Chapter Eighteen
Chance
“Chance,” Derek Stiller greeted, as I walked into the copy room.
“Professor Stiller,” I nodded, in reply. “Good morning.”
“Has the copier been fixed?”
“Last evening,” I nodded.
“Thank goodness,” he replied. “I hated having to walk to the library to get my copies sorted out.”
Professor Derek Stiller was a large, balding man in his early sixties. He had been teaching at the university for thirty years now and had achieved tenure a couple of years ago. He was a well-respected lecturer and researcher in academic circles, but he was also known as a stickler for rules around the staff water cooler.
“I didn’t see you at the departmental meeting yesterday?” Derek said.
“Uh… I had papers to grade.”
“You could have always completed them after the meeting,” he pointed out. “These meetings are important, Chance. I’ve never missed one.”
I’ll bet, I thought to myself, hoping that the professor would get distracted with his copies and leave me alone. “I was falling behind on my research, too,” I said. “I just needed to get on top of things again.”
“Hmm,” he replied with obvious disapproval. “Staff reviews are coming up, too; attending the meetings will give you a leg up.”
“My contract only lasts through this year.”
“Meaning what? You don’t care about your reviews?”
“No, of course not,” I said quickly. “I just meant—”
Thankfully, at that moment the copier let out a shrill beep and drew our attention. “Is something wrong with it again?” Derek asked.
“No, it was my mistake,” I said.
“How are you finding your classes?”
“They’re interesting,” I nodded. “And the students are more interested than I would have anticipated.”
“How many students enrolled in your course?”
“Around eighty,” I admitted.
“And, how many are you left with now?”
“Close to fifty,” I replied.
“More than thirty dropouts?” Derek said, with raised eyebrows.
“The class is challenging.”
“The mark of a good teacher is to rally his students, whether the course is challenging or not.”
“Damien Parker tried to do just that, and as I heard, he was pulled up in front of the review board for it,” I pointed out.
Derek narrowed his eyes. “Professor Parker was conducting personal tutoring sessions with his students. That’s against university policy.”
“Why should it be?” I asked. “There are lots of teachers who personally tutor their students.”
“But not outside campus grounds,” he pointed. “All tutoring sessions need to be limited to university premises to prove there’s nothing to hide.”
I frowned. “And, what do you think Professor Parker was trying to hide?”
“Any number of things,” Derek replied. “How are we supposed to have transparency if teachers flout university regulation? Dean Mueller has started coming down hard on all and any infractions, and personally, I think he’s right to be so harsh.”
“Does that mean the rumor about Professor Annette Holstein is true?” I asked. “Did she really resign or was she fired?”
Derek pursed his lips up. “She was asked to leave,” he said, at last.
“So, she was fired,” I said bluntly. “What was the reason for her dismissal?”
“Despite what happened, I have the greatest respect for Professor Holstein, and to that end, I will not air her dirty laundry out in public. Suffice it to say that she no longer works at this university.”
“And, you don’t think Dean Mueller is coming down too hard on what some might call minor infractions at best?”
“No, I don’t,” Derek said decidedly. “He’s right to want order and discipline in his school.”
“But this isn’t a school,” I pointed out. “This is a university, and the students that attend are adults. Is there a point in treating everyone here like children?”
“You’re too young to understand the importance of discipline, Chance,” Derek said haughtily. “You are from the generation that was raised without it.”
I was about to come at him with a biting retort when Lindsey walked through the door with a cheerful greeting.
“Good morning, Professor William, Professor Stiller,” she said brightly. “How are you fine gentleman today?”
“Lindsey,” Derek nodded. He gathered up his papers, and after a hasty farewell, he left us to the empty copy room.
“Thank God you appeared when you did,” I told her. “The old bat was driving me crazy.”
“God had nothing to do with it,” Lindsey retorted. “I was standing at the door listening to that little argument. I just figured I’d stop you from saying something you might regret later.”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s an old prude.”
“He’s not as prudish as he seems,” Lindsey said pointedly. “In any case, you need to be careful around him. Stiller’s a tenured professor at this university, in addition to which he has Mueller’s ear. One word from him and Mueller will send you packing.”
“And, I’d be heartbroken, naturally,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“You act like this job is not important to you.”
“It is,” I said. “It’s just that… I’m not going to kiss anyone’s ass to keep it.”
She shook her head at me. “I must say, that attitude is both misguided and sexy.”
I laughed. “Did you actually have something to copy or you were just eavesdropping?”
“Just eavesdropping,” she admitted calmly. “I was passing by on my way to lunch. Care to join me?”
“Why not,” I nodded, grabbing my papers. “Unless it’s against the rules for teachers to have lunch together, too.”
Lindsey smiled, and we left the copy room together. We found a small café on campus and sat down to a quick lunch before our respective lectures.
“So, anything you want to tell me?” Lindsey asked suddenly, the moment our food had been set down in front of us.
I wrinkled my eyebrows together. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, is there something you would like to tell me…anything specific?”
“Um, no.”
“Sure?”
I smiled. “Why don’t you tell me what you would like me to say?” I suggested.
