School was out in two weeks and she looked forward to that.

Maybe she could spend more time with Malik. That is, if he was staying for longer. Once all the business was done with his son, surely he would leave and go back to Atlanta or LA and film a movie or something. He told her he had a movie planned for the summer to film. That meant he could leave any day.

She would make the most of it before it became a long-distance relationship.

Or maybe he would stay in St. Louis so he could spend time with his son. Maybe he would get his own place. She could see him every day. They could take turns sleeping at each other's place. Maybe take a vacation together. Hold hands in public. Go out to dinner, enjoy movies, walk around town holding hands. All the things she could not do in her last relationship.

Her secret relationship.

"How are you this morning?"

She tried to avoid certain times of the day to get her coffee, for this reason alone. Carter stood beside her with his coffee mug in hand in the empty teacher's lounge. She did not want to look at him, or else his eyes would make her weak. She moved on, he needed to as well.

She poured her coffee and then walked off but he stopped her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You don't have to run away from me Nova, no one's here, we can talk."

No one was in the teacher's lounge at this particular time, but anyone could walk in on them. She was not crazy. And he should care, it was him who had the most to lose.

"I have my coffee, Dr. Larson, I can enjoy it at my desk."

"Or you can enjoy it with me." He poured his coffee and she stood there and watched him. Dressed in his favorite dark suit, and the tie she bought him for his birthday. He did that on purpose. He had a million ties.

A man in a suit made her weak. Carter made her weak.

He turned to her and gave her a grin before he sipped his coffee. Did his eyes get bluer? His blond curls more blond?

"Ready for the school year to be over?"

She could not do small talk with him like this. How was he so nonchalant about them, as if they had not seen each other naked, in all the positions, enjoying each other as much as they could. She could still feel the way he touched her, made her feel, the words he whispered in her ear as they made love. He always told her he loved her, wanted her, needed her.

He would have left his wife for her. And did, now. Did she want him back?

How could they even be together, even if they could tell the world? A little midnight-skinned girl and her very older boss?

The tramp that had an affair with a married man?

Before she could answer him, two teachers walked in talking and laughing. That was her escape, as she quickly turned and headed out the door. Down to the theater department where her office was part of the classroom. She did not have a first-period class, so she used it to prepare for the day.

Once in her classroom, she took a breath. She powered up her laptop to do some work when she was disturbed yet again.

Carter walked in as if the place was his, and in a way, it was. He was the boss.

"Nova, tell me what I need to do to have you back? I made a mistake."

She tucked her lip in her mouth, biting down on it. When he dumped her, all because he was insecure about their relationship, she would have gladly run back to him if he said the word. These words. Now she was with Malik and liked being with Malik.

"I'm with Malik now, you can't keep doing this."

"You know he's some bigshot in Hollywood now. He can't give you the attention you deserve." He placed his hands on her desk and leaned over, his face close to hers. "I will give you all the attention you need. All the love. All the great sex that we had. I know you miss it."

Her insides flamed a little, thinking of how the mere touch from Carter used to give her fever.

But then she thought of Malik and moved away from him.

"You need to leave, Dr. Larson."

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere, my love. Consider this a warning, I will win you back."

He sounded so sure and confident of himself. He stared at her with those blue eyes and then stood straight up, straightened his tie, and walked out of her door.

She took a long gulp of her coffee. Today was going to be a long day.

As much as she tried to avoid Carter, he made it a point to come around her more. He knew when she had free periods and when she was on lunch. He made it a point to have lunch in the teacher's lounge while she was there, which he never did before. That made JaMocha and Cambrea very happy.

"Dr. Larson, I cannot believe you have been a Principal at this school for so long. And the kids really like you," JaMocha stated while he joined them at their table. JaMocha and Cambrea always had lunch with her, unless they were meeting with a student.

JaMocha and Cambrea both had food from the cafeteria. It still tasted like it did ten years ago to her, so she could not eat it. She brought a simple turkey and cheese sandwich, Red Hot Riplet potato chips, two cookies, and fruit snacks. Yes, she ate like she was still a teenager.

Carter took the fourth empty chair at their table, though there were other free chairs in the lounge. He sat directly across from her so she could not miss those eyes staring at her.

She inwardly groaned. She lost her appetite, no longer wanting the sandwich and chips she brought. Why was he torturing her like this?

"I don't know why my students love me...ask Ms. Washington. She attended when I was a very new principal. I believe my first year she was a freshman...so I guess you could say we grew up together."

What? Why would he say that? It was like he wanted to out them.

"How was Dr. Larson as your Principal?" Cambrea asked as she turned to her.

She never told them about her crush on him, thankfully.

"Ummm...I never really interacted with him."

"True," he said, with a little twinkle in his eye. "Ms. Washington never was sent to the principal's office or anything like that. No issues at all...except I remember her so well."

She was so uncomfortable with this conversation. First of all, it sounded creepy as hell Carter discussing her back when she was a student. He never had those feelings for her back then, that's what he said. She had a crush on him, sure, but she never ever thought it would lead to anything.

"Nova's ten-year reunion is coming up. I think that's kind of cool she's the only one back and a teacher at the school," JaMocha stated.

She ignored their conversation because she had no interest in going to the reunion. Why? So they could see the little girl they teased come full circle as a loser, not the big-time actress she thought she would be, but back at the school teaching. It never was her goal in life, but she was done with acting for herself. It was not nice to her.

She tuned them out with their chatter, and played on her phone, scrolling through pictures she took of Malik and her being goofy. She smiled, remembering why she fell for the boy next door. Malik was more than his good looks. He was more than the horny teenager. He was very sweet and romantic to her. He matured a lot over the years, and she had to admit she was impressed.

"What's Ms. Washington over there smiling about?" she heard Carter ask.

"Oh, that's probably her boo thing," Cambrea said with a chuckle. "Nova's boyfriend is a hot superstar."

"Cam!" That was so unprofessional of her.

"I didn't know Ms. Washington had a boyfriend." Carter played this game so well. He dug into the salad he brought for lunch but only tossed it around with his fork. "Tell me about him?"

"No! No, Dr. Larson, really, it's nothing!" She jumped up from the table, grabbed her sandwich, chips, and cookies, and put it back in her bag. "I'm not hungry. I think I will go back to my classroom and grade some work."

They all knew she lied as she walked away. She taught acting classes, there were no tests or papers to grade. Grading was very simple in a performance class, you performed, and you got an A. If they did not participate, they earned a C.

Back in her classroom, she locked the door so Carter or anyone else could not barge in. Sometimes her students liked to come into the theater and hang out for lunch, but only with her permission. There were none around that day, so she went into the theater and sat down in the front row.

Two more weeks and she would not have to see Carter again.