Just One Orgasm!

The email arrived at exactly 9:17 a.m.

Emilia stared at the notification on her phone for nearly thirty seconds, unable to breathe.

"Congratulations." That was an impossible, and life-changing word.

Her fingers trembled so violently that she nearly dropped the phone as she opened the message.

"Dear Miss Emilia Hayes,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Blackwood University under the Presidential Excellence Scholarship....."

The rest blurred.

Her vision clouded with tears before she could read another line.

"No..." A laugh escaped her lips, shaky and broken. "No way."

She blinked furiously, wiped at her eyes, then read the email again, and again. She read it a fourth time, and it didn’t change.

She had done it.

After years of studying beneath flickering lights, surviving on instant noodles, juggling lectures at the community college while working double shifts at a café, after every rejection letter that told her she wasn’t exceptional enough, she had finally made it.

Blackwood University.

The university everyone dreamed about.

The university she had promised herself she’d attend one day, even if she had to crawl through the gates.

Her knees gave out.

She slid down against the tiny kitchenette cabinet until she was sitting on the cold tiled floor, clutching her phone to her chest.

A sob escaped her. She had spent so many years refusing to cry that now she didn’t know how to stop.

The apartment around her was barely large enough for one person. Yet the rent consumed almost everything she earned.

She looked around the room and smiled through tears.

"I’m leaving." The words sounded unreal. "I’m actually leaving."

....

Twenty minutes later, she was standing in front of the cracked mirror hanging beside the door.

She had changed three times. Then changed back into the first outfit of simple blue long tight, a white blouse, and sneakers she’d scrubbed clean the night before.

She felt beautiful.

Hope had a way of doing that.

Her phone buzzed, and it was her Mom

Emilia answered immediately. "Mom."

"You sound different." Her mum noticed immediately.

"I got in." Emilia screamed through the phone.

"You... what?"

"I got into Blackwood, Mum." The words finally sounded real.

Her mother’s breath hitched. "Oh..."

Emilia smiled. "Mom?"

"I told you." A tiny laugh escaped her mother’s lips. "I told everyone my daughter was smarter than all of them."

Emilia laughed too. "You embarrassed me."

"I wasn’t embarrassing."

"You absolutely were."

"I’ll embarrass you even more now."

They both laughed. For a brief moment, everything felt light again.

Her mother sniffled. "I’m proud of you."

The sentence hit harder than the acceptance letter.

Emilia closed her eyes. "I wish Dad was here."

"So do I."

Her father’s absence had become a permanent resident in every celebration. He’d been gone for eight years.

Sometimes it still felt like yesterday, and sometimes it felt like another lifetime.

"You’ll call your boyfriend?"

Emilia smiled. "Actually..." she giggled. "I was going to surprise him."

"Oh." Her mother’s voice warmed. "He’ll be over the moon."

"I hope so."

"You’ve both been waiting for this."

"We have."

"Go." Her mother laughed softly. "Stop talking to your old mother and go celebrate."

"I love you."

"I love you more."

The call ended immediately.

Emilia looked at herself one last time.

She couldn’t stop smiling.

........

Noah loved chocolate croissants. Not the usual ones, but the ones the expensive bakery on Fifth Street made with imported butter.

He always joked that they tasted like "rich people."

She had laughed every time.

Today, she bought two. It cost more than she should have spent. She didn’t care. She also bought his favorite iced coffee too with extra caramel and no whipped cream.

Walking through the city suddenly felt effortless. People bumped into her, cars honked, and someone cursed at a taxi.

None of it mattered.

She imagined Noah lifting her off the ground.

She imagined his smile, and his excitement. Maybe they’d celebrate tonight. Maybe they’d dream about apartments near campus, and their future.

Her phone vibrated. It was a message from Noah. It read, "Busy today. Come over later."

She grinned. This would be perfect. He had no idea.

The apartment complex looked exactly as it always had when she got there.

She stared at the rusting balconies, and the familiar old brick walls with an elevator that never worked.

She climbed the stairs, humming quietly to herself.

