Professor's Little Muse

Episode 4: To Vacate.

When I pushed open the door to the instructor's office, I had literal raw egg sliding down the side of my face. Even as he was standing at the window with his back to me and one hand in his pocket, I recognized that dark hair and white shoulders that had set my entire body on fire last night.

He turned when he heard the door open, and his gaze landed on me immediately. I stopped breathing as his eyes raked the entirety of my being silently without a change in expression on his face.

"You must be Miss Brooks." He didn't blink or act like he had known me from any where, and I felt my heart drop for an unknown reason. Probably because I was oozing and the stench of me was slowly encasing his office.

I stood in the doorway with the remains of my dignity while nodding in response. "Yes sir, I am." I said with the smallest possible voice my throat could muster.

"Come in and close the door behind you." He still has that same timbre from last night, that same low command that had made my entire body shiver like it was doing now, but this time everywhere was bright as opposed to last night. He sounded like a regular professor right now, but my heart still jumped hearing his voice.

I came in and closed the door behind me as he had instructed and I stood in front of his desk, pretending like I wasn't currently a disaster, because if he was going to pretend then so was I, and I was excellent at this.

He say immediately and began opening a folder— my academic files from the look of it— and he read it in silence for a long moment.

"Your GPA is currently sitting at 3.1." He said calmly without looking up, still flipping through the pages of the folder. "I hope you know what this means." He finally set his dark intense eyes on mine and I felt my throat tighten. "It means you would lose your current scholarship if this semester is over and nothing is done about your grades."

"I'm aware, sir." My voice was still small because of the shame that had crawled up my throat. I was sure that he saw me as a dumb student who also looked physically disgusting. That was probably why he didn't acknowledge ever knowing or meeting me.

"Good."

"While your fundamentals in studio work are strong, your attendance record in the practicum is not." He shook his head almost imperceptibly. "These sessions are mandatory and non-negotiable. Missing a single one without documented medical reason constitutes an automatic academic review. Are we clear?"

"Crystal clear," I said.

This time, his gaze held mine for a long time, and I could feel something spark within me.

"The project I've been assigned to run with you is figure study." He began speaking slowly as if he wanted me to absorb every single word of it. "It is a classical project and you will be the subject."

I waited for him to continue because something was not adding up. Classical? That meant a lot of things, and my colleagues had picked their own topics leaving one out...

"Nude," Of course I got the nude part. But it didn't sink in immediately until my mind began processing the concept of nude.

Undressed. In front of him. Over and over again until the project was over.

"Is that going to be a problem?" he asked as he watched my face carefully for any sign of hesitation.

I thought about my CGPA and my scholarship, and the fact that I had nowhere else to go if I lost this scholarship. I didn't even have money to enroll myself in this school if it ever came to that. I thought about the reason behind my low grades, and I knew I wasn't going to give up without a fight. Not until I made sure Liam and Luna suffered for betraying me this way.

"It's not a problem, sir." I responded immediately.

He nodded once and looked back at the folder. "I'll see you tomorrow by 9 am in the studio which is on the third floor of this building." He turned a page in the folder before he finally closed it. "Come with clean skin and wear something easy to remove."

Something easy to remove... I felt my n*****s harden at that last statement that was delivered professionally, but my body responded to it either way.

I swallowed my saliva before nodding. "Would that be all, sir?"

"Yes." He replied and his eyes came up to mine one final time. "Get some rest, Ms. Brooks. And please, clean your face before you step back into the hallway. The bathroom is by your left."

*

I was on my way back to my apartment, thankful that I didn't bump into any hateful crowd that thought this was still highschool to be bullying a fellow student over a cheating scandal, when an unknown number called me.

I was hesitant at first, but I swiped on my screen to answer immediately.

"Ms. Brooks?" The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place where I heard it.

"Yes, you're speaking to her."

"This is building management for the Crestwood Apartments. I'm calling to inform you that your tenancy has been terminated effective immediately."

I stopped in my tracks to listen properly. "I'm sorry? Please, could you repeat yourself?"

"We've had significant complaints from other residents, and frankly, there's been property damage in the corridor outside your unit. Given the circumstances surrounding your tenancy..." He paused for a second, "we feel it's in everyone's best interest if you vacate by the end of the day. Your remaining belongings can be collected before 6 p.m."

I knew whose handwork this was. Luna. Her father owned half the property management companies in this part of town, and she was nice enough in our first year to help me rent a unit. Right now, she was showing me how desperate she would go just to see me miserable.

I chuckled at my own plight and shook my head. This was karma for hurting my parents back then and choosing wrongly. Luna wasn't going to stop at this.