The Professor

Chapter 5

DALIA

I had s*x with one of my professors.

My hands clenched into a fist and I swallowed as Noah spoke to the class in that amazing voice of his… the voice I couldn’t wait to hear five minutes before he walked into the lecture hall as the f*****g professor. I couldn’t even focus on whatever he was saying because the only thing on my mind right now was I had s*x with my professor. When I had said I really couldn’t wait to see him again, this was absolutely not what I had meant!

One of my coursemates, Kristen, walked up to the front of the hall and as Noah handed her a stack of papers, his eyes locked on me. I hastily averted my gaze from his, digging my nails into my palms, and I shivered as memories of both of us in that room washed over me again.

Shit.

“Are you cold? You’re wearing a jacket,” Tamika whispered next to me and I shook my head sideways before pausing when I processed the latter part of that statement. I was wearing Noah’s jacket… I was wearing my professor’s jacket.

I sucked in a sharp breath, groaning as I shrinked in my seat, and wondered if he had noticed the jacket. Of course, he has! Oh my God… Should I take it off?

I didn’t want to look up to see if he was staring this way so I just kept my gaze fixed on the table, wishing I could somehow disappear from this hall, and slowly took off the jacket. Nathan had left a couple of minutes ago to make himself feel less icky after what I did to him and now I wished I had left with him.

After what felt like an hour of staring at the table, Weston nudged me with his elbow and asked, “Okay, what’s up”

“Huh?” I muttered absent-mindedly and finally lifted my head when Tamika slid a couple of papers in front of me. It was a form asking for some basic information and I took one before sliding the rest to Weston who was watching me with a small frown. “What do you mean?”

“You’re acting weird.”

“No, I’m not.”

“You are.”

“I’m not. Shut up.” The last thing I wanted was for our conversation to draw Noah’s attention to me but Weston didn’t know that. “We’ll talk after class,” I added and he nodded before I picked up my pen to fill the form.

First name, the first box asked and I took a deep breath while writing down my name, Dalia Campbell. Last name, the next box asked and I stared at it blankly for several moments before it clicked.

“s**t,” I muttered under my breath and immediately raised my head to see if Kristen had extra forms. “s**t,” I muttered again when I saw that she did have some left but she was on her way to return them to Noah.

I fixed my gaze on her like that would somehow make her realize that someone needed another form but she didn’t turn around till after she had given him the forms. Oh, God! I have to go over to him to get a new form.

“Dalia, what’s wrong?” Tamika asked, probably after noticing the panicked expression on my face, and I gestured at my form before she leaned over to see what was wrong. “Uh…” she trailed off as she pointed at a text that was at the top of the paper after a couple of seconds and I slightly furrowed my brows while I read it.

Please read carefully as you will only be given one form to fill out.

Oh for f**k’s sake! Can’t I catch a f*****g break?!

I read the text again like reading it a second time would make the words change and when I saw that I had read it right the first time, I gave her a panicked look. From the look on her face, I couldn’t tell if she felt sorry for me or if she wanted to burst into laughter.

“You can get the syllabus for this class on the eclass page and keep in mind that the final exam is worth a third of your grade,” Noah suddenly announced and my head swiveled in his direction. “I’m not the only lecturer taking this class so feel free to join the other one before the add/drop deadline,” he added before his gaze settled on me and I looked away from him again.

That last statement was directed at me and I would be stupid to not realize it.

“My office hours are Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from twelve to two PM.” He glanced at the clock as I began to nervously fiddle with my pen, thinking of how I was going to approach him to get another form. “I planned to keep today’s class short so class is over now. Come up to submit your form,” he added and people started to gather their things and get to their feet but I remained frozen in my seat, staring at my form.

“Aren’t you going to leave the class?” Weston asked and I glanced in his direction to find him on his feet. I then glanced at my right and saw that Tamika was no longer sitting beside me but was at the left end of the row, headed towards the front of the hall.

I quickly faced Weston again and grabbed his hand. “Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me,” I pleaded because I didn’t want to go up to Noah alone to ask for a form.

