Page 2 of Forbidden Professor

Students were studying at their desk quietly, because they knew my exams were notoriously hard. When it came to finances, especially for business, there was little room for error. The last thing any business needed was to be audited. My job was to prepare my students for that.

“Alright, fifteen minutes is up. Amy will be distributing the tests to you all and you will have until the end of the class period to complete. Make sure you double check your work as this will account for 30% of your overall grade in this class.”

Amy came to the front of the classroom with my coffee and winked as she picked up the papers. She was a good student. I took a sip of my coffee and watched as she handed tests to the front row to hand back. It was already so quiet in here.

“You may now begin.”

I sat down at the desk and opened my laptop, going over the agenda for the next class. It was nearing the end of the semester and there were plenty of students who needed to bring up their grade if they hoped to pass my class. So, I BCC’d all the students with a C or lower and draft up an email.

Dear Students,

If you are receiving this email, you need to start thinking about what grade you want to end the semester with and make a decision. The rest of the semester is going to fly by and I don’t want anyone to fail my class. If you have questions, please feel free to respond to this email so we can set a time to discuss how to prepare you for the final exam. It will cover all the material learned throughout the course and is with 40% of your entire grade. My door is always open.

Thanks,

Professor Isla (last name)

The grades my students received reflect on me, and having a student fail a course was not something I wanted to bring to anyone’s attention. The university took matters like that seriously, and would conduct an investigation if enough students failed a class to see why. So, it might be in my best interest to get these students prepared now rather than later for the final. There must be information they weren’t understanding, and if so, that would be an easy fix if they would just reach out.

The next hour flew by, and the students handed in their tests. Some of them looked confident and others not so much. College was not for everyone, but after paying tuition, I sure hoped they took it seriously.

After they had all left the classroom, I packed my stuff up, ready to head home for the day. My notifications bar showed a voicemail from that call earlier. It intrigued me, so I unlocked my phone and listened to it.

“Good evening, my name is Paul from Largen Co. and we are looking for someone with your record to come in and do some freelance work for us. We have determined this should only take the weekend to complete and look forward to discussing it in more detail. Please give me a call back at 678-345-6790 at your earliest convenience.”

I hadn’t planned on taking any more jobs this year, but it was just a weekend. It could be an easy project. Should I call them back now? No, I should wait until I get home and settled. Sometimes, it was good to appear busier than I was. My reputation had gotten around to the surrounding businesses in the area and I had been getting more consultation calls.

The sky was dark and the wind picked up a little. Not as many students were in the quad as I walked by to the parking lot. They were probably cramming for finals at the library or at some campus frat party. I do not miss those days whatsoever.

After the short drive home, and changing into more comfortable clothes, I pulled out my phone and return dialed the number.

“Largen Co., this is Lauren.”

“Hello there, I am returning a call from Paul. My name is Isla.”

“Oh yes. He is expecting your call. One moment while I patch you through to his line.”

It went silent for a couple of minutes until I heard the receiver pick up.

“Good evening, Isla. I am thrilled you returned my call so soon.”

“Yes, sir. Can I ask what the consultation is for?”

“We are looking for someone to go through financials and cross reference those with the results of some projects to determine which would be best to put on the backburner, per say, until next year.”

“Is everything already together for it? Or are we waiting on reports to be finalized?”

“The project managers are supposed to hand in their reports soon and they will be ready for you. Does this mean you are interested?”

“Let me make sure I have nothing conflicting scheduled for the weekend and I’ll call you back tomorrow.”

“That’s perfectly fine. You were our first choice, so please let me know as soon as possible. Have a good night, ma’am.”

“You as well.” I said, hanging up the phone.

This sounded right up my alley. I might be a professor, but working alongside a business was something I wanted to do. Sometimes, they needed an outside perspective on what’s best financially, and word on the street was that I was good at what I did. During the summer, I had to turn down jobs because I was getting too many offers, and instead picked the ones who most needed my help. The consultations wasn’t all about money, in fact, I rarely asked what my compensation would be because it didn’t matter. It was nice to be able to help others out, especially with businesses. We had lost so many businesses in the area during the pandemic and sometimes they just needed a little guidance on how to cut back and use their resources. That was where I came in.

I had planned on spending the time at home this weekend, getting things tidied up around the house and maybe reading a bit, but I would be foolish to turn down the job.

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