Synopsis:
Layla Dahamrai has just begun her second year at university. She's acing every class and is one of the department's best students in her cohort. However, she's not getting along with her professor in her East Asian Regimes & Empires class, not that it's really her fault. It doesn't help that she's hot for her teacher either. Sebastian Henderson expects the best out of his students, given he's teaching at one of the most prestigious universities in London. He's had enough of Layla stumbling into his class late at the beginning of the semester. In the six years he's been teaching in academia, he has never desired a student until now. Layla and Sebastian will soon come to realise they have more in common during, and definitely out of, office hours.
Chapter 10: A Visit to the Archives
02/04/2018
Sitting in a room Sebastian booked out for his research, we work silently together on our respective projects. As he enters the room, he grins at me, holding more archival material in his hands. I continue writing on of my final assignments this year. It's already April, all that is left is exam season in May, then it'll just be him and I all summer long (not counting who we decide to invite to our trysts). I'm smiling as I focus on the task in front of me, although I cannot help but be distracted by Sebastian's intense and sexy focus as he conducts his own research for a journal article.
Sebastian places a post-it note next to my laptop asking me to collect specific books, articles and pieces from the archives. I sigh and take a break from my work. As I walk out of the room, I play with the pearls wrapped around my neck, tucked between the collar of my white shirt and thick seasonal jumper. I walk around with a stack of books and periodicals then sigh as I realise the last thing he requires is on the top shelf.
I'm wearing the world's shortest navy skirt with a thong and knee high socks. I put everything down on the table next to the rows of speeches and official documentation. The ladder isn't exactly budging, patting my skirt down, I climb up the ladder and try my hardest to reach the documentation I need to pick up.
"Woah!" I lose my footing on the ladder as I pull the document off the shelf. I cling onto the ladder and wince as the material hits the ground. "Shit!" I clumsily lose my footing once more and fumble to stay on the ladder when someone reaches out and grabs my waist. "Ah!" I turn my head and find a man below me looking up at me.
"Are you okay?" The man offers me a glittering smile but all I offer is a meek one in return. I sheepishly climb down the ladder once I release the indecent position I'm in.
The man saw right up my skirt, of course, and it's just my luck.
I hastily retrieve the document from the ground and look the man in the eye.
"Yeah, I'm good. I guess I should thank you for coming to my aid," I whisper. I begin to inspect him. This man had the most beautiful blonde hair a person could wish for. I might even have to ask what conditioner he's using. He reminds me of a gorgeous, chiselled, Nordic god. His clothes are much like my own with the shirt, jumper and the straight-leg trousers. When I look up at him, I realise how much taller he is than me, and take a few steps back.
"It's not a problem. I mean, I didn't really do anything to help you from also hitting the ground there. I'm Ben," he offers his free hand to me.
I place my palm in his, "I'm Layla." Ben takes a step back to inspect me after he shakes my hand.
"Do I know you from somewhere?" I shake my head. I mean, he could easily be mistaken for Arthur, but I don't recall this man from anywhere.
"No," I begin to retreat and start gathering my stack. When he tells me he's a post-grad student in the same department at my university I swallow at the pain in my throat. My shit luck strikes again when Sebastian rounds the corner and finds me. He's concerned about my whereabouts and he's surprised to find Ben standing there.
"Oh hey, Ben. How are you?" They smile and discuss their respective topics. "Thanks for picking these up for me," he turns and says to me. "I'm teaching Layla how to use archives since she's doing her undergraduate dissertation next year."
Ben smiles at me. "Ah, we've all been there. Just remember to move the ladder next time so you don't end up almost falling off trying to reach for stuff."
Sebastian's smile vanishes. I offer a quick explanation of how the ladder was stuck. Ben tests my story by pushing and pulling on the ladder gently and nods his head. Sebastian admonishes me, "If you can't reach for it you should really just ask someone else to do it, okay?" I nod my head.
"Do you need any other materials?" I pick up the books and start to walk away but Ben stops me once more.
