THEODORE

I stood at the mall, ignoring the looks that I got -or the looks I felt like I was getting- and placed the Golden band on the counter.

My back ached from how stiffly I was standing. It had always been like this but it was much different when I taught students. Teaching was my comfort zone in a sense.

If I was going to start over then I needed to let go of the past and that included pawning the ring off.

I remembered how expensive it was when I got it. Yes, I bought my own wedding ring and now I realized how -in a way- I was getting married to myself.

Which was why I wasn't throwing the ring away. I didn't need the money. I had enough.

"Wow. This is some antique shit. Hard gold" the man behind the counter hummed and combed his fingers through his beards.

"How much is it worth?" I grunted out, uncomfortable talking to him and glanced around the store, searching for nothing in particular until my eyes caught someone.
My brows furrowed and I leaned towards the side to have a better look.

It was her.

At the silent declaration, my heart began to skip hard. She donned a simple white dress that accentuated her waist and held a necklace up to her neck -seemingly trying to see how it would look on her skin.

This time, her short blonde curls were nowhere to be found. Just curly honey brown hair that fell up to her ass. Beautiful either way.

Speaking of ass...she was bloody gifted.

"How much you want for it?" He asked, pulling my thoughts away from her. I glanced down at the bearded man for a couple of seconds before looking back to her.

"Excuse me" I mumbled and made my way towards the girl who was admiring a couple of necklaces and bracelets.

I could feel myself choke up nervously because I wasn't sure of what to say to her.

What the fuck was I supposed to say?

Maybe I could ask her to buy me the coffee she was offering yesterday?

"No. Why the hell would you do that?" I grumbled to myself and exhaled, watching her as she picked up a pair of gold hoop earrings. The earrings matched her skin tone to perfection and beyond.

Maybe I could just ask her if she wanted to eat somewhere...anywhere.

She had a small bag handing from her shoulder. A brown leather bag that I doubted could actually hold anything.

"H-" I choked up and sighed, my nerves eating at me. She spun around abruptly and her eyes widened when she realized how close I was to her. I would have been convinced the honey brown hair was real if I didn't see her the previous day. Unlike yesterday, she didn't have that yellow eyeliner but a baby blue one -almost pastel.

"Oh! Uhm Professor Stephen!" She wiggled her finger in the air like she was trying to remember my name and I watched the white long faux nails attached to her finger before meeting her gaze. Her accented voice was oddly satisfying. Like an ASMR.

"Uh yeah...I...I uhm..." I stared down at my feet and sighed, knowing I was only making a fool of myself.

No woman had ever gotten me so nervous and tongue tied.

When I looked up at her, she had her head tilted but the patience in those dreamy brown eyes took my nervousness down a notch.

"Just call me Theodore and I was just Uh trying to..." I trailed off wondering if I wanted to tell her I was trying to pawn off my wedding ring.

"I didn't uh...get your name" I said and she smiled, as I held my hand out for her, eager to feel that heat. That familiar heat that she brought to me yesterday.

"Imade. Imade Aare" she placed her hand in mine and I inhaled deeply, her familiar scent made me hum and I enclosed my hand around hers. Her hand was so small.

"That's a beautifully unique name. Where are you from?" I moved closer to her for some reason and I was utterly satisfied when she didn't take steps back.

Her scent was overwhelming. Her aura was overwhelming. Her presence was overwhelming.

Pleasantly overwhelming.

"Oh it's Nigerian." she smiled playfully and I tried to return it but I was sure it looked like a grimace.

She was on scholarship. Smart and beautiful -with an amazing ass.

"That's great. Uh do you want to...I don't know...grab some coffee and talk" I spoke and only after the words left my lips did I realize how straightforward and not-so-proper they sounded.

She had her lips parted and her brows pinched.

"I don't know if that's-"

"Just coffee" I pushed and she sighed before taking the large hoop earrings and the minimalist necklace.

"Just coffee, Theodore" she reminded me with a stern look on her face but she only looked cute. Her lips spread into a smile as she walked in front of me, swaying her hips towards the counter.

She paid for the earrings and necklace and we waited as the man behind the counter packed them up.

I would have paid but I didn't want to chase her off. God! I would buy her a million and one golden earrings if she wanted them.

"When did you get to Cali?" I asked and I noticed her count on her fingers without bringing them up, almost causing me to smile.

"Three days ago and it's been absolutely amazing. I'm quite nervous though -a whole country that I've never been to before" she looked up at me with excitement in her eyes. She smiled, tucking the strands of her hair behind her ear just as the guy came back out with a bag.

"There's a gift in the bag for purchasing goods over $30..." he trailed off, sliding the bag towards her.

"Oh wow...thank you" she smiled politely at him but I frowned at him as he wrote something down on a piece of paper before sliding it to her.

My jaws clenched at the sight of what was on the piece of paper but there was nothing I could do.

"And maybe if you wanna...grab dinner sometime" he flirted and Imade giggled before sliding it back towards him, her long manicured pink nails pushed against the paper.

"Thank you, darling but I'm not sure my boyfriend would appreciate that" she whispered and my heart jumped again.

She had a boyfriend.

"Let's go, Professor Stephen?" She called, walking towards the exit of the store.

"I-I'll be right there" I turned to the man who still looked stunned and grabbed my ring sitting by the corner of the table before walking towards her. I shoved the ring into my pocket and turned to her as she put the packed earrings into her tiny bag.

"What's your course of study?" I asked as we walked together. I could see the middle of her head and I could see the delightful curve of her ass.

She turned to me with a smile as we continued to walk in stride. My hands itched to hold hers.

"Literature" she grinned and I hummed, wondering if it would be weird to hold her hand.

Yes, Theodore! There are other students out here!

"Oh, that's great. Is there anything you'd like to have in particular?" I asked, still feeling nervous but not as heavily as I did before. She shrugged, and I held my breath, wondering if she could hear how quickly I was breathing.

"There's this Italian restaurant around the corner. We could walk there" I offered, eager to make this more than it was. Eager to spend time with her.

"As long as the food is great" she smiled and looked at me. Her eyes met mine and her smile slowly diminished as she tucked strands of her hair behind her ear.

I gulped and stared into her eyes, wondering how it would feel to kiss her lips or her little glowing button nose. Her eyes were roaming over my face and I could see the tiny amount of nervousness in her eyes.

Did she...

She looked away as we walked to the exit of the mall.

"Y-Yeah" I whispered as we walked side by side.

We were a questionable couple.

Not...not a couple in that sense.

A thirty nine year old man who looked like he stepped out a time machine from the 70's and a gorgeous what...nineteen or twenty year old contemporary beauty.

I had a crush on a student.