Anger vibrated through me as I stood frozen at the window. Elis’s shadowy black form disappeared into the night two dozen floors below me.
I gulped down the rest of my glass and then swiped for his at the table, downing that in one motion. The warm liquid loosened my aching body, and I was ready to collapse into bed and forget this day. My life. Him.
Everybody.
“PlayThe Nutcracker Suite,” I called out to the smart music system, comforted when the soft strains of the opening melody seeped into my body.
I remembered countless nights practicing this music on our baby grand piano in the entry. Mom always slammed the door as soon as we started playing, but those were some of my best memories with my dad. The long hours he worked left him hardly at home. Many nights I’d find him with his head bent over papers long after midnight, but as soon as my fingers stroked the keys, he stopped whatever he was doing to play with me.
Fresh tears blanketed my cheeks as I searched the sidewalk around Central Park, desperate for the freedom that Elis must feel. I’d never felt free enough to walk the streets all hours of the night. My life was too scheduled, and my reputation too precious, according to my mother. I only had time for studies, lessons, and charitable events.
I wondered about the thrill Elis must feel when he tagged a blank wall for the first time, the charge of adrenaline as he broke the law. I respected his crimes in a weird way. A lot of anti-establishment hipsters did because he made a statement without hurting anyone.
I had trouble figuring out why Elis was so bitter. I shook my head, cleaning up the wine glasses before heading to my bedroom at the back of the long hallway.
I brushed my teeth, my anger beginning to boil over as I thought about all the prejudices he held against me.
I’d said goodbye to the only man—possibly the only human—to show me unconditional love, and I had to go and fight with Elis fucking Brooks? I grew so annoyed with his presumptions that if I wasn’t already stripping out of my dress, I might be crazy enough—and exhausted enough—to run after him to give him a further piece of my mind.
Elis Brooks didn’t know shit about me anymore. I just wished I could kick him out of the real estate in my head.
***
“Ms. Price.” My professor nodded somberly the next morning as I stepped into my lecture approximately ten seconds before class started. “I’m sorry to hear about your father. The wake was beautiful.”
I nodded, not at all surprised that my professor had been there. He was a tenured professor in the department, and as an alumnus, my father was one of the university's biggest donors. I'd seen the dean and head of the board yesterday through my tears.
“Thank you,” I breathed, taking one of only two seats left in his crowded lecture.
“He’ll be missed so much.” The professor shook his head sadly.
I wished instantly for any distraction to relieve me of this torture.
And then I wished my prayer had gone unanswered.
The door swung open as the clock chimed on the hour, and in head-to-toe black with an oversize hoodie pulled low over his eyes, in walked Elis Brooks.
“Oh my God,” I gritted, my eyes rounding when he ignored the professor's gaze and zeroed in on the chair at my side.
He slipped in, opened his notebook, and pulled a pen out of his hoodie pocket. “Morning, Barbie.”
“What the fuck is this?” I seethed.
“Biology 310, right? Am I in the wrong class again? Hey, Prof?” Elis winked as the professor’s mouth dropped open.
I shook my head, scooting my desk as many inches away from his as possible before knocking elbows with my other neighbor. The professor started the lecture but didn’t get more than ninety seconds in before Elis thrust his hand into the air and started bouncing what sounded like impossible questions at him.
I was lost in scientific lingo from the start.
Forty minutes later, the professor was not much deeper into his slides. Elis had kept him busy answering dead-end rhetorical questions. His ability to verbally spar with anyone was unmatched. I’d loved that about him in high school, but he was getting deep under my skin now.
“What the fuck, Brooks?” I hissed as we crowded through the lecture hall doo a while later.
“Needed inspiration. I was hoping to find it in one of America’s finest institutions of higher learning, but it turns out this place only crushes the free thought out of you. I’d run if you know what’s good for that pretty little head of yours, Price.” He tapped my temple.
“How did you even get into this lecture? I was the last add, and I had to beg them to let me slip in,” I fumed.
His grin cracked, sliding to one cocky side and making me want to kick his teeth out. “I’ve got a way with words.”