Olive held the necklace in her hand, the stone glinted in the light as the cold wind flicked around her. Desperation had taken over her, she had to be free of the little menace that was this constant reminder of him. She had rationalised it in her mind. Get rid of it, make a few dollars and use those dollars to spend the day at home with a big tub of ice cream and some sort of alcohol. She had always been very anti-alcohol because of her father but now she could see it had it's bonuses. If she could forget the pain of her past, then it was her saviour. It was that moment that she could understand her father and how he had been. His pain was because of her mother's passing, he couldn't cope with the way his life had turned out. The love of his life was taken from him and all that remained was one little reminder of her in their only child. Alcohol helped him wash away the pain and the memory but it did nothing to help their relationship. He should have been a good father like he was before her mothers death, but he wasn't. He should have never hit her but he did. Her father should have been a man that did his best to continue the life that they once had but instead he changed for the worse. Olive blamed the alcohol fulled misery for her terrible life. She wondered if she would have been so receptive to Phabel and his love if her father had been good to her. If she didn't need the love from a man, would she have craved his attention as much? But she did, even in the terrible moments where he was being the ogre professor, he was still perfect. Olive thought that there was something seriously wrong with her. Like she had some twisted need for a dominating male in her life, telling her what to do, what she did wrong. She knew that she did not need that. A good man that was kind and caring, that adored her and loved her and would never raise a hand to her nor scold her for doing something wrong. That was the kind of man she needed in her life and Phabel wasn't that man.

A solitary tear trickled down her face. She was standing outside a pawn shop, deciding that she was going to get rid of his memory forever. But no matter how much she tried, she could not take another step closer to the front door. The wind howled down the road as the grey clouds loomed overhead, threatening to let go at any moment. Where the storm had come from, she had no clue. It had appeared almost out of nowhere. When she stepped out of the front door a few minutes earlier, it was bright and sunny. The day was warm, the birds were chirping, it was a perfect day. But as she drew closer to her destination, the warmth left replaced by a bitter wind. The bright blue sky was covered with grey clouds at first but then they got darker and the only sounds were of the wind and the sky that rumbled. Olive stared at the pawn shop, she watched a man walk in. His coat was tight to his body, his hands deep into his pockets. A few minutes later he walked out again, seemingly a little happier than his entrance into the place. She couldn't understand how he could walk into the place but she could not. Her feet just wouldn't budge. It was frustrating, she wanted to be free of him, she wanted the necklace gone but she just couldn't do it. With a very big sigh, she slipped it on and turned back towards her apartment. As she passed her work, her boss rushed out in a panic.

'Olive what an amazing coincidence that you happened past here.' Frannie puffed 'I need you to cover a shift.'

'Sure.' she shrugged and followed her in.

Olive wasn't going to pass up an extra shift for sitting at home wallowing in misery. She dumped her bag in the staff room and pulled her apron on. Olive wasn't overly impressed at the apron, it sat too high and she had to do the buttons of her shirt to the top because of it. The queue was a mile long already when she entered the staff room, when she came out to the front counter to help it was out the door.

'You do the till hun, I'll make the orders.'

'Sure.'

Olive inwardly huffed thinking she sounded a little repetitious. The line started to move quickly for Olive, Frannie however was swamped. Olive took a quick break to help her, putting a few lids on the coffees and passing them out. She quickly returned to the waiting customer, seeing a pair of blue eyes staring back at her. Olive could feel the blood drain from her face, her heart sinking with it into the pit of her stomach.

'Professor.' she whispered.

'Miss Matheson.' Phabel frowned 'Shouldn't you be on campus for your next class?'

'Uh no. Well yes. I was helping Frannie out.'

Phabel's eyes darted to the frazzled woman behind the coffee machine, frantically trying to make dozens of coffees.

'How long are you going to be here?'

'Probably the rest of the day.' she shrugged.

'So you'll be missing a vamp life lesson then?'

Olive bit her lip as she flushed, her eyes darted to the line of people behind him, their anger growing by the second. She could tell Phabel didn't care in the slightest.

'I suppose so.'

'Not impressed at all Miss Matheson, my office tomorrow, nine am.'

'Yes Professor.' she murmured.

'Long black, large thanks.'

She wrote on the cup and put it beside the others, taking his money. Her skin touched his as she placed the change into his hand. It was warm and soft, just as she remembered. Something fizzled in her body, causing her mind to become hazy. Phabel frowned, watching as her pupils dilated, the pink colour in her face drained away leaving her pale.

'Are you alright?'

She nodded, barely able to make sense of his words. Her head began to thump loudly, an almost ear splitting booming that left her feeling ill.

'Olive maybe you should sit down.' Frannie suggested.

'I'm fine.'

Neither Frannie nor Phabel believed her as she gripped the edge of the counter, her fingers white from the pressure.

'No you're not. I'll give Annie a call, go home and rest.'

She was about to protest but Phabel interrupted. He had no clue why he did it but he offered to ensure she got home without issue. Maybe it was because she was a student and he was worried that she was ill.

