Falling For Professor Eric

What Were the Odds?

SOPHIA'S POV:

What were the odds, honestly, that once again the Moon Goddess would decide to play around with my fate?

I stood there, frozen in the middle of Darcy’s ridiculously elegant living room, staring straight at the man who had just turned around, the man I’d been… well, seeing for weeks.

And now, apparently, my best friend’s father.

My brain short-circuited and I couldn’t process words. Darcy was looking between the two of us, confusion all over her face.

“Uh… are you guys gonna say something?” She asked, snapping her fingers in front of us. “What’s going on?”

I tried to smile, because what else could I do? Darcy had no idea and I wasn’t about to ruin the one real friendship I’d managed to build here.

So I stepped forward, pretending like my heart wasn’t doing backflips. “Nice to meet you, sir,” I said, stretching my hand out.

Professor Eric, who I’d been calling by his first name for weeks, just stared at me for a second before clearing his throat and shaking my hand. “Is this your friend, Darcy? I… I know her.”

Darcy laughed softly, totally oblivious. “Yeah, I know! I didn’t tell you because I wanted to surprise Sophia. I figured it’d be funny to watch her face when she saw that her Professor was my dad.”

I forced another smile and nodded. “Well… mission accomplished.”

The air was so awkward I could practically hear the AC humming. We all just stood there pretending everything was fine until Anna, the maid, appeared at the doorway and said. “Dinner is ready, sir.”

“Right,” Eric said quickly. “Let’s go eat.”

I followed them into the dining room, and Darcy sat across from me, chatting about random things like classes, new music, and how she’d seen someone wearing a literal cape on campus. While I just kept nodding, trying to keep my eyes off her dad.

But of course, every time I looked up, he was looking at me too. And we’d both immediately look away, pretending to focus on the table settings or the food or literally anything else.

Halfway through dinner, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Hey, Darcy,” I called, setting down my fork. “Where’s your bathroom?”

“Oh, I can show you…” She started, but I cut her off quickly.

“It’s fine, just point me in the right direction. I’ll find it.”

She gave me the directions, and I walked out.

Inside the bathroom, I paced. I stared at my reflection and whispered. “You have got to be kidding me.” My life had officially turned into a bad soap opera or one of those overly dramatic campus dramas that people make fun of online.

After a few minutes, I finally took a deep breath and opened the door only to nearly crash into him.

“Professor Eric…” I stopped myself. “Eric, what are you doing here?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I needed to talk to you. I’m sorry… for not telling you about Darcy. Or that I was divorced. I just…”

“No, I get it.” I held up a hand. “You don’t owe me your entire backstory. I can see now why you were so hesitant before. I mean…” I gave a bitter laugh. “You have a daughter who’s basically my age.”

He sighed, looking pained. “I had Darcy when I was sixteen and I know how it looks, Sophia, but…”

“Yeah,” I said quickly. “I get it.” I didn’t, not really, but I wasn’t about to fall apart in the hallway. “Still, maybe now isn’t the time to talk about this. Darcy’s right there.”

He nodded, his jaw tightening. “I just… I want you to know that I’m sorry. And that I’m willing to make Darcy understand that I’m not getting back with her mother. I want her to know that I want you.”

That was the first time he’d said it like that and it hit me harder than I wanted to admit. Somewhere in between running from my past and chasing after fun, I’d actually started to care.

But this situation? It was too much.

“I should get back,” I uttered quietly, forcing out a smile.

He nodded. “Right. I’ll be there in a minute.”

When I walked back into the dining room, Darcy looked up immediately. “You took a while,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“Sorry.” I said, sliding into my chair. “I used the chance to text my aunt. She was asking if I got here safely.”

Darcy nodded, clearly satisfied then I asked, feigning ignorance. “Where's your dad?”

He just stepped out to take a call.” She replied and I nodded.

“Um.” I nodded, and she leaned forward a little. “Actually… I wanted to introduce you to him for two reasons.”

I tilted my head. “Two?”

“Yeah.” She bit her lip, looking nervous for the first time that night. “I thought I’d tell you both, but now I’m… I don’t know. I’ll just tell you the first one.”

“Go ahead,” I said, trying to sound casual even though I was bracing myself for whatever came next.

She took a deep breath. “So, as you know my dad’s divorced and I've been trying to get him to work things out with my mom again, but he keeps brushing it off. Actually, my mom’s ready and she still loves him, but he won’t even talk about it. And I need your help.”

I blinked. “My help?”

“Yeah.” She nodded eagerly. “I have this plan to get them back together. Will you help me?”

You have got to be kidding me. Can things get any worse?