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Only now did I feel where his second hand was. On the side of my belly...

Heat rushed to my cheeks. Overwhelmed, I sucked in air, but not much of it reached me because his hand was still resting on my lips.

He immediately removed his hand from my face.

Only now did I notice that his chest was rising and falling heavily beneath my body, as if he were trying to hold his breath but couldn't. As if he were just as overwhelmed as I was.

What if he wanted to get up? After all, I was the one lying on top of him.

Of course he wanted to get up, Julie.

Ashamed, I broke eye contact and slid off to the side before frantically scrambling to my feet and brushing the snow off my pants.

He did the same and brushed the snow off his coat.

Alarmed, albeit overwhelmed and clouded by hormones, I looked around and spotted Buddy drinking from the fountain.

I looked around further, listened, but apart from ravens cawing, a few birds chirping, and some voices in the distance from the snow-covered campus lawn and other courtyards, there was nothing there. Harlow was gone.

My heart was pounding loudly. Almost as loudly as before my first meeting with Erik. With Quentin...

I felt coldness shooting through my fingers, ready to break out of me.

My sign to get out of here, right now.

“Everything okay?”

Startled, I turned back to Quentin, who was studying me intently.

“I...” I stammered, not even knowing what I wanted to say. “I should...”

Before I could finish the sentence, I turned away from him and started walking.

I didn’t get far because someone grabbed my wrist. He.

“Wait,” he whispered hoarsely, and I couldn’t help but turn back to him.

Just the sight of him was enough to overwhelm me even more.

“Tell me what the co-director wants from you.”

He let go of my wrist.

The co-director... Harlow.

Dazed, I shook my head, which probably wouldn’t help me regain my clear mind either.

Harlow...

Camera Obscura

Angus MacRae

“She's part of the Councils,” I replied, overwhelmed, and then I finally managed to calm down a little. I stepped back. “And to be honest, I don't even want to know what she wanted from me this time.”

Of course, I knew what she wanted: to continue training me so that Gloria wouldn't have to.

Regret spread through me because my Salma supply was almost depleted. I would soon need more, which meant I would have to show up for her sessions.