Professor

Asok was a man of many regrets. Regrets so deep and foul, they had seeped their way into his bones and festered in there like maggots. And now, all he had left was a gaping hole where his heart should have been. Bastards wouldn’t even leave him the last of his dignity to die with. After all, this frail looking man had taken a father from his child and a husband from his wife all by himself - and he hadn’t even needed to lift a single finger. It wasn’t as if he could make any difference if he wanted to, but that was irrelevant. It did not matter to him. Nothing mattered to him anymore - at least nothing except the woman sleeping with her head upon his desk in the dark, her hair illuminated by the faint glow of her laptop. He had kept the promise he made to her father all those years ago at their wedding. He had kept Eira Matthews safe. And he had made sure she would remain safe for the rest of her days. All he needed to do now was say goodbye. But why did his heart feel like it had shattered into a thousand shards and gotten stuck in his ribcage? No. He needed to leave. And he needed to do it before he had the chance to rethink his decisions and stay. He had already brought enough danger to her doorstep by marrying her. This woman almost died for the likes of him. She had lied for him. She had watched her fiancée being taken from her by some cruel twist of fate, and still buried her own grief deep within her heart to help him deal with his. She had stood there, like a banyan tree, between him and his doom for over twelve years, and now, it was time he repaid the favour. Of course, he knew Eira would never accept his help. She was a proud woman. She’d never let anybody help her with anything if she had a say, especially when it was her husband she was dealing with. It was almost as if she did not trust the man she had married - as if she knew she couldn't rely on him when she needed it. And that was why Asok had made arrangements to disappear into the night before she had a chance to stop him. There were no mistakes in his plan this time. Before dawn, he’d be gone, and it would all look like a tragic accident. Eira would be heartbroken, of course, for a few months, and then she’d find herself someone who could actually take care of her for once. God only knows, the poor woman needed it. She had been his rock for far too long. He’d even called her his saving grace and guardian angel when it had suited him. But, deep beneath her quiet strength and her almost endless reserves of a deep, patient kindness that she’d keep giving from till it was far past exhausted, he knew her heart and soul had long been broken past the point of repair. If this was the last thing Asok could do to make her whole, why was he so hesitant? No. He had called himself her husband for years, and now it was time he earned the title. He slowly peeled himself from the shadows and made his way to his desk, a thick looking envelope in his hand. ‘Twas the least he owed her after all the years of torment he had laid at her feet, even though he hoped she would throw it away with the rest of her trash. She needed to know what was in there, and she needed to understand that none of what had already happened in this life of hers, and none of what was to come, was her fault. He’d been the cause of all that buffoonery, and now, he had almost set things straight. Almost. Leo Murray will be here in the morning. The man was a bastard – and Asok knew that better than anyone, but he’d do anything to keep Eira safe. Even commit murder. Eira would be in good hands with Leo around to help. And now, there was something else he needed to take care of before he left. He hid the envelope deep among Eira’s papers, and then slowly lifted her out of the chair she was slumped over. She felt so small against him – almost crumpled, like spare paper, as if the world had tried to toss her out like garbage. But then, nobody who knew her dared try – the last poor fool who did can attest to that. Asok savoured the feeling of his wife’s frame against his chest one last time, her pale face peaceful in sleep – a look he almost never saw on her when she was awake. At least, he hadn’t, in the twelve years he had been married to her. A tear made its way down his face and dropped onto Eira’s. Another followed. He tucked her into bed as quickly as his trembling frame allowed him to, in an attempt to let her sleep undisturbed. Unaware of the storm brewing in his heart. And before he knew what was going on, he was sobbing into his hands, as if his entire world had just come crashing down around him. It probably had too – given he’d never see his wife again. But she’d be safe, probably happy too, and that was enough comfort to be going on. It took him a few minutes to finally gather all his emotions. He was one step short of a successful plan, and he needed to go before he could sabotage half a year’s worth of hard work. With that, he pulled Eira’s wheelchair up beside the bed and hurried out of the room. As he closed the front door to their flat, he wondered, for the final time, if he had angled the wheelchair just as Eira liked it – she’d need