Contract marriage with my professor

CHAPTER THREE

Nathaniel's sharp gaze snapped to the source of the noise: two students murmuring quietly, he chose to ignore them for now though he found it extremely bold of them to speak while occupying seats not so far from where he was, he found their guts almost sickening.

"Now you're not new to the concept of philosophy but you......".

The thing with quiet noises was that they were irritating, they got into his head.

"Silence". He said sharply as he once again shifted his gaze to the students.

This time he actually looked not just glance, and his eyes were met with emerald green ones filled with horror and.... Fear.

He narrowed his eyes thinking the student with the ginger red hair looked vaguely familiar, but surely it couldn't be that she was.....

The look in her eyes was enough to clear his doubt, it was she, the woman he had married three days ago, she was seated in his class as his student, what could he say about that?

Not letting his gaze linger on her for too long he shifted his gaze to the other student not caring to actually look at her.

"One more word and you're out of here, both of you". He warned.

He carried on with his class as though nothing at all was wrong in all ways possible. Once the lesson was over he dismissed the class.

Catherine had expected him to ask her to stay behind or meet him at his office but he said nothing to her, he had seen her, she was sure of it, their gazes had locked momentarily but then he had looked away as though he hasn't recognized her.

What if he hadn't?

She lagged behind till she was one of the few students left, when he still didn’t look at her or say anything she chose to walk away, her heart hammering hardly against her chest as she did.

She wanted to scream at the moment.

First she gets married at twenty, and then it turns out her husband is a professor at the university she happens to be attending, he turns out to be her professor.

She wanted to run, she wanted to escape from all this, it was too much for her to bare. She hurried down the hallway, her shoulder brushing against people and her apologies lasted till she was out of the crowded hallways, she needed to cry, to let it all out, but of course she couldn't do it out here, she needed to be secured within the tacky walls of her dorm room before she broke down.

"Forgive me for assuming that your level of decency wouldn't allow you to make such an outrageous mistake!". He snapped at his mother over the phone.

"I asked you to go through the files didn't I?". She answered seeming unaffected by his cold attitude.

"That is not an excuse, how could you even let things go so far knowing she is a student, my student!". He said.

"It is not so bad Nathan, you can keep your personal life out of your professional one, you do it all the time, what's the problem now?". She said.

He squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to suppress the cold rage building up within him, he let out a breath and nodded though she couldn't see him.

"Have a nice day mother". He said before he disconnected the call.

He leaned into his leather seat, a long ignored throb in his head slowly became hard to ignore and he rubbed his temple wearily as he set the phone aside. He blew out his cheek tiredly as his mind slowly drifted back to the pitiful look she had in her eyes as she deliberately lagged behind after he had dismissed the class.

No doubt she had been shocked, frightened even, what twisted relationship they had had suddenly transformed to something sinful, but if he was to be completely honest with himself the entirety of the situation sort of.....intrigued the deviant side of him, appealed to the darkest and most twisted side of his mind.

His dark gaze shifted to the door when a knock sounded at the closed door, though he was in no mood to converse with anyone he said:

"Come in".

The door handle twisted before the door opened and a young girl made her way into his office space cautiously, a student no doubt. Knowing he hasn't summoned anyone to his office he waited for her to state her business here, she started with a greeting, her voice unnaturally soft and smooth.

"Good afternoon Dr Houston".

"Good afternoon". He answered mildly. His current mood not one which wanted to deal with flirtatious advances of young students.

He arched a brow hinting that she stated her busuness. Catching up, she stepped forward slowly, her hips swaying in deliberate swings, she brushed golden hair from her shoulder exposing the fair skin underneath before she said:

"I am one of your students, sir. You started taking us Philosophy 202 today".

He said nothing, just regarded her with dark, cold eyes.

She stepped forward again, not being far from his desk she stretched her hand, long slender fingers wrapped around the legde as she slightly leaned forward so the bare skin of her neck down to her chest and the teasing beginnings of her bosom was on full display.

An act to which the proffesor sent a chilling glare at her, true that in his own ways Nathaniel was no saint, far from that in fact, but there was a line, one which he had drawn for himself, he was never to engage any student in an activity outside academic boundaries, and he had been successful at that for seven years now.

"Straighten up". He ordered. "Take five steps back and stand there".

Something flashed in the young student's eyes but she obliged and backed away, her hips still swaying with every step.

"Your business Miss". He said.

She smiled softly.

"Unfortunately I find the course quite difficult and I was hoping you could help with that". She said, her tone low and suggestive. "I would appreciate your help sir".

He leaned forward and placed his elbows on the desk stippling his fingers, he rest his chin on his stippled fingers before he said:

"I'm afraid I do not engage in extra curricular activities, but I would advice you seek assistance elsewhere". He said. "And it is quite to early for you to conclude that the course is difficult, after all you merely started today".

"I understand sir, but I believe I'll do better with your.....grooming".

She twirled a lock around her finger as she spoke, her voice dipping to a sultry tone.

He truly was in no mood for this, perhaps on a better day he would have simply asked her to leave his office, however he said:

"I could report you, you know that?".

Alarm flashed in the student's eyes but she said nothing.

"Is that what you want?". He said.

Casting her gaze to the floor shook her head timidly.

"Words!". He snapped causing the student to jerk upright at once.

"No...no sir". She stuttered. "That wasn't what.....I was suggesting.....you...you must have misunderstood sir".

