Chapter 4

I sighed and hit my palm against my steering wheel. “Where do people learn to drive in this city?” I muttered to myself into the silence of my car. The sun was out and I was grateful for the soft warmth it cast over my frozen car. The traffic was slow and unmoving, the usual occurrence for the early hours of the morning. I glanced at my watch on my wrist and grunted. I had my first lecture for the semester in an hour and I was only ten minutes from campus on a street filled with cars that seemed in no hurry to move. I couldn’t blame them though; the heat radiating from the bright sun above was far too glorious to want to leave.

A green light blinked in the distance and the few cars ahead of me strolled forward. “Finally!” I yelled. It took me ten extra and unnecessary minutes to reach campus and to find a parking space. I had fixed my black beanie on my head and made my way towards the large cobblestone building. I took a few seconds to admire the beauty of the tall pillars that formed the foundation for an impressive and intimidating mosaic arch. The building was carefully constructed and inspiringly designed to create an imagination flowing and boundary free environment for aspiring architects.

“You entering or fleeing?” I jumped at the unexpected sound of a rich gravelly voice. It shouldn’t have, but the voice alone caused goose bumps to sprinkle along my already cold arms. I looked to my left and almost gasped aloud. The man was the definition of handsome. His luscious chocolate hair looked smooth and clean causing my fingers to desperately seek the chance to take a swim in his short curls. His oval face was a soft caramel that resembled far too many days in the sun or a possible Italian or Portuguese decent. His chin held a whisper of equally dark stubble and I had an image of his face causing a splendid friction against mine. His lips were evenly plump and tinged with an adorable hint of blue from the cold. I glanced up into his eyes and my breath caught. His eyes were large and round with perfect circles of sterling grey. His gaze was soft yet intent and I found myself lost for the briefest time.

He cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” I watched his mouth move and my knees weakened slightly. I blinked, ending my trance and tried to recall what he had just said.

“I’m entering.” I answered. He grinned and my stomach tightened. He really was beautiful.

“Awesome. So am I. I’m Kevin Smith.” He extended his hand in greeting and I stared dumbly at his face.

What seemed like hours had passed before I realised I had left his hand hanging between us. “Tori Carradale.” I answered and placed my smaller hand into his. The few dark hairs on his wrist tickled my hand sweetly.

“How come I’ve yet to meet you? I take it you’ve been here for almost four years like me?”

“I tend to keep to myself and just focus on work.” I answered and he nodded. I continued to stare at him, unsure of what to say. The beautiful specimen grinned and ran a hand through his hair allowing me to watch his toned lean muscles flex graciously through the constraints of his hoodie.

“Shall we go inside before we’re late?” He asked and I nodded silently. He walked ahead of me and I followed cautiously well I tried to stop any drool from escaping. He made walking look effortless and sexy. Unlike Matt who preferred to wear his pants two sizes too big and halfway down, Kevin wore perfectly fitted jeans that showcased a magnificent firm backside that had me salivating.

How had I gone four years and missed this gorgeous man?

“After you.” I smiled appreciatively towards Kevin, his height causing me to bend my neck backwards. I walked through the door he held open for me and quickly walked up the steps to find a seat in the far back of the large lecture hall. I chose to ignore Kevin as I concentrated on being unseen. Once I was in my seat my eyes automatically sought out their new prey.

Kevin sat alone- the sight made me smile.

Kevin sat in the first row- the sight made me frown.

“Good day class.” A loud voice spoke through the speaker behind me and I turned my attention towards the front where Mr. Thomlin stood. His short physique wobbled slightly thanks to the extra weight he carried in the middle and the weakening of his knees. Mr. Thomlin was a sixty five year old man who, because of his brilliance, was still a few years away from being a pensioner. He straightened his large silver rimmed glasses and spoke into the microphone so that he could be heard by the two hundred other students.

“It’s great to have you all back. After a much needed rest it is time to get back into work. Now before we begin I just want to do some admin. As you are all aware, your final mark this semester will be made up of one design report as well as your final exam in November. Failing either assignment will mean you fail the year thus not qualifying to graduate next year March with the rest of the class.” I flinched along with the rest of the room.

“My next announcement is to inform you about the competition our department is running for all fourth years in correlation with Dream Designs Corporation. The competition is simple. You are to design an office building for a figurative company that specialises in closed adoptions of children. The building needs to be large enough to facilitate over two hundred staff members and needs to have a minimum of three conference rooms.

The company deals nationally and internationally and therefore needs to be able to accommodate such dealings. You are to give the company a name and create a building that is inviting and customer appropriate. The competition is to be done in pairs which we will assign to you. You have until the end of the week to sign-up. Next week you will be given the name of your partner where you will be allowed to begin immediately. The closing of the competition is in two months. The winning pair will receive an internship.”

