The day had dragged on longer than Ansel could have anticipated. Each lecture felt like it was draining a piece of his soul out along with the words that fell from his lips. After only a few hours of engaging with his students, a task Ansel usually found great joy in, the professor's voice was hoarse, his shoulders were sore and his head felt like it was going to burst with each painful throb at his temples. His students' questions, typically intelligent and fun to explore, today felt like they were coming from the mouths of simple children. Each student sounded vapider than the last and Ansel was grateful when the time finally came for him to lock himself away in his office and hide until he could gather the willpower to return home.<br/><br/>In the past, whenever Ansel had felt particularly intolerant, he would leave a sign on his office door that stated office hours had been canceled. Today, however, Ansel found that while he didn't want to be stuck in his classroom answering stupid questions, he also did not enjoy the idea of returning home to his increasingly intolerable girlfriend. As each day passed it was becoming more and more difficult for Ansel to continue pretending that he found Petra interesting. A woman who had once appeared sexy and fierce to him now just came off as immature and demanding. Her trivial problems, her stories about her mundane adventures with her socialite friends, the way she expected Ansel to hang on her every word was getting beneath Ansel's skin and causing an itch he couldn't ignore. A time would come when something would need to be done about Petra. But that time wasn't today, so Ansel stayed in his office despite wishing that he could be anywhere else.<br/><br/>Ansel shifted uncomfortably in his seat, constantly pulling at the<a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.wixstatic.com%2Fmedia%2F2c6350_aa8691efb7304b5e8e2f7ba6d9f0b1f3.jpg%2Fv1%2Ffill%2Fw_620%2Ch_618%2F2c6350_aa8691efb7304b5e8e2f7ba6d9f0b1f3.jpg&amp;hash=b9bd678a83d80c4e65fedfb7df4f86a1" href="http://static.wixstatic.com/media/2c6350_aa8691efb7304b5e8e2f7ba6d9f0b1f3.jpg/v1/fill/w_620,h_618/2c6350_aa8691efb7304b5e8e2f7ba6d9f0b1f3.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">beige jacket</a>he had chosen before leaving the house that morning. He pulled at the sleeves, opened and closed the button on his torso, disrobed, put the jacket on the back of his chair only to growl and put the jacket back on five minutes later. Ansel couldn't figure out why he was so irritated. Was it Petra? Not likely, she had still been asleep when he had left that morning. His students truly hadn't been any different than they usually were, despite his tetchy reaction toward them. He sighed and closed the laptop that had been idling at his desk. Why pretend it was such a mystery? Ansel knew precisely what was bothering him: he was missing Lucio.<br/><br/>The kiss they had shared the night before still lingered on his lips, but the warmth Ansel had experienced when they were together was now nothing more than a cool, aching ghost. When he closed his eyes he could see Lucio before him, his lovely face enveloped by a warm yellow light that made his golden locks glow. He wouldn't have minded returning to that evening; listening to Lucio perform had lit a small fire in his chest that seemed to grow by the minute. Eventually, Ansel thought sadly, it would consume him.<br/><br/>With only a few minutes left in his scheduled offices hours, Ansel decided to begin packing up. If no one was here by now, chances were low that any of his students would be looking for assistance within the next five minutes. He slipped his laptop into his briefcase and stood at his desk, sweeping some papers together so he could take them home and ignore them there instead.<br/><br/>When he heard the knocking on the door, Ansel let out a soft groan. The one time he didn't want to see anyone and of course a latecomer would arrive to elongate his day even further. "Come in, come in," the professor said sarcastically under his breath, rolling his eyes as the door to his office opened. Ansel's tune changed immediately, however, when he Lucio peeked his head in.<br/><br/>"Lucio, good evening. I wasn't expecting you." The professor smiled and set his briefcase down on the floor, waving to the chair across from his own. "What can I do for you, Mr. Bane?" Seeing Lucio was sending shivers of pleasure up and down along Ansel's spine; he found the feeling euphoric. Lucio looked just as lovely as ever. Ansel couldn't help but stare perhaps a little too long.