TWENTY-TWO
DEREK
Nikki was right on time, just like I’d known she would be. During the time I’d been subbing for the Feminism in Literature class, she was late only once. Yes, Nikki was definitely one of those high-achievers at whom I used to snub my nose when I was an undergraduate. Back in the day, I’d never imagined for a split second that I would have ended up in academia. Chasing skirts and getting drunk had appealed to me much more than being scholarly.
Well, if I was going to be honest with myself, I had to admit that I hadn’t really changed that much. Chasing skirts was still a favorite pastime of mine, even if the chief skirt that interested me now wasn’t one who should have. Actually, that fact shouldn’t have surprised me at all because I’ve always been the type of person who wanted what I wasn’t supposed to have.
It was a coldish day so Nikki was dressed somewhat “conservatively” in tight jeans, high black boots and a skin-tight black turtleneck that did little to hide her impressive bust. Yes, she still looked sexy as hell, but I was relieved that her cleavage wasn’t on display and neither were her legs. It just made looking at and talking to her a little easier when I didn’t have to control my roving eyes. My roving mind, on the other hand, was something I had little hope of controlling, and it was already in the midst of imagining what it would be like to see Nikki on her knees with my, ahem, in her mouth …
“Nikki,” I said to her in greeting as I opened my door and welcomed her into my crowded and small office.
“Hi,” she answered as she offered me a little smile and took the chair across from my desk. She was holding a brand-new notebook and placed it on the desktop as she fished inside her backpack, pulling out a pen. She opened the notebook and then faced me expectantly.
“You’re going to take notes?” I asked, unable to conceal my amusement. I closed the door behind me and started for my desk. “You really are a nerd and then some.”
“Thanks for that,” she grumbled as she frowned up at me. “And, as regards taking notes, last I checked I didn’t have the benefit of a photographic memory, so anything you tell me that’s important needs to be written down.” Then she paused. “Well, that is to say if you have anything of importance to tell me, which is debatable …”
I laughed. I liked this casual acquaintanceship we both shared. I hadn’t been lying when I’d told her I appreciated the fact that she wasn’t afraid of me. It was rare for an undergraduate not to feel some level of submissiveness towards a professor. It was refreshing that such wasn’t the case here. Clearly, Nikki was comfortable and confident in her own intelligence and independence, two things that would serve her well in her career life as well as with me.
“Ah, come now, Nikki, only important things come out of this mouth,” I responded with a chuckle.
“Well, that’s arguable, but in the interest of time, I will let it go,” she answered as she glanced around the room, immediately scrunching up her nose as if finding fault with it.
“What?” I demanded, noticing I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Yes, she was very attractive, there was no arguing that, but it wasn’t just her physical beauty that impressed me. It was more her easy and cool confidence—her ability to challenge me. It wasn’t as though my obvious attraction to her was going to pose any sort of a problem though, as regarded our working relationship. In general, I tended to find myself surrounded by very attractive women, and I’d always been good at divorcing my dick brain from my intellectual brain. Well, with the exception of Rebecca I supposed.
“Um, someone needs to do some spring, er, summer cleaning in here,” she answered as she brought her blue eyes to mine and frowned. “I don’t know how you can even concentrate with all this clutter.”
“Yes, well, I’m not much concerned with the state of my office,” I answered. “Let’s talk about more important subjects.”
“Such as?” she asked as she poised her pen on her paper and then faced me expectantly.
“Summer session starts in two weeks. If it’s just as well with you, I’d like to take those two weeks to get you up to speed with each of the classes so you’re familiar with what it is I’ll be teaching.” Then I shrugged. “Well, the truth of it is that both of us will be getting up to speed with Sonama’s classes because I can’t say I know a damned thing about either one of them.”
She nodded. “Which classes?”
“Before I answer that question, I should probably inform you that I opted to have you assist me only with general classes rather than the core ones,” I started as she glanced up at me quizzically.
“Why’s that?”
