Her Love Is Traumatic

Racing Against Time

Christine's heart raced as her eyes locked onto the flashing red notification on her student portal. The words seemed to blur together in her panic, but they were unmistakable: Submit your dissertation within two days.

She felt like the ground beneath her had just crumbled away. Two days? How had she forgotten something so important? It wasn’t like her, but with all the chaos of online classes, her troubled thoughts, and her constant efforts to balance life and Lara's unpredictable behavior, her dissertation had slipped through the cracks.

Christine ran her fingers through her hair, her mind reeling. I'm done. This is it. She had nothing prepared. The project that she had started weeks ago was nowhere near completion. In fact, she had pushed it aside because she wasn’t confident about the format or the guidelines. She was familiar with the research part, but everything about the structure, font, spacing—basic formatting—was a blur.

Without wasting time, she dove into research mode, hastily scrolling through endless research papers and articles, reading through studies, and compiling materials. The hours ticked by. Five hours later, she was surrounded by pages of notes and references, her brain buzzing with information. But now came the real challenge—organizing it all.

Christine stared blankly at her laptop screen. She didn’t know how to format it, what font to use, how to align everything. She could already feel the headache forming at her temples. And asking for help? That wasn’t something she could bring herself to do. Admitting she was in over her head just wasn’t an option.

Her gaze drifted toward Lara, who was lying on her bed casually with her headphones on, listening to music. Christine hesitated. Lara submitted her dissertation weeks ago… maybe she could help me, she thought. For a good 45 minutes, she wrestled with herself, debating whether to ask Lara or not. Finally, swallowing her pride, Christine gathered enough courage to approach her.

“Hey, um, Lara… can you help me with something?” Christine asked, her voice tentative.

Lara pulled out one of her earbuds, barely glancing at her. “What is it?”

Christine cleared her throat. “I need help with my dissertation. I’m stuck on the formatting. I thought since you already submitted yours—”

But before Christine could even finish, Lara cut her off, her tone sharp. “I’m busy with something, Kay. Do it yourself.”

Christine blinked in disbelief. Lara wasn’t busy at all—she was literally lying there listening to music. For a moment, she felt a surge of anger rise within her, but it was quickly replaced by a familiar sense of helplessness. She had no idea what to do now. She didn’t have the time or patience to figure out all the formatting on her own, and Lara wasn’t going to help her.

Just as she was about to fall into despair, her phone buzzed. It was Robert.

“Hey, guess what? I just finished my dissertation in record time!” Robert’s voice was filled with enthusiasm on the other end of the call.

(As the lockdown dragged on, Robert found himself with nothing to do, so he managed to convince the university administration to allow him to re-enroll.)

Christine raised an eyebrow, half-smiling despite her panic. “How did you manage that?”

Robert launched into an explanation, detailing how he had used some shortcuts, tips, and tricks to rephrase lines and streamline the process while avoiding plagiarism. Christine listened intently, feeling a sense of hope return.

In the next 20 minutes, under Robert’s guidance over a video call, Christine finally managed to format her dissertation correctly. His clear instructions and clever tips made the daunting task manageable, and bit by bit, everything came together.

When it was finally done, Christine leaned back in her chair, a wave of relief washing over her.

“Thanks, Rob. You really came through for me today,” Christine said, her voice full of gratitude.

“Anytime, Kay. Though I do expect you to owe me one now,” Robert teased.

“Oh, please,” Christine shot back playfully. “The way you go on about it, anyone would think you built my entire dissertation from scratch.”

They bantered back and forth for a few more minutes, the familiar bickering lifting Christine’s spirits after such a stressful day. By the time they hung up, Christine felt lighter, a sense of relief settling over her.

__________________________

Later that night, Lara sat on her bed scrolling through her phone when a message from Rose popped up. It was a series of pictures from Christine’s birthday, and Lara opened them with mild curiosity. Most of the pictures were innocent enough—group shots, selfies, and candid moments from the evening. But one photo caught her attention immediately.

It was a picture of Christine and Kate, smiling together. In the photo, Kate had leaned in and kissed Christine on the cheek, and the moment had been captured perfectly. Lara’s heart clenched as she stared at the image, her mind swirling with anger and jealousy. How dare she?

Her fingers tightened around the phone as she stormed across the room, thrusting the screen in front of Christine’s face.

“What is this?” Lara demanded, her voice sharp with accusation.

Christine looked up from her desk, confused. “What are you talking about?”

“This!” Lara shoved the phone closer to her, showing the picture of Kate kissing her on the cheek. “Why is she kissing you like that?”

Christine frowned, feeling her frustration bubble up. “Lara, it was just a friendly kiss. It’s not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal?” Lara’s voice rose. “You think I’m stupid? You think I can’t see what’s going on? First, you reject me, and now you’re off letting other girls kiss you?”

“Lara, you’re overreacting,” Christine said, trying to remain calm. “Kate’s just a friend. It was a joke—something fun. That’s all.”

But Lara wasn’t having any of it. Her eyes darkened, and her voice lowered to a dangerous tone. “I’ve seen the way she looks at you. Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on.”

Christine stood up, her patience wearing thin. “Lara, enough. I’m not interested in Kate, and even if she kissed me on the cheek, it doesn’t mean anything! You’re blowing this way out of proportion.”

Lara’s expression twisted into something almost unrecognizable—something darker. “Maybe if you’d stop running away from me, you’d see what’s really going on. You’re mine, Christine. No one else’s. Don’t think for a second that I’ll let anyone come between us.”

Christine felt a chill run down her spine at Lara’s words. “Lara, do you think you can scare me like this??” she said quietly, stepping back.

Lara’s eyes flared with anger, but she didn’t say anything more. She stormed out of the room, leaving Christine standing there, her heart pounding in her chest.

As the door slammed behind her, Christine sank onto her bed, feeling a mixture of fear and exhaustion. Lara’s obsession was becoming more intense by the day, and Christine didn’t know how much longer she could handle it.