Age Gap Romance by Penny Wylder
Nicola
The door to my lab opens, and I swear that I can tell that it’s Tristan even before I turn around. And my guess is confirmed when hands wrap around my waist. We’re very careful when we’re at work, but he still manages to find small moments to express his feelings. It’s one of the things that I love about him.
It’s Friday again, and I’ve been dreading the weekend. Because on the weekend, it’s harder to hide. There’s no guarantee that I’ll see him like I do during the work week. And I’ve even been staying later than usual. Partially because this orange and basil flavor still isn’t fucking working, and partially because the experience of being fucked on a lab table is one that I really like.
I like it so much that I think it’s worth the thorough cleaning that I have to do when we’re finished.
“How are you?” he asks, mouth finding that elusive crease at my neck and shoulder that never fails to make me shiver.
“Frustrated,” I admit.
“What’s going on?” He lets me go and circles the lab table so that he’s across from me.
I sigh. “It’s just not working. It’s been a while since I’ve had this much trouble with a flavor, and I need to have something by the end of next week for that focus group. If it’s not finalized by then, I’ll probably have to scrap it.”
“Okay, so what’s not working?”
Shaking my head, I hold out the latest custard sample for him to try. “The balance isn’t right. I keep trying to get it so that the orange hits first and then the basil hits as a second wave. So that aromatic sensation is the aftertaste. But it’s not right.”
Tristan lifts the little cup to his lips, and I take the chance to admire his lips, and the way his throat moves as he swallows. I still can’t believe that we’re together and it’s real. But every day that goes by it feels more solid.
“Mm,” he says. “I see what you mean. The transition is a little harsh.”
“Yeah. I’ve tried every ratio that I can think of. Tweaking it down to the literal drop, and it’s still not working.”
He smiles. “I know that I’m not the flavor creator, but can I try something?”
“At this point I’m desperate,” I say. “So yes. Feel free.”
Tristan has spent enough time around me in the lab at this point that he knows where things are kept and the basic procedures. Pulling on a pair of gloves, he comes back around and looks at the latest formula in the computer. One of the best things about this lab is the flavor machine. It has extracts of almost every flavor imaginable, and if it doesn’t have it, we can get it.
It also has an interface where you can arrange the flavors, so it puts together the formula in a molecular pattern so that it hits the way you want it to. And then it will spit it out.
Sometimes I start with mixing flavors by hand while I’m in the initial experimentation phase. It’s fun to get my hands dirty a little bit, and it’s faster.
Tristan doesn’t make too many changes from what I can see, but when I try to look at what he’s doing he just smiles and slides his body so I can’t see the screen. I roll my eyes and grab a drink of water. I sit down at my desk to wait, and it doesn’t take long.
“There,” he declares. “I want to see how that tastes, but if it doesn’t work, I won’t be offended. It’s just an idea.”
“I’m sure it will be great.”
He leans back against the lab table. “Probably not, but at least it gives me an excuse to be in here with you.”
I smile, but I’m starting to feel the exhaustion that’s come with this week. Working on this—and some of the other experimental flavors I’m developing for our expansion—and staying late with Tristan is starting to wear. I wouldn’t take it back for the world, but I’m tired.
And it’s the fact that nobody knows that’s the problem. If people knew, I could just go home with Tristan and we wouldn’t have to work so hard to find time together. I’ve got to tell my dad soon. I have to. I think that he’ll understand. You can’t help what your heart wants, and I want Tristan with everything that I have in me.
“I have a question for you,” Tristan says.
“Sure.”
“You like this job, right?”
I nod. “I really do. Why?”
“I don’t remember this being what you wanted to do.”
“Well, I never really had a solid plan for a dream job. I wanted culinary school, so that’s what I did. And that’s perfect training for this, and it’s so much fun.”
He looks at me in that way he has. The way that tells me he knows that I’m not saying everything. “But?”
I press my lips together without saying anything. There are a lot of thoughts that have been brewing in my head since he’s been back, and I haven’t fully thought through everything. This is dangerous territory that we’re in.
“What’s your favorite thing to cook?”
“I don’t have a favorite thing,” I say, “because my cooking is a lot like this. I love to experiment until I get the perfect result, and then I write it down. I love to cook for people because it’s always a little different, and you get to have that journey with them, whether or not it’s good or bad.”
He nods. “That’s why you like the focus groups.”
“Exactly.”
“But in this setting I imagine you don’t get nearly as much a reaction to your creations as you would like.”
“That’s not true,” I say, immediately protesting. “We get a lot of really lovely letters from people. And some not-so-lovely letters too.”
Tristan crosses his arms. “You and I both know that that’s not the same.”
I sigh, taking another sip of water. “What are you getting at? It’s not exactly like you to beat around the bush.”
“I just want to know if you’re happy here.”
I’m not sure that this is a path that I want to go down right now, but I take a couple seconds to think about it. I definitely enjoy my job, and not everyone can say that. That’s a good thing. But am I happy? Sure. “I’m happy enough. I like being here with you.”
