Free Split by Tara Moss Page B

boots stuck unexpectedly to the carpet when she got up from her seat. The corners of her mouth turned down. Something tacky was wedged in the rubber treads.
    What the…?
    Habib, one of the graduate students sitting near her, glanced down at Mak’s feet and said, “Yuck,” when she tentatively pulled her boot up again. She gave him a playful swat as she passed him on her way to the back of the room, moving with a limp as she walked on the heel of the offending boot. She found a quiet corner at the back and crouched down to inspect the problem. Oh great—a long, gluey string of pink chewing gum.
    Wacky watermelon-flavoured Hubba Bubba.
    Nice choice.
    The scent of artificial fruit wafted up from the pink goo as she peeled it away, and she was just attempting to flick it off her finger when someone spoke to her.
    “Hi.”
    She stood up, goo in hand, and found a tall, good-looking man standing in front of her. She was pretty sure he was the one who had spoken…but to her? She had noticed him sitting near Professor Gosper. It was the tall frame and handsome profile that haddrawn her eyes. She hoped he wasn’t a friend of the professor. Did Harold Gosper even have friends? Mak thought that was pretty unlikely. If he did have any friends, she couldn’t imagine they would look like this.
    The man stared at the pink goo on her hand, and said, “Oh, let me get that for you…” Then, in a flash, he was gone. He jogged over to the name tag desk, said something to the girl there and came back with a piece of paper. Gratefully, Makedde scraped the gum onto it and he scrunched it up. Her fingertips still felt sticky.
    The stranger was quite tall, perhaps six foot four, with curly, light-brown hair and a handsome, even-featured face. Before Mak realised what she was doing, she had recorded the essential details—clean-shaven Caucasian male, late twenties to early thirties, brown eyes, nice build, and no wedding ring.
    Gulp.
    “I guess they’re running late,” he said.
    “Yeah.” She studied his face for a moment while he looked at the ball of paper in his hand. She didn’t allow herself to look for too long though, lest he notice. It had been nice of this stranger to help her. She considered what to do next.
    “I’m Makedde,” she said and offered her hand, then quickly pulled it back before he shook it, and offered him the less sticky one instead. “Thanks for the…umm, gum trick.”
    “Don’t mention it. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Makedde,” he said, taking her clean hand in his for a firm handshake. Strong hands , she thought. “What a beautiful and unusual name you have.”
    “Oh, thank you. People get it wrong all the time.”
    “How is it spelled? I notice you decided not to wear one of those name tags.”
    “I notice you didn’t either. It’s spelled M-A-K-E-D-D-E. You can see the inherent problems,” she added and rolled her eyes.
    “But it is a beautiful name; no doubt worth the difficulty. I’m Roy. Roy Blake.” He was smiling as he spoke. “I’m new with the campus security here. I thought it’d be a good idea to brush up on the whole criminal element thing on my day off,” he said, and laughed. “I was told the conference should be pretty good. Are you a student here?”
    “Yes. My Masters is in Forensic Psychology, so this is sort of up my alley,” Mak explained.
    There was some activity towards the entrance and she turned to see Dr Hare and the missing speakers walk in.
    “Oh, here they are. I’d better grab some coffee while I can,” Makedde said. “And wash my hands while I’m at it.”
    They exchanged grins.
    “Well, nice meeting you. Enjoy the conference.”
    She turned and headed across the room, for a moment regretting that they had to part. But what shenoticed next, she regretted even more—Professor Gosper was coming her way.
    All she heard Gosper say was, “Makedde, I wa—” as she rushed past him and ducked into the ladies’ room.
    Luckily, in her day-to-day