Rejection

‘You did incredibly well,’ he said, and added, ‘For a beginner, I mean.’ They had trained together for the competition over the past few weeks. Derk wanted, as in all the other years, to see where he stood against the best runners of the university, and Vera did it because she could hardly get into her pants after all the beers in the pub. Each morning before the lectures, they had run a few rounds on the tracks or along a stretch of the dike. ‘Well, seriously, you can be proud of yourself. I didn’t think you would persevere.’ ‘I didn’t either! But you really knew how to motivate me,’ said Vera. Derk gave her a wink. Chatting and cycling, they reached the Mortierstraat, where Derk made his famous pasta carbonara. They flopped down on the couch before the tv, dinner plate on their laps. ‘Since you were champ enough to cover the five kilometres within half an hour, the remote control is yours,’ said Derk as he took a bite. Vera zapped dexterously to some crime series or other which Derk always watched. She wished they could spend the rest of the evening together like this on the couch. During the training sessions, Vera had noticed that not only does Derk have a wonderful body, but he is also extremely nice and not as pushy as most of the other young students she met in the pub. With the campus race over, she did not know if they would continue to run together, so tonight had to be the night. While Derk stared at the television screen, Vera moved closer to him until she could feel his warm body through the thin material of her jogging pants. ‘Derk?’ she whispered. Still keeping an eye on the television, Derk turned his head to her. ‘Kiss me!’ Vera screamed inside her. At that very moment, the door swung open and Willem-Jan staggered into the room with a beer in his hand. Vera and Derk jerked away from each other. But Willem-Jan had already summed up what was happening before him and his upbeat mood vanished like snow in the sun. For a moment, a hurt look slid across his face, but he recovered immediately. ‘Yooo peeps, what’s up? he called out, a trifle too jovially. ‘Which girly series are you watching now?’ He nestled himself comfortably between Vera and Derk and took hold of the remote control. After three minutes of uncomfortable silence, Derk stood up and stretched, affording Vera a glimpse of his tight abs. Derk met her gaze with a sidelong smile and said: ‘I’m going to take a shower.’ Willem-Jan saw Vera’s hesitation as to whether to follow him. With a voice dripping with venom, he said: ‘I’m not interrupting anything, am I?’