“How…how can you promise that? You don’t even know who it is, do you?”
I don’t answer her question. Yes, I do think I know who it is, but how can I tell her. Will she even stay with me if I’m right? I don’t know if she’s willing to fight for us if I’m right. Too much happened. Will she be willing to stay by my side?“Have you called campus police, yet?”
‘No. It just came in before you walked in.”
“Ok, call them now.”She nods her head and picks up the phone. Within minutes her office is a flurry of activity. Campus police, Dr. Asher, and a couple guys from the IT department are crammed into her small office along with Hayden and me. She stands plastered against me the whole time shaking. This is getting too much for her. I have to get this stopped. She shouldn’t have to deal with this.
The IT guys said they can’t track the email because it was sent from a public WiFi and the account is no longer active. The police said the person who registered the original email address used false credentials. So now we’ve hit another dead end. FUCK I’m about to lose my damn mind. I’m about to pack her up and hide her away. Can I do that? Yes, and she will just have to deal.
Dr. Asher speaks up over the chaos in her small office, his authoritative voice booming over everyone.“From this point on, Hayden, you do not leave this office without being accompanied by campus police. You will be escorted to and from your car, classroom and anywhere else you need to go here on campus.”He said the last part looking directly at campus police.“You will also have a campus officer stationed in your classroom and one outside.”
“I don’t think you should go to the conference tomorrow.”I tell her and Dr. Asher. Her body is still tightly pressed to mine, her hands fisted into my shirt with a grip I don’t think the Hulk could even pry off.
“No, she needs to go and get away from this.”Dr. Asher says kindly placing a hand on Hayden’s shoulder, his eyes moving between hers and mine.“We’ll take care of her. We’ll take a couple of officers with us and they will stay with her and Brooklyn at all times.”
One of the officers interrupts,“Dr. Asher, I’m sorry but I don’t know if that will be possible. We…”
Dr. Asher raises his hand halting the officer’s protest. With a stern, I-mean-business look at the officer,“I will clear everything with the chief. Chief Franks will be fine.”The officer nods and remains silent.
He then moves his hand to my shoulder and addresses me directly,“Son, she’ll be safe. I promise you that.”Strangely I believe him.“For now, Hayden, I believe this young man is here to take you to lunch. Officer Jones, please accompany them to the cafe.”
I place my hand under Hayden’s chin and gently lift it to look at me. Softly I kiss her forehead,“Baby, are you hungry?”
She pulls her face from my hand and buries it in my shirt, quietly crying and shakes her head, no.
“Gentlemen, would you mind giving us a minute?”They agree and step out, Dr. Asher closing the door as they step out of her office. With Hayden still in my arms, I move to her desk chair and sit down pulling her into my lap. Her face is now buried in my neck and I feel her tears running down my skin. Wrapping my arms around her I sit and hold her while she cries.“Shhh, baby, it will be ok. I will always protect you.”I sit and hold her until her tears stop. She sniffs and lifts her face to look at me. I can’t help it; I reach up and wipe the remaining tears from her cheeks.“Baby, you have to eat. Please let me take you to get something to eat?”She nods agreeing.
“I probably look awful; all red and blotchy.”
“No, baby, you look beautiful. You always look beautiful. I like the red flush to your skin. Though, I prefer to put it there.”
She starts to laugh and slaps me on the arm.“Ow, you hurt me.”I say as I clutch my arm as if I’m badly wounded. She doesn’t say anything but laughs. We stand and I pull her into my arms once more before we leave her office.“Ah, there’s the smile and laugh I adore. I promise I’m here and won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Thank you.”She says as she wraps her arms around my waist.“Thank you for being here.”
“Nowhere else I’d rather be…well.”I give her a mischievous look.
“Tonight”She whispers and leans up on her tiptoes to kiss me.
~~~
The rest of the day passes uneventfully, thank goodness. I hung out in Hayden’s office and sat in on her last class of the day. I couldn’t leave her there. I know she had officers with her but if I’m right as to who’s behind this I’ll be able to spot them first. I wish I could go to the conference with them tomorrow. I hate that she is going to be gone. Dr. Asher’s probably right. She is probably safer at the conference than here, right now.
I worried a little I’d distract her being in her office while she worked. To avoid this, I snagged her laptop and read up on some of the latest research I hadn’t been able to catch up. I can see us spending time together working and not worry about distracting the other. Well, unless we wanted to.
This was actually much harder to force myself not to do while in her class. It was crazy to watch her in action. Every one of her students hung on her every word. She has an amazing way of taking a potentially boring subject, like history, and making it come to life. I always found history class interesting but I never had a professor bring it to life the way she does. Her passion is intoxicating. Seriously, where were the professors like her when I was in college? Plus, she’s hot as sin so that doesn’t hurt, either.
Hayden has on a baby blue button up shirt with the top two buttons undone showing just the hint on cleavage. My mouth waters at the way her dark gray dress pants hug her curves without looking trashy, simply classic. Oh and how the hell does she stand in those fuck me heels. The visions of those shoes by my ears later were killing me. Damn, I had all kinds of teacher-student fantasies running through my head. Most included bending her over one of the desks or pushing her against the board and taking her in the front of the room with the risk of getting caught spurring us along. I actually had to stay seated until all the students left her classroom otherwise the bulge in my pants would have betrayed all my dirty thoughts.
