My Professor's Secret

16|

Our conversation concludes once Josh relishes in his final thank you for my persistence in bring them together then disappears to the lounge for a quick bathroom break. The kitchen is quiet then and I use it to soak in a shaky inhale to fight the emotional toll still eager to break me even though I no longer roamed the streets of Dreycott.

Perhaps this was my sign to never go back.

I pull another breath from the air, hoping it would somehow hold me over until I could purge this feeling out in the shower of my dormitory. An inward laugh escapes my lips at my ignorance. A shower would never mend the fact that now, my mother's death truly felt final to me. It isn't but seconds once I realize my gasps of breath become shallow and my chest tightens before I could stop them. Instead, I will my mind to acquiesce to stability though still managing to come up short. Tears creating paths down my cheeks and on the brim of my waterline distort any view I hoped to capture. Soft yet sturdy footsteps approaching me from behind give me enough warning to clear the stream of tears on my cheeks before a hand touches my back, nearly providing me with immediate stability.

A sense of karmic misery flushes over me when I turn expecting Josh to now be comforting me, but it isn't. It's Trevor. Covered in a face full of hair clearly from his lack of upkeep, though only adding to the attraction I saw in him. He rubs his hand against my back in a circular motion until I'm able to finally catch the full inhale I wanted before this attack took over me. He doesn't ask if I'm okay once my breathing steadies, but he removes his hand, already knowing that his soothing nature threw him into a pit of unprofessionalism. Suddenly the urge to say sorry rests at the forefront of my tongue until I swallow it away.

"Long night?" he asks, the intensity of his voice decreasing as he traveled towards his station.

My eyes trail him, watching as he gracefully washes his hands then covers them in gloves after he towel drying them.

"Long life," I spit back. Only realizing how depressing it sounded once it already soaks into the atmosphere. "But I'm fine," I add, wiping away whatever was left of tears that had gone haywire without my permission. Before I can combat my statement with anything more, the expression on his face approves his disbelief in it. "How was your Thanksgiving?"

He seemed so enthusiastic about my question, filling the room with blissful words about his daughter and their first Thanksgiving together, alone. You could physically feel the excitement radiating off of him whenever he mentioned her. Apart of me hoped he'd let the news of his pending lawsuit slip, but I knew he was far more professional than that.

"After we ate, I brought her on campus and the two of us went swimming at the Leisure Center. She loved it."

My smile plays off his as he talks more about Emma and the time they spent without the witch of a woman named Meghan until even a three year old isn't enough to keep it from quickly diminishing.

"And I've just bored you to death with my entire itinerary." He ends, his gaze falling from our momentary eye lock onto the grill in front of him.

"No," I interject. And it's not a lie. Well, not entirely. "I've just got a lot on my mind is all. But I'm glad you managed to enjoy your weekend," I smiled cheekily, hoping to hide the fact that the tears I pushed away wanted to make a return.

"If you don't mind, I'd love to hear about your time off," he probes, just before Josh breaks from the lounge. And truthfully, I'm glad his appearance snaps me back to reality.

"Maybe some other time," I lie. Knowing a time I'd spill the chaos corrupting my mind to him would likely never present itself again.

Work sort of drags along until closing finally gives me a little hope in turning my day around since I'd finally be able to see Taylor and Lynn for the first time since I made it back. It takes the three of us nothing but ten minutes after our final guest leaves to give the restaurant its proper nightly cleaning. Once we're done, Josh drags me out to front to wish him and Sawyer luck on their very first date and I wouldn't dare object. Sawyer pulls into the driveway of Hinkhouse the minute Josh and I emerge from inside.

He hops out the car and smushes me in a hug so tight he accidentally pops a joint in my lower back. I'd be lying if I said his enthusiasm hadn't instantly improved my mood because it did.

"We have to catch up soon," he says, bouncing in place with his hands shoved deep in his jacket pockets. This weather for them affected them more than it had me and I knew had the weather from Minnesota followed me back, they'd all be on the verge of hypothermia trying to bounce it away with body heat. "You need a ride home?" Sawyer asks, we both walk around the driver side door and he hops in the car. He lets the window down before shutting his door. "I've got approximately three minutes to spare before we'll arrive late for our reservation."

I shake my head already knowing the way to my house would steal much more time than he was allotted. Sawyer wastes another minute trying to convince me otherwise before finally taking my no for an answer and speeding off into the opposite direction of my dormitory. Seconds later, the lonesome car left in the parking lot chirps, illuminating a white and yellow brightness across my brown skin. The sound of jingling keys in the door catches my eye as Trevor locks up the restaurant then shimmy's towards me in a similar bounce Sawyer had done moments before. He'd never survive a winter on the frozen lakes in Minnesota during ice fishing season if this was enough to get a shiver out of him.

"Someone picking you up tonight?"

"No. My legs should get me home quite fine though," I shrugged, trying to avoid an explanation. He wouldn't let me break free of the ride I knew he was preparing to offer me if I kept the conversation short.

He shakes his head in disapproval. "In this chill of night? It's too dangerous. If you don't mind sticking around while I run an errand, I'd be happy to take you home." He speaks as if the light breeze will send me into hyperbolic shock. Trevor holds his ground, giving me a brow raise as he struggles to stick his hands into his pocket awaiting the answer he knew would be a yes.

The car ride is quiet besides the blaring sound of heat escaping the vents and the classical music playing much too low to be heard unless we were stopped by the laws of traffic. "Tell me about your vacation," he says, turning to me to steal a quick glance.

Truthfully, I don't want to. Because how would it look to him? Hearing a girl go on and on about her father's love life as if it were the end of the world. He was already battling the possibility of never seeing his child again and I had already created a plan to never talk to my father again.

"I got to sleep in my old room," I shrug. "Oh, and I mended a strained relationship between me and an old friend," I finish with a smile.

It's almost immediate that I notice his dissatisfaction with my reply.

"I sense the feeling it went a little different than you're letting on. It isn't my business so I won't pry but if you need or want to discuss whatever it may be, I'm a good listening ear." He says simply and there's not a second that goes by we're I think he means anything less than that. His words carried too much empathy to fake that kind of connection.

Trevor finds solace in the nod I give him in response and we spend the rest of the way listening to the sound of blaring heat and faint classical music. It isn't long until we stop outside of house assembled with three Greek symbols I never bothered to learn hanging above the door. The place was large enough to stuff my dorm room in at least twenty times. Silence fills the air until Trevor unfastens his seatbelt and reaches for a perfectly folded blanket and a pink stuffed elephant from the backseat before insuring he'd take no longer than two minutes once he hops out the car to leave.

There was a large marquee board posted in the front lawn with the words Iota Chi Theta plastered on it. A girl emerges from behind the door with a toddler propped steadily on her hip. It wasn't Meghan, even though the lack of light made it impossible to see a face from my distance. I'd recognize her silky brown locks against blonde from any distance, not to mention, the toddler glued to her hip was dressed in green. Emma was more of a pink girl.

He talks with the silhouette of a girl for a moment, even pulling the little boy into a familiar embrace before handing over the items in his hands and waving goodbye to them both. She finally steps into the light, watching Trevor's back like a hawk while he jogs the distance from the house to the car. That's when I get a good look at the familiar strawberry blonde haired girl. Rachel Geraldo, Taylor called her. It was enough to shake my attention elsewhere until Trevor got back in a drive away, silently praying she hadn't noticed me.

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