Chapter 18: Piropos

Cristian's office was as messy as always. Something was charming about it, the dark wooden walls and the cheap-looking teal metal desk. There were two identical chairs on each side of the desk, each one with a navy blue chevron embroidered cushion. A mismatched chair, a folding metal one, was propped against the wall. There was a lamp that curved over his desk and a tall wooden shelf filled with books.

"Ready?" Cristian asked from beside me.

"As I'll ever be," I answered nervously.

He smiled in a way that was meant to be reassuring.

"She'll be here any minute now," he said and clasped his hands together behind his back. "We thought it would be best considering your experience with the floo."

"Makes sense," I commented as the fireplace roared an emerald green.

McGonagall stepped out of the fireplace gracefully and looked around the office with an unreadable expression before she extended a hand to Cristian.

"Mr. Balaur, I presume," she said cordially before setting her eyes on me, "and Miss Y/L/N. It's nice to see you both."

"You too, professor," Mr. Balaur said politely. "Please, sit down."

McGonagall accepted his invitation and sat on the chair as Mr. Balaur grabbed his extra one and unfolded it for me.

"First of all, Mr. Balaur, I wanted to thank you for opening this opportunity up for Miss Y/L/N. It is greatly appreciated and... well, needed. Your accommodation has been excellent," McGonagall spoke.

"We're glad to help out and get people performing their very best," he responded and knitted his eyebrows together in a way that made him look too invested in the conversation. "Miss Y/L/N has been an amazing addition to the healing team. She even aided in two emergency medical calls last week. She has been very responsible and just as diligent as you described."

"Well, I'm glad to hear it," McGonagall said and glanced at me. "Miss Y/L/N, how have you found it so far?"

"The place is great, and the people are very helpful. I've been enjoying staying here and getting to learn. I've been shadowing a really great Healer, Dmitri," I said, feeling my cheeks grow warm under both McGonagall's and Cristian's gazes.

"Yes," Cristian added, "Dmitri is one of the best Healers the wizarding world has to offer. We are so lucky to have him here and to have him training aspiring healers like Miss Y/L/N."

"I just might want to meet this... Dmitri," McGonagall said before directing her questions back at me. "And you've been keeping up with your studies?"

"Yes, I have. I am either caught up or ahead in everything," I said with a nod.

"And there have been no other issues?" she asked and looked between Cristian and me.

"None at all," Cristian answered.

"Good. Well, Miss Y/L/N, I am very pleased that I have not received any complaints on your behalf," McGonagall said with a teasing smile directed at Cristian as if they shared an inside joke. "I think we made the right choice to send you here."

"I would completely agree," Cristian added.

"Well then, that was hardly worth a whole trip over," McGonagall said and pushed herself up from her chair. "I'm glad to see you excelling again, Miss Y/L/N. Thank you, Mr. Balaur. I will write about setting up our next visit."

"Thank you, professor," Cristian said and shook her hand a final time.

"Thank you," I echoed and stood as she approached the fireplace. She accepted floo powder from Cristian and sent me a warm smile before she was on her way.

"That wasn't bad," Cristian said as the fire died down to its normal orange.

"I guess not," I said and sighed. "I'm glad it went quickly."

"So that we could get to your lesson?" he asked and smiled teasingly at me.

"If that helps you sleep at night," I responded with a chuckle. Cristian leaned against his desk as I sat down.

"Let's see," he muttered to himself and tilted his head back as he thought. "What do you want to learn next?"

"I don't know... something interesting," I said.

"What about some conversational terms?" he asked.

"Sure," I agreed and waited as he thought to himself.

"Usually in language classes, you get to learn pick-up lines. In Spanish, they call them piropos," he said and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You speak Spanish too?" I asked.

"A little," he responded. "I took classes when I lived in America. I just like the term piropos. It sounds better than cat-calling. There's quite a bit here in Romania and it's not always pleasant."

"Well, I haven't ever found cat-calling pleasant."

"Understandable. But it is an important part of cultures. You can tell a lot about a place's culture by how its women are treated," he said and tapped his fingers on his desk.

"I'm down to learn," I said with a shrug.

"Cat-calling is usually associated with negative attention but they can also be compliments under different circumstances," he explained. "So while it might be okay for someone you're familiar with to tell you that you have a nice butt, it would be creepy for a stranger to say it."

"Still creepy when you said it," I laughed.