Since Brooklyn is on her way to Hayden’s office ready to leave for the day, I head to the garage to get the car. The officers are going to escort them to meet me at the curb outside the building where Hayden’s office is located. We head straight back to their place. Brooklyn is staying in Hayden’s guest room tonight, which is actually her old room. Even though the lofts are across the hall from each other, I still insist on all three of us going over together to get Brooklyn’s things for the night and the conference. Oddly, I’ve become just as protective over Brooklyn as I have of Hayden. They’re‘my girls.’However, I see Brooklyn as a little sister and I’ll protect her equally the same.
This afternoon before heading to surprise Hayden and take her to lunch, I ran the pups to Brooklyn’s aunt Betty, where they are staying until Saturday after the girl’s birthday/baseball game. I consider trying to talk them into canceling the party or at least postponing but I know they won’t go for that, so I keep that thought to myself.
Once we are in for the evening, we throw a couple of frozen pizzas, which Hayden has tons of in her freezer, in the oven. Seriously, the girl has an obsession with pizza, always has. Anyway, we plant ourselves in front of the T.V., eating pizza and watching some ridiculous reality show the girls are obsessed with. I’ve never seen the appeal of them but the girls really get into it arguing over who should go home this week and which person is double dipping in alliances. Around 9:00 PM Dr. Asher calls Hayden and tells her he will be there to pick her and Brooklyn up at 6:00 AM. He’s decided it would be better for them to ride with him to the conference. Though they aren’t as excited about riding with someone else, they agree it is probably for the best. I am relieved to hear they aren’t driving by themselves.
After the phone call from Dr. Asher, Hayden’s mood noticeably changes. She no longer freely jokes or laughs a
bout the shenanigans on the show they are watching. She sits rigid, quiet like she’s drawn within herself. Brooklyn clearly recognizes the change in her best friend. Her eyes quickly dart back and forth between Hayden’s and mine. She jumps up and mumbles something about being tired and an early morning. Brooklyn leans over and hugs me, surprising the hell out of me because I’ve only seen Brooklyn affectionate with Hayden, Jim and Betty.“Patience,”she whispered in my ear. Understanding her reasoning for hugging me is now clear. She then leaned over and hugged Hayden. She whispered in her ear too but I couldn’t hear what she said to her. I got up and walked into the kitchen to clean up our dishes. I pretended to be caught up in what I was doing as if I wasn’t listening to them. As Brooklyn walked out of the room she turned to Hayden and quietly muttered,“I mean it H, don’t.”
I walk back over to sit on the couch, wrapping my arms around Hayden and pull her into my lap.“What’s wrong, baby? You seem tense.”
Hayden’s eyes widen and mouth drop open as if I've just said the most ridiculous thing she’s ever heard.“Yeah, I’m tense. I’ve got someone threatening my boyfriend and me.”
“I know, baby, I promise we’ll figure it out. Everything will be ok.”I squeeze my arms around her trying to let her know she is safe. Before I can stop her she jumps up out of my arms. She’s standing in front of me one hand on her hip and the other waving in the air as she talks.
“Everything will be ok? Have you missed the memo? We are being threatened. We are being threatened because you and I are together! For fuck’s sake, Gavin, you’ve got to see how fucked up this is?”
Getting up, I place my hands on her hips, pulling her body to mine. Lifting her chin so she’s looking into my eyes,“I know it’s fucked up. I hate that you’re being threatened because someone thinks they have some claim on me. I promise I’ll figure it out. I promise we’ll be ok.”I emphasize the last part hoping she’ll relax.
“You must have some idea who?”Hayden asks shaking her head.
I finally gather up the courage and say,“Yes, I’m pretty sure I know who.”
“WHAT?”Shit it’s never good when Hayden raises her voice. She’s always so controlled. I sit back down on the couch and pull her back down next to me.“Sit. You need to hear me out.”I give her a stern look knowing she’s going to flip.“Are you going to hear me out?”I ask her.
“Dammit, Gavin, just tell me!”
I scrub my hands over my face, lean back into the couch and sigh.“It’s Kat.”
“WHAT? What the fuck do you mean it’s Kat?”She jumps back to her feet and this time starts pacing her great room.“Why the hell would Kat be threatening me? I thought Jeff told me you guys broke up back in high school?”
Now it’s my turn to react.“What do you mean Jeff told you?”I question her as I rub the back of my neck.
She actually has the grace to look a little embarrassed.“Um, Jeff and I stayed in contact for a while after you stopped being my friend and after high school.”I’m going to fucking kill him for not telling me. How could he do that and not tell me. He knew how hard I searched for her. A thousand thoughts of rage directed toward Jeff are running through my head.
