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Authors: Suzanne Elizabeth Anderson
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trouble.”
“Can you get me in there? I can explain her illness to them. She didn’t know what she was saying.”
“I’m not sure they’ll believe you.”
“They have to!”
“Let me go in first and intervene.” He squeezed my arm and then left me. When the door opened, I couldn’t see Anna over the coats of the policemen. I cried out for her, but my voice was lost as the door shut in my face.
I turned and hurried down the hall and up the stairs to the second floor. Glass-fronted doors leading to the individual offices of the faculty divided the wood-paneled hall.
At the end of the hall, there was a cul-de-sac of three offices. I knocked on the one to my left. My knock was answered by an invitation to enter. With trembling hands, I turned the knob and opened the door.
Chapter Thirty-One
The overhead ligh t shadowed his face as he sat bent over his desk. When I entered the room, he looked up and then sighed and then returned to the book he was studying. He looked the same as I’d remembered him, though as I stepped into the room, it became clear that creases above his brow and around his eyes softened his chiseled features. Sprinklings of silver frosted his dark hair.
“It’s me Natalie, not Anna,” I said, stopping before his desk.
He leaned back in his chair and his frown became a hesitant smile. “I know. It’s been a long time.”
I kept in mind that they had not broken up easily. Anna had fought his rationalizations that the affair had come to its natural end with painful, sometimes hysterical entreaties that had lead to embarrassing arguments in front of other faculty. I often wondered if their breakup had precipitated Anna’s descent into her imaginary world, or whether his recognition of her decline caused him to seek an end rather than watch her fall.
“Deszo, I need your help.”
“It’s good to see you, Natalie.”
His voice. I’d forgotten the effect his smooth masculine voice had on me. I shook off the start of a memory. “I’m sorry, I don’t have time to be polite. Anna’s in trouble.”
“I don’t think I’m the right person for you to see.”
I leaned forward and placed my hands on his desk. “Deszo, please, they’re holding her downstairs in the Dean’s office.”
“What’s she doing here?” he asked.
“Please, come now,” I said reaching for his hand. “I’ll explain it as we go.”
“I don’t want to get involved...”
“Deszo, she came here believing she was still a professor. She gave an enflaming speech. They’ve called the police!”
“But...”
My fists pounded the desk. “Damn it, this has nothing to do with your affair. I’m asking you as a friend.”
“Whose friend?”
“For Max,” I cried.
Deszo’s eyebrows arched and he looked at me without comment.
“Then do it for me.”
He stood and walked around his desk. I grabbed his arm in mine and hurried him down the hall. As we moved down the stairs, I explained my confrontation with the soldiers last night; the event that I believed had precipitated her actions this morning. Deszo stopped on the landing under the light from a window and touched my forehead. “Natalie.”
“We don’t have time.” I said, brushing his hand away.
The crowd around the Dean’s office had subsided when we reached the door. A policeman answered Deszo’s knock, we explained our relationship to Anna and the officer stepped aside. Deszo went first and I followed behind him.
I looked around the room, “Where’s Anna?”
The Dean nodded towards his office. “I had them put her in there. I felt it would be less stressful for her.”
“Thank you,” I said, heading for the door.
I entered the room quietly. My heart skipped as I looked around the room and found it empty. Then I heard the chair behind the desk squeak on its castors and it rolled a little closer to the window.
Walking over to the chair, I saw Anna. Her palm, splayed against the cold glass left a moist impression.
As I
“Can you get me in there? I can explain her illness to them. She didn’t know what she was saying.”
“I’m not sure they’ll believe you.”
“They have to!”
“Let me go in first and intervene.” He squeezed my arm and then left me. When the door opened, I couldn’t see Anna over the coats of the policemen. I cried out for her, but my voice was lost as the door shut in my face.
I turned and hurried down the hall and up the stairs to the second floor. Glass-fronted doors leading to the individual offices of the faculty divided the wood-paneled hall.
At the end of the hall, there was a cul-de-sac of three offices. I knocked on the one to my left. My knock was answered by an invitation to enter. With trembling hands, I turned the knob and opened the door.
Chapter Thirty-One
The overhead ligh t shadowed his face as he sat bent over his desk. When I entered the room, he looked up and then sighed and then returned to the book he was studying. He looked the same as I’d remembered him, though as I stepped into the room, it became clear that creases above his brow and around his eyes softened his chiseled features. Sprinklings of silver frosted his dark hair.
“It’s me Natalie, not Anna,” I said, stopping before his desk.
He leaned back in his chair and his frown became a hesitant smile. “I know. It’s been a long time.”
I kept in mind that they had not broken up easily. Anna had fought his rationalizations that the affair had come to its natural end with painful, sometimes hysterical entreaties that had lead to embarrassing arguments in front of other faculty. I often wondered if their breakup had precipitated Anna’s descent into her imaginary world, or whether his recognition of her decline caused him to seek an end rather than watch her fall.
“Deszo, I need your help.”
“It’s good to see you, Natalie.”
His voice. I’d forgotten the effect his smooth masculine voice had on me. I shook off the start of a memory. “I’m sorry, I don’t have time to be polite. Anna’s in trouble.”
“I don’t think I’m the right person for you to see.”
I leaned forward and placed my hands on his desk. “Deszo, please, they’re holding her downstairs in the Dean’s office.”
“What’s she doing here?” he asked.
“Please, come now,” I said reaching for his hand. “I’ll explain it as we go.”
“I don’t want to get involved...”
“Deszo, she came here believing she was still a professor. She gave an enflaming speech. They’ve called the police!”
“But...”
My fists pounded the desk. “Damn it, this has nothing to do with your affair. I’m asking you as a friend.”
“Whose friend?”
“For Max,” I cried.
Deszo’s eyebrows arched and he looked at me without comment.
“Then do it for me.”
He stood and walked around his desk. I grabbed his arm in mine and hurried him down the hall. As we moved down the stairs, I explained my confrontation with the soldiers last night; the event that I believed had precipitated her actions this morning. Deszo stopped on the landing under the light from a window and touched my forehead. “Natalie.”
“We don’t have time.” I said, brushing his hand away.
The crowd around the Dean’s office had subsided when we reached the door. A policeman answered Deszo’s knock, we explained our relationship to Anna and the officer stepped aside. Deszo went first and I followed behind him.
I looked around the room, “Where’s Anna?”
The Dean nodded towards his office. “I had them put her in there. I felt it would be less stressful for her.”
“Thank you,” I said, heading for the door.
I entered the room quietly. My heart skipped as I looked around the room and found it empty. Then I heard the chair behind the desk squeak on its castors and it rolled a little closer to the window.
Walking over to the chair, I saw Anna. Her palm, splayed against the cold glass left a moist impression.
As I
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