Contract marriage with my professor

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Unlike the last time, Catherine had been amongst the first students to exit the class after the lesson was over, one reason being because she had another class in less than a minute and another being because she didn’t want to spend another torturous second in the professor’s presence. It wasn’t till she had walked halfway to her next venue did she realize someone had been walking beside all along.

She inclined her head to face a smirking Cam, his eyes had a subtle gleam to it, one that told her he was amused. For a moment she had been somewhat shocked but the feeling soon dissipated as he spoke.

“You seemed lost in thoughts”. He said.

She nodded.

“You seemed the exact same way back at the party before I approached you”, He said.

Again she nodded.

“Thinking about….life I guess”. She said.

He nodded, he didn’t push it.

“Don’t think I’m following you, you were headed the same direction as I was that’s why I decided to walk beside you”. He said and snickered quietly.

She chuckled.

“I’m off to Hall 4, I’ve got……”

“Algebra”. He spoke before she could complete her sentence. “So do I”.

She smiled.

“The others, are they coming?”. She asked.

He shook his head.

“I only have Phil.301 with them”. He told her.

“I see”.

She didn’t know what else to say. It was kind of weird walking with him; when they were not at a party, it was different then, at the party they had been free, sort of out of reality or something, but this was real, she was back to being the good old Catherine and he was still him: Cameron, the hottest and probably baddest guy on campus. Unbeknownst to her that though Cameron came of as the carefree bad guy he was one of the smartest students on Campus.

He hummed a response.

They lapsed into silence as they made their way to their venue, her mind slowly drifted back to the professor, heavens, he was always on her mind, plaguing her, tormenting her, she wanted to get him out of her mind but couldn’t, how could she? Everything bothered her excessively.

“Still steaming?”. He suddenly asked.

She craned her neck to look up at him.

“Huh?”. She asked.

“The steam you wanted to blow off, still cooking in it?”. He clarified.

“Oh. I….”. She wasn’t sure what to say, she wasn’t sure she could ever completely blow off the steam. “I guess so”.

“Yeah, I guessed”. He said. “Wanna blow off some steam again?”.

It was always tempting to blow off some steam, but she had drawn a line for herself, she wanted no association with Cam and his likes, she wanted to lead a quiet life here at St. Grace university before she graduated.

“I told you already, that was a one time thing”. She said quietly.

“Christ, what do you take me for?”. He asked chuckling subtly. “A party addict?”.

She pulled on a tightlipped smile but said nothing.

“I’m not trying to drag you to a party Cat, I wanna take you somewhere calming”. He said.

She looked up at him, her brow arched in question.

“Wanna come or not?”. He asked.

She blew out a breath. For some reason she trusted him more than she did other guys, perhaps she had a bit of respect for him because he hadn’t tried to take advantage of her during the party, towards the end, after countless rounds of Truth or Dare she hadn’t really been in her senses, perhaps he could have swayed her into doing anything had he wanted to.

She nodded slowly.

“Great, I’ll pick you up by six”. He said. “Dress comfortably”.

“Like this one?”. She asked gesturing to her outfit, the regular hoodie and jeans combo.

“Yup”. He approved.

“Great”. She said quietly, not sure what to think or expect. “Will the others be there?”.

He shook his head.

“I said somewhere calming remember?”. He said arching a brow.

She smiled, she caught the subtle dig intended at the others.

“Okay then. Looking forward to 6pm”. She said.

“Don’t hold your breath”.

“I won’t”.

~~

The day went by like a blur, the drizzling hadn’t seized yet and the weather was still cold, Catherine took that as a cue to stay in her dorm room and do a bit of catching up on Phil. 301, she hadn’t been understanding what was being taught, mainly because she heard nothing of what was being said, she was to flustered to concentrate on the professor’s lectures.

Ping….

The notification tune of her phone sounded and she picked it up, an unread message from Cam was displayed on the screen, they had swapped numbers when separating from Hall 4 earlier in the day, she hadn’t exactly expected him to text her, but since he did she decided that perhaps going out with him couldn’t be shoved aside easily.

‘Cat. Ready?’.

It was 5:44pm now, though she was ready at the moment she could easily throw on some clothes quickly, she wasn’t one to rely on ,make up before going out. She typed a quick reply and hit the send button.

‘Yup’

She was about to set the phone down when it pinged again, yet another message notification popping up.

‘K. Will be there soon’.

‘Aytt’.

She set the phone aside, pushed her covers off the lower part of her body and climbed outta bed lazily, since he hoodie she had worn earlier had gotten partially wet due to the rain, she decided to settle for a leather jacket. She got dressed quickly in a pair of black skinny jeans, a white tank top, and a brown leather jacket with a pair of black sneakers, her red hair pulled up into a high ponytail. She liked the outfit, it was comfortable and casual.

