Hadrian's Wall (43 page)

That means I was starting
to like him more than I should.
Damn,
girl! Why don’t you just ask him what’s going on? If he’s just
having fun or if he really wants something more serious.
I knew exactly why I didn’t ask him: First, pride
and second, fear. I didn’t want him to know how much I was affected
by him and how afraid I was of getting dumped.
If a Man Answers...
That movie with
Sandra Dee taught me that boys should never be completely sure
about the feelings of girls. A certain amount of uncertainty is
good to keep the respect and interest.

However, love does not happen like in the
movies—that’s the truth. Now I understand why people prefer to take
refuge in the illusion—it’s more comfortable...and less painful −
at least until the person falls from the clouds. The greater the
illusion, the longer and harder the fall. I had to be cautious and
keep my feet on the ground. The best tactic at this time it was to
live each moment intensely, taking advantage of what was offered
without creating expectations and no charges. Could I? If
insecurity and distrust overcome self-love, I would fail
miserably.

I looked at Adrian and I realized he was
talking to me in a low, husky voice. I’d missed much of his
discourse.

“This place once housed
immigrants and workers during the last century, but in the 1960s
when it was threatened with structural collapse due to the need for
renovation and repairs, the university made an agreement with
McPherson to restore it. The family continued to manage the
establishment and keeping the usufruct. In return, the house was
converted to accommodations for students from other areas of the
country, especially those who need an inexpensive
place to stay.

He paused for a moment, then asked,
“So?”

“So what?”

“What do you think about this place?” He
seemed anxious.

“Oh, I love it!” I tried to disguise my
tumultuous thoughts. “Seriously!”

“Were you reading the news on the notice
board just now?” he asked in a speculative way.

“Yeah! The thing about the beast in the
woods impressed me.”

He shook his head.

“Don’t be alarmed. It’s pure legend...and
all because of Adrian, the founder. If he had not commanded the
construction of those statues and if he had not fed the
superstition of the people, none of this would be happening today.
What seemed a solution at that time has become a problem now”.
There was a hint of annoyance in his voice. He spoke as if the
unfolding of the legend affected him directly.

“Solution? For what?” I clung to his obscure
commentary.

Adrian hesitated. “To scare off the
invaders.” He looked at me askance before proceeding. “Be careful
with Joe Verano, Melissa. He’s a smart guy, engaging, and never
approaches people without a motive. Although I intend to find out
why he is intending to resurrect the legend of the panther.

For me, the panther was not a legend. But
how do I explain to Adrian what I saw and felt that fateful night
when I thought Cridder was going to kill me? And worse, how do I
explain about hearing roars and voices?”

“So, not all of the students stay here,” I
deduced.

He smiled at my deliberate change of
subject.

“Some people have to find temporary
accommodations in Saint Paul City while they waiting for a vacancy
here. The waiting list is long. Others live at the fraternity
houses and in the campus dormitories. Only freshmen are admitted to
the McPherson House. He looked deep into my eyes, as if reading my
soul. “You said you wanted to go through all the steps
required...remember?

I nodded and looked away, afraid that he
realized the truth, but he held my face in his hands and forced me
to look at him.

“Are you upset about something? What’s
up?”

By the way he looked at me, I knew I
wouldn’t escape so easily.

“I assume you will pay the bill?” I was
trying to escape by diverting the conversation, although it was
another issue that bothered me.

He smiled.

“No, ma’am. You will...with your salary.
Don’t forget that you work for my father now.

“Uh, yeah. And by the way, when do I
start?”

“It’s in your calendar...in your new
PDA.”

“Oh, of course!” I nodded impatiently. I
cannot wait for my mysterious instructor or instructress to
appear.

Adrian glanced at his wristwatch. “You’ll
meet him in a half-hour.”

He looked at me in an odd way. Only now did
I realize how close we were and how attracted we were to each
other. The embarrassment made me say the first thing that popped
into my head at that moment. “Why do you wear glasses?”

If he was amazed, he didn’t show it. The
only sign of confusion was the narrowing of his eyes, as if trying
to understand what was behind my silly question. Then his smile
widened because he finally understood.

Damn, I didn’t like to being that
transparent.

“My eyes are very sensitive to light, he
said. “The daytime brightness causes me terrible pain.”

“Really?”

“I guess it would be equivalent to having
ten migraines at once. If sunlight falls directly on my face...” He
clicked his tongue. “It could cause tremendous damage, but
temporarily. For this reason, I never leave home without glasses
during the day. I would be blind as a bat.”

“Wow! I had no idea.”

“It’s a rare disease,” he
grudgingly
added,
stroking my cheek.

“Isn’t there a surgical
procedure that can fix this?” I asked with some effort.
It’s difficult to think when he’s touching
me!

He looked at me
enigmatically, before responding with a certain sadness in his
voice: “There’s no surgery to correct this sort of
thing.”

“Oh!” Not knowing what else to say, I closed
my eyes and let him hold my face. We stayed like that for a while.
His thumbs were tracing the contour of my eyebrows. I let out a
sigh of pleasure. There was nowhere else I wanted to be.

“I lied,” he whispered. I
immediately opened my eyes. “I don’t want to be your
friend.”

The shock of hearing that
made me gasp.
Disconsolate, I gazed at
those incredibly green eyes that sparkled in that perfect face.
They had not deviated from mine -so I was sure he was being
sincere. I could not believe, much less understand what I’d heard.
What had I done wrong so that he didn’t want to be my friend
anymore?

He smiled. “I want more than
friendship.”

His hand moved slowly up my
neck and pulled me gently to his chest. I realized what was
happening, but I couldn’t believe it. Was I hallucinating or
daydreaming?
Well, I didn’t want to
know.
I closed my eyes and
waited.

