The Mistress' Revenge

An hour later

"Corin, I do not think this is a good idea," I tell Corin as she drags me to the classroom. Professor Rafael. Or whoever he was, was going to take the class.

"But we haven't even gotten the comments on the report," she tells me.

"Don't you see that as a reason to not take that class?" I wasn't sure if I was getting any more persuasive. But this was all a bad idea. We could clearly as well have our pitch rejected. After all, it wasn't like Professor Hank was going to have a change of heart.

"I am sure he might have rejected the report," I tell her. I was sure because I had made up stuff about the book that didn't exist. And he had read it. There were two whole pages of filler jargon that defined "smut", "revenge", and "mistress".

"We won't be the only ones there. Besides you know how close, Professor Rafael and I are," she tells me. Of course, classic Corin. Everything has to be about her.

"And you don't see a problem there, is what makes me doubt it more," I was so eager to take the next bus home. We had no business doing that class.

"Stop being such a wuss! Besides, I have heard even girls from Econ 101 are attending," she cried.

"What has that got to do with us?" I was the one who made a fool of myself. Why would she be the one who's worried?

"Don't you want to treat your eyes with his figure. You can just look, and take notes. Or pretend. I don't care," she says, striding forward with me by her arm.

"And tell me why am I dragged into this?" I ask her, and she lets out a gasp.

"What do you mean? I thought we were best friends," she tells me. The fuck! Apart from the rumours and shit, I didn't know stuff about Corin. Just a hunch that she was sketchy as fuck at times. Like now.

"Corin, I don't even know your last name," I tell her and she gets eerily silent.

"You don't have to, girl. You know my middle name. Corin Precious... And that's all you need to know," she smiles, batting her lashes.

"Pray tell me, why are you gaslighting the shit out of this?" I asked, and she clasped her hand on her chest.

"Don't be so dramatic, Jane! You know why," she tells me, and I looked at her wide eyed.

"And that would be?" See. Sketchy. As. Fuck.

"I want to know what you did with Professor Hank," she says, cutting straight to the bullshit.

"What do you mean?" Corin, the gossipmonger? Am I surprised? Should I be surprised?

"Come on, you don't have to hide it now. We know you two are boning," she tells me. The cheek!

"What the fuck, Corin? I am sorry for calling you a slut in the afternoon. Is this what this is about? I didn't know that you were method writing," I tell him.

"Good Lord, Jane. Don't tell me he got you too," she chuckles. "This is exactly how they behave when they found out that he already has a third lover. And a wife," she wails dramatically and I realised that we were right outside that class I was trying to avoid.

"You know what Corin? I have had enough. You think whatever you want to think, but I don't have fucking time to tell you stuff about me. You mean nothing to me," I tell her as her jaw hangs.

"Wait... Jane. I never believed the rumours. I thought he was not kissing you! Wait..." She yelled, as I stormed in the opposite direction.

I took the turn to the right, that took me straight to the little cabin where Professor Hank had his office. So much for being archaicly aesthetic.

I knock at the door, hoping already that he isn't there. On the third one, the door opens. The scent of musk cologne fills in the room. Inside, it's every bit clinical.

There's a weirdly shaped couch. A mirror. A weird as fuck chandelier and an enormous bookshelf. His desk is clean, except for a pile of papers which I assume are the reports.

He looks at me, and I peek in to see the chair behind the desk.

"May I have a word with you, Professor," I said, as our eyes meet. I realised his hair is no longer tied. It flows down to his shoulders. He's not wearing his coat.

A loose white shirt rests on his torso. He is wearing black formal pants, but strangely there's no trace of a tie. He wasn't going out then.

I steady myself against the doorframe. He leans in. I catch a whiff of alcohol.

"Have I come at a wrong time?" I ask, almost immediately. He rolls out a chuckle, gives me a once over and I realised that I have.

"Well, don't just stand there. I have stuff to do," he points at the huge stack of papers and I stand corrected. Maybe the papers were so bad he needed a drink to go down with it.

I stepped inside, finding his huge brown coat on the coat stand. He watches me eerily. His scrunity making me cringe from within.

"State your business, Jane. I am sure this might be so important that you deemed it appropriate to walk after my office hours," he says, relaxing against his chair. His legs stretch.

"Professor, I am so sorry- I wasn't thinking straight," I admitted. Perhaps it was what Corin said. Perhaps it was what happened the day before. As much as I had wanted to stay unbothered, I had failed to do so.

"This is about the other day," now, that could mean a hell lot of things.

"Quite subtle, now," he chuckled.

"Subtle is as subtle does," I mumbled and another one rolls out.

"Professor, did we kiss?"