The key slid into the knob easily, and I twisted, causing the door to open. I stepped in, the only light coming from the small lamp on the end table next to the couch. I locked the door behind me and put my keys in my pocket before dropping my bag on the floor and sliding out of my coat. I hung it on the back of thedoor rather than putting it into the coat closet. I kicked off my shoes and pushed them closer toward my bag so they wouldn’t be tripped over.
I wandered through his apartment mindlessly, unsure of what to do without him there. I considered watching TV, but I decided against it. I wanted to surprise him.
I went to his bedroom and opened the closet. I was going to get one of his white dress shirts, but as I was reaching for it, something else caught my eye.
A wool sweater that opened in the front. I smiled as I picked it up from the shelf. I hadn’t ever seen him wear it, but it definitely gave off teacher vibes more than the white dress shirt that screamed corporate.
I removed all of my clothes and pulled on the sweater, buttoning the three buttons at the bottom. It kept the sides closed just enough that you could see the swell of my breasts and the center of my stomach all the way down to my belly button. I had a pair of heels that I’d left behind from one of our nicer dinners, so I slid my feet into them. There was a pair of black framed glasses on the bedside table that blocked blue light. He would wear them when he’d read in bed. I put them on and looked at myself in the mirror. I defiantly had the naughty teacher vibe going. I snapped a picture and sent it to him, telling him to come home quickly.
He texted back almost instantly.
ELLIOT: Are you trying to kill me?
I smiled at his response, giddy to see him.
EVE: I just want you to know that I’m waiting. I would hate to have to start without you.
ELLIOT: Are we switching roles tonight? I’m the student, and you’re the naughty professor?
His text gave me an idea. I turned and rushed toward his home office. What kind of professor would I be if I didn’t have a ruler?
Inside, I sat behind his desk and opened the top drawer, looking for a ruler. When I came up empty-handed, I closed it and moved on to the next.
In my attempt to hurry, I closed the drawer on the corner of a stack of papers that were standing upright in the bottom filing drawer. I quickly yanked it open, pushed the papers down, and once again attempted to close the drawer.
This time, the drawer closed, but I was a little too rough and it caused the desk to shake. The screen of his computer lit up, waking it from its slumber.
My eyes landed on an open document down in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. I’d never been the kind of person to snoop around someone else’s personal space, but for some reason, curiosity got the best of me.
I reached out and took the mouse in my hand. For a moment, I considered not opening the document. I knew it would be like Pandora’s Box. It could’ve been nothing, but it could’ve been something. And whatever it was, I couldn’t unsee. If I crossed that line, I had to be willing to deal with whatever it was.
I wasn’t ready for that. Things had been so good between us. I didn’t want to go looking for trouble. Plus, Elliot had never given me a reason not to trust him. Since we’d been together, he’d been nothing but open and honest with me. He even told me what happened with him and Gabe all those years ago. I let go of the mouse and turned to open the drawers on the other side of my chair.
Elliot did have secrets, though. I was one of them. What if there were more? More secrets? More… women? More lies? I turned back to the screen as my hand landed on the mouse once again. In the blink of an eye, I had the document open. I started reading it, and at first, I was relieved because it was nothing more than a paper that was written for class, but then it felt like I’d been punched in the gut. It wasn’t just any paper that some student had written for his class. It was the paper that I bought and submitted as my own, the paper that initiated our arrangement.
It was the exact paper that I had bought months before, the one I had edited and changed to make it my own. But how would he have that version? A memory washed over me of him telling me that the paper I turned in was the same paper that had been sold on campus for years. Maybe that’s how he knew that I cheated—he had a copy of the original. But why did he keep it open? I understand saving it so he’d have it over the years in case a student tried to base their work off it, but why keep it open for easy access?
The computer chimed, and an alert popped up in the top right-hand corner. It was an email notification. I didn’t even think about whether or not I should open it. I just did it. I clicked on the email and read over it.
Prof,
You do not need to worry about anything. I’ve been doing my job, and the Chase asshole hasn’t gone anywhere near your girl. I do have to warn you, though: I overheard him telling his friends that he’s been watching her and he thinks she’s seeing someone. He didn’t say you specifically, but if he’s watching her as he claims, he will eventually catch on to what you two are doing.
Elliot must have seen the email from his phone because his reply popped up on the screen.
32,
Thanks for the warning. Why don’t you do me a favor and toss some whore his way to occupy his attention for a little while? I’ll make it worthwhile. I just sent over this week’s pay. Let me know how much more you want to keep Chase busy.
Another email popped up. This time from PayPal. It was the receipt from where Elliot sent money towolvesfootball32. It was a payment of three hundred dollars.
My mouth fell open.
What the fuck?
He was paying someone to make sure that Chase stayed away from me.
For a moment, I forgot all about the paper I’d found only minutes before as I dug deeper and deeper into their emails. I followed the trail to the start of the school year. I’d read through some shady shit.