"Is that so?". He said.

The panic in the student's eyes was enough to appeal to the aforementioned dark side of his mind.

"Ye.......I...". She stuttered knowing she was the dirty little guilty party here.

"Leave. And the next time you walk into my office making such advances I will not let it slide so easily. Do I make myself clear?". He said.

The flirtatious student had never nodded so much, and in less than a second she was bolting out of his office and the door clicked shut behind her.

~~

How long had it been?

An hour? Two hours? Four? More?

Catherine wasn't sure, she had lost track of everything the very second she stepped into her dorm room, she had rushed to her bed and crashed on it as all the pent up emotions came crashing down on her like heavy waves slapping against the shore.

She had cried, she had cried till she was tired and breathless, and then she had fallen asleep. It wasn't till a knock sounded at her door that her eyelids flutter open and she pulled herself together and sat up.

It took a while for her eyes to adapt to the darkness, after all it had been bright when she fell asleep. Slowly she combed her fingers through her coarse hair and blew out a tired breath.

'Knock knock'

The sound of someone knocking on her door was almost irritating, it sunk deep into her head causing it to throb painfully.

"I'm coming, I'm coming". She groaned as she got off the bed and began making her way to the door.

On getting there she unlocked it and opened it halfway so she could see who it was. Tessa stood there, the student who occupied the next room, they weren't exactly friends but they got along fine, perhaps they could have been friends had her lousy lifestyle not scared Catherine thoroughly.

"Hi". She said smiling.

Catherine tried to smile back, tried.

"Eish, you look shitfaced". Tessa remarked. "Have you been crying?".

Even if she wanted to deny she couldn't for she knew her face always ended up puffy after a crying session. So she nodded resignedly.

"You needed something?". She asked hoping to divert the discussion from herself.

"Yeah. I was hoping you could lend me your hair straightener, mine got burnt". Tessa said.

"Sure, I'll get it". Catherine said quietly, her voice still hoarse from the crying. "Be right back".

With that she turned around and walked back into her room, she rumaged through a drawer quickly and soon found the straightener.

She walked back to Tessa who stood there looking sleek as always in a black strapless dress which hugged her body well, the length of the dress being teasingly short.

"Here". She said handing it to her.

"Thanks"

Once she collected it she made to close the door but stopped when Tessa spoke again.

"You really need to blow off some steam sometimes". She said. "You're hard on yourself, it's obvious".

Catherine said nothing.

If she could she would blow off all the steam she was cooking in, she'd run and probably never look back.

"There's this hangout happening tonight, you should come". Tessa offered.

"Hangout?". She asked not completely sure if Tessa truly meant just a 'hangout'.

Tessa smirked.

"Fine, you got me. There's a party popping tonight, what better way to blow off some steam than wearing a scandalous dress, going to a party, getting a drink or two, swaying your hips to the beats and probably getting it all night". She grinned whilst saying the last part.

The idea, for some reason the idea seemed alluring to Catherine, she wasn't the partying type, heck she could count how many parties she had been to, but when push turned to shove she had no choice but to do the needful, and now more than ever push was turning to shove, but still she was reluctant.

"I don't know.....".

Tessa waved her hand dismissively.

"Come on Cat, look at you, you're gonna waste all your college life away in this tacky room of yours". She said.

Catherine said nothing, she knew why she was reluctant, that feeling that had plagued her after she had taking off her ring plagued her now, she tried to convince herself that she was doing nothing wrong, after all her 'husband' had told her to do whatever she pleased.

The mere thought of him caused her heart to fall to the pit of her stomach and her breath to hitch, she felt sweat suddenly slide down the back of her neck lazily.

'Silence!'

She recalled his voice, the sharpness of his tone, she had never felt so much fear before.

"Errr.....you in or not?".

She blinked quickly and nodded.

"Yeah....yeah I'm in". She answered.

She needed to clear her mind, she needed to breath.

"Great! Do you have a dress? I might have something that'll fit you". Tessa said smiling. "We'll get your hair straightened too, yeah?".

"Hey you're the pro not me". She answered.

Tessa laughed.

"Come on". She said as she began walking away.

~~

Tessa wasn’t joking when she spoke of scandalous dresses, she spared no effort in decking herself and Catherine up, she fussed over Catherine so much one would mistake her for some Victorian mama introducing her only daughter into society for the very first time.

“Not straight enough”. She muttered to herself as she once again ran the stretching comb down Catherine’s already smooth and slick hair.

“Well how straight do you want it?”. Catherine said. “It’s pretty much weightless already”.

“In a sec”. Tessa said simply. “I’ll tell you what guys can’t ignore, smooth shiny hair and a nice pair of boobs”.

Catherine dragged in a deep breath but said nothing more. Dressed in Tessa’s little black dress she couldn’t help feel a little….bolder than usual. Looking down at her propped up boobs and the portion of needle straight hair resting on her chest she was certain that it wasn’t only Tessa that would be satisfied with the end product.

“so um, don’t mean to pry Cat, but err…..were you crying over a guy?”. Tessa said.

A guy? Did she dare classify him as a guy? Far from that, no. she was crying over a man, over how much her life had become f****d up. She cleared her throat quietly.

“Kinda”. She answered.

Tessa tsked.

“What a fool he is”. She said. “Should he see you in this dress I swear he’ll come crawling over”.

She said nothing, just pulled on a tightlipped smile.