The Professor - Ch. 16.3

“Sorry about that,” Baron said upon ending his brief call with Jordin. A call that mainly consisted of, “No, I haven’t made it home yet. And yes, I’ll be sure to call you when I do.”

“No need to apologize,” Aurelia replied, securing her seatbelt now that her clothing was back in order. Well, most of it. “I was just as wrong for disrespecting clear relationship boundaries. You would think I’d be the last person to do something like that considering the fact that I’ve been cheated on before and know how awful it feels to be done that way,” she continued, referring to the relationship boundaries he had with Jordin. “Rest assured it won’t happen again.”

Baron frowned, assuming that she was referring to the relationship boundaries she had with Claude. He didn’t consider himself in a committed relationship with Jordin, no matter how much she tried to pretend otherwise.

Switching the subject, Baron asked, “How are you going to get to school tomorrow? By bus?”

“I could, but I would have to get up at the crack of dawn just to make all the right transfers and get to school on time. I had enough of that tedious routine my freshmen year,” Aurelia replied, grateful for this subject change. “No, I’ll just call Claude. He and his mother only live four blocks from me. I’m sure he won’t mind letting me catch a ride back and forth to school with him. I’ll still have to use the buses to go to work though.” If Aurelia had known she'd be having car trouble tonight, she would have requested a ride from Claude's mother before they went their separate ways after the concert.

“I see.” Baron’s jawline tightened. He didn’t want Aurelia to call Claude for anything. He didn’t want her to need Claude for anything.

For such a brilliant man, Baron was acting really dumb right now. It hadn’t dawned on him yet that Aurelia hadn’t called Claude once tonight. That a woman in a committed relationship would have had her boyfriend at the top of her call list if her vehicle was stolen. That if Claude was indeed Aurelia’s boyfriend, he would have gotten off work early tonight and taken her home himself. She definitely wouldn’t have been at a bus stop or catching a ride with Baron.

Determined to forfeit her dependence on any man outside of him, Baron started up the car, drove a few more miles down the road, and stopped at a 24-hour check cashing place. Inside he bought a prepaid credit card.

“Here,” he said, dropping the plastic card and receipt in Aurelia’s lap upon his return to the car.

Aurelia’s eyes bucked. “What’s this for?” She picked up the card and stared at it.

“It’s for you to rent a car so that you won’t have to depend on anyone for transportation. At least for the next week or so. If your car isn’t found by then, let me know and I’ll increase the balance on the card.”

“Professor, I…don’t know what to say.” Aurelia stammered out, overwhelmed by his generosity once again. Especially when she saw the accompanying receipt and noted how much he’d put on the credit card. What kind of car did he expect her to rent for the week? A Mercedes?

“Thank you would be sufficient.” Baron smiled as he restarted the car.

“Thank you a thousand times, Professor.” Her eyes shimmered with tears. “I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”

“That card is a gift, not a loan.”

“And yet I’m going to pay you back anyway,” Aurelia replied firmly. “You’re not my man, so I can’t be accepting gifts like this from you. It could…complicate things too much for the both of us.”

“I see.” Baron’s jaw locked with tension again. “Consider it a loan then,” he said as he guided the car out of the check cashing center’s parking lot and into the night traffic.

The rest of the ride was cloaked once again in silence. Not even the radio was turned on this time.

In front of Aurelia’s building, she finally broke the silence. She had to. There was a most sensitive topic left to discuss.

“Thanks again for driving me home tonight, Professor, and for the card,” Aurelia said, forcing her voice to sound casual.

“You’re welcome,” Baron replied, unlocking the automatic doors. “Do you want me to walk you to your door?”

Aurelia smiled at his chivalry. “No, but you can…” She paused, took a deep breath of courage and just came out with the rest of it. “…you can return my thong.”

Baron winced. “Sorry about that,” he said, digging into his left jacket pocket for the missing item. “If you want your wig back, too, I have that in the trunk of my car,” he said, handing over the black lacy underwear.

Aurelia gasped as the case of the missing wig was finally solved. “Yes, please,” she said, keeping her gaze averted as she quickly stashed her lingerie in her purse.

How embarrassing can one night get?

* * *

Fortunately for Aurelia, the private investigator that had been hired to trail her neglected to follow her and Baron tonight. He’d been too busy following the teenagers that stole her car.

Doing his good deed of the day, the P.I. not only followed the wayward youths for several miles, but he also called in the stolen vehicle to the local police. He gave them detailed descriptions of the teenagers and the exact direction they were headed in.

By the time Aurelia went to bed that night, her car had been impounded and the teens involved had been arrested. She received a call early the next morning telling her when and where she could retrieve her vehicle with proper ID.

Aurelia immediately emailed Baron with the happy news of her car’s return, of her need to be excused from class that day in order to deal with the situation, and of her intentions to return the unused prepaid credit card he’d loaned her.

© 2009 by Mi’Chelle Dodson/Suprina Frazier