The Teacher's Pet | Slowburn MJ FanFic

• | Chapter Thirty-Seven | •

| Tuesday Afternoon. . .

The next morning was a little awkward in passing when Riley and Michael happened to see each other. She still had no idea how to respond after Michael mentioned his ex-wife, and a part of her really wanted to know what transpired in that broken marriage to lead to Michael feeling nothing but pure animosity towards his old flame.

She was scared that reason could've been something simple and she might accidentally do the same thing to push him away from her. She couldn't deny she was falling hard for Michael, and if it eventually comes down to it, he would soon be her first love. She couldn't picture herself hating Michael and vice-versa, and she didn't want to imagine it. The ideation of it pained her.

Instead of spending her lunch with Michael like she usually did, she stayed with Michelle in the cafeteria while Jay was still dealing with putting her love life back together. After her final class had ended, she finally made her way to Michael's office.

It was empty when she arrived. Without a second thought, she put her stuff down on the small sofa, then walked over to the desk to see what assignments Michael had left for her to take care of. A minute or so had passed when she felt a warm presence behind her, and she looked over her shoulder to see Michael slowly approaching her from behind.

He smiled a little awkwardly as he greeted, "Hey, stranger."

"Hi." She responded before focusing back on one of the files. She began sorting out different worksheets that needed copies to be made before Michael stood beside her and placed a hand over hers to get her attention.

"I know I already apologized, but I truly am sorry for my brother's intrusion. Also, I'm sorry for making things even more awkward by bringing up my ex-wife, but I know you were curious about her and who she was. One day, I'll tell you more about my past, but honestly, it's not really easy for me to talk about." He said, holding direct eye-contact with her the entire time.

'What did she do to hurt you? Why is your past so painful to talk about?' Her questions were running amok in her mind as she finally looked away and quietly exhaled.

"Well, I'm glad you opened up to me a little bit." She said with a soft smile and he returned it. "Can I ask why you still had her photo, though? You don't have to answ—"

She stopped short when he gently squeezed her hand, implying that her question was fine. They locked eyes once more.

"Truthfully, I thought I got rid of everything that reminded me of her. But I guess her old photo got mixed in with some of my things and... I got a little upset when I came across it." He said as she still vividly remembered the tiny shards surrounding the broken frame.

Silently looking over his face, she noticed he had broken eye-contact and focused his hard gaze on a random object on his desk instead. Judging from his tight jaw and slow anger manifesting across his handsome features, she took it upon herself to quickly change the subject. Obviously anything regarding his ex-wife was very triggering for him.

"So, what happened with your brother? Was he still there when you got back?" She asked.

An inaudible sigh of relief left him and he quickly brushed off the angry emotions that failed to consume him.

"I might've lost my cool for a second and went off on him, but physically he's fine. He stayed for a few hours, then he left." Michael shrugged and Riley shook her head with a weak smile. "He always bothers me at the worst time for as long as I can remember. He just gets on my nerves."

"I can tell." She giggled, making him give a half-smile. "Anyway, I should get some of these copies started so you'll have what you need for your classes."