Tempting her professor

CHAPTER ONE

“Your boyfriend is in room 302 of Elysian hills. Aren't you curious about what he's doing there?”

The message which popped up on her phone immediately distracted her, making her look up from the laptop, her eyes bleary with exhaustion.

Like all writers who worked from home, her hair was held up in a bun with paper wraps strewn around her. She was Carla Beaumont, a final year student of economics at Halisburg state University.

She had been trying to meet up with the required word count for book promotion when the message distracted her.

Carla frowned deeply.

“What's William doing in Elysian Hills? Wasn't he supposed to be in River City? Did the sender make a mistake?” She muttered and unlocked her iPhone.

Her heart skipped multiple beats for it was not a mistake. A woman was straddling her boyfriend. And while her face was hidden, his was very visible. Her hands began to shake and cold sweat appeared on her body.

“It's impossible. How can William cheat on me? The long hours I stayed before the computer screen working to make the ends meet must have caught up with me. Yes it's not him.”

But even as she shook her head in denial, she was already standing up and grabbing the purse beside her. The room was a mess, dirty cup of coffee, paper wraps from snacks she binged on while working. Open flask of water, pen and paper on the floor, and her Mac. She didn't even remember to shut down her system before leaving—she was that disoriented.

Carla rushed out of her unit, which automatically locked on its own, wearing her old sleeping cardigan and joggers. On her top were the words ‘hello kitty’, and a slight splash of coffee, visible from her half zipped cardigan. She was wearing pink socks, and a pair of mismatched slippers. In her hurry, she forgot to check the slippers she was taking and just inserted her legs into the first pair her feet met.

The moment she left the elevator, she ran outside to flag down a taxi not realizing she looked like a clown. Patches of chocolate were on the side of her lips.

“Elysian hills, hurry.”

“Ma'am, you might want to check your face.” The driver issued a kind reminder.

She turned on her phone’s camera and used the wipes she found in her purse to clean off the marks on her face.

“We're here.” the driver announced and she immediately got down, pushing a twenty dollar bill into his hand.

The driver wanted to tell her it was not enough, but she was already running inside. He sighed helplessly and allowed her to leave, assuming that she must have been in a hurry due to an emergency.

She had run past the security guards before they remembered that Elysian hills were for the upper crust of the society. Before they could give chase, the elevator had taken her to her destination.

“Room 302, this should be it.” She hesitates for a while, wondering if going in was the right course of action. Just as she picked up her phone to call William, she heard a familiar voice.

“How about that girlfriend of yours? The one that looks like a failed experiment between a thrift store and a nun?”

“What girlfriend? That disgraceful piece of trash is not qualified to be associated with me.” William her boyfriend said, making everyone in the room burst into laughter. Her brain froze up, unable to process what she just heard.

Carla immediately kicked the door open, unable to take it anymore. Her eyes went straight to the 3 o'clock direction where the sender had circled, and sure enough, William was seated there with the same girl kissing his neck and rubbing his groin area. The rest were either in pairs or trios, equally in the middle of something sinful, or simply playing games.

“William, you bastard!” Carla roared, rushing to pull the girl off him.

She immediately delivered a slap to the girl's face before she saw who it was.

“Ah? Arlene? It's you.” She whispered, rubbing her eyes continually to make sure her sight wasn't failing her. But that signature mischievous smirk and eyes filled with disdain made her realize that it was indeed her best friend who messed around with her man.

“Arlene, why? Why is it you?” She whispered, barely able to hold back her tears.

“Oh please, spare me your sob story crap. It's not my fault he doesn't want you. Who wants to be associated with a frumpy little librarian like yourself?”

She tried to slap her again, but William blocked her and slapped her, making Carla see stars. She spun like a top and collapsed on the floor, looking disoriented.

“Did she raid her grandma’s closet? Gross.” One of the girls said, making them chuckle.

“Damn! She's a walking fashion disaster, even designers would look like thrift store reject on her. She's pitifully shapeless, no wonder William doesn't want her.”

“Look, here, you piece of trash. I don't want to see you around me anymore.” William spat, adding another dagger to her already bleeding heart.

“Why? What have I not done for the both of you? William, I called in lots of favors from the professors to get you the contract you wanted. Arlene, even though I didn't have much money, I paid your last tuition and boarding fees because I didn't want to see you dropout of school. I suffered after that because I had no money left. But I never complained. Anyone else can hurt me, but not the both of you.” Carla shouted, getting to her feet with tears in her eyes.

Her waist was aching from the impact when she fell, and she was overwhelmed with sorrow. The giggles and insults from William's group of friends wasn't her problem, the cheating duo was.

“Why will you cheat on me? With Arlene of all people.” She whispered, walking towards William.

William smirked and leaned closer to her.

“Do you really not know? It's because you're ugly and frigid, you won't even let me touch you.”

“That was because I was saving…” Carla immediately began to say, her hazel eyes wet with tears.

“Spare me that nonsense. If you were any more of a prude, they would put you in a museum. You're always cold, plain frigid like a hundred years old corpse. Go back to your books, you have no business being in a relationship. No man can desire…”

He ran his eyes over her, giving her a once over.

“...Something like you.”

“Eww! When last did she take a shower? Poor William. Who would want to be seen with that?”

Carla screamed, unable to hold it back, her eyes red with anger and pain.

Arlene walked to her with a smirk on her face, and leaned closer to her.

“No man wants you, that's why you live in your head all day, romanticizing encounters, because you will never get to experience them in real life.” Arlene who was livid with anger at being reminded in public about how she had to depend on Carla for money added, driving the nail etched in her heart even deeper.

“You don't deserve someone of William’s caliber. I will take good care of him. Watch me become the young miss of Turner corporation on your behalf. Thanks for the times you delivered those contracts, we will go public soon. The company is doing really well, you have done your part by helping it grow, leave the spending to me. Lest I forget, William bought me Star pearl diamond set yesterday, you know the price right? Go back home to your books, and enjoy your perpetual loneliness.” She whispered, digging her long nail into Carla's hand under the pretence of patting her.

“You all will regret this.” Carla muttered, earning her loud mocking laughter from the group.