Othello

Act 3, Scene 1

⚠️Warning - Undertaker's personality gets dark and what he does to Grell is morally abhorrent. The writer does not stan Undertaker in this chapter. ⚠️

Othello threads his fingers through his hair, groaning like a wounded animal. Leaning over his desk, his vision spins with the hangover from the past few days. This week alone, he's been falsely accused of misconduct, dragged into a disciplinary meeting and his TA almost crashed his car! This whole mess about having a student TA... maybe I don't even need one.

A soft knocking on his office door alerts him to the world outwith his thoughts. "C-Come in!"

Enter Adrian.

"Oh, hi, it's you," Othello smiles, barely concealing his fatigue. He takes a small sip of coffee, which he hates, and proceeds to dunk yet another packet of sugar into. "What can I do for you?"

"You know, I feel bad after the other night..." Adrian sighs, draping his head in his hands.

"Don't be, it wasn't your fault," Othello assures the distressed student.

"I could have done something to help her, I didn't know she hadn't taken her medication,"

Othello quirks an eyebrow. "Medication?"

"Didn't you know?" behind is hair, he smiles. "Grell is bipolar,"

The professor snaps is book closed and turns away. "Adrian, that was a very inappropriate thing to share with me. Telling me such a thing breaks student confidentiality and-"

"Sorry," Adrian pouts, revealing innocent eyes and blinking. "I did think all her professors knew..."

"I didn't," Othello sighs, trying to forget what Adrian just told him. It's not something he has a right to know. "Is there anything else you wanted?"

"Oh, nothing, I just wanted to apologise," Adrian skips back to the door, wrapping his long fingers around it. Long, black fingernails click against the dark oak. "Thanks for your time,"

The door creaks shut. Giggling echoes through the building.

*

Adrian's luck peaks as he exits Othello's office. He spots Grell and William walking arm-in-arm across the street. Painting on a friendly smile, he lightly jogs up to her. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he jumps in front of her, blocking her path. "Fancy meeting you here, my dear,"

"Oh, Adrian," she smiles sheepishly, pulling a length of hair behind her ear. Rose-tinted sunglasses hide her eyes and the bags underneath. "How can I help you?"

"I was just talking to Othello in his office..." his smile grows, his adrenaline spikes. The urge to bellow out cackles like a witch consumes him, and he digs his nails into his palms to suppress it. "He seemed receptive to giving you your position back,"

"He did?" her voice cracks with surprise.

"Hm," Adrian nods, giving her a coy smile. "Maybe I put in a good word for you,"

"You...?" overcome with emotion, the impulsive student reaches forward and wraps her arms around Adrian's shoulders. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"No problem," he chuckles and pulls back, letting her arms slip away.

"I'll go an speak to him right now!" before she goes, she grabs his hand, holding it in her larger ones for a moment. "Thank you, really,"

"Indeed, we appreciate it," William agrees. Adrian narrows is eyes. He can't see William's eyes beyond the glare of his glasses, and he doesn't like that. Knowing why people, including himself, conceal their eyes, it invokes suspicion of the bespectacled student.

"Well, I'd better-" Adrian checks his phone. His subway train leaves in one minute. "Fuck!" He breaks into an immediate sprint in the direction of the station.

Once they're alone, William squeezes Grell's hand slightly harder. "I don't trust him,"

Grell looks at her boyfriend in confusion. "Adrian? Why not? He's a sweetheart, he spoke to Othello for me! He might have gotten me back in good favour with my professor!"

"I think... I might be wrong, I think I went to the same school as Adrian," William admits.

"Oh?" Grell looks interested, curious like a cat.

"Yes. He had this friend, and I watched them climb on the school roof one day. Adrian kept talking to him - I couldn't hear, of course. But his friend was crying, and he kept talking to him and talking to him, like he was challenging him. And his friend suddenly jumped off. He died, and Adrian just watched. I'm sure he was smiling,"

"Poor Adrian," Grell looks ahead in the direction he just ran clutching her necklace in anxiety. "Imagine watching your friend commit suicide. He must've been in shock,"

"Perhaps," William crosses is arms. "I'm late for a meeting with the law society,"

"Alright, I'm going to speak to Othello. See you later," giving him a quick kiss, Grell enters the Science building to find Othello's office.