Chương 25: Finding clues
~Tesla University, women's dorm~
Later that night, Sarah was in her room thinking about incident with Philip.
Two questions bothered her.
First, why was Aiden so upset? She never saw him so aggressive.
'Maybe this is normal for him, after all I don't know him very long. Is he violent when things don't go his way?'
Sarah had a mix of emotions. On one side she was happy that he is protective of her. On the other, she was worried if he gets flared up this quickly, what if next time his temper is directed at her? She was confident in her skills, that she could protect herself, but could she protect herself against someone she trusts? That is a completely different thing.
She decided not to make rash decisions and to gather more information related to Aiden's character.
'I can't conclude anything at this point. I will just need to give it some time to get to know him better.'
In her heart, she could not accept that he is not a good person.
Second question is: Why is Philip so persistent?
'I already made myself clear that I'm not interested in his advances. Why is he not giving up? Why do I have a feeling that there is something else going on?'
With this thought, Sarah sat in front of her PC, and hacked University surveillance cameras. Cameras have a good coverage around buildings and inside hallways and most common areas. She searched for the recording after her morning class.
It didn't take long before she could see on her screen Aiden standing next to her while holding Philip, releasing his hand and two of them walking away while Philip sat on the floor, rubbing his wrist and looking after them. Few seconds later, Philip got his phone and it looks like he sent a text. After that he stood up and walked away. Sarah looked at other cameras, and she could follow Philip going to cafeteria, having lunch, and then heading to afternoon class. Few people exchanged greetings with him, but nothing that would seem unusual.
She thought for few minutes when she remembered that after the incident, he sent a text. That might be something! The recording was not good enough for her to zoom in and see the content of the message.
Sarah decided to hack student database and to find Philip's information. Soon enough, she had his cell phone number, and after some time, Sarah got access to messages on Philip's phone. Looking at the time stamp, there was only one message sent from his phone: "I failed." He got a response about half an hour later: "Useless. Keep trying." Sarah knew that she is onto something. She looked up number from where response came and was surprised to find out that is Mimi's cell phone number!
Sarah felt that her mind is going to explode. For some reason, Philip is trying to get close to her, he was telling Mimi that he failed, and Mimi told him to keep trying! Why?!!
Sarah collected herself and looked at history of chats and calls between Philip and Mimi. There were no other text messages, and few phone calls not one was longer than 10 seconds.
Only conclusion Sarah could come up with is that whatever plan they have; it's discussed in person. The short phone calls highly likely had a purpose to agree when and where to meet.
Now Sarah had two new questions: What are Mimi and Philip planning? Why?
'Considering that Mimi is involved, it must be related to Aiden, right? But how does Philip fit into picture? What is his motive?'
Sarah has a feeling that there is some history between Philip and Aiden, but considering Aiden's reaction this morning, she was reluctant to bring this topic up.
'How can I find out what they are planning and why? What if I pretend to accept Philip's advances? Oh, Aiden will not like this, that is out of the question. I wish there is a way I can get them to meet and talk about it, and for me to be a fly on the wall.'
Sarah remembered mini microphones that her dad created. They are small, wireless and have a great quality and range. If she can get those planted on Philip's or Mimi's clothes, and then get them to meet, that would be great.
'How can I get them to meet? And how do I plant the mic without them noticing?'
Sarah went to her closet, pulled one box, and rummaged through it. Box was full of various electronic gadgets, but Sarah found that she does not have any microphones. 'When I go home, I will make sure to get few from dad.'
This means that the plan including microphones, Philip and Mimi will need to wait for after holidays.
'Should I tell Aiden about this? I don't know how he will react if I tell him what I found out...'
Sarah decided not to tell him at this time.
'Maybe tell Vivian? She might have an idea or two that can help.'
~ Tesla University, cafeteria ~
Next day, Sarah had lunch with Aiden after morning class.
They chatted and she was occasionally observing surroundings, trying to see if she can spot Philip or Mimi. But she was not successful.
They finished lunch, and it was time to head out for afternoon class. Aiden was worried, "I don't think you should go to afternoon class."
"Huh? Why?" Sarah was surprised.
"Whenever I'm not there, you seem to attract trouble", he said with a smirk.
"Most of my recent troubles seem to be because of you", Sarah half-teased.
"Without me around, you are not safe."
"What do you think will happen? I can take care of myself." She looked at him and his expression didn't soften. "Nothing will happen during the lesson, right? How about after lesson I text you right away... or if you are so worried, wait for me after lesson.", she finished with a smile.
He agreed to wait for her after her lesson. He would do that anyway.
After some internal struggle, Sarah said in a serious tone: "You know you are overprotective, right?"
"You don't know what people are capable of doing", he responded.
"And you do?", Sarah asked.
He looked down, thinking about something.
She continued: "I told you I can take care of myself. Can you trust me with this?"
