Under Control.

11. That sounds nice

She received a very concerning message from her mother. During her entire class she felt uneasy. 'Listen to my voice note, as soon as you can dear.' That was enough to put her on the edge of her seat. She couldn't concentrate as her mind continued to make up possible scenarios of what could have happened. Her father was a quiet man, she communicated much more with her mother. Regardless she knew that they ought to have discussed her in their bedroom before coming to terms with speaking to her about anything.

Karishma waited until the students who were seating beside her evacuated. Not wanting them to hear her mother yelling if that was the case. There was a lot of ruckus as everyone went out, she couldn't hear much of anything. Mr Clifford was fixing his projector notes for the next lesson. He was dressed in a light pink Polo Ralph Lauren shirt, with white golf shorts. She couldn't help but admire seeing him in somewhat casual clothing.

Speaking to other students who were headed out. "It's Friday, you know what that means!" He chuckled.

"Golf!!" The three jocks replied mischievously. It was as if he was friends with everyone. Sometimes it made her jealous or it made her realize that she was far from special. He treated her the way he'd treat anyone.

"Ace it, Hunter!" One of the guys told him. Karishma has seen him around a few times. He played for the schools football team.

"Professor Clifford, to the rest of you. Don't mind Tyrone." He joked making everyone else laugh. She was distracted, forgetting about the voice note that had been making her feel uneasy. She knew very well, it was too expensive for her parents to make an international call, WhatsApp voice notes were the cheaper alternative. They called here and there but not every single day. Her family lived a comfortable life, they were far from poor but university tuition was capable of setting any family behind.

"Karishma?" He greeted her.

"Professor Clifford!" She grinned. "Odd seeing you dressed this way?" He was always the formal type.

"Is it?" He asked with a smirk.

She blushed, looking away from his stare. "Well... my father hosts a golf tournament every season. All proceeds go to orphanages."

"Wow! That's admirable. Your family must be well off sir."

"Not at all..." he replied, one thing he always told himself was, it was his father's success not his. Therefore he could never claim any of it.

Yearning to continue talking to him. She added something obvious. "You will be playing as well?"

"Ofcourse, I would never miss the chance to teach my brother a lesson."

"That sounds nice..." Karishma grinned distracted. She admired the way he spoke, the way he was so down to earth, his friendly stature. By the looks of his car, subtle overspending, different collections of Rolex watches that he always wore without fail. Giving it another benefit of doubt, perhaps she was judging him too quickly, maybe he had worked hard for everything that he had. He was after all the youngest Professor in his faculty. Something he took pride in.

Looking around they realized everyone had evacuated and they were alone. It was hard to ignore the sexual tension between them. He looked at her lips and she looked up at him innocently. He cleared his throat trying to compose himself.

"Yeah... it's nice." He replied.

"Must be." She giggled nervous.

"It really is..." he mumbled, aching to close the distance between them.

"...yes..." She added as if they were speaking about entirely something else.

"Definitely..." he muttered, eyeing the door... he was thankful it was slightly closed but not entirely. In that moment he decided to risk it all. He'd kiss her. All common sense put aside, he couldn't deny her and himself something that they had so badly been wanting to avoid.

Closing the distance, he laid a somber kiss on her lips. He perked on her bottom lip. It made her whole body tingle so did his. They both let out a shaky sigh as they deepened the kiss. She pulled him close by gripping his shirt. He held her waist, allowing himself to feel something that he had envied to have. This was their first kiss and they had both initiated it. In that moment she wanted more of him, he did not want to go anywhere else either. Ongoing, they both knew it was wrong but continued to enjoy each perk, lower lip bite and giggle amongst the kiss. So many chances they had to kiss but never did. Every night before they slept they'd imagine how it could have been and this time, that day... they didn't have to imagine anything because it had finally happened. Instead of feeling guilty, they both felt butterflies and excitement.

Not getting enough of each other. They finally pulled away, surprised they had managed to get away with a kiss in a public space that could have ended both of them in seconds if someone had entered. There was one camera but it was facing a different direction and nothing from their angle could be seen.

Caressing her cheek, he was the first to speak. "We'll talk about it later, I will call you." She then remembered her mother's voice note that she had forgotten. It was in that moment that Karishma's guilt settled in. She abruptly left, clearly ashamed of herself. It was just a kiss, not sex. Hunter told himself, they were perfectly fine. He didn't regret it, infact he wanted more of it.

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