Olive thought it was the most awkward five minutes of her life. Walking beside the man that she had kissed but had treated her very strangely. She didn't know what to say to him. Should she say it straight out and wait for him to react or maybe drop obvious hints, hoping that if he had forgotten he would figure it out. But she wouldn't, she feared the rejection. She feared his words about the university and its policies, of how they could never truly be together.

'Where do you live?'

'Castle Road.'

Phabel smiled softly, that wasn't far from where he lived. Of course he was in the more upmarket end of the city and she was in the area that was built for students. Castle Road was on the very border of the area, within reasonable walking distance to the university. There was no student accommodation on Castle Road, it was all private leases. She directed him to the building, the dilapidated concrete structure that was unsightly and in dire need of repair. He could only imagine how bad it would be inside.

'This is me. Thanks.'

'Are you alright?'

'I'm fine. I will see you tomorrow as you requested.'

He looked upon the timid creature before him, her hair tousled in the breeze, softly flickering around her pretty face. With one quick glance at his watch, Phabel did what he knew was a definite breach of protocols for the university.

'We could discuss it now rather than making you late for class tomorrow. I have half an hour before I am due back.'

'Ok.'

She stepped up the few steps to the apartment complex, opening the door to the corridor. As he stepped over the threshold, Phabel wondered what had gotten into him. He knew it was a breach for even suggesting it. He knew he was not permitted to be alone with a student in their residence, but here he was about to go into her apartment. He knew that any disciplinary meetings were to be held on campus, in his office with notes of the meeting to be put on her file. He knew these things yet he did not care. There was never going to be any notes of this meeting, how could he say that he spoke with a student in her apartment about skipping classes? He would be in a world of his own pain if it were to come out.

Phabel looked around the tiny box of an apartment, her bed hard against a wall, the kitchen in the corner and the bathroom tucked behind it. He thought that his bathroom was bigger than this apartment which was a very sad thought in his opinion. She gestured to the stool that sat in front of the breakfast bench.

'Did you want something to drink?'

'No thank you.' he sat on the stool watching as she tried to occupy herself in the kitchen 'Maybe we should just get on with this.'

Olive almost dropped the box of tea bags in her hand, fearing him yelling at her and ending all hope she had for anything with him. Her hands shook slightly as she tried to hide it with making herself a cup of tea.

'I don't approve of you skipping classes but I understand that you have expenses.'

She nodded mutely, noting his tone was nowhere near as harsh as what she expected. In fact, she thought it was the most sensitive he had been since finding him again.

'Was this a one off?'

'Yes professor. I was walking past and she asked for help, I was feeling...' she bit her lip, thinking about the necklace 'Unhappy and her request caught me off guard. I accepted it because I didn't want to go back to the campus today.'

'But you do understand that each lesson equates to a final percentage, any missed lessons will be a detriment to your passing grade. You can not miss a lesson Miss Matheson. Are there any other shifts that will impede your education?'

'No professor.'

'Good, please keep it that way. You will need to make up today's lesson. Do you have a free gap tomorrow?'

'My last lesson finishes at four.'

'Alright, my office after that please. You can make the lesson up and then all will be right again.'

Olive flinched at his words, things might be right again in his mind, but not in hers.

'Are you in financial strife?'

'If I behave I will be fine. So long as there are no unexpected bills of course.'

Phabel nodded, unexpectedly he wondered if there was some way of funding her without the university finding out. He inwardly chastised himself, wondering what had gotten into him. Risking his career, wanting to fund her, he thought that there was something seriously wrong with him. He watched her as she moved around the tiny kitchen, stretching to the overhead cabinet to retrieve a cup. The shirt lifted with the movement and he caught sight of a sliver of her skin, the same soft pink continued across her body. He could feel his body rumbling with need, his gaze pouring over her body. Phabel couldn't understand why he was like this, he had never treated a female student with such disrespect. But she was so delicate, so perfect. Olive turned to the bench, continuing to make the tea. Phabel wanted to undo the buttons that were done up all the way to the top. He wanted to break open the shield that she always had in place. Yesterday it was the books, today it was the buttons. He wondered if she was hiding something. It couldn't be her chest, he thought that behind the cotton shield of her shirt was a very well proportioned body. His mind snapped back, now he was staring at her breasts. Inwardly he shook his head, wondering if he needed to seek professional help.

'I should go, leave you to rest.'

Olive could feel the words on the tip of her tongue, wanting to tell him everything, to show him the necklace, to ask him why he was so cold to her. But she couldn't. She opened the door for him, leaning on the wall as he walked through the door.

'Four pm, Miss Matheson, I trust you won't be late?'

'No professor.'

Phabel nodded quietly and left Olive to her sad thoughts. She closed the door and watched his figure pass the window as she slid down the wall, sobbing as she drew her legs to her chest. It felt like her heart was being ripped out, he was here in her apartment. He was so close yet so far. Her head lifted from her knees as she looked to the window, sudden courage swelled through her. She flicked the tears and stood to her feet. Grabbing her keys she darted out the door and to the street, searching for him. It had only been a minute at the most, yet on this long street with no side streets for some distance, he was gone. Tears rolled down her cheeks, her courage had come too late.