Consultation

That afternoon Sarah went to University to meet with a professor Pias for a consultation related to the project she needs to work on. This is one of two projects she is working on by herself this semester, and she wants to get few clarifications before she starts working.

Aiden accompanied her while glancing around, anxiously. He knows that Philip has interest in Sarah, and fears that something might happen to her.

"It should not take long." Sarah reassured him.

"I will wait for you to finish there." He kissed her on the forehead before going to take a seat in the nearby waiting area that has a good view of the hallway where professor Pias's office is.

Sarah was on time for her consultation, she wanted to leave good impression. Sarah has a good opinion of professor Pias. He is an older gentleman, well established in his profession, and easy to talk to.

Sarah entered the office and greeted professor Pias, who was at his desk, expecting her. Next to him, holding a stack of papers was Philip. Sarah froze for a second and stared at Philip. 'What is he doing here?'

Philip smiled at Sarah, lightly nodding in a greeting without a word.

"Miss Hill, it's good to see you." Professor Pias's greeting made Sarah snap back to reality. "Please take a seat." Professor Pias gestured to the chair in front of his desk.

Sarah stiffly walked to the chair he offered, glancing at Philip cautiously.

Professor Pias noticed that Sarah is looking at Philip. "Do you know my assistant, Mr. Simmons?"

"Your assistant?" Sarah repeated. She was not able to hide surprise in her voice.

Professor Pias smiled sincerely. "Yes. Very capable young man. I find him very helpful and resourceful. He just started working for me recently, and is already handling many things for me, including scheduling my meetings. If you have any questions in the future, you can always reach out to him."

Sarah forced a smile. "I see. I will keep that in mind." She tried her best to contain her panic from showing. 'Is Philip the reason I managed to get a time slot with this professor on such a short notice?' Sarah concluded that it must have been Philip who got her to come at this time. All other professors she wanted to meet have at least one week of wait time, before they are available. And this one just happened to be available next day? Sarah could not help but be suspicious of this whole situation. She felt a strong urge to leave. But how can she just leave without talking to the professor?

Sarah composed herself, and immediately started asking questions related to the project that she prepared in advance.

Philip was standing there next to the professor, looking at Sarah with a faint smile, without a word.

In less than ten minutes, Sarah was done. She thanked professor and headed outside.

"Miss Hill" Philip's voice made her stop in her tracks. She wanted to flee, but it would be impolite if she ignores him and leaves in front of the professor. Philip walked to her and handed her a card with his contact information. "In the future, if you need an appointment with professor Pias, do not hesitate to reach out to me directly. I will do my best to squeeze you into his schedule." Sarah felt that her hair is standing up when he approached her. She nodded, took the card and left the office.

When she was in the hallway, she paused and took few deep breaths. While in the office, she did her best to focus her thoughts on the project, and to finish as soon as possible so that she can leave quickly. But now that she was alone in the hallway, her nerves took over. She was not prepared to meet Philip face to face... Sarah could not help but remember what she read in those police reports... and think about the possibility that he wanted to do those things to her. She was out of it, when she noticed someone standing right in front of her. She got startled, and it took her a second to see that it was Aiden. He was inspecting her expression. "Are you OK?"

She nodded, then shook her head. "Let's go." Sarah took his hand and walked away.

Once they were in the car, Sarah extended her hand and showed him the card with Philip's contact information.

Aiden frowned and looked at Sarah.

She sighed. "Guess who is a very capable new assistant to professor Pias."

"Drop the course." Aiden didn't leave any room for negotiation.

Sarah shook her head. "I have only project left. If I need his inputs, I will use email and not go in person."

"You will need to go in person when you submit the project."

Sarah thought about it. "That is something I will figure out."

"I don't agree with that. Think of a possibility that he got the position as an assistant in order to get close to you."

Sarah shook her head in disbelief. "Let's assume you are right, and I drop the course. What is to say he will not show up for another one? I can't go dropping all the courses. Like this, at least I know where to expect him."

Aiden didn't respond.

"Let's go home. I want to start packing." Sarah decided to change the subject.

...

That evening, Sarah was not getting sleep. Her mind was full thoughts about Philip. What does he want? Why her? Is she really in danger? Sarah got out of the bed and went to the study room.

She thought about what she knows: she knows he is working with Mimi, they are involved in drugs and sex slavery, and for some reason he is interested in getting close to her. Sarah thought how she has files that Omega sent, and also results of her facial recognition search. Sarah decided to go through files she has, with hope that she will find some clues of what is going on and what is the best course of action for her.