by Lenise Lee
Chapter 4
Denise placed a small hand to her forehead as she felt her stomach turn over and she prayed the moment of dizziness and nausea would pass. This day was going from bad to worse to hell in only a few short hours. She suddenly understood when people she knew often commented they wanted a ‘do-over’ to the day, a chance to start over again and hopefully get the day right the second time around.
Get it together, girl, Denise forced herself to take a deep breath. She turned to make her way down the stairs to exit the building and then come back in to gather her things, all the while hoping no one decided on grabbing the last fifty dollars she had in her small purse in the handbag she had so smartly left behind while in a hurry to silence her overbearing mother. Before stepping foot onto the top of the stairs to descend, she heard the door creak open and sigh of relief washed over her.
“Thank you so much,” she offered and smiled as she turned and was again captured by those dazzling emerald optics.
A sensation of warmth gathered in her stomach, replacing the uneasiness there. His smile was so inviting and comforting. The moment she felt like being captured by those strong arms, Denise knew her mind was playing an awful joke on her sensibility. She remembered how he had tried to play her for a fool earlier and all semblance of happiness faded from her heart and, for some reason, she wanted that feeling again, but it was too late to go back on her newfound annoyance at this man.
“Oh, it’s you,” she said poignantly, “What do you want now? I told you, I don’t do other peoples work, that does include term papers.”
His vibrant smile disappeared in an instant and Denise felt like a complete ass for what she had said, especially when she eyed her bag in his hand. He was only returning it to her. He must have been the one sitting across from her in the library. And, to add to her idiocy, Denise also realized that if it were not for him, she would not be able to get back into the library without going the long route down, out, in, and back up.
Way to go, Denise. He saved your butt twice in five minutes and you give him grief. Maybe my mother is right about me and this attitude thing.
“I only wanted to give you your bag,” he nodded his head toward the inside of the library, “you left it on the table and I didn’t want anyone to take your money or anything. Anyway, here you go. Sorry to bother you.”
He practically tossed the bag at her and then turned away and hesitated mid-step.
“Also, I thought you might need someone to open the door for you since you can’t get back in from the stairs,” his voice was barely above a whisper.
He stepped into the stairwell to hold the door open while Denise slinked passed him with her head and eyes low. As soon as they both were on the inside again, he stepped around her and was headed back toward the tables.
“Wait,” she called to him but was sure he would keep walking. After all, his duty was done and she had been nothing but ungrateful.
To her surprise, Adam stopped but he kept his back to her. His large frame was like a statue and her words caught in her throat as she tried to form something resembling an apology.
“Hey, look, I am sorry for the way I acted back there. I have had a crazy morning, and I am so stressed about midterms, and my mother has been calling me nonstop, and—” she stopped her own self when she realized she had been rambling. Denise also noticed that he still had not turned to face her. When she thought her own silly apology had failed, it was her turn to take a few steps around him and move toward the tables.
“How about lunch? My treat.”
For the first time in what seemed like years, Denise felt her whole face lift in a bright smile that she could actually feel in her inner being and was truly genuine not rehearsed.
Chapter 5
Adam watched Denise literally devour the strawberry shortcake pastry he had purchased for her in the cafeteria. Though the large space was awash with noise of various groups of people laughing and talking, all while large flat screen televisions on all four walls pumped in the latest news from the various cable news channels, all Adam focused on was the beauty who sat before him.
He noticed she had a small spot of cream left on her upper lip after taking the last bite. Before he could stop himself, he reached over and lifted the cream from her lip with the tip of his index finger and then placed the digit into his own mouth. There was a look of shock followed by an all too brief moment of desire that crossed her perfect oval face. He knew right then his action had not been a mistake. She may be interested but was not ready to admit to it just yet. He needed to steady his own self; it would be all too easy for him to get caught in her soulful brown eyes and her vivacious smile. When she smiled earlier, her entire countenance became illuminated. Her already naturally beautiful features became more breathtaking. Other than the light lip gloss she wore on her full lips, he did not notice any other make-up. Her button nose was so cute and perfect. These were only some of the reasons why it took Adam until today to gather the courage to approach Denise.
“Adam,” Denise waived a hand in front of his face, “Adam, are you okay?”
“Yes,” he sat up with a start, “what were you saying?”
Denise laughed and he had no choice but to join in. Her laugh was light and infectious. It was like a melody he could listen to any number of times and was confident would bring the same joy and happiness as though it was the first all over again.
“I was saying I also wanted to apologize for earlier after the lecture. I really should have given you a better opportunity to explain what you were trying to say.”
“No, you were right to shoot me down. I went about the whole thing in the complete wrong manner.”
“So, please explain,” she flashed those golden eyes at him again and his heart sped up double time.
“What I was trying to get out earlier,” he licked his lips and noticed that she followed the movement and allowed her mouth to hang slightly open. To be sure, he repeated the movement and achieved the same affect and, this time, she licked hers sending his mind spirally miles away from what he was attempting to say.
