Kaylissa's Conquest Ch. 01

"How about him?"

Sarah pointed at a student sitting on the edge of the fountain in the courtyard, busily studying notes for a class. I ignored her for a minute as I enjoyed the cool fall air as we both sat under our favorite tree, the usual spot, spending our mornings people watching and studying. It's Sarah's last year at Harvard and I couldn't be more proud of my long time best friend and roommate. Though we enrolled at the same time, Sarah was in an accelerated program and I took a semester off. The combination of those two rocketed her past me in our race to our degrees. I brushed a fallen leaf off my notepad and continued to write, hoping to finish this assignment early.

"Hello? Earth to Kaylissa?" Sarah said dramatically as she started waving her hands in my face. I rolled my eyes and looked up to meet Sarah's stare. She smiled and waited for may approval on her pick for me.

"No, he doesn't look my type." I dismissed quickly and kept writing. It was Sarah's turn to roll her eyes at me, but was wise enough not to say anything more on the subject. I thought I heard her mutter something but I let it go, and we both continued working on our assignments. It's only the second day into the new semester and already I felt like I was drowning in schoolwork. Two papers were already due at the end of the week along with an worksheet on personalities. Sometimes I envied Sarah's natural ability to remain calm and stress free whenever it came to her coursework. There was something about law that just clicked with her, and I wish I could say the same thing about psychology. I've always worked hard in school, and it's always worked itself out, I could just do without the stress that comes with deadlines and rigorous coursework.

Sarah pulled me out of my concentrated state, "Oh! Lissy, he's cute, what about him?"

I looked up and saw him as he walked past, only catching a glance of him, but from the back he looked pretty fine. A black tailored suit clung to him, accentuating his broad shoulders and defining the muscles in the back. The ends of his chocolate brown hair grazed his collar of his shirt. Carrying a briefcase in one hand and a folder in the other, he walked briskly past us. He carried himself very highly, with confidence and grace. Still not seeing his face, I assumed the worst, and feigned disinterest.

"Sarah he's a professor, he's probably at least 50!" I blurted out. We laughed together, until he turned his head and piercing grey eyes met my green ones. I stopped laughing instantly and inhaled softly while tucking a jet black curl from my face. Perfect features, chiseled jawline and clean shaven, this man was a walking aphrodisiac. He smirked and kept walking, clearly aware of my racing thoughts of him. Sarah couldn't contain the giggles at this point.

"Man, I hope he isn't one of your professors, because you just pissed him off. Big time." She joked as she gathered her things, already standing. She held out her hand for me, but I ignored her and got up on my own, fully embarrassed.

"Oh come on, Kaylissa, he's probably not your professor, there are so many of them on campus, what are the odds?" She said reassuringly. Lucky for me Sarah seemed too preoccupied earlier with laughing to notice how entranced I was with this mystery professor. I nodded and we started walking into the building.

We parted ways, promising to text each other when we were done with class and work. She headed up the stairs to one of her many law classes and I circled back around to enter the coffee shop on campus. Though I worked at the coffee shop, it never felt like work to me. Immediately after I opened the door I was engulfed in the rich aroma of coffee. I walked behind the counter and said my greetings to a couple coworkers. After putting on my apron and clocking in, it wasn't long before the three of us were trying to beat the mid morning rush of grumpy college kids.

"Kay, you're on your game today!" A coworker commented as she watched me pour a leaf design into a latte. I smiled shyly at her genuine compliment. Latte art was something I never saw myself interested in until I started working here, and it's quite addicting in its own fun way. I've never been artsy so it's nice to have a small hobby I can call my own.

"Thanks. I feel like I've been getting better, thanks to you, Marissa." I said, honestly. She beamed at me and we kept working, catching up on each other's summer vacations.

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"All right, class, I trust you'll enjoy the rest of the day, and don't forget the paper on legal actions is due next week," I said as the students filed out of the classroom. While organizing papers into my bag I felt a piercing gaze from someone. Snapping my head up quickly, I was met with a pair of beautiful, rich brown eyes gazing at me from across my desk. She seemed deep in thought, as though trying to recollect something important. As soon as she registered I was staring back her eyes flew down to the floor and she began to walk away briskly.

