. "What?" he rumbled when he finally found his voice. Get undressed?? "Now that I know you're a student, this is an ethics problem!"

He motioned at her with his hands, distress clear on his face. He was momentarily lost for words. How could this not concern her? He held a position of authority. Even though she was above the legal age of consent, it was iffy. Arcadio felt some of his old self-hatred begin to bubble up in his head. How could he fuck up so badly? He let his dick do the thinking at the bar the night they met, and that was obviously a mistake.

"How old are you anyway?" he said. He managed to keep his voice from cracking. He needed to keep calm. He had to think about this rationally.

[Cora James]

Rolling her eyes then, Cora quickly realized that this was a problem that wouldn't go away. At least, not quickly enough. Sighing, she walked over to the couch and sat down, arms crossed and eyebrows arched defiantly.

"Look," she began, tilting her head. "You didn't care to ask about my age when we first met, so I honestly don't see why it matters now." She held her hand up, as if to stop him from interrupting her. "If you're having second thoughts, that's fine, but don't act as if I'm the one in the wrong here, because honestly-" she looked at him, eyes narrowing. "-that's bullshit."

[Arcadio Buendia]

At her words, Arcadio recoiled mentally. He almost showed his reaction outwardly, but he had more of a grip on his emotions than he initially thought. He could feel her annoyance creeping into his head.

"I'm not saying that it is your fault," he shot back. Fuck, he wasn't blaming her at all. He was most certainly blaming himself.

"If this ever gets out, I could lose my job," he said. This time, a note of panic tinged his words.

[Cora James]

Rolling her eyes, the brunette bit down on the remark that threatened to bubble through her lips. Growing defensive and snarky likely wasn't the response Arcadio was looking for. Besides, he already looked about one step away from freaking the fuck out.

"Then this would all be solved if we make sure it doesn't get out, right?" At least she was trying to stay reasonable, though, she wasn't interested in this kind of drama. She wasn't sure if it was worth it for a booty call - even if said booty call happened to know exactly what he was doing.

[Arcadio Buendia]

Arcadio paused, Cora's suggestion sinking into his brain. "Not let it get out," he said slowly, letting the words roll around in his mouth, as he considered it. He looked at her as he thought. His heart beat began to slow from its panicked rhythm, his mind wasn't racing as fast as it had been. God, was she ever beautiful. Her eyes were intense. They were what had drawn him in at the bar when they first met. She made eye contact with him on the dance floor, and in that moment he knew that he had to try to pursue her. 

Christ. This was probably a bad decision. He knew what he was supposed to do, but deeper down, he knew what he was going to do. He wondered briefly if Cora knew how easily she could manipulate him, if she wanted to. She was tough, and as intense as her eyes, but that hypnotized Arcadio more than anything else. "We would have to be extremely careful," he said in a low voice, speaking in the hypothetical, not wanting to admit that he had given in so easily.

[Cora James]

"Finally," she sighed, throwing her hands up. "It's the first sensible thing you've said all night." She rose to her feet then, arms placed on her hips. "Can we get on with this then, or are you going to act as if the entire world is about to crash over your head, because honestly, I'm sick of talking about it." Maybe she wasn't being fair. Maybe she was being selfish about it, but really, she hadn't gone into this wanting any of the drama that followed.

This was the sole reason Cora didn't do relationships. Booty calls gave her the same satisfaction, just without all the drama and fights. Relationships were constrictive and they had too many rules.

She didn't need, nor want that.

[Arcadio Buendia]

Arcadio bristled slightly at her tone. He could feel how annoyed she was, and it was rubbing off on him. First sensible thing? Really? Best case scenario, he would lose his job with a quiet dismissal. Worst case scenario, he would get slapped with a sexual misconduct law suit by the Bellefonte administration. He didn't think that he was overreacting in the slightest. 

Maybe this little argument was one by-product of their age differences. Arcadio had, not a cooler head, but more experience. Having made a lot of the morally dubious decisions a person could make, Arcadio knew that this decision to keep sleeping with Cora wasn't the absolute worst thing he could do. He could be shooting dope again. He could be drinking more than he actually did. He could be trying meth for the first time.

Buuuut. A little nagging voice still piped up in the very back of his head. Although not comparable to smoking meth, Cora certainly wasn't the smartest way to go.

Mentally pushing that voice to the side, Arcadio looked back at Cora. All of his, and her emotions that he had absorbed, were under control. "Beer?" he asked.