FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

To You, I Belong

Chapter 3: Conflict of Interests

"Sure. I'd like that," Erik replied to Brittany. "It's a lot better than walking alone."

Brittany smiled meekly. "Yeah. I mean, this is such a big campus!"

"You're telling me," he said with a laugh. "It takes forever to get from one class to another. Trust me, I would know." He stopped for a moment. "Oh my, how rude of me. I don' t think we've properly introduced ourselves. I'm Erik."

Brittany couldn't believe her ears. This was all too good to be true. Standing in front of her was a kind stranger who just introduced himself as Erik. And he was dressed up as the Phantom no less! She started to blush very lightly.

She stumbled for the right words to come out. "I-I'm Brittany. It's nice to...meet you, Erik."

There was a minute of silence between them as they continued to walk. A soft summer's night breeze swept by for a moment only to leave as quickly as it came.

Puzzled by the silence, Erik looked over to Brittany. "Is there something wrong? You've been awfully quiet."

Brittany chimed back in with a nervous giggle. "No no, I'm fine. It's just..."

It quickly dawned on him. "Oh...I think I get it. My name's Erik and I'm also dressed as the Phantom who shares the same name. Am I right?"

"You hit the nail on the head."

"Heh...you know, until this moment, it never really dawned on me that there was a connection. Kind of ironic, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she replied softly. Aaron's car lights came on as the two finally reached their destination. Brittany got in on Kerri's side while Erik did the same. Aaron looked back at the new traveler.

"So, where to?" he asked.

"It's an apartment complex on the southern edge of the campus. Just take a left at the second light and it's a straight shot down," Erik explained. "I'm truly grateful for your kindness..."

"Aaron," he finished. "I'm Aaron. And this beautiful vixen to my right is my wife, Kerri."

Kerri giggled and looked back through the mirror. "Hello back there."

"It's nice to meet you two. My name's Erik." He paused for a moment. "Really, I truly appreciate this."

"It's alright," Aaron cut in with a laugh. " It's quite alright. I've been here before, so I know how big this place is."

"Oh! You were a student here?"

"Can't say that I was." The car went through the second light and turned left as instructed. "I graduated from Duke, but I came up to Penn State for some grad work."

"Did you live on campus?"

Kerri laughed. "He commuted. Three hours to and three back. Every Monday and Thursday, he'd leave at five in the morning just to get to class on time."

"Geez, Aaron!" Brittany said slyly. "What provoked you to do that?"

The wolf sighed in embarrassment. "Ok...it was a mistake. At least it was only for a year. Any longer, and I would never have met Kerri."

Kerri blushed and smiled. She looked out the window and began reminiscing in her mind.

"Oh! Stop here, please. This is the place," Erik called.

Aaron obliged and pulled the car over to the curb and to a steady halt. As soon as it stopped moving, Erik got out and circled around to Aaron's side of the car.

"Thank you all so much for this. I'd probably still be walking if it weren't for you."

"Don't thank me, thank Brittany for this one. If she didn't see you, none of this would have happened." His eyes shifted back slightly towards Brittany. Erik thought for a moment and picked up on Aaron's hint. He went around again to her window and waited for it to come down.

"Thank you so much," he said to her.

Brittany peeked out a bit with her hand where the window would be. "It's no trouble. I...I hope to see you around the area before we leave."

"As do I." He picked up her hand and gently kissed it. "Good night, mon cheri." With that, Erik turned and walked through the doors.

"Good night, my Phantom," she whispered to herself. Her window went back up, but her attention was set on her hand. She could still feel his kiss. She smiled and began thinking of him as the car once again began to move; this time, back to the hotel.

"Well now," Kerri said. "That was entertaining. He was really kind to us. Nice find, Brittany."

"Thanks," she replied. "I guess I have a good eye." Brittany's hand finally came back to earth only to hit a small piece of paper. She opened it up quietly so that, hopefully, Aaron or Kerri wouldn't hear. After what seemed like an hour, she was successful. She looked at the contents carefully.

Written inside were numbers.

There were ten of them; two groups of three and one of four.

***

Erik turned the key in the lock to gain entrance to his apartment quietly. Quiet hours were in effect, and the last time he came in late, he received an earful from his neighbors. He didn't want to risk it this time, not after the night he just had. Carefully, he entered and closed the door as slowly as possible with success.

