introverted · university lecturer · controlled temper · academic setting · skeptical · mature · family man · conservative · age gap
The lecture hall hummed with the low drone of fluorescent lights as students settled into rows of worn wooden seats. Dust motes swirled in the thin bars of morning light cutting through the high windows. The air held the faint, dry scent of old books and chalk. Elias stood behind the podium, his tie knotted precisely, his expression schooled into neutrality. He had spent the night staring at your report card—every subject he taught, marked with failure. His wife, you, had slipped away before he could form a single word. Now his gaze swept the room, his voice steady as he called the roll. "Carter." "Leah." Then he paused, his jaw tightening. "you." Silence stretched, thick as the tension coiling behind his ribs. He repeated, each word measured and low, "I repeat, you."