The Professor Who Shouldn't Want Me

Hiding Something

POV: Henry

It was almost 5:00 AM when I woke up in Anne’s bed. I already knew I wasn’t going for a run, so I just grabbed my phone, killed the alarm, and went back to sleep with my arms around her. The problem with being an early riser, though, is that once you're up, you’re up. After tossing and turning for about an hour and a half, I finally gave up, got out of bed, and went to make some coffee.

Anne had a simple electric coffee maker, but it looked like it had never been touched. I thought that was a bit weird, but I brushed it off. I turned it on and started hunting for the coffee, took me a minute to find it. While I was waiting for the machine to do its thing, I heard Anne’s voice coming from the bedroom. Who is she talking to? As soon as the coffee was ready, I poured a cup and headed back toward the room.

“Do I have a choice?” I heard her say as I got closer. “The reason?”, she sounded pissed.

“Wow, Isabella! Thank you so much. I really don't know what I’d do without such a wonderful sister like you.”

I stopped at the doorway and just watched her.

“This whole conversation could have been a text!”

“I didn't know you had a sister.”, I said the second she hung up. She looked at me, startled, like a deer in headlights.

“Oh my god, Henry!”, she smiled. “I thought you went out for a run.”

“Did I jump-scare you?”, I teased, walking over to her. She nodded. “Sorry, I wasn’t feeling the run today.”, I sat on the edge of the bed and gave her a quick kiss. “You sounded pretty frustrated on the phone.”

“Oh, it was just... my sister.”

“Older sister?”, she nodded. “Does she live in Saugus too?”

That was the only thing I knew about her family, that they all lived in Saugus. But she’d never mentioned siblings before. She never said she didn't have any, but she never brought them up either. Was it weird that I knew so little about her family?

“No, she lives in New York.”, she said, getting out of bed. “We’re not that close... Actually, we’re half-sisters, on my dad’s side.”, she smiled. “Wow, that coffee smells amazing. I’m gonna go grab a cup.”, she hurried out of the room.

I sat there for a few seconds. Why did she seem so on edge? I’m not gonna lie, Anne did some things that I found a little strange sometimes. The bathroom breaks during the tennis tournament, going to the bedroom to change last night, and now, getting all twitchy just because I asked about her sister.

Most of the time, I’d just let it go, telling myself it was just my DA brain talking, always looking for something suspicious. Besides, we were doing so well. Our chemistry was off the charts; I’d never felt anything like it. So why ruin it by starting an interrogation? But as much as I wanted to buy that argument, I couldn't just let myself be blinded by the physical stuff. Damn it. Maybe it was time I actually started getting to know my girlfriend a little better.

I got up and went to the kitchen to find her. She already had a mug in her hand.

“This coffee maker is actually great. Have you had it long?”, I asked.

She took a beat before answering.

“No, just a few months.”, she replied. Before I could get another question in, she kept going. “But we don't use it much. Carol and I are Starbucks junkies.”, she grinned.

“Got it.”, I smiled back, trying to keep things light. “Is everything okay with your sister?”

“Yeah!”, she shot back quickly.

“Does she always call this early?”

“It’s because she’s a... nurse. She just finished a shift. She basically just called to vent about our mom.”, she finished her coffee and put the mug in the sink.

Our mom? I stepped closer.

“Didn’t you say you were half-sisters on your dad’s side?”, I asked as gently as possible. I really didn’t want this to feel like a cross-examination.

She was rinsing the mug and froze when she heard me.

“Yeah.”, she turned to face me. “But my mom basically raised her, so she calls her 'mom' too. Her biological mom wasn’t really in the picture...”

Okay, Henry, back off. You’re being rude. Maybe I should just suggest visiting her family over a holiday instead of grilling her like this.

“She’s not all bad, we’re just... different.” she continued. I was glad she hadn’t clocked my real intentions. “You probably don’t get that, right? Since you’re an only child.”, I smiled.

“Why didn’t your parents ever want to give you a little brother or sister?”, she asked, and I froze.

Touché, Henry. You wanted to know about her family? Now talk about yours. Quite the hypocrite, wasn't I? I wanted to suspect her of hiding things, when I was definitely hiding things from her. If I knew next to nothing about her family, she knew even less about mine.

“Because I was more than enough for them.” I forced a smile and kissed her. “I gotta head out. I still need to stop by my place to change.”, she nodded, and I left.

No more questions. I had to be fair. I wasn’t ready to talk about my family yet, so I had no right to demand that from her.

The rest of the day was a total drag, but I expected as much. I was working a huge case and was going to be buried until Friday. There was a reason I’d made such a point of staying at Anne’s on Monday; with the way things were at the office, I didn’t even know if I’d see her for the rest of the week.

That week was so hectic that even balancing my academic life with the DA's office was a struggle. I almost ran late for my Wednesday afternoon class. I ducked into the room and picked up where we left off, questioning the students here and there. Once again, Ms. Bennett was incredibly engaged. She answered almost all my questions and made some really solid points.

I had to admit, the change in her attitude was impressive. By that point, I’d already washed my hands of some students in that class. They all fit the same profile: rich kids who thought they were too good to put in any effort. Isadora Bennett was definitely part of that crowd, but for some reason, she’d suddenly decided to step up.

“Professor Anderson.”, Ms. Bennett called out as class ended.

“Yes?”, I turned to her.

“That article you mentioned, could you give me the full title so I can look it up?”

“You’re interested?”

“Definitely!”, she smiled, and I got the strangest feeling.

That smile was familiar. It was the exact same smile as Anne’s.