Page 7 of Forbidden Professor

She knew everything about me. Before she came into my life, I had no one. Besides my grandmother, I never really had time to make friends. I was a loner for the sake of my future and now that I had my dream career, I should open myself up for something new.

Tonight should be a step in the right direction. I can’t let myself ruin this. So, deep breaths.

You can do this!

Isla

My car pulled into the parking lot and I found his car and parked next to him. I smiled when we locked eyes and proceeded to get out of my car.

“Sorry, got stuck at the light.”

Easton shrugged his shoulders and we walked into the restaurant. It was still early enough that there was vacant tables.

“Table for two, please.”

The hostess took us to a table toward the back and I removed my jacket and put it next to me. Things were awkward and I should have expected that. It had been a long time since we had seen each other.

“So, have you been in Oregon this whole time?” I asked. It was an ice breaker.

“Yeah, Largen offered me an internship right after graduation. It was the only company that offered to pay me. All the others wanted me to work for free.”

They knew how lucky they were to get someone like him. He would do everything he could to make the world better. “Well, how weird is it that we have been so close and yet never ran into each other.”

“You’ve been here too? How long?” he asked, looking over his menu.

Why didn’t get reach out? We could have caught up sooner had I known he lived in the same city as me. I tried to hide my unsettlement, but his eyes were locked on me.

“Since graduation.”

“Why didn’t you go to Texas? I thought that’s where you wanted to end up?”

The waitress came over to get our order and funny enough we both wanted the same thing. I laughed a bit at that.

“Anyway, The teaching job offered to me from the high school paid well. Way better than Texas and staying here meant better chances at me getting up to the college level.”

The real reason why I stayed was because after meeting him, I pictured my future here, in Oregon, not in Texas. I didn’t dare tell him that, though. The college was the right place for me. It gave me the opportunity to consult with companies and earn some extra money on the side. Texas had strict rules. Oregon was better in that aspect.

“So, you are a professor too? Wow, that’s amazing.”

There were so many things I wanted to tell him. Yet, it just didn’t seem like the right time. How did I tell him that us running into each other again had to mean something?

9

Easton

Things were starting to amplify. She had been in Oregon this whole time? How had we not ran into each other? Here I was, thinking she moved away, and forgot all about me.

“The consulting is just a side thing. I’m good at what I do.”

The waitress brought us our food and the conversation stalled a bit. I struggled to find the right way to bring up our past. It wasn’t something we could just skip over.

“Did you ever plan on reaching out?” I asked. Right after the words left my mouth, I cringed. The way I said it made me desperate.

“It’s a two-way street. Honestly, after I broke up with you… I figured you didn’t want anything to do with me.”

She couldn’t be more wrong.

I was getting uneasy from staring into her beautiful eyes. She was a huge part of my life. My first real relationship, the person I lost my virginity to. High school was a smoke screen, my nose was buried in books and donating time to charity to better my chances at getting a full ride scholarship to make something of myself.

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