Seriously...

Seriously... I Cried

Tabitha was satisfied with the date. She never thought she'd be. She thought she'd conclude that Adam was a terrible young man and go about her life right after, but that wasn't what was happening.

Worse, he wasn't forcing her to do anything. He wasn't holding the fact that they slept together over her head, which meant he wasn't lying about not making anything public.

But she was still tense.

“I like you," he'd confessed towards the end of the date. “You're great company."

She couldn't stop her smile. "My ex would disagree.”

He frowned. "Ah, that guy. He didn't have that great of a personality. I wonder why you were even together.”

Tabitha couldn't help but agree. Azuka hated their relationship and thought her ex-fiancé was a bad fit, but she'd insisted. She'd been desperate to get married. While it wasn't as much of a stigma being an older woman and unmarried like it used to be, there were still jibes thrown around. And she didn't want to be a laughingstock.

Well, she'd ended up being one anyways.

She forced a smile, realizing Adam was waiting for a response. "We all make mistakes.”

Thank God she didn't marry the man though.

Adam mostly moved every conversation with small talk. He talked about the job he had as a sound engineer, though he was planning on being a publicist–why didn't he just study the course for said job? well, he'd always been trash at English so he wanted to do well before embarrassing himself all over the world.

He seemed sure of his future, which wasn't too surprising considering his privilege. But he seemed even more passionate when he talked about the things he liked and how immersed he was getting in the entertainment industry.

And Tabitha… just shut up and soaked it all in.

“We'll have to talk about you at some point," Adam pointed out right after dinner.

Tabitha chuckled. She really didn't want to talk about her family or her personal ambitions–despite how awesome everyone else was in her family, she was the only one who was a failure. Couldn't keep a job for long, dependant on her family's money… she didn't even have much passion for anything. She'd just wanted money, a job… she wanted to be like other regular people.

Regular people who dated, got married, had kids…

She never had passion for anything and she never excelled at whatever she'd dipped her hand into. Except getting herself into trouble.

Like now.

She was really grateful her family loved her despite all her flaws. That was one anchor she'd never distance herself from.

The parking lot was dark as Adam led her out.

On their way to her house–despite her rejection of him taking her–Tabitha’s thoughts flew by and she couldn't help but tell him, “This isn't necessary. I know you said you feel something and that I'm great company and whatever but… you're putting me in an awkward position.”

Adam had the power here and he was leveraging it. She was sure he knew it even though he didn't have bad intentions.

Her name posted around a school as prestigious as this one would ruin her life. And why? All because she slept with a strange guy.

Then she'd end up more than a failure.

“Calm down," Adam said softly, trying to smoothen her hyperventilating body. That was when she found out that he'd parked on the side of the road.

She didn't even know her mind which had gone into overdrive was affecting her outward reaction. She'd been handling this date well, but him not saying anything about leaving her alone was worrying her.

“Just say you don't like me," she insisted, her voice pleading as she looked into his eyes. “Say you're no longer interested and then make this all go away. I barely even spoke today, isn't that enough?"

He was quite for a minute before he sighed. "I'm not sure yet,” he admitted.

She closed her eyes and let out a breath of frustration.

“I'd like to see you more, Tabitha," he whispered, a solemn expression on his face as he brushed his fingers against her cheek.

She tried to move away from him, but his grip was too strong. He wanted an answer immediately. He wasn't forceful, but he was at the same time.

She kept mum.

“Say yes," he urged.

His touch awakened something in her she didn't want to think about. Just because he was the first guy to make her feel like this didn't mean she had to pursue this.

She wasn't even doing it out of her own free will. No matter what he said, he was threatening her!

"Tabitha…"

He leaned forward to kiss her. It was the most intense kiss she'd ever had. It was even more electrifying than the one they had when they first met.

She knew it was too soon, but she felt herself falling. All her tension, rejection… all because of one man.

“Okay," she breathed out after the kiss, her hands placed on his chest.

It was a bad idea, her conscience said.

But as long as it was in secret, it'd be fine.

It was just a spur of the moment thing, what could hurt?

*****

And so, Tabitha and Adam spent more time together. It was a secret as they could possibly make it. They avoided looking at each other certain ways in class, they were respectful. They didn't even acknowledge each other when they bumped into each other around campus or at the club.

