Touch Me, Honey

Chapter 9 A Handsome Senior

“Pay me ten million dollars, or cure me. It’s up to you.” James said kindly, as if he were offering Bella a solution to everything.

“You are shameless! You tricked me! You have been thinking about this from the beginning, haven’t you?” Though Bella was not as smart as James, she had now worked out that this had been his plan all along.

Knowing she was not a real traditional Chinese physician, how could it be possible that such a billionaire would trust her and ask for her treatment? He had planned to trick her!

“You signed the agreement voluntarily,” James sneered at her, “Think about it. I am not a patient.”

“I will not give in to you!” Bella said, pretending to be brave. And then she ran away.

Though she was acting tough, she worried about what was going to happen to her. Ten million dollars… how could she ever earn that much money? Thinking about the possibility of such an enormous debt, Bella was desperate.

Lying on her bed in the dormitory, Bella held her phone and scanned through her contacts. She decided to call her parents for help.

“Bella, What’s wrong?” Bella heard her mother’s joyful voice in a noisy place and the sound of waves and wind over the phone.

“Mum, I am...” Bella had just opened her mouth when she heard her father’s shouts over the phone.

“Honey! Come take a photo for me!”

“Coming!” Mrs. Green answered and talked rapidly to Bella, “We’re at the beach. I’ll call you later. Bye, sweetie!”

Bella knew that her parents would ignore her when they were traveling. Feeling hurt, Bella decided to call her brother, Charles.

But Charles coldly replied: “Ten million dollars? Stop daydreaming! Bella, you’d better work hard for your final exams, otherwise you will not be allowed to graduate.”

What cold-hearted people!

Bella ran out of her dormitory, slamming the door as she went. She was nervous and frightened about the agreement and James’ threats.

Unfortunately, final exams were also just around the corner.

Clearly, in a dark place, Bella sat in her dormitory in a trance. Her roommates got used to her behavior during those days and guessed that she had broken up with her boyfriend. So, they treated her especially kindly and avoided topics that might upset her.

“Bella, Professor Morgan asked you to go to his office,” Eve came in and said.

“OK!” Bella immediately stood up and walked out.

Professor Morgan was Bella’s supervisor. He was over sixty and a kind gentleman. Bella thought he was cute.

Thinking about her unfinished paper, Bella was even more nervous.

She walked into his office and didn’t see anyone. “Professor Morgan?”

“He is not here.” A man replied and Bella was scared by the voice.

She looked around and found that a man wearing a baseball cap was squatting behind the desk, piling cardboard boxes. Scared by him, Bella replied angrily: “Excuse me, the college has a rule that delivery guys are not allowed to enter the teaching buildings.”

“So where should I put the parcels?” The man asked and stopped what he was doing.

“You can put them in the front office with the security guards.” Realizing that he didn’t know the rule, Bella answered him patiently, “You will be in big trouble if the security finds you here. Now please leave. I will not tell anyone else.”

Shrugging his shoulders slightly, the man stood up.

He was tall and wore a white T-shirt. With his broad shoulders and muscular upper body he looked great in just the simple T-shirt. He was like a model. The man said: “Are you Professor Morgan’s student?”

“Yes, why do you ask that?” Bella replied doubtfully.

“Bella, you are here.” Bella heard the loud voice. A cheery professor walked in.

“Professor.” Bella ran to greet him. She said: “There is a man....”

“Ah, you have already met? He is your senior, Tom Norton.” Professor Morgan smiled and turned to Tom. “Tom, this is your junior. Her name is Bella Green.”

“Hi, Bella.” Taking off his cap, Tom showed more of his young and handsome face. He was clearly a very well-cultured man. How could Bella think he was a delivery person?

“Nice to see you, Tom.” Bella smiled awkwardly. How embarrassing!

“I am going traveling with my wife to celebrate our anniversary. I hope you two finish the project I mentioned.” The Professor didn’t seem to notice the uncomfortable atmosphere between Tom and Bella and continued happily, “You two should get along just fine.”

“That’ll be no problem, Professor. Bella is lovely. I’ll take care of her.” Tom replied naturally and looked at Bella with a smile.

“I will work with Tom,” Bella answered in a low tone. Meeting with her co-worker for the first time and she had acted so foolishly. How could she come back from this?

Professor Morgan had been married to his wife for thirty years and they celebrated every anniversary. This year, they planned to travel to Hawaii. So, the Professor asked his favorite student Tom Norton to help Bella. He gave some advice to Bella before leaving.

“Tom is an excellent student. Bella, you can ask him if you have any questions about your study.” The Professor tended to say a lot when he was in a good mood. He continued: “If you fail the exams, I can do nothing about it.”

Bella cleared her throat and her face went bright red. “Professor, please do not reveal my shortcomings.”

Tom smiled slightly beside them. He was kind of interested in Bella and looked at her. “Bella, I’ll be happy to help you with your homework.”

Walking out of Professor Morgan’s office, Bella sulked and pretended not to see Tom who was walking behind her.

Tom said gently: “Bella, we’re going to complete this project together. It will take a few days for us to finish. Let’s go get a cup of coffee, we can re-introduce ourselves, start over, how about it? It’s on me.”

His words were reasonable and he spoke in a gentle way. Bella could no longer keep her poker face and replied with a smile: “OK.”

Sitting in a cafe beside the school gate and eating desserts, Bella was much happier and talked a lot with Tom.

“How did I never see you before?” Bella asked, looking at Tom. Such a handsome senior must be famous in college.

“I went on a student exchange program when I was a sophomore,” Tom answered with a smile. Bella found that Tom loved to smile. When he smiled with his bright white teeth, people were quick to like him.

“I see.” Bella nodded. No wonder she hadn’t met him before in Professor Morgan’s office.

Sitting behind the glass window, Bella chatted contentedly with Tom and was completely unaware of a sharp pair of eyes now fixed on them.