“Miss, are you alright? Would you like some water?”
His eyes were filled with concern, but Jain managed to regain her senses, breathing in deeply through her nose and out through her mouth.
“Please, let’s just get on with it. I just want this over.”
“Ok. We understand. I’m going to be recording this conversation, for the record.” He leaned over and pressed record on a tape recorder that he placed on the desk between them. “Could you please state your name?”
“Jain Martin.”
“Thank you, Jain.” The officer then declared the date and time before launching into the questions.
How old were you when you met?
Who instigated the contact?
Whose idea was the home tutorials?
How many times did you have sex?
Did he tell you he loved you?
The questions were endless, and Jain answered them as honestly as she could. She hated how they were worded but kept reminding herself that at the time, she had been months away from her nineteenth birthday.
Surely it couldn’t be so bad.
Could it?
Jain: Two Years Later
"Kellan, you're honestly doing well. With your grades like this, you could easily get into most universities if you wanted to." I smiled, staring again at his results. It had been almost two years since he had his first lesson with me, and now he was in his final year.
The spots had faded, the clothes were in a much better state than they were years ago. He was a gorgeous-looking young man, and all he had needed was a bit of guidance and belief.
Although I thought his girlfriend had something to do with it.
"How's Tammy?" I asked.
Kellan smiled to himself. "Alright. How's Mr Silver?"
My smile faded before glancing at Kellan with feigned annoyance. "He's doing well, thank you."
Kellan nodded before placing his hands behind his head thoughtfully. "So, like, he served time. Does that mean you're into bad boys, Miss?"
"Hardly relevant, my dear boy. Clearly, Tammy is." Ichuckled, trying to divert the conversation away from Evan.
The truth was it had hurt like hell Evan being away from me. It had only been a year, reduced to six months for good behaviour. But he had paid a heavy price—a six thousand pound fine, and he could never teach again.
Evan has been back now for almost a year, and as much as we had been to hell and back through the criminal justice system, he was right.
It was easier.
When he was sentenced, I was allowed to remain in his house. I didn't know it at the time, but he had made legal arrangements beforehand so that the house wasn't seized in any way. His car too. It was almost like Evan knew what would happen because I also began to get regular payments into my account from his brother to continue paying the mortgage and bills.
"Teachers and students though, Miss..." Kellan winked, bringing me back to reality.
"Indeed. Now, I don't think I'll need to see you again. So, I wish you all the best with whatever you choose to do."
Kellan stood up, smiling as he took his exam papers from my hand. "You know, I respect Mr Silver," he said quietly, his hand hovering over the door handle. "He did something wrong, and he admitted it. That's not easy to do."
