Temptation

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The following morning, Alice woke up first feeling groggy and as if she had a head full of rocks. Feeling movement beside him, Tom started to wake as he stretched. He quickly opened his eyes and groaned, shutting them instantly.

"What time is it?" He asked softly.

Alice looked at her phone and her eyes widened in shock.

"We have one hour until your office hours."

"Fuck!" Tom sat up on the bed, rubbing his hands over his face.

"And then we have rehearsal."

"Why did we think it was a good idea to drink that much last night?" He scoffed.

"Cause it was my birthday." Alice chuckled.

"Right. The big twenty-one."

The two quickly got themselves ready for the day and Alice decided to take a ride with Tom to campus. During his office hours, they discussed the play and what scenes they'd rehearse for the rest of the week. As well as spending time with each other outside of class, Tom and Alice knew they had to focus on the play. Alice was hard at work getting her thesis and research paper done about the play as well as her actor's workbook. They both knew that once the play was finished, they would have all the time in the world for each other.

As the next few weeks went by, Tom kept updating Alice on the progress of his apartment. Every new piece of furniture, he would send her a photo. One day, as she was cooking herself dinner while Pierre and Cory were sitting on the sofa watching a movie, Alice got a text from Tom. She opened up the message and saw a photo of Tom with a bedframe in the background. Underneath the photo was his message: Now we'll have fun keeping up my neighbors at night. Alice blushed, laughing to herself as she put her phone down.

In rehearsals, Alice knew her acting and her choreography had to be perfect. This was her senior project and she needed a good grade. She owed it to herself and all she had been through to graduate college with a stellar performance and even better grades. She was constantly going over her character work and notes, making constant edits to her papers that Tom gave her, also being her advisor. She started to feel the pressure and the stress getting to her. Tom could sense it when he met with her during his office hours. He would try and invite her over to his place or to just go out for a relaxing date but she always declined.

During one rehearsal, Tom felt his whole body tense seeing Jack enter the auditorium. Tom stood from his seat and walked over to Jack.

"What is it?" Tom inquired.

"I have to speak with Alice."

"Why?"

"It's in regards to her senior project."

"She's in the middle of rehearsal, Jack. What's the issue?" Tom asked.

"I just want to get an update on how her research and papers are coming along. It's not often we allow students to do this as their senior project."

"When we're done, you can speak with her."

For the remainder of the rehearsal, Jack stood in the back of the auditorium. At this point, Tom was doing full run throughs. When they had finished, Tom pulled Alice aside.

"Jack wants to speak with you. It shouldn't take long and you come find me here right after." Tom whispered.

"Okay." Alice gasped softly.

She saw him standing by the doors and made her way over to him.

"Let's just talk outside here." Jack instructed.