My Professor's Secret

06|

six

When morning arrived along with the realization of where Taylor and I spent the night before woke me, I jumped to my feet. Eager to wake her and leave immediately, but all that was left behind in the place she slept was an indent. My phone laying on the side table of Professor Thornton's bed barely survived last night's turn of events had been completely dead and useless now.

The room door was cracked, so I listened for the slightest possibility of a conversation between Taylor and Professor Thornton but there was nothing but silence. She was probably in the bathroom or playing with her niece in her room. Whatever it might've been, it didn't change the fact that I slept in my teacher's bed last night or that the only person connecting either of us enough to diffuse the circumstances seemed to disappear without a trace.

I rubbed the evidence of sleep from my eyes and puffed my morning breath into my palm to make sure it was sustainable enough to hold a conversation before I walking into his living room. His back was to the island in his kitchen with his focus on a video playing from his phone. I held my tongue for a moment hoping Professor Thornton would notice me first and speak up, but the video on his phone held more interest than my arrival to the living room did so I cleared my throat to catch his attention.

"Alexandrea," he gasps, spinning around to meet my gaze. "I didn't hear you come in. I'm glad you're up because my shift starts in ten minutes. I couldn't bring myself to wake you earlier considering the night you and Taylor had. It was obvious you needed the rest."

He locks his phone and shoves it into a pocket of the white apron around his body and slowly approached the front door.

"I-sorry for holding you up. Where's Taylor?" I questioned, following him to the door to slip on my shoes. "We can totally get out of your hair. I figured she'd wake me up when she got up for her class today, but I guess not."

"Well, actually, she tried. We both did. She told me all of your classes were at night and because the only thing I had planned today wasn't until four, I didn't see the big deal in letting you sleep in. Her and I got up early this morning to handle everything with the key, she dropped Emma off at daycare for me and then headed to class. That's actually your key over there on the coffee table," he points, grabbing his keys dangling from a hook near the front door.

My jaw nearly hit the ground in shock and although I didn't mean to laugh, a humorless one laced in embarrassment slipped from my mouth. In what world was anything like this even remotely okay?

"Wait, what do you mean she went to class? She's gone? What time is it?"

"It's no problem, Alexandrea, really. It's ten til four. Given the situation and the fact that her class started at eight this morning, there wasn't much time to waste. Perhaps we could finish this conversation in the car? I should really be going."

Four in the afternoon! That meant since eight this morning, I'd been in his house without Taylor. I hadn't started to feel uncomfortable until now. He'd tried to wake me up and I had no recollection of it whatsoever. Once my shoes were on, I grabbed my key from the coffee table then headed towards the door again.

"Professor Thornton, I apologize for Taylor leaving me in your house and for making you late to your job, but I'll be leaving now."

Avoiding eye contact was quite possibly the only thing keeping humiliation from drowning me in a stream of tears. I reached for the doorknob desperately trying to make a clean break, but the moment I did, our hands collided with one another. Not even a millisecond later, Professor Thornton flinched his hand back. In the midst of that, our eyes met momentarily until he cleared his throat, attempting to play off the flinch as a means to scratch the top of his head.