"Hello?" I answered. There was no answer. "Hello?" I repeated.
"I want to know everything and if you can't be honest with me then you will never hear from me again, understood?" Professor Moore said in a grave voice. I was out in the hall where no one could hear. I stood off to the side by a plant and a window. I nodded.
"Yes, I understand," I answered. When he didn't say anything else, I took a deep breath. "When I found out that you were married, I was devastated. I would have never slept with you or even pursued you or tempted you in any kind of way if I had known. I'm not like that. When I left your office that day, I ran into your wife and accidentally took her phone. I gave it to my roommate to give to her while I went to class, only I had no intentions of going to class. My roommate invited your wife in for tea. I stole ecstasy pills from my roommate’s room and slipped it in their tea. When they started hooking up, I took the pictures," I said. I could hear him breathing heavily so I paused.
"You drugged my wife?!" He roared.
"Yes," I said quietly.
"You're fuckin crazy! Are you out of your mind?!" He shouted. I cringed and looked out the window. Maybe. "Why?" He asked. I was quiet. "Why did you do it?!" He demanded.
"Because I thought that if given the opportunity, your wife would cheat too and you'd definitely get a divorce!" I spit the words out as quickly as I could. A sob erupted from my chest, tears refilled my eyes.
"I can't believe this. You've destroyed my marriage," he accused me. I crumpled to the floor, sobbing. Professor Moore hung up on me. I had fucked everything up and now everyone hated me. I heard footsteps and a shadow was cast over me. When I looked up, Richard was standing over me holding a plate wrapped in napkins. He held out his hand to me.
"Let me walk you home," he said. I took his hand and he helped me stand up.
"What's in the plate?" I asked him as we walked out the building.
"Your pizza," he told me. I smiled.
"Why are you so nice?" I asked him. He smiled and shrugged.
"I don't know," he answered. As we walked, I thought about how easy things could be if I loved Richard instead of Professor Moore. But I didn't love Richard and things were damn near impossible.
When we got to my apartment building, Richard handed me the plate.
"Thank you, for all of this," I said with a smile.
"You're welcome. I hope you feel better," he told me. We hugged and he started walking back to campus. I was just about to go inside when I noticed someone watching me from a car parked in front of my building. It was Professor Moore.
I stood on the outside of the building and waited for Marquise to get out of his car and approach me. When he got close enough, I could see that he too had been crying.
The first thing that came out of his mouth was, "hanging out with your little boyfriend?" I rolled my eyes.
"He's not my boyfriend. He's just a nice person. He might be the only friend that I have left," I said.
"Well, who's fault is that?" He asked me. I shifted uncomfortably. I hoped that he hadn't come here just to make me feel worse. "Why'd you, do it?"
"Do what?"
"All of it? The panties. Breaking into my office. Drugging my wife? Everything!" He said, throwing his hands up. I shrugged.
"I don't know! I've never done anything like this! I've never felt this way before," I told him.
"I guess, I just want to know that it wasn't all for nothing. That all the destruction and pain aren't in vain. I want to be more than just a casualty," he said. The way he was looking at me was breaking my heart. I had hurt him and I felt terrible for it! I felt like crying, but to cry now, in front of him, felt selfish. I had hurt him and now I was the one crying. I didn't want to make him feel bad for me. I didn't want anyone else trying to comfort me when I didn't deserve it. "I met with my lawyer today. My wife was served divorce papers," he continued.
"I'm sorry," I blurted out. "I'm sorry for the pain that you are feeling and for the way I did things. But I'm glad you're getting a divorce. I want to be with you. You belong with me," I told him.
"You're the craziest person I've ever met. But I've got to admit, no one’s ever gone to these lengths for me. A part of me thinks that you're trouble. And you are. You're dangerous. You could ruin me if you wanted to. But I made you a promise and I meant it. I love you Dahlia," he said,
"I love you too Marquise!" He opened his arms to me and I almost jumped into them. It felt so good to be back in his embrace. We stood like that for a while, just holding each other. It was getting dark out and the temperature was dropping but his arms kept me warm. We pulled back and he tried to kiss me but I stopped him.
"What if someone sees us?" I asked him.
"Then they'll have been lucky enough to witness true love," he said. I grinned and we kissed. His kisses warmed me inside and I didn't want him to leave.
"Do you want to come inside?" I asked.