"Sorry, I was having trouble coming up with an example," he replied with a sheepish laugh as color filled his cheeks. "It's probably important for you to know what these phrases are so that you can be aware of when someone is cat-calling you for your own safety."

"Makes sense, I guess, in a backward misogynistic way," I said.

"Unfortunately, that's the world we live in," he said and shrugged. "These phrases can also be used for romantic compliments. One thing that you should note is that compliments are not as freely used here in Romania. While it may seem normal to compliment people often where you're from, in Romania, typically compliments are not just thrown around. Too many compliments here will make you seem fake."

"Okay," I said and nodded.

"We can start simple. Uh, ești deștept," Cristian said. "You're smart."

"Ești deștept," I repeated and nodded my head.

"Obviously, this isn't necessarily a romantic compliment but it could be. It's more genuine than superficial," he said and tilted his head back to look at the ceiling as he thought. "Ești chipeș."

"Ești chipeș," I repeated and looked at him questioningly.

"Aw, thank you," he said and grinned. "I didn't know you thought I was handsome."

I rolled my eyes but laughed. "You're making me regret this, Cristian."

"Alright, I'm sorry," he laughed and exhaled deeply as he thought. "Zâmbești foarte frumos. Your smile is beautiful."

"Wait, these are all kind of nice," I said and furrowed my eyebrows. "Cat-calling is not nice."

"Well, I don't want to say the gross stuff," he said and wrinkled his nose. "Wouldn't that make you uncomfortable?"

"I don't know. Maybe if it was a stranger but I don't think it would with you," I said and shook my head. "What about a moderately gross one?"

"Fund frumos," Cristian said and winced.

"What's that mean?" I asked.

"Nice butt," he said.

"Nevermind, I'd like to go back to the nice ones," I said.

"That's what I figured," he said and smiled as he thought.

"Sunteți frumoasă," he said and pushed off of his desk.

"What does that mean?"

"You are beautiful," he answered quietly, reaching out to brush his fingers under my chin. Cristian leaned down, and his lips hovered over mine with his icy blue eyes flickering between mine. I turned my head away from him and leaned back.

"Cristian," I whispered. He pulled back, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm sorry..." he sighed and ran a hand over his face. "I read the situation wrong."

"I should go," I said and stood. He turned to look at me and hesitated before nodding.

"I'm sorry. We can forget it happened?"

"Yeah. I'll see you around," I said awkwardly and slipped out of his office, not bothering to put on my coat.

I ran to Charlie's cabin and knocked on the door, bouncing on my heels impatiently. Snow was falling in heavy clumps.

He opened the door, looking at me in confusion.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Can I come in?" I asked, slightly out of breath.

"Yeah," he said and stepped aside. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just have to talk to you," I told him as I kicked off my shoes so I wouldn't track snow through his house.

"Alright. Where do you want to go?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Stop looking at me like that," I said. "It's not anything bad, just something I think you should know." He looked at me expectantly. "Cristian tried to kiss me." Charlie's eyes narrowed. "But I didn't let him. I dodged it."

"He tried to kiss you?" Charlie asked and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yes, but like I said, I dodged it."

"Why did he try to kiss you?"

"I don't know. Ask him," I said and wrinkled my nose.

"No, I mean, what was going on so that he thought that kissing you was a good idea?" Charlie clarified stiltedly.

"We were just doing our lesson," I explained.

"Okay. So maybe you shouldn't do the lessons then," Charlie said and shrugged his shoulders, his rigid body language betraying his aloof countenance.

"I can't just not do the lessons," I scoffed. "Charlie, why are you getting mad at me? I did the right thing."

"Can you blame me for getting upset? I was skeptical of him at first, but I let it go because I trusted you."

"And now you don't?" I asked.

"I don't know," he answered and ran his hands through his hair. "I don't know what happens when you're with him. He's constantly following you around, buying you lunch, giving you extra benefits. For fucks sake, he lets you call him Cristian. Have you seen anyone else call him that?"

"I don't care if you don't trust him, but you should at least trust me. I put everything on the line to come here to be with you. The only difference between being here and being in Salem is that you're here," I said, feeling tears well up in my eyes. "I've got to go."

"Y/N," he muttered and dropped his arms to his sides. "I'm sorry."

I wiped my tears away quickly and sniffled. "It's fine. I'm going back to my cabin," I said and pulled my shoes on.

Charlie sighed and watched me grab my coat. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"I don't know."

Don't be mad at me.