One Night With My Alpha Professor by Eve Above Story

Chapter 212

Audrey

The security office at Brooks Designs was dimly lit this late at night, the city block outside quiet and empty. It was almost surreal being back here; I hadn’t come here since last summer, when I was interning here.

As Edwin and I stepped inside, the security guard behind the front desk jerked awake, nearly knocking over his lukewarm coffee in his haste to stand up.

“O-Oh! Mr. Brooks…” he stammered, his face flushing red. “What brings you here at this hour?”

Edwin didn’t even bat an eye at the guard’s obvious embarrassment. “We need to see some CCTV footage from the design department. From last summer.”

The guard’s face fell slightly. “Ah, I’m sorry sir, but we archive our footage every six months to save disk space. Anything from last summer would be down in the basement archives by now.”

“Can you take us there?” I asked. “We really need to see the footage.”

The guard nodded quickly, his keys jangling as he fumbled for the ring at his hip. “Of course, of course. Follow me.”

As we made our way down to the basement, Edwin gave my hand a squeeze and sent a reassuring nudge down the mate bond. We would find the evidence we needed to prove that Mr. Black had some part in foul play surrounding my thesis.

Or at least, so I hoped.

But if we didn’t find anything… A single clip on my own security camera footage of someone photographing my project though the window wouldn’t be enough.

The basement hallway that the security guard led us to was cool and slightly musty-reminiscent of the abandoned room that Edwin and I used to meet in. In an attempt to get my mind off of my nerves, I sent an image of those days-or rather, nights-down the bond.

A moment later, Edwin jerked his hand and coughed, his face reddening.

“Minx,” Edwin’s voice echoed in my head. I suppressed a smirk.

Finally, the guard unlocked a small door at the end of the hallway. He pushed the door open to reveal a large storage room, tall metal shelves stacked high with cardboard boxes. Filing cabinets lined the walls, the single fluorescent light buzzing and flickering as it came to life.

“Here we are,” the guard said, gesturing to the room. “The security archives.”

it from here.” Then, reaching into his pocket, he pulled out some cash and handed it to the guard. “Why don’t you go get yourself a coffee from the vending machine? To help you stay

as he took the money, his ears practically glowing. “Oh, uh… Thank you, sir. I

his footsteps fading quickly, I couldn’t help but chuckle. “You didn’t have to embarrass him like that,

shrugged, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “Consider it a gentle reminder to

*

find that footage.”

myself growing increasingly frustrated as the minutes ticked by. There were so many files, many

hopeless,” I muttered after what felt like hours, shoving aside another useless box filled with footage from five years ago. “We’re never going to

he was rifling through-didn’t even

the sight of him. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing his sinewy forearms. His hair was mussed, dark strands falling into his eyes. His jaw was set hard, determination etched into

had a ring for me sitting in his nightstand back home… How many nights had he sat up, looking at it and wishing he could propose while I

“Focus, Klein.”

sound of Edwin’s voice ripped me out of my reverie; he’d noticed how distracted I was. Blushing, I quickly muttered an

seemed like an eternity, I spotted a box labeled with the dates we needed. My heart

the hard drive containing the footage we needed. My heart raced as Edwin connected it to his laptop, the blue glow

said softly

I was, a version of myself from last year, working diligently on my ‘Life Cycle’ gown. I watched as I carefully attached the luna moth to the bodice, my face set with concentration. It was strange, seeing myself like this, almost like looking at a stranger at

focusing,” Edwin

I nudged him in the ribs with my elbow. “Focus,

“Sorry, sorry…”

the room-and just moments later, we saw Linda enter the frame. My fists clenched involuntarily at the sight of her; I remembered that day all too

the luna moth off

shook his head, clenching his jaw, and sped through the next stretch of footage-me returning from lunch, finding the mess, dealing with the aftermath.

Maybe-

then I saw

locking up the design department late that night, or so it seemed. But then he stopped and glanced around furtively before pulling

*

quickly saved the footage to a flash drive. “He must have sent those images to Mr. Black. I wonder if

off, and I shuddered at the thought. It seemed ridiculous, impossible, but… Perhaps they really just hated me

knew who I was-what I