The Music Producer and the Teacher 2

Chapter 4: Something's wrong, I can feel it...

When I woke up the next morning, Marshall was already gone. I walked into the kitchen and Melissa was already awake. She was cleaning up as she had just made breakfast- it was about mid-morning.

"There you are!" she said to me when she saw me. She was beaming at me, kind of like a proud mother. I rolled my eyes at her. "After the long night you've undoubtedly had, you'll want something to eat." As she said this, she slid me a plate of food, so I sat down to eat without any argument. She also winked at me. "Thanks." I said as I began to eat. I shook my head and scarfed down a few bites of food and then asked her "did you see Marshall leave this morning by any chance?" She nodded. "Yeah, actually, I did." She paused for a second like she was remembering. "He seemed kind of in a hurry. He didn't say much. I think maybe he might have overslept some." I nodded. He did fall asleep before me. He was probably tired. "Now that I think of it, he did mention errands before work." Melissa said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I nodded again and went back to eating.

The rest of the day was mundane. It was a Sunday, so I did some catching up on grading papers. I spent the evening in my room at my desk. Once I noticed the sun had went down I glanced down at my phone and saw the time: ten o'clock. Marshall had gotten in a routine of calling me once a day and always did so by eight, so I was beginning to wonder.

I decided to call him instead. The phone rang a few times and just when I thought he wasn't going to pick up, he did. "Hello?" he answered. "Marshall?" "Oh, hey, Marissa. Sorry I haven't called, I got really swamped with my work here." It was amazing how smoothly this came out. Like he had been rehearsing it. It was effortless. "That's okay." I replied. "You going to come over and see me tomorrow to make up for it?" I was trying to be flirty, but he didn't seem to be much in the mood. "Uhh, yeah, I think I can make that work. Did you have a certain time in mind?" he asked me. "No, not really. But I wouldn't mind if you were here when I got home from work." I was laying on as much charm as I could by now. It took him a few seconds to respond. Like he was really thinking about it, which was unusual. He was usually always down to spend time with me. "Okay," he said after what seemed like the longest pause in history, "I think I can manage that." I instantly smiled. "Good. I think I'm going to get ready for bed now. Goodnight babe." I replied. "Okay, goodnight Marissa" he followed, then we hung up. I kept my word and did my nightly routine and headed for bed.

Work the next day drug on forever. I knew the likely reason was because I was so anxious to see Marshall. Even though it had only been a little longer than twenty-four hours by now, it was starting to feel longer. Class was dismissed promptly and once my classroom was empty I grabbed for my phone. What I found, however, made all the excited butterflies in my stomach fly away as if they were being swatted at by a net. It was a text from Marshall:

I wont b able 2 cum over 2nite. Work again. Ill make it up 2 u later.

I really wanted to cry. I felt it coming on, but I resisted as hard as I could. I just gathered up all my stuff and left as quickly as I could. I was so focused on walking to my car and keeping my emotions in check that I didn't see the teacher from the classroom across the hall walk into my path. We bumped into each other and I dropped the folder of papers I was carrying. Thankfully, they were clipped together, so they didn't make that big of a mess. "Marissa? I didn't even see you coming, I'm sorry." She said as she bent down to pick up my work. "Oh, no that's okay. I was thinking about something else, I should have been watching." I said quietly. I was still trying as hard as I could not to cry. She noticed it too. "Umm, are you okay? You look upset. Need someone to talk to?" She asked me. I was planning to go home and gush to Melissa. But I was wondering if I could hold back tears that long. This teacher was friendly, but she didn't know me like that and I don't think today was a good day for her to start. "No. I'm fine. I think I'm just tired." I lied. "Oh," her face said she didn't believe me, not even a wink. "Well, how's that boyfriend of yours?" She smirked. How the fuck did she know? "Umm, he's alright." I said. "Why?" "No reason." She replied instantly. The look on her face made me feel uneasy. "Just wondering if he's cheating on you yet." What the fuck would make her ask me that? "No." I answered simply. I tried to remain calm. "Why would you ask me such a damn nosey question?" This lady had begun to irritate me now. "Let's just say I know a girl who dated him." She said, her tone was almost sinister. "Okay, and..." I paused and waited for her to continue. "Again, maybe I shouldn't have said anything." She said. "I'm sure everything is fine." Before I had a chance to swing at her, cuss her out, or say anything else for that matter, she got up and walked away. Now I felt even worse than I did before.