A/N: Thank you all for reading and reviewing this story.
A special thank to my wonderful beta, jonsmom14, who did a great job.
so enjoy the chapter....
The stalker
by elessar73
chapter 4
Betrayal
Charlie´s morning class was over. He opened the door to his office and stopped short to peer into the room,a little anxious about what he´d find. But to his relief he saw exactly what he expected: stacks of papers besieging his desk.
As Charlie stepped into the room, his memories drifted back to his last class. After years of teaching he was still impressed with how easy it was to get the undivided attention of undergraduates.
His lecture in "Math and Molecules- an Introduction in Fluid Dynamics" was quite a show. Though the Mentos and soda trick was old, it still made its point.
Indeed, it was somewhat impressive, when a few candies forced the soda to escape rapidly out of its bottle. The fizzy fountain was usually treated to astonished shouts by the students.
The initial enthusiasm lessened however, when the students were forced to face the mathematical side of the experiment- and it was sophisticated math.
Charlie smiled. He really liked that part of being a teacher - to see and help others find solutions and understanding for the problems they were working on.
The coin had a second side unfortunately; the paperwork, as Don predicted, was still there.
Charlie had just graded a few tests when a knock on the door interruped him. The door flew open and Larry walked in.
"Good morning Charles. May I?" The professor asked as he pointed at a chair in front of Charlie´s desk and fell into it before Charlie had a chance to answer.
Charlie sighed, typical Lawrence Fleinhardt.
"Hey Larry, what´s up?" Charlie watched as his mentor dropped a folder on his desk, then leaned back in the chair and with his hands crossed behind his head,stared silently at the ceiling.
Charlie frowned in concern. He was aware of his friend´s tendency to get lost in his thoughts ( he often experienced that phenomenon himself) but Larry didn´t normally stroll into his office to do so - that was strange.
" Larry!" Charlie called out again when the physicist didn´t reply. He pointed at the folder, "Is there anything I can do for you?"
" Huh?" Larry startled."Well,frankly, yes. If you don´t mind, I´d like you to take a look over those papers." The older man opened the folder and handed Charlie at least five sheets of paper.
"What is it, the new valuation on your eleven-dimensional supergravity theory you have talked about lately?" Charlie glanced over Larry´s scrawl before looking up at his friend questioningly. "This has nothing to do with physics.. right?"
Larry placed his right hand on his forehead. The thumb rubbed small circels at his temple as he finally answered." I´m invited to a physics conference in Las Vegas, " He cleared his throat and peered at the ceiling again." And - well - I´m supposed to deliver the opening address."
" Wow Larry, that´s awesome! Why are you so upset about it. This is a great honor." Charlie asked. He was excited for his friend.
Larry nodded his head unenthusiastically. Charlie realized that there was more to it.
" Larry what´s the problem? This isn´t the first time you´ve given a speech, so what is it?"
" Actually, I want you to read it over." Larry´s voice was low, even a little shy.
"Me? Well, this is a suprise. I´m not usually the first person you address for such matters." Charlie fumbled with the sheets of papers and finally laid them back in the folder on his desk, as he waited for an answer with a slight smile on his face.
Larry focused on the man sitting across from him. " Well Charles, I´m fully aware of your spelling problems, but I´m also aware of your talent for creating presentations that impress everyone." Larry´s tone of voice had changed from shy to shrill- obviously he was under a lot of stress.
Charlie blushed at the compliment, but wasn´t sure what it implied. " Thank you, Larry, but...."
" No ´ buts´ Charles." Larry interrupted him." I guess you know pretty well, that you can engage nearly everyone when you start talking - even a group of FBI-agents didn´t stand a chance - so please don´t underestimate your skills."
By now Charlie´s face showed a deep flush. To distract himself, he grabbed the papers again and pretended to read them. When he felt composed enough,he faced his friend with a genuine smile. " Okay, I´ll go over it as soon as possilble..."
Seeing Larry´s shaking head stopped him.
"No,no, no, Charles. You don´t understand."
Charlie studied Larry, eager to hear the reason for his sudden protests.
" I´m leaving in..." Larry checked his watch , " in less than twelve hours.I need the paper revised right now."
Charlie stared at him in shock. That was cutting it close - even for Larry who often lost track of time.
"How long have you known about this?" The folder slammed down on the desk, making Larry jump.
"Actually, I was asked four weeks ago..., but I forgot about it." Larry whispered as he glanced away in shame.
"What a surprise." Charlie smiled. He really liked this man and his eccentricities ." Listen up, I´ll go over your presentation, see what I can do and return it immediately."
"Oh Charles, that´s wonderful! Thank you so, so much.I´ll be here until 5.30." Larry got up and shook Charlie´s hands vigorously.
" I´ve got it Larry."
