Professor Abraham
As we were driving back to the camp site, my heart felt so heavier with every passing minute.
What am I going to tell this poor girl's parents about their daughter?
I just can't bear to see another parent being torn apart again by me.
It was all my fault; I shouldn't have let her out of my sight, even for a minute.
I closed my eyes, and her beautiful face came into view.
Her eyes, the way her lashes used to cover up her eyes as she blinks when she is staring out at something with utmost attention.
Those lips of hers curve into a smile whenever someone approaches her. She is never angry; even at times when she seems to be angry, you can still see the smile radiating on her face.
And her hair, the way it swings at all sides when she is turning around, the way they fall back on her shoulder. The way she always subconsciously tries to tuck her hair back behind her ear, an action that I was sure she wasn't aware she was doing.
And I can still feel the softness of those lustrous strands as I dip my hands into her hair. I just felt like massaging them at that moment so they could hear how her sweet mouth could moan out my name.
I know it's unethical for me to think about my student like this, but I just couldn't help it.
The girl has managed to set up a flame in my heart that had been extinguished years ago.
Whenever she is around me, it feels like I am whole again, like there's someone out there who needs me. She makes me feel like a man again in all ways possible.
"Sir, we are back." Someone tapped me on the shoulder.
I chose to ignore him as I don't want to wake up, and that would be the last I would see of that face. I'd rather stay like that forever.
"Sir, wake up," the person says again, tapping me a bit harder this time.
Like a stubborn child, I still refused to move.
"I think you should let him be for now; his wife is missing and he just managed to get some sleep, so we should let him rest and clear up his head at least," the driver says.
Yes, they should do that, please.
I could hear both of them step out of the car while I still rested my head, imaging her perfect features.
In my head right now, she was busy laughing, and her perfectly white teeth are exposed.
She looks so peaceful and beautiful.
I envisioned myself walking up to her, trying to touch her, but with every step I take, it seems like she is going far away from me, and her face never ceases to shine.
"Sir, you gotta come see this; it's really urgent." He comes back again to disturb me.
But I still try to get a grasp of her as her image fights to fade away from my view.
"I can't believe they have actually found her," he says.
Just by hearing the word 'her', I quickly sat up from my seat and gave all my attention back to him.
"Yes, sir, she has been found and thankfully unharmed," he confirms.
I quickly unbolted the door, rushed out, and started heading into the camp grounds, but then I stopped.
I actually didn't know where she was exactly.
"She's in the cafeteria," he calls out to me.
I rushed over there, almost running.
Thank goodness! I can't believe she is finally safe. How happy I am to finally set my eyes on her.
I am never letting her go, that's for sure.
I neared the camp cafeteria, and that's why I doubled my steps.
It's quite dark out here now, and the only light that can be seen is the one up ahead in the cafeteria.
All my enthusiasm was shattered, and my feet came to a halt as I saw her sitting there. But not just her; a man was sitting beside her, and he was trying to feed her.
How dare he?.
Who gave him the right to do so?.
I felt my blood boil, and soon I was marching up to them with full force.
I didn't waste any seconds as I went up there and grabbed her away, just as he was about to feet her once again.
I thought that I was worried about her all this while, only to find her sitting with an unknown man, and he was intimately feeding her.
This made my whole heart shatter. Not that there was anything in there to shatter anyway.
"Excuse me, but who the hell are you?".
**********
Nina
Just as I was about to scream my lungs out as I thought I was being attacked, his gentle scent invaded my nose, and I recognized who he was in an instant.
It's the professor, my professor.
His hold on my arm was so tight that I couldn't get away.
I didn't know if he was more excited to see me or angry that I strayed off without permission.
"Excuse me, but who the hell are you?" Mike's voice echoes.
My attention turns to him, and I see that he looks furious, but not as furious as the professor looks right now.
He didn't answer him, but instead, he pulled me into his body and wrapped his hand around my waist protectively.
"Who the hell are you, old man, and why are you holding her up like that?" he demanded once again, this time moving up close to the professor with his fist clenched.
Oh oh! I have to do something before he ends up doing something he might regret.
"Mike..."
"She's my wife," he says, holding on to me so tightly that I couldn't even breathe.
"I know your type of man, who tries to torment girls and then..."
"Not another word from you," the professor warns.
Even the guy knew when to shut his mouth.
But then he speaks again.
"If she is your wife, then why do I see no wedding ring on her finger?" he asks.
Oh my goodness! Now he has got me in deep trouble.
I had finally gotten the chance to get rid of that ring today, and I was hoping it would go unnoticed, but now he has pointed it out for everyone to know.
Professor Abraham released me, and then he turned me to face him. He didn't even check my hand, as if he knew I didn't have the ring all along.
"Where's the ring?" he asks in the most angriest voice I never thought he could possess.
His face is also frowning, and the veins on his forehead are all bulging out.
I gulp.
"Speak up; where the hell did you take it?" He shakes me, and I flinch.
"You are scaring her off, man," Mike intervened.
"Stay out if it," I can hear Lily pulling him away.
"It's...it's back in the room," I answer.
"Go and bring it to me," he says, releasing me.
I didn't wait for another invitation to go, and so I rushed away.
I really didn't know he would get this angry just because I removed the ring.
He had actually warned me about it, but I didn't heed his warning, and now I know the end of it.
**********
Professor Abraham
"And you, stay away from my wife," I say, turning to the new guy who dared to feed her with his filthy hand.
"And what exactly made you think that I believe she is your wife? I mean, look at you; you are old enough to be her father," he pointed out.
Yeah! I knew that very well.
"Hey! He is the senior instructor here, and you shouldn't talk to him in that manner, and yes, Nina's his wife, so get over it," the Lily girl says.
Finally, I remembered her name, but that isn't what matters now.
"If you dare come close to her like that, you would certainly see the worst of me," I threaten.
I never really thought that I would be the type to threaten someone, but here I am.
But I had my reasons. Taking away the fact that I saw this boy shamelessly trying to feed my student out on the open like that, I just have these weird feelings about him, and my intuitions were never wrong.
I just hope that this time I was wrong, though.
"I would not stop hanging out with the lady, not until I saw crude evidence that she was your wife," he says.
So now he's trying to play Mr. Detective or whatever!.
I can clearly see in his eyes that he has it for the girl, and he is the type of guy who never stops until they get what they want, and I won't be standing there and watching that unfold.
If it's evidence he wants, then we will give him plenty, starting from now until the day we leave here or he decides to leave.
With that, I proceeded towards her as she was heading back from our tent to us.
Just wait and see; now I will surely show him whom she belongs to.