Maid for the Mafia by Jaylee

Just One Kiss

**ROMANY**

I spent most of the day locked away in my suite, running through all the little moments of my past relationship with Matthew. Everything from the very first day he came on to me in his office, to those last few moments just before he kicked me out of his place. The more I allowed myself to dissect the facts, the stupider and stupider I began to feel. The signs were all there... they were *always* there. Down to the moment I passed Charlotte Scottsdale storming out of his office in the wee hours of the night.

I remembered thinking she looked upset. Her eyes were red, her mascara was smeared. Even her clothes seemed in disarray. It really *should* have been a big red flag but it wasn't. Because for some odd reason, when a fellow classmate explodes out of her professor's office looking the way that Charlotte did, people shrug it off. Why? Because such is a constant happening within the walls of Academia. Grades suffer, students beg, zeros are given, and exams can kill you. Besides, I believed as everybody else did. That a student being harassed by a teacher would say something. They would report it, wouldn't they? Of course they would... at least, that's what most *think*. Tears are shed quite regularly during office hours on campus grounds. And so, you see, therein lay my first clue. That Monday night wasn't office hours. No. It was damn near midnight and Charlotte had absolutely no business coming out of any professor's office at that time. Ironically enough, I never would have seen her at all if I hadn't been dumb enough to leave my notes in class that day.

At that time, I had Matthew's class in the mornings, but everyone knew his last session ended at nine. So after a particularly frustrating study group in the old wing of the school, I decided to retrieve my notes by sneaking into his classroom well after he was sure to have gone home.

Little did I know...

After Charlottle raced out of the hall, I was left standing there in full view. Matthew stood in the doorway to his office. Any hopes I'd had of sneaking into the classroom died the moment he saw me. The fact that he didn't grill me, or interrogate me about what I was doing there, never even seemed to register. I didn't so much as bat an eyelash when he gestured me into his space. Not even when he asked me to have a seat along the far wall and out of the sight of the windows. I mean - the windows were shuttered, but still - his seating me so far away from the exit should have set off a few warning bells.

that I think back... I can see it. The role he was playing that night

**Flashback**

"I was just about to head home," he said. dimming the lights before turning to face me.* *Why

too, Romany?" he asked softly, walking toward me like a

certain what he's talking about, I shook my head

as he stops directly in front of where I'm sat. "Were you in on this together? Huh? First, I catch that one in my office trying to

hear any more excuses. I mean, I understand that you're desperate. After all, you

my eyes falling shut as the news hits

mean, we could practically be friends. I completely understand how stressful it can get. But instead of planning to break into my office and steal, you should have just come to me and asked. I would have been more than happy to provide you with a copy of the final." * *My eyes shot open, his hand on my knee, a budding afterthought in comparison to what I just thought I heard. He was sitting so close to me that the muscles behind his shirt were visible and in all honestly, I couldn't help but take a peek. "You're

from my knee as he stood then headed for his mini-fridge. "Do you want a beer?" he asked, reaching inside before I could answer and

I accepted, taking it from him only to sip it while he downed one,

handed it to me. When I looked down at it, I almost choked on my own air. It was a copy of the final exam.