Once Larry was gone, Charlie returned to work.
He wondered how Larry had managed to become a professor as he picked up the papers and read Larry´s speech. He periodically adapted a joke or made some changes in the wording.
Charlie was so focused on the presentation that he missed lunch.
An intestinal rumbling brought him back to reality. He glanced at the clock. Damn it 2.30 already - he was late for class which was scheduled to start right then.
The math professor grabbed his bag,locked his door and hastened toward the lecture hall at the far end of the hall.
He reached it a little breathless and just a few minutes too late. After a short apology, he began the lecture and soon he was caught up in the math.
Mary stood behind the service counter staring motionlessly toward the door, waiting for Charlie enter the room - but he never did.
It was almost 2.00 , his next class would begin soon, there wasn´t much time left.
´He wouldn´t dare to let me down again, would he?´
Thoughts of Charlie consumed her completely, making her unaware of the glances Paul threw her way.
Paul Hold watched Mary curiously. Somehow she looked dazed - her mind anywhere but here.
She had shown up in the mornig with some nasty looking cuts on her hands and a bandage on her wrist. She stammered something about a broken glass, but had insisted she was fit to work.
Paul happily noticed that Mary had put on a little make-up. Her green eyes were accentuated with a fitting eye shadow and eyeliner. She looked really pretty.
Her long blond hair was pulled together to a tight ponytail, but wips of hair had fallen into her face. From time- to- time she blew them up, but soon they fell into the same position.
Paul liked her, but until now Mary had stoically ignored every one of his attempts to get close to her.
Paul refused to give up. As far as he knew, Mary wasn´t involved with anyone and a woman like her shouldn´t be alone.
´But why was she staring at the door?´
Paul´s brown eyes observed her closely. He noticed that her hands were clawed into the fabric of her slacks, clenching it tight.
He made a quick decision, it was now or never; with three large steps he walked up and touched her gently upon the shoulder.
Mary whirled around, her face enraged. "What!" She nearly screamed, her eyes radiating anger.
Paul was taken aback. He stepped away and nearly tripped over his own feet, but managed to keep his balance. "S-s-sorry,I didn´t mean to upset you."
He flushed in surprise at her rude reaction.
Mary stared at him in dismay. She needed a few secondes to preceive what had just happened.
Then, within the blink of an eye Mary´s expression gentled. Despite her insanity, she knew that she was obliged to allay Paul. He could not be allowed to detect anything about her relationship with Charlie.
Mary pasted a smile on her face. " I am sorry Paul, you startled me."
"I noticed." Paul smirked shyly.
Mary touched his arm in apology and felt his body relax." Please just don´t do it again. I´m easily alarmed." She stated as she smiled and stared up at him coquettishly. ´Some men are so easy.´
" Sorry again, I should have thought about that.."Paul blushed even more and turned his face away in shame. Maybe this wasn´t the right time to ask her out. He tried to hide his disappointment and escaped into the kitchen.
A malicious smile decorated Mary´s face. She hadn´t missed Paul´s expression. It had been so easy to snare him. `What an imbecile.´
Now that Paul was gone,Mary´s attention returned to the entrance. She searched the room just in case she had missed Charlie´s arrival, but he wasn´t there. He had failed her again.
´No one betrayed her!´
Mary was filled with a hot rage. She began to tremble slightly. This was more than she could take, she felt like she was going to lose control! Her face turned into a caricature of herself. Her eyes were icy and held nothing but hate and insanity.
Mary ran away. It didn´t matter if Paul penalized her for leaving work early and without excuse.
She dashed across campus. She punshed her fists against her thighs again and again, but didn´t notice the pain. The rage that consumed her swallowed up every rational thought. Tears streamed down her face and her lips moved in noiseless curses.
Mary was furious at Charlie.´He was supposed to come see me! I dressed up for him! I even wore makeup and he just ignored me!´.
Mary sobbed violently.
´What are you thinking Mary? A professor will never notice you! You are a mess! Just look at you - painted up like a whore.` Her mother´s voice sounded a thousand times in her head.´You are not good enough!´
Mary made it to her appartment. Blinded from tears, she ran into the bathroom to remove the makeup;but her shaking hands made it impossibly. In the end she gave up. Mary had black eyeliner flowing down her face leaving dark tracks on her cheeks, but she didn´t care anymore.
The voice of her mother was still there. She had to get rid of her. Mary dropped to her knees and crawled near the door. Using the doorframe as support, she pulled herself up.
In a blind, violent rage, she cracked her skull agianst the frame and screamed in her head ´please Mommy stop...don´t call me worthless whore, please stop yelling...please just love me!´
Blood started to trickle out of a wound on her forehead, but she didn´t notice. She felt numb. Finally, Mary lost consciousness and collapsed on the floor.
At last....silence.
TBC...