The Kissing Booth: Adult Edition

Fragments Of Us

"You bitch! You stupid whore! Stop ignoring my calls! You can't avoid me forever!" It's then that I deleted the voicemail. I have no clue how this creep keeps getting new phone numbers; this is the fifth time I've had to block him. Seriously? When is he going to get the message? I closed my voicemail and I stared at my home screen for a moment. Maybe I should tell Lee and Marco? But then, what could they do? What could I do? I've never met the guy and don't even know his name. There's no point in worrying them over this; best to keep ignoring it. With that, I set my phone down and turned back to my computer screen.

It had been a particularly quiet couple of office hours. I'd taken the last week off, which the university didn't hesitate to give me after they heard what happened. Lee spent the whole week with me, and Marco joined us whenever he could; he tried so hard to be with us as much as possible. During that week, we'd developed a sort of routine at home. Lee did the cleaning, I did the laundry, and Marco was in charge of meals. He made us all breakfast and dinner each day, making sure to leave us bento lunch boxes for midday. Let me tell you, there's this intrinsic joy opening up the fridge to find a pink lunch box waiting inside for you. Today was no exception; only Marco and I came to campus together and ate lunch in the park. He went back to his department and I was in my office, working away.

Well, I should have been working. I sat at my desk, reading one of Marco's published articles I accessed on the University of Edinburgh's library's website. It had nothing to do with my own research, but I wanted to read it, nonetheless. I was almost done the second last page when there was a knock at my door. Man, talk about being triggered. I jumped a little in my seat but had to immediately calm myself. Calm down, Elle; it's the middle of the afternoon, and it's probably just a student. It's not that man.... It's not him; you're safe now. Forcing a grin just in case it was a student, I spun my chair so to see the door. "Come in."

You can't imagine how wide my eyes grew as the door opened to reveal not a student, but Noah instead. My grin faded as my jaw dropped startled. "N-Noah?" He stepped into my office, shutting the door behind him. Once inside, he shoved his hands into his pockets and stared down at me. "So you finally came in today." "W-What are you doing here?" My hand rose up to my chest still confused beyond words to what was going on. Why was here? On my first day back too. This was the last thing I expected to happen, but maybe that's on me.

Noah continued to look at me, visibly relaxing his shoulders. "How else was I going to see how you were doing? You still have my number blocked, and Lee's not answering his phone." "N-No, I mean what are you doing in my office? How'd you find me up here?" My head shook. "Your office hours and room number are your department website. How do you think your students find you?" I frowned. Course he couldn't be charming or pleasant in any way now. It's not like the last time we saw each other, I was traumatized after an attack or anything. My head spun back forward to my desk, which I placed my hand up on.

"What do you want, Noah?" "Well, since there was no other way for me to get a hold of you, I had to come here in person to see if you're ok. Can you blame me for being worried about you after all that, Elle?" My glare shot back at him. "Really? You're here because you were concerned for me?" He could immediately tell by the tone of my voice that I didn't believe him. He mirrored my sour expression but didn't back down, which surprised me a little. The edges of his face simply softened slightly. "Yes, Elle. I was." Noah, my eyes grew.

When I didn't say anything in return, Noah relaxed his posture even more, rubbed the back of his neck, and glanced around my office for the first time. "This is a nice place. Much more roomy than the office spaces back home." "They didn't make me share it with anyone this semester," I explained. Noah nodded in comprehension; I couldn't help but notice his eyes wander back over to me again. "So, uh.... Are you really ok, then?" "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine." "It's ok to be a little shaken up after a traumatic event like that," he reassured me. It was my head's turn to nod this time. "I know. I guess I'm still a little nervous, but....." My mouth cut my words off without my brain's permission. My eyes widened as I realized what I was about to say. Noah had no clue, however. "But?" He prompted me to continue. I didn't respond right away; instead I stared off into space momentarily. Holy crap! I was about to say that I knew everything'd be alright since Marco's on the same campus..... It was so organic and unconscious too. That was weird, but luckily I caught myself just in time. Barely. My lips waggled as I scrambled to think of something to say. "Uh, the jerk's in custody, so I know I'm safe now," I lied, forcing a grin for Noah's sake. He didn't seem to buy it, but he did the first polite thing and let it drop- thank god.