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I choked on a sob. I’d never wanted it to come to this. The police would have to get his name in order to serve him, and once they did, our entire sordid relationship would be out in the open. My father and uncle would kill him for touching me, and painfully at that for hurting me in the process. Travis was right, though. I didn’t know Callum as well as I’d first thought, and I had no idea what lengths he’d actually go to. He'd warned me that last time in his office, so I finally nodded. I then left with my friend, and headed down to the station.
CALLUM
I’d been in the middle of reading essays when I heard the doorbell. I stopped grading to see who it was, but I regretted it the moment I opened the door to see Detective Falloray on the other side. My confusion had to be evident on my face. The man in front of me was a family friend, but there was no smile on his face like there usually was. Concern etched it instead, and I had arched a brow.
“What’s wrong Jessie?” His expression didn’t change.
“I’m not sure what’s going on, but an order of protection has been filed against you, so I guess I’m here to serve it to you,” he told me.
“An order of what?”
My first thought had been to contact my lawyer, which I did once the detective left, but not before he delivered a stern warning to abide by it. He mentioned having known me since I was a boy, and the only thing missing from his lecture had been a promise to tell my father on me if I messed up again. That’d happened when I was fourteen and he’d caught me and some friends drinking beer. I’d known what my father would say to me, so I’d sworn to not do anything like that again, and I hadn’t. In fact, this was the closest I came to any sort of trouble since then.
A Titan was always in the limelight, and anything we did was placed under a microscope. Jessie had told me he saw the restraining order and had decided to deliver it himself to keep it hidden from the public eye. I had appreciated that, then I looked down to see who had filed it, and what I’d supposedly had done. There in black and white was proof that Nicole had taken one out against me for targeted harassment and stalking.
Even now, I still couldn’t believe it. If this had been because of what happened in my office, there were other ways to handle this. When she’d threatened to go to the Dean on me, I’d thought it was a bluff. Maybe that had been, but this wasn’t. I hadn’t even talked to her since she’d left my office, but she’d evidently listed more recent occasions, and put the blame on me.
Angry didn’t even begin to explain what I was currently feeling, and as I looked down at that damn piece of paper, it only intensified. Jessie told me it would all blow over, but I was pissed off now. I did contact my attorney to keep him apprised of this. We’d always kept one on retainer, and the one I used had been compensated handsomely over the years by different Titans. He’d also stressed the importance of me keeping my distance from Nicole.
“Gladly,” I’d spit out to no one, and for once I regretted ever meeting her.
Nicole had been dealing with her mother’s death, but even before she’d died, things had changed between us even if the reasons remained a mystery. I’d once been keen to unravel it, but not anymore. The woman I’d fallen so completely for would’ve never been this vindictive. It’d been more than sex between us, and when I remembered all the overnight talks, movie nights, conversations, late-night dinners, and even Halloween when we’d been able to mingle together in public, I didn’t recognize whoever it was that had filed this report. It kept me bitter the rest of the weekend, and it still hadn’t faded at the start of the new week.
I’d always hated Mondays, but this one would suck more than any other. Remembering what I was told by both the detective and attorney, I knew which student wouldn’t be sitting in the front row this morning. At least, I wouldn’t have to see her face where I would be reminded of her duplicity. There’d once been a time when her dark eyes and warm smile were all I wanted to see. Now, I would be happy never laying eyes on her again for the rest of my life.
When I got to campus and arrived at my classroom, Erin Reed stopped just in front of the door. I noticed the steaming cup of coffee she had in her hand, and I grinned.
“Are you here to save me from another case of the Mondays?”
She smiled back, then handed me the cup. “It’s the least I could do.”
I then watched as she pushed her blonde hair off to one side. Erin was nice unlike other women I knew, but nice didn’t drop to her knees and suck me dry. Nice also didn’t file orders of protection against me in an attempt to destroy both my career and reputation in one fell swoop.
