His office, my rules

CARTER.

I didn't know it was definitely hard for young boys to stay put these days. I gave the kid just one instruction. To stay in the fucking car.

The look on his face at the firm told me he had seen everything.

The entire ride was silent except for the mutter of apology he uttered.

I felt strange after that. I didn't feel as angry as I was supposed to. One apology. That was what it took me to soften up.

No it can't be.

What the fuck was this boy doing to me? I dropped him off at his apartment but I still had to maintain my cool so I slowly told him to get out.

He seemed hurt and I could genuinely tell he was sorry. It took every will in me not to call him back and ask why he didn't just listen.

I wasn't sure I wanted to expose Eli to such. I wasn't proud of many things and I don’t think he would be either.

I got home and picked up a bottle of scotch. I needed that after the whole day.

Brandon was always pushing my buttons and today I could say he got what he deserved.

Good thing Dante handled him before I did. I was sick and tired of having to be his way out of every mischief. He was just like his father, cocky and arrogant. I was done with their bullshit.

I was already preparing for bed when I heard a ding from my phone.

I assumed it was Dante, giving me update but when I checked it was Eli.

He had never texted me before, we only saw at school.

I opened the message to see a whole apology paragraph. I wasn't expecting that.

My chest started hurting slightly and I get bad for lashing out on him earlier. I wanted to reply but I didn't. I didn't was to give any silly clues.

***

The next day was as boring as usual. I had a few classes to take in the morning but something lighted up my mood, knowing that I had Eli’s class later in the day.

During the class, I could tell Eli was avoiding eye contact with me because he was face down in his notepad the entire time. I decided to do him a favour and not call him to answer any questions

When the class was over. I called out to him.

“Rivera”

He looked up and I could sense a bit of fear. His lady friend, Miss Adeniran smirked a bit and I wondered what she was smirking about. It better not be what I thought it was.

“I got your message” I said when he came over to my desk.

He nodded, “I should have listened to you”

“Well you should”

“I apologise”

“You already did that”

I could see his shoulders tense up but I wasn't going to stop.

“You’re definitely not going Scot free, Rivera”

He looked at me and his eyes widened.

“Here, take these” I bring out a folder from my briefcase.

“What's that?”

“Domt question me.” I shot back. “They’re test papers from first-year students. I graded a few of them before I remembered you could do them.”

He ran his fingers through the papers and examined them. “But….I…”

“I need it on my desk by tomorrow morning”

“Tomorrow???… They’re all essays. I can't read and grade them all before tomorrow”

“Figure it out.. It’ll teach you a little bit of discipline”

“I apologized though”

I let out a small laugh, “Actions don't go unpunished. You should have thought of that.”

“Can I have an extension, please” the way he begged flipped something in me and I hoped that it wasn't the cause of my pants feeling tighter.

“No”

He looked defeated. Just what I wanted to see.

“I’ll have it here tomorrow” he muttered.

“Good, now go home, the earlier the better”

As he walked out of the room, I couldn't help but notice the way he walked. How his legs moved one after the other in a unique form. I quickly shut out any ideas that may be forming in my head and packed up my briefcase.