Page 9 of Brighter Shades of Light
As I ran on the treadmill, I thought of Dr. Vale. He definitely hadn’t been what I’d expected—I’d imagined him to be lively and talkative. Not a sourpuss. His thermodynamics class was at 0900 sharp the next morning, and I was both excited and anxious.
After making an ass out of myself this afternoon, I knew I could only go up from here.
Chapter 3
Sebastian
Long after Cody Miller left the lounge, I found myself thinking of him. He was…odd. And he’d left an impression, though it remained unknown as to whether it was a good or bad one. From the moment he walked into the room, he was loud and slightly irritating. Like a fly buzzing around my head. Or a gnat.
However, aside from his incessant need to make noise, his presence hadn’t been all bad. He was friendly and engaging, if a bit too talkative. The real shock had been his reaction to learning my identity.
Throughout the years, I’d had many admirers—mostly other chemists or graduate students wanting my expertise—but I’d never had someone like him go red in the face and stammer over their words in my presence. He didn’t look like the typical person to even know who I was, let alone be flabbergasted upon meeting me.
When I had arrived at campus earlier to prepare for my classes, I was informed my office was being cleaned, so I had gone to the professors’ lounge to work. The lounge was rarely used, since instructors had their own offices, but I’d been grateful for it. Until Cody Miller came bounding into the room, anyway.
After checking the time and seeing it was nearly six-thirty, I packed up my things and left the room. I moved down the hall and descended the stairs into the main part of the library, calculating how long it would take me to get to the parking lot and drive home. I should be able to get a few more hours of work in before it became too late.
Former students greeted me, and I responded with a simplehelloor a curt nod of my head.
Once home, I parked in the garage and walked inside, flipping on the living room light as I made my way to my study. I emptied my bag, placing the textbooks on my desk before setting my outlines in a neat stack beside my laptop.
The view outside the window was spectacular.
My three-bedroom house sat atop a small hill that overlooked the bay; my closest neighbor couldn’t even be seen. The location was surrounded by trees and blissfully quiet, with the exception of the occasional boat horns from the harbor. I didn’t have to plan my research and studies around anyone else’s schedule but my own. No interruptions and complete solitude.
Just perfect.
The next morning, I woke around six and started a pot of coffee before showering. I had stayed up until after midnight, and I was certainly feeling the effects of not enough sleep. Though much of my life was routine, there were many aspects of it that could do with some structure. My sleep schedule, for starters.
I arrived at the university by eight and went straight to my office in the math and science building. My first class of the day was thermodynamics at nine, and then I had a chemistry course at eleven. The rest of my day was used for my studies and office hours, just in case a student needed help with anything.
There was a knock on my door.
“Enter.”
I suppressed a groan when I saw the man in the doorway. Vance was the head of the math department on campus, and while he was friendly, he had a way of grating on my nerves.
“Heya, Seb,” he said, walking farther into the room.
“Sebastian, please,” I corrected.
“Oh yeah. I forgot. Sorry.” Vance shoved his hands into his pockets. His receding hairline had worsened over the summer, though he tried to mask it by combing his hair over, to very little avail. He was several years older than me and had been at the university about seven years before I joined the faculty, but he oftentimes came across as more juvenile. “You excited for the semester? It’s good to be back.”
“Mhm.”
“I don’t know about you, but I feel great about my courses for the fall.” He walked over and ran his hand along my bookshelf, pulling a book out and flipping through it before thrusting it back in place.
I gritted my teeth to keep from saying something. I didn’t like when anyone touched my belongings.
“As do I,” I said, forcing conversation. I would’ve preferred to be alone to prepare for my class.
“I heard about your divorce.”
“That is my personal business.” I sat up straighter in my chair.
“Ah.” He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “Everyone knows about it now. Just saying. Can’t believe you let a beauty like Emily slip through your fingers. And here I thought you were the smartest man I’d ever met.”
My hand tightened into a fist. “I will not discuss mine and Emily’s relationship.”
