His office, my rules

CARTER

I knocked on the door lightly and waited until I heard a soft “come in” before gently pushing the door open.

Her eyes widened slightly when she saw me, almost as if she had never expected me to walk into her office. Well of course I wouldn’t have.

“Professor Vale” she said immediately she recovered from her shock.

I nodded. “Miss Cross”

“What a pleasant surprise!” she beamed.

“I should be asking you that”

“Please have a seat” she gestured to one of the chairs in front of her small desk.

I shook my head. I wasn’t here to chit-chat.

“Can I know why you were at CarTer Law firm the other day?” I asked blankly.

She blinked. I wasn’t expecting to catch her off guard. In fact, I was expecting a carefully orchestrated excuse.

“I was there for research”

“With no authorization?”

She hesitated, “I did talk to you before hand”

“No you didn’t”

“Yes I did”

“How did you find out I work there anyway?”

“I …uh … It’s not a secret you know”

I knew that, but it wasn’t common information either. This woman before me was starting to irritate me. I knew she had motives. But I couldn’t figure out what exactly they were yet.

“Miss Cross. Just to be clear, don’t go snooping around my company again” My voice was stern and she knew I was serious.

She didn’t say anything, so I stormed out of her little cubicle she had for an office.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Dante’s line.

“Carter?” His voice came through the speakers.

“I met her. It was the same Vanessa I work with, "I said to him. I had walked into Vanessa's office without full proof that she had been the one who was at my office. But I didn't need proof, she had just ratted herself out.

“I thought so because what are the odds?”

“Exactly. Has Mr Pierce gotten his copy of the agreement?” I asked.

“Yes. Everything is settled now”

“Good” I ended the call. It took a while before we could get Mr Pierce to an agreement because he was causing a scene. I was relieved we had sorted everything out now.

“Professor Vale” I turned and spotted Dean Holloway. Great, another person I didn't want to interact with.

“Dean Holloway” I didn't bother to fake a smile.

“I see you have met Miss Cross” he said and I realized I was still a few steps away from her office.

“Yes and..?”

“No issue. She was on sabbatical for a while and now she's back”

“I heard”

“I’m sure she's looking up to professors like you”

“That's good”

“How about she learns a thing or two from you?”

“Why me?”

“She has great potential and you two seem to have a few things in common”

I turned to face Holloway squarely. “Here’s how she can learn, Tell her to stay far away from my company”

I could see the lump form in his throat as he swallowed. “I’ll be sure to let her know”

He had better. He knew CarTer had been a great help to the university and wouldn't do anything to change that.

“If you’ll excuse me, I have actual people to teach” I said and brushed past him.

I walked into the classroom, already exhausted mentally. I knew I didn't have the strength to teach much so I gave a test.

I picked up the chalk and scribbled the word ‘TEST’ on the board. This action caused murmuring to erupt amongst my students.

“No murmuring. And you have to provide your own paper sheets for this test. It’s a surprise for me too” I said and they all giggled.

Facing the class, I could see Miss Adeniran whisper something to Eli, making him laugh more. I couldn’t help but notice how his cheeks become more visible and pinkish when he laughs and the way he squints his eyes shut.

Put yourself together Carter. I listened to the voice in my head and quickly skimmed through my notes to find a suitable question.

“Five minutes more” I yelled a few minutes after I had given them the question. For a moment I thought about the amount of time I would spend grading papers but decided I would worry about that later.

“Time up. Come up individually to have your papers’ submitted”

Students started getting up from their seats to hand in their test papers. I watched them one by one as they placed their papers along with the rest of the pile in my hand.

Eli was next to submit his. When he dropped his paper, his fingers brushed mine a bit and sent a mini shiver down my spine.

I pretended to look over his paper, “Not bad” I muttered

“Not bad?”

“Yes. You could do better. Now move, you're in the way of others” I said and it may have come out a little harsher than I intended because I saw his face change a bit. Like a mixture of sadness and disbelief, before he walked out.

I was so close to calling him back but u decided against that.

