"Wait, can you explain that clearly?" Dean James Ashford raised one of his eyebrows.
Noah let out a deep sigh. The room was full of floating dust, and it made him uncomfortable. "That woman kissed me. It was harassment. Professor Harper kissed me without my consent."
The room went quiet. Everyone knew Anne Harper, she was cheerful and easy to talk to. In all her years of teaching, no student had ever complained about her. In fact, students competed to get into her class. Anne Harper was a brilliant professor and one of the most popular at T University.
"Are you sure it was her?" Dean James asked, unsure.
"Yes. I'm in her class," Noah replied confidently.
"I need to call Professor Harper in. Please wait on the sofa over there," he said, pointing to a couch in the corner.
Noah Sinclair immediately pulled out his wet wipes and cleaned the sofa carefully before sitting down with a worried sigh. He hated this situation more than anything, but what Anne Harper did had clearly crossed his boundaries.
Not long after, a woman with long, waist-length brunette hair walked into the room. She wore an ivory white blouse and brown trousers. She was the same woman who had stolen Noah's first kiss.
Noah watched as Dean James and Professor Harper talked quietly for a few minutes. He could barely hear anything from his spot.
"I'm sorry, Harper, but I have to give you a warning letter for harassing a student in your class," Dean James said, sounding unsure.
"What? But I kissed him by accident!" Anne shouted in disbelief.
"Accident? Yeah, right! You pervy professor!"
Noah Sinclair shouted from the other side of the room.
Anne turned toward the voice. There he was, the student who fainted after being kissed. How pathetic.
She crossed her arms and faced Noah. "Yes, it was an accident. I was trying to help you after you fell near my car. At what point did I harass you?"
Noah walked closer. "The part where you kissed me without permission," he said coldly.
Anne opened her mouth in shock. "I think this is a misunderstanding. I didn't kiss you on purpo—"
[Knock Knock]
"Is Anne Harper here? I heard she's in the Dean's office," said a tall, muscular man. He had bright blond hair and wore a polo shirt with dark blue chinos.
Anne quickly walked toward him and pulled him out of the room. The hallway was quiet, making the tension between them feel stronger.
"What are you doing here?! How do you know where I work?!" Anne hissed, clenching her fists.
This was not the time to deal with the man she had just slept with last night.
"Relax, hon. You left this in my room," he said, holding up a lanyard.
Anne let out a relieved sigh. "So that's how you found me. But let me be clear, I don't want any kind of relationship. If you came here to ask me out—"
"Oh yeah, you left this too," he cut her off, pulling out a bright red G-string.
What Anne didn't realize was that both Noah Sinclair and Dean James Ashford had seen and heard everything.
~~~~~
7 hours earlier
[Bip Bip Bip]
An alarm kept ringing under the bed. Anne groaned and slowly opened her eyes, reaching down to turn it off, only to realize… this wasn't her room.
Wait. Whose room is this?!
Anne quickly turned to her side and saw a blonde guy sleeping soundly next to her. He was shirtless.
Then, flashes of memory hit her. She went to a bar. With Amanda, her best friend. Then she met… Aaron? Or was it Jake? She couldn't remember.
The alarm beeped again. Anne looked at the clock and gasped. It was already 10 AM, and she had a class to teach at 1 PM! She hadn't showered, hadn't gotten ready, and worst of all... she had no idea where she was!
In a panic, Anne quickly put her clothes back on, grabbed a few things, and shoved them into her bag.
The guy next to her woke up from all the noise. He squinted at her and spoke with a sleepy, raspy voice.
"Hey, where are you rushing off to?"
"Not your business. And what we did last night is done. I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk to me after this," Anne snapped.
The blonde guy frowned at her attitude. Anne, still panicking, didn't realize her lanyard had fallen to the floor. It had her name and workplace on it.
"Hey, you dropped someth—"
"Oh, shut up! What did I just say about not talking?" she cut him off with a scowl.
