Paint Me, Professor - The Sequel | Student-Professor Erotic Novel | 18+

Chapter 24 - Alliance

Christopher
***

I was worried about Ali. Her behavior ever since her triggering encounter with James was of someone who was completely paranoid and scared. I never thought after so many years since her abuse she'd react like this, but clearly things weren't resolved.

When she was at home, all the curtains were drawn and the windows locked shut. She always asked me to drive her to work and pick her up. She's ask me to stay in the car until she was inside the building. Likewise, she'd only step foot out of Art Press when she saw me parked outside. She avoided going to the supermarket, even with me, and stopped going to the gym.

I knew this isolation was a symptom of the fear that son of a bitch sparked in her. I tried to pull her out of that dark place, to convince her to walk in the park with me, to drive to work alone, but she refused. I didn't insist or lose my temper with her extreme change in behavior because if I was being honest, I wasn't sure if I, too, should be as paranoid as her.

Her parents agreed. During our various secret phone calls when I was out of the house, they too were extremely concerned for Ali's safety. Shocked was an understatement for how they felt. In their opinion, they were sure James was there with evil intensions. Whether he was waiting for his moment to strike or simply wanted to be a looming presence in Ali's life to make her paranoid for the rest of her life no one was certain. As such, Ali's parents were doing some investigations in New York, trying to put the pieces together the best they could. My job was to make sure Ali was safe, and they were trusting me to accomplish that.

"This Maddie girl," her father said to me through the phone as I drove to Evergreen one morning after dropping Ali at work. "What do you know about her?"

"She was my student. Ali and her were very close and still are. I know she's been having trouble finding work and now lives with James."

"Is she close to her family?"

"No idea," I said candidly. "Although I'm sure they live in another State. I'm afraid he might be isolating her on purpose."

"My thoughts exactly," Marc said. "Has Ali spoken to her?"

"No, not yet," I replied, turning into the professor's parking lot. "She's been avoiding her texts as well. She doesn't know how to act or what to say."

"Ali mustn't cut ties with her," Marc warned. "That will raise suspicion and James might isolate her even more. Besides, we need to find out what Maddie knows so we can get a better idea of how fucking demented James really is this time."

My conversations with Ali's dad were more action based, focused on strategy and the steps forward, as well as updates on the situation and how things were changing day by day. The talks I had with Ali's mom were more focused on her well-being and my own as well. Anne was worried that Ali was becoming a recluse, a behavior which James probably wanted all along. She also asked about me, how I was coping with all this, and it felt incredibly reassuring to vent. There were things I told her that I didn't tell Ali because I didn't want her to know just how angry and fearful I felt.

The three of us agreed it was best to keep these talks to ourselves. There was no point in making a big fuss out of this, especially because Ali had specifically told me not to tell her parents. Well, little did she know they already knew way more than she did.

I knew the situation wasn't ideal. This all started because I wanted to prove to Ali's parents that I was trust worthy, but now I felt like I had a ticking time bomb in my hands. Sooner or later the truth would come out, and my biggest fear was that I would be caught in the middle, losing Ali's trust and her parents'. Besides, if they fought because of me I'd be sick to my stomach.