MasukThe first month after my resignation was harder than I expected.Not financially, I had savings, and freelance editing work trickled in. But emotionally, I was unmoored. For ten years, my identity had been "Professor Wolfe." Now I was just Alexis, unemployed and living with a college student.I tried writing. Started a novel about academia and forbidden love, then deleted it when it felt too self-indulgent. Pitched essays to literary magazines and got polite rejections.Dorian had summer classes. He'd leave in the morning while I was still in bed, come home to find me in the same spot on the couch, laptop open but blank."You're depressed," he said one evening, setting down groceries."I'm adjusting.""You're depressed. There's a difference." He sat beside me. "Have you left the apartment today?""I went to get coffee.""The coffee maker is ten feet away.""Outside coffee. At the cafe.""When?"I didn't answer.He sighed. "You need structure. Purpose. Something other than staring at a
My mother showed up at my dorm three days later.I opened the door to find her standing there, face tight with fury."Mom....."She slapped me.The crack echoed in the hallway. My cheek burned."How could you?" Her voice shook. "Julie is family. She trusted you. Loved you like a son.""Can we do this inside?" I glanced around. Students were staring.She pushed past me into the room. My roommate took one look and fled."Do you have any idea what you've done?" She paced, hands clenched. "Julie is devastated. Her marriage is destroyed. And for what? Some crush on your professor?""It's not a crush.""Oh, please. You're nineteen years old. You don't know what love is.""I know what I feel.""You feel infatuated. With a man twice your age. A married man. Your aunt's husband." She spun to face me. "What's wrong with you?""Nothing is wrong with me. I fell in love. It happens.""Not like this. Not with someone so inappropriate.""He's getting divorced. We're both adults. There's nothing inap
The meeting with the Dean was scheduled for Monday morning.I spent the weekend preparing—gathering emails, reviewing university policy, consulting with a lawyer Dorian had somehow convinced me to hire."Even if nothing happened, you need representation," she'd said. Miranda Chen, sharp-eyed and no-nonsense. "Universities panic over these situations. They'll want to make an example."She was right.Monday arrived too quickly. I dressed carefully, suit, tie, the armor of professionalism. Dorian wanted to come with me."Absolutely not," I said."I should be there. I'm involved.""Which is exactly why you can't be there. It looks worse if we show up together."He hated it, but he understood.The Dean's office was on the third floor of the administration building. I'd been there dozens of times for faculty meetings, budget discussions, tenure reviews. Never like this.Dean Morrison sat behind her desk, flanked by two people I didn't recognize. HR representatives, probably."Professor Wolf
I woke to Dorian's phone buzzing relentlessly on the nightstand.He groaned, reaching for it, then froze when he saw the screen. "Shit.""What?""Aunt Julie called my mom." He showed me the notifications. Twenty-three missed calls now. Dozens of texts. "My entire family knows."My stomach dropped. "What do the texts say?"He scrolled through, face paling. "That I seduced you. That I'm destroying your marriage. That I......" He stopped. "They're not nice.""Let me see."He handed me the phone. I read through the messages, each one worse than the last.How could you do this to Julie?He's MARRIED. What's wrong with you?You should be ashamed of yourself.Stay away from him or I'm calling the university."Jesus," I muttered."My mom's is the worst." He pointed to a paragraph-long text. "She says I'm disgusting. That I've always been selfish and now I'm proving it. That Julie is like a sister to her and I betrayed the whole family.""I'm sorry.""Don't be. This isn't your fault." He took
I drove home in a daze, Dorian's ultimatum echoing in my head.*One month.”The house was dark when I arrived. I crept upstairs, expecting Julie to be asleep.She was sitting up in bed, reading lamp on."Where were you?" she asked quietly.My heart stopped. "I went for a drive. Couldn't sleep.""At one in the morning?""I needed to clear my head."She set her book down. "Alexis, what's going on?""Nothing. I'm just..""Don't lie to me." Her voice was calm but firm. "You've been different for weeks. Distant. Distracted. You barely touch me anymore."Guilt crashed over me. "Julie….""Is there someone else?"The question hung in the air like smoke.I could lie. Should lie. But I was so tired of lying."It's complicated," I whispered.Her face crumpled. "Oh God.""Nothing has happened. I swear." Not technically a lie. "But I…." I sat on the edge of the bed. "I need to be honest with you.""About what?" Tears filled her eyes."About us. About how unhappy I've been."She flinched. "How long
I kept my promise.For three weeks, I didn't push. Didn't linger after class. Didn't text. Didn't show up at faculty events.I was the perfect, distant student.It was killing me.But if Alexis wanted space, I'd give him space. Maybe he needed time to realize what he was giving up. Or maybe he'd choose his dead marriage and I'd have to accept it.Either way, the ball was in his court now.In class, I sat in my usual seat and took notes. Participated when called on. Nothing more, nothing less. Professional. Polite.And I watched him fall apart.The dark circles under his eyes deepened. His lectures grew distracted. Once, he completely lost his train of thought mid-sentence and just stood there, staring at his notes like he'd never seen them before.He looked haunted.Good, the petty part of me thought. Suffer like I'm suffering.But mostly I just wanted to hold him.************Three weeks and four days after the coffee shop, my phone rang at midnight.Unknown number. But I knew."Hel







