Worth It In The End Ch. 01

The alarm clock rang shrilly, piercing the sleepy silence.

Grumbling, I rolled over to hit the snooze button. As soon as my room was quiet again, I laid back, reflecting on the dream I just had. Much to my displeasure, I couldn't remember any specifics... just the sensation of being incredibly aroused. It had been far too long since I had any encounter of that type in my dreams... hell it'd been a long time for that in real life. Frustrated in more ways than one, I ran my hands through my hair, staring up at the ceiling, which was rendered gray by the pre-dawn light. I really hated having to get up this early to go to school, but all of the apartments nearer campus were nauseatingly expensive. Sighing, I pulled myself out of the warm cocoon of my too-large bed and dragged my feet to the bathroom to wash up.

After I showered and pulled on some clothes, I exited my apartment, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. I had a meeting with my advisor first, followed by several small group sessions with students from a class I was teaching about the brain's reactions to different types of stimuli. Today was going to be a very long day, indeed.

On the train to school, I sat staring out the window at the blurred cityscape. I had my earbuds in and zoned out to the Kooks. I tapped my foot and nodded my head to the beat, managing to erase all sensations left by the erotic dream. I had lulled my mind into such a state of calm that I barely noticing the man who sat down across from me and proceeded to watch me. His intent gaze slowly drew my attention, and I took my eyes away from the city and looked at him.

His eyes were the first feature I noticed, as they were so trained on my face. His eyes appeared to be deep, deep indigo... or were they smoldering blue? I couldn't decide. His gaze disconcerted me, sending something a-flutter in my stomach. When I looked past his eyes, I noticed that he was incredibly handsome. His features were striking, something that belonged in the pages of a magazine and not in a dingy Chicago commuter train. He had light olive skin, dark eyebrows, a strong jaw line, and longish wavy black hair. After a few moments of staring at each other, I decided to ease the awkwardness and smiled at him slightly, hoping he would realize he was staring and look somewhere else. To my surprise, his eyes merely shifted down to stare at my lips. I blushed furiously and looked out the window again, determined to ignore him.

For the rest of the hour-long train ride across town, he stayed resolutely in place, disregarding each of the many stops the train made. As the stops dwindled, I began to worry that he was headed for the same place as me. I fidgeted in my seat, crossing and re-crossing my legs, folding my arms protectively about my middle, and biting my inner cheek. As soon as the voice over the intercom announced the university's stop, I jumped to my feet and fairly sprinted to the exit.

It was a good five blocks to the university from the train stop. I resisted looking over my shoulder to see if the man had followed me, shouldered my pack, and set off at a brisk pace. Switching off and pocketing my iPod, I turned my attention to the sounds behind me, trying to discern footfalls other than my own hitting the sidewalk. Much to my chagrin, I heard what sounded like expensive men's shoes following me at a clip. I looked around and noticed that my follower and I were the only ones on the street. I sped up.

I jaywalked four of the five street crossings, and groaned inwardly as I approached the fifth and final one that left me across the street from the university. The street crossing ahead of me shone a neon warning not to walk. As I had jaywalked the other four, this was not what worried me. What bothered me were the tens of cars that zoomed by at what seemed like sixty miles per hour, with no breaks in between. I slowed to a stop at the corner, and heard the steps come up beside me. Bracing myself for the worst, I glanced to my right.

Sure enough, it was the man from the train. Thankfully he kept his eyes on the road ahead of us and not on me. He was much taller than I imagined and, taking the opportunity to give him the once over, very well built. He wore a charcoal gray pinstriped suit that looked expensive and tailored perfectly to his frame, and carried a leather briefcase in his left hand, which did not bear a ring on the fourth finger. Being dressed so exquisitely, I figured him to be a high-powered banker or lawyer and wondered what he was doing at the university. With those thoughts in my mind, I looked back up at his face, and found him staring at me again, his eyes lit with amusement. Blushing again, I looked ahead at the street, and found the light had changed in my favor. I started across.

All of a sudden, I heard the blare of a horn to my left. I looked over and saw a large, white van barreling towards me. The driver was panicked behind the wheel, frantically pumping the shot brakes. Frozen to the spot, I closed my eyes and awaited the sure-to-be-fatal blow. Something hit me around my middle and I fell to the ground. Everything went black.

A few moments later, I came to. With my eyes still shut tight I took inventory of my body. Nothing was broken, my breathing was unencumbered, and the only pain I felt was where I had hit my head on the sidewalk. I opened my eyes and stared up into blue. It took me a second to realize that I was staring into the worried eyes of the man from the train, who I gathered had pulled me from the road just in time. I shut my eyes again, this time in disbelief, and raised my hand to my face.

"Oh my God..." I managed to groan, my throat dry from the adrenaline rush. "What just happened?"

"You were almost hit by a van... I pulled you out of the way," a soft, deep voice answered me. The tone was concerned, not the lascivious voice of a rapist. I opened my eyes and read matching concern written across his handsome features. "Are you all right?"

"Oh... yes, thank you..." I said, slowly pulling myself into a sitting position. His arm came around my back, gently resting against my shoulder blades, helping me up. His touch was warm and disconcertingly familiar. I looked at him again, this time looking past his beauty to see if I recognized his features. I shook my head inwardly... there was no way that I wouldn't have remembered his face had I seen it before. Who is he? I wondered to myself. I was about to ask the same question aloud when he spoke.