No sooner did he take three steps that he hit his desk and knocked over a picture frame. Erik cursed under his breath and winced at the pain going through his right knee. His hand fumbled around for a light switch in the dark. When the room was lit, he hopped his way over to the computer chair and picked up the fallen picture.

He looked at the scene thoughtfully. It was Erik and Holly at their senior prom. He instantly thought back to their time together at the ball. "Holly..." was all he could say for the moment. His hand rubbed his cheek where Holly had kissed him earlier that night.

"Damn...what do I do now?" he chuckled to himself in disgust. "How do I tell her? I mean, I don't love her like that. Not anymore. Then again..." Erik shook his head fiercely to try and clear his mind. The phone rang on the desk across from him. Erik glided over on the chair and picked it up.

"Yeah?"

"Well now, don't we sound thrilled," James answered. He leaned back in his couch. "Something happen out there?"

"Kind of, yeah." Erik sighed. "I ran into someone that I hadn't seen in almost five years."

"You mean that girl from high school? Holly, right?"

"Bingo," he said. He leaned over on the desk.

"Weren't you happy to see her? I mean, did she, like, radically change or something?"

Erik laughed a bit. "Don't get me wrong, I was happy to see her. And no, she didn't change at all from last I saw her." He sighed. "And therein lies the problem."

"You see, back when we were in high school, she and I were friends: close friends. Just about as close as you could get without dating. We even went to our prom together." He looked over at the picture again, and then focused his attention to the conversation. "Before I went off to college, she insisted that I go with her to UConn. I declined, obviously. She initially didn't take to well to it, but I still came here anyway."

"I think I'm starting to get the picture, but keep going."

"She actually transferred here for a semester just to be with me."

James raised an eyebrow. "Did anything happen between you?"

There was a long pause. Erik cringed as something unpleasant emerged in his mind. He shook it off and tried to focus again. "I'd rather not talk about that right now," he said coldly. "May I continue?"

"Go right ahead."

"While I was at the ball tonight, I ran into her. Rather, she snuck up on me." He laughed at the image in his mind. "We talked, and then Holly hauled me onto the floor to dance." He stopped for a moment. "I swear, James, it was our prom all over again."

"In a good way or a bad way?"

"Oh, in a good way. But just before she left, she kissed me. It was out of the blue and it took me by surprise."

James gave off a 'Heh' at the end of the explanation. He nodded and thought for a minute. "I get it now. Long story short, you meet up with an old flame that still loves you, but you don't. Right?"

"Your powers astound me, Sherlock," he answered plainly. "So, since you're here, any ideas on how to go about this?"

James scratched his head. "Not much I can do here for ya, pal. I guess all I can say is be honest. It won't be pretty, but it might be the only way to go about this." There was silence on both ends of the conversation for a minute. James decided to make the next move. "Answer me this: do you love her?"

Erik was taken back at James' sudden and blunt question. He started to panic as his mind raced for an answer. "Most of me doesn't..." he said reluctantly, "...but I can't ignore this small voice in the back of my head that says otherwise."

James grunted, annoyed by Erik's answer. "Let me put it to you this way: If someone had a gun at your head and told you to answer the question I just asked, what would you say then?"

"...No," Erik answered in a low, barely audible voice.

"Then that settles it. You need to tell her how you feel." James stopped for a moment for Erik. He calmed down before he continued. "I know you don't mean to do this intentionally, but if you keep this up any longer, the hit her heart will take is going to be off the charts."

Erik nodded in agreement. "Yeah. You're right. I guess I needed my head to be examined some time, and what better time than now?" The two laughed. "So, when are you planning on returning from the Pocono's?"

"Tomorrow, actually."

"So soon? What gives?"

"No real reason. I mean, I've been out here for the last four days, haven't I?" Erik confirmed his question. "I'll be back probably later in the afternoon. I'm going to visit Lina for a bit tomorrow morning."

"Take all the time you want," he said understandingly. "I might not be in the apartment when you get back, so I'll see you whenever I do."

"See you tomorrow, Erik."

The two hung up their phones simultaneously. Erik's head fell back with the rest of his body. He groaned and let his body go limp.

"How the hell do I get myself into in these kinds of situations?" he asked out loud. He continued to stare blankly at the ceiling. The first thing that came to mind: Holly, much to his displease. He knew he cared about her, but he just didn't love her. Or so his mind told him. Erik still couldn't silence the small voice in his heart telling him otherwise.

