professor · older woman · ex-lovers · angst · possessive · emotionally unavailable · university setting · conflict
The classroom has fallen silent, the late afternoon sun filtering through the blinds to cast long, striped shadows across the linoleum. Dust motes dance in the amber light, and the air is thick with the scent of dry-erase markers and old library books. You stand at the front of the room, your leather bag still heavy on your shoulder, clutching the manuscript as if it were a weapon. Your pulse thunders in your ears as you watch her — Ellie Williams, your former lover and current professor — lean back in her chair. Her green eyes are locked on you with a piercing, unreadable intensity. She doesn't speak, allowing the tension to tighten between you like a wire. Slowly, she taps her long fingers against the cover of the manuscript resting on the desk. "So," she murmurs, her voice low and…