Teacher's Girl (Aflyingwhale)

EMMA’s POV : For the first time in eight months, I typed his name into a google search.

A few things came up.

There was an article in The New Yorker about the gallery’s grand opening.

The article praised the exhibition, calling it a creative space for international contemporary art lovers.

There was also a picture of lan and Ally, standing together in front of the gallery with Mayor de Blasio.

They were smiling from ear to ear.

They sure made a great looking couple.

That was painful to see.

The article even called them ' the power duo’, New York's hottest art lovers.

I put my phone down and immediately regretted my decision.

I should have never googled an ex.

Ever.

But I was stubborn.

After my friends went back to the States, I was alone in my apartment again and I was forced to deal with my feelings.

There were still a few days left in the holiday, so I had no excuse to be busy with school or the internship.

In my desperate, boredom stage, I ended up googling his name again.

This time, I found Ally’s social media page.

lan had deleted his Instagram profile ages ago, right around when we started dating.

He wanted to keep himself and his activities hidden from the world.

He also never liked the idea of social media in the first place.

But finding Ally’s Instagram page was like finding a land mine.

Her page was filled with pictures of her and lan.

Ian looked...great, of course.

His hair was longer and his jaw was scruffier.

He wore a lot of suits now and he looked amazing in them.

His tattoos would peak out of his collar and I remembered how much I enjoyed running my fingers through his inked skin.

Ugh! I need to stop! We just entered a new year and this year my resolution was to stop pining over my long lost love.

Stalking his girlfriend’s instagram page wasn't gonna help my case.

I threw my stupid phone on the bed groaned into a pillow.

I'm so pathetic! I can’t keep living like this! I have to do something! Suddenly, I was hit with an idea.

I grabbed my phone again and stared blankly at the screen for a few seconds.

Not wanting to overthink things anymore, my finger tapped the screen several times and I got right to work.

This was probably not one of my brightest moments.

I just download Tinder.

For a while, all I did in that app was swipe people.

Swiping left, swiping right, it was just something to entertain myself.

I wasn’t in any mood to find love, especially not on Tinder in a foreign land.

I was just bored, honestly.

And looking at these guys’ faces on my screen was a safe way to remind myself that there are other people out there.

There could still be a future for me after lan Hayes.

Sometimes the guys I matched with would send me messages and they could be flattering.

They were a great confidence boost, and I would leave it at that.

But some days when I got super bored, I ended up replying to their messages.

I didn't think of much of it.

I only downloaded the app for fun anyway.

But after talking to several guys for a few weeks, the idea of meeting one of them seemed enticing.

"I don’t have to marry the guy, I’m just looking for friends,"

I said to myself.

So one day in early March, I agreed to go on a date with this guy, Olivier.

a sweet guy with beautiful eyes, and we bonded

agreed to meet at this bar not too far from my

quickly learned was that

his pictures and he seemed like a genuine guy on the phone, but as soon as we met that night,

say, it wasn’t a

was too naive going into this date thinking that ms nA

famous for? No, not

talking about the

in France was more than an

were more than willing to indulge in

French men were

men in the city, but I was

side more openly than guys

men showing their feminine side were often considered

vocal about their love for art and

forward or mushy,

down my throat did not scream

I don't think this gonna

said as I pushed

I gathered my purse and stood

"Something wrong?"he asked.

to ask, I don’t even know where to begin.I smiled politely at him

for him to say another word, I turned to my heels

at night and I didn’t feel like walking home alone,

was waiting for my Uber in front of the bar, when suddenly a tall

"Tough night, eh?"he greeted.

"Excuse me?"

the looks of it, you could use some of this,"he lent out a pack

good, thank

"You are an American?"

"Yes,"

are

"Georgia originally,"

thought you're from Tennessee.Because you're the

"Only ten I see?"

I laughed drily.

eyes met and we laughed at the

English was pretty good

"What's your name?"he asked.

"Emma,"

Jacques,"he put his hand out to

pull away, however, he

tension in the

tell me, aside from being drop-dead gorgeous, what do you for

of college.I'm on an exchange program,"I

mistake.I thought you

"Why?"

my eyes

every time I look at you, everyone

help but laugh a

"Are you always this...cheesy?"

the one who's made

"What?"

looking Gouda

"Stop!"

rolled my eyes at

I can keep

both said this

and we smiled appreciatively at each other’s

like we both somehow clicked

moment, my Uber pulled up in front of the bar and I

I

"Wait, before you go,"

me if you want me to take you

was funny yet

how to respond to that, so I just said, "You're

the end of that night, I did agree on getting dinner with him

weird meet-up with Olivier at that bar, I hadn't been on a proper date with a guy other than lan

that as going on a date since we mostly stayed in his apartment

the last time I went

surprisingly a very

date, we got dinner at this romantic

out that he

me? Anyway, we took a walk along the river after dinner and we talked about everything from music

could hold my hand

about a twenty five year old guy asking to hold my hand

Elliott and I went to the Carnavalet Museum and took

the time we got to the garden, so the place

him about it, he calmly responded with, "I keep looking at your

did kiss that

the garden

was just a short, sweet

I wouldn't forget it

took a day

with a castle, historical towns, vineyards, and fruit

wine tasting in the vineyard and Elliott kept

could try it and he proceeded with kissing me on the lips, parting my mouth open with the tip of his tongue, and a slurp

very smooth with