She was eloquent, succinct, and persuasive. Her belief in her hypothesis was evident as she passionately presented her arguments and outlined how she would examine the evidence. Lucian smiled as she fielded the smattering of questions from her tutors and fellow students with confidence. He did not think it was due to any bias on his part, but she had outshone her peers with ease.
She smiled awkwardly as the crowd politely applauded her. Lucian was on his feet clapping loudly, wearing the broadest grin before he realized he had moved.
Her eyes darted to his and shock registered on her face briefly before she looked away and offered a smile and word of thanks to another student as they passed on the stage. She took her seat once more, peering around to shoot daggers at him before returning her focus squarely to the stage.
Lucian sat back down and frowned. He was no stranger to her anger, and there was no mistaking that she was ready to tear into him. Doubts crept into his mind. She was not pleased to see him. Perhaps she thought she could avoid returning to him. Maybe she didn't want to return to him.
He fidgeted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable with his decision to attend the presentation. He looked around the room, as far as he could see no one else had any family or friends in the audience. He had perhaps gotten a little over-enthusiastic and had misjudged the situation. Before he could consider slipping back out, the last student finished their presentation to half-hearted applause and the crowd of students began gathering their belongings.
His eyes found Katherine's again and she gestured with her head in the direction of the exit. She wanted an opportunity to confront him, it was evident from the firm line of her lips. Lucian nodded and exited the hall to descending the stairs to await his fate in the hallway.
As she exited the lecture hall with her backpack slung over her shoulder, she was walking in step with another student and nodding along to whatever was being said to her.
“Katherine,” Lucian began, only for her to walk straight past, shooting him another look laced with fury.
Lucian sighed and turned on his heel to follow her. She glanced over her shoulder to give him a look that told him now was not the place for their conversation, however, her friend noticed and also turned and smiled at him.
“Hi, you a friend of Katie’s?”
“Yes.”
“No,” Katherine replied and frowned at him.
Her friend laughed and smirked.
“Oh it’s like that, OK, well a few of us are heading to The Shamrock for a celebratory drink or two. You should join us," she batted her lashes at Lucian.
“Lucian doesn’t drink,” Katherine answered for him before he could open his mouth to respond.
“Well, they serve soda,” her friend countered.
“Katherine is right, I don’t usually drink but I can make an exception for such a worthy cause; it’s not every day you smash a presentation.”
“I know, right? So, you’re British. Do you know that is my favourite accent, are you on an international study year here, or headhunting or something?” The woman laughed, pulling a piece of her hair out from its tie to play with it absently.
“I’ll be along in a bit, Em. I just need a minute to speak with Lucian, privately,” Katherine dismissed her friend, stepping over to stand beside him. The cool, calm poker face was back in place which in itself told him a lot. She was feeling put out and didn’t want it to show.
Her friend pouted. Lucian supposed she believed it was coquettish, perhaps it worked for others.
“We won’t be long, but Katherine is right, there are things that we need to discuss,” Lucian smiled, putting his hands in his pockets.
“OK, fine. But don’t be too long, I’ll keep a seat warm for you,” she flashed him an impish grin before half skipping to catch up with another group of students.
“She seems nice,” Lucian ventured.
“She’s a peach,” Katherine responded sharply, “Lucian, what are you doing here?”
“I came to watch your presentation.”
“You’re keeping tabs on me.”
“No, I simply wanted to see you present your thesis.”
“Liar,” she grit out between her teeth, “seriously, why go to the effort of loaning me a car and letting me leave only to come all the way out here to check up on me? If you didn’t trust me you shouldn’t have bothered to let me go in the first place,” Katherine said, hotly.
“I am not lying; I promised you honesty and I keep my promises,” Lucian ground out. “Why do you assume I am here to check up on you?”
“Why else would you be here? And also,” she looked nervously to the side and lowered her voice, “how are you here? The sun has only been down a couple of hours.”
“I’m here to watch your presentation as I said,” Lucian replied in an exasperated tone. This argument of theirs was going nowhere. “And I didn’t exactly have far to come, considering I spent the day at my penthouse.”
“You have a penthouse?- Of course, you have a penthouse. So you weren’t at Tumbricane this morning?” Katherine asked narrowing her eyes.
“No, I was at my penthouse on the upper east side. Really, Katherine, I’m not entirely sure why this is causing you so much consternation,” Lucian folded his arms across his chest.
“I’m just trying to piece this all together. So, you came all the way here, before you knew I would take you up on your offer of the temporary leave of absence and the loan of your car, on the assumption that I would try to escape so you could catch me in the act.”
She stepped into his space a little further, something he had noticed she did often