When she got to Apartment 3B, she balanced the coffee in one hand and knocked. After the first lnock, she got no answer.

She frowned.

He had texted only thirty minutes ago.

Maybe he was showering.

She knocked again. Still, there was nothing.

Then, she heard laughter from inside. A woman’s laughter.

Maybe that would be his sister. His sister lived just three hours away. She heard another laugh.

The laugh was lower this time, and followed by Noah’s voice.

She couldn’t hear the words, only the softness and familiarity his voice carried.

She reached for the doorknob. It was locked. She knocked again, harder this time.

The inside immediately fell into silence, and then she heard hurried footsteps, and a whisper.

She heard another whisper.

Her stomach dropped.

"Noah?" She called.

She heard nothing.

"Noah." She tried again softly.

The chain lock clicked. The door opened barely three inches, and Noah stood there. His hair was messy, and his breathing uneven.

He smiled quickly. "Hey."

Her own smile faltered. "I..." She lifted the bakery bag. "I wanted to surprise you."

His eyes dropped to it. There was no excitement, or grin in his expression. Not even a kiss.

The apartment behind him smelled strongly of expensive perfume.

Not hers.

A heel appeared briefly on the floor behind him. The heels were red, and high. Then it was gone.

Emilia stared behind him in confusion. Her heartbeat slowed like her body had stopped understanding time.

"Noah." She called suspiciously. Her eyes moved to his neck, and she stared at the red hickey in misunderstanding.

He swallowed. "It’s not what you think."

The oldest lie in the world. She hadn’t even asked a question. Very slowly, she looked past his shoulder, and a woman stepped into view.

She couldn’t have been older than twenty-three.

She wore the perfect makeup, and perfect hair. One of Noah’s oversized shirts hung loosely over her thighs.

The croissants slipped from Emilia’s fingers. The paper bag burst open against the floor, and chocolate scattered across the hallway tiles.

The iced coffee tipped over, and caramel spread across the floor like spilled paint.

The silence became unbearable.

The woman looked embarrassed while Noah looked annoyed.

Annoyed, and not guilty, or ashamed..

"As I said," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, "it’s not—"

"What I think," she completed quietly. "I know."

"So..." She looked at the woman, then back at him. "This is real."

Noah sighed. "Emilia."

Emilia swallowed. "You cheated."

"It happened once." He defended himself immediately. "Can we not do this right now? You’re making a scene."

The woman glanced sideways.

Emilia noticed from the woman’s expression that he had lied again.

She smiled.

A tiny, disbelieving smile. "You know..." Her fingers tightened around her phone. "I actually came here because..."

She stopped.

No, she wouldn’t tell him. He didn’t deserve to hear it first. She doesn’t owe him that knowledge anymore.

Noah frowned. "Because what?"

She looked at him for a long time. Long enough for him to become uncomfortable. Then she bent down, and picked up the acceptance letter that had slipped halfway out of her bag.

She folded it, and placed it back inside. "You’ll find out."

She turned.

"Emilia." He called behind her, curious to know. "Is that another job application?"

She kept walking.

"Wait." He called.

She reached the stairs.

"I said wait!" He yelled, and his footsteps echoed behind her.

She stopped. She wanted to hear what excuse could possibly come next.

"I’m sorry."

She looked over her shoulder.

He actually had the audacity to look frustrated. "You’ve been working all the time." He shrugged. "You were always tired."

She stared.

He continued. "You were never around."

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

"So..." A bitter laugh escaped her. "This is my fault?"

"I didn’t say that."

"You just did."

He chuckled without remorse. "I have needs too."

Everything she had built around him collapsed into dust. For three years, she had skipped meals to save money for birthday gifts.

She had walked home in the rain occasionally so they could afford movie tickets, and worked overtime to help him when he couldn’t pay rent.

She defended him when people called him lazy. She believed him, and loved him.

She nodded once. She had been building a future, and he had merely been enjoying the ride.

Without another word, Emilia turned and walked down the stairs.

This time, Noah didn’t follow.

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