The courtyard was empty but for autumn leaves and the occasional squirrel. Every so often, the main door to the dormitory would open for students, but besides that, there was not much liveliness.
Connor kept his eyes on that door, barely paying attention to the book on the table in front of him.
His investigation into Kayla's infidelity had been on hold since Thursday. Friday had been spent mostly working on his thesis, and while the weekend had been busy, Kayla had been with him for the majority of it.
But as he had thought through her daily schedules, he had pinpointed more times when he was unaware of her location, either because she did not volunteer the information or because he never thought to ask.
After lunch on Mondays was one of those times. He himself had a mid-afternoon class, so he was busy for an hour and a half, but there existed a four-to-five hour stretch where he had no idea where she might be, from lunch until her night class, after which they would usually have dinner together.
So, here he was, sitting in the first floor common room of his dormitory, which was conveniently right across from hers, letting him keep watch on the front door. There was still over an hour left before his class, which gave him plenty of time to wait and verify his assumption that she would sneak off for an afternoon rendezvous with the stranger from the video. She had parted ways with Connor roughly ten minutes ago, and he had hurried up to his room to drop off his bag before hurrying right back down.
Hopefully, she didn't just leave right away. And now, she can't exactly sneak out...
The thought trailed off, and a sudden panic struck him.
Crap! The back door!
He sprang to his feet, abandoning the book, and dashed for the door.
Moving quickly and quietly, he slipped through the courtyard, and past the main door of her building, winding around to reach the back.
There she is!
Sure enough, Kayla was meandering along the footpath from the backdoor to the sidewalk.
He stayed in the shadow of the building until she reached the sidewalk, and then crept forward.
There were thankfully enough trees on the sidewalk for him to use as cover. He darted from one to the other, maintaining a certain distance, his heartbeat picking up a little from the rush of this sneakiness.
I hope nobody's watching...they'll think I'm stalking her.
She reached the end of the block and continued across the street, walking normally, nothing indicating the infidelity he was sure she was setting out for.
I don't know anything close in this specific direction besides just houses. Unless she's going on a very, very long walk through the neighborhood.
The traffic light switched to red, a steady stream of traffic commencing. He did not mind, content to let her get a little further ahead of him.
These blocks are long enough. I can keep her in sight and keep back a bit too.
The light changed, and he stepped forward towards the curb, eyes on Kayla.
"Hey, Connor!" a friendly voice came from nearby.
He glanced over to see Emily.
"Oh, uh, hi..."
"Out for a walk?"
No, I'm tracking my girlfriend to find out where her porn co-star lives.
"Yeah, just, uh...yeah, out for a walk."
"Oh, cool."
"What about you?"
She gestured down to her outfit, white sneakers, purple leggings, and a black fleece over a white t-shirt.
"Out for a run. It's a little chilly, but I like to run in the cold. I feel like I run faster, you know?"
He glanced down towards Kayla, who was steadily creeping further down the next block.
"Uh, yeah, sort of. I mean, I've been running at the gym since it got a little colder."
"That makes sense. Probably smarter than me. I could catch a cold or something."
"Maybe," he said lamely, glancing again back over towards Kayla.
"Are you alright? You seem distracted."
"Yeah, it's...my thesis. Was working on it for a little bit. That's why I went for a walk. Needed the air, you know?"
"I get it. You've been working hard on it. You were even distracted at church last night."
He fought back a wince.
While he had been in fact distracted at church, his mind had not been on his thesis. Instead, he had been dwelling on Kayla, and what his next steps should be regarding her infidelity. Part of those thoughts had focused on her whereabouts; since she had stopped accompanying him to the weekly campus masses, that time represented another portion of the day when he was unsure of those whereabouts.
I saw her just before, and usually see her right after. Would she really sneak over to his place for an hour, while I'm at church?
Emily waved a hand in front of his face, and he started, flinching in surprise.
"Earth to Connor."
"Uh, sorry," he muttered, glancing again towards Kayla, who was now close to the end of the next block.
Shit...
"That thesis is really doing a number on you."
"I guess," he admitted with a shrug.
"You know, I'm hosting a movie night for my freshmen tonight. I'm thinking I'll order some pizza too. You should come, hang out, just chill for a bit, get your mind off your thesis."
And go hang out with a bunch of freshmen?
"Isn't that for your freshmen, though?"
"They never all show up for these events, so there'll be plenty of pizza. And no one would care anyway if they found out I invited a friend."
"Uh...maybe, yeah."
"I just think it could maybe do you some good, you know?"
"I get it. I'll definitely think about it. Thanks for the invite."
Kayla turned left at the end of the next block, out of view now. His heartbeat picked up again.
"Of course. Just let me know. Bye!"
She smiled, and then started off into a light jog.
The light was now red again, so he waited, this time impatiently.
With Kayla out of sight, he glanced over at Emily. His eyes slid down to her ass for a few shameful seconds, but once she was far enough away, they turned back to the next block.
The light changed soon, and he hurried across the street. Once he reached the next block, he threw caution to the wind a bit, settling into a brisk jog.
Partway down the block, a car lurched backwards from a residential driveway, right into his path.
Oh, come on...
