Page 97 of Bewitch

But he’s still here, with me, under my skin. He’ll always be there.

From the start, he bewitched me, and I’ve never been completely myself ever since.

Good or bad, he’s a part of me.

But will that voice in my head that belongs to him only remain to call me “Fattie?”

Or will I hear those moans that I drew from him when he finally desired me as much as I have desired him?

Sometimes, passion can cloud a person and make them do crazy things.

I wish I would’ve given in and let those crazy things happen instead of running away.

One way or another, we will have one more conversation, even if he’s too much of a coward to return here.

I have his number. I’ll call and stand up for myself and his other clients.

And I hope that after we talk, that I’ll be standing at the gym with Lucas by my side again.

CHAPTER28

I’m not sure what exactly to do after I finish my workout. It’s not the best workout by far. I have tried to catch a glimpse of Carl Fetto after one of Eliza’s classes, but maybe because she came right up to me as soon as she exited the classroom, I didn’t see him anywhere, and she couldn’t point him out to me either. He hadn’t been there, for whatever reason, and I do think it was because she had someone watching her back.

Which means that I need to be a bit smarter and stealthier if I want to catch him in the act.

It’s too late now. Most of the classes are done for the day already, but tomorrow, when I have a break, I hustle over to see if I can spy him. Right around now is when Eliza should be done with one of her classes, and this time, I didn’t let her know I would be hanging around.

And there he is, down the hall. He stands out lie a sore thumb, mostly because of his age. He’s made in his sixties, older than I would’ve thought. Salt and pepper hair, heavier on the salt, and his eyes are narrowed, dark. He’s watching one door in particular. Sure enough, it’s the door where Eliza will be leaving any minute.

The door opens, and students walk out. Eliza’s not one of the firs tout, and when she does leave, she looks this way and that.

For a moment, she looks toward Carl. I’m not sure that she actually sees him, but I can tell that he sees her. His lips, thin and a bit pale, curl at the corners, and his eyes lighten and widen. Instead of being slightly hunched over, he stands a bit taller, not at all fazed by the students jostling around him on their way to reach their next class or to head out of the building for a break.

Eliza walks away from Carl. She doesn’t seem to have noticed me, which is good because I don’t want to become on Carl’s radar.

As I watch, his gaze sweeps over the other students, now that Eliza is gone from view, and I duck into the nearest classroom before turning around and leaving it, playing the part of an absent-minded student who lost her way.

When I exit, Carl’s gone. I don’t have class yet until the next time slot, and I walk around the building until I find a common area, where students can gather and study. Several others are there, and they’re talking to each other in hushed tones. A few sit alone, studying or typing away on their laptops, but I don’t pay them any attention. Instead, I notice that Carl has entered. He’s cleaning some, but he keeps looking over at one of the girls on her computer. She seems completely oblivious, and he doesn’t approach her at all, but there’s no questioning that she has his attention. Even though he’s working, he’s not doing a good job of it, leaving some trash behind. It’s as if he’s too distracted by her.

Whenever I think he might be looking my way, I find ways to make myself look busy, looing in books or typing random nonsense on my computer. It’s just a cover, though, and especially since it’s not important, I decide to just keep on typing even if my gaze isn’t on the screen.

Then, he walks right up to the girl and talks to her. Something falls out of his hand and lands near her feet. He’s blocking my view slightly, but I can see that she’s shifting her seat back, and she picks it up.

Hmm.

Recalling what Eliza told me, I wonder if he dropped the trash and then asked her to pick it up, but why?

I gather my things and leave from the exit that won’t have me walk past them. A big loop around has me returning to the common area from the other side so I can walk past and see her. Her shirt is a bit low cut. What? Do you mean to tell me that he just wanted her to bend down so he could see down her shirt? I mean, why not just look at porn or buy titty magazines for that? I don’t get it.

It’s almost time for me to leave for my next class, and Carl has moved on from this room. Instead of following him, I approach the girl.

“Can I sit down?” I ask her quietly.

She shrugs instead of answering.

I sit. “Does Carl make you uncomfortable?”

She looks over at me. Her lips are pursed, and there are faint lines on her forehead as she furrows her brow. To say she looks stressed is an understatement. “Carl?”

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