"Miss Sweeney, are you shocked you have such a "cute" professor this semester?" I said sarcastically. She said nothing but stopped and met my eyes again.

"Professor, don't flatter yourself. Cute doesn't mean much when your attitude is less than pleasant." She boldly stated. I raised my eyebrows at such a audacious comment but said nothing. Seeing this as a victory, Sarah turned and continued out the door, closing it quietly behind her. I slumped into my chair and sighed while rubbing my temples vigorously and took two Advil, chasing them down with water. I've had the worst hangover since this morning, knowing full well it's my own masochistic way for punishing myself because of the divorce. It's been about a month since I walked in on my wife fucking her coworker, and I've had a permanent scowl the entire time since.

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"Ella?" I said quietly, barely above a whisper as I stared at the sight in front of me. My perfect Ella was under her coworker, David, in our bed. She looked beautiful, in an odd way. Her lips, pink and swollen, parted slightly at the sound of her name. Her eyes met mine and widened, tears pricked in the corners of those beautiful emerald eyes I loved so fondly. Her face grew red and hot with embarrassment. I forgot David was there in that moment. I leaned against the doorframe, my arms folded defensively and exhaled, trying to remain calm. David got out of the bed and quickly dressed. I said nothing as he passed me in the doorway, excusing himself from the awkward situation. Faintly, I heard the front door close. Ella didn't break eye contact with me the entire time since I'd been in the room, but she was crying now. Silent tears trickled down her flawless face. I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, exhaling loudly. Ella crawled to me from her side and put her head in my lap and began to sob uncontrollably. I pet her head slowly, savoring the feeling. For a small moment, everything was okay. We can make this work, I thought to myself. Everyone has a lapse of judgment, but we can come together and come out stronger than before. This realization gave me strength. I cupped her face in my hands and brought her lips to mine. She kissed me back shyly, as if testing the waters.

"I'm leaving you, Booker." She whispered against my lips. I stopped breathing.

She brought her hands up to mine and removed them from her face and set them in my lap. She got up and left the room, quietly padding down the hallway. I could hear her moving about, yet I didn't have the strength to follow her. I looked down into my hands, wondering where I went wrong. Sure, we had our arguments and disagreements but we never went to bed angry. I was honest with my feelings, as I thought she was. We recently celebrated our three year wedding anniversary, and it was one of the most perfect days in my life. I was happier than I had ever been. It was young, fun love. I was yanked from my memories when I heard the door close and I knew.

"Ella, please. Please don't leave me. Don't do this. God, please, Ella." I quietly begged. But I got no answer, she was gone.

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"Hey girl!" Sarah waved as she walked into the coffee shop. I smiled and handed her a latte and took one myself.

"You're getting awesome at these, Kay!" She exclaimed and looked at the leaf design in the foam. I took a gentle sip, careful not to burn my tongue from the piping hot liquid. We took our seats at a small corner table in the cafe and my feet thanked me for the moment of relaxation.

"Thank you! I'm getting better, that's for sure! How was class?" I asked, Sarah rolled her eyes and sighed at the mention of her class. Clearly not a good first day.

"Oh my God, Kay you wouldn't believe it. The class is so small, like only fifteen of us, so the professor already knows all our names and he's just...closed and angry." She finished, clearly leaving something off. What was she hiding?

"Sarah, what else? You're keeping something from me." I declared as she took her first sip of her drink. She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well..." she began and smirked, "my professor may have been the guy I called cute in the courtyard earlier today." She admitted. My eyes widened and my face was red all over again, probably more so than when it originally happened. She chuckled at my reaction.

"He called me out on it to when he caught me staring after class. I told him not to flatter himself because his attitude sucks." She laughed. I was speechless at her boldness.

"You spoke to him like that?" I exclaimed. She shrugged casually. We both laughed and got in the car and began our short drive home.