Count to three: My affair with my dynamics professor (teacher x student)

Chapter 33

There was a brief pause on the other end, and I tried to remind myself to breathe.

"Tuesday works perfectly," Inés said smoothly, as though we'd just settled on a simple plan. "How does 2 PM sound?"

"Great," I replied, still trying to get my bearings. "Tuesday at 2 is good."

There was another slight pause, then Inés's voice softened. "I'm sorry again for calling you like this. I just needed to ask before tomorrow. I won't be able to see you in person then, and then we'll be into the weekend..."

I felt the pressure of her apology and quickly shook my head, even though she couldn't see me. "You shouldn't be sorry for calling," I said, my voice a little lighter than before. "It's actually a pleasure to receive a call under the name Karimov."

Inés chuckled again, a sound that hit me in the chest, but then she cleared her throat. "I'll take that as a compliment, then."

I let out a quiet breath, trying to steady myself before asking the next question. "So... why won't I see you tomorrow? We have class at 8."

There was a brief silence, and my mind raced through a thousand possibilities — none of them making much sense. Why wouldn't she be there?

Inés answered, her voice steady, almost apologetic. "I have to leave town early tomorrow. There's an event in Malmö I have to attend... corporate, not academic. I won't be on campus at all."

My brain, still somewhere between reality and the fact that Inés Karimov was casually explaining her Friday travel plans to me over the phone, struggled to process the information at a normal speed.

"Malmö?" I echoed, a little breathless, as if the city name itself carried weight.

"Yes," she said. "It's for my husband's company. A board thing. A lot of handshakes and small talk. Not exactly my favorite way to spend a Friday night." A soft, almost imperceptible smile laced her voice, and it hit me straight in the ribs.

I tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear, trying to keep my cool even though my heart was beating against my ribs like it was trying to escape. "Sounds... intense," I managed.

"It will be," she said, a light laugh under her words. "And it means I'll be missing our class. Unfortunately." The last word was quieter. Different. Maybe imagined.

I sat up straighter, the mat cold against my back where my shirt had ridden up. "Well... I hope you have a nice time," I said.

There was a brief pause, then Inés gave a soft, almost amused hum. "That's very kind of you," she said, her voice low and warm, almost like she was smiling. "I'll try."

The line went quiet for a moment, a soft, heavy kind of quiet that neither of us seemed eager to break.

I shifted on the mat, the silence growing tender around us, threading into something I wasn't sure either of us fully understood yet. My heart was pounding again, reckless and steady at the same time.

Before I could think better of it, I said, almost under my breath, "Your voice sounds... different over the phone."

Inés let out a soft chuckle, a rich, quiet sound that curled in my chest. "Different good or different bad?"

I smiled helplessly, glad she couldn't see how red my face was getting. "Different... dangerous," I said, the word slipping out too honestly.

Another pause. I heard the faintest inhale on her end, like she was trying to catch a thought before it escaped. "Is that so?" Inés said, her voice lilting, playful but edged with something real. "Dangerous how?"