Eli

“Stop” Maya exclaimed “He did not do that”

I stopped along the walkway and gave her a stare, “Do I look like I’m lying about this?”

“Well.. It’s so hard to believe”

“Exactly. That’s why I think it is a trap”

“But isn’t he still with that curly-headed, hot girl?” Maya asked.

“Yeah, Zarah. I thought about that too. But you know what? I’m just going to forget that this ever happened. I’m sure he’s going to do the same too”

“Yeah, you better. I don’t want to hear you talking about going back to him”

“What? Eew No” Now it was her turn to give me a death stare. I mean, Ew was definitely not a word you would use to describe Liam, at least not physically. He was handsome and had a hot physique but he mainly behaved like a jerk and I should have figured it out the moment he asked me to keep our relationship a secret because he wasn’t ready to ‘let people know about us’.

“Just keep your distance Eli” Maya warned.

“Hi guys” a voice came to join us.

“Hi Theo” I gave him a small nod.

“Hi” Maya mumbled.

I couldn’t tell if she was being nonchalant or if she was no longer interested in THE Theo Walsh.

“Are you guys heading to class now?’’ he asked.

“Hm hm” I nodded,

“It doesn’t start until the next fifteen minutes” Maya cut in.

“Well yeah” Theo scratched the back of his head.

Was he getting nervous? I side-eyed Maya and she seemed to catch a glimpse.

“I wanted to invite you to my party next weekend,” He continued.

My mouth flew open. A party? I hadn’t been to a college party in ages.

“Wait. Both of us?” I asked, coming back to my senses and realizing maybe, only Maya was getting the invite.

“No silly” he laughed “Both of you”

Why did my heart do little somersaults in my heart?

“Thanks, we’ll try to be there” Maya said

Try?

“Good. I’ll be sure to send you both the invites” He almost blushed and walked off.

Damn someone has a hard crush.

“What was that about?” I asked Maya as soon as Theo was out of hearing distance.

“What was what about?”

“I thought you liked him?’’

“Well, feelings die,” she shrugged.

Typical Maya. “And you’re sure it’s not more than that?”

“No it’s not” she was quick to reply so I left it.

In a few minutes, we were walking into class. We were in no rush, but I left Maya, who was associating with some other classmates, to go pick a seat for us.

Carter walked in pridefully. He didn't look up, he just picked up a piece of chalk and went straight to the board. He scribbled the words ‘TEST’ on it and everyone just had to grumble.

“Really? A freaking Test?” Maya scoffed, taking her seat beside me.

“No murmuring. And you have to provide your own paper sheets for this test. It’s a surprise for me too” He said and laughter ruptured amongst us.

“Your hot professor thinks he is funny. Why don't you try to screw him so we can know about tests like this” Maya whispered to me and I laughed even more. On a different day, I would have side-eyed Maya but today, her statement made me laugh.

Carter read out the questions from one of his notes and gave us only fifteen minutes to take the test.

I was lucky I had brushed this topic a while ago, so I had something to write even though I didn't know it all. I made sure to craft my words carefully and write neatly in order to impress him. I don't know why I felt the need to impress him but I just did.

“Five minutes more” his voice echoed in the quiet lecture hall.

At this point, I had written all the things I knew but the ones I didn't know were still left blank. I looked at Maya, and she was busy writing away.

Fucking smart ass.

Just when I was done scribbling whatever came to my mind, Carter’s voice came up, “Time up. Come up individually to have your papers’ submitted”

Seats began screeching and everyone started shuffling to submit their papers.

When it got to my turn, I could swear I felt my fingers brush Carter’s but the expression on his face could tell that he didn't notice a thing.

He observed my paper. “Not bad” he muttered

“Not bad?”

“Yes. You could do better. Now move, you’re in the way of others”

Couldn't help but be stunned at how his words sounded. A feeling of hurt spread through my chest as I walked out shamefully. This was different from how he talked to me when we were alone.

I hated that I felt this way.

ELI

“Do you think I deserve that?” I asked Maya who was pouring juice from a jug into several cups.