The competition sounded more exciting then I had thought. I was being given the opportunity to get that step in the door I needed. The image of Tommy flashed before me and I frowned. I knew my parents had assured me of their support but I couldn’t shake the ominous feeling that I was disappointing Maggie by leaving the responsibility up to someone else.

“I will be leaving the sign-up sheet on my table after class. Now shall we begin our lesson?” I watched as Mr. Thomlin adjusted his reading glasses and turned towards his laptop where he began to scroll through various slides. My body reacted to his actions and soon my hand was running feverishly across my notepad leaving all thoughts of Tommy and Maggie in the far corners of my mind.

I was so entranced by the brilliant mind of my lecturer that I hadn’t even noticed the hand of the clock swing past two hours. My stiff and cramped hand felt the time lapse though. I stretched my fingers wide and allowed them to prance in the air as the stiffness dissipated. I swung my neck from the left and then to the right, flinching at the loud clicks echoing.

“That is all for today. See you next week.” Mr. Thomlin was the first to leave the large heated room. I smiled at his brilliance once again. The man was smart not to stick around for the list and instead left his tiny twig of a teaching assistant to guard the list, which had already attracted a hoard of students. I remained in my seat as I waited for the large crowd to disperse.

I chose to use my time by calling our new helper at home. After a long process of interviews and background checks, my mother and I had finally found a helper to watch Tommy during the day while I was at school.

“Hello,” a phlegmmy voice answered.

“Hi Miriam, it’s Tori speaking. How is everything?” Miriam was a retired midwife. Though her elderly age was a concern for me in the beginning, her perfect health and educated background eased my concern quickly.

“Everything is just great. I have fed him and he is currently taking a nap.” She replied and I sighed in relief. I had been a wreck leaving the house that morning and frightened to leave Tommy in the care of a stranger.

“I’m happy to hear that. He hasn’t given you any trouble has he?” I asked as I noticed the crowd around the list split so that only three remained. I made my way towards the front of the room while Miriam continued to speak through the phone.

“Not at all! Once I had calmed him down after you left, he was just a joy to look after.”

“That’s great to hear. It was hard leaving him when he was crying so hard. It was enough to make me want to skip today though, I’m glad you forced me not to.” I frowned at the memory. Tommy’s tears flooded out when he saw me leaving in the car and he couldn’t come with. His nose ran and his cries broke my heart. He sounded tortured.

“You can go first.” A deep voice stole my attention and I looked up from the ground to see Kevin smiling. His smile rendered me mute and immobile. It wasn’t fair for one man to hold such beauty.

He looked towards me expectantly and I shook myself out the daze. “Thank you.” I mumbled and quickly stepped ahead of him. I balanced the phone between my ear and my shoulder and quickly scribbled my information down.

“It will keep happening every morning for a while until he gets into the routine.”

“Huh?” I said into the phone. I had almost forgotten that Miriam was on the other end, and thanks to an outrageously handsome man, I had forgotten our conversation.

“His crying dear.” She answered.

“Oh yes. I will just have to be strong I guess. It really hurts to see him cry though.” A hand reached in front of me and suddenly the large door I stood before, was swung open. I looked beside me and saw Kevin. “Thanks, again.” He nodded and I scurried away before I made a fool of myself.

I continued to speak to Miriam about Tommy until I had reached my car. It eased my troubles some to hear of the mischief Tommy had been up to. I was relieved that my first day away from Tommy was my earliest day. I missed him.

Once I had ended my call, I climbed into my icy car and made my way home. My hands shook from the cold making my grip on the steering wheel difficult. I had just driven off the highway when the car started giving me troubles. The car jerked forwards and my heart surged. I pressed on the accelerator but the dial showed no increase in my speed. I glanced out the window only to see a small cloud of smoke hover over the bonnet.

“No, no, no! This can’t be happening to me now.” I muttered. I snuck a glance to my side and found no cars. Perfect! I swung the steering wheel to the left and pulled into the emergency lane, the car’s speed slowing to an agonizing stop. I turned the key causing the choking sound to disappear. I stepped out into the cold air and walked towards the front of my suddenly smoking car. I couldn’t understand why I did it but, I unlocked the bonnet and pretended to look at the engine as though I had any clue about it all.

The smoke eventually evened out until it blended with the air around, leaving only the heat vibrating off of the ruined engine. I hugged my body with my arms as I tried to absorb the heat surrounding my car. If I couldn’t get my car starting soon I was going to be late getting home. I needed to see Tommy. I reached into my pocket for my cell phone but was stopped at the sound of crunching gravel behind me. I heard the purr of an engine die out and then the thump of a door closing.

I was going to get raped on the side of the road! I started shivering but not from the cold, instead my body froze in fear. “Need any help?” I gasped and swung around.

“Kevin?” I asked, staring into familiar grey eyes.