Underneath It All (2 page)

Chapter II

Dilemma

Monday kicked off the week with a couple of animal behavior lectures—there’s nothing quite like two hours of trying to understand the mating habits of orangutans.

The lecture was boring with all the rules, reviewing the syllabus, and the grunts and thrusts this male orangutan with enormous cheek pads was doing in front of the projector.

“Look at that,” whispered Tats. She sounded amused when a rejected male orangutan used coercion to have forced sex with him.

“Hey Gats, if you’re not gonna get any, you might as well see how the animal kingdom gets it on!” shouted Dean Richie across the room. He was definitely hitting on me, but I never really liked him. He was obnoxious and so full of himself. The only thing I did like about him was he was a mediocre quarterback.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Dean, there’s a lecture going on here!” yelled Kyle Phillips, my dear ex-boyfriend who I assumed told one of his friends we broke up because I refused to have sex with him. Then, that friend told another friend, who told another friend until the rumor spread faster than an epidemic moving steadily along the hallways of the College of Arts and Sciences, and it apparently survived.

Would anyone mention the sin of sexual refusal?

When I refused to “go all the way” with Kyle, I wasn’t turning him down, but he thought otherwise. His ego ended up getting hurt because he thought I didn’t love him as much as he loved me.

Well, I thought a sexual dry spell was natural, and I didn’t feel the drought at that time for me to water my plant. It was not really that big of a deal being a virgin. Some people got embarrassed admitting it and some people were even teased—sometimes by other virgins. I’m just someone who didn’t give a damn.

I rolled my eyes at them.

The rest of the class passed uneventfully; the professor continued to lecture and I barely listened, doodling in my notebook and checking my phone until the session was over.

The class ended and before I could make it out of the room, I felt someone grab my arm.

“Agata, I’m sorry. I was a jerk. I shouldn’t have spilled it to anyone. Look, I was insulted. I didn’t mean it,” Kyle said.

“Fine, apology accepted, even though you and your friend have labeled me as having some kind of dry spell. Now leave me alone,” I snapped.

“Agata, please, we need to talk.”

I yanked my arm away from him.

“I no longer want anything to do with you.”

“Agata, I miss you so muc—”

“Gats! Come on!” A call from Tats cut him off.

I stormed away to our lab before he could say anything.

***

The smell of formaldehyde filled the air as we hovered over a microscope, inspecting the tissue of an unfortunate amphibian. Behind the safety glasses and rubber gloves, this was just an ordinary day for a biology major.

I thought, and I still think, it is really interesting how living organisms function all the way down to the individual cells.

Despite my fascination, I always asked myself why I decided to take up biology. Why am I doing this? Originally, I guess it was because I would like to help find a cure for Alzheimer’s or other types of diseases since I was the miracle product of a medical experiment my mother had gone through. I wanted to return the favor in any way I could. Almost all the prerequisites to become a doctor are biology classes, so I just decided to start off as a biology major and work my way up from there.

Before dissecting the other amphibians, I took a picture of each of them.

Back in high school, I was hired to take a series of portraits of Beauford alumni, so I booked my buddy Tatiana to assist me. It was seriously an awesome experience. I got a happy feeling inside whenever the word photography arose.

When I put food, animals, cultures, and travel together, and they are captured in a photo, my heart flutters.

Luckily for those of us who love photography, it’s easy to block out the haters, pick up our cameras, and just take a step back and breathe in the world, rather than charging ahead and missing it all.

Why was I thinking about photography inside our bio lab?

I just loved photography. Didn’t we all love it?

I loved images, but the daily slog to earn a living as a photographer was different than when sitting down to do research for the betterment of humanity, with reasonable pay of course.

“Ms. Ferrero, this is not a photography class! Focus on your specimen,” Professor Lee scolded me.

“She’s probably mistaken where the photography class is, sir, even after three and a half years,” Raven humored along with it.

The class erupted into a fit of giggles.

So this was my dilemma. I was stressed and unhappy; I felt constrained and pressured when it came to experiments and research. I did not see myself going through more of this and I did not want to do any more research. It meant I had to rule out the possibility of becoming a doctor, but I never wanted to disappoint Dad.

I wasn’t sure what I would do.

I was undecided on a career choice, but I believed that with my foundation in biology, my job selection in the health field would be sufficient in the future—at least I hoped so.

I just smiled and went back to dissecting this little poor creature.

“Hey, Coach Andre called us. We have practice, see you guys later!” bade Apple. The two of them headed toward the gym while Tatiana and I walked out of the building and made our way back to the dorm.

