CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

NICK WALKER ©

Last night was still one of the scariest moments of my life. It reminds me of the day my mother abandoned Mira and me while Mira was still a baby.

Just thinking about that day made me sad again. It was the same fear I felt when Mira went missing yesterday.

And somehow, all of it started because of Professor Grayson’s assignment.

Speaking of Grayson… who would believe that I had the famous professor’s phone number saved on my phone?

The same professor almost everyone in school admired.

Thinking about it made me feel strangely proud. I still hadn’t told Avery about it either.

Avery and I walked down the hallway toward Professor Grayson’s office to submit the assignment. Just as we got to his door, Avery suddenly stopped me.

“What if he’s in a bad mood today?” she whispered.

I shrugged and knocked on the door lightly. “Who cares? I’m only submitting the assignment and leaving.”

“Alright then. I’ll wait outside,” Avery said.

I nodded before stepping inside.

I shut the door behind me and turned around, only to see Professor Grayson was dressing up. I froze on the spot.

He was buttoning his shirt when I walked in. My eyes landed on his abs and biceps for a second, and I swallowed hard before quickly looking away.

I heard him scoff quietly as he walked past me. He buttoned his shirt, slipped on his vest and adjusted it neatly.

“Uh… your assignment,” I stammered and carefully placed the papers on his desk. “This is the assignment, sir.”

He sat down in his chair and started going through them.

“Why weren’t you at work yesterday?” he asked without looking up.

“I was handling something important,” I answered softly.

He nodded once.

“Did you figure it out?” he asked again, still focused on the papers in front of him.

I blinked in surprise. I thought he hated talking about anything that's not related to school in the school premises.

He finally looked up at me, waiting for an answer, but I avoided his eyes.

Honestly, the room already felt awkward enough after what I had seen earlier.

I was about to tell him I was leaving when he suddenly held out a flash drive toward me.

“Here,” he said. “Can you check the latest file inside. I’ll send you another document. Compare both files and arrange the course outline if anything is out of place.”

Then he calmly went back to work like he hadn’t just dumped work on me again.

“But…” I started.

He looked up. “What? Do you have class right now?”

I slowly shook my head. I didn’t have class, but Avery was waiting for me outside.

A second later, my phone buzzed with the file he had sent.

I sighed quietly and sat down on the couch in his office.

Then I suddenly remembered to text Avery to avoid keeping her waiting

Me: I might take a while here.

I plugged the flash drive into the laptop on the table and opened the files.

Honestly, I never imagined I would sit alone in Professor Grayson’s office one day, helping him with work.

I stole a glance at him. He looked completely focused on what he was doing.

Then my mind suddenly replayed the image of him buttoning his shirt earlier.

I quickly looked back at my screen and swallowed hard.

Maybe I was starting to understand why people liked him so much. He really was the type of man people noticed.

I watched him quietly as he read through papers while typing on his computer. His sleeves were rolled up neatly, and he kept adjusting his glasses every now and then.

He didn't even look like someone who's used to wearing them, yet they suited him perfectly.

What on earth was I even thinking about?

“You’ve been staring at me for a couple minutes,” he suddenly said. “Am I finally your type now?”

My eyes widened and I quickly looked away.

“What? I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I muttered.

He scoffed softly.

“You’re cute when you lie,” he said. “Your ears are already red.”

“What? That’s not true,” I argued quickly with a nervous laugh.

He stood up and slowly walked toward me. I immediately avoided his gaze as he stopped in front of me.

For a few seconds, he simply stared at me with that unreadable expression of his.

Then, to my surprise, the corner of his lips lifted slightly before he walked past me and sat on the couch opposite mine.

He removed his glasses and poured himself a glass of water.

“You’ve never been in a relationship before, have you?” he asked casually and I almost choked on air.

“What does that have to do with anything?” I shot back.

He only nodded like my reaction had answered already. Then he said something in another language before pausing suddenly.

“What did you say?” I asked immediately.

He ignored me and returned to his desk.

“What language was that?” I asked again. “What did you say?”

But he didn’t answer this time or spare me a glance.

∆∆

~ FIVE STAR CLUB AND BAR ~

I bit my lip while staring at my phone screen. I had spent almost the whole evening trying to figure out what Professor Grayson had said earlier.

Avery already thought I was losing my mind because I kept repeating random words into my translator app.

The worst part was that I didn’t even know what language he had spoken.

I could barely remember the words properly.

“What are you staring at?” Shawn asked as he leaned closer. “You’re barely on your phone.”

“How many languages do you know?” I suddenly asked him.

He raised his fingers like he was about to list many languages.

For a second, I got hopeful.

“Just one,” he answered proudly. “English.”

I stared at him in disbelief while he casually returned to work.

Then why was he counting on his fingers like that?

A few minutes later, Professor Grayson walked into the club together with Mr. Kyle.

He had a cigar between his lips.

Our eyes met briefly before he headed toward the hallway leading to the restroom while Mr. Kyle and the others went upstairs.

This was my chance. I would finally ask him what he had said earlier.

I waited impatiently for several minutes. Then I finally gave up waiting.

“Shawn,” I called. “I’ll be back. I need to use the restroom.”

Without waiting for his reply, I hurried off. But halfway there, my steps came to a sudden stop.

The hallway was empty except for two people.

Professor Grayson and a woman.

They were making out against the wall near the restroom entrance. His belt hung loose while the woman's hands were shoved inside his pants.

For a second, my brain completely stopped working. Then suddenly, Grayson looked my way, looking straight at me.

His expression stayed calm and cold.

And then… he smirked