“Oh don’t you dare get that look of anger on your face Gavin Hudson! What the hell did you expect? After all you and Jeff were my best friends. What because suddenly you didn’t want me and chose to believe some fucking psycho over me, he and I were just supposed to stop being friends?”She’s shouting at me now. Arms ramrod stiff to her sides.“You are one selfish asshole if that’s what you thought. You destroyed me back then, Gavin. I was ready to give you everything. EVERYTHING! I’d been in love with you since we were little kids and you chose some nut-job over me; a nut-job that is now stalking, threatening and scaring the hell out of me. So fuck you, Gavin Hudson, fuck you if you’re pissed because not everyone turned their back on me like you did. Fuck you, if you think we shouldn’t have stayed friends because you didn’t want me.”The rage is just rolling off her. Fuck, this isn’t going the way I wanted.
I hurried over to her and took her hands in mine, refusing to let go as she tried to pull away.“Look, Hayden, I didn’t mean you shouldn’t have stayed friends. I know you two were close. I’m just angry he’s known where you were this whole time and only pretended to help me look for you.”
She pulled her hands from mine and turned her back to me, staring out the window. Her tone is now softer.“He didn’t know where I was. We only kept in contact sporadically for about five years after high school. Then just saw each other a couple times after that. I wouldn’t tell him where I went to school only how things were going in my life. It was too hard. He’d tell me things you were doing. I knew when you got your shit together but wouldn’t talk to him about you. He got pissed at me when I shut down any conversation about you. When we did see each other our conversations were stilted, at best.”
I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her pulling her tight to my body.“I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry. I’m sorry for everything. If I could do it over again, I would. I wouldn’t have dated her in the first place. I wouldn’t have been such a pussy and I would’ve told you how I felt about you. I loved you then and I still love you now.”I bury my nose in her hair praying she’ll listen to me.
“So why do you think it is Kat?”
“Something she said in the email today, 'I thought I got rid of you once.’That has been bugging me. When I broke up with her in high school she said something about thinking she’d finally rid you from my life but you still manage to have a hold on me. It didn’t make since at the time but after I’d sobered up and Jeff knocked some sense into me, literally, I realized she put everything into motion. Then about six months or so ago–before we ran into each other–a couple came in to the ER. They had both OD’d. Jeff and I were the doctors that handled them. We were able to save the girl but not the guy. He was a DOA. Kat was the girl. A couple of days later I went up to her hospital room and talked her into going to rehab. She sent me a letter a month later without her psychologists’knowledge. She told me it was me she always wanted. I immediately contacted one of her psychologists and he wanted to handle it. I was fine with it, not wanting anything to do with her. That was the last I heard of her. This would be the time frame for her to be released from the hospital.”
“So why haven’t you told the police?”She asked as she turns in my arms. Confusion and anger is radiating off her.
“I did. I stepped out on the balcony while you were in the shower and called them. They said they were going to check into her. I then called Dr. Asher and told him who I suspected and her description.”
Hayden wiggled out of my arms. The look of pain on her face was torture. This is why Brooklyn whispered,“patience”in my ear. Hayden put her hands up in the air as if to surrender. She shook her head and I could see the tears stream down her face. Her voice was barely audible,“I’m sorry, but I can’t do this. I can’t be with you. I love you but I can’t put everything at risk. She wins, again.”Throwing her hands up in the air she turns to head to her room.
And she tries to run, again. My head drops back out of frustration causing me to stare at the ceiling. Damn, will she always be a runner? Why can’t she stay and fight?
My chest is tight at her words. I’m not going to let her do this. I’m not going to let her push me away. Following her to her room, I quietly open and close the door behind me. She’s lying on the bed with her back to the door. The moon light streams in through the crack in the curtains. It’s just enough to show Hayden’s body shaking with each sob she releases. My poor sweet girl, her heart is breaking and once again it is because of me. For the briefest of moments, I actually contemplate letting this be the end so I quit hurting her. Maybe this time she could go on and find someone that is worthy of her love. I can’t do it though, I’m too selfish. I’ve wanted her since we were kids and I had no idea what the feelings I felt for her were. Walking over to her nightstand I push play on her iPod dock. I can
’t help but chuckle at the irony of the song that begins to stream through the speakers,“Let’s Stay Together”by Al Green. I hit the repeat button. It just seems fitting. I strip down to my boxer briefs and crawl in behind her. I pull her body to mine, her back to my front. I just need to hold her. I need her to feel the love I have for her, just not believe I love her because I tell her. She doesn’t push me away or yell at me to get out, so this is a good start. We lay there for a while saying nothing. She just lets me hold her while I rubbed my thumb back and forth over her forearm. Finally I say,“Did you know I came to all the games when you cheered?”
She turned her head to look at me out of the corner of her eye.“What? I didn’t see you. I searched for you after each game for a while; after everything turned to shit.”Her voice trailed off as sobs racked her body.“I can’t, Gavin. I just can’t. This hurts too much. You need to go. It’s best for both of us.”
Pulling her to her back I rolled on top of her, my body pressed to hers. I positioned my elbows on each side of her so my full body weight wasn’t on her. I put my hands on her cheeks and leaned down and softly kissed her lips.“Shhh, baby, please stop crying.”I kiss her forehead, one temple then each eye and her other temple. My lips moved across her face, kissing each tear off her cheeks before kissing her soft lips again.“I have a story to tell you, ok?”Her eyes are still closed but she nods.
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