“I’m very appreciative,” I told her, then the bell rang before she could say anything back. “I guess we should get to our classes.”
She nodded, then winked before disappearing through her door. I stood there and watched her, and while she had a very fit body, it wasn’t one I wanted to see tangled up with mine in the bedsheets. I knew Erin liked me, and while it’d be easy enough to say that Nicole was the only one standing between us, that would be a lie. I’d met the professor last year when I’d taken over for the previous one who’d retired mid-semester, and nothing had ever even started between us. This year would be no exception.
I shook my head, then entered my class. My eyes always went to a recently empty seat, and thankfully it was still vacant. The one beside hers wasn’t, and I didn’t miss the smug look Travis gave me when I stepped inside. It was very possible that he knew what Nicole had done to me, but there was something more there, although I didn’t know what. I also didn’t care anymore, so I turned my gaze to the row behind him. I had a much better attendance rate this week than last, and it was likely because finals were in a few days.
“I’m sure you all have seen the grades for your latest essay over the weekend?” I asked.
Even after being served as Jessie had put it, I went back to work because it was honestly all I had. Thoughts about calling Daxon, or even Gabriel, Noah, or Romeo did cross my mind, but I decided against involving anyone else in my latest drama. I’d take care of this by myself, and next semester, I’d make sure she got reassigned to another class even if it meant taking two other students in her place. That was all something I’d discuss with the Dean once this week was over. Leroy Gluck was also a family friend who still golfed regularly with my father when he was actually in town. Their next planned trip back to Chicago was supposed to be Christmas.
The Meyers’, much like the Steeles, loved to celebrate the holidays in style. Chicago was absolutely gorgeous this time of year, the magic of the season enough to make anyone dream. I’d never been much of a fantasy type, until I’d met Nicole. She made me do a lot of things I’d never done before, and wishing for something more with her had been one of those things. Now, I only wished I’d never met her, and the best way to achieve that on my own without waiting on fate was to pretend as if she’d never existed at all.
“I can’t wait to ride the CTA holiday train, see the lights at the Navy Pier, and take in the tree in Millennium Park,” Nicole had told me a month or so ago, when we talked about family holiday traditions. She had been in my arms and I made sure to add the Christkindlmarket and Lincoln Park Zoo to her to-do list. A few of those things, I’d hoped to possibly do with her.
Even if we couldn’t be out in public like lovers, we’d discussed decorating the trees at each of our places. I’d even found the perfect farm just outside of Chicago to find our trees. None of it mattered anymore. Those were all just pipe dreams. I just needed to hope that she didn’t go any farther than she already had in trying to ruin me, or else I could end up in jail.
I glanced over at Travis who was watching me with rapt fascination. He knew. That much was obvious, and his constant smirking made me want to wipe it off his smug face. That would only cause me to incur a different set of charges. I needed to go home. It wasn’t too late to send everyone to the library, so after doing that, I sat in my empty classroom and debated on whether I wanted to cancel my second class of the day as well. Deciding that’d be for the best, I sent out a mass email, then taped a note to the door, before returning to my office.
I took a seat at my desk and put my feet up. As I leaned back and closed my eyes, all I could think about was what had happened in here the last time I’d seen Nicole. I was tired of trying to wrack my head for answers, and eventually my thoughts returned to Costa Rica. The short trip to the tropical paradise had been just what I’d needed at the time.
A friend of mine, Aaron, had heard about something abuzz in the celebrity world, and it was what led me to ayahuasca. If I’d never gone, I wouldn’t have met her then, and my entire world wouldn’t be unraveling now. If only she’d communicated with me, we could’ve avoided this altogether. She hadn’t, and now I was in fear of what she might do to me next.
As if Karma was there and collecting on multiple receipts, the ringing of my office phone jolted me back to the present. I rolled back and swung my legs off the desk, then picked up the receiver.
“Professor Meyers.”
