Chapter 13 #2
As if he were thinking about me, Leif texted, and I picked up my phone as I closed my office door behind me.
Leif:
Just thinking of you.
Well then, that wasn’t kismet or anything.
Me:
Hi.
That was great—a great way to start off a texting conversation.
Leif:
Do you want to go to the farmers’ market this weekend? Luke will love it.
I bit my lip, now wondering if it was too quick.
Yes, I’d just thought about bringing him over to dinner, but going out as a family seemed like too far.
Or maybe I was thinking too deeply. It was just a farmers’ market.
It wasn’t like I was asking him to move in.
I needed to stop being indecisive and let things go with the flow. Damn it.
I swallowed hard, my palms going clammy.
Me:
That sounds great. I have a busy weekend coming up. Errands and haircuts.
Leif:
I can help with errands. I work in the evenings both nights since I’m covering for Nick. But I can help.
Me:
You don’t have to help with errands. You have your own life.
Leif:
I want to be part of yours. Luke knows I’m your friend. That’s not going to change, Brooke. I’m not going to scare him.
I swallowed hard, knowing that he was right. And our thoughts were going in the right direction. Just because he thought as I did, didn’t mean I had to be scared.
Me:
Okay. Let’s work on timing. And if you’re not busy tonight, you should come to dinner.
I practically threw my phone on the desk as I said that, knowing that that was taking a leap.
Leif:
See you tonight. I’ll bring dessert if Luke is allowed to have sugar.
Me:
Okay. You can just bring yourself, but I like dessert, too.
Leif:
I have to go to work now, and I can’t have a hard-on. So I’m not going to think about exactly how you can be a dessert for me.
I rolled my eyes and set my phone down, shaking my head. He was just too much, yet he was still the same person he had been in Paris. The person that made me smile and always put others first. He was kind and talented and a little growly. But I liked that about him.
But I couldn’t think about him when I needed to focus on work.
I picked up my things to head to class and just opened the door to find Landon standing there. For some reason my pulse jumped. It was just Landon. And yet there was something off about him when he narrowed his gaze at me.
“We need to talk.”
He practically shoved me into my office and slammed the door behind him.
“Excuse me? What do you think you’re doing?
” My pulse sped up, and my mouth went dry.
This was bad. Oh, so bad. My phone was still on my desk because I hadn’t picked it up when I picked up my things, and he closed the damn door, locking us inside.
I could call out for help, but everybody was either at their morning classes or not in yet.
This was so stupid. I just had to calm him down.
But he had pushed me. This could go only a few ways, and I didn’t like any of them.
“I’m doing what I should’ve done to begin with. I should’ve had your job. But no, they had to go in and hire a woman because we don’t have enough pussy here.”
I held back a flinch at his tone, not wanting to show weakness.
“Landon, you’re going to want to leave my office right now. This is highly inappropriate, you shouldn’t be in here, and you should not talk to me that way.” I was doing my best to sound professional, but inside I was screaming, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do.
“Bitch.” He moved quickly, wrapping his hand around my throat and shoving me sideways into the door.
My eyes widened and I sucked in a breath, only barely catching up to what he had just done.
It took me a moment to figure out exactly what the hell was going on, and in that moment of being too slow, he got the upper hand.
“This is supposed to be my job. I was supposed to be on the tenure-track. Instead, they brought you in because they only had little Patrice. She’s too old and fat for any of the professors to want.
So they brought in this hot young thing to take my job.
Well, screw that. You don’t get to take what’s mine.
So I’m going to take what’s yours.” He slapped me then, shocking me.
Red-hot pain slid up my face, my eyes watering.
“You stupid cunt.” He slammed my shoulders against the door, his hand on my throat, the other gripping my shoulder so hard I knew I would bruise.
It took too long for my brain to catch up as he hit me again, but then I finally focused, taking the deepest breath I could with him still holding my throat.
My hands were free, so I scratched at his face and lifted my knee, using that moment of distraction to knee him right in the balls.
I pushed him down to the ground and tried to open the door.
He scrambled up and gripped my hips, so I kicked back, elbowing him in the chest.
I opened the door and nearly fell out into the hallway, shouting for help.
“Help! Somebody help me! Landon has lost his mind. Help!”
I never yelled, I never asked for help, but my own pride would not stand in my way. I saw Patrice there, her eyes wide as she ran to me, phone in hand.
“Brooke? Oh my God.”
Landon threw himself through the door and looked ready to kick me before he saw other people coming out of their offices, all coming towards us.
I knew what this looked like, me practically on the ground, shaking, blood seeping from a cut to my lip. I knew my eyes were wild, my hair askew.
Landon looked like he’d stopped mid rage, his face nearly purple.
Then Patrice was on the phone, talking with 911. A few professors I couldn’t name at the moment and Randall were holding Landon back, students ready to jump in.
Patrice was in front of me, holding my hand, asking me what happened, and I tried to catch up, try to let my brain unfreeze.
Everything went dark for a minute, and I swayed, and then Jennifer and Hannah were there, both holding me tight, keeping me steady. I tried to lift my chin and did my best to look as if I hadn’t just been attacked in my own office. As if I wasn’t bleeding or scared.
Because I would not be weak.
I could not be weak.
And then the tears came, and I let the women of the physics department hold me, and I tried to tell myself everything would be okay.
Even though I knew nothing would ever be okay again.