I offered mono syllabi answers to Chez as he rattled on the entire way back to the dorm about being careful of the supposedly evil eye of the professor and blah blah yada yada. I told him off by telling him how much he'd humiliated me in front of the entire present study body. I even suggested Chez to apologize, but he had a full- blown up ego in his pants (some male pride), he snapped back at me, saying he hadn't done anything wrong.

Definitely not how I pictured the end of my day.

It left me with no other choice than ringing Mr. Hot-shot-demon professor with a good heart. After endless hours of homework, I settled on my comfy bed with the phone cradled in my hands. I wasn't sure I could pull it off without getting yelled at or being hung up on. Numerous scenarios played as I contemplated my decision. What if he marked me a failing grade? 

I was fine with those options except the latter one. I took a deep breath, bucked up some courage and dialed his number, the one which he'd been kind and generous enough to write on the back of my study material copy in beautiful cursive handwriting. The time read 10:00 pm. I wondered if it was even alright for me to call my teacher at such an unusual time. Either way, I had no patience until the next day. I hit the call before I could chicken out.

It rang once and then twice.

Thrice. My heart beat took pace with every ring.

He answered the phone on the fourth ring, "Hello?"

I could have a heart attack. "Yes?"

"Sir, it's me Alana." I found my voice a second later.

"Alana, hey." He didn't sound mad which was my cue to sigh in relief.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you at this hour."

"No, don't worry about it. Tell me, is..." okay so he sounded worried, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes sir, It's just that.." I sighed, "I'm really, really sorry about earlier. I mean, I wanted to sit until the end of the class, but..I apologize on behalf of Chez too. He doesn't understand things that he says sometimes. I assure you we won't be repeating it again."

I thought he had hung up since all I could hear were crickets outside my window. Then I heard a long intake of breath, "Its fine, Alana, really. I don't keep grudges over my students outside of class. So..we're cool."

"Either way I wanted to apologize, I thought it would be late until tomorrow and that's the reason I called." Great. Now I was blabbering. I added, "Hope I'm not causing any disturbance."

I heard a soft chuckle, "No you're not, and apology accepted."

That was a relief, "I will make sure Chez apologizes first thing in the morning."

"I don't think that's a good idea Alana," I just loved how he would pronounce my name giving each word its own place. "Apologies are supposed to be genuine. If Chez understands his mistake, he will apologize, if not then..well, I don't force or intimidate my students. I never beg for apologies. Do you agree, Alana?"

"Yes sir. I do. Of course."

"That's good."

There was a muffled disturbance in the background followed by a child's loud, helpless wail.

My breath hitched in my throat.

He whispered in the background which I couldn't make out, then he spoke to me, "Alana, I'll speak with you tomorrow, okay?" the child's pitch increased, "I'll be checking your homework, fail, and I will double it."

He hung up, leaving me to think about what I had just heard.

I kept changing sides throughout the night, unable to get an eye shut even for a second. Damn. I shouldn't have called on his cell phone in the first place. Who was that kid? Does that mean Mr. Masters the hot-shot was married? And what about the wailing child in the background? It could be his kid. What was the other explanation I could use to soothe my burning soul?

Something struck in my Alana detective brain. Could be his sibling, Ha!

A twenty seven year old brothering a two year or three year kid was highly unlikely, unless of course, his parents had decided they wanted to have some fun.

Yeah, right!

My hand itched to grab the phone. I wanted my doubts clarified, though I refrained from doing so. I fell in a peaceful slumber when it was almost time for me to wake up, but I'd already checked my schedule a few hours ago and my classes didn't start until 10:30 am. I buried my face in cushion.

                                                                     ****

The rest of the week passed in a bat of an eye, monotonous and boring with no entertainment in particular. Even Mr. Hot-shot demon professor with a good heart did not so much as pay me any attention even though I wore my best clothes, my new lip gloss and the waterproof mascara.

Don't get me wrong, I'm usually never desperate for guy attention, but his lectures were making me do crazy things. I wouldn't deny the fact that he did look at me once in awhile, but then again he glanced at other students in similar fashion, then why did the feeling of being his favorite linger within me?

