"I want to thank you again, Ratan. You didn't have to do this." Ronobir said to his brother Ratan as they walked down the hallway of Calcutta University. With Ratan being the college's principal, it was not too difficult for him to squeeze a job in for his younger brother.
Ratan smirked. "No need to thank me, brother. The position was open and I knew you were looking for work, it was a no-brainer."
Ronobir grinned. It wasn't that he and Ratan weren't close but as the years passed and Ronobir moved to London while Ratan stayed behind and raised a family, hindered their relationship. It wasn't until two years ago when Ronobir moved back home that those old wounds began to heal.
"Should I be frightened that I'm filling the spot of a teacher who, as you said 'aggressively quit?' "
Ratan chuckled. "Mrs Noon had her own personal issues hence why the aggression but the class is fine I assure you. You'll do great." He reassures before opening the classroom door and stepping into the room full of teenagers.
"Class, I know things have been rocky with Mrs Noon gone and different substitutes every class but we have finally found a permanent teacher. This is Prof. Chatterjee and he'll be your Literature professor for the remainder of the year. And yes, he is my brother and he will report any misconduct to me so all of you treat him with the utmost respect as if I were teaching you. The floor is yours."
Ratan concluded, gesturing to Ronobir to come further into the room before giving him a light pat on the back and walking out of the class.
Ronobir nervously pressed his lips together, setting his suitcase on his desk and then standing behind it.
"Well, I guess we can skip the introduction part. I will learn each of your names accordingly. Based on the seating chart, it looks like everyone is here except...a Miss Khanna?" He questioned eyeing the empty seat in the front row.
"She'll be here soon. She's always late."
"Thank you...Miss?"
"Malhotra. Pari Malhotra."
He nodded to her in acknowledgement before shifting his attention to a speedy girl rushing through the door to her seat.
"Ah, the speed demon. I presume you to be Miss Khanna?"
She looked him up and down slowly, briefly gasping at his unexpected husky voice. Her eyes shifted from his curls to his black dress shoes before settling back onto his eyes.
"You presumed right. New substitute?"
He briefly smirked. "Teacher, actually. My name is Prof. Chatterjee and you would've known that if you weren't late."
"I'm always late. Mrs Noon never had a problem with it."
"Well as you can see I am not Mrs Noon which means if you don't have a legitimate reason for being late it counts as tardy."
She raised her eyebrow. "You can't give me a tardy on your first day here."
"I believe I just did, Miss Khanna. By the way, you've made such a great first impression you can stay 15 minutes after class." Ronobir started with a grin before turning his back to the rather intrigued-looking petite student.
She twirled one of her curls around her finger impatiently sitting in her seat and staring at the clock before staring at the handsome teacher flipping through papers. She examined every stroke of his red pen and every crinkle in his eyebrow. She tilted her head slightly before pressing her lips together.
"Something bothering you Miss Khanna?" Ronobir sighed.
"Just curious. You haven't even collected any assignments, what are you possibly grading?" She asked.
Ronobir sighed, still looking down. "I'm not grading, I'm highlighting."
She scoffed. "Highlighting with a red pen?"
"Underlining. If you really want to be that specific."
"I like being specific. It's a part of my charm." She smirked.
He shook his head, still staring down at his papers so, of course, he was oblivious to her getting out of her seat. The sound of her heels was his only alarm before realizing she was already at his desk, sitting on it.
"Something I can help you with, Miss Khanna?"
"Nope, just looking around. You have me stuck in her against my will for 15 minutes and that clock is going at a granny pace so I'm running out of options."
He grinned. "Well, clearly you don't mind not following directions so you have to endure the consequences for that."
She rolled her eyes.
"And against your will? That's a bit extreme don't you think?"
"And keeping me past class time because I was a few minutes late isn't it?" She spat back.
"Be on time and you won't have to make up for it in the end. It's that simple, sweety."
Her eyes widened at the pet name and he did the same. It wasn't meant to be taken as anything more than a common word of endearment but the glint in her eye told a different story.
"Do you call all your female students 'sweety', Prof. Chatterjee?" She asked, innocently biting her bottom lip.
Ronobir nervously swallowed. "There's nothing to it. It's just a word of endearment, that's all."
She hummed slowly tracing one of the books on his desk with her finger. "Look, I know Principal Chatterjee is your brother but that's going to get confusing really fast so is there anything else I can call you instead?"
"I think Prof. Chatterjee would be more appropriate."
"I didn't ask what's more appropriate, I asked what else I can call you. Do you not have a first name?" Her blunt question left him in awe. Never has he had such a bold student before and a shameless one at that. He's also never been this nervous around a student either. She never looked away from him as he nervously glanced away from her briefly.
He cleared his throat. "With me being your teacher and you being my student, it would be best if we addressed each other professionally. I'm Prof. Chatterjee to you and you're Miss Khanna to me."
"Fair enough, for now." She turned towards him on the desk, their hands almost brushing each other. She leaned forward, their faces inches apart.
"I think you'll realize soon enough I'm not your ordinary student, just as I know you're no ordinary teacher. I look forward to the rest of the year for you to know that too." She said in a hushed tone. Her warm cinnamon breath hit his face like a tide he was glad to drown in.
"Looks like those 15 minutes are up." She whispered flashing him a mischievous grin hopping off the desk and leaving Ronobir desperate for the oxygen that was her.
She was so intriguing but stubborn as hell, and god he couldn't help his fascination.
He watched her as she bent down to retrieve her bag and books by her desk. Her Jean-covered bottom was in his perfect view but he quickly looked away.
-She's your student. She's your student. He repeated to himself.
"I'll see you tomorrow in class, Prof. Chatterjee." She said before walking to the classroom door. Ronobir was ready to scream of frustration and confusion the minute she walked out until she paused turning the knob. She looked back over at her completely flustered teacher.
"Oh, by the way, you can call me Mishti." His eyebrows furrowed at the mention of her first name.
"I know you said we should keep it professional but I'm not one for following directions, right?" She bit her lip lightly with a smirk before opening and walking out the door. Ronobir huffed in exhaustion leaning back into his seat, wondering how much of a roller coaster this 18-year-old student was really going to be.