Choices by Cate Dean

It is in forgiving others
    that we learn to forgive ourselves.
     
     
    U sing her oversized leather bag as a shield, Maura Hart made her way through the crowded hallway.
    She expected the university building to be deserted in the rush for spring break freedom, so walking into the noise and confusion startled her. Especially when she had not been in a crowd for almost three years.
    Making her way to the woman with the clipboard, trying not to flinch every time some carelessly flung arm slapped at her, Maura felt battered by the time she reached her goal.
    “Excuse me.” She had to yell above the echoing shouts and squees. The woman swung around, then dropped her gaze to Maura, eyebrows raised. “I’m here to see Dr. Lang.”
    “A little old for this trial, aren’t you?”
    “Trial . . .” Maura had forgotten about Dr. Lang’s latest research interest: teenagers and social media. No wonder the hall was packed. Nothing motivated teenagers more than getting paid for playing online. She may have locked herself away from everyday life, but she did keep up with it. “That was today?”
    The woman sighed. “You on his list?”
    “I don’t—he called me this morning, asked me to come and see him. He’s helping me with research for my novel—”
    “Hart, Maura—yep, he told me to look out for you. His assistant is doing the initial interviews, so you’ll have him all to yourself. He’s in the biology lab—no, he’s right behind you.”
    Maura turned around, finding the tall, rake thin science professor standing in the open doorway.
    “I am thrilled that you agreed to meet with me, Maura.” He laid one hand on her arm, his touch less than welcome. “Come, there is something I want to show you. Something I’ve wanted you to see since we first met.”
    “Dr. Lang.” Maura followed him into his classroom, the door swinging shut behind her on its self-closing hinges. She rubbed her forehead as the sharp, continuous tap of his mahogany cane worsened the headache she woke up with just before dawn. “I only came because you promised to give me the information this time, so I can finish my book research—”
    She almost ran into him when he stopped. Anger scored his light voice.
    “What were they thinking? Right in the pathway—someone may have damaged it.”
    When he limped forward she saw the reason for his abrupt halt. A monstrosity masquerading as art stood between the first two waist high tables, and looked like it would be the one inflicting any damage. Maura hiked her oversized leather bag on her shoulder, stepped to his side for a better view of the thing.
    Ragged bronze strips crisscrossed each other, forming a tall, lopsided sphere that shouldn’t be standing upright. It managed, somehow, clinging to its crooked wooden base. Dr. Lang brushed his finger along a crudely formed strip.
    “A gift, from one of my students. Sometimes their generosity astonishes me.”
    “Dr. Lang.” With an effort, she kept the impatience out of her voice, tried to bring him back to the reason for this meeting—her last, if she could just pry what she needed out of him. “Why don’t we—”
    “What I want you to see is just back here.” He gestured to the far side of the classroom and gripped her wrist with his free hand. His meager lips all but disappeared when he smiled, the expression animating his gaunt face. “It is finally finished, after so many years, and you will be the first to experience it.”
    “I don’t have much time—”
    “You have time for this, my dear.” Maura let him guide her through the obstacle course of books and boxes spread across the floor of the biology lab, afraid she would hurt him if she tried to free herself. “I give you my word, it will be more spectacular than you ever imagined.”
    They stopped in front of a narrow door she hadn’t seen before, almost hidden by the sagging bookshelf that crouched over his desk. He slipped a key into the deadbolt, shiny new against the