MY PROFESSOR AND I

Chapter three

Zoey woke up at seven thirty a.m. the next morning, thirty minutes before her class. She jumped off her bed and ran to the bathroom to have her bath, she hurriedly put on the clothes she set aside to wear today. She woke Linda up before running out of the room. Luckily for her, she got to school five minutes before her class, and she ran through the hallway. Her eyes were deep in her phone when she heard a familiar voice. “Good morning class” She raised her head up shocked to see Desmond standing in front of the classroom. She froze when their eyes met, he was her professor, she screamed out in her mind, pinching herself to wake up from her dream because she couldn’t believe her eyes. Desmond cleared his throat and started teaching, he was shocked to see her in his class, he had told her everything about himself except the fact that he was a professor at UCLA.

She actually enjoyed his teaching, he was a good professor and a smart one at that. After class she ran off, she was the first person to leave the classroom. She waited in her car until it was time for her other class.

“What’s up, girl? Are you ok?” Linda asked but she didn’t get a reply. Zoey was lying down on her bed staring at the ceiling, she jumped up in shock when Linda touched her. “Oh, you are back” she said catching her breath, realizing she was no longer alone. “Are you ok girl, you look like you have seen a ghost” Linda said laughing. Zoey just smiled and assured her that she was ok. Her phone kept vibrating on the bed, when she picked it up Desmond popped up on the screen, she had been ignoring his calls and messages for hours now. She didn’t know what to say to him so it was just better to cut communications with him, he was her professor for god's sake. He had given her over

ten missed calls since he started calling and had sent her over twenty messages that she did not bother to respond to or read. She just stared at her phone as the texts kept coming in. She didn't want to get into any trouble or throw her life away because of him, her school was against students having affairs with any of the staff, and if caught you would be expelled. She spent the whole night watching funny videos online trying to distract herself from thinking about Desmond.

Zoey sat down at the school cafeteria eating lunch while waiting for her next class when her phone rang, she looked at the screen and saw Desmond calling, she turned off her phone and kept it in her bag. She had a feeling that someone was watching her, she looked around and their eyes met, he was walking towards her. Her heartbeat increased the closer he got. “Are you following me now?” she spoke in a low tone at as she looked around to see if anyone was watching them. Desmond sat down opposite her with a warm smile on his face. “No I'm not, I just happened to bump into you here, I eat here too sometimes, this place is not just open to students but to all the school staff as well.” He took a big bite of the sandwich and made a weird unsatisfied face, he dropped the remnants back on his plate, he took a huge gulp of juice. “This is why I barely eat here, they barely serve fresh food.” he pushed his plate aside and checked the time on his phone. “Please Zoey we really need to talk, I can't seem to get you out of my mind ever since we met. I'm sorry I didn't tell you where I work because you are schooling here, how was I supposed to know that you were going to be one of my students? Let's meet up after school today, or any day you are free, just call or text me ok?” he picked up his tray and walked away.

After class Zoey sat in her car with her phone in her hand, contemplating whether to call Desmond for them to meet up or not. She kept her phone back in her bag after convincing herself it was a bad idea and drove off to the hostel. As soon as she put the key in the keyhole she heard footsteps running around, she shook her head and smiled knowing Linda was not alone in the room. She rested her back on the door and waited for about five minutes till she heard Linda call out her name, trying to hold herself back from laughing. She walked into the room to see Linda sitting down on her bed with a guy next to her, they were both sweating and breathing heavily. Zoey said hello to both of them, dropped her bag, and was heading straight to the bathroom when Linda stopped her. “Don't go in there yet, give me five minutes” Linda told her and ran into the bathroom to clean up the mess she left there. Zoey looked at her funny when she came out of the bathroom with her head down. She picked up her change of clothes and went to have her bath, when she came back out Linda and the guy had already left.

“I'm going clubbing tonight with my friends, would you like to join?” Linda asked Zoey as she was looking for what to wear, it was her friend's birthday and they were going to celebrate it at the biggest club in town, so she needed to look the part. Zoey sat up and nodded, she didn't want to be alone tonight thinking about Desmond. She got up and started going through her luggage to pick out what she was going to wear, she had yet to put her clothes in the wardrobe because it was filled with Linda's clothes. “Wear that” Linda threw a gown at her. “Pack a bag, put in everything you need for the night and also a change of clothes for class tomorrow, we’ll be going straight to school from my friend’s house tomorrow. I have an eight o'clock test and I can’t afford to be late.” Zoey quickly had her bath, packed her bag, and put on the gown. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled, she looked different, but in a good way, she brushed her hair down and let it fly freely. She sprayed her perfume and picked up her purse and her bag before heading out.

She watched Linda shake the security man with cash in her hand and he hurriedly opened the gate for her. Linda drove them to her friend’s house. Suzan, was a Chinese girl, with brown eyes and black straight hair. There were two other girls, Jesse and Tasha, it was Suzan’s birthday and there was loud music playing, and there was a lot of food, cakes, and drinks on the table. Zoey wondered why they still wanted to go clubbing when they had everything they needed here. The girls were super friendly and in less than twenty minutes she was already out of her shell, talking to them like she had known them for a long time.

“Let’s go girls, let’s go and celebrate my birthday at Tarex Club. Bills on me” Suzan said dancing around. “I mean bills on my man.” She brought out his card from her purse and waved it around while she twerked. They all got into her Range Rover and she drove out of her estate in speed. It was Zoey’s first time in the club, she sat down watching the girls dance around, pouring drinks into their cups every five minutes while she was still on her first cup slowly sipping it because she didn’t want to get drunk. Seeing how Linda and her friends were drinking she could not trust anyone one of them to drive them home, she would be the one to drive if they all wanted to make it home alive. She ordered a bottled water and kept her drink aside. She felt a chill all of a sudden as if someone was staring at her, every time this happened she was always right, it was like her superpower. She stood up and looked around, there he was sitting down among three other guys. Desmond raised his cup to her and signaled her to come over with his hand, but she shook her head and sat back down. Desmond was not going to take no for an answer tonight, they were not on school premises and he was under no obligation to stay away from her here.

He finished his drink in just one gulp and started making his way towards her, when Zoey turned around he was just a few steps away from where she was sitting down. She quickly stood up and excused herself, she didn’t want Linda or anyone of them to see him with her, she didn’t know if they would recognize him from school or not. She held his hand and dragged him through the crowd to a quiet corner. “Look who we have here,” he said smiling, his breath reeked of alcohol. “What are the odds? The odds of us bumping into each other unexpectedly twice in just one day. Why can’t you see that this is fate, baby girl? We are soul mates and you are letting the world come against us because of what? Because I am a professor.” Zoey could tell that he was drunk, even in his drunken state she still found him cute and admirable. She didn’t know what to say or do but to keep staring at his lips as he spoke to her, she found herself drawn to remembering the first kiss that they shared.

Desmond took two steps forward, he was right in front of her, their bodies touching, and she could literally feel his breath on her. He leans closer with his face a few inches away from hers, she froze, her heart was beating so fast. She didn’t know what to do, whether to pull him in for a kiss or push him and run away. She stood on her toes so their lips could touch, Desmond finally made the move, he wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss.