My additional lectures with Professor Habib seemed like a waste of time. They were the instruments of my personal destruction. I had called Blessing and informed about this side project. She suggested me to stay there for the week and she"d deal with the work. With that out of the way I had good amount of time to concentrate on pointless mathematics lectures.I tried going into it with optimism, thinking that maybe it"d help me in some way. But the statistics she was teaching were nothing special. She was transitioning from stats to geometry for the four lectures I was in attendance. Except the formulae she threw out, the only other thing that came off as special was that she was pretty involved with her subject. She was a specialist with figures and numbers who was easy to approach.
Maybe, but not for me. Every evening I handed her the draft, she"d observe it and say nothing. Not once did she appreciate the steps I was taking, not that she seemed too fond of me in the first place. I was stuck in the situation I didn"t want to, but I had given consent to be used like that.
After a brief self-recap of the past week, I looked up to the black building I stood in front of. It was the address Professor had given me to her home. I stood at the front gate, waiting for some kind of call or even a text. Instead, I met a woman in maid"s outfit, offering me to guide through the villa. I took up on the offer and clenched my bag nervously.
It was the last evening and I was done with the essay. "INTEGRATION OF MATHEMATICS AND ITS NEED IN HUMAN CIVILIZATION" was what I called it. I wanted it to be shiny and catchy, something that can impress the professor in the first go. The inclusion of Euler"s Ident.i.ty and the Golden Ratio was bound to get some kind of reaction out of her. And I was waiting for all of this to be over so that I can go back to Pokhra to be with my girlfriend.
We were walking through a dark corridor when I started feeling heat. It was hot inside. So much so that the farther we walked, the more I wanted to shed my jacket. I was looking around, flapping my open jacket when my eyes caught the graphics than ran on the roof. It was dimly lit spider"s web all over our heads. It was all in red, that made my open my eyes wide to get a better look at it. On further inspection, it was not just a web. What seemed like a random interconnection of spider silk turned into cracks in the parched earth, with small little holes illuminated all around them. It seemed something out of post apocalyptic movie, and the image it highlighted was not the prettiest.
The end of the corridor was in sight now, giving me a chance to sigh in relief. I could see the red carpets and a huge staircase that was placed in the middle of a dining room. After walking a little further, I saw sofa sets and a fireplace on the right, and a bar with empty chairs on the left. It seemed something out of a 70"s mob movie. For a second, I was convinced Tony Montana was going to show up. But I was pleasantly surprised when I caught a glimpse of Amaan in a white bathrobe walking down the stairs.
It was the first time I set my eyes on her face. And Boy, what a face it was. A smooth white skin that formed her beautiful round face and plump cheeks. Those hazel eyes, rose pink, rich lips, and a perfect little nose completely complimented her curvaceous figure. Due to her being in an open bathrobe, I was able to creep my vision into the exposed area of her chest, belly and legs. She was a bit on the heavier side, and I could appreciate the body which was not a stick. I had liked Priscilla for pretty much everything, but her figure was one of the reasons. Same thing with Blessing, she is blessed with soft skin and fat at every right place. But none of them came any closer to the G.o.ddess who walked down the flight of stairs in white bra and panties, covered with her white bathrobe. She really did seem like a queen.
It was a good while of gawking at my professor before I realized my state and came back to my senses. I was dumbfounded when I laid eyes on her. the way she looked, the way she talked, the way she greeted me. It was all a blur in my eyes, because all I could do is commend G.o.d for making this human being. I was so afraid to touch her due to fear of dirtying her. The while aura emitting out of every pore of the skin mesmerised my brain and senses to high heaven.
Amaan had to snap her fingers in my face to bring me back to my senses. The visual stimulation was very high for me to function in a sane manner. So, I decided to hand her my final essay and dash out of the front gate to calm my bulleting pulse.
It was the last day of the torture. I had already called my girlfriend about all the s.e.x that we were going to have tonight. Granted I had given her the time four hours from now, which meant three hours of essay discussion with the professor and an hour of driving. But I thought I"d be discussing all my research with a woman under the covers. The one I had seen numerous times in the universities or lecture halls. The one who believed she could b.u.mp my grade up. I didn"t know under all the conservative clothing of her beliefs would be a wingless angel.
The golden hair fluttered as she continued to inspect me. Her worrisome expressions seemed too costly to be spent on me. Her small hand movements were reminiscent to fluttering of a hummingbird.
It was a splendid example of human beauty.
"I-I-I was her-here to hand you m-my notes." I struggled to get the sentence out of my mouth. But I was glad I did. Now all I had to do was hand her my material and dash out of the building.
I fished my bag and pulled out a red file with good amount of papers in it. I pushed it in her direction and let go. Then I immediately turned around and ran through the red and black corridor I came from.
Oh G.o.d, why did I do that? what would she think about me? Would she even be obliged to b.u.mp up my grade now?
All these thoughts consumed my mind as I dashed to the front gate and stopped right next to it. I was huffing, trying to get all the air I could to top up my lungs. I turned around and neither saw nor heard anyone coming in my direction. It was a moment of relief for me and I turned the k.n.o.b sideways and stepped back in the bustling street.
But I had just set one foot out on the uneven concrete when it hit me: why a professor had such power to make a change in my grade? Was she bluffing? Did she even have that power? Was I being used?
I released my bag pack from my clutch and stuck in halfway in the doorway. Then I completely step out into the brightly lit street. The air I breathed here was refreshing. But I had no time to waste. I turned around to face the door that was still slightly open. I looked for the intercom and asked a few questions.
"Professor, were you using me the entire time? And if you were, for what purpose? Was I too easy to manipulate? Huh? Do you even have the power to boost up my grade?"
"One question at the time, dear," I head professor"s voice turned into a robot. It felt like she was talking through a carburetor. "I do have power to do whatever I can with your grade. You see, I"m like a tree. On the top of the ground, the trunk, that"s me-The professor. But the strength of a tree doesn"t depend on its trunk. It matters on its roots. And I, my dear, have my roots running deep through this world. Especially our little university."
The ominous message that spat through the metallic filter gave me chills in my bones. She didn"t talk for almost ten seconds before she continued," I don"t care about the grade, you can have it. But the disrespect you have caused to me and my home, that is something you"d have to pay. The same woman who fetched you from the gate is coming back to fetch you, once again. Please make sure you follow her guidance and meet me in the main hall. I"ll be waiting."
I heard a beep and the line on the other side went static. I let go of the "SPEAK" b.u.t.ton and stood still for a second to register the threat she had imposed on me. Her roots ran though the world? That"s ridiculous!
I stood in the doorway and waited for the maid in question. But I didn"t have to. I could just pull out my bag and go to Pokhra three hours early. The grades weren"t that bad in the first place. So why did I wait? I could be ignorant and be on my way. But if there was a tiny sliver of chance that Amaan had more power than she let us see, I wanted to see it. I wanted to be safe from it. I wanted to do it… for me.