Literature, lust and love - Professor Romanoff

TWENTY-NINE

I walked into the Dean's office on the first Monday of the Spring semester and when I saw Natasha sitting there I immediately felt sick to my stomach.

"Please take a seat, Miss Dunn."

I slid into the wooden chair and quickly glanced at Natasha who was observing my movements with a sideways stare, not revealing anything with her eyes.

"This is a sort of awkward conversation so I'm just going to nip it in the bud. The reason I've gotten you both here together is because I received an anonymous letter describing a relationship between the two of you, which extends much further than our guidelines. If this was true, I would have to report it to the university board and they would then make a decision on how to handle this situation."

I whipped my head at Natasha, and I watched as the colour slowly left her gorgeous face. My mind was running through the different outcomes that I had once thought of when I was first threatened with this, and I really couldn't see either of us coming out of any of them happy.

"Do either of you have anything you'd like to say to confirm or deny these rumours?" The dean pressed gently as if he was unsure of how to act in this situation.

"There was a possibility of a relationship between us," I started and Natasha widened her eyes at me, "but when I found interest in someone else and realised the awkwardness of this situation, we decided that we were much better off in a professional relationship. I'm not sure what the letter describes, but I can confirm we went on a date, but nothing further happened. If this coward has said anything else, they are pulling fiction out of the thin air. I'm sorry that you have had to waste your time with this, but I hope with my confession, the board will not need to hear about this, to preserve Professor Romanoff's professional image." I quickly pulled together the lie, hoping that by acting as if I was telling some truth, he would accept it.

The dean seemed to ponder my proposition before nodding slowly. "Thank you Miss Dunn, for explaining things clearly. It seems like this anonymous letter was just trying to stir up some trouble, but I can't see any, so you are both free to go. I'm sorry for wasting your time."

"Thank you, sir," Natasha spoke for the first time before getting out of her seat and leaving the room, casting a glance back at me.

"Can I look at the letter?" I asked the dean, curious to see what was said.

The Dean glanced down to his pile of papers and then back at me before shrugging and handing me an envelope. I quickly opened it and scanned my eyes over the words. Whoever wrote this knew about our dates, my trips to her house, our Russian lessons that included extra non-academic content. They knew everything, apart from her visit to California, but they knew in great detail everything else.

"Thank you sir," I thanked him, dropping the letter back on his desk, and quickly jumped out of the seat and walked into the empty hallway as my breathing started to get heavier and tears blurred my vision.

"That was clever, Desi, I think he bought it," Natasha whispered as she came to stand behind me. My lip quivered at the sound of her gentle voice, knowing that it wasn't going to be like that for much longer. She touched my hip and I jumped at the contact. "Desi, talk to me. Are you okay? I know that was scary but we got through it."

"Did we?" I turned around and let Natasha see my state. "Someone wrote to the dean, Tash. Someone knew exactly what was going on between us, and told your employer. We're not safe."

"Baby, it was probably Maria. But I'll find her and set her straight. If we play it cool, we'll be fine." Natasha smiled at me sadly, but I couldn't let her convince me otherwise.

"For how long? I have three years left here. Do you really want to hide our relationship for that long? Always be in constant fear and anxiety at the thought of being caught? The dean seemed very happy to send us along to the board, and we both know they're notorious for getting rid of problems."

"Desi, we can do it. We've been good so far, who's to say we couldn't make it?"

"And who's to say we could?"

"Desi," I cut her off by hungrily placing my lips on hers, moving them hastily against her luscious ones.

"Tasha, I love you so much."

"Don't, Desi," Natasha gritted out through her teeth. "Don't do what I think you're about to do."

"I can't make you go through this."

"Desi, if you love me, don't do this," Natasha pleaded, her eyes frosting over with tears.

"I'm doing this because I love you. Because I care so incredibly much about you. I will always love you, but maybe we're just not meant to be. Not now, at least. I can't let you sacrifice your career for me, I just can't, however much it absolutely breaks my heart to do this."

"Desi-"

"Natasha, we can't be together anymore. I'm walking away from you, before anything worse happens. I'm suspending our Russian lessons, and I'll transfer to Professor Maximoff's class. I'm sorry," I sob with tears running down my face.

Natasha's posture changed as she straightened out her spine. "I guess maybe this is for the best. I don't want to be with someone who won't fight the world to be with me."

"I want to! I just can't," I retaliated, but my silly arguments were of no use to her. "Goodbye, Tasha, I'm so sorry."

As I turned around and started walking down the hallway, I heard Natasha whisper under her breath, "I will marry you one day, Desdemona Dunn," leaving me with the tiniest amount of hope that one day we would be together again. But for now, our relationship could just not survive the scrutiny of the public eye. I knew Natasha would be angry with me, which is why I thought it would be better to transfer out of her class, as well as the fact that I didn't think I could stomach seeing her twice a week and not be able to interact with her like the way I used to. Perhaps I was being a coward, but I knew that I would not be able to cope with the stress of it all, so I decided to cut it off, like a wart. My heart belonged to Natasha, and I knew I would never get it back to give to anyone else, so I accepted my fate as I walked back to my dorm, and I soon finished writing in my journal about what I felt, which made me feel a lot lighter.

I submitted my self-sickness form, excusing myself from a week of lessons, as well as emailing the faculty office to ask to transfer to Professor Maximoff's class. When they asked for a reason, I simply replied that I had a conflict, and therefore needed the kink sorted out. The office accepted this reason and informed me that once my isolation was over, I could join Wanda Maximoff's class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. As satisfied as I could be, I shut off my computer, put my phone away, and stepped away from the world for a week.

A/N: GUYS! I'm sorry! I know you probs all hate me rn but blame it on Desi, not me! She's definitely being a bit of an idiot, like a huge one, but let's hope maybe she'll sort herself out and win Natasha back. This isn't really something I wanted to happen in my story but some of y'all asked for some drama and I'm gonna incorporate what you wanted into the future chapters, but first I needed to create some tension so that it could all play out well in the end. Also sorry for the whiplash, I loved the last chapter so much, but I need to get this over with so I can get back to writing more like that one. Love you all(pls still love me).