5

LUCIA

Jeremy stared at me for a few seconds, and I saw nothing but pain and sadness swirl in the depths of his beautiful eyes.

“I don’t believe you, Lucia—”

“It’s Professor Darwin.” I answered sharply through gritted, my eyes darting around the class in a panic.

If anyone got wind of what was going on, my career could be over within a snap of a finger.

Jeremy let out an exasperated sigh, running his fingers through his tousled dark hair.

“Come on, Professor. You can not expect me to act like nothing happened after that night we shared. I couldn’t stop thinking about you no matter how hard I tried. I tried to find you, but you just disappeared into thin air, and now that fate brought you to me once again, you want me to just act like nothing happened?”

I let out a frustrated sigh, forcing myself to look cool and collected despite the fact that my insides felt like it was being torn apart.

I was filled with so many emotions, and the way Jeremy stared at me with so much sadness at that moment made things far worse.

“Nothing happened, Jeremy. The quicker you made your peace with that, the better it would be for you. Now, if you don’t mind. I have other classes to teach.”

My heart tugged, and my voice wobbled slightly, which I hoped he didn’t notice. I grabbed my bag and began heading out when Jeremy suddenly grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks.

“No–No. Please. You can not do this. How can you just act like that night meant nothing to you? It meant everything to me!” He exclaimed, his eyes wide and frantic, and I almost broke at the sight.

“Would you please lower your voice, Jeremy?!” I whisper-yelled, my heart thumping loudly against my chest as a loud exasperated sigh escaped my lips.

“It was just one night, Jeremy. Get over it.” I said in the coldest tone I could muster before snatching my hand away and storming out of the class, my high heels clicking loudly against the ground.

The urge to look back at him was strong as my hands trembled by my sides, but I managed to keep it together and look straight ahead instead.

I was still trembling when I got to my office, and the moment I dropped my bag and my desk, I sank into my seat with a loud sigh, feeling a light headache creep onto my skull.

How in the world could this happen? What are the odds that my one night stand turned out to be my student?

“A nightmare. A freaking nightmare.” I muttered to myself, pressing my cold fingers to my aching temple.

I couldn’t continue like this. I needed to do something about this. It was clear that Jeremy’s presence in my class affected me greatly, but what could I do about it?

It was not like I could ask for him to be moved out of my class without any substantial reason. If I did that, it would draw suspicion, and that was the last thing I needed right now.

I couldn’t just change jobs either. Lecturing at Crawford University was a dream of many, and I couldn’t just throw it all away.

It took me everything I had to get here, and throwing it all away would be the greatest mistake I would ever make.

I had no choice but to hang in here and just hope that this Jeremy problem would just go away.

Despite my sour mood, I managed to finish up the rest of my classes and get some work done, and before long, it was finally time to go home.

A loud sigh rumbled from the depths of my soul as I packed up my stuff. Today would have been perfect if I didn’t discovered that Jeremy was my student, but now, it is turning out to be one of the worst days of my life.

After saying goodbye to a few lecturers I met, I made my way out of the school, wasted no time hailing a cab, which took me straight to my apartment.

The moment I got to my room, I dropped my bag on the ground before collapsing onto my bed with exhaustion and frustration.

I placed my hands over my forehead, and after resting and trying not to think of Jeremy, but failing, I decided to channel all that restless energy into doing something productive instead.

I still had my stuff in boxes lying around, and I decided to take care of that. I spent hours arranging my stuff around the apartment, and by the time I was done, it was getting late.

I was in the process of cooking dinner when I got a call from Beth. A small smile spread across my lips as I picked up the call straying away from the kitchen.

“Hey, bestie!” Beth said chirpily into the phone once the line connected.

“Hey you. How are you doing?” I replied, placing the phone over my other ear as I strayed further away from the kitchen.

“I’m doing pretty good.” She answered, and I could tell that she really was doing fine from how chirpy her voice was.

“How’s Michael and the honeymoon?”

I heard her let out a contented sigh. “Oh, the best. Everything’s great. It's just the way I wanted. I wish you were here.”

I let out a chuckle. “Come on, Beth. It’s your honeymoon. Enjoy it to the fullest and then come back and tell me all about it.”

“You bet,” She answered, and she was silent for a second before she spoke once again. “Now, are you going to tell me what’s wrong? How was your first day at the university?”

I shook my head, wondering how my best friend managed to know that I had a bad day despite the fact that I tried to sound chirpy as much as I could.

“Wrong? Nothing’s wrong. My first day at work was great.” I lied through my teeth, hoping that I sounded as convincing as I could.

Beth was meant to enjoy herself at her honeymoon. I didn’t want to bring the mood down with my sob stories.

A scoff escaped Beth’s lips. “Seriously? Have you forgotten who you are talking to? I’m your one and only best friend. Your sister from another mother. Now, tell me what’s wrong, and don’t make me fly down there and beat it out of you.”

Despite my sour mood. I managed to chuckle at that.

“Ugh. Fine. I’ll tell you,” I answered, running my fingers through my hair. “Remember that singer at your wedding?”

Beth was quiet for a second, probably trying to remember who I was talking about.

“Oh, right. The one you slept with?”

I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t sleep with him.”

Beth scoffed loudly. “Don’t be ridiculous, Lucy. It was clear that you slept with him. Now, tell me what happened. Did you disappear on him after doing the deed, only to end up running into him at a coffee shop?”

I cringed internally. It would have been much better if that was what actually happened.

“Worse. I disappeared after doing the deed, only to end up running into him in class at Crawford. He is my student, Beth.” I deadpanned, and a horrid gasp instantly escaped Beth’s lips.

“Yikes! What the hell?!” She exclaimed, and I could not help the sigh which escaped my lips.

“That was exactly what I thought, too.”

“What are you going to do now? Teaching his class is going to be a bother now, isn’t it?” Beth’s voice turned soft.

“I’ll have to ignore him. Act like he doesn’t exist.”

“But can you? After the night you two shared?”

“It was nothing special.” I said even though deep down, I knew that I just told the biggest lie I had ever told in my entire life.

That night was the best night I had ever shared in my life and despite the fact that Jeremy was my student and I needed to stay the hell away from him, if it were up to me, I would repeat that night all over again.

“Keep telling yourself that, Lucy.”

“Look, it was nothing special, alright? It has to continue that way for the sake of my job and my career.”

“Fine. Alright. Just take it easy, okay.”

“For sure. You too.”

“I will. Thanks. Talk later.”

“Definitely.”

Beth and I said our goodbyes, and before long, the line went dead. It was at that moment I remembered that I was making dinner in the kitchen.

“Oh, shit!” I yelled, hurrying into the kitchen, and I let out a horrified gasp as the meal which I had spent hours on had just burnt to a crisp.

“Could this day even get any worse?!” I yelled, and at that moment, I accidentally hit my foot on one of the cabinets.

“Motherfucker!” I yelled, tears springing to my eyes as excruciating pain shot through my leg. I bent down to examine the foot, my insides seething with rage.

“I blame you, Jeremy.” I whispered as I managed to limp to the living room.

That night, I managed to order some pizza and while I ate, I prepared my lectures for the next day while trying to keep the thoughts of my hot student at bay.