I nodded and turned to go inside. I gently closed the door and stepped into the living room. Pam was sitting in the chair rocking Terry, but she looked up and smiled at me.
“How was dinner?” she whispered.
I gave her a thumbs-up and smiled. Before she could ask me anything about this evening, I held my hand up to wave goodnight and then turned to leave.
I quietly went to my room, changed, and crawled into bed. While there was so much to think about, I kept going back to the sex. I’d only had sex with a few girls in school, and never with a guy. I had some gay and bi-sexual friends in high school and never really gave much thought to what my friends were into. I wasn’t turned off by it, but it wasn’t something that had come my way.
Until now.
And now I needed to decide if it was a deal killer.
8
Atlas
September
This week I was giving a group of second-year students a lecture series on the importance of knowing and understanding body language. It was crucial to understand the different cultures of countries around the world and know what their body language could be saying. This piece of knowledge would come in handy for many of them if they were to be selected by any King in politics or global business.
I was wrapping up the lecture when Headmaster Vetter quietly stepped into the room. Though the clock on the wall said the students still owed me five minutes of their attention, I glanced at my watch just to be sure. I looked up, and my eyes immediately went to Vetter again. He removed one of his hands from his pockets and held it out so I could see it. With his fingers splayed and palms downward, he made a slight up and down motion with his hand. It was his way of quietly telling me to relax and finish the lesson. I was sure he knew I was somewhat alarmed by his presence. Vetter usually didn’t appear in lecturehalls and classrooms unless he was observing the instructor. And I knew he wouldn’t step into the classroom with five minutes remaining to do that. So his presence concerned me.
“That will do it for today’s lecture. This evening when you’re in your dormitories, I encourage you to be mindful of your body language when interacting with your fellow Omnias. Class is dismissed.”
As the students closed their notebooks and put them into their bags, Vetter spoke up. All the students stopped what they were doing at the sound of his voice and immediately turned to face him.
“Classes for the remainder of the day have been cancelled. You are asked to return to your cohort dormitories and meet in the main room. Your cohort leaders are there now and will brief you about the remainder of the day’s activities.”
Vetter’s eyes came back to mine in the silence of the class. The moment chatter and commotion broke out, Vetter quickly quieted them. “Do not waste time or delay returning to your cohort.”
Nearly in unison, the twenty students all acknowledged Vetter’s instructions with saying, “Yes, sir.” As the students quietly filed out, Vetter walked toward me.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“There’s been an accident?—”
“An accident?” I quickly closed my mouth and admonished myself for interrupting him like that. Vetter wasn’t above disciplining any staff member, and though he raised his eyebrow at me, he made no mention of my sudden rudeness.
“Gerald Blanc was found dead in his Paris residence.”
I sat on the edge of the desk at the news. Gerald Blanc was the president of the largest bank in France. He was friends with Will and was one of the few Kings who outwardly believed in Will’s vision. His Omnia was a former mentee of Louis’.
“What about his Omnia? Jesse?”
“Also dead.”
“My God.” I felt terrible and knew I needed to reach out to Will and Louis.
“For security purposes, I felt it was best for students and staff to remain inside. All mentors have been asked to be available for their students. Half of the mentors for each cohort will be physically in the student dormitories and available for any student. Our psychologists are available for any student or staff member as well.”
“I can also assist,” I volunteered. I currently wasn’t mentoring a student and could lend a hand to anyone who needed it.
“Thank you, Atlas. I can always count on you.” I nodded. “Louis could use a friendly face.”
“Of course.” I quickly closed my portfolio and slid it into my bag. Vetter and I walked out of the lecture hall together and then separated once in the lobby.
As I briskly walked from the main building toward the mentors’ building, I opened some of the news apps on my phone. All apps were reporting breaking news about the murder of Gerald Blanc. Sources cited this as a random act of violence during a home invasion. Only Gerald was mentioned in most of the articles, but there was one article that mentioned Gerald and a staff member were both found dead in the home. As I was reading, a text came in from Will.
Call me when you can.
