Professor Astor (Off-Limits)

The kids were just a little nicer to me today, not ignoring me entirely when I asked them how school was, and it’s a little silly how happy it made me that they actually answered. Just a few more days until Alice leaves, and I can’t wait. I hope we’ll finally be able to repair our relationship once I’m spending every afternoon with them again.

I’m grinning to myself as I walk into my house, but my smile melts away when I find my parents sitting in the living room, both of them looking furious. My mother stares at me with crossed arms, while my father has a letter in his hand, his expression showcasing his rage.

“What is this, Leia?”

He waves the letter in his hands, and I frown. Please, no, I silently beg. I can’t take much more. After the last couple of weeks, I’m at my breaking point.

“You are under investigation at school? Dating a teacher, huh?” my father says, and my heart drops. This can’t be happening. Panic seizes me, and I start to tremble.

“It isn’t like that,” I try to explain, but my mother shoots me down with a look.

“You aren’t dating your teacher? It says in the letter you’re dating Professor Astor. Is he Amara’s cousin?” she asks, her tone harsh.

I nod, my throat closing. We wanted to wait until the school’s investigation wraps up to them tell them about us. This can’t be happening like this.

“He’s the one you’re working for? Divorced and two kids?” Dad asks. His voice is soft, but it’s clear to me that he’s furious.

“Yes, Dad,” I say, my voice trembling. “He’s a great man, I promise you. I was going to tell you about us soon.”

“What kind of good man would date his student? Open your eyes, Leia. If he cared about you, he would never risk your education. You need to break it off with him. Immediately.”

I can feel the tears gathering in my eyes as I shake my head. “Dad, I can’t do that. It isn’t like that, I promise. We’re serious about each other.”

My dad holds up his hand and stares me down. “He has two children, he’s divorced, and he’s your teacher. Not to mention, his religion and culture are different to ours. What will people say?”

I burst into tears and sniff, hating that I can’t control my emotions. I never could around my parents. “I get how it sounds, I do, but it isn’t that simple.”

Dad narrows his eyes and shakes his head. “You’re his nanny, no? What does he think? That he can just marry you and get his children a new mother? Who does he think he is? Does he know about your fertility problems?”

I nod hesitantly, and Dad looks away. “So he thinks it’s okay for you to marry a divorced man with kids? Because he thinks you can’t have any of your own?”

I cross my arms, my heart breaking. “He never said that, Dad. You did. He’s never once treated me like I’m flawed, like I’m broken. He doesn’t care if I can’t have children, but he’s willing to try.”

“He doesn’t care because he already has his children, Leia. You deserve better than this. You can’t become a stepmother. Is he even willing to marry you, or is he just playing around with you? What about your culture and religion? Will you abandon it all for him? He has already divorced once. What makes you think he won’t divorce you too — if he even marries you at all?”

I shake my head. “No. I don’t know. Nothing in life is guaranteed, Dad. How am I supposed to tell you we’ll never divorce? I don’t think we will, and I’m serious about him.”

“You’re not listening to me, Leia. You have to break up with him. I will never accept him as my son-in-law. You will not marry a divorced man with kids. You’re young. You have your whole life ahead of you. What are you even thinking? You work for him. Are you insane? You risked your sister’s company by getting involved with him, and you risked your education. What good man would ever let you do that? If he was serious about you, he would have come to see me already. He would have explained, and he would have waited for you. Stop being so delusional and break up with him.”

“What would make you accept this, Dad?” I ask, my voice tinged with desperation. “Would you accept it if we had a full-blown Indian wedding?”

Dad hesitates. “You think he would give you that? Think again, Leia. You aren’t even the first woman he’s marrying. He doesn’t understand our traditions. Even if you do have children, are you going to raise them differently to his other children?”

The truth is that I don’t know. I don’t even know if we can have children, so I haven’t thought about how I’d raise them. I’m not overly religious, but my culture means a lot to me.

“What about your sister? You risked her company’s reputation, and for what? Does she know about what you’ve done?”

I shake my head. It’s true. Me being with Thor could harm her company’s reputation. One of her nannies getting together with her employer could keep some of her prospective clients from hiring her. I bite down on my lip to keep from crying, but hot tears stream down my face nonetheless.

“I will not tell you again, Leia. I will never accept this match. You need to break up with him.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then you’d better pack your bags. You can come home when you get to your senses.”

I sniff loudly and turn to walk away, my body shaking with the force of my sobs. I can barely see through my tears as I rush up the stairs.

“Leia,” Mom says, following me into my bedroom.

“He doesn’t mean it. You know what your father is like, don’t you? He just wants what’s best for you. He’s worried, that’s all.”

I shake my head. “If he wanted what’s best for me, he’d at least hear me out. He’d meet Adrian before condemning him.”

“He’s worried about your reputation, and our reputation as a family. He doesn’t want you to be with a man who was your boss and your teacher. That is bad enough as it is, Leia, but he’s divorced and has two kids. Can you blame your father for wanting more than that for you?”

I shake my head as I throw clothes into my bag, my heart breaking. “Not you too, Mom. Please.”

She sits down on my bed and looks at me, her expression torn. “Leia, you’re my baby. You’ve always been my baby. I want the world for you, and this man… he isn’t it. It might seem like he is now, but he can’t give you everything you deserve when he has two children that will always have to come first.”

I wipe my tears away angrily and shake my head. “You haven’t even stopped to ask if I’m happy. I love his kids, Mom. I don’t mind the fact that he already has kids — not even in the slightest.”

“Leia…”

I shake my head and throw my bag over my shoulder. “I’m going to Asha’s house. I’m not coming back until Dad agrees to at least meet Adrian.”

Mom sighs as she watches me walk away. Every time I think things can’t get worse, they do. I’m not sure how much more I can take.