Diana wasn't shocked to find Professor Clairmont sitting at her usual reading desk in the library later that afternoon. He'd opted for the side opposite the one she favored and looked to have been there for a while, given the size of the stack of books and papers that surrounded him. While she wasn't surprised to see him, she still couldn't quite believe the man had the audacity to turn up there so soon after their conversation about his stalking tendencies earlier that morning.

"Miss Bishop," he offered in greeting.

Diana dropped her books onto the desk a little more forcefully than she normally would before she busied herself with removing her jacket. Clairmont barely lifted his head from his work, but that didn't stop her from noticing the small smile that curved at the corners of his lips when she huffed a little with her frustration.

"Professor Clairmont," she bit back. "Isn't there some other student that you could be annoying this afternoon?"

Clairmont didn't offer her a response, instead, he turned his attention back to his work as Sean approached the desk, his arms loaded with the manuscripts that Diana had already requested.

"Is everything okay?" the other man asked, picking up on the tension between the two people at the table. Sean set the books down carefully in Diana's preferred spot as his gaze flicked back and forth between them.

"It's fine," Diana assured him. She gave Sean a soft smile of thanks as she settled herself down into her seat, but he didn't look convinced by it and lingered a moment longer to see if she would say anything else. When it became apparent that the professor wasn't the only person she was ignoring that afternoon, Sean headed back to the call desk with a frown of confusion creasing his face.

He could have sworn that the man sitting with Diana Bishop was a scientist, not a historian.

Diana tried her hardest to focus on her research that afternoon. She wasn't sure what Clairmont was doing, but his pen seemed to flow over his page at a consistent speed, so she assumed he had some of his own work to do. His concentration on the pages in front of him made it much easier for Diana to ignore him than she'd previously expected. She was just closing her first manuscript to pull another towards her when Clairmont finally lifted his head from where it had been bent over his work since she'd arrived.

"It's a little busy in here today, wouldn't you say?" he whispered.

She hadn't really given it much thought, but as Diana lifted her head to scan the room, she was surprised to find that he was right. The library wasn't by any means crowded, but normally there were only a dozen other students at desks scattered around the room. That afternoon, there were at least twice as many people in the space.

"Maybe they're studying for a test? Or working on a paper," she suggested. It was a university, after all.

Clairmont hummed his agreement but kept his gaze trained on her face. "The man three rows down on your left doesn't even have books with him," he eventually stated, before freeing her from his stare to turn his attention down to whatever it was that he was working on.

Diana wasn't sure how the professor had known that, considering his back was to the guy in question. However, now that he'd mentioned it, she couldn't help but notice how many people were there looking busy, and actually doing nothing at all.

"It doesn't matter," she hissed at him. "I'm not gonna –"

Diana's words were cut short by the sharp look Clairmont turned on her. While his lips said nothing at all, his eyes were screaming their message loud and clear. She needed to stop talking – now! The hard look behind his stare had her adrenaline rising as every fiber of her being screamed that there was something wrong with the man sitting opposite her. His absolute stillness was unnerving and the way his eyes held her own made her feel a little like a deer, stunned by metaphorical headlights.

When she finally managed to swallow heavily around the lump of fear that had lodged itself in her throat, Clairmont's trance broke. His nostrils flared a little and he blinked a couple of time's in rapid succession, before finally relaxing back into his seat. The professor opened his mouth, presumably to offer her some kind of apology, but it wasn't his voice that she heard calling her name.

"Diana? I thought I'd find you here. Is everything okay?"

Diana turned her attention away from the enigmatic man still staring at her to offer her friend the easiest smile she could muster. Unfortunately, Gillian appeared to be too busy glaring at Professor Clairmont to notice it.

"Yeah, it's all good. Professor Clairmont and I were just having a little debate. I guess we got a bit too heated."

Gillian didn't look terribly convinced by her friend's words as her gaze swept from Diana, over to the man sitting opposite her, and then back again.

"I should be leaving now anyway," Clairmont declared. "Good luck with the rest of your research, Miss Bishop." Somehow, he had already managed to gather his belongings, so he stood in one fluid movement and then took his leave.

Gillian couldn't seem to pull her eyes away from his figure until he disappeared completely from her line of sight.

"Is everything okay?" she asked again, as she dropped down into the seat beside her friend. It wasn't lost on Diana that she'd passed up the chair Clairmont had vacated, which also happened to be her usual seat at their reading bench.

"Yeah. The professor just has some strong opinions on my research topic," Diana lied. "What about you? How was your meeting?"

Gillian either chose to ignore her question or didn't hear it at all, as instead of replying she asked, "How do you know him?"

"Professor Clairmont? He's here in the library sometimes doing his own research when I am. Why?"

"You shouldn't be spending time with him, Diana. He's not to be trusted."

"What do you mean he's not to be trusted? He's a professor. What's he supposed to have done?" she asked.

"Nothing. He's just … it's just some rumors I heard at the start of term."

Diana wasn't sure how she knew it, but she was absolutely certain that Gillian Chamberlain was lying to her at that moment.

"I think you should stay away from him," her friend continued. "You know, just to be safe."

"Okay," Diana agreed.

She didn't exactly have plans to track Professor Clairmont down any time soon, but she also knew that she wasn't going to be actively attempting to keep her promise to Gillian either. Her friend was lying to her, and Diana hated being lied to. Gillian knew something about the professor that she didn't, which only made Diana more interested in finding out what Matthew Clairmont was really up to.


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