Tristan just cocks his head. “What does that mean?”
“I mean…” I sigh. “I don’t know. I haven’t thought about this too much, so I’m struggling with the words. I do like my job, and I do like the work I do. But now that you’re here, and now that this might actually happen…” I trail off, not sure where I’m going but choosing to push forward anyway. “I feel really lucky that I was in a position to have this opportunity. But I might have been looking for a reason to stay in Leighton City.”
He winces. “Because of me?”
“I was holding on to hope, and I didn’t want to give that up.”
Tristan is very quiet. “I don’t think I’ve said it properly. I am so sorry, Nicola. Walking away like that—even if it was what I felt I had to do—it was wrong. You deserved so much better than that, and I was a selfish asshole not telling you to move on without me. You could have been far away from here by now.”
I frown. “Do you think I regret it?”
“I think that I’m going to continue to find out all the ways that my selfishness affected you.”
Shaking my head, I stand and cross to him. “Don’t take all of that on yourself. It was you, but it wasn’t only you. I was in school for a couple of years after you left, and after, I wasn’t ready to leave. Even if I had known that I would never have a chance with you, I don’t know that I could have gone. This is the place that I’ve always known, and it would have taken me a while to figure this out anyway.”
I lean up on my tiptoes to kiss him lightly, throwing caution to the wind, and the chime on the machine buzzes, startling us both. He smiles then, though it’s still a bit haunted. “Shall we try it?”
“Bottoms up.” I pour two samples from the dispenser and hand one to him. We taste it at the same time. At first it’s the same familiar orange flavor that I’ve perfected—both sharp and creamy, like the orange you might taste in a creamsicle. But then it’s different, the flavor lightens into more citrus, lemony and bright before it fades into the basil.
It’s not perfect, but it’s well on its way. “Holy shit,” I say, beaming at Tristan. “What did you do?”
“Added lemon as the secondary flavor. You need something in the transition, otherwise the two flavors don’t connect.”
“This is really good,” I tell him. “This is something that I can work with.”
“Happy to be of service,” he laughs.
I glance at the clock, and am shocked at the time. I was going to suggest that we steal away to one of the janitor’s closets, but I’m already late. “I’d put you to a different kind of service, but I have a meeting about the Valentine’s Gala.”
“I’m assuming you’ll be attending?”
I nod. “I will be. Jill is even trying to set me up with a date.” A laugh bubbles up through me when I see him deflate. “The meeting is with her. I’m going to tell her that I already have a date arranged. That is, if you’re free that day.”
“You bet your ass I am,” he says. “I think that might be a good time. To tell people.”
It’s my turn to wince. “Maybe. I’m not sure I want that kind of public setting for it, but you’re right, it certainly makes a statement on Valentine’s Day. And believe me, you’re going to like the dress I have picked out.”
He takes a step closer. “I bet that I’m going to enjoy peeling you out of it even more.”
“You’re insatiable.”
“For you? Always.”
I blow him a kiss as I head out the door of the lab. “Thank you for the flavor. I’ll see you later?”
“Count on it.”
The meeting is in Jill’s office which is clear on the other side of the building. I’m relieved that she can take her sexy date and keep him for herself. I’ve already got the hottest date in town.
In my hurry to get out of the door, I forgot to take off my lab coat. I drape it over my arm as I knock on her door. “Sorry I’m late. Had a breakthrough.”
She smiles. “That’s great! Sit down, I’m almost ready.”
I haven’t really talked to Jill in the last week since everything happened, and my instinct is to tell her everything. But I can’t, not if I want to keep this a secret. But maybe I can hedge around who it is and tell her parts of it, because she’s my best friend and I want to brag about my boyfriend.
Besides, Jill and I, despite being close, have only known each other for a couple of years. So she doesn’t know about my history with Tristan the way some of my friend’s from high school do. It wasn’t exactly a secret in my friend group that I was into him. It was all I could think about at one point.
“I was going to tell you, Jill, I have a date for the gala so you don’t need to worry about me.”
She stops typing and stares at me. “Seriously?”
I laugh. “Seriously.”
“Is it just like a date or are you seeing someone?” It’s impossible for me not to blush, and she sees it right away. “Oh my god, Nicola, tell me everything.”
“It’s new,” I say quietly. “I don’t want to say too much yet.”
“But you have to give me something. In the time I’ve known you you’ve never been interested in anyone, so what makes it different?”
I hesitate, not wanting to give it all away. “We’ve known each other for a long time, and we kind of…reconnected.”
Jill chuckles. “If you’re blushing that much just thinking about it, then I’m sure you did.”
“Let’s please talk about the gala and not about my love life?”
“You brought it up.”
I laugh. “Just so you wouldn’t rope some soul into being miserable at the gala with me.”
“You’re round the bend. Any guy would feel fucking lucky if he got to spend the evening with you, and I won’t accept another answer because that’s the only one that will ever be true.”
There’s nothing to say to that. “How are things coming for the party?”
