Yellowed

Chapter 22; Protected Lies

The sound of metronome clicking echoes in my office, almost in sync with every breath I take. It is hard to focus today because I dreamt of Fabian again. But it was more strange than before; he was staring at me in the middle of the dark. I tried to approach him, but I couldn't even come near to him. I feel helpless; it's like I can't even move. In the end, I woke up with a jolt, and my heart seemed palpitating. I rushed out of bed and went to grab a glass of water, trying to calm my erratic heart. 

This dream makes me think it has something to do with us again. And as I think about it, I didn't notice that it wasn't just the metronome's clicking that I heard. Someone was knocking at my door. 

It was one of the staff from the Dean's office. I signaled her to come in from the glass panel of my door. 

"Good morning Mr. Grey, The Dean wanted to see you after lunch," she said politely. 

I came to think about what could be the reason why he wanted to see me. 

"Did he mention why?" I asked. 

"No, actually he only said that he needs to talk to you about something important and he needs to do it as soon as possible." 

"Alright, please tell him that I will be ready as soon as possible."

She nodded and left my office. I looked at the clock that displayed a quarter past twelve. Therefore, I only had forty-five minutes left to think about what the Dean wanted to talk about. 

In the next few minutes, I finished dealing with my work and decided to go to the Dean's office. I can't explain why I felt heavy as I make my way there. I mean, it's not like I'm a student that was called for detention. But as I make my way into the office, I already feel something is off.  

I took a deep breath when I reached the door. I thought the Dean would be beside his desk, but instead, it was empty. There weren't any people in the Dean's office. That's what I thought.

When I moved closer, I saw someone in his office other than him. I saw a woman who was seated in a chair, and she was crying soundlessly. And on the other side was the Dean.

Suddenly as if she heard my footsteps, she stood up immediately and looked at me. "Is it him?" she asked anxiously. Her face seemed familiar, but I couldn't remember where I saw her. 

She wiped her tears and looked at me. "You're the one that was in charge of Flavus, right?" she asked me, but I didn't know what to say. I tried opening my mouth, but no words came out. Then suddenly, some sort of mental image floated into my mind. It included this woman, Flavus, his brother, and his father. She was the woman in the portrait. She was Flavus' mother. 

After I came to this realization, a sudden thought landed in my mind. "You're Flavus' mother," I said in a whisper. 

Flavus' mother looked at me, and her eyes started to tear again. She broke down in tears again. "My son, I wanted to talk to my son, please."

Her weeping made me wonder what was going on. But I also felt slight dismay about her behavior. It seemed like she was the one who wanted to talk to me and not the Dean. I looked at the Dean, who was too silent. He is probably speechless because of the scene he's seeing right now. 

I looked at the woman again and asked, "what's happening?"

The woman looked at me but still sobbed, "please, help me meet Flavus. I want to talk to him."

I looked back at the Dean, and in return, he just nodded at me, making me more confused. 

"Wait, ma'am. Do you mean to say that you're really Flavus' mother? The one who just left him without saying why and now when he is finally getting himself together, you'll just show up as if nothing happened? What do you think Flavus would feel about that?" I asked out of frustration. I know I'm not supposed to act like this in front of a parent, so I looked at the Dean, but he was not surprised, as if he was expecting me to act this way.