Gabriel’s Inferno Trilogy by Sylvain Reynard Page 0,139

an arrangement that excluded sharing?”

Double Scheisse.

“Um, of course.”

“I’ve kept up my end of that arrangement.”

“Gabriel, please—”

He cut her off. “Tell me that I misunderstood what you just told me.”

“We’re friends. He asked me to go with him to your lecture. I didn’t think it was wrong.”

“Do you want me seeing other women as friends? Going to public events with them?”

“No,” she whispered.

“Then extend me the same courtesy.”

“Please don’t be cross with me.”

Her request was met with silence.

“He’s the only friend I have. Being a grad student in a strange city is very…lonely.”

“I thought I was your friend.”

“Of course you are. But I need someone to talk to about school and things.”

“Anything to do with the university should be discussed with me.”

“Please don’t make me give up the one friend I have, apart from you. Then I really will be isolated, since I can’t be with you all the time.”

Gabriel flinched. “Have you told him you’re seeing someone?”

Julia gulped. “No. I thought it was a secret.”

“Come on, Julianne. You’re smarter than that.” He sighed loudly. “Fine. I’ll concede that you need a friend, but he needs to realize that you are no longer available. He’s far too invested as it is, and that could create a problem for us.”

“I’ll tell him I have a new boyfriend. We’re supposed to go to the museum in two weeks to see—”

Gabriel growled into the phone. “No, you are not. I’ll take you.”

“In public? How can you?”

“Let me worry about that. So I suppose he’ll be carrying your books to class in a few minutes?” His tone became sarcastic.

“Please, Gabriel.”

He exhaled deeply into the phone. “All right. Let’s forget about this. But I will have my eye on him. As for Friday, I’ll give you a key, or I’ll call the concierge and he will let you in.”

“Okay.”

“See you in a few minutes.”

***

When Julia and Paul arrived at the seminar room, The Professor was already there. He glanced at them, scowled at Paul, and turned his attention to his lecture notes. However, he noticed with satisfaction that Julia was using her messenger bag. The thought pleased him a great deal.

The rest of the graduate students, including Christa, looked from Julia to The Professor and back again about three or four times. It was almost like watching a volley at Wimbledon.

Julia sat in her usual chair next to Paul and immediately adopted a deferential posture.

“Don’t be nervous. He’s been in a good mood all week. I don’t think he’ll bother you today.” Paul leaned in closely, far too closely, to whisper in her ear. “He must have gotten laid last weekend, more than once.”

Professor Emerson coughed loudly at the front of the room until Paul moved away from Julia.

For her part, Julia was flustered over Paul’s remark. She kept her head down, writing copious notes in her notebook. It was a good distraction, for it stopped her from thinking about Saturday morning and what Gabriel looked like under his clothes, wet from the shower, dropping a small, purple towel…

The Professor barely looked at her and never called on her to comment or to answer a question. In sum, the lecture was a colossal disappointment from an entertainment perspective and left more than one graduate student wanting. Christa, however, was delighted that the course of the universe had finally corrected itself and all was (almost) as it should be.

“You are all invited to the lecture I will be delivering on lust in Dante’s Inferno at Victoria College on Friday afternoon at three o’clock. I’ll see you next week. Class dismissed.” The Professor quickly packed up his things and exited the seminar room without so much as a backward glance.

Paul leaned over to Julia. “Can I walk you home? We could grab some Thai food on the way.”

“It would be nice for you to walk me home. But I’m probably going to work right through dinner. And there’s something I need to tell you…”

***

On Friday morning, Julia stood in the entrance to her rather small closet wondering what she should wear. She knew that Gabriel would not be pleased when he saw her sitting with Paul. She knew that she would be meeting Gabriel at his apartment later that evening and sleeping over. She had already packed her messenger bag in preparation for her visit.

She wanted to make a good impression. She wanted Gabriel to notice her amongst all the other women and think that she looked pretty, so for the first time that semester, Julia decided to