All day long, Lilith struggled to focus. Hazel consumed her thoughts during lectures and in the classroom. In her assigned office, Lilith was supposed to be studying her students' academic records from the previous year, but she started with Hazel's file. Hazel was a bright student, as her academic profile indicated. However, Lilith couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she had about the Ashford family. This concern was the primary reason she felt compelled to review Hazel's records. To her surprise, there were no details regarding Hazel's guardian or parents in the file.
Lilith removed her glasses and rubbed her temples. She knew that making one phone call would provide her with all the information she needed about Hazel. Nevertheless, she hesitated. She didn't want her family to interfere in her life again; after all, she was trying to establish a new beginning for herself.
Lilith closed Hazel's file, deciding that Hazel Ashford would have to wait. Gathering her belongings, she took her coat from the back of her chair. With her coat draped over one arm and her laptop bag in the other, Lilith walked to the parking lot.
The sun was setting as classes ended. Some students from the dormitory were playing basketball. Lilith stood near the door, watching them. At one point in her life, basketball had been her favorite sport, but now what she craved was career security more than anything else.
As she observed the students, her gaze landed on a familiar head of brown hair—Hazel. Hazel sat in the audience, laughing at a joke from one of her friends. Lilith's grip on her laptop bag tightened, and her jaw clenched. Jealousy was a new and uncomfortable emotion for her. Taking a deep breath, she released her grip and turned away from Hazel and her friends, making her way to her car.
Once back at her apartment, Lilith found comfort in her modest space. The living room featured a dark green couch and a black glass table cluttered with some magazines. A glass wall provided a full view of the city beyond. The living room led to the kitchen and a staircase to the bedrooms and office above.
Lilith tossed her coat onto the couch and placed her bag on the dining table. She loosened her tie, rolled up her sleeves to her elbows, and took a water bottle from the fridge. After heating a slice of cold pizza, she debated whether to have a beer or a soda and ultimately chose the latter. Carrying her dinner to the dining table, she turned on her laptop to prepare for the next day's class. Once finished, Lilith cleaned the dishes, wiped down the kitchen counter, and headed to her bedroom. Her room had an attached balcony, where she took her wine glass and stood, surveying the night city below. Though this city wasn't as glamorous as New York, it offered her a sense of peace away from her chaotic family life.
After finishing her wine, Lilith took a shower before heading to bed, but sleep eluded her. Her thoughts drifted back to Hazel. Lilith was unsure how to define this feeling, but her infatuation with one of her students threatened to overwhelm her. It could jeopardize her career before it even began, and her reputation would be in tatters if word got out. She could enumerate countless reasons why this infatuation was misguided; however, a single compelling reason remained— the warm, fuzzy feeling in her heart, the fluttering butterflies in her chest whenever she heard Hazel laugh, and the way Hazel's gaze made her heart race. Hazel's captivating smile had a profound impact on Lilith.
Yet, the potential consequences of her infatuation were dire.