AllFreeNovel
Share Us
How could this happen? Or have I seen him before, and just never connected the dots, because of the missing glasses? Why was he not wearing them that night? Was it really an attempt to travel incognito?
And why am I thinking about his goddamn glasses, when there’s so much other stuff I should be worrying about right now? What if anybody finds out? What if he tells anybody about this?
No, he wouldn’t do that. He would get in just as much trouble as I would, right? Or is it different for professors? Could it be?
My mind is twirling with a tornado of questions, fueled by the terror of possibly losing my scholarship because of this. It’s the longest class I’ve ever had to endure, and while I could tell that he was shaken in the beginning as well, that all seemed to fade after a while, and he appeared to be doing business as usual.
However, he never looked in my direction again, not even once. I could tell that he was doing it on purpose, his gaze firmly locked to either the right side of the room or the left, but never the middle, at the front, where he would have been confronted with me again.
He keeps this up until class is over, and I find myself stalling while my peers hurry to pack up their things and head out as quickly as possible. Most of the girls are casting coy looks in his direction as they walk out past him, but luckily none of them starts a conversation with him.
Slowly, I begin packing my stuff, too, and when I look up again, as I throw my bag over my shoulder, I find him looking at me. He’s still standing behind his desk at the front, his hands clasped around his satchel while he stares at me.
There are only a handful of other students left, and I blend in with them, as we make our way to the door.
„Miss Walker,” he says, just as I’m about to leave the room.
I freeze and my heart jumps up into my throat, forming an aching lump, as I turn around to face him.
„Could I have a word,” he says, pinning me down with an earnest look.
„Sure,” I croak, but when I approach him, he picks up his satchel and waves me off.
„Not here,” he hisses, so low that only I can hear it. „If you would come to my office, we’ll have to discuss a few things regarding your TA position.”
He says that last part loud enough for others to hear, and I notice that he’s checking their reactions, before guiding me out into the hall.
„Yes, sure,” I respond, hoping that my hoarse voice doesn’t reveal too much of my inner turmoil.
Everything seems louder and brighter as I follow him through the corridors. I can hear the clocks on the walls ticking, every single step of the people around us, his erratic breathing, my own anxious breathing and it feels like the floor beneath my feet has turned into jelly.
I feel like I’m close to fainting by the time we reach his office—which is actually in a part of the department that I’ve never visited before.
He gestures for me to go in before him and lets out a heavy sigh as soon as the door is closed behind us. His office is smaller than others I have seen before, but the interior is similar. A sleek and modern desk beneath the window, bookshelves lined with books, and, of course, a gigantic whiteboard that covers most of the wall next to the door. No plants or any kind of decoration.
Also, no photographs of potential girlfriends or wives he might be cheating on.
Why did that thought just pop into my head?
„How much do you need this job?” he asks, turning around to face me.
„Excuse me?” I utter in response.
He clears his throat, and it seems as if he’s trying to keep as much space as possible between us by sticking close to the door, while I’m awkwardly standing in the middle of the room.
It reminds me of the club, when he asked me to stand a few feet away, so he could look at me…
„How much do you need this TA position?” He elaborates. „I know they’re quite competitive and hard to get, but—”
„I need it very, very much,” I cut him off. „Like, a lot. I need both—the money and the prestige that comes with it.”
He doesn’t look happy about my reply, and sternly shakes his head.
„I was afraid you’d say that,” he murmurs. „And I understand, of course. I won’t take this away from you, but…”
He pauses, and now my heart is beating with a new fear. Is he going to exclude me from his class? Can he even do that without giving a good reason? What reason could he possibly give? And if he—
He interrupts my stream of silent questions while pointing a finger back and forth between us. „It can’t happen again. Anything between us. You—we—need to forget about what happened before.”
