Harem House - Selene Pt. 21

Monday, Sanjay had an altercation with Rani in the cafeteria. He'd gone after Mindy physically, and Rani had kneed him in the balls right in the cafeteria. There were videos of it that had flown around campus for a few days, security got involved, and things had finally seemed to settle down.

The larger guy was a total stranger.

"Hey." Arthur said in a cautious greeting. "What's going on, Sanjay?"

The larger, as of yet nameless, man responded by cracking his knuckles, like this was some kind of high school teen flick where the bully was about to punch the nerd. Of course, Arthur didn't exactly look like a nerd. He wasn't a bodybuilder, but he had plenty of muscle on him, hidden though it was by the suit he wore. He worked out every day, he ate right, and he intentionally sculpted the body he had piece by piece through great effort and discipline. Mindy called them "Captain America" muscles, and Selene had suggested that cosplay before, even if she was more partial to the Winter Soldier.

The larger man, as Arthur labeled him, was big, sure, but he didn't have much muscle on him. He was a little shorter than Arthur, who stood at 6'4" to this man's 6'2". He was fat in the face and arms, which made it look like he had thicker biceps and muscles than Arthur might. Still, Arthur could peg the body type, body fat percentage, and muscle mass with the trained eye or someone independently studying physical education.

"Sanjay?" Arthur asked again, though he stopped a few paces away from his car. "Who's your friend?"

"My man here says you fucked his girlfriend." The larger man answered.

"That's not what happened." Arthur said immediately. "Rani wasn't-"

"She was my date." Sanjay spat. "Asshole."

"So?" Arthur asked.

"So, you fuckin' seduced her when she was going out with me, and then you have these other girls, too? You're dating multiple women?" Sanjay scoffed. "Fuck you, man. It ain't right."

"Yeah." The larger man chimed in, cracking his knuckles again. It was almost impressive to Arthur that he could pop them every time.

"Look." Arthur sighed. "Whatever this is, I don't have time for it right now, so please step away from my car, and we can discuss this when you're in a more rational mindset."

"Or-" The large man offered a counterpoint by stepping toward Arthur quickly and throwing a punch.

Arthur was, by principle, declaration, and practice - a pacifist. He didn't believe that fighting was the best way to solve anything. Nor was he about to get expelled because someone else decided to hit him. Running away was a valid option, he supposed, but he didn't have time to consider many others. The fist came at his face rapidly, and Arthur was frankly surprised. It didn't make any sense to him, and it didn't seem rational at all. Yet there was a latent instinct behind his eyes when they registered the fist coming their way. It told him, "Don't get hit in the face by that thing flying at it," and his body obeyed.

Arthur ducked, bobbing under the blow in a low squat, then sprang to the side. "Dude." He chastised the large man. "What the fuck?"

Sanjay charged. Seeing an opportunity, or perhaps sensing it, Sanjay lowered his head and ran full speed at Arthur like a bull with its horns lowered. Like a bull, Sanjay was angry, and his anger overrode his ability to reason.

Arthur was surprised again, which led him to stand there gawking for a moment. Then, seemingly at the last moment, he realized what he had to do and twisted away with all the grace of a dancer. Arthur wasn't into sports but spent plenty of time learning routines for the stage as a musical actor. Sanjay ran skull-first into a parked car behind Arthur, and it immediately started blaring its alarm as he dented the car door.

The large man didn't hesitate, knowing that time was short, and he moved to strike Arthur with a kick that even Arthur, who had never been in a fight before, saw coming. He kicked the man's leg aside, causing him to spin, but the man's fist still caught him, striking him just below the eye on his cheekbone.

Arthur spun a little at the blow but managed to hold his balance and keep his feet. The large man wasn't so lucky, and with his balance thrown off from his kick, he stumbled into Sanjay, and both slammed into the car.

The car's alarm erupted, filling the parking lot with its noise. The sounds and the fight were drawing attention now. People were coming out of the buildings, and campus security was on its way over. Even Sanjay seemed to realize that they were in trouble.