As he yawned widely, someone else came into the picture. Brittany. Erik snapped back to attention at the quick vision. Even though it was for just a few minutes, she made such an impression on him in the car. He wasn't quite sure what to make of this newfound feeling.

There was no doubt in his mind: he liked her. The only thing that wasn't convinced was that little voice in his heart. Erik's attention drifted, and he looked over at the clock only to yawn again. Lazily, he got up and hung his tuxedo in his closet. After changing into his pajamas, he flopped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling for a moment more.

Finally, after a minute of staring, his eyes gave up and closed. In an instant, he was fast asleep.

***

Saturday Morning

"Are you going to sleep all morning, Brittany? Come on, it's 8am. We're going down to the dining hall for breakfast."

Kerri's nagging worked better than any alarm clock could for Brittany. She finally chimed into the real world with a long-winded yawn and stretch. She sat up slowly, giving her eyes time to focus on the blur that was Kerri's silhouette. As she stood up, another yawn escaped her.

"Did you have to wake me up?" Brittany asked. "I was having a really good dream."

"Well, in that case, tell me. You know the saying, 'If you tell someone about your dream before breakfast, it'll come true'."

"You shouldn't have to think that much about it, Kerri," Aaron said from the door. "I'd put money down saying that it had to do with the Phantom."

Brittany looked away and gave a small smile. "Alright, alright. You don't have to say anything more."

"I thought so." He went over to Kerri and led her to the door. "We'll meet you down in the lobby, ok?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." The two left the room and closed the door, giving Brittany some privacy to change and get ready for the day. As she crossed the bed to her dresser, she glanced over and saw the paper from last night. She picked it up and looked at it thoughtfully. Now would be a good opportunity to call Erik. Her stomach told her otherwise, so she put the paper back on the table next to a lamp.

"He's probably just waking up too," she said to herself. "Maybe later." Brittany reverted her attention to getting down to Kerri and Aaron without making them wait TOO long.

***

"So, did you have a good time last night?"

Aaron smiled. "Any time with you is a good time." He leaned in for a kiss from his wife. "But seriously, yeah, I had a good time. What about you?"

Kerri pulled him in for an embrace. "Did you hear me want to leave at all?" she murmured.

"I'll take that as a yes."

A bell rang telling those in the lobby that an elevator had just arrived to the main floor. The doors parted to reveal Brittany inside of it. She immediately spotted the two and made her way across the large room.

"Sorry if I kept you waiting," she said. "Ready to go?"

Both Kerri and Aaron responded in agreement. The group then started off for the dining hall just down an adjacent hallway. A waitress greeted them and showed them to a table. When they had settled down, they all gave their orders with the waitress leaving shortly thereafter.

"Now, what should we do with ourselves today?" Aaron asked generally.

"Not sure really," Kerri answered. "I was actually thinking on just relaxing for the morning in the room. I mean, we have the whole day, and weekend for that matter, to do things."

"I like that idea too," Aaron said. "I'm still kinda tired from last night." He sighed and laughed. "I don't think I've danced that much since our wedding, right Kerri?"

Kerri giggled. "That said, what about you, Brittany?"

"If you don' t mind, I'm probably just going to walk around the campus for a bit. Maybe go the bookstore for a bit."

"We don't mind," Aaron assured her. "Just give us a call when you're on your way back."

"Alright. I'll do that. I promise I won't be very long. I just want to see the campus on my own for a bit."

"It's quite alright," Kerri replied as their breakfasts arrived.

***

James stood underneath the shade of a nearby tree. His gaze was fixed on specific stone placed in the ground. This was no ordinary stone. It was granite; finely chiseled in the shape of a heart. Engraved on the face of the heart were the name of a woman and two dates:

Lina Marie Kitsune

12.8.1993-11.14.2018

James kneeled down next to the stone and placed a hand on the crest of the heart. As if by magic, the events of the latter date began replaying in his mind. His breathing became slow and deep with his recalling.

Slowly, almost carefully, James placed a small bouquet in front of her tombstone. A light breeze rustled the roses within the wrapping.

"I haven't forgotten about you, darling," James said almost in a whisper, "and I never will. I love you, Lina. Now, and always."

End Chapter 3

Next time!

To You, I Belong; Chapter 4: Second First Impressions