“Gats! I have some good news for you!”

“What is it?”

“The mystery guy at the funeral, remember him?”

I nodded.
How could I forget?

“I know now who he is!” she exclaimed. “He is Reeve Gates, the son of Rufus Gates, who is the owner and President of Gates University!”

“So?”

“What do you mean ‘So’?” Tats demanded, quirking an eyebrow in disbelief of my lack of interest.

I rolled my eyes, just to show her I wasn’t interested.

“Oh please, that’s why you zoned out twice when you saw him,” Tats teased.

“No,” I opposed, but my cheeks turned pink and she grinned.

“Well, you should know that he is six-two, one-eighty pounds, has blue eyes, dark brown hair, his zodiac sign is Aquarius, his shoe size is twelve…”

I continued nodding my head while listening to her as we walked out of the building. I was visualizing Reeve Gates in my mind while Tats described every detail about him. My heart began to beat faster. Tats’ voice echoed in my ear. I should have guessed I was interested in him.

“He is elegantly proportioned, classically lovely, rigorously maintained. He is athletic without being pumped. He makes sure to always look clean and fragrant, but only to a post-metrosexual degree…”

I paused for a minute and I turned to look at her. “Tats, where did you get all this information?”

“Here.” She held the campus newspaper close to my face. Plastered across the front page was a large picture of him. “Do you know what the next big thing is?”

“What?”

“Now you’re interested, huh?” Tats teased me even more.

“Tats, what is it?” I said growing impatient by the second.

“At twenty-eight, he will be the youngest dean ever in the history of Gates University.”

“Okay the next big thing for history per se, but what do we have to do with it?”

“Here, read it,” Tats shoved the newspaper in my face.

Reeve Gates Appointed New Dean of College of Arts and Sciences.

I read the article one more time as my eyes grew wider in shock.

“So, that’s the face of not interested,” Tats mocked.

For a moment, it felt like the world had stopped. I was all dizzy and butterflies lurched in my stomach.

“He will be our next dean,” I uttered softly.

“Agata!” I heard a familiar voice calling me from behind. It was Kyle. “Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?” He looked serious and determined.

“You go ahead, Tats; I’ll see you later.”

“Are you sure?” She eyed Kyle with her eyebrows furrowed.

“Just a few minutes,” said Kyle.

“I’ll catch up with you later.” Tats shuffled away from us.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Babe, I am so…so sorry. Please forgive me. I want you back,” he begged. I looked into his eyes and saw remorse and pain.

“Don’t call me that. We’re done, Kyle. I can’t give you what you want.”

“I don’t want anyone else but you.”

I shook my head and turned my back on him.

He ran after me and hugged me from my back.

“Kyle! Take your hands off me!”

“I’m not letting you go until you tell me we still have a chance.”

“Damn it, Kyle, let me go!” I shouted struggling against him, but he just pinned me to the nearby acacia tree.

His hold was firm and strong. I tried in vain to break free, but Kyle was a lot bigger and stronger.

“You will be mine, Agata,” he growled in my ear and I shuddered. The stubble on his chin scratched against my jaw.

“You are way out of line, Kyle! I’ll scream if you won’t let me go,” I warned him, but he didn’t back down.

“You’ll be sorry if you scream.” His naturally deep, husky voice dropped a few octaves lower when he said that.

“Then I won’t.” I gathered all my strength and rammed my knee right in his crotch and ran like hell.

I saw a black car speeding its way out of the university and I positioned myself directly in front of the vehicle for it to stop.

I tapped the windshield, telling the driver I needed a ride. I couldn’t see through the heavily tinted windshield. The view inside was muted grey and black.

The driver blew his horn, a signal I should get out of his way.

Kyle recovered and ran after me. 

The driver honked again and it startled me even more. I frantically pounded the windshield. Kyle was coming closer. The door opened and the driver let me in, then the car zoomed its way through traffic.

“I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry. Someone is after me. I just needed to get out of there…” I was a blabbering mess and kept looking behind us for any sign of Kyle.

I turned to look at the driver, and was shocked when I recognized the face I was well acquainted with.

Chapter III

Compelled

He took a fast and unnecessarily sharp turn and I almost hit my head.

“You want to slow down, maybe?” I asked cautiously.

He laughed. “I was barely speeding.”

He was driving too fast; I felt like I was being pressed against my seat.

“Slow down! God!” I shrieked.

“Nah, you said someone is after you.” He let out an annoying chuckle.

