Page 6 of Forbidden Professor

I looked out on the parking lot wondering if this dinner was a mistake. Of course it was for a variety of reasons, but I was still going. An opportunity like that wasn’t going to come up again, so I needed to take advantage of it. I had so many questions. Why did she stay in Oregon? What did she do after graduation? Was she married? Did she ever think of me?

Isla was the last woman I had a serious relationship with and honestly no one had ever compared to her. Pathetic, right? It wasn’t a bad thing with how invested I was in my work, but now that she walked back into my life, it left me questioning so many things.

After Isla broke up with him and I graduated, Largen Co. offered me a part-time internship and I jumped on it. Oregon wasn’t a bad place to live and it kept me busy and focused. Sure, I thought about her still sometimes, but work had always been my focus. Finding a cure meant everything to me and I couldn’t lose my focus now.

Things were going to sticky tonight, but I had to keep my eye on the prize. As much as I would love to rekindle things with her, right now was not the right time.

But when would be the right time?

All these years I had been wondering if we would ever run into each other again, and now I was making excuses as to why I couldn’t be honest with Isla. My insecurities were coming out and sometimes I needed to just pack those motherfuckers back in. I didn’t want to be alone forever, and the only person I truly ever saw a future with was somehow sort of back in my life.

Tonight would be my chance to at least figure out were things were with us. It didn’t mean we had to start dating tomorrow or anything, but knowing that we might both be open to testing the waters again, would be a step in the right direction.

I had spent enough of my time on work and nothing else. Isla, if she wanted to, deserved to be a priority too. Second chances only come around once and things needed to go perfectly.

Isla

Easton had always been head strong. It was one of the many qualities I loved about him. He always knew exactly what he wanted to do and went for it. It took balls and courage with his past, but he made it. To see him here, doing something he had worked so hard for, it was eye-opening. Yet, now I was here to possibly shut down his project. This was insane. Why the hell did they have to call me? I didn’t want to be the reason his trials were put on pause and possibly cancelled altogether.

After visiting the labs for the day, I took the elevator down to the lobby. The thought of going to dinner with him made my stomach tense. When the elevator opened, Easton was waiting for me. His shoulders were tense and he was pacing. Did being around me bother him that much? We had such a good relationship and hate seeing him like this. We had some things that needed to be discussed. No matter what, I didn’t want him to have any hard feelings toward me.

“Hey there!” I said. “I would have been down sooner if I knew you were waiting…”

Being around him gave me butterflies again. There was no ring on his finger, so he was obviously single or at least not engaged. Tonight would help determine if there was even the slightest chance of giving us a second chance. I would be lying if I didn’t say I hoped. I’d been waiting for the right guy to come along.

“I don’t usually leave this early.” He said, looking over to a man by the doors.

“Is it a problem? We can go another time.”

“No, it’s just… he has asked me out to drinks a couple times and I’m always here late. Might look funny that I’m leaving early with you.”

He had a point. “Let’s reschedule then.”

“Not a chance. Let’s go to Sorento’s Italian. It’s just right down the road and very good.”

A smile appeared and now I was excited. Something had changed since I saw him earlier. Was he biting at the bit?

“Sure, I’ll meet you there.”

We walked out to the parking lot and went our separate ways to our cars. After getting inside and starting the engine, my hand went to my forehead. What the hell was I going to do? This was not how I expected today to go. Running into Easton, especially. So many regrets now. Breaking up with him back then was the right thing to do. If he had turned down internships or jobs to stay close to me, he would have ended up resenting me later on.

There was no more point to regretting that decision because the universe had brought him back into my life for a reason. It was shaking me awake, showing me what I was missing, and now he was within my reach.

You did the right thing. Now let’s go get our man.

8

Easton

I pull up to Sorento’s Italian and take a parking spot with one open next to it. What are we even going to talk about in there? Isla was a beautiful woman, still was, but could we ever be ourselves again? My heart was still broken from the last attempt, and I just don’t know if I could let her in the same way.

I sat in my car, waiting for Isla to arrive and trying to find talking points that are safe for dinner. Our breakup was out of the blue. I thought we were both happy but obviously not. There was so many times I wanted to reach out but didn’t. I figured if she wanted to hear from me, she would call, but it never came until she showed up at the office today. Life always had a funny way of throwing curve balls at someone when they become complacent.

That was exactly how my life was now. I was the boring guy who had the same routine every day. The last time I took a day off, heck I couldn’t even remember. More than anything, I let work consume me and shielded myself from letting anyone else in.

Lonely.

As much as this project was important to me, so was my future. Why was I so hell bent on not letting myself feel happiness? After everything, maybe I needed to let my guard down one last time. Sure, Isla hurt me, but she could have had a good reason. And did it really matter? The only thing that should matter was how much I loved her still.

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