Denise caught on and laughed.
“You’re doing it again,” she said and he felt his cheeks flush a deep red.
“I can’t help it, Denise,” he stared at her and almost willed her to feel the emotions bubbling inside of him.
“You have this effect on me. It took me weeks to get enough courage to come up to you and I blew it and here I am doing it all over again.”
She sat back in the chair and offered him a confused stare. He feared maybe he had said too much too soon.
“What do you mean? How can I have any effect on you, we only meant this morning?”
“Ah,” Adam tried to lighten the mood, sitting back as comfortable as possible in the folding chair at the table and clasping his hands behind his head, “we were introduced this morning. I have known about you for a while now. I have to admit, you amaze me.”
It was Denise’s turn to blush as she averted her eyes and scanned several other tables before turned back to him.
Adam decided to capitalize on this opening. It was as good a time as any and if they were going to have any type of relationship, personal or professional, he wanted to be as open and honest as possible.
On a hunch, he took her petite hands into his own and immediately was overtaken by how delicate they were, how good they felt in his brawny ones, and how he did not want to let them go for anything else on earth right now.
“Denise, I started off this morning trying to convince myself to ask you for your help in getting my grade together in Litigation,” he felt her hands tense in his own and saw the rest of her body sit up straight in the chair across the table from him.
“Wait, before you think I am one of those guys only trying to get by without doing the work that is far from the truth. I realized right after you walked away, the real reason why I came up to you is because I really wanted to talk with you. Yes, I do need help with the class
but even if you say no, I still want to get to know you.”
She tried to pull her hand out of his grasp but he held tight and leaned over the table.
“Tell me right now you don’t feel some type of connection between us and I will walk away and never bother you again for as long as we both attend this school.”
“Adam—”
“Yes or no, Denise.”
“Yes,” she fidgeted in the chair, “but this feels so, so weird. I can’t explain.”
Adam knew the reason why and went immediately on the defensive. He allowed her hands to fall to the table. He immediately wanted to capture their softness again and had to hold his breath to suppress the urge.
“Why? I’m not on your level? Because one of my parents does not have wing of campus center named after him?”
“What are you talking about?”
He studied her face but could not read whether her confusion was honest or a way to back out of the accusation the easy way. After a surveying the dazed look on her face, he concluded he was the one who had – again – pushed the conversation in the wrong direction. His hand immediately went to his hair and stroked through it several times before he abruptly pushed back from the table and grabbed his canvas sling bag.
“Look, sorry I wasted your time. Forget everything I said. See you around?”
He made his way through the throngs of patrons in the cafeteria before realizing that she had not followed and he could slow his pace. He found he was disappointed she had not pursued but pushed the emotion to the back of his mind for now.
Chapter 6
Lying on the bed in her dorm room, Denise recounted the events from earlier last week. She had not seen Adam since that day. Although he attended the lecture without fail, Adam always arrived after she did and made sure he was the first one out of the door at the end of the period. She had absolutely no chance to say a word to him. Somehow, she had missed him since that fateful day last week. The heat from his eyes each time they had seen one another that day was so palpable she was convinced the intensity of the image would be embedded in her mind forever.
Since she did not know much about him other than his name, neither did she know what other classes he was in, it was tough to try to run into him anywhere else on campus. There were four major buildings, three dorm halls, and a host of several other smaller facilities on the campus so he could be anywhere at any given time. The only thing she had to go on was his name. His name! Of course! She thought to herself as she rolled into a sitting position on the bed.
She did not have to worry about making too much noise because her roommate had not returned. It was only 8 PM Friday night, so Denise did not expect to see Amanda until the early AM hours, probably as close to dawn as possible. Lifting her laptop from its carrier bag, Denise logged on to the school’s intranet and found the link she needed on the homepage. Digging deep into her memory, she searched for the pronunciation of his last name and started typing into the search engine box.
Angel… Angellis… Aggeliki …ahh, here it is.
Since his name was so unique, there was only one Adam Aggeliki listed on the Eastern States University People search. She quickly scanned the basic information and found his Instant Message screen name. With that in hand, she took a deep breath and typed it into the intranet application. When she saw that a green dot was lit up next to his name, indicating he was still online at whatever terminal he was logged in at, Denise let out a breath she did not realize she had been holding.
Why she was going through so much trouble over one guy she had met exactly once, Denise had no idea. Then she remembered how, over a brief lunch date, she had a sense of freedom and happiness that had become foreign to her. Even the idea of a date had become only a memory in her distant past. Not one guy had so much as looked at her since she stepped foot on this campus. She assumed it did not help that she practically lived in sweat pants or jogging outfits and refused to do anything more to her hair than a ponytail or have it hang loose around her shoulders. Denise honestly did not see the point in any emotional attachments to men or anyone else. People, most certainly men, only seemed to disappoint or, at the very least, have an ulterior motive for trying to get close. With Adam, the small bond forged was almost instant and offered her a relief she craved for so long.
