Class Of Desire (Contemporary Romance) (4 page)

Accident

L
izzy watched intently as Spencer spoke to
the class. Unlike her other classes, Dr. Spencer’s class was lively, upbeat and
everyone participated in the discussion. Not only did he speak on issues that
were in the textbook; he also spoke about other related things happening in the
world. A signal that he definitely kept well informed on current news and
events.

She never imagined
psychology would be this interesting or perhaps it was just all in her mind.
Was her fascination for the course a direct result of her infatuation with the
man teaching it? Like most of the other girls in the class, at times Lizzy
found herself lusting over this confident, intelligent young man. The added
bonus was that he was incredibly handsome as well; his charm and charisma were the
icing on the cake.

“Let’s talk about
Sigmund Freud and his psychoanalytic theory. If you did some reading up on it…”
Spencer stopped what he was saying as Steffy Jameson’s hand came up. “Yes Miss
Jameson, go ahead,” he took a few steps back, and leaned his lower body against
the table to the front of the lecture room.

Lizzy raised a
cynical brow at Steffy who was seated a few chairs away from her. In her mind she
was absolutely sure the young lady didn’t genuinely have a question. She’d been
busy on her phone almost the entire class time.

“Well I read up
on Freud, like you asked and I just want to know whether you…”She batted her
eyes lashes in an innocent yet seductive manner.

“Yes what would
you like to know? Remember no question is a silly one, a smart individual
always asks questions when in doubt.” a smile touched Dr. Spencer’s lips as he
encouraged Steffy to continue what she was saying.

“Umm. Do you like
believe in all what Freud said. Like you know his whole theory about a human’s basic
need for sex.”

The entire class
broke into raw laughter, cheered on by the devious little she-devil, Steffy.
“Okay quiet down everyone,”
Spencer tried to settle the noisy students, with a stern look on his face.

Deep down, Lizzy
was relieved that he didn’t find what Steffy said to be amusing in anyway. She’d
grown sick of hearing Steffy and her friends constantly speaking about sex
whenever Spencer was around. They seemed to enjoy acting like a bunch of horny
teenagers. Weren’t they all past that stage of their life? Maybe not. Lizzy
especially hated when they referred to Spencer, as Dr. Superhot. She felt the
nickname was very inappropriate although she had to admit that he was indeed,
super-hot.

“I don’t
particularly believe in everything Freud said, but I do believe in some parts.
However that’s the beauty of psychology, it allows you to develop your own
thoughts and theories. Therefore everyone is entitled to his or her own belief
or interpretation of Freud’s theories.” Dr. Spencer said as he tactfully
answered the question.

The next hour of
class seemed to fly by faster than usual. Soon Dr. Spencer was reminding the
class of their mid-term exam scheduled in a few weeks. As class came to an end,
Lizzy remained at her seat and flipped through the pages of her text book.
After the other students left the room in random order, she slowly rose from
her chair and made her way to the front of the classroom where Spencer stood.

Today she’d worn
a lime green maxi dress, exposing ample cleavage. She’d been sure to sit in the
front row where Spencer would be able to get a good look at her. Throughout
class she spent her time watching him, being careful to avoid making too much
eye contact.

Now as she
approached him, she could sense the tension building up between them. However
he tried to remain unmoved, with a pleasant smile gracing his face as she came
closer.

“Miss Carter, I
didn’t realize you were still here,” he brought his gaze to meet hers, as his
blue eyes said otherwise.

“I just came over
to see whether you would give me an idea as to what to expect on the exam”. She
clutched onto the handle of her bag, in an attempt to simmer down the nervous
feeling brewing in the pit of her stomach. Why was she even doing this?
Psychology was the one course she actually liked and she was able to complete
the assignments with ease. Yet here she was trying to befriend the good
professor, by playing the role of the “confused student”. Was she becoming the
horny teenager that she bemoaned about other girls in the class? Only time
would tell but right now she decided to live in the moment.

There was a
little hesitation on his part, as if he was unsure as to whether he should
respond to her question.

“I won’t tell
anyone you told me,” Lizzy teased, chewing on her bottom lip nervously as she awaited
his reply, gently rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Really,” he
arched his brow. “So you won‘t get me in trouble,” he grinned. Taking his navy
blue jacket off the back of his chair, he threw his hands into the sleeves and
adjusted the collar. He looked like a well-dressed business man.

“Well okay, if I
have your word.” his eyes lit up, he lowered his voice as if he were telling
her a secret. “Ensure that you study chapter 1 - 3, and pay special attention
to the history of psychology in America.” he finally added. He gave her an extended
wink, since these were the same instructions he had given the rest of the class.

She smiled back
at him and just as she was about to thank him, a loud vibration distracted her.
Looking to Dr. Spencer, she realized that it wasn’t his phone. Immediately she
began searching the pockets of her bag until she found the device. The number
was unknown, but as soon as she heard the voice at the other end of the line, she
knew something was terribly wrong.

“Oh my God…What
hospital are you guys at now?” Lizzy was hysterical, her fingers trembling as she
threw the phone back into her bag and got ready to rush out without even saying
good bye.

Spencer noticed
the sudden change in her mood and he too grew concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s my son, he
just had an accident and fractured his arm,” she answered rushing out the door.

Spencer hastened
his steps to meet her, offering to give her a ride to the hospital. His SUV was
parked in the school’s garage on the other side of the road and as she waited
for him to pick her up, as a series of terrible thoughts flooded her mind. Was she
being a selfish mother for leaving her children at home while she went back to
school? What if he was seriously injured? Maybe it was more than just a
fractured arm?