"That's where I know you from!" I spin around and wait for him to speak. "You're friends with my little brother Arthur, he does Medicine with that girl Aurelia, right?" Our backs tense up at his mentioning of Aurelia.
"Yeah, she's my housemate. As much as I'd love to talk, I need to get some of this stuff scanned. I have other assignments to complete for the modules I'm actually taking this semester," I laugh and walk away. I don't know how to explain it but something's off about him. He doesn't come across with that same genuine sincerity as his younger brother. Ben's smile is too flashy for it to be genuine. He didn't even bat an eyelid when he saw right up my skirt.
Hm... How does he know Aurelia?
I shake my head and walk back into the room and I'm soon followed by Sebastian.
He walks in with the other half of the stack I put together then locks the door behind him. We don't address what just unfolded in between the stacks of shelves in the archives and just continue working throughout the day. I'm not sure if I'll bring up the encounter to Aurelia. She probably doesn't remember him, so there is probably no need.
I stretch out my arms and check my latest grade. "Yes! I got a first!" I jump in my chair and show my laptop screen to Sebastian. He's propped himself on his elbow and was already watching me intently. I blush as he smiles at me with pride.
"Congratulations, my love." I shut my laptop when I notice that he's finished with his work for the day. "If you want to carry on working you can." I shake my head. I think I can call it quits at eight hours of solid research and writing today. "Who's Arthur?" I frown at the unexpected question.
"Arthur does Medicine with Aurelia. They were in the same residential hall in our first year. One night we had a massive flat party and it got out of hand. I think over two hundred students showed up and Aurelia brought Arthur and a few other medics in the middle of the night. That's how we all became friends. It was one crazy night until security shut it down. Then we went bouncing around campus with bottles of liquor. I think you can guess how that night ended," I sigh as I remember how sick I felt with my hangover the next morning.
Sebastian nods his head. "Right," he bites his bottom lip before he speaks again. "So, you're just friends with Arthur, right?" I stiffen my back at his line of questioning.
"Nobody knows about this, but Arthur was the first person I had sex with. We did it just the one time, but we didn't tell anyone about it because it wasn't very good," I say. He's hunching over in fear of my response. "Look, I won't lie to you here... Arthur and I have made out a couple of times in private at parties and club events. It was all rather meaningless. If there wasn't anyone else around we'd sort of just grind up against each other and make out. It never went further than that, I normally just had sex with one of the girls. But I haven't done any of that since I've been with you."
I wait for him to respond. Sebastian breathes out a sigh, whether it's filled with relief or something else I have no idea. "Ben is interested in you." I frown at his words once more. What on earth is he going on about? I laugh at the idea of it. I think Sebastian is just feeling a little jealous.
"Ben just stopped me from falling off of a ladder, Sebastian." This doesn't shake that feeling away for him, he shakes his head, Sebastian seems to think there is something wrong. I sigh. I just have to let him realise it on his own.
"Layla, I know how other men are. Ben was giving you that look. It was the same one that reappeared on his face when he was talking about Aurelia. Why is he so interested in the girls his little brother is friends with?"
I shrug my shoulders. "Arthur may just talk about us or Ben could have just seen us with him on a night out. Those two are quite close from what Arthur tells me. I should have been paying more attention when he talks," I rub Sebastian's thigh to reassure him. "Come on, it was just a weird interaction in a dark, cold and very dusty archive."
"Uh huh," Sebastian kisses my temple possessively. "Keep your eyes peeled on the next night out if Ben shows up alongside his brother." I keep my similar suspicions regarding Ben to myself. I don't want to blow this out of proportion if I've gotten the wrong impression of Arthur's charming but creepy older brother.
I roll my eyes then shake my head. "Wait, if you were already done you should have told me. I guess your stamina is wearing out at your old age," I stick my tongue out at him. This finally gets Sebastian's mind on a different topic of conversation. Sebastian pinches my waist and I giggle. He puts a finger to his lips urging me to quiet down.