“Why? What’s -” he cut himself off as he stared at my form before snorting. “Oh, wow... It says you will only be given one form -”

“I know. I know. I just want you to stay with me while I get a new form and fill it out.”

“Uh…” He glanced at the door and I tightened my hold on his hand, drawing his attention back to me.

“I’ll give you ten dollars.”

“What the f**k?” he laughed.

“Twenty dollars.”

The smile slipped off his face and a line appeared between his brows as he stared at me, probably wondering why I was so desperate. His eyes then darted to Noah and it must have finally clicked that that was the Noah I had been talking about since Friday because realization washed over his face, then surprise. “No way. Don’t tell me…” he trailed off and I pressed my lips together, giving him a tight nod. “Are you- Oh my God… s**t… Come on.” He gestured for me to get up and I felt immeasurable relief at not having to face Noah alone.

“What would I do without you?” I quickly gathered my things, getting to my feet with a growing sense of doom. There were only a few people left in the lecture hall, submitting their forms, and I wanted to hurl myself out a window as I glanced at Noah but I took a deep breath instead.

Calm down, Dalia. Calm down.

“Let’s go.”

By the time Weston and I got to Noah, it was just the three of us left in the lecture hall and my stomach was churning. Weston submitted his form while I paused briefly to gather my courage and I took another deep breath before stepping up to Noah.

His eyes widened for a moment, letting me know that I wasn’t the only one panicking about our situation, but he quickly schooled his expression again and glanced at the jacket I was holding before clearing his throat. “Do you need something?”

I swallowed. “I– Yes. A form. I need a new form… sir?” I instantly grimaced at how weird the ‘sir’ sounded as I stretched my form out and his attention moved from me to it before he collected it.

He then glanced down at the paper and gestured at the small pile of forms on his desk before I walked over to it, grabbing one of them. Feeling his eyes on me, I filled it as quickly as I could, wanting to get the hell out of here but also not wanting to make any mistake this time because I didn’t want him to think I was stupid.

When I was almost done filling the form, I began to debate leaving the jacket on the desk. I mean, things were officially weird between us and our cafe date had to be off now, so… But what if he goes to the cafe? What if he wants to… I don’t know, talk?

Shit. I submitted the filled form, still holding onto the jacket, before grabbing Weston and speed walking out of the hall.

****

NOAH

This can’t be happening.

I kept my eyes on Dalia and her friend as they quickly moved towards the door and the moment they were out of the hall, I all but collapsed on the desk. “f*****g hell,” I muttered under my breath.

I still couldn’t believe it. Dalia… my Dalia… the Dalia that I had s*x with on Friday night was one of my students. I had been thinking about her up until I walked into the lecture hall and when I saw her sitting there in my jacket, I first thought I was hallucinating. But I wasn’t. She was absolutely real and a f*****g student.

My eyes darted to her form which was at the top of the pile and at her name before thoughts of Friday night filled my mind for the nth time since I found out she was a student, and I tightened my hand into a fist.

Fuck.

I rose to my full height, raking my fingers through my hair before I quickly gathered my things. I then headed out of the lecture hall and as I made my way to my office, it felt like what Dalia and I had done was visible on my face. Like someone could walk up to me without knowing me and say, ‘You had s*x with your student, didn’t you?’

Fucking hell. I knew I was being ridiculous but I couldn’t help it.

“Noah, there you are!” someone called out, snapping me out of my thoughts, and I glanced at the direction the voice had come from to see Avery Dunhall, a professor, heading towards me.

“Oh, hi Avery.” I cleared my throat as she came to a stop in front of me with a wide smile on her face and I slightly furrowed my brows when I realized that I hadn’t told her I would be here. “You were looking for me?”

“Yes. I had brunch with Shane on Friday and he told me that you were going to start teaching here,” she replied and the corner of my mouth twitched as I remembered she was Shane’s friend. “I heard he had an accident. Is he okay?”

I shrugged, wondering why she was asking me that when she was closer to him than I was. “He’s fine, I guess,” I muttered and my eyes darted to the clock on the wall behind her. It was 10:20 and I was meant to meet Dalia at the cafe at 11.