Tabitha was never a fan of secret dates. She hated being hidden. But in this case, she really didn't mind. In fact, it made the whole moment… special?

She wasn't someone who was worried about the age gap being only eight years older than Adam, but she had eyes on the back of her head because she was worried about something else.

The HOD never called her to his office for any reason, and nobody seemed suspicious of her. And that assured her.

What annoyed her in between was Adam. He was becoming too… threatening. To guys who'd only stared at her, about the thought of her being caught with him… It was so weird.

What was even weirder was them never sleeping with each other during the weeks. She'd seen him get hard, had him grope her multiple times and her herself had gotten horny… but he never did anything.

It was frustrating.

“When I graduate, would you like to… continue this?” Adam suddenly blurted one time when they were at his house for a sleepover.

Tabitha who was laying on the couch with him munching on a slice of pizza, was surprised. "What?”

"I just thought… being with you is so nice. Wonderful,” he explained. "And the s*x was bomb too.” He laughed at her embarrassed expression. "But if we were to pursue something more serious… I know you wouldn't want to be hidden like this. Within a few months, I'll be done with school so… we can be official then. If you want.”

While his words were being said carelessly, his body was tense. He was waiting for her answer, and most likely expecting a rejection.

Tabitha was too surprised to say anything yet.

“Well?"

She sighed. “Adam… what you're feeling is nice and sweet. But I don't know if I'm interested in having a relationship yet. A real one." She watched his expression carefully as she continued. “What we have is cute, but it's not exactly consensual with you holding all the power. And… you have dreams and reputation that my presence will disrupt. That and… there's no real reason why you even want to be around me. And you… my type isn't exactly… Well, you're different from me. We're just not a good fit.”

It was all true.

Tabitha had more to say, but she stopped herself.

He needed to get out of this infatuation heads part quickly. While he was attractive, she had enough problems to deal with.

Tabitha couldn't miss how closed off his handsome face became and how stiff the conversation went from there. He didn't try to argue with her or anything, he just moved on… like he almost always did, to be honest.

Adam never brought it up again and she thought that was the end of it.

Boy, was she wrong.

*****

It was on a Monday that she'd walked into the lecture hall, self-conscious.

There were murmurings and curious stares as she stood in front of the students.

It was the same thing that'd happened when she walked through the building. They were staring then. Whispering. She'd thought there's something wrong with her outfit or makeup, but found nothing wrong.

Alarm bells weren't ringing then. But now… they were ringing so loud they were unavoidable.

Tabitha met a couple of eyes that broke contact. She could see some expressions: amusement, disdain, curiosity…

Her phone vibrated loudly.

She picked it up hastily when she saw Azuka’s ID.

Tabitha hurried out of the hall with her bag. It was unprofessional as she hadn't addressed her students yet, but… she felt like she had to do it.

“What's wrong?" she immediately answered on her way to her office.

Azuka sounded breathless and a bit panicked. “Y- your picture… you're posted around social media!”

Tabitha's eyes widened in horror. "W… Wh- What?!"

“Someone took a photo of you and Adam out and spread it around every social media platform!" Azuka sounded out Tabitha's worst fear. “You're trending!"

Tabitha busted through her office door, unaware of how fast she'd been running. She locked the door and fell to the ground in panic.

She opened her browser to search and found that it was even worse than she'd thought.

[Assistant Professor, Tabitha Uduak Caught With Student Adam Ayoola?]

[Assistant Professor Sleeping With Son of the HOD]

And other posts of the like.

“No… No…” she chanted, her vision getting blurry by the falling tears. "He said this wouldn't happen… he said he'd protect me…”

“Tabitha, I want you to calm down," Azuka tried to comfort her. “Adam and I will…”

Her remaining words faded to the background when Tabitha realized she'd gotten a recent message:

Hello, Tabitha Uduak

I hope this email meets you well. I assume I don't have to introduce myself.

I would like to have a meeting with you to discuss a few issues concerning my son, Adam.

Meet me in my office as soon as you get this.

Mr. Ayoola.

She felt her heart drop.

It was over for her now.