~Xander~
In the following days I found myself driven to distraction, my mind thinking of wolves more than it should have. Even as the class I taught was wrapping up, my mind was somewhere else.
The auditorium was dome- like with the stage being the lowest part of the theatre and the stairs ascending towards the doors. The seats were a deep luxurious red and the stage was a waxed gleaming hardwood. The circular walls made the acoustics fantastic. If only my class could play like a well oiled machine instead of the clumsy gobble of a geriatric man. This was only our fourth class of the year but I could already see the slacking setting in for a few of them.
"May I have a word with you, Brandon?" I asked, while closing my binder. I folded my conductors scores neatly The rest of my students were putting their instruments in their cases and slinging their backpacks on. Most of them were first years, still shy like lambs. A few said bye and I waved absently.
Brandon took his time to put his things away, and I watched his hands shaking slightly as he took his mouthpiece out of his Bb trumpet and put them both in his case. Soon, everyone had left the dark auditorium except for us. He looked embarrassed when he finally came up to me. "Listen. Professor Knight-"
"No." I interrupted softly. "You need to listen to me, Mr. Hartwell. Your performance as of late in this class has been less than satisfactory." I looked down at the young man while speaking quickly.
Brandon glared at me for a second before realizing who he was glaring at. "Everything's just tough right now." He began shifting in place, circling a sneaker into the floor.
"Huntington University is one of the most prestigious performing arts universities in the country. What exactly made you think things would be easy?" I shook my head in exasperation. "Just because your father is on the admissions board doesn't mean you get a free pass. If this doesn't mean something to you then why exactly are you here?"
"Because I'm talented." He seethed, fingers clenched around the handle of his case. "I've just been trying to get into Beta Theta Gamma and the pledging is taking up a lot of my-"
I looked down at Brandon. This kid who clearly had been given things on a silver spoon his entire life. And he was definitely talented, but his arrogance extended past his ability. "Your flutter tongue is weak, your sight reading is sloppy, and your articulation is somehow getting worse. If I don't see improvement in the next week I'm moving you to an easier class. There are students who actually deserve to be here." He opened his mouth but I shook my head. "Make sure you're one of them."
Brandon looked like he had murder in his eyes before he bit his lip, clearly restraining himself and leaving the auditorium hall hurriedly. Once I was alone, my shoulders sagged and I started putting everything away into my briefcase.
A vampire being a music professor felt pretty ridiculous somedays. Being an educator was backbreaking, thankless work. But, music was my everything and this is what I wanted. As a vampire I had been afforded the luxury of time to pursue my passions. The past fifteen years I'd been pursuing classical music with the piano and trumpet with a focus on composition.
Being a new professor was also more taxing than I expected it to be. So much competition just to get this spot. I'd been through a four round, month long interview process and it seemed like having had a seat with the London philharmonic and having composed a few movie pieces is what landed me the position.
I couldn't help that I liked challenges, competition and everything that came with it. So the wolf...That fucking wolf. Even meeting him the one time, I could tell he'd be a challenge. The kind of person who would only reveal themselves piece by painstaking piece.
The wolf made me consider if it was time to look for love again. I imagined the wolf for a moment...He had been a study in contrast. Large and muscular, with a gentle voice and large capable hands. I liked the way he looked at me, simultaneously adoring and bewildered. Almost afraid of how I made him feel.
Or maybe, I considered, I was the one who was afraid.
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I pushed the elevator button for the 16th floor. Once. Twice. Then again. Fuck, it was slow. It finally dinged open and I got in with a huff, moving to the back corner. As the elevator crawled upwards, others entered and soon the space was full. Vamps didn't have as great a sense of smell as wolves but something was tickling my nostrils. I wondered why there were so many people in the elevator before I realized there had been some kind of meeting today in the Ruthington Music Centre because they were thinking of expanding the facilities. The monthly staff bulletin had said something about investors, architects and developers meeting around this time.
My stomach growled obscenely and the person in front of me turned her head to the side slightly. I touched my stomach, surprised I could be hungry. I'd had a quart of blood just this morning, that could normally tide me over for the day. But something smelled... intoxicating.
As the elevator stopped on every single floor, more and more people got out until it was just me and another person. He was standing in front of the elevator doors, a silver bracelet glinting in the fluorescent lights. Nice broad shoulders, and a slender waist that seemed familiar. "Do I know you?" I began to say before the elevator lurched violently and the lights shut off.
I lost my balance hitting my head against the railing on the inside of the elevator. My vision flashed white and I fell to my knees, trying to breathe. What the-? The other man in the elevator's hands were on me in the dark, touching me and...talking. What? What was he saying. "Je ne comprends pas." I said, pushing him away from me.
And then suddenly my ears started working again. The gentle voice was gusting over my face. "It's okay. It's me, Achilles. We met the other night. You just hit your head. Do vampires get injured? Are you injured? Your forehead is swelling. Do you need blood? I can, or I don't know, can I?" His large capable hands were featherlight on my forehead, gingerly spread over a growing painful lump.
"Are you stalking me?" I said quietly, gripping his wrists and pushing them away from me.
I couldn't see him in the dark so I didn't understand why he paused. But then his voice got quiet. "What the fuck? Why the hell would I be stalking you?"
"Why are you at my place of work?" I stared where I thought his eyes were. "You were all over me the other night. Perhaps, you've picked up my scent and have been trailing me."