I can’t go, I thought but it felt like I was trying to convince myself not to. Yes, she had become strictly off-limits as of twenty minutes ago but I couldn’t stop thinking about her in ways that I shouldn’t. I had grown quite attracted to her over the weekend and I had really been looking forward to meeting her today. I couldn’t just turn off how I felt.

This was a mess.

“So… how was your first day?” Avery asked, reaching forward to take the forms I was carrying but I moved it out of her reach and she tilted her head to the side.

“Uh, it was fine. It was just the syllabus. I’ll see you around.”

“Wait,” she called out, grabbing my arm when I turned to leave, and I raised my brows at her. “We always have a mixer at the beginning of the school year. It was meant to be this evening but it was postponed to Friday evening because some of the lecturers can’t make it today. It’s just for the new lecturers to get acquainted with the old ones so… Friday?”

It didn’t sound like an event I would want to attend because a couple of the lecturers here were my parents’ friends, but Avery looked like she wouldn’t take no for an answer so I just said, “... Sure.”

She flashed me a smile as she let go of my arm before lifting her hands up and adjusting the collar of my shirt, an action that I found a bit weird seeing as we were barely friends. “I guess I’ll see you around then.”

“Sure.”

She smiled again before turning around, heading in the other direction, and I adjusted my grip on the things I was holding. The moment my eyes darted to the clock again, Dalia popped up in my mind, and I blew out a harsh breath before I resumed walking to my office.

When I got there, I proceeded to spend the next thirty minutes trying and failing to not think about Dalia in any way other than as a student, if she would go to the cafe, and if I should go to the cafe.

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

It took me another couple of minutes to conclude that I had to go to the cafe because I couldn’t just turn away from this. We were going to keep running into each other in school and I couldn’t just forget that night ever happened.

Of course, I could pretend like I didn’t know her but it would just be uncomfortable for me. I needed to talk to her in person and going to the cafe was the only way for me to be able to do that.

I definitely didn’t think meeting her at the cafe was a good idea but I also didn’t think calling her to my office or contacting her to set up another meeting between us some other day was a good idea either.

…What if she doesn’t show up?

I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t — I mean, she looked absolutely freaked out during the class — but she took my jacket with her. She took it off in the lecture hall but she didn’t leave it behind after filling the form even though she could have. That had to count for something.

I got to my feet, letting my gaze linger on Dalia’s form for longer than a moment before putting away the things I had brought with me from the lecture hall, and as I slid a textbook into its place in the bookshelf behind the desk, a knock came on the door.

“Professor Anderson,” a voice called out and I glanced over my shoulder to see the girl that had helped me share the forms in the lecture hall, standing in the doorway. I don’t think I caught her name.

“Come in.” I turned to face her as the corners of her mouth quirked up and she stepped into the office. “What can I do for you?”

“Good morning, sir. I’m um, Kristen, and I’m here to apply to be your TA.”

“Oh.” I did need a TA but I couldn’t do this right now. It was almost 11.

“I know your office hours are twelve to two, but I saw you head in here a while earlier and you didn’t leave, so I thought…” she trailed off when I grabbed my coat which was hanging on the back of my chair and put it on. “I’m sorry. Should I come back later?”

“Yes. I have to leave right now but if you could come back sometime past twelve that’d be great.”

“Okay. Good day, sir.”

****

Dalia wasn’t at the cafe.

I had been waiting for quite a while now but she still hadn’t shown up and I was starting to believe that she wasn’t going to. I sort of felt… disappointed.

I pursed my lips, tearing my gaze away from the cafe’s glass door which I had been focused on ever since I got here, and rubbed my eyes as I began to go through the messages on my phone.

Should I just call her? I thought and let the idea linger in my mind for a couple of seconds before deciding against it. I didn’t know what I was going to say to her if she did show up here so what would I say if I called? She probably wouldn’t even answer the call.

I heaved a sigh and stopped using my phone, taking another couple of seconds to decide that I had to leave. I couldn’t keep waiting.

I got to my feet, pocketing my phone, and as I began to make my way over to the counter to get the coffee I ordered earlier, I caught sight of the person standing on the other side of the cafe’s door. Ah…

Dalia was here.