Mantle of the Gods

She looked terrified.

Which meant that we had different definitions of ‘more than happy’. Given the stunned fear on her face, I could tell that she would not be happy to continue where Bridget had left off. In fact, I could see her mind grasping for any excuse why she wouldn't have to continue where Bridget left off.

“It's fine,” I offered a hand to help her up.

“That was quick.” Trent chuckled

“It wasn't… It was… She was… I…” I couldn't think of the proper way to finish that statement. Instead, I just let my shoulders droop. “I have no idea what happened.”

“That much is obvious.” the ArchBishop scoffed, “I leave you alone for just a minute and you're already finding trouble.” he pulled Justia to her feet.

She was still looking stunned, which apparently the ArchBishop still had not noticed.

“If you insist on getting into this type of trouble, then I am going to have to require you to keep her with you at all times.”

“WHAT!” We both said at the same time.

The ArchBishop pointed his finger at Justia’s face. “You will keep those tramps away from him. It is your job to make sure that none of these loose women try to take advantage of him.”

Trent chuckled as he watched us get in trouble.

“And where were you?” The ArchBishop turned to the amused older man.

“I was giving the man his privacy,” Trent crossed his arms, “Unless you would like me to follow him around so I could hold it for him.”

The ArchBishop looked like he might be considering that for a moment.

“I can…”

The balding clergy pointed his bony finger at me silencing the rest of my flimsy defense. “I know exactly what you can do. I saw the whole thing with my own two eyes. Just who was that girl?” He realized that he’d let her leave, “Where is security?” He spun towards Trent, “Why did you let her leave?”

Trent sighed, “That was Bridget Tres. She's part of the batch that came in today.”

The ArchBishop looked at Trent with astonishment, “How do you know who came in today?”

“I guess that's why you pay me the big bucks,” he smiled

“Do you think she heard anything?” the ArchBishop asked

“Your office is soundproof,” Trent reminded him, “Besides she probably just saw the three of us leaving your office and decided to endear herself to someone with such high access.”

The ArchBishop nodded, “You have a point.” He looked at Justia and me, “I probably shouldn't be seen with either of you again for a while.” he turned to Trent, “Which means you will have to give me weekly updates on their progress.”

Justia finally started to perk up once she heard that the ArchBishop would be actively avoiding her.

I started to let out a sigh of relief that I caught. It wouldn't help our case any if he thought we were happy to get rid of him. I did feel bad for Trent though, but if one of us had to take the fall he seems like he already had at least a friendly relationship with the ArchBishop. It was better that person be the one who represented all of us than myself or Justia.

I smiled sheepishly, “Do you think you could show us to our dorm now?”

Trent looked at the ArchBishop, “You'll probably want to stay in here for a minute after we leave.” He turned to us, “Let me go make sure the hall is clear, then the two of you can come out and we'll walk over to the dorms.” the ArchBishop looked like he was about to object but decided that it seemed like there was some logic to this plan.

Trent walked out of the bathroom, after a moment he waved his hand that it was safe for us to follow.

Justia and I slipped out quickly. I expected the ArchBishop to give us some parting command or order something but the old man was musing to himself. I let out the sigh of relief as soon as we got far enough down the hall that we were out of sight of the bathroom. We hadn't made it very far when I realized that Justia and I had passed Trent and that he was laughing to himself while using a wall to hold himself up.

“What's so funny?” I asked

“I haven't been your teacher for five minutes and you're already getting frisky in the bathrooms I can't imagine what dorm life with you is going to be like.” he bounced his eyebrow at Justia, “Do you think we need to have a special sock for him to put on the corner of his bed if we all need to leave?”

Her face contorted at the implication of the two of us together, then she realized he wasn’t talking about her.

She shrugged, “I don't know. If he's going to hook up with miss knockers in five minutes it might be entertaining to see who he brings to bed next. Maybe if we make popcorn we'll get to see the whole show instead of just the end.”

I could feel my face getting redder as she joined in on our teachers teasing.

“Though we might need to keep some ready-made on hand. I'm not sure that we’ll have time for it to pop before he does.”

Trent started laughing even harder.

I decided that the reddest my face had ever been was not a few minutes ago it was right now. If I knew how to get out of the building I would have left them, but I had no idea where to go, so I had to stand there and listen to them having fun at my expense.