"Can I help you get anywhere?" he asked politely. He had a slight accent that was difficult to place. I stared at his mouth, wondering. However, his question reminded me of my meeting. I usually arrived on campus with just five minutes to spare, and had easily just spent half of that sitting on the pavement staring at the beautiful man before me. Startled from my thoughts, I glanced down at my wristwatch, and yelped at the time. I was going to be late, and Professor Beauchamp did not take lightly to tardiness, no matter how well reasoned.

"Oh my God" I said again, this time with a touch more surprise. "Oh no, I'm going to be late!" I cried, and lurched to my feet. I stumbled, raising a hand as my head throbbed in protest to my sudden movements.

"Easy there," the man said, rising up with me. I noticed his hand was still on my back, steadying me. Waves of warmth spread through my body, despite the chilly weather. "Where are you going? Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes. I just have meeting in that building," I pointed across the street, "in exactly two minutes. My professor is a stickler for punctuality. Thank you for saving me, I really appreciate it, but I do need to get going..." I said in a rush, and with a grateful smile started across the now safe street.

"How convenient," I heard his deep voice from beside me. I looked up to find him smiling down at me. My eyebrows rose in question. "I have a meeting in that building, too." I stared at him, bemused. Convenient, indeed, I thought to myself. Now I might get to find out who you are.

We walked the rest of the short distance in silence, his long strides easily keeping pace with my shorter, hurried ones. He reached the doorway before me, holding it open and smiling down at me again. I thanked him and hurried past. The breeze created by my rapid pace stirred up the air around him, causing me to catch a whiff of his cologne. It was a scent that I didn't recognize, and I immediately pinned it as expensive. It was delicate yet masculine at the same time, reminiscent of a caged animal; tamed and docile for the moment, yet still completely wild and unpredictable. It can only be described as making you want more. The thought caused me to consider the calm, visibly strong man walking beside me as a caged animal, and what he could do if he lost control... a shudder ran down by spine, and I halted the train of thought before I got carried away. Whoever created that cologne knew damn well what they were doing, I thought wryly.

Soon, we arrived at my advisor's door. I looked up at him to find a slightly surprised expression on his face.

"Ah, I see we both have the same destination," he said. The expression on my face must have been something, for he laughed, a chuckle that rippled up from his chest. "You look slightly less than thrilled."

"I ... I am just surprised, is all. Funny coincidence, huh," I said, shaking my head. Remembering myself, I turned and knocked on the door.

"Come in," my advisor's voice came from inside. I couldn't decide if he sounded angry, tired or neither. I braced myself for the barrage and opened the door.

"Good morning, Sarah... come in, come in," Professor Beauchamp said without looking up from his book. However, upon seeing two figures in his peripheral vision, he glanced up, and smiled. "Ah, Stefan! You're early," he exclaimed with pleasure, rising to greet the man like an old friend.

Stefan? I wondered, the name striking a cord. Where had I heard that name before?

"Hello, Charles," Stefan said warmly, gripping Beauchamp's hand. "It's a great pleasure to see you again." I goggled at their familiarity. My curiosity about the man increased tenfold.

"It is, indeed. Well, I see you already met who I wanted you to meet... in case the introductions haven't yet been made, this is Sarah. She's one of my best graduate students and the one you are going to be working with. Sarah," he turned to me, "this is Stefan Boussevic. He's, as you know, one of the top neuroscientists in the nation, and has agreed to come here to work with you on your thesis."

Help me? I bristled. Somehow I had forgotten how to speak, but hopefully the expression on my face allowed my sentiments to be read easily enough.

"I'm not saying that you aren't doing a fabulous job as it is... your work is splendid, I'm thrilled with what you're doing... I just wanted to give you a taste of what post-graduate work will be like for you. You know, working with those at the top of the field," he smiled at me.

Suddenly, it dawned on me. The name finally latched onto something in my brain. "You mean... the Stefan Boussevic?" I stared wide-eyed at the man beside me. The Stefan Boussevic I knew of wrote the most outstandingly brilliant essays on the human brain and behavior patterns I'd ever read. Who knew an academic could be so... well... hot? Both men, to my relief, chuckled.

"Yes, yes, the very same. This meeting was set up to introduce you, and to outline what exactly you would be doing together," Beauchamp explained. "Let's get started. Take a seat, you two..." he gestured to the two leather armchairs that sat before his desk.

Two hours, five pages of notes, and three cups of coffee later, we stood and shook hands. I was completely blown away by Stefan and thrilled to be working with him. Beauchamp had outlined a plan for us to meet twice a week to discuss my thesis, which Stefan had already read and memorized. During the course of the meeting, I realized what a splendid opportunity this was. The fact that my Master's thesis would have Stefan Boussevic's name printed below mine on the title page was going to be a golden ticket into any PhD program in the country. I've got to remember to give Beauchamp a damn good Christmas gift I thought to myself, feeling a surge of affection for the old man. I exited the office on a cloud.

"Sarah?" I heard a voice ask from behind me. I turned and saw Stefan coming towards me. Puzzled, I waited for him, thinking he had stayed behind to talk to Beauchamp more. He smiled as he caught up with me. "I was wondering if you'd like to get some lunch with me." I stared.

"Lunch?" I echoed stupidly.

"Yes, I thought it'd be nice to get to know each other better," he said, looking intently into my eyes. I shivered, remembering how he had looked at me that morning on the train. I wondered vaguely about that, but then remembered myself and answered his question.

"Of course, that would be lovely," I said, and smiled at him.

"Excellent," he said, his smile barely taking the edge off of the intensity.