It was perhaps that closeness, that connection that Denise missed the most. Before the sudden cold shoulder her father handed the family, they had all known some really great times together. Now, everything was a façade at home, one she could no longer be a part of. The connection she felt with Adam brought back a wave of good memories and feelings she desperately wanted back but had convinced herself could no longer exist in her life. When Adam walked away that day, she knew he had some painful secrets of his own he was holding in. Denise held a high hope, given enough time; they would be able to help one another through those pains.
Denise clicked on Adam’s name and was about to type a message when she heard her phone on top of the dresser buzz loudly. She slid the small computer off of her lap and onto the bed as she reached over to grab the phone, all the while watching the green dot on the screen as though her life depended on it. Without checking the phone first, she flipped it open and chimed a greeting.
“Well,” her Mother began, “look who is home on a Friday night. Not surprising at all.”
While rolling her eyes, Denise sat back against the wall that the bed was adjacent to and placed the computer back on her folded legs.
“Mom, I don’t have time for this. Is there a reason you called? Surely, you must have some social function to attend to?”
“Actually, I thought your Father and I would be dining out, but he had….other plans, so,” she stopped as though thinking what her next words should be then continued, “Are you coming home tomorrow?”
“Mom, you know that I am not scheduled to come back to Pennsylvania until Spring Break in two weeks.”
Suddenly overwhelmed with the guilt of not having been home to see her parents in no less than two months, she reconsidered her last statement.
“Maybe I can schedule some time next weekend.”
“Okay, it’s a definite that you will be here right?”
“Yes, I will.”
“Good, good. I will see you then. Goodbye, dear.”
With that said, the woman ended the call with no further argument and it was all too strange for Denise but her mind could only process one event at a time. The pressing issue at the moment was that Adam’s name no longer had a green orb next to it, and was not highlighted, usually indicative that he had signed out of his account.
Not knowing what else to do, Denise opened up her email account, started typing, and hoped for a miracle.
Chapter 7
Adam knew the minute all four of his roommates had returned to the dorm room in the early evening smelling of alcohol there was no way he was going to be able to get any reading done. Though he had attempted to do just that, after thirty minutes of furniture movement and loud yelps from the common living area of the suite, he gave up the cause as hopeless and wandered outside to find another place to work.
He had tried to understand the material but was still having a tough time getting through. The midterms were only two weeks away and he needed to pass that exam with no less than a B+ to keep up his average. Lifting the canvas bag higher on his broad shoulder, he glanced at his wristwatch and concluded the library was either closed or in the process of escorting the last remaining visitors toward the doors. As he crossed the quad, he remembered there was a café around the corner from the west entrance of the campus. Adam was almost positive there was free Wi-Fi there. He would need to look up certain topics online as he read them in the law textbook so as to keep a concrete understanding of the material.
For the last week, other than trying to get ready for exams, he was completely consumed with thoughts of Denise. After the fool he had made of himself, he could not bring himself to face her again. He made sure
to avoid her as much as possible, which did not seem difficult since he was sure she was not looking for him. He had been rude to leave her at the table but could think of no other way of talking his way out of an embarrassing admission. He was ashamed for not having access to the privileges he was sure were available to Denise. The thought of how she would never want a relationship with someone like him, who had nothing to offer her, was already embedded at the back of his mind.
Life had not always been like this for him. Adam thought back to his early high school years in Reading, PA. He, his parents, and younger brother all lived in a two story townhouse. His father worked as an accountant in Philadelphia and his mother mostly tended to the home, although she did work as a substitute teacher from time to time to bring in a little extra money for the family. Everything had been great until that night. Adam almost felt his heart breaking all over again. Not wanting to dwell on the past and an uncertain future, he moved his thoughts back to studying. He allowed himself one final thought about the lost look Denise always seemed to have in her eyes. Maybe that was the reason he felt so drawn to her. They both seemed to be floating through life, unable or unwilling to connect to anything. She may be the one to bring him back to earth and help him gain a sentiment for life again, if only he could find a way to reach out to her without her or him pulling back.
****
By a little after eight o’clock that night, Adam’s eyes were near exhaustion. He had updated all the course blogs that required at least one posting per week and contacted some professors via the school intranet email to discuss any options for extra credit or preparing for midterms they could offer. He had even made it through several chapters in one of the litigation textbooks fairly well and decided to call it an evening.
After logging off and packing most of his belongings into the bag, Adam remembered one final task he had forgotten. Luckily, he had not shut down his laptop. All he needed to do was access his school email account again and take a quick look to see whether his little brother had sent him anything. Charles was in his early teens and, though Adam liked to check in with his brother as often as possible, as with every other teen in this day and age, Charles seemed to only want to communicate via the web or some other electrical device. Adam laughed to himself as he scrolled through the emails before coming across one that caught his eye. He clicked on the message as fast as his index finger would allow him.