Page 22 of Welcome to Fae Cafe
Kate practically sprinted into Professor Palmer’s office when she found his name, and she slammed the door shut behind her. When she turned around, she found the professor wide-eyed, sitting at his desk with a hand over his heart.
“Sorry,” Kate said, panting. She opened her mouth to come up with a story about why she came in like that, but instead she blurted. “I’m in trouble! I’m being followed by someone… or something…”
Professor Palmer blinked behind his glasses. A half eaten peanut butter sandwich lay on his desk with no plate beneath. Crumbs were everywhere.
Kate waited, shifting her footing. She expected the professor to call security, but instead, he checked his watch, stood, collected his briefcase and coat, and said, “Finally. Follow me.” With one dramatic swipe, he flung his whole peanut butter sandwich into the garbage beside his desk.
He marched past her to the door and swung it open, peering both ways down the hall over his glasses. Kate swore he was suppressing a tiny, eager smile.
Without warning, Professor Palmer took off down the hall like a speed walker. Kate scrambled after him, trying to balance her bookbag strap on her shoulder. Even crammed between other moving students, Kate’s skin felt warm, and she felt exposed, too out in the open. Professor Palmer didn’t say a word as he hurried through the fire doors, down the stairs, and came out into the cold fall air while stuffing his arms into his coat.
They moved past the university buildings, into the city, and came to a street of magnificent, glassy skyscrapers. The air smelled of exhaust and damp earth this far into the city, laced with just a little bit of this professor’s rumoured madness.
“How long have you been outrunning thismythologicalcreature?” Professor Palmer finally spoke as he squinted up at the buildings.
“Um, about two days. I…” Kate bit her tongue. “I killed one of them. It was a total accident.”
Palmer stopped walking and turned toward her. He didn’t look surprised or horrified. He looked impressed.
“How?”
She blushed. “I kicked him into a table.”
“Hmm.” Palmer nodded, thinking that through. “Why? Did it attack you? Did you provoke it?” He looked her over, eyeing her forehead in particular. “You seem the sort to provoke an innocent creature,” he said, more to himself.
Kate’s face changed and she stood taller. “He wasnotinnocent.”
Palmer grunted and stuffed his free hand into his coat pocket. “Your parents must have a hard time with you,” he thought aloud.
“I don’t have parents.” Kate wasn’t sure why she told him. She hadn’t told anyone since high school. She’d kept that part of her past far away from her new name, her new hair, her new tattoo, and her new life.
But Professor Palmer’s face lit up. “You don’t? Excellent!” he said with a big smile.
In an instant, he turned and half-ran to a building with large glass doors. Kate watched with an odd face as he approached a keypad, ignoring the doorman, and jammed his thumb into a yellow button while the doorman eyed him. Kate had the strangest impulse to take notes so that the next time she needed to act crazy, she would hit the nail on the head.
“I’m here for Freida Nightingale,” Professor Palmer leaned in and said into a tiny microphone.
The words barely left his mouth before a side door swung open, and an old woman with long silver hair, lush red lips, and deep black lashes appeared. She wore a navy business suit and expensive looking heels.
“I told you never to come here,” she said coldly to Palmer.
“We need to attend the meeting,” the professor told her.
“No males allowed. You know that.” The woman folded her arms. “And no humans, either.” She stole a glance at Kate standing there.
“Yes, well, she’s being chased. And…” Palmer leaned in with a satisfied smile. “She’s anorphan,” he articulated, “who needs a fairy godmother.”
The woman’s gaze darted back to Kate. Her red lips bunched at the side. After a moment, she said, “If you come here again, I’ll make you forget who you are, and everything you know.”
She slammed the door shut.
Professor Palmer turned back to Kate, scratching his chin.
“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised, but that didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. There is a chance I’ve made things worse,” he admitted. “Now I suppose you wait.”
“Wait for what?” Kate looked back the way they came, expecting to see a pretty-eyed, handsy guy in a police uniform heading their way.
“Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that. They’ll cut out my tongue if I do,” Professor Palmer mumbled, more to himself. Without warning, he brushed past her toward the bus stop.