I shrugged. “I figured we both might get some flak from the English majors who happen to be your peers or older. By focusing on general courses, I thought we might avoid any potentially cumbersome situations, because they tend to draw in the freshmen and sophomores. Otherwise, it might be a bit of a conflict of interest since you’re also studying for your bachelor’s degree. And of course you won’t be able to take any of my classes moving forward.”
She nodded. “That makes sense, and I’m pretty much done with all of my literature core classes anyway, so it’s basically a non-issue.”
“Good.”
She faced me, a question suddenly burning in her eyes. “So, how did you even get this to fly, anyway?”
“Get what to fly?”
“Me being your assistant. I’ve never heard of an undergraduate being an assistant to a professor before. I always thought you had to be a graduate student.”
“Well, yes, that’s been the norm up until now, I guess,” I answered with a shrug. “But, the first thing you should know about me is that I tend to get what I want,” I finished, giving her a smug smile that I knew would elicit an irritated response.
“Really, Derek?” she asked as she frowned at me. “I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.”
“Well, I’m sort of kidding,” I said with a laugh as I leaned forward, grabbed my stress ball and started kneading it with my fingers. “Actually, the dean didn’t give me that hard of a time about it.” That was because I’d told him there were only two candidates for the position—Rebecca and Nikki. Of course, I knew there was no way he’d want Rebecca to be my assistant when he wanted her assistance in other ways. Truth be told, there was only one candidate as far as I was concerned, and that was Nikki. There was no way in hell I’d consider Rebecca for the position since she was a psycho bitch, but the dean didn’t need to know that. I’d further sweetened the pot by letting it be known that Nikki would work pro-bono so the school’s wallet wouldn’t be impacted. And that, I believe, had sealed the deal.
“Hmm, so I guess the rumors aren’t true then,” Nikki said as she studied me with curious eyes.
“Which ones?” I asked, knowing full well that most of the rumors about me were true and then some.
“That you don’t get along with the dean,” she answered, eyeing me in that way of hers that made it look like she could see right through me. Even though she was only twenty-one, there was something about Nikki that made her seem much older. The more I pondered that fact, the more I realized that she was probably the only woman in my circle who didn’t seem … impressed with me. It was as though all my charm were completely lost on her.
Well, you haven’t exactly tried to charm her, either, I reminded myself. If you actually attempted to get her into bed, she’d probably fold just like all the others have. Not that you’re going to attempt it, because you aren’t …
“I wouldn’t say it’s not true,” I answered with a shrug. “I just made it very difficult for him to refuse,” I finished with a secretive smile.
“Okay, well, that’s good news then, I guess,” she said with her eyebrows arched. “So which classes will I be assisting you with?” she repeated her first question.
“Number one: Introduction to Gender, Sexuality and Feminism in American Fiction,” I started with a frown as I flipped up my index finger. “Two: Shakespeare’s Poetry, and three: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Identities.” I took a deep breath. “Can you guess which classes are Sonama’s and which is mine?”
Nikki threw her head back and laughed so hard, her entire body bounced, including those two glorious breasts that were just screaming at me to rip off her sweater.
“The last one doesn’t even sound like it’s an English Literature class?” she asked.
“Who the hell knows what it is,” I grumbled in response. “I have a feeling I’m going to be way out of my comfort zone.”
“I think it will be good for you,” she answered with a smile. “And I’ve already taken Shakespeare’s Poetry, so that should make things easier.”
“Who taught it?”
“Professor Smith.”
I made a face. “That old goat is such a bore! You’ll find that I’m much more interesting.”
“And much more humble, too.”
“An attribute that I freely admit does not characterize me,” I finished with a laugh.
“Why do I have the feeling that I’m going to regret taking you up on this offer?” she asked, frowning.
“You won’t,” I said as I dropped my stress ball and leaned back into my chair. “Well, not nearly as much as I regret foregoing Thailand in order to teach Transgender Identity.”