Chapter 2:
BPOV
Well, it's pretty clear that I'm not going to get any leeway in Finance class because Professor Hottie has made his disgust with my tardiness abundantly clear. Three sarcastic comments, two eye rolls, and keeping the entire class five minutes late to "make up for the lost time" was the final icing on the cake. I mean, seriously, has this guy never taught an MBA evening class before? Does he not understand that unlike his full time students, we all have careers that we attend to during the day? I walk out of the class in a huff when I hear my name called out.
"Miss Swan? Are you interested in getting a copy of the Syllabus, or will you be dropping this class after tonight?"
"Actually, I planned to get the syllabus online, you know, save a tree or something," I tried to give him a little smirk to let him know I wasn't intimidated by him.
"Well, Miss Swan, you would know if you had logged into the course site that the syllabus is the only document NOT available online. I have to give you some reason to show up for my class, even if it was a late showing," he glares down at me. I try to look into his eyes to see if there is any hint of humor in them. Nope. Not even a slight glimmer. I figure that if I am going to survive the next fourteen weeks I had better make amends now.
"Look, Professor Cullen, I apologize for showing up late. I don't make a habit out of it, and if I have to leave work 90 minutes early next time to avoid traffic jams, I will." I look at him sincerely hoping that he will move on and quit punishing me for my five minute lateness.
"I accept your apology Miss Swan. You must understand that I have to set a firm example, especially for my younger students, that lateness is not an acceptable behavior in the classroom or the boardroom. I am sure that a woman with your experience can appreciate that."
Whoa…did he just tell me I'm old? I mean, I get it, I am not a 22 year old coed who just graduated from school and decided to hop into an MBA program, but I did that by design. I wanted to have some business experience before I jumped into a program. Since when did 27 become ancient? Just as I am about to come back to him with a sarcastic remark, I hear my phone beep. Shit! I completely forgot about the conference call I had accepted and it's now 10:10.
"Excuse me, Dr. Cullen, but I need to take this call. My team is looking for my profuse experience on this conference meeting. Good day." I storm out of the room, grabbing the syllabus from his hands and hoping that I got my message across.
As I answer the phone I look behind me and see him standing there, slightly dumbfounded, as though he just realized his asshole remark from a few minutes ago. I guess there's something to be said for those in the academic world having no common sense.
Thirty minutes later I am finishing my call as I walk into my townhome. Sampson wakes up from a deep sleep and runs to meet me at the door. I happily greet him and give him a snack before we both curl up in bed.
While I am sitting there in silence, listening to Sampson snore, I replay the events of class today. I am used to your stereotypical arrogant professor, but Professor Hottie really seemed to have it out for me. I might have to Google him tomorrow to see where he came from and what his deal is. Finance is not one of my strong points and with his obvious disgust with me; I will need to be on my toes all semester. I thought about this as I slowly drifted off to sleep.