“I happened to pass by your office yesterday,” she said. I tensed slightly, knowing instantly where this was going. “And I noticed this cute little brunette leaving your office.”
“She’s a student of mine,” I replied, keeping my tone calm and even.
“Uh-huh?”
“She just needed a consultation,” I replied, with a shrug. “That’s all.”
“You’re a good liar,” Lindsey smiled. “I’ll give you that.”
I frowned. Natalie had visited me yesterday in my office, and even though it wasn’t technically a consultation, we hadn’t done any hanky-panky, either. The most we had shared were a few stolen kisses before she had left my office.
“Are you trying to imply something, Lindsey?” I asked innocently.
She looked to be enjoying herself. “Do you usually open the door for your students?” she asked. “Do you usually watch them walk away with an admiring look on your face?”
“I think you’re reading too much into things,” I said.
“You look different, too, you know,” Lindsey pointed out. “There’s an expression on your face that I haven’t seen before.”
“Exhaustion?”
She rolled her eyes. “No. You look like someone who’s got a juicy secret, and you’re worried someone will figure it out…like I just did.”
“There’s nothing to figure out because I have no secrets,” I said calmly.
“So, there’s nothing going on between you and the brunette?”
“Nothing at all,” I said firmly.
“I see,” Lindsey nodded. “So then am I to assume that you also make it a habit of kissing every student who comes in for a consultation?”
My eyes went wide for a moment, wondering how on earth she knew that. Lindsey’s face broke out into a triumphant smile, and I realized I had just given myself away. She hadn’t seen anything – she was just calling my bluff in an attempt to make me out myself.
“I so knew it.”
“What did you mean about Professor Stiller not being as prudish as he seems?”
“Oh, I just meant that Professor Holier-Than-Thou Stiller likes hot blondes…especially hot blondes who look like me,” Lindsey revealed. “He’s tried to hook up with me a couple of times.”
“Ugh… Aside from the age difference, I don’t see why that’s so scandalous,” I said. “It’s not like there’s a rule that states that professors can’t date one another.”
“That’s not the reason it’s scandalous.”
“No?”
“Stiller is married,” she revealed. “Has been for fourteen years. His wife’s too good for him.”
“Ah.”
Lindsey nodded. “Any more questions about Stiller?”
“Uh…no.”
“Good, now back to you and the brunette.”
I groaned. “Wait, I did have another question about Stiller.”
“Too late,” Lindsey said, cutting me off. “When did this forbidden romance start up?”
I stuttered a little, wondering if I should just keep denying it, but I figured Lindsey had the same secret I did. If anyone could be trusted, it would be her.
“About a week ago,” I admitted.
“And, she’s in one of your classes?”
“Yes.”
“Let me guess… She needed ‘special help’ with macroeconomics?”
I smiled. “No,” I said. “We met at Oasis.”
“Huh?” she asked. “I thought she was one of your students?”
“She is,” I nodded. “And, I had noticed her in class, but when I met her in Oasis… She looked different. I didn’t immediately know who she was. It wasn’t till that Monday during my lecture that I figured it out.”
“Either you’re really slow, or she made quite the transformation.”
“She made quite the transformation,” I said.
“So, when you met her in Oasis, the fact that she was a student in your class never came up?”
“No, I think she was waiting for me to recognize her.”
“Well, obviously, it didn’t ruin your chances with her,” Lindsey smiled. “Welcome to the club. I told you it was nice to have frivolous sex with students.”
I wanted to tell her that there was nothing that seemed frivolous about the sex Natalie and I were having, but then I thought better of it. She might read too much into it, and I wasn’t exactly certain how to explain our relationship.
“Just a friendly word of advice…”
“Yes?”
“Be careful,” she said. “These children get attached fast. They buy into the marriage fantasy, and they build relationships out of thin air. You might want to tell her exactly where you stand so that she doesn’t get the wrong idea.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Speaking from experience?”
“I am,” Lindsey nodded. “I actually had to turn down a marriage proposal in one case.”
“Wow.”
“Yup,” she nodded. “Just remember that this relationship might mean more to her than it does to you. For you, it’s just about sex, so when you get bored and decide to let her go, go easy on the girl.”
I listened politely, but I was wondering if Lindsey had got it wrong in this case. What if Natalie was the one having fun, and what if I was the one getting too attached too fast?
Natalie and I had seen each other a couple of times in the last week. We had had sex three times more since that first night at my apartment. Each time, the sex got better and more inventive. Natalie grew more confident in her skin and seemed to have an almost insatiable appetite for sex – and she wasn’t apologetic about it.
It was true what they said about quiet girls. Natalie was quiet, even shy at times, but when we fucked, she transformed. The quiet, shy girl disappeared beneath a wild and willing seductress who was always ready to go. I thought about her a lot more than was probably healthy, and it was starting to scare me a little. No woman had ever left that kind of impression on me before.
“Chance?” Lindsey’s voice cut through my thoughts.
“Hmm… Sorry, what were you saying?”
“You’ll go easy on the girl, won’t you?”
“Sure.” I nodded, with a smile. But the whole time, I just kept thinking that Natalie was the one who needed to go easy on me.