He nearly growled through his teeth, the deep grumble reverberating through me. "I was drunk."
"Uh-huh." I settled back and sat on the floor, crossing my ankles. "Is this elevator stuck? All my years and that's never happened to me. What about you, Mr. Wolf?"
"I have a name." He grumbled, settling beside me. Just a few inches to my right, emanating heat. Damn, my heart shouldn't be beating this fast.
"As do I." I shot back.
"Okay. I'll bite, what's your name, Mr. Vampire?"
I hesitated, wondering if Alexandre Chevalier de la Mar was too much too soon. "...Xander."
"Xander." He breathed out like he'd just won the lottery, excited and breathless. "Thank you for helping me the other night."
I didn't reply to that, wondering why I was so hungry. And then it wasn't just my heartbeat pounding in my ears but his, too. Fast and skittering and clearly as affected as me. I licked my lips, satisfied that I wasn't the only one who felt like this.
For whatever reason he felt the need to fill the silence. "I'm not gay."
I rolled my eyes. "Okay, honey." I said in a dry face, easing my voice into an effeminate camp.
The wolf seemed to want to talk about literally anything else. "You work here?" He asked. And, for whatever reason the wolf sounded interested.
I sighed. "I'm a teacher."
"You're a Teaching Assistant?"
"A professor." I corrected. As a vampire there were things I could do to age myself but I was too vain. I liked looking fresh faced and in my twenties. It had always been difficult for people to tell my age. All I had to do was carry a backpack around and people would mistake me for a student.
"Wow-" I heard him move closer to me. "What do you teach?" Those last few inches disappeared and his hip settled against mine.
I didn't move away.
I explained how I had gone to Huntington U for my undergrad in music composition and then did my PhD there before playing in orchestra pits and my stint with the London philharmonic. And now I was here, a music professor. The wolf made the acceptable noises of 'wow' and 'that's interesting' except he actually seemed interested. That was new. Whenever I told people what I did, there was that look that I was wasting my life away by being a musician. As though no one cared about the classics anymore.
And then it was the wolf's turn to tell me about himself. He told me he was an architect, born and raised in the Asheborne pack, and that his architect firm would be renovating a few music rooms and he was there consulting. His history was a lot shorter than mine. He'd completed his undergrad in architecture at a local university and did a placement at a commercial firm and fell in love with it. He was considering going back to school for a masters but was uncertain.
I sighed, "So you weren't stalking me."
He laughed, and I imagined his dimples appearing. "Of course I wasn't stalking you, Xander." I heard more fidgeting before the wolf's fingers were on me, touching my forehead. "After we get out of here you need to ice this." His hand moved from my forehead and then he brushed a thumb over my brows, stroking almost reverentially.
Suddenly, the darkness felt like an intimate blanket, another layer that separated us but also drew us closer together. It made the act more anonymous, like it was just any guy here stuck in an elevator with me. The wolf moved closer to me, face only inches away from mine. I wondered what kind of kisser he was, what kind of music he liked, how many men he'd been with. It was easy to get lost like this, in the almost-feel of another person.
"Shouldn't you take me out to dinner first before you make a move on me?" I whispered, teasing him.
Even in the dark I could tell the spell was broken. He tensed, removing his hand like I'd burned him.
"Oh." I said, laughing. "You thought-" The wolf thought I was an easy lay.
"I didn't think anything." He said in a harsh voice. Clearly offended. I wanted to see what he looked like when he was frustrated. Did his brows furrow? Did the dimples appear again? What did he do with his hands?
"If you ask me on a date, Mr. Wolf. I'll say yes." I whispered again in that teasing voice.
"You'd say yes?" He sounded surprised. "And you can call me Achilles."
"Yes, you big goof." I couldn't help that I was a romantic at heart. The wolf was sweet and I wanted to see him in the light, literally. Maybe he was on the way to coming out. Maybe I'd give him a chance.
"Can I- Can I have your number?" He said softly, adorably nervous.
I pulled out my cellphone, and gave it to him, letting him thumb in his contact information. The light brightened up his face and I saw it for the first time since the night I'd brought him home. The bracelet he was wearing stood out compared to his well tailored dark suit.
"You don't strike me as the sort of man who wears jewelry." I said, wondering what other things I would learn about this man.
There was a moment of silence and miraculously the elevator started working again. The lights turned on and the wolf looked relieved. Wow, maybe he really was claustrophobic. Without realizing it I had been stroking his hand, circling my fingers over his wrist and otherwise manhandling his digits. He looked down at our hands together, starting to blush. He really was adorable. "Honey?"
I blinked. "You don't like endearments?"
"No it's just-" The elevator opened up on my floor and to my surprise there was no one there.
I stood up. "Did you want to come into my office?"
The wolf shook his head, "It's the full moon tonight. I gotta head out. But-" he gestured around the elevator. "This was nice." He started backing out of the elevator. "I'll call you. And we can go on a d-d-"
I smiled. "The exit's on the ground floor, hon." I slipped past him, nudging him back into the elevator. "This is the 16th floor." I watched him look flustered as the doors closed. "And if we go out to eat, remember that I'm vegan." I winked before the doors slid closed.
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Overall thoughts on the chapter?
Initial thoughts on the characters?
Bear with me I'm trying out this dual POV thing. It's a little tricky.