"What's going on over here?" The security guard called out as they rolled up on their little golf cart.

"Nothing." The larger man spat. "We were just joking around, and it got out of hand. Sanjay here stumbled and nearly took me down with him. We fell into the car, and the alarm started going off."

The car beeped, and the alarm stopped. Arthur looked over to see Beth with a key fob in her hand. She looked pissed at first. Then she saw Arthur, and something shifted in her face before anger retook it. She practically stomped to her car, even though she was in heels.

"What the hell did you do to my car?" She yelled directly at the larger man and Sanjay, who were still leaning against it. She glanced briefly at Arthur.

"They fell." Arthur explained, which caused the larger man to look up at him in surprise. "Right?" He asked the larger man.

"Yeah." The larger man nodded. He seemed uncertain as to why Arthur should go along with it. Why he should give them a second chance.

"Yeah." Sanjay agreed. "Sorry."

"Well, no harm-" The security was cut off by a loud noise from Beth between a cry of surprise and rage Arthur hadn't realized a human being could endure.

"Is that a dent?" Beth managed to ask. "Did you two dent my car?"

"Uh..." Sanjay started but faltered when he looked up at Beth, who looked down at him like his very life might depend upon the following words out of his mouth.

"They did." Arthur spoke up. "But don't worry Beth. Sanjay's a good guy. I'm sure between the two of them, they can cover the repair."

Sanjay glared at Arthur. Beth glanced at him, then frowned. She was looking at his face, just under his eye, where he felt something hot pressing against his skin from the inside. It was swelling, and there might be a bruise, but he didn't dare touch it or try to see if it was red. If it was noticeable, the security guard hadn't said anything about it, but Beth might notice things a stranger wouldn't. She knew his face well enough to see when something was wrong.

"Right, Sanjay?" Arthur asked. "I'm sure you'll do the right thing, and nothing like this will ever happen again. Right?"

Sanjay glared at him.

"We can always pull up the tapes." The security guard piped up and pointed to the nearest lamppost, which had a discreet camera pointed more-or-less in their direction. "If there's some dispute about which of you actually made the dent."

Sanjay and the large man shared a look, and Arthur knew they'd make the right choice. If the security guard had to look at the footage, they'd be expelled. Or at least Sanjay would. Two assaults in a week? He'd be up shit's creek, and he'd deserve it too.

If Arthur hadn't been so pressed for time, he might have been more willing to see Sanjay suffer for his stupidity. As it was, he felt sorry for the guy, and he didn't want to take away the guy's future because of two mistakes.

"We'll cover it." The larger man assured Beth. "Sorry ma'am."

If Beth didn't like being called ma'am, she didn't show it. She was older than they were and obviously a worker here and not a student.

"Good." Beth said with a final glance to Arthur, who gave her the subtlest nod ever seen. "Now, let's get your information for the insurance." She said, and she waved Arthur off. "You can go."

The security guard started to pipe up, but Beth cut him off.

"It's okay. He works for me. I have all his information." Beth assured the officer. "I'm sure he and I will have a long conversation about this on Monday." She looked directly at him and finally managed to make eye contact.

Sanjay's face gained a satisfied smirk, as if he believed he was somehow responsible for getting Arthur into deep trouble with his boss.

Arthur smiled softly. "Yes, Miss Rian."

Beth smiled softly in return at Arthur and then regained her angry expression as she turned to look at the others. She shooed Arthur away, and he took his opportunity to walk to his car, throw his bag in the passenger seat, and take a deep breath. He didn't want to hang out in the parking lot for too long, so his hands were still shaking a bit as they gripped the steering wheel when he turned out onto the road, but he was okay.

He checked his face in the rearview mirror. The spot under his eye on his left cheek was red and distinct from the rest of his face. He could feel it without touching it, so it was swelling a little bit, but he hoped that with some ice, he could avoid bruising. Thank god for Beth, or he'd likely still be standing there talking to the security guard when Kelly arrived for their date.

Hopefully, the rest of his Friday night would be much better.