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.