Professor Fischbach

Fifteen

Part Fifteen

*~10 months later*

I walked into Umi, a familiar sushi bar/restaurant that I had visited a couple times before. The cozy heat inside the building was a nice contrast from the crisp autumn air outside. I scanned the place - it was decorated with beautiful Japanese art, and there were couches and ottomans on one end and tables on the other, near the bar. I saw a few familiar faces as the employees bustled around, keeping busy. But I didn't see the person I was looking for, so I flashed my ID and took a seat at the bar, ordering sake sangria for myself and a yummy-sounding cocktail for my date.

I glanced at the TVs around me. There was a mix of everything from sports to home renovation shows to the news playing on them. I took notice of the house-flipping show that I recognized and watched it for a moment. Soon, a deep voice that I knew all too well was speaking to me.

"Hey, stranger!"

I turned around to return the greeting and Mark smiled, still in gray dress pants, a white dress shirt, and a red tie, all of which he had worn to work. He wore relatively new rounded glasses on his face and his arms were outstretched. I hugged him, squeezing tight for a minute before we both let go and sat down next to each other at the bar.

"I'm sorry I was a little late, there was some traffic," he explained, but truthfully, I had been a little early.

"It's no big deal, really!" I promised. "I'm just glad to see you. I missed you." I gave him a quick kiss, not wanting to be that obnoxious couple in public.

"I missed you too, Aria. Isn't it crazy how long a week feels when you don't live in the same city? By the time we get to spend time with each other, it feels like it's been forever since I've seen your face in person," Mark said.

"I know, but we're pretty lucky. Some couples have to go a lot longer in between dates and live a lot further away. An hour distance isn't too crazy, especially when we can meet halfway at awesome places like this."

"That's true. So, what crazy cocktail did you order me?" he wondered.

"It's called a Jorogumo. You'll like it, I promise!" He took a sip and he didn't look disgusted, so I knew it must have been a winner.

"Yeah, it is pretty good. You know me so well!"

The bartender came up to us and took our dinner order. We got a couple of different sushi rolls that we hadn't tried before.

"How was your day?" I asked, sipping on my drink.

"Good. I have a good group of students this semester. I have to admit that I do like U of C. Not as much as B State, of course, but it's still nice."

Since the incident with Adam Pinski, Mark had finished the school year at BSU (my school) and then he got a job at the University of Cincinnati, a different college that was about an hour away. He could have stayed at BSU if he really wanted, but he didn't want to take the risk. If Adam and Katie knew about our relationship, others could find out and a similar situation could happen again. So, Mark continued being a professor and I continued being a student - just not his.

As we sat together at the bar that evening, it wasn't even halfway through the fall semester and Mark and I were still somewhat new at this "long distance" relationship. But I think we had something pretty good worked out to make it easier. We saw each other once a week, making time on the weekends for dates. In between we texted, Facetimed, and talked on the phone. It was hard sometimes, but we were making it work. It was all worth it to me as long as I still got to be with him.

"You should come see U of C sometime. I know we're both busy, but maybe you could come after class someday," Mark suggested.

"We could meet at your office like old times," I laughed.

"We could. At least now we won't have to sneak around," he grinned. "My new office isn't as impressive as my old one, though. It's smaller and the view isn't all that grand. But there is still plenty of room for us to mess around in between classes and office hours."

"It sounds just fine to me," I smiled.

Soon our food arrived, and we filled our stomachs with incredibly delicious sushi and for dessert, mochi. Once we were both full, we paid and both headed towards my place. This year I had my own apartment, so I had the luxury of being alone when I wanted to be. Well, except for when Katie was home - she was my roommate, as expected. But she would be out late, giving Mark and I plenty of alone time. By the time she got back from a night out with friends from her classes, Mark and I were already sound asleep, perfectly content to be spending a Friday night with each other.

I felt so lucky to still be able to be with him, even after all of the drama and risk that had originally come from dating my own teacher. Maybe some people, like Adam, would judge me for it if they ever found out, or if we ever got married someday and ended up telling the story of how we met. Maybe they'd say it was wrong or immoral to be with him, and sure, the university probably wouldn't have liked it. But at the end of the day, I was above legal age, he was only a couple years older, and we both consented to the relationship. We were happy and we weren't hurting anyone, and that was all that mattered to us. We were in total bliss being with each other, and that was all we could possibly ask for. Even if I did miss being his student sometimes.

A/N: In case it wasn't obvious, this is the final chapter of this book! I know it was a bit short, but I really didn't have anything else to add to it. Feel free to imagine for yourself what Mark and Aria's future is past this final chapter, if you want. I hope you guys enjoyed this book, because I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for reading, voting, and commenting. And if you want to read more of my work, check out my profile - I have tons more books and one shots about Mark. Thanks again, and let me know what you thought of this story :)