Lucas (LITEROTICA POST STOPPED HERE.)
I'd slept much longer than 30 minutes. I leaned forward, groaning at the movement. I flicked my wrist, taking a quick look at my watch.
5:18. Shit.
I checked the phone; the alarm failed to set.
Useless.
While Franz had been singing my praises, he mentioned a staff mixer being held at the nearest lecture hall at 5:30, and I had slept through the entire afternoon. I hadn't even managed to log into the campus wifi on my phone.
I stood quickly, exiting my office and the classroom, heading to a bathroom on the floor. After using the facilities, I washed my hands, then splashed my face with some cold water carefully, as not to get any on my suit jacket, before buttoning it up.
I looked in the mirror and reflected on the day. The 9 hour flight, the mixup with the luggage, getting the luggage into the campus accommodations--a nonstop rush. The day before, I had to sell the property in Berlin, and the day before that, I had to clear out my office at the university.
I needed a bed, desperately. Franz had asked me if I'd rather come in on Monday, but I just had to see her.
She still looked like I remembered her. Soft and curvaceous. 5 years seemed to have graced her with even more beauty, her figure more defined, her ass jiggled a bit more than I remembered as she mounted the stairs.
Jiggled more than when she would mount me.
Men have done worst things for love than leave an esteemed career opportunity behind. I should've never left New York in the first place. Berlin was beautiful, the women were lovely, but they weren't
her
. I needed
her
, and I couldn't imagine a reality where she didn't feel what I felt when we were together.
I headed down the stairs quickly. The lecture hall was in another building across the square. The halls were silent now, the sun setting fast. I crossed the courtyard, the sound of laughter and polite chatter becoming louder. I reduced my pace to a stride and caught my breath.
Checking my watch again, it read 5:29, but the event was in full swing. I headed through the large double doors, greeted by several curious faces.
"Ah! There he is!" Franz put out a hand and beckoned me over.
"Franz!" I wonder what he made of my acting skills earlier in the afternoon.
He knows we know each other. We held study groups in his room after his last lecture. Maybe he just doesn't remember...or maybe it's too entertaining to interfere.
"Lucas, this is Doctor Armond Wilks, professor of Organic Chemistry over at the Greene building!" He motioned to a tall black man in a grey suit. I shook his hand. "Nice to meet you." Wilks nodded. "Franz has told me a lot about you, heard you ran track back in the day. What's your best?"
"400 meter in 57 seconds; 800 in 2:15."
"Great! We've got a little crew here on campus, you should join us next Tuesday." He shook my hand again.
I nodded. "I'll see you there." It felt good to jump right into things.
Franz shuffled me over to his next victims. "Here are our star physicists, Dr. Ananya Gita, nuclear, and her brother, Dr. Rajesh Gita, quantum. Isn't that just grand!"
Ananya smiled. "You went to Harvard, right? I remember you! No surprise you're a linguist now, did you ever get around to learning Hindi?"
I'd made a very weak attempt earlier in the year. "Thoda sa," I replied, pinching my fingers together. Her brother chuckled.
"Ah, and of course you
met
Dr. Elaise earlier, this is her
boyfriend
, Peter Cruz."
His emphasis on those two words led me to believe he knew exactly what he was doing.
Stirring up shit.
No one knew about Dawn and I, this I knew for a fact. Maybe the girls who resided on Dawn's floor, but a quick sweep of the room told me that none of those women were here, and even if they were, they sure as hell wouldn't go running to Franz.
All he
did
know was that she and I put up an act. If he pressed the issue, I'd just say it's to promote a sense of professionalism in the department. What they don't know won't hurt them.
I looked over at her boyfriend and felt him sizing me up. I returned his look with my own blank one, giving nothing away.
What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Because there's no way she told him about the things we did. The things
I
did. The way it made her feel.
------------------
Lucas
"Lucas." I put out my hand.
"Peter." He accepted it, shaking firmly.
Very firm.
He was tall, conventionally attractive but simple. What does she see in him?
"Babe!" I fought not to turn my head when I heard her voice.
Babe?
I felt rage simmering to the surface. Upon meeting him, I could tell he was insecure. This was not the man for her. I couldn't feasibly expect her to have been single for 5 years, but him...
He's just not
right
for her.
A little voice inside quipped back, seething.
So, who is?
I am.
"Hey sexy," he stated, quite loudly. As soon as she was close enough, he wrapped his arm around her, gripping her hip, lips at her ear.
She was obviously incredibly uncomfortable, embarrassed by his little display.
Especially since I've done the same thing and got a completely different reaction.
She wouldn't meet my eye.
How could she let this man touch her? Have her?
Dawn pushed his hand away. "Peter, please," she whispered, looking around to see if anyone noticed.
He looked at me, anger flashing in his eyes before he quickly regained his 'composure': a neutral, yet dismissive expression.
Franz had long disappeared, no doubt watching the exchange from afar. Academia was far too polite for anything to come to pass, but everyone loves drama, and Peter was really fucking testing me.
I turned to Dawn and smiled. I had to choose my words carefully, or she'd be hearing about this later, no doubt. But I wanted the mere possibility of me having her seared into his brain and leave him wondering,
what if?
"How has Columbia been treating you?"
She returned the smile, Peter watching our exchange, a frown growing. "It's been great! The students are great, I've been developing a new curriculum and I'm excited to see how it performs this semester." She opened her mouth to say more, but saw the look on his face, and decided not to.
Prick.
Peter spoke up, rather aggressively. "Why did you leave Germany?"
My eyes flicked over to him. "Columbia gave me an offer I couldn't refuse."
"PhD alumni, first year teaching, acclaimed position--how good could the offer be to derail your career?" Dawn looked at him with disbelief. Turning back to me, her eyes apologized profusely.
I hoped she could see the message behind mine. I
owe you an apology for leaving. If I hadn't, you wouldn't be with him.
I turned to him and answered frankly. "Associate Director."