Kevyn kept her eyes down, she knew that Stu was looking at her, she could feel it. When she knew that there were just a few more minutes of class left she began to pack her things so that she could make a fast getaway. She even took out her cell phone just so she could pretend to be talking to someone thinking that Stu wouldn't be so rude as to interrupt a phone call.
But luck wasn't with her, right after making announcements about changes in the syllabus Stu asked Kevyn to stay behind.
"Damn!" Kevyn swore under her breath wondering what he could possibly want. She decided to try to make a break for it taking off as soon as it was time.
"Miss. Morris? A moment please."
Kevyn stopped at the desk to see what Stu wanted.
"What happened with the last test?" he asked.
"Nerves, I'll do better on the next one." she replied and started to walk away.
'I'm new to the area and I thought that maybe you could show me around."
"I don't think that my boyfriend would like that..... Unless he could come along?" Kevyn asked innocently.
It had the desired effect.
"I was thinking just the two of us, three would be a crowd." Stu replied sourly.
"Oh well.... Have a good night." Kevyn said and walked away.
As she waited for the bus, Kevyn tried to figure out what she was going to do about class. She didn't want to dodge Stu every week but she didn't want to kill herself for the rest of the semester either. She wondered if there was a class that met during the day on Tuesdays, it was worth checking out. If there wasn't she was stuck, it never occurred to her to call Patrick to tell her about her problem with Stu simply because she was used to handling things on her own and their own relationship hadn't been defined.
She debated about what to do during the bus ride home and then decided that all she could do was check the class schedule and go from there. As soon as she got home she changed her clothes and turned on her laptop, while it was going through its thing she made herself a sandwich and poured herself a glass of milk. By the time she was finished fixing her snack, the laptop was ready.
She crossed her fingers and pulled up the school catalogue. She went to the sciences section and said a silent prayer.
"Please, please...." and nothing. She looked for other days and times and gave up, she was down to two choices, stay where she was or switch to the Thursday night class and have to go to work afterwards which presented its own challenges.
Dropping the class was out of the question. "Shit!" she swore under her breath. In the end she decided to stay where she was positive that she could put Stu off until the end of the semester if she kept mentioning her boyfriend or there was always the chance that someone else would catch his eye and that would end the issue-one could hope.
Kevyn made herself to eat her now dry sandwich and drink her milk. She looked at the clock and wondered if Patrick was up.
*******
Patrick was thinking about Kevyn, he thought of little else since the night he told her that he was a rapist. Other than that one email he hadn't heard from her and it was all that he could do not to call her but he missed her.
It was Tuesday and the first class with the new instructor and he wanted to know how it went, he still hadn't shaken the feeling of intense dislike for the man and it was beginning to worry him. For an hour he debated on whether he should call Kevyn or not and then decided on an email.
"Kevyn,
I hope that you're alright. I've been thinking about you ever since the night we talked but haven't called because I don't want to crowd you. I also wanted to let you know that whatever it was Melissa's mother was up to is no longer an issue; I think that she was trying to figure out a way to extort money from me but at any rate it's a moot point. I know that you had class tonight and I was wondering how it went and what the new guy is like. Take care and I love you.
Patrick"
He hit send and went back to working on the online class. There was actually no reason why he couldn't take his class back but decided against it. He wasn't sure if Kevyn was ready to see him in any capacity and he didn't want to rock the boat.
He went back to working on the online class not expecting to hear from Kevyn. What he was going to do once he had the class set up he didn't know although he was behind in his movie watching, maybe he could get caught up with that but the idea didn't appeal to him, he wanted to host another movie night but with Kevyn at his side. He stood up, stretched and headed to the shower, tomorrow he would move back to his own house. Everyone was satisfied that he was safe to be on his own now that they were convinced that he had been claimed.
Vanessa and Veronica hugged him when he went back for the repeat PET scan and not even pictures or talking about Melissa or her mother stirred his anger which made them wonder if the chemical released by being in love neutralized the rage somehow.
He didn't know and he didn't care but he understood the importance of their work and wanted to help. He looked at the laptop that the girls gave him and decided that he'd better enter his notes before he got into the shower. Veronica was adamant that he have them done by the end of the week.
"Just what am I supposed to be making notes on?" he asked.
"Everything that happened since you found Kevyn." Veronica said.
"Everything?" Patrick asked.
"Alright just the highlights including what happened when you kissed her."
"I am so not doing that! " Patrick replied, "That's way too private."
"Then generalize." Veronica said.
"Uncle Patrick, we appreciate anything that you can do, right Ronnie?" Vanessa asked.
"What? Yes, we do appreciate it." Veronica replied sheepishly, "I'm sorry, I just haven't been resting well."
Patrick asked if everything was alright and Veronica assured him that it was, he wasn't convinced but she was no longer a child and she knew how to reach him if she wanted to talk. He sighed and sat on the bed and began to put in brief notes about the finding of Kevyn. When he got to the part about the kiss he only said, "I felt myself settle."
He was so intent on writing his notes that he didn't hear the phone ring; it was an hour later when he noticed the flashing light indicating that he had a message.
"Damn it!" he swore when he saw that Kevyn had called. He didn't bother to listen to the message; he called her back hoping that she was still up.
"Hi." she said when she answered the phone.
"Hi, I didn't hear the phone." Patrick said relieved to hear her voice, "How are you?"
"I could lie and tell you that I'm fine." Kevyn replied, "But I'm not, I'm still trying to understand what you told me and how I can still love you knowing what you did."
Patrick whispered silent thanks that she still loved him but things weren't going to be resolved until they talked.
"Kevyn we need to talk again."
"I know, I just need more time." she replied.
"Could we have coffee? We can talk about other things or we could go back to the batting cages, whatever you want but I need and want to see you."
Kevyn hesitated and then made up her mind, "Del Taco's open."
"Tonight?" Patrick asked.
"If it's too....."
"I'll see you in thirty minutes!"
*******
Kevyn hung up and changed her clothes again, she had surprised herself by offering to meet Patrick, that hadn't been what she was planning to do. The reason for the call was to find out about Melissa's mother and her plans but since they were meeting, she decided to ask Patrick about his past. She also knew that if she asked it would be quid pro quo, he would want to know more about her marriage to Lonnie but she decided that it was only fair. She turned on the television and watched a comedy until Patrick arrived even managing to get so involved with the show that she jumped when Patrick knocked on the door.
She turned the television off, grabbed her phone and answered the door. Patrick smiled at her when he saw her when what he wanted to do was kiss her.
"Hi." she greeted as she stepped out of the efficiency and locked the door behind her.
"Hi." Patrick replied and before he realized what he was doing he had her in his arms and was kissing her.
Kevyn tensed and then relaxed returning the kiss, she had missed him but they still had some serious issues to talk about.
"I've missed you." Patrick said hugging her.
