She yelled. "Shut up! Stop chasing me!"
Jewel sobbed and her eyes dimmed down the stairs. Her steps sped down the descent when she heard Gideon's footsteps behind her.
Going down to the 6th floor someone called Gideon. Jewel continued running down the stairs until she reached the first floor. She stopped breathlessly and looked back. Gideon was not there. That man was probably still on the 6th floor and talking to the woman who called him.
Somehow, she breathe a sigh of relief and hastily wiped her wet cheek and frowned as she walked to the entrance.
"Jewel Laine," someone called from behind.
Her footsteps halted as she held her breath. When she turned her head back and looked at the elevator, she saw Gideon exiting from the its doors. His face was dark as he advanced to her direction.
"Stop running, Jewel Laine. Don't make me chase you."
Her eyes widened and without hesitation ran out of the Agriculture building. She heard Gideon's warning behind but she just ran faster. She didn't want to talk to him, nor see his face again after her outburst at the seventh floor.
Darkness had covered the sorroundings outside and it was raining heavily. Only building lights and momentary lightning provide ambient light. She turned down the road back to the dorm. Even under the rain she could hear Gideon's voice.
She must be delusional. It's impossible for him to catch up to her at this----
"Stop running, will you?"
She gasped as a force turned her around and leaned over to hug her. Jewel struggled away but the arms wrapped around her were too strong.
Gideon was breathing fast. "Don't run. I can outrun you."
Jewel stopped her futile efforts to break free form his arms and just laughed humorlessly. "I thought you don't want to chase me?" She smirked, eyes full of coldness from the rain and from the heart. "The man who can't keep his word," she mocked.
"I can't let you run under the rain."
"Can I? I can handle myself so stop chasing me." She angrily slapped his hard chest. "You can't keep me from doing what I want."
His arms tightened around her. Jewel screamed when he lifted her and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of rice. She caught the hem of his polo shirt as the man ran toward the vacant building.
"Put me down!" she yelled.
But Gideon just kept running towards the vacant building.
"Gideon, put me down!"
The man entered the vacant building and lowered her onto the broken sofa in the hallway. Her eyes darted up and looked up at him sharply. "I really hate you."
Gideon was taken aback and smiled helplessly. "You can hate me but I'm still your husband, Jewel."
He took off the polo and squeezed the water out before wrapping it around her shoulder. She was about to remove it when Gideon spoke. "Put that on. I don't want you to get sick."
Jewel looked away and folded her arms. "I still hate you."
Gideon stopped talking and got something out of his pocket. A phone. He walked away before he brought the phone beside his ear. Gideon looked at her for a moment before talking to the phone.
'Making a call and moving away so I can't hear what they're talking about? Fine, I don't care,' she thought.
After the call, Gideon didn't move close to her. It made Jewel's mode worser than earlier. Even so, she was more assured when Gideon's not around because the pounding in her chest just got stronger whenever that man approached her. And she didn’t like that.
Jewel was startled when lightning flashed and the sky roared. It was as if a large rock had rolled up on top so she wrapped her hands around her to console herself.
She stood up when she saw someone approaching the vacant building. That person ran to get into the building immediately.
"Elise," Gideon called to the woman who entered the building.
The female Professor looked at Gideon. "Hey, Hernandez. I just brought an umbrella and a raincoat. Seriously, the length of the lightning is unusual you think? It almost reached the ground." The woman turned to her. "Is this your student?"
Gideon nodded. "Take her first."
"O-Okay, all right. But we should hurry." The woman handed the raincoat to Jewel which she immediately accepted. "You haven't forgotten the deadline, Hernandez?"
"No."
"Good. The head admin is supposed to be angry again."
Jewel heard Gideon's laugh as she put on the raincoat. "There's nothing new, isn't it?" Gideon said.
Elise grinned. "That's it. You've stolen the subject of ABE. You know someone is watching it in Block 1."
Gideon nodded. She noticed in the corner of her eye how he turned his head to the side. "And you know why, Elise. She's my wife."
"I know. But who is your wife there? I can't access the Registrar and Khalil doesn't want to tell me. Alas, that's Bremas. It's a good thing he's just watching from a distance."
Jewel swallowed the lump in her throat and simply turned to Gideon. Their eyes met and she quickly averted her gaze. She knew she was what the two were talking about.
Gideon chuckled. "You're looking at her."
"Huh?"
"Her. My student. She's freezing. All right, take her back and come back to pick me up. I'll be waiting for you here."
Elise smiled broadly. "Don't forget. You owe one to me. Then..." The woman turned her gaze to her. "What's your name, Miss?"
She smiled wryly. "J-Jewel."
"Agriculture?"
“BSABE,” she said.
The Professor's eyes widened and for a moment she glared at Gideon, before facing her again. "What's your section?"
"B1."
The Professor sighed. "BSABE B1?" Elise looked at Gideon. "You did not say anything and you let me gossip!"
Jewel heard Gideon's laugh. "Doesn't matter. All right, Elise. I still have a deadline to meet."
"You're already wet. Why don't you just run to the faculty, huh?" Elise asked, opening the big umbrella again.
"I'm bothering you so I want to accompany you back to the Admin later."
Elise averted her eyes. "O-Okay, you said, eh."
Elise turned to Jewel and led her under a large umbrella. "We have to run. Even though it's inductive, I still don't trust the manufacturer," the woman reminded.
Jewel nodded. "I understand."
Elise counted. Even before they ran out of the vacant building, she turned to Gideon and their eyes met.
Her husband smiled at her, waved his hand slightly, and mouthed, "Good night, Jewel."
Her eyes darted to the front again and together, she and Elise ran under the rain. But Gideon's smile never left her mind.
It was the same smile he showed under the moonlight.
She suddenly remembered that night, where Gideon had sung under the moon. She could see how his eyes twinkled, and how the serious man inside the classroom smiled softly.
Jewel couldn’t understand why but as she was running under the rain, her heart was beating fast. She almost could not catch her breath because of that. What did Gideon do to her? Why was her heart beating so fast?
Jewel frowned as she put a palm on her chest, above her beating heart.
Her mind came back to reality when a sudden thunder and lightning struck the area not far from where she was striding. There was a sudden light around and she jumped in panic.
"You alright?" Elise asked, whispering.
She smiled softly at the Professor then headed off. They continued to run in the rain. When she reached the dormitory, she bid goodbye to the female Professor before she ran upstairs.
When she entered the room, she quickly took a bath and got dressed. But until she laid down on the bed, Gideon's small smile never left her mind. Jewel bit her lower lip then closed her eyes. She forced herself to sleep.
But that smile never left her even in her wildest dreams.