I tried to talk to him after class, but I couldn't reach him since he attracted a group of bitchy looking girls, who were all over him like freaking moths following a light bulb. I had a hard time enduring the jealously that boiled inside me. I convinced Chez to apologize to our professor. Chez didn't seem very thrilled by the idea, but he wasn't in a position to protest further as I bribed Chez into treating him with dinner later that night. That was enough to get his mouth to open.

During a late evening on a lazy Sunday, when I'd wrapped up my assignments and done some serious dusting of my dorm room, I decided to visit the nearby convenience store. I asked Chez to play the chaperone, until I realized he was too busy sinking his teeth into the assignment he was supposed to give in months ago.

I shopped for a few things, and made my way back slowly towards the dorm campus. The cool windy smacks on my face told me to rush back real quick----I hugged myself beneath the warmth of the thick fabric of the jacket. It was a relief I'd decided to grab it on short notice.

The large iron gates of a Children's park loomed in front of me, I pushed the metal doors slightly. A few minutes in and I found myself enjoying the joy that a child finds comfort in. I took slow swings, appreciating the weather and the breeze which were making my teeth shatter. The sound of the creaking old swing filled the eerie silence. My mind and my soul felt at peace, to be alone like I'd always been. My parents usually left me alone in the house with a nanny when I was younger. I did fantasize about visiting a park along with them the way other kids my age did. That never happened though, what with their shitty schedule. Good ol' sad memories.

I pulled the sleeves of my jacket, as my fingers curled beneath it, I was positive I looked like an armless zombie. My inner monologue was disrupted by a dark long silhouette of a person settled in the far corner of the darkness, eyes looking in my direction. I squinted, and froze.

Shit. No!

I recognized the tall, taut figure. It was Mr. Hot-shot demon professor with a good heart, settled on the bench, and his eagle eyes were dead on the target. Me.

I wanted to either run or hide, I don't know—maybe dial Harry Potter's number for his invisibility cloak, not that the professor had anything against me, but I felt uneasy every time we made eye contact. There was the kind of intensity in his soulful brown eyes, ready to swallow me whole.

I figured turning a blind eye towards him, wouldn't be such a killer idea, given the fact that I'd be spending the rest of my year under his watchful evil eye. I counted to ten, took a deep breath and strode over towards him. Mr. Masters beamed at me all too knowingly, like he knew that sexy smile was hard to resist and I was possibly one of those light eating moths from his class.

"Hey." He acknowledged me. I noticed he was wearing a black tee-shirt beneath the gray brit-zip hoodie. The dark denims sealed the deal. He held onto a fluffy stuffed toy and still managed to look like he'd walked out of a Vogue cover, too good to be a teacher.

"Hi."

And then I thought maybe I was blind to notice the little girl playing in the sand box right under my nose. I refused to show the least bit of discomfort as I slipped beside him in the little space that I could occupy. The kid stared back at me with huge gooey, expressive doll eyes, she grinned at me, revealing a set of two milk teeth in the front.

Oh-my-god. The moment of truth was here.

She pulled herself up with a little too much effort and caught a fistful of Mr. Master's denims for support. Her next words stabbed and pierced right through my heart, "daddy, oo izz che?" she pointed a finger at me.

"This is my student, Alana. Say hi to her, Minnie."

She walked towards me, those bouncy shiny mousy hair telling me she'd be a hot chick when she'd be twenty—and grabbed my hand. "Hi."

That was cuteness overload. "Hi." I quickly swallowed the snot as I continued, "Your daughter is really cute."

His smoldering gaze never left me, "thanks."

He picked her up and sat her on the other side of the bench; she began toying with her stuffed bunny, paying no heed to the two of us.

Minnie didn't look older than three. Damn. What a waste of youth, the fact the he was a father at twenty- seven was bothering the fucking shit out of me, why couldn't I be the mother? God.

I decided to break the ice, "so...your wife works in the university too?"

I couldn't keep myself from being inquisitive. I was still trying to get a shot at this man. Maybe he's a widow. One could always hope.

"I'm not married." His voice was dead pan, not giving away any emotion.

Being at loss of words I said, "Oh...uhm..."

