Nowhere to Hide

Chapter Two

Monday afternoon, Julie was searching for Professor Robert’s office on campus. Her legs shook with tremors as she combed the seventh floor of the building. No professor in college had ever asked her to see them. 

All the way over, Julie stressed. What if he wanted to see her so he could tell her she was failing his class?

Relax, she told herself. You’ll just take the class again. 

For goodness sake, she cussed under her breath, shaking again. She silently cursed herself for the one thousandth and seventeenth time for going along with her mother on this major. 

Julie knocked at the polished wood door, a slight, unsure sound and half wished he wasn’t in. 

“Come in,” came his deep voice, smooth like melted chocolate. Julie opened the door and stepped in. A slight chill ran through her spine when he fixed his serious eyes on her. 

“Yes?”

Julie swallowed, trying to steady herself when she looked at his handsome face. Five o’ clock shadow, defined jawline, and short slightly curly hair that looked so soft. 

“You asked— Good afternoon, Professor Robert. You asked me to see you. Julie Wright.”

“Yes. Sit,” he gestured with his hand and continued to tap away at his laptop while she sat before him at his desk. It felt a bit too intimate, after months looking at him from several feet away in class, now she was only a couple of inches away, and they were alone. 

It was quiet for a while and Julie used the opportunity to snoop discretely around his office. A tall, mahogany bookshelf in the right corner behind him, yellow window blinds pulled up all the way to let in the bright afternoon sunlight, a comfy looking navy two seater couch behind her, and baring that, nothing else in the white walled room. Well, save for the glass top semicircle shape desk separating them. 

He cleared his throat and Julie looked at him, sitting up yet again in her seat from nerves. 

Professor Robert leaned forward in his reclining chair, and Julie heard a muscle pop. “Ms. Wright, I’m going to level with you,” Julie subconsciously started wringing her hands, her heart instantly beating faster. That can’t be good. No one started anything good saying “I’m going to level with you”. 

“This isn’t the first time you’ve asked for an extension this semester. You barely meet deadlines and when you do turn in your paper, it’s not good. You’re late to class,” he went on, and Julie felt a huge wave of shame, “you’re distracted.” She averted her eyes, knowing well he referred most recently to Friday. Her throat tightened and Julie tried to fight her tears. 

“To be honest with you, I don’t buy your story of four coffees spilling on your laptop, that’s almost as bad as the old dog ate my homework. You’re so close to failing my class.”

She felt the tears start to build up in her eyes, then a drop spattered onto her blue sundress. 

“How can I help you here? I don’t want you to— Ms. Wright?”

Julie started to bawl, loud and snotty sobs that racked her whole body. “I’m sorry!” She cried. She wasn’t sure what she was sorry for, she just felt terrible. 

“I don’t even know what I’m doing here!” She cried, throwing up her hands in frustration. “My mom picked this major, because she can’t stand to have a child who doesn’t have a prestigious degree,” she snarled. 

“I don’t even care about Shakespeare or that Jane woman. Why do we spend so much time analysing Pride and Prejudice or that Mr. Big guy? Oh!” 

Through her blurry vision, she saw her professor frozen, mouth ajar. And it dawned on Julie that she had just broken down in front of her Professor ... who she still had an entire semester with...

She covered her face with her hands.

Robert wanted to wipe the tears away, wondering how his attempt to help her had led them there. He sometimes thought the mask he had to put on was a little harsh but it kept people out and the better for him. 

His sister had also told him he was sometimes too blunt. The problem was he didn’t know when he had overdone things until he had already provoked a terrible emotion like then. 

“Ms. Wright, I’m— sorry,” his ringtone bounced off the walls, cutting his apology short. 

Thierry. 

“I have to take this,” he said apologetically and went to stand at the window overlooking the statuesque buildings of the campus. 

“Hey, man.”

Thierry’s loud animated voice blared out through the phone. “There’s a woman here, says she has something for you.”

Robert’s blood chilled. “What woman? What does she have?”

“I’m upstairs, Robbie, and aren’t you ‘sposed to be coming home anyway? What are you doing?”

Robert bit back his annoyance. Thierry would pull this. “What woman, Thierry? You know that’s important.”

Thierry laughed. “You know I wouldn’t call if it was one of your friends. Now, I’m about to start dinner, you think chicken or fish?”

Robert had some choice words and he didn’t want Julie to hear anymore of their conversation. “Chicken,” he said grudgingly, his stomach growling. There weren’t any good places to get nice home cooked meals on campus and he’d been working all day, running on sandwiches. Mondays were roughest. 

“I’m coming now.” Seeing as you’re too lazy to get me what I need, he thought. 

Thierry cut the call and Robert turned to get his things, his body already running on adrenaline. Who could this woman be? No one knew where he lived, whether city, country or continent. 

“Julie!” He felt bad dismissing her, his stomach sick with guilt that he’d caused her to breakdown. “Come see me tomorrow,” he ordered while packing up his things to leave. 

He barely acknowledged her nod, his mind already elsewhere. Could they have found him? But he had been careful, he would know if someone had been surveilling him. 

Julie got up. “Is everything okay, Professor Robert?”

Robert smiled lightly. “Just fine.” At least it would be. 

Robert careened his BMW through the late evening traffic, a slow dredge of white collars and blues heading back home after the tolling work of a Monday. He used the time to plot his move. If it was someone from back home, what would he do? 

Sweat beads rolled down his forehead and he turned up his air conditioner. 

He had his pocket knife but his gun was back in his room so he would have to be quick and precise if it came down to it. All Robert knew, no one was taking him back, dead or alive.