“Good,” she says, while giving me a look that tells me that this discussion isn’t over and will probably continue when we’re not in a work situation. “I think I’ve gotten the decorations sorted. I’ll show you the sketches in a minute. But I was thinking about the charity element.”
“Oh?”
“I know that it’s usually just a donation thing, but since it’s Valentine’s day, I thought maybe we could do something fun. Like a bachelor auction. Maybe like dinner dates but for a good cause?”
I laugh. “That’s a fun idea, who would you get to do it?”
“Well, I have a list. There’s a few hotties on the production line, and I think some of the non-employee guests who are single might go for it. It is Valentine’s Day, after all. There’s one person that I really want to get, but I’m not sure how it will go over.”
“Who?”
“That new guy. Tristan Swallows. I have to say I’m jealous that you guys get to work so closely together cause he is yummy.”
My heart pounds in my chest and I try to not blush, and I’m entirely unsuccessful. But thankfully Jill is too pre-occupied to notice this time. “Why wouldn’t it go over well?”
She smirks. “I googled him cause I’ve got a little bit of a crush. I’m just not sure we should put someone up there when that kind of scandal is the first thing that comes up on google.”
I freeze in shock. “What?”
“It doesn’t seem like it would be a problem since it happened a long time ago, but I still have to think about it. But I know that he would raise a lot of money, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah,” I say. “That’s for sure.”
It’s taking everything in my power for me not to pull out my phone and google this right now, because what the hell happened? Is this what he meant when he said he’d been through stuff that made him want to leave? I can already feel the questions brewing inside me, itching, grating under my skin. “Do what you think is best.”
“Do you think he’d say yes?”
I do think about it, and I think he would. Especially if I promised to buy him, or at least try. Having a date with him that everyone knows about would be amazing and fantastic, and could potentially be the gateway for us coming out as a couple. “Yeah, I think he’d be game.”
Jill smiles. “You know him that well already?”
“Oh, he’s my dad’s best friend,” I say. “They’ve known each other for years, and Tristan just moved back to town.”
My friend’s head snaps up so fast that it makes my head spin. Shit. “He’s your date, isn’t he?”
I could lie and deny it, but the words dry up on my tongue. God, I wish that I could ask Tristan before I do this, but she’s already made the connection. I just nod.
“Holy shit!” she squeals, shoving everything she’s working on to the side and leaning over her desk. “Girl, you have to tell me everything.”
“Before I do, I have to tell you that no one knows. My parents don’t know, and we’re keeping it that way. For now.”
“My lips are sealed.” She makes a locking motion with her fingers. “I promise. But what the fuck? You go from nothing to that hottie? That was fast.”
I allow myself to smile now, my chest easing. I’m glad she knows, because now I can talk about it. “Like I said, we’ve known each other for a long time. I always wanted him, and it was a little…I don’t know, scandalous? I told him that I wanted to be with him the day I turned eighteen. He’d never given any indication of wanting me before that, and I’d never have asked him. The next day he left town and didn’t come back till a couple of weeks ago.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” she says.
I look at her. “Why?”
She clears her throat. “Nothing. It’s fine. I’m happy for you, Nicola. I really am. You deserve someone who sees you for who you really are and have I mentioned how smoking fucking hot he is?”
Nerves bubble in my stomach. This has to be about what she said, whatever she found on the internet. I want to ask, but if it’s really that bad then I’m not sure I want to find out while sitting in her office. “Thank you,” I say.
“What else do we need to figure out for the gala?”
“You’ll ask Tristan?”
I nod. “Yeah, I think he’ll get a kick out of it.”
“Perfect.”
She dives into preparations for the rest of the gala and we go over food and decor and what kinds of our ice cream might be served. Now that Tristan helped me have a breakthrough, I’m hopeful that Orange and Basil might be one of the flavors that we could debut. We go through everything that we can think of until it seems Jill has everything under control. The gala really isn’t part of her job description as our media and PR person, but she loves it, so she volunteers. I help because it’s a big job, and it’s always something that helps our sales and gets us good press for a non-profit event.
In fact, it’s actually becoming pretty big. We have some minor celebrities on the guest list this year and I would love for it to turn into a thing that people travel to Leighton City for. Not only would that help the company, it will help with general tourism and the economy of the city. Need something to do for Valentine’s Day? Come to Leighton City, home of Thompson’s Ice Cream for a romantic weekend.
By the time we’re finished it’s almost five, and I have an idea. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Since my parents don’t know about Tristan and me, it’s been…hard to find time together. I was wondering—”
“If you can use me as an alibi to go get laid with your super-hot new boyfriend? Girl, I got you.” She grins. “Hell, take an overnight bag and tell them that you’re helping me work on the designs for the centerpieces.”
“The centerpieces are done, aren’t they?”
Jill smirks. “Yes.”
“Thank you.”
“Go get some ass.”
I roll my eyes, but I’m grinning as I leave her office, and I pull out my phone. This is going to be a welcome surprise.
