Braxton Academy

Chapter 17

Turning back to him, his attention seemed to be fixed on his armchair resting parallel to the closet. Pressing my copy of the book against my chest to shake off my tension, I tried to get his attention focused on me before I addressed him.

"Mr. Davis? Am I interrupting something? I can come back another time." I asked politely.

He did not answer and, as a matter of fact, it took a slight movement of my hand shaking to get him to even look at me.

"Hmm?" He noticed my indication.

"What's...what are you doing?" I motioned to the closet.

"I was, uh I was just..." He pointed toward the table, but instead took a deep breath as he rose from his seat and walked to the closet door.

Ever so gently, he turned his back to the closet and shielded his eyes as he closed it. "What can I do for you?" He seemed more on edge at this point.

In that moment, any thought I had, any words I was prepared to speak had been completely halted after he picked up a short glass with a brass colored liquid inside. There was a disturbance in the communication between us, as he did not want to share anything with me and I, ironically, now did not want to do the same.

"Naomi." He said clearly, impatiently waiting for a response.

"It's, it's time for our book meeting." I made my book visible to spark his memory.

Returning to his desk, he placed his drink directly in front of him as he folded his hands over the middle of his face in an attempt to hide his expression.

"Oh," He then rubbed the back of his neck. "yes, yes of course." Picking up his keys, while shaking them noticeably, he inserted one into the top drawer of his desk and pulled out his copy.

"Mr. Davis, I am so sorry if I interrupted or disturbed..."

"Sweetheart you did not interrupt anything, nor did you disturb. I just was in the middle of something that..." He stopped to close the drawer, but I think it was mostly because he did not now how to finish the sentence. "It is of no matter, I told you that if you read the chapter then we would meet to discuss."

"We can meet tomorrow? Or even another time." I stated frankly.

"No, that is alright. Let me get the tea started."

"Yeah, but you are very busy."

"I appreciate your concern and your consideration but no, really I am fine. Please make yourself comfortable." He motioned to the loveseat, doing a really nice job of regaining his regular self.

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JASPER'S POV:

"There are no excuses Jasper, you put yourself in this position. No one else did this but you, now you have to face the consequences accordingly." He placed his hands to his sides as he scolded me.

"If it wasn't for you forcing me to see my dad, none of this would have happened! You have no idea how it is with him...!"

"Lower your voice!" He said sternly, causing me to instantly settle down as he marched to meet me, his chest almost touching mine.

"But you are too naive to see how it is!"

Almost instantly, he unbuckled his belt and pulled it rapidly through the loops of his pants.

"You will not speak to me this way," He said in a low whisper. "if you have something you wish for me to hear then I suggest you change your tone before I change it myself." He shoved his one finger into my chest and revealed the belt closely to my face.