to get out of bed by herself for the first time in over a decade, and she’d need her wheelchair angled just right before she fell out of bed trying to tug at it. Anyhow, it was already far too late for thoughts like that. The front door was shut behind him, and there was a car waiting for him in the parking lot. The morning found Leo Murray – ‘the ole’ Doc Murray’ as Eira liked calling him - in her kitchen, frying eggs just the way she loved them. Right behind him lay the day’s newspaper, with Asok’s face on the front page. They had found him in the river apparently – in the wee hours of the morning too, by some poor couple on their way to the airport for their honeymoon. Leo sighed to himself and shook his head as he flipped the eggs over on the pan. Eira’s father had trusted him with her safety, and he had been fast asleep when her fool husband drove his car off a bridge like he had meant it. He was thankful his protégé was still fast asleep – he still needed the time to invent an explanation for why he was there and what her husband had pulled on them both. He’d been the last person to hear from Asok after all – and Eira would wring every last inch of information out of him as soon as she had the chance. Leo knew she couldn’t help it – brilliant as she was, she had always wanted to know everything about everything, and if she didn’t wrestle it out of a book or the first person in the field she came across, she’d hide in the library with a notebook and a pen for days, sometimes even forgetting to eat and sleep till she had worked out what she was looking for. In fact, he even considered himself fortunate to have her for a student, even though he hadn't been too enthusiastic about taking her on as a PhD scholar. It wasn't her fault either, she was simply far too advanced for the likes of him. But then, he had also been the first person to break through her silence at the time. Him, and not that coward who claimed to be her fiancé right after the death of the person she was actually going to marry. And her father had been a master manipulator in his own right – he had extracted promises of protection from two exceedingly desperate men for almost nothing in return. That old goat knew exactly how valuable his daughter’s trust was, and he had found the men who’d lay their lives down to earn it from her. Well, for all Leo thought he was worth, he knew Eira trusted him. And he wouldn’t hide her husband’s death from her. It wasn’t like she wouldn’t find out about it before an hour was out, but it wasn’t worth losing her trust for an hour of ignorant bliss either. And Leo would rather let her be devastated for a while, than have her distrust the last person she had left in this world for the rest of her life. Asok had left her in his care now, and it was the least he owed his protégé and her husband. Thinking of Asok’s last email to him, Leo had a nagging feeling that the fool man did not fall off that bridge by accident. He had driven off on purpose, even though Leo wondered how drunk the man was to drive off that narrow bridge. He’d need to explain this to Eira too, for he wasn’t entirely sure Asok had left her some message detailing his intentions. But knowing him, he probably had. God, all of this was turning circles in his head and making him dizzy. Saesha Gupta-Roy had been easier to handle than that brother and fiancée of hers. She was the sole brain cell of the three of them, if you please - that girl, even if Eira was the ‘era defining genius’ or whatever that nonsense had been. In fact, if not for her, Eira would’ve gone and destroyed herself a long time ago. And then, the girl had to put herself in the way of an oncoming truck for that ingrate brother of hers, and Eira was almost run over by a car while trying to stop her. Leo sighed again. He really should’ve thought things out better. It was already a small miracle that Eira had come out of it all alive, albeit dazed and beside herself with grief. Her father would have torn the world down if anything worse had befallen his daughter – though his reaction to Saesha’s death was almost as terrifying, as far as Leo and Asok were concerned. He wished he had done things differently all those years ago – at least Asok would not have known of his plans or tried to stop him. He wouldn’t have tried for retribution over a decade too late. Saesha and Eira wouldn’t have put themselves in harm’s way for the poor fool, and Eira’s father would not have rained hell upon them all. The girls had been innocent. Too innocent. Eira deserved the entire world, and Leo’s oversight had taken it all right from under her feet. It was a shameful price to pay for such a small mistake. But, what needed to pass had come to pass, and that story had come to a natural end. All Leo had left to do was wait for Eira to learn the whole truth and hate him for it. At least, she’d know the fault wasn’t hers. She’d know how blameless she had been in it all - how undeserving her fool husband had been of a loyalty like hers. They had all been undeserving of a heart so kind and a love as fierce as hers had been - and now, they had all made it perfectly clear to her.