I didn’t have to wait long.
His mouth found mine in a perfect fit. There was no hesitation or
discomfort, too much pressure or too little. It was a
perfect−natural, smooth, and exhilarating. I imagined it could be
this way.
I knew it could be this
way
. But even so, it was much more than I
imagined or knew. His lips moved slowly over mine, producing waves
of electricity that radiated down my face and throughout the body.
I never thought that a simple kiss could achieve such an
effect.

He pressed his lips against
mine to deepen the kiss. I relented...I mean, I responded with
enthusiasm—although I was still stunned. When Adrian pressed his
body against mine, I melted like butter in his arms.
Peanut butter is tastier!
I was entirely immersed in sensations, conscious only of the
hands gently stroking my hair, framing my face, moving down my back
to finally settle down around my waist.

I hesitated for a moment...but soon realized
that I wanted to give him the same pleasurable sensations that he
was giving me. I felt more confident to raise my arms and put them
around his neck. At that moment, I seemed to hear his sigh - a very
low, husky sound.

His scented breath left me
giddy. A delicious fog completely dominated my thoughts, but then
suddenly he tried to away.
Hey, I don’t
want this!
I clung to his neck, my fingers
entwined in his thick black hair like claws; however, he
resisted.

Suddenly, I heard a
persistent, annoying sound that came
from
where...?
Oh, from him! His cell
phone.
Of course! In the movies, the
telephone was the main cause of disruption of the best love
scenes
. Why would it be any different for
me? I let out a moan and loosened my arms, but took the opportunity
to slide my hands slowly down his chest. Yikes! His chest was solid
like a rock! I always wanted to “unveil” the whole body that I
guessed was beneath his med scrubs using my fingers. Today, I got
part of my wish.

Confess, girl! The other part of your wish
is to see his whole body without the scrubs!

Showing me that he also was not pleased at
the interruption, he let the phone ring for a while. He pulled me
against his chest again and closed his eyes, keeping our faces
pressed forehead to forehead. Then, with a muffled moan, he rubbed
his chin on my face and walked away once and for all.

I tried to control my breathing, while he
was pulling out the annoying phone from pocket of his jeans.
Without taking his eyes off me, Adrian raised his hand as one who
excuses himself and turned aside.

“What it is?” he demanded to know.

Hmmm...He knew who was on the other
end—either by the ring type or by the number registered. It didn’t
matter. I knew it wasn’t from the hospital because he carried a
pager solely for that purpose.

While Adrian was
conversing, I quickly raked my fingers through my hair. He’d left
me disheveled. I smiled, trying not to burst out laughing
hysterically. The penny hadn’t
dropped
yet. I was in shock. I was ecstatic. I was...

If this was some kind of hallucination, I
would say that my mind was making great progress! After all,
hallucinating a kiss with Adrian Cahill was by far much nicer than
facing my flying monster. My heart was racing by virtue of emotion,
not because of the terrible anxiety that preceded my crises.

My goodness! Adrian Cahill kissed me and I
responded. I always suspected that there was a volcano beneath the
cold and polite façade that he presented, but I never could have
imagined that the volcano would erupt on my account.

Does he really liked me or
is he just passing the time with what he considered a new
toy?
Get real, girl! A guy like him can
have the girl he wants. No need for subterfuges
.

Okay, he wasn’t toying
with me.
I felt it. But my insecurity stood
there in the background. I had to proceed cautiously so that I
could get to know him better. My personal conduct policy is suspect
at first sight. I didn’t believe that love was something more than
an illusion based on silly interpretations of casual happenings.
People attributed such events to divine signs—to mysterious works
from destiny—and they believe in soul mate. Romantic perfect
meetings... It didn’t exist!
Didn’t exist?
Are not you, right now, thinking that he is the most perfect man on
earth? Does your heart not rejoice when you’re around him?
Well, maybe he is my soul mate, but I am certainly
not his. My heart sank.

Adrian was listening in
silence, oblivious to my crisis of self-pity. Then
his outburst scared me.

“What?”

Something very serious was happening. He was
silent again and the waiting was making me anxious.

Suddenly, he said, “That changes
everything.”

What changes
everything?
He used a tone so definitive I
was sure that “everything” was something that would affect the two
of us in many ways.

“Sure. I should have foreseen this.” He
nodded, as if expecting some situation. “No. The Council will not
open a session without my presence. Not this time. I will call for
a convocation of all—judges, guardians, and mantles.”

Council? A chill went down
my spine. I remembered that morning when I heard that bizarre
discussion. Those were the same words that I thought had resulted
from my insanity. What was going on anyway?
You’ve always known what’s going on, girl, but you did not
want to see. You aren’t willing to believe it’s real. Now the
reality is knocking at your door the hard way and the reality is:
You are completely insane! At any moment you will wake up and
realize that you still are in the orphanage and today is your
eighteenth birthday!

Shut up! I’m not going crazy!

Well... If you’re not going crazy, then you
are a poor pawn inside a complex game between supernatural
creatures.

“No,” he said on the phone, but it sounded
as if he was responding to my conflicting thoughts. “The team must
return now. We shouldn’t warn them.” He listened for a few minutes.
“The safest place for her is here. The core team will stay with
her.” At that moment, he turned his back and began to speak more
softly, as if realizing in the midst of his strange discourse that
I was hearing everything.

A few minutes ago his face looked totally
relaxed. Now it had resumed its inscrutable mask—cold and distant.
I was sorry about that. I was angry at whoever was talking to him
because that person was responsible for destroying my dream.

“I’m on my way. No, I’m going to hunt him.”
His back muscles tensed. “This decision is not up to you,
Stephen.”