about –”
“Have you already bought tickets?” interrupted Marisa. “Do you have a set date when you’re flying in?”
“Not yet,” Mia admitted. “I’ll do that soon. The professor said he’ll buy me a new plane ticket, so there’s nothing to worry about about –”
“Nothing to worry about? Mia, I know when you’re lying,” said Marisa, giving her a strict look. “You’re terrible at it. You’ve been such a good girl your whole life, you’ve had absolutely no practice deceiving your parents – or me. You’ve never even snuck out to a party in high school . . .”
Mia bit her lip. How did Marisa get to be so observant? This was a big problem. Maybe if she told her a partial truth . . .
“Okay,” said Mia, choosing her words carefully. “Let’s say that there’s something to what you’re saying . . . If I tell you, do you promise not to tell the parents? They’ll worry, and it’s really not necessary –”
Marisa looked at her, her blue eyes narrowed in consideration. “Okay,” she said slowly, “you can always talk to me, baby sis, you know that. I’ll keep your secret . . . but only if it’s nothing life-threatening that parents must know about.”
It actually was something life-threatening, but parents definitely didn’t need to know about that. Mia sighed. Since she started going down this path, she might as well tell her sister something, or else her entire family will be calling in panic within a half-hour.
Taking a deep breath, Mia said, “You’re right. I did meet someone –”
“I knew it!” yelled Marisa triumphantly.
“– and he’s not exactly someone you’d be happy to see me with.”
Marisa stared at her in surprise. “Why? Who is he? Another student?”
Mia shook her head. “No, that’s the problem. He’s older, and he’s not exactly first-boyfriend material.”
“Are we talking about the professor now?” asked Marisa in confusion.
“No, the professor is just the professor. It’s someone else. He’s actually a senior executive in a tech company,” fibbed Mia, trying to stick as close as possible to the truth. “I met him in the park one day, and we’ve been sleeping together –”
“What?” Her sister was gaping at her in disbelief. “Is he married? Does he have any children?”
“No, and no. But I know it’s just a temporary fling for him, so I really didn’t want to go into any details with you and the parents . . .”
As Mia was speaking, a big smile slowly appeared on Marisa’s face. “A fling? Wow. When my baby sis decides to finally lose her virginity, she does it with style! A senior executive no less . . .”
Mia shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about the whole thing.
“What’s his name?”
“Uh, I’d rather not say,” mumbled Mia. “He’ll be leaving in a couple of weeks, and there’s no point in discussing the whole thing –”
“Leaving to go where?”
“Um . . . Dubai.” Mia had no idea why she’d chosen that particular location, but it seemed to fit the story.
“Dubai? Is he from there originally?” Her sister’s curiosity knew no bounds.
Mia sighed. “Marisa, listen, there’s really no point in discussing it. He’ll leave, and that’s that.”
Her sister cocked her head to the side, studying Mia’s face. “And you’re okay with that, baby sis?” she asked quietly. “Your first lover leaving just like that?”
Mia looked away, trying to hide the moisture in her eyes. “He has to leave, Marisa. There’s no choice. It doesn’t matter if I’m okay with it or not.”
“Of course, it matters,” said Marisa. “Do you think he cares for you at all? Or are you just a pretty college girl he’s sleeping with while in New York?”
Mia shrugged. “I don’t know. I think he might care about me a little.”
“But not enough to stay?”