The Professor

Chapter 11

DALIA

It was Thursday morning and thanks to Norma and Weston’s girlfriend, Lia, who dropped by last night, I was running on three hours of sleep. They had convinced me to stay up late watching a TV series with them and regret had instantly set in when my alarm woke me up.

Now, I was trudging into my faculty with a cup carrier that contained two cups of coffee in hand because when Norma and I had stopped by the café so she could get coffee for herself and the professor she was a TA for, I did the same.

Yes, I got coffee for Noah.

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision and I should have probably asked before I got it because he might not want it – I mean, he only started to acknowledge me as his TA two days ago – but I hadn’t wanted to text him.

I hadn’t texted him since the day before I found out he was my professor, I hadn’t even opened our chat because I didn’t want to be reminded of club Noah and begin to think of what could have been if he wasn’t my professor.

…I should probably clear our chat.

My stomach churned a bit at that thought because part of me still didn’t want to accept the fact that nothing could happen between us now, and I pursed my lips. I then glanced down at the cup carrier in my hand while walking into the faculty building and let out a harsh breath.

If he didn’t want it, I would just drink both coffees.

As I made my way towards the elevator, my phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out to see a message from Chloe.

FBI: ???

FBI: You’re cheap

I rolled my eyes at the message but a smile still crept onto my face. She had texted me this morning, telling me to send her money, so I sent her a dollar to annoy her.

Me: Excuse me?

FBI: You’re excused

Me: You’re rude

Me: You won’t get another dime out of me

FBI: If only you had the dime

“Oh wow,” I muttered, letting out a laugh, before lifting my gaze from the phone to see someone in the elevator whose doors would probably close soon. "Hold the door," I called out, quickening my steps, just before the person turned around.

Oh.

Noah looked right at me and a moment later, a smile crept onto his face, surprising me. His gaze set my heart pounding and I drew my brows together slightly as I tried to figure out what I could have done to warrant that smile.

I didn’t see him yesterday but at his request, I had helped him proofread lecture slides, so was that why he was smiling at me? Or was it something else?

Noah then pressed a button on the panel, holding it down, with his eyes still on me and when I was just a feet away from the elevator, the doors closed. I paused. It took me a couple of seconds to fully process what just happened and my mouth fell open. What the– What an asshole! Wait, did he smirk because he wasn’t going to hold the door?

I scowled, guessing he still didn’t want me around him. Why did he tell me yesterday to drop by his office this morning then?

Ugh!

I proceeded to take the stairs, using the time it took to get to the floor his office was on to tamp down my frustration but when I got to his office, I was still a bit annoyed. I then took a deep breath before knocking and entering the office.

“Good morning, Professor Anderson.”

Noah cleared his throat and sat upright in his seat while I walked over to his desk. “Morning,” he replied, flashing me a smile, and I wanted to glare at him but resisted the urge to.

“You asked me to drop by?” I set the cup carrier on the desk and his gaze dropped to it.

“You got coffee for me?”

I raised a brow before realizing that he must have seen his name on one of the cups but since he didn’t hold the elevator for me, he wasn’t getting coffee from me. Yes, I was petty.

“No,” I bit out and frowned as I remembered him smiling at me before the elevator doors closed. Asshole.

“That’s the second time you’ve called me an asshole,” he said, the corner of his mouth tugging up, and my eyes widened.

Crap. Did I say that out loud?

“I–” Second time? “When was the first?”

“Sticky note in the trash,” he replied without missing a beat and I frowned again before remembering the note I’d torn up on Tuesday because I had called him an asshole in it. Oh my God.

“...Wait, why did you go through the trash and piece the note together?”

“Why are you looking at me like I’m weird?” he laughed and the sound of it made me smile broadly as I leaned against his desk.

“Because that’s a bit weird. And in my defense–” I cut myself off before I could say why I had written that on the note.

From the day the semester started till three days ago, he hadn’t wanted me around him because of what happened between us in the club so he definitely wouldn’t want me to remind him of it. I had called him an asshole in that note because of two things – the first was he had refused to let me be a TA because of what happened in the club and the second was what had happened in the café. Both statements were reminders of our history.

Ugh.

I swallowed and I stood upright. “I’m sorry. That was unethical. It won’t happen again,” I said and his smile faltered as he drew his brows together at my sudden change in attitude.

“...No, it’s fine. I’m somewhat of an asshole.”

Damn right, was what I wanted to say but I just gave him a small smile instead and stretched out the coffee I got for him.

“I didn’t know I was pressing close,” he said, his fingers brushing mine as he collected the cup from me, and I pressed my lips together. “I thought it was the open button. Sorry,” he added before I realized he was talking about the elevator.

“Oh…” And I thought he did it on purpose. “Okay.”

“Thank you.” He gestured at the cup and I gave him a nod before letting my gaze drop to his desk. There was a question paper that had ‘Analysis III’ at the top and when I realized it was the practice questions he had promised most of my coursemates, I knew that was why he’d asked me to drop by.

“Did you just guess what to get for me?” Noah asked after drinking from the cup and I shrugged as I picked up the paper.

Before he left me in the café that Monday, he had gone to the counter to get his order which the barista called out so I assumed he liked it and got the same thing for him. I just couldn’t say that.

“Dalia.”

Something about the way he called my name made me pause and though my eyes were still fixed on the question paper in my hand, I could feel his gaze pressing on my skin, melting something in me.

Stop it, I wanted to say. Stop staring at me like that.

But my brain loved having his attention on me because despite everything that had happened since this semester started, I still liked him. Crap.

“Copies, right?” I asked and he raised an inky brow before I waved the paper in my hand.

“Ah… yes.”

I plastered a smile on my face and grabbed my coffee. “I’ll get right on that,” I said before heading out of the office and when I shut the door behind me, I leaned against it, feeling like I could finally breathe again.

Damn it, Dalia.