Again, he didn't respond, and she added with a quiet voice: "Besides, the only person who can hurt me at this point is you."
Aiden was surprised. He looked up and their eyes met. 'Is she acknowledging that she cares for me so much that I can hurt her?' Smile slowly bloomed on his face, and he stretched his arms to pull her in his embrace.
Sarah blushed and quickly held his hands in hers, pushing them down. "Not here", she whispered in panic.
He was upset that she is rejecting his hug, and at the same time happy because of her indirect love confession.
With a wide smile, he said: "Allow me to escort you to your afternoon class."
"Permission granted.", she cheekily replied.
Two of them walked out of cafeteria together.
...
Sarah walked out of class and faced Aiden who was waiting for her in the hallway.
"Any problems?"
"No", Sarah shook her head.
Aiden was relieved.
He took her hand in his, and they walked down the hallway. Sarah didn't try to pull her hand out. Aiden was happy about that.
As she entered his car, Sarah asked, "Where are we going?"
"Dinner and a movie."
...
After dinner, he parked in the parking of his apartment building.
Sarah was puzzled. "I thought we are going to watch a movie."
"Yes." He gave a small nod.
Sarah gave up on arguing. And she didn't care if they go to a movie theater or not. Sarah admitted to herself that she only wants to be with him.
At his apartment, she was picking from his online movie library while he set up the projector. Sarah was not sure which movie to pick. She didn't want him to be bored. "What type of movies you watch?".
Aiden thought of a good answer. "Any with a good story. You?"
"The ones with a happy ending."
Again, Sarah surprised him with an unconventional answer. "Don't you find them predictable? If you know that ending will be happy?".
She explained: "If I want to watch a tragedy, I will watch news. Movies need to entertain me."
He laughed. "Then pick something entertaining".
Sarah picked one latest action movie. It was a movie she didn't watch, and it has good reviews.
About halfway through the movie, she slept off on the sofa with her head on Aiden's shoulder.
Aiden noticed that she slept off and scolded her silently: 'How careless… Aren't you afraid that I will do something to you? Look how defenseless you are!'
Aiden reached with his hand and caressed her hair, 'Very soft, and it smells nice.' He got an idea. He carried Sarah to the bedroom and lowered her carefully on the bed. He laid down next to her and observed her sleeping face for a long time. Aiden was tempted to kiss her and taste those lips that are inviting him for some time but didn't want to risk waking her up.
She is beautiful, relaxed, in his bed… and he reminded himself to keep his urges in check. He can't allow his impulses to take over... he needs to control himself unless he wants to scare her away.
'You should not be this careless!' He wondered if this is what she meant when she told him that he makes her feel relaxed and comfortable. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and embraced her.
'You are lucky that I have no intention of taking advantage of you.'
...
Sarah woke up and slightly shifted her body. Still half a sleep, she took a deep breath, inhaling the woody-flowery scent that made her feel dizzy. 'This is some vivid dream!'
"Mmm, you are awake", she heard a deep familiar voice.
Her eyes sprang open wide and she froze. 'It's not a dream!!!'
Aiden lazily stretched his arms and pulled her close to him. She felt his breath on her face and her mind went blank for few seconds. When she came around, she pushed herself away from him clumsily and sat up. Sarah quickly checked herself and sighed in relief that she is fully clothed. "How did this happen?"
"What?", he gave her the most innocent expression he could while suppressing his devilish smile.
"This!", she was waving her hands frantically while pointing at the bed.
"You slept off during movie", he stated a fact.
"And how did I end up in your bed?" There was panic in her voice.
"Would you like it better if I left you to sleep on the sofa?" He stopped his attempts not to smile.
Sarah put her face in her hands and took few deep breaths to calm down. She lifted her head and looked at him, their eyes met, and his devilish smile was difficult to resist.
She remembered that it's Saturday. "What's the time?", she asked.
"It's early, come back" He pulled her back down to bed and into his embrace.
She could smell the familiar scent and feel him close to her. Her whole body was in danger of sensory overload.
In a quiet voice, she said: "I have a morning lesson."
"You can skip." He tightened his hold.
"After that I have a lunch with Vivian…", Sarah weakly continued.
"Cancel." He was shattering all her arguments.
Sarah collected herself and added: "And then I promised to go shopping with Vivian".
"Whole day?" Aiden was not happy, and he didn't even try to hide it.
Sarah found his pouty expression adorable. "Not sure, probably not whole day. Maybe until mid-afternoon."
He didn't respond.
"I need to go." She struggled in his embrace.
"Five minutes…", he pleaded.
She stopped resisting.
"What's the time?" Sarah wanted to know how much time she has before class starts.
"You will find out in five minutes", he responded, and took a deep breath inhaling her scent.
She closed her eyes and surrendered to his embrace.
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