He went silent and just watched as Anne clumsily grabbed her shoes—she didn't even put them on properly—and ran out the door.
He got out of bed, walked over to the lanyard, and picked it up.
"Anne Harper... a professor, huh? What a naughty," he smirked.
Then his eyes landed on something red near the mirror. His smirk grew wider, and he laughed to himself. A bright red G-string. Left behind by Professor Anne Harper of T University after a one-night stand.
"This is gonna be fun."
~~~~~
[Honk Honk]
"What is going on today?! Why is the traffic so bad?!" Anne was behind the wheel of her white Audi A7. She glanced at her watch. "It's freaking 12 PM and I'm still stuck in traffic! Are you kidding me?!"
It normally took only 10 minutes to get from her apartment to T University, but for some reason, the roads were jammed.
After 40 minutes, Anne finally arrived. She parked her car next to a black Mercedes CLS 350. Rushing, she grabbed her handbag and stepped out of the car—
WHAM.
The car door hit someone, knocking them over to the ground.
"Oh my god! I'm so, so sorry! Are you okay?" Anne asked, holding the guy's arm in concern.
He was cute. Too bad she just made the worst first impression ever.
The guy couldn't move. Anne was accidentally on top of him, and she was touching his arm without permission. The sudden contact made him freeze. He couldn't breathe or think. His body went stiff like a dry sponge.
"C-can… you… please… move…" Noah whispered. He felt like he couldn't breathe.
Holy crap. Is he turned on by this position? I mean, I wouldn't blame him.
"I know this looks weird, but I just want to make sure you're okay—"
THUMP
A big box fell forward, pushing Anne down—right on top of him. Her lips landed directly on his. A pure Accident.
"Oh god! I'm really sorry, Professor Harper!" said a student who had been pushing the box full of seminar supplies.
Apparently, none of the students noticed what actually happened.
"It's okay, you guys didn't mean it," Anne said with a forced smile. Her shoulder was sore from the box impact.
"But Professor Harper… are you sure it's okay?" one of them asked, pointing to Noah, who was lying still under her body.
Is he dead?
~~~~~
Later, at the campus clinic…
Noah Sinclair opened his eyes. "Ughh…"
Seriously? I'm at the school clinic?! Shit!
He sat up fast, making the nurse scream in surprise.
"AH! WHAT HAPPENED?!" she yelled, clutching her chest.
"Sorry… I just… can't…" Noah mumbled, still confused. He leaned back against the bed.
Right. What happened?
He remembered driving to campus. Getting out of the car. Then being hit by a door?
He rubbed his temple.
So… why am I here…?
Then the memory came back. The accidental kiss with Professor Harper. Noah immediately covered his mouth. His stomach churned with nausea. He ran to the men's restroom and threw up.
Yes. He puked.
After feeling better, he washed his hands and mouth. Then sprayed antiseptic all over himself.
Okay. This should be clean enough… for now.
Feeling safer and better, Noah headed straight to the Dean's office. That professor had assaulted him. People needed to know she stole his first kiss without his consent!
~~~~~
Back to the hallway…
"Oh yeah, you left this too," the blonde man said, pulling out a bright red G-string.
Anne snatched it from his hand. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Why are you carrying this without a bag or anything?!" she panicked. There were security cameras in the hallway. If anyone saw this, her name would be ruined.
She quickly looked around to make sure no one had seen them—
But unlucky for her, her eyes met Dean James Ashford's. He was staring at them with a sharp, unreadable expression.
"Dean James… you know… it's just… I mean… I have a life too… I mean… You know—" Anne fumbled to explain.
"Professor Harper, I don't really care about your personal life. We're all human anyway, sure. But… in the university hallway, outside the Dean's office, and in front of a student… I'm sorry to say this, but I have to submit a termination letter for you."
That day, Anne Harper was fired as one of T University's top psychology professors.