By the time the vehicle
had pulled up in front of her; the tears were already streaming down her
cheeks. Before she could get the door, Spencer sprinted across the road to the
passenger’s side to open the door for her.

“Please don’t
cry. Your son will be okay,” he urged Lizzy as he drove off.

Lizzy couldn’t
help herself. She could not stop the tears. The guilt she felt was too much.
“You don’t understand Dr. Spencer; I can’t even begin to tell you how guilty I
feel right now,” she sobbed.

“You can call me
Spencer. And whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not your fault, accidents happen all
the time.”

“No I’m a bad mother.
I chose to let him stay over at his friend’s house, even though I knew that
there were no adults around.”

“What do you
mean?” Spencer became serious, as he focused on the road ahead.

“Well my son
wanted to go over to his friend’s house tonight, but the only person who was
there to supervise the boys, was his friend’s teenage sister. I had a bad feeling
about it in the back of my mind; I knew something bad would happen…I just knew
it!” Lizzy said as she buried her face in her hands and cried softly.

The hospital came
in full view and Spence dropped her off at the front door, while he went to
park his car.

“How could you
let this happen Chloe?” Lizzy’s voice was filled with hurt and rage. She didn’t
want excuses, she just wanted the truth. No, more than that, she wanted this
incident to have never happened.

The teenager
standing before her looked terrified, unsure of what she could say to pacify
Lizzy. The wild blue and red highlights in her golden brown hair, was just one
of the all so painful reminders, of just how carefree she was. Did she intend
to put anyone’s child in danger? No. But the fall had happened so fast, so
suddenly. By the time Chloe had gotten to the door, Nathan had already tumbled
down the flight of stairs. His hysterical cries let her know that something was
wrong.

“One minute they
were on their skateboards playing around outside the apartment, next thing I
know they’re fighting and pushing each other down the stairs,” she began
telling Lizzy.

Lizzy’s eyes
drifted to her son’s friend who sat in the lobby of the local hospital. It was
obvious that guilt and remorse lingered on his face. She decided to talk to her
son’s friend instead, thinking that perhaps he could explain why they’d been
fighting.

Just as she
closed in on him, a young female doctor walked to them with her son Nathan at
her side. Lizzy stopped in her tracks and focused her attention on her son. “Oh
honey, what happened?” she said as she rushed to embrace him. Her embrace was a
delicate one, she was careful not to hurt his injured arm.

She stepped back,
taking a look at the white sling that held his right arm into position. “Does
it hurt honey?”

“Uh uh, not
anymore.” Nathan shook his head to confirm his answer.

With the doctor
still present, Lizzy seized the opportunity to find out about her son’s
injuries. The doctor was very polite and answered all of her questions, much to
Lizzy’s relief.

“How’s he doing?
Is it serious?” the voice came from behind. Spencer was walking to her, with
his key in one hand and phone in the other. He had a genuinely concerned look
on his face as he approached them with long steady strides.

“You must be
Nathan’s father?” the doctor extended her hand out to greet him.

The awkward
silence spoke volumes and immediately the woman wearing the white jacket,
realized her mistake. “Oh I’m terribly sorry for implying...” before she could
finish her apology, Spencer interrupted politely.

“A family
friend,” he informed her, giving Lizzy a side smile.

Another young
lady walked up to Lizzy with a clipboard in hand. “Excuse me can you come with
me for a few minutes. We need your insurance information.”

A doleful
expression swept across her face as she followed the young woman. The truth was
Lizzy had no medical insurance and would have to cover the cost of her son’s
hospital bill on her own. As she got to the counter, she started a discussion
with the clerk to try and get a monthly payment arrangement made to cover the
bill.

From a distance Spencer
could hear the back and forth between Lizzy and the clerk. He could hear Lizzy
explaining the highest payment she could afford and the billing clerk telling
her it was too low. Felling a sense of compassion for Lizzy’s plight Spencer made
a split second decision to help her out. He surmised he could afford it, since
he had a large amount of money saved up from working during the summers at his
family’s business. His father had paid him extremely well, in an attempt to
entice Spencer to come run the business when he graduated.

“I’ll take care
of it,” Spencer said as he walked up to the counter, like a knight in shining
armor.

She could hardly
believe her ears. This was a man who barely knew her yet here he was helping
her out in a time of need. He didn’t complain, he didn’t once wince when they
handed him the medical bill with an itemized list of all the fees.

He remained with
Lizzy waiting for her to fill out all the necessary information while he
cleared up the bill with one full payment. The entire discharge process took
almost 20 minutes. The most shocking part of it all was that Spencer did not
treat her as just one of his students; he treated her as if she were his good
friend.

“I can’t thank
you enough,” the tears that now ran down her checks were that of a very
grateful mother. Lizzy could not quite understand why it was that he helped her
out, but she was thankful that he had.

Although she was
still very upset over the whole situation with Nathan, she was moved by
Spencer’s caring attitude. Perhaps he too was a parent. She’d never heard him
speak of his child or children before; but nonetheless she assumed that he was
able to empathize with her because of his paternal instincts.

The good rapport
between Spencer and her son seemed to confirm her suspicion about him being a
father. The two spent the entire ride to her apartment chatting about several
things: from bikes, to skate boards, to sports and even video games. Who would
think that an accomplished man like Dr. Spencer spent some of his free time,
playing “World of Warcraft”?

After a while the
conversation died out and there was silence in the vehicle. They were both so
quiet? Lizzy looked to the back seat, only to find her son slouched in a deep
sleep. One of the side effects of the pain killers no less. Knowing Nathan
well, she suspected that he’d been warding off the drowsiness by talking to
Spencer.