Grabbing her phone and an umbrella, she decided to start making herself out of the dormitory before he got there, it was 5:56pm already and if he kept to time he would be here anytime now. She wasn’t sure what he had planned for the evening but she was positive it would be better than stewing alone in her room.

Tessa understood that very much, it was for that reason that she had decided to ditch her room by four and went out with her girls by four. If Catherine’s life hadn’t been so shitty she would have stayed indoors watching a movies on Netflix perhaps, yeah, whether or not she had a shitty life and was in a shitty mood she still would be a loner, she still would choose to have an alone time without having to worry about anything and anyone over going clubbing or for an outing with friends.

Friends…..

She wasn’t the type to keep friends, just a few acquaintances here and there, she was friendly and all, and she communicate with people well enough but she never let them get close enough to become ‘friends’. Soon enough she was outside standing underneath her umbrella, it wasn’t long before her phone pinged again and a message notification popped up.

‘Ready?’.

She typed in a reply quickly.

‘Yeah. I’m out already, holding a blue umbrella’.

It took a few seconds before he replied:

‘Sight ya. Wouldn’t miss that mass of red anywhere’.

She tore her eyes from her screen when a honk sounded from the other side of the road, her gaze scanned around quickly and it wasn’t long before she sighted him in a black Mercedes, the tinted glass windows winding down and revealing more of his face, he smirked at her, his blue eyes seeming sharper in the evening’s light, a lock of black hair fell forward covering his left eye, he did nothing to brush it, just gestured for her to come over.

She made sure the streets were clear before crossing over to meet him at the other side, the rain hitting against her umbrella subtly as she increased her pace.

“You’re on time, that’s a first”. He said as she made her way around the car to get into the other side.

“Yeah?”. She asked as she pulled the door open and got in gracefully, the new car scent filling her nostrils the moment she did.

Like the last three times she had seen him, he was dressed in all blacks, the usual outfit of pair of jeans, a leather jacket, an inner shirt and a pair of sneakers. His complexion seemed to, have paled, perhaps as a result of the minimal sunlight, his skin came in sharp contrast with the blacks he wore.

“Normally, I’d expect to wait about then minutes or more”. He said, the soft sounds of the glasses winding up dragged her eye from his sharp ones for a second.

“That’s just me I guess”. She said smiling. “I’m always on time”.

“Good for you”. He chuckled lightly.

She nodded.

“So, where’re we going?”. She asked as he began pulling onto the road.

“You’ll see”. Was all he said.

~~

They pulled over at a familiar driveway, the one in the party venue two days back; his house. She inclined her head to face him, her brow arched questioningly.

“I believe I owe you a tour of the house, Hermia, as my parents call her”. He said as he turned off the engine and casually opened the door.

She followed suit. She hadn’t expected this, but like she had thought earlier, anything beats stewing alone in her dorm room. She got out of the car and shut the door quietly behind her, She had left her umbrella inside since it wouldn’t take long to walk into the house.

“Why is it a she?”. She asked as they converged at the front of the car.

He shrugged.

“Many reasons, one major one being because it is a family house; home, and homes are usually held together by mothers”. He spoke smoothly, then jokingly he added. “And the features are quite soft”.

She chuckled and he joined in.

They began making their way down the luxurious porch and then up the granite steps at the entrance.

“My parents aren’t home so we have the house to ourselves”. He said.

She nodded.

“The house is so big, I could get creeped out if I stay in it alone”. She said.

For a person who was always cooped up in the four walls of her dorm room being exposed to so much space felt a bit…..weird.

“If you live in it every day you’ll get used to it”. He told her. “Come”.

His fingers encircled her wrist as he began leading her upstairs.

“Couldn’t help but notice that the paintings in the other hallway caught your attention last time, you’ll like the ones upstairs”. He said.

She smiled, a faint blush staining her cheeks, she hadn’t realized he had noticed she was ogling expletive depictions of mythological characters. She cleared her throat awkwardly as she pushed the thought away, her gaze traveled around the house as they ascended the steps, the house seemed so organized and clean compared to the last time she had been here, the place had been cramped with sweaty bodies and all.

“How many generations of the family has lived here?”. She asked.

“Say five to six, maybe”. He answered.

“It’s why it’s a family home”. She said, understanding better.

“Yeah. Except the people who live in it aren’t much of a family”. He muttered quietly, but she heard, she chose to say nothing of it.

The house had a coziness to it, a warmness, it was homey, but there was something about it, it seemed….hollow, void of a thing or two which made a house seem like a home, she shrugged the feeling off. Soon enough they had gotten to the second floor, and the first thing she saw was a large framed painting depicting a monstrous man holding an infant over his widely open mouth which seemed deep and monstrous like him. She cringed at it.

“Kronus”. His voice came from behind as he came to stand beside her.