~Chapter 3~
-Fabian-
It's 9 o'clock in the morning and I was halfway thru grading my students essays. I got a call from Amber telling me Ara and Mia were having a "design breakthrough" which probably met that they'd be at Ambers all night making clothes. So, I decided to come back here at 4 am and get a head on grading papers. Oh, the Joy of an Oxford Professor!
I get up from my desk and leave my office. I'm walking down the hall to the teachers lounge when I see someone is in the library. No one is in the library this time of day, on Saturday, I should know, I've been here almost every Saturday for 11 years straight.
Monday thru Friday 9 am to 12 pm the library always has people in it. It's Oxford, for gods sake, some of Britain's brightest student walked these halls. But, Saturday morning? Even, bright pupil have got to sleep some times... I know I never set foot in the library on Saturdays until 11 am, at least, when I was studying here.
I switch directions and walk into the library, to see who was in there... As I come closer I see it's Klarissa McDaniel, by far my best student this year but, I wouldn't dare tell anyone that
"Early studying, eh?" I ask
"Oh, , yes, I was just studying for an up-coming test..." She stumbles over her words
"You know, I've never seen anyone this early in the Library before... I didn't come in this early, when I was a student." I tell her
"Well, it's Egyptian Mythology, quite interesting..." She says
"Oh yes, of course, Egyptian Mythology was always my favorite." I inform Klarissa
"Really?" Klarissa asks intrigued
"Yes, when I went to my boarding school, my house was Anubis, named after the Egyptian god, I was in a theatrical production about it and everything, all house mates where involved, it was a pretty big deal... For about 72 hours..." I stifle out a laugh "what book are you reading?"
"Oh, 'An Egyptian History' by... Jason Winkler!" She tells me
"Well, that's funny." I say
"Huh, why?" She questions
"Jason was my history and drama teacher, he put on that production I was telling you about..." I nod
"Well, isn't that fascinating!" She exclaims
"Quite! But, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to grading you and your peers essays..." I say
"Oh, yes, of course..." She nods
Once I get to the break room, I take my mug and fill it up with black coffee. I look at my mug while I'm walking back to my office, it's the mug Arabella made me, it said "Worlds Best Dad! -Love, Arabella" across the front in big, maroon letters. The mug it's self was white, so if you look at the bottom, in smaller black letters "Your a cool dude, Mr. Gutter. -Your Stuck with Me, Mia" I laugh, Mia was such a character sometimes... Today proved to be one of those days because, when I unlock my office, she's sitting in my chair, spinning around.
"How the Bloody Hell did you get into my office?" I ask
"I have keys." Mia stops spinning
"How'd you get them?" I question
"At your flat." She shrugs
"How'd you get in my flat?" I mock her and shrug
"Arabella's window." She states simply
"Where does she think you are?" Arabella rarely let's Mia out of her sight
"Getting fried chicken in Africa." Mia laughs
"She's really into her designs?" If there was one thing I knew about my daughter, if she was into her designs, you could tell her anything, and she would just mumble her okays. Mia liked to screw with that sometimes.
"Yep!" Mia exclaims
"Why are you here, Mia?" I set my mug down and look at here "there must be something about Ara, if it wasn't, you would say it around her."
"Nice mug." Mia tries to side track me
"Mia." I cross my arms "nice try. Spill it."
"Nina." Mia whispers "Nina Martin."
I almost choke on my cough "how do you know about her?"
"I put cameras up in the Campbell's offices..." She admits
"Mia...I'm disappointed in you..." My heart drops in my chest
"And I went thru your computer..." She says quietly
I just put my hand on the temples of my head
"Your mad at me, aren't you?" She asks sadly
"Yes. I am frustrated, but I understand why you did it..." I tell her
"I'm sorry" she apologizes
"It doesn't matter, now... How much do you?" I question
"A lot. The whole time line. But, the important thing is I know that Nina was Arabella's mother." Mia stands up "hmm... Obviously you don't want Arabella to know Nina's her mother..."
"Obviously." I slightly move my head to tell her to keep going
"Well... What if she just knew Nina's name, like knew she went to school with you?" She asks
"We know how curious she is. You would've started World War 3." I hope she's just being curious herself... Figuring out how bad the situation was...
"Then I just blew the war horn." Mia looked scared
"God dammit, Mia! In the eight years I've known you, this is the stupidest thing yet!" I cannot believe it...
"On the other hand..." She tried to lighten the mood
"How can you even think about the other hand?" I ask here
"This came in your mail today." She hands me a cream envelope with fancy black writing and a red 'Anubis' old times style stamp on the back. You've got a slow week next week, I looked at your schedule, plus you've got Thursday and Friday off..."
"You are a very smart girl...Mia." I give her credit