And he spilled the entire sack or buried baggage, starting with a heart healing news for my already wounded heart that he was actually Minnie's uncle and NOT her father, unfortunate news was that her father and Mr. Master's older brother and his wife (little chick's mom) died in a car accident about two years ago, after which Mr. Masters decided to become her legal guardian and father.

"I'm sorry, I—I don't know what to say. It's quite unfortunate."

I looked down at my open palms, Thinking about how hard it must be to lose a brother and a sister in-law who obviously were of very young age.

"It's alright." He mumbled. "You didn't know."

A melodious tune rang in my ears as a mini ice-cream van came to a halt, attracting a handful of other little kids.

"Daddy, Ice-cem." Minnie waved frantically towards the pink van. "Ice-cem. Ice-cem. Ice-cem.."

"Okay. Okay. I get it." Mr. Masters climbed to his feet, his hands buried in the front pockets of his hoodie jacket. We exchanged some awkward eye contact, to me he asked, "What flavor do you like?"

"Chocolate."

His lips pulled back in an amused smile, "that's my favorite too."

We grinned at each other like fools, the spell shattered like glass when Minnie started her crazy ice-cream rant again. She was adorable, long wavy hair tied back in a pink ribbon. It brought the color on her cheeks. I picked her up and pulled her in my lap, she smiled, complying willingly. Her head leveled with my nose, her hair smelled divine, strawberries and honey. I traced her soft creamy skin.

The professor returned with three ice-cream cones, two chocolate and the other was yellow, so I assumed it was mango. Minnie grabbed for her yellow cone in both of her hands and chomped into it.

I took a lick of my chocolate scoop, the creamy flavor melted in my mouth. Mr. Masters leaned closer and I felt the pad of his thumb wipe the smudge off my chin.

"There." That caused a zillion butterflies to take flight inside my stomach; his face was inches away from mine. He slowly curled a strand of my hair behind my ear, without taking his eyes off me. There were numerous possibilities of what could lead on through an innocent contact. Maybe it was me over thinking it, he seemed fairly undistracted.

     I watched him smile at someone who was at a distance; I followed his gaze and found myself looking at a middle aged woman, making her way in our direction. Mr. Masters stood up. That was my clue to assume she was college faculty.

"Good evening." She greeted him and offered me a genuine smile. I smiled back.

They continued a brief conversation, which was nothing short of personal. I realized they were just exchanging pleasantries.

"Hi Minnie," she cooed, "don't trouble daddy and mummy too much okay?"

Hold a fucking minute, what?

"I see you're a very lucky woman. It's good to have you back." She squeezed my hand warmly.

I just smiled in response not sure what this was about.

"It's nice seeing you."

"It's nice to meet you too." I told her as she picked up her shopping bags and walked out the park gate, waving at us before disappearing into the darkness.

"Who was she?"

"An old acquaintance." He replied in a matter-of-factly.

"And you told her I'm your wife?"

"Yes I did. I'm—I'm sorry if that offended you." He didn't seem the least bit sorry about what he'd said.

"No. That's alright." I waved my hand, "But, why didn't you tell her you aren't married?"

"She never asked, and I didn't think it was necessary. Her calling you Minnie's mother was solely based on her own assumptions." He explained but, failed to explain me why he didn't think it was important to clear that particular assumption. I didn't press the subject any further.

"I see." I began to fidget; he always had an effect on me, whether in his class or outside. "I gotta get going. It was nice meeting you outside of class."

"You too." He said.

"Thanks for the ice-cream."

Mr. Masters gave me a nod. I grabbed for my bag and started to leave.

"Annana."

I spun around to face Minnie staring at me with her doe-eyes. She definitely got my name wrong. "Come to mi house to pay? I haf dolls."

Professor Sexy gave me a nod of approval.

"Sure." I told her, "I'll come and play with you sometimes. Maybe next week." I clenched my shopping bag in my hands.

"She likes you, Alana." He said.

I am more interested to know if you like me.

He continued, "You should stop by my apartment sometimes."

There. I hit the freaking jackpot.

"Thanks for inviting me sir, I definitely will."

And I wish I hadn't sounded so desperate.