Page 1 of Baby for the Professor
Chapter 1
Sabrina
"Are you ready for what I'm gonna tell you?" Kevin said, leaning across the dining table inside Red Lobster in Westwood.
My heart fluttered. He was going to propose, but why so serious? His handsome face looked adorable despite the expensive, round wire-frame glasses that gave him a nerdy look. I had preferred thick-rimmed frames, but he disregarded my opinion. He used to care what I thought when we first dated, but not anymore. I guessed that was the normal way relationships progressed. I couldn’t say I liked it, but if we were going to spend our lives together, I had to get used to giving him the freedom to do what he wanted, which included wearing eyeglasses I disapproved of.
I took a deep breath and nodded. I'd been waiting for this moment for three years, and it was finally happening. We had been dating since our first year of college, and we were now graduating. Kevin had told me we were meant to be together, and I couldn't help but be convinced.
Kevin cleared his throat and reached to hold my hand. "Sabrina."
"Yes! I will marry you, Kevin," I blurted it out before he went on.
His mouth opened, and he blinked. "Oh, shit. No. It wasn't what I was going to say..."
My cheeks burned. "What were you going to say, then?"
"I was going to tell you that...I took the job offer in New York."
"What? I thought we agreed to stay in LA.” I got accepted to the Ph.D. program at UCLA English department.
“Yeah, I’m sorry, but I’m just tired of being in LA all my life. I want to live in other states.”
Right. But he said he would wait until I finished grad school. "Oh. So, what does it mean? Are we going to be a long-distance couple?” I murmured. The idea didn’t look appealing to me.
Kevin cleared his throat and avoided my eyes. "Actually, I'm breaking up with you, Bria."
I cringed at the nickname he used from time to time, but I didn’t bother to correct him this time. Instead, I cried out, "No, you can't do that!"
"Why not?"
"We are meant to be together like you said. Our parents and friends all agree we're the cutest couple on earth, that our babies would be the prettiest," I said in a pathetic voice, and tears gushed out of my eyes.
"We've had a good time together, and I'll always be your friend if you wish," he said.
My mouth fell open as I wiped my tears. Did I hear him right? He sounded callously calm, but I panicked. I had plenty of friends but got only one boyfriend. "You know what?” I made a rash decision right on the spot. “Forget about grad school. I will apply again next year, and I’ll move to New York with you.”
He looked surprised but didn't speak for a second. "It's not just that. The truth is...I'm going with Samantha."
My jaw fell to the floor this time. Samantha was a girl in a business class Kevin convinced me to take back in our junior year, and she was in our study group. Suddenly I recalled moments of the two exchanging smiles and inside jokes at the library, not to mention their simultaneous bathroom visits. She might’ve also been the reason he picked the stupid frame because she had one similar to it. "You were screwing her?" Words blurted out of my mouth.
He winced at my word choice. "It isn't just sex between us. We share a lot in common. We’re both business majors and we both love anime."
Shit. That was one thing I couldn’t bring myself to like. I preferred dramas that involved real people. “So you’re saying you’ve cheated on me?”
He swallowed again. “I’m sorry.”
That explained why he hadn’t been interested in me for nearly a year. I threw my drink in his face and stood up. "Go to hell, Kevin!"
I rushed out of the restaurant and into my car. I drove aimlessly on the streets of Westwood, tears blurring my eyes. My phone dinged with an incoming message. I glanced at it and saw my roommate Emily’s number. I stopped on the side of a street and checked it. "So, has he proposed yet?"
I had foolishly told Emily about the dinner and she was excited about it. How was I going to respond? I hesitated for a moment and decided to be honest.
"No, but he dumped me."
Emily called me right away. "What happened?"
I told her the story amid sobs and curses. "I feel so stupid, Emily," I said. "I wasted four years of my life with the guy. He cheated on me for someone who loved anime."
