“Why don’t I help you apply for a sick leave tomorrow?” Henson offered.
“A sick leave?” Wendy said and lifted an arm. “Just for this?”
“Duh? It might get infected if you go out to work with it like that,” he replied.
She was dumbfounded. “It’s not like I’m doing any back-breaking work or getting myself wet or anything. Besides, there will be a friendly basketball match going on between the faculties in the next few days, so I can’t just decide not to show up,” she argued.
He looked like he still had something to say, but she interjected before he could utter a word. “Also, Howell signed up for the match, so I can let him know if I don’t feel good on that day. Weren’t you the one who planted Howell by my side as your little spy after all? Surely you can put your faith in your little brother, right?” she said hurriedly.
“Little spy, huh?” he thought and chuckled. “Fine, you can go. Howell will take care of you during the day, and I’ll take care of you at night,” he smirked.
“I’ll be off to take a shower now. See you in a bit,” he said while walking towards the door.
“I want to go to sleep now, so you don’t have to come over,” she retorted.
She panicked. Who in their right mind would allow a guy they didn’t know well to sleep by their side every night? This was inappropriate to say the least.
“What makes you think you can stop me with that?” he smirked.
“I can,” she replied with a nod. “Because I know you’re not an unreasonable person,”
He stepped back from the door and returned to her side. “Then, tell me why you won’t let me sleep with you,” he pressed.
“First off, I’m not a married woman yet, so it’d be inappropriate to sleep beside a man every night, no?” she answered as a matter-of-factly.
“But I am your man,”
“Still inappropriate. We’re not married yet,”
He raised an eyebrow. “So then, when do you plan on marrying me?” he teased.
“I can’t give you an answer yet,”
“What’s the second reason?”
“Secondly, I’m already used to sleeping alone. You, sneaking onto my bed sometimes, makes me feel uneasy and this can disrupt my sleep,” she explained.
His face darkened. “Thirdly?”
“Thirdly…”
“You can’t be serious?!” he interrupted with a hint of dissatisfaction in his voice.
“Hmph! There’s only two reasons then,”
“Fine, fine. I’ll obey if you give me a goodnight kiss,” he said with a pout.
She was speechless at how shameless this man was acting in front of her right now.
Seeing as she didn’t budge an inch, he teased in a singsong manner, “Well then, I’m off to go lie down in your bed now,”
She hurriedly stood on her tippy toes to give him a light peck on the lips.
A kiss was a kiss, after all, be it only happening once or ten times. She could worry about her problems afterwards.
Just as she was about to break away, he grabbed onto her waist, cradled the back of her head and went in for a deeper kiss.
She closed her eyes out of nervousness. She couldn’t believe that she’d been tricked into a kiss by his skills.
After breaking away, he smiled and patted her head. “Goodnight,” he said while walking towards the door.
“Goodnight,” she answered shakily after taking a deep breath.
He then exited the room and closed the door behind him. “The journey to getting laid continues,” he thought.
Upon arriving on campus the next day, two other female professors from the adjacent office were present in her office, alongside Cael and Linda.
The moment she entered the room, Cael waved to her and started gossiping right off the bat. “Miss Evans, did you hear that our president got hospitalised?” he said.
“Oh, my!” she said, feigning ignorance. “Is she sick?” she probed.
“I don’t know the details, but it must be something serious because she issued a notice last night saying that she wasn’t in the best shape and can no longer serve as the president of San Diego University anymore. She took the initiative to resign from her position and is now waiting for the newly appointed president to replace her. It seems like she plans to leave her post as soon as possible to focus on recuperating,” he elaborated.
She was surprised upon hearing this. Mrs. Taylor actually planned to resign from her post?
She was stunned for a moment. Was she really sick though?
But … that sounded absurd.
When she recalled to her domineering aura when she beat her up yesterday, she didn’t look like someone who was sick at all.
Linda took a glance at her arm and asked in concern, “Is your arm alright, Miss Evans?”
“I also heard that you got into a scuffle with the president yesterday and she had knocked you down. Was that when you got your injury? Then, you’re pretty unlucky to have crossed paths with her on the day before her resignation,” Cael butted in with his own thoughts.
She didn’t know what to say to that. “I got this from a fall though,” she said with pursed lips.
Upon hearing her answer, the two teachers standing by the door exchanged looks with Cael and promptly left.
Cael returned to his seat and shot her a glance. “Miss Evans, if I may be honest here, the president’s resignation should come as a godsend to you, no? So, you shouldn’t worry about anyone here giving you a hard time anymore from here on out,” he said.
“I suppose so,” she answered with a shrug as
she was still reeling from the fact that Mrs. Taylor was resigning.
She didn’t leave her office for the whole morning. The matter of the president’s resignation was on everyone’s lips during lunch time in the dining hall.
According to a few reliable sources, her resignation wasn’t due to her health but that she was coerced into doing so.
As Wendy slowly chewed on her lunch, she thought to herself, “who on Earth could’ve possibly coerced Mrs. Taylor?”
But after mulling it over, a name came to mind – Henson Charles.
She put down her cutlery and announced to Linda who was sitting opposite her. “Linda, I’m done with lunch so I’ll be heading back to the office to take a look at the arrangements in the basketball match later in the afternoon,” she declared.
“Alrighty, you go ahead,” Linda replied.
She then got up and brisk walked away. The moment she stepped out of the dining hall, she dialed Henson’s number.
He picked up her call almost immediately as usual.
“Did you hear the news, Henson? Our president has resigned,” she said.
“Is that so?” he retorted.
“Yep. She stated that she was sick and needed time off to recuperate, but people are saying that she’s being coerced into making this decision. Do you have any idea on who’s behind this?”
He knew that she was testing him right now. “I didn’t peg you as the kind to believe in baseless rumours like these. Your president said so herself that she’s resigning for the sole reason of recuperating, so it must be due to some serious disease, right? You should take her word for it then,” he said with a smirk.
She heaved a sigh of relief.
“Anyways, what are your thoughts on her resignation? How do you feel about it?” he pressed.
“Would I be labelled a bad person if I said I actually feel pretty happy about it?”
“I’m sure you’re not the only one who’s secretly happy to know that she’s resigning, what with her headstrong personality and all. So, I don’t think you’re a bad person for feeling that way. Seeing as God’s on your side today, what say we go out for a meal tonight to celebrate?”
“How’s this worthy of celebrating about?”
“Who says you need a reason to celebrate? Don’t people celebrate things based on how they feel?”
A smile formed on her face. “Alright then. Let’s celebrate it together,” she giggled.
“Your treat,”
“Then I’ll be in charge of finding the venue,”
“Okay,”
After hanging up, she returned to the office in a jolly mood.
The basketball match on the court was in full swing by the time afternoon hit.
Howell had played ball with the students from his faculty a few times before, so he knew their strengths and weaknesses well. He thus used the knowledge to his advantage to skillfully lead his team of freshmen to victory.
The assistant teachers standing beside her kept singing praises to her of how Howell had excellent leadership skills under his belt.
She suddenly felt proud of him in her heart. The Charles family certainly had no lack of talent.
But… why was she proud of him in the first place?
Howell had called her Sister Wendy before, but she hadn’t expected herself to take that title to heart.
She was speechless at herself.
…
…