“No you didn’t” she answered but wasn’t paying attention.

Maya had decided to volunteer at a charity event this weekend, and I was only tagging along because I didn’t have anything better to do and I liked to help whenever she volunteered.

“But do you think I’m overreacting?” I asked

“Maybe.” she finally looked at me. “Can you pass the stack of cups over there please. I’m running out”

I groaned and followed her orders.

“I actually started teasing you about Professor Vale as a joke, because I remember you describing your dream man and that man is the perfect example. I didn’t think the whole crush thing would actually be serious” she said when I handed her the cups”

“What? What are you saying? I do not have a crush on Professor Vale. I’m just saying that I do not appreciate the way I was spoken to the other day”

“Well, I hate to break it to you, that’s how Professor Vale is. Not for once has he ever crossed me as someone with a soft heart. He’s always cold”

Maya did have a point, Carter was always cold. Now that I thought about it, he was mean too. He was only nice to me sometimes.

“Hi. One cup of strawberry please” Theo said, hovering over the small serving table.

“Hey, Theo” I chimed and Maya handed him a cup of strawberry juice.

“I didn’t know you volunteered at charity events”

“No, I’m not volunteering. It’s Maya’s thing” I said and nudged Maya.

“Yeah, it’s a me thing” she gave a fake chuckle.

“Do you volunteer?” I asked him

“Sometimes. I’d love to see you at some events anytime soon”

I was literally fighting butterflies in my stomach but not in a weird way, in a normal way because Theo Walsh was talking to me. What I didn’t understand was why Maya was trying to be so nonchalant about it.

Well at least because of her, I get to be friends with Theo Walsh.

The day went by slowly but good. I started chatting with a few people. Maya’s volunteer friends and also Theo’s friends. They were fun and cool to hang around with. When it was past noon, we dispersed to find ourselves lunch. Theo said he had a good spot around the venue that served good sandwiches so he decided he’d take us there.

The diner had a nice vibe and captivating ambience, and it looked quite fancy.

“See, I told you” Theo said with his arms spread out. He had been rambling about how cool the place looked and it was truly worth his hype. “Wait till you taste the food”

I looked at Maya, who had a small smile tugging at her lips. She was probably smiling at Theo. He actually did look good under the diner lighting. I could not blame her.

We sat in the booth at one corner of the diner, Theo, Maya, and two of Theo’s friends, Tyler and Luke. Minutes later, a waitress came up to take our orders.

Theo made us order the chicken salad and gave us free will to choose our drinks. I noticed Theo making small talk with Maya and I was beaming for my friend. I was still going to keep an eye on Theo though, Maya was someone I would never joke with.

We were only a few minutes into eating when a familiar scent hit my nose.

“Hey man” Theo stood up from the table to greet his friend. Who apparently had to be Liam.

“I didn’t expect to meet you here” He said. He hadn’t noticed me sitting at the table.

“I could say the same. What are you doing around this side of town?”

“You know.. My parents. The whole charity stuff they do. I had no other choice” He put his hands up.

“Cool man. I’m here for the charity too”

Before Liam could respond, he had noticed me sitting at the table. He looked at me with disgust, as if he hadn’t come knocking on my door a few days earlier.

“You’re hanging out with him now? Them?” He pointed to me and May and then looked at Theo

“Hey, it’s just a harmless lunch” Theo tried to defend himself.

Now that I thought about it. Theo probably knew about Liam and me and was still comfortable hanging out with me? His friend’s ex. They were never close friends anyway, but I guess it still mattered. Bro code?

“Nope. This is messed up Theo. Is it because of her?” Liam pointed to Maya. He'd better not disrespect her to my face. Maya remained silent and was still chewing on her sandwich amidst the subtle exchanges so I mirrored her energy.

“Dude. You’ve got to move on. By the way, you said you were the one who broke up with him” Luke, one of Theo’s friend’s joined in.

“I’ll forgive you all, but don’t pull this shit again. Ever” He walked away looking defeated I couldn’t help but smile inwardly. It made me like Theo and his friend’s even more.