“I’ll get off on the next street.” I puffed a loud sigh, but I didn’t comment any further.

His phone rang loudly in his pocket and he fiddled with his Bluetooth to answer the call.

“She fainted again?” He exclaimed in a fit of anger. “Take her to the hospital now and asked her technician to increase the heart rate.”

All I could do was watch and wait for him to calm down so I could get out.

“Uhm…” I was about to say something but he started hitting the steering wheel.

He put his forehead against the steering wheel and breathed heavily. “Damn it.”

He sat up straight and threw his head back, but he didn’t look at me.

I saw from the state he was in that the phone call completely devastated him.

He drove for a couple of miles more without talking to me. Just as it felt like the car ride would never end, he suddenly slowed down to a reasonable speed. He turned off the highway and onto a small town road. He pulled over by an empty lot, where he parked.

“Sorry; I took you on a ride,” he finally said and looked in my direction. I was knocked for six. “You okay?”

He’s just my type—gorgeous, dangerous, hardcore, but adorable and sweet. I had a weakness for blue eyes. I could stare at him for hours.

I nodded. “Huh, y-yeah…I’m okay now I guess,” I managed to choke out. “Thank you for the ride, though. I was able to escape.”

“Was that your boyfriend running after you?”

“No,” I shook my head vigorously. “My ex.”

“Oh…” he muttered, nodding his head. “ By the way, I’m Reeve Gates.” He smiled.

“Agata Ferrero.” I felt my cheeks blush. I turned my head slightly so he wouldn’t see me turn scarlet. “Uhm, I could get out here. I’ll just get a cab.”

Just when I was about to open the door of his car, he lightly pulled my arm. “Hey, let me give you a ride home.”

“No, it’s okay. I can manage. Sorry for the trouble.” I pushed the door, but it was locked. Of course it was locked.

He let out a cheeky grin.

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Okay.”

We drove off down the highway and as we drove away from the empty lot, we were cut off by an SUV with hip-hop music blasting on their speakers. It sped up close to the bumper and back in our spot before we could react.

“Shit!” Reeve yelled. He pulled up alongside it and flipped off the driver. He jumped out of the car before the driver could storm off.

“Wait! What are you thinking?”

From the look on his face, he was already struggling to hold in the anger that was trying to burst out. I was really worried he was going to hurt the driver.

“Let’s just get out of here.” I reached out.

The driver was now closely approaching, his face hidden within the shadows of his black hoodie.

“They don’t know who they’re messing with,” he whispered.

“We can talk this out, Reeve, please.”

The man showed his face and apologized for what happened. “I’m a bit drunk, bro, my vision got blurry for a while.” Reeve turned around and the guy tapped his shoulder. “Sorry, man.”

Reeve grabbed his wrist with his right hand and punched him in the face. He almost stumbled and tried to regain his stance, but Reeve grabbed his shoulder and pinned him against the car hood.

“You almost killed us, you freak!”

“Reeve, stop! You’re only gonna make it worse!” I grabbed his arm just as he punched the guy again.

“Move back!” Reeve growled.

The guy winced in pain when his head hit hard onto the hood.

I heard sirens as the police arrived. “Reeve, stop. Let the police handle it.”

The officers jumped out of their cars and walked up to both Reeve and the drunk guy.

Reeve straightened up, but didn’t let go of his grip on the man’s neck.

I talked to the police officer and recounted to them what happened. “Mr. Gates, you can let go of him now. We will take over.”

“Reeve, please,” I begged. I watched his jaw clench and then relax as his features softened. He drew a deep breath and dropped his hands off the man on the car hood.

The police officer took care of the situation and we drove off to my dorm.

I didn’t notice I was staring at him the whole time he was driving.

“Stop staring at me,” he blurted. I was pulled back to earth.

I looked away and muttered, “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why not?” His piercing blue eyes stared back at me.

“You’re supposed to set a good example now that you’re soon to be our dean.”

“Your dean?” he asked. “Correction, not until next week.”

He was quiet and didn’t engage in any more chit chat until we reached the dorm.

He seemed mysteriously dangerous, but I somehow felt compelled to him. I was drawn to him by something I couldn’t explain, against my intuition and better judgement.

“We’re here,” he announced.

He got out of the car and opened the door for me.

“Thank you again for the ride and for saving me from Kyle.” I gratefully smiled at him.

“I’ll see you around.” His face was serious and his voice was cold.

“See you around,” I said and walked inside the building.

“Agata,” he called. “You owe me one.”

He hopped back into his car and drove away.