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  Edith stays in the bathroom about an hour before she comes out to join me in the kitchen. I offer her a cup of coffee as a peace offering, which she takes and sits at the table. I wait for her to say something because the quiet is torture.

  “I’m going back to my apartment,” she finally whispers.

  “Edith…”

  She puts her hand up, making me pause. “Jack, think about it. Pretty soon, people besides Shelby and Aiden will know. I can’t jeopardize my scholarship, and you can’t lose this job. I mean, it wouldn’t hurt you financially, but you love teaching. I don’t want you to lose out on it.”

  “Sweetheart, I can teach somewhere else.” I will probably never teach again, after this semester, but I don’t think I need to tell her this. I try to hold her hand, but she moves it away from mine to hold the coffee mug.

  “The point is, no matter how anyone tries to spin the story, your reputation will be ruined, and my name will be dragged through the mud. We need to wait this out.”

  “I don’t want to stop seeing you.”

  “That’s not my first choice, either, but how do you propose we act normal on campus?” Edith looks at me. She has a point. I open my mouth to protest, but she raises her eyebrows, challenging me, and I know she is right. I hate it when she’s right…

  Edith

  It’s weird being in my apartment again. After they fix my door with a new reinforced steel door, which Jack likely picked out himself, he wants to stay. Shelby and Aiden want to drop by, to bring me a fattening dinner from the Grease Lounge, but I am really tired. I am still feeling wiped out from the flu and sore from Jack’s undivided attention between my thighs. My body is pretty much giving up on me, so arguing with Jack depletes the rest of my energy. When he looks my sofa over, he says he wants to buy me a new bed. I explain it pulls out into a full-sized bed, but I was so sick and tired last week, I hadn’t bothered to pull it out. Everyone is exceptionally pushy, but I push back, declaring I need some alone time, earning me pouts and dirty looks. It is only Monday, so I promise I will see everyone tomorrow, making Jack promise to treat me like the rest of his students. I even threaten to call the janitors to have them steal his podium. He grunts and leaves, leaving me alone, wondering why I sent him away in the first place. After spending the weekend at Jack’s, my studio apartment does feel a little lacking, but I have everything I need to get by. Granted, a television or a computer would have made everything easier, and my phone only has basic texting features. I