Chapter Ten: Luke's Return
My eyes fluttered open as the morning sun shone through the window. I sat up in the bed, then stretched out the stiffness from my body. The memories from the previous night were still fresh in my mind. I touched my cheek softly, and felt the warmth of my blushing. I knew I had small feelings towards the Professor, but the kiss had made them much stronger.
This is wrong. This shouldn't be happening.
The redness from my cheeks disappeared. I sighed.
But it is happening. You've got to accept it.
I bit my lip happily.
You're falling for him.
I shook my head and chuckled light-heartedly. I looked over to the clock on the wall. It read nine thirty. I decided to get up, so I got dressed, then headed downstairs. I could see that the Professor was already up, as normal. He was sat upon the sofa, his chin against one hand, as if he were deep in thought. He didn't particulary look like he was concentrating, as his eyes weren't focused on anything. He sensed me, then blinked once and turned his head towards me. At the sight of me, his eyes grew wide, then he violently turned his head away again. I could see a tint of red upon his cheeks, and I smiled.
He's embarrassed about last night. Bless him.
"Victoria. ." the Professor began, "About our, erm, 'moment' last night, well. . ."
"Professor, if you're about to apologise, then don't." I said, a smile on my face.
The Professor turned towards me, a slight awe in his face.
"What do you-"
"You've got nothing to be sorry for. You're acting as if something bad happened. Last night, it felt. .nice."
He then extended from the sofa and approached me. He held my arms in his.
"Are you sure, my dear?" he questioned, "You're not just pretend-"
"Of course not, Professor," I replied, "It was nice, honestly."
The Professor then sighed happily, and smiled back at me. His dark orbs found my hazel ones, and we spent what felt like an eternity trapped in each other's gaze. It was only until the doorbell sounded that we were brought out of our small daze.
"I wonder who that is," pondered the Professor, "Victoria, could you attend to the door? I'll put some tea on."
I nodded my head, then walked towards the door. I opened it, then peered outside. On the doorstep, stood a young boy I recognised, dressed in blue.
Luke!
"Oh! Er, do I have the wrong house?" he asked when he saw me.
"Luke? Is that you?" The Professor's voice came from within the house.
"Professor!" Luke exclaimed. He barged past me to get inside.
Charming, I thought, as I closed the door.
"Luke, my boy! Where did you disappear off to?" asked the Professor.
"Didn't you get my notes, Professor?" Luke asked, sitting down on the sofa, "Well, it was a bit of a surprise when Flora had to leave too! She was in such a hurry to get back to St. Mystere that she asked me if I would write her note for her. Oh, I must apologise for my appaling handwriting on those notes, it was so dark that I could hardly see what I was writing!"
"Ah, never mind, my boy," smiled the Professor, "You're here now."
I continued to stand near the doorway, and as the Professor and Luke talked, I felt invisible.
"Actually Professor, there's a reason why I came back," Luke began, this time sounding more serious, "You've probably heard about Flora, and her robot replica."
"Yes, Luke," the Professor replied, "In fact, me and Victoria went to invest-"
"Victoria?" Luke asked, sounding confused.
Hearing my name, I stepped forward into Luke's view.
"Err, hi. . ." I greeted, awkardly.
"Luke, in your absence, I needed someone to help me investigate the robot Flora. I met Victoria, and she has been most helpful."
I walked over to Luke, then extended my hand to him.
"Victoria Belladonna," I stated, "It's nice to finally meet you."
He took my hand and smiled.
"Luke Triton. The pleasure's mine."
The Professor smiled, looking generally pleased that me and Luke had become acquainted.
"So, you were saying, Luke?" he asked Luke.
"Yes. Professor, Victoria, I have some information about Flora, and why she was replaced by a robot."
"Go on," urged the Professor.
"Well, it started after our investigation at St. Mystere. The villagers had become enraged at the fact that they were all robots. They began to take it out on Bruno, the sole creator of the robots. They ran him out of St. Mystere, threatening him never to return. He then ran into Flora, who was of course going back to the village. Bruno was angry for what the residents had done to him, so he kidnapped poor Flora, created a robot of her, and sent that to St. Mystere instead. He also had the robot self-malfuntion, as to give the illusion that Flora had died. He seemed nice when we met him, Professor, I didn't think he had it in him."
"Hmm," the Professor mused, "Very good research, my boy, I'm impressed."
"Yeah, that's shed the light a bit on the whole thing," I contributed, "But, do you know where Bruno is now?"
"Unfortunately not, though now I'm hoping the three of us could work on that together."
"But of course, my boy," the Professor exclaimed, "Now, all this comotion calls for I drink I think."
"Oo, I'll have a tea please, Professor," Luke answered.
I raised an eyebrow.
"What did you say?" I asked Luke.
"Tea," he answered, "I love it!"
That's strange. . .