Chapter 47: Reacting to His Voice

Emerald’s POV

By the time I got upstairs, I was exhausted.

The entire day had been longer than I had expected.

I changed into my nightwear and stood in front of the mirror for a moment. The sweet scent of the essential oil used during the massage still lingered lightly on my skin.

I didn’t feel like taking another shower. The scent was pleasant, and after everything I had done today, I wanted nothing more than to get into bed and sleep.

I turned off the lights, climbed under my duvet and settled comfortably against my pillow.

Tomorrow was Vera’s wedding. I would deal with everything then. But for tonight, I simply wanted to sleep.

I had barely closed my eyes when a notification sounded from my phone. I reached towards the nightstand and picked it up.

My eyes widened when I saw the name. Professor King.

I immediately sat up. Why was he texting me? I unlocked the phone and opened the message.

"Have you met your grandfather? What was the verdict?"

I stared at the screen. Oh... I had completely forgotten to tell him. After leaving D.C., everything had happened so quickly that it hadn’t crossed my mind again.

I quickly typed a response.

"Yes, Professor. It was successful. He granted me the additional time frame."

I sent the message.

Almost immediately, the two grey ticks turned blue. He had read it. I barely had time to wonder whether he was going to reply before my phone began ringing.

My eyes widened again. He was calling.

For a few seconds, I simply stared at the screen. I didn’t know why I was suddenly nervous. But after I had calmed my nerves down a bit, I finally accepted the call.

"Hello?"

There was a brief pause, then his voice came through. "Good evening, Miss Hugo."

His voice sounded different over the phone. It was deeper and calmer. Perhaps it was because it was late at night, but hearing him like this made me pause for a moment.

"Good evening, Professor."

"I apologize for calling this late," he said. "I hope I didn’t disturb your sleep."

I sat up a little straighter. "No, it’s fine. I was still awake."

"Good." There was another brief silence before he asked, "Did you forget to tell me about the good news?"

"I..." I lowered my eyes. I didn’t know what to say. "I’m so sorry, I genuinely forgot," I quickly apologised. "After I left D.C., the day became quite busy."

"That explains it."

His voice was still calm. At least he wasn’t angry with me, even though it was wrong of me not to have reached out, given his efforts and the great help he had given.

I relaxed slightly. Then, without really thinking about it, I started explaining.

"I flew from Boston to D.C. this morning. I met my grandfather, and afterwards I flew to Los Angeles." I paused briefly. "I had lunch with my parents when I got home. Then I went to the spa."

I glanced around my room. "The stylist had already arrived with some dresses for my cousin’s wedding tomorrow, so I had to come home and choose one."

There was silence on the other end. The moment my words settled in my mind, I regretted saying them.

Why had I told him all of that?

I pressed my lips together. I had started with the simple intention of telling him that the meeting with Grandfather had gone well. But somehow, I had ended up giving him a summary of my entire day.

I mentally scolded myself. I could almost hear myself asking: Why did you tell him all that?

This small act was enough to unite people, even crossing typical boundaries of formal relationships. I didn’t want that for him or for myself.

"It’s alright," he finally said. "I understand."

I released a small breath. "Thank you."

"We’ll discuss Mercer Technologies properly when you return to Boston," he informed.

"Alright." I was grateful. "Thank you, Professor."

There was another brief pause, then he said, "See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Professor."

I ended the call and

I looked at my phone for a moment, then something clicked. ’See you tomorrow.’ I frowned slightly as I slowly lowered the phone. Tomorrow? Had I heard him correctly?

Probably he had made a mistake.

I shook my head. "I must be mistaken."

There was no reason for Professor King to say ’see you tomorrow’ unless he was talking about something else.

I put my phone back on the nightstand and settled beneath the duvet. I closed my eyes, but sleep refused to come.

My mind returned to the conversation. His voice. The way he had asked about my grandfather. The way he had calmly listened while I explained my day. And then those three words.

See you tomorrow.

I turned onto my side. Why was I still thinking about his voice? I squeezed my eyes shut and immediately got started with the mental prep talk.

It was just a phone call—simply a typical conversation between a professor and his student, nothing else.

Yet somehow, my mind kept replaying the conversation.

I opened my eyes again. "So this is how Michael King’s voice sounds at night over the phone?"

The question escaped me before I could stop it. I immediately covered my face with both hands.

What was wrong with me?

I pulled the pillow over my face and let out a muffled scream. This was ridiculous. I had far more important things to think about.

Mercer Technologies.

My grandfather.

Tomorrow’s wedding.

Kelvin.

Maya.

Those were the things that deserved my attention, and not the sound of my professor’s voice over a phone call.

I lowered the pillow and stared at the ceiling. Then, despite myself, I remembered his final words again.

See you tomorrow.

My brows drew together. No matter how much I thought about it, I still couldn’t understand what he meant.

Eventually, I turned onto my side and pulled the duvet higher. I would find out tomorrow.

If I even saw him which was highly unlikely. After all... What reason would Professor King have to be at Vera’s wedding?

I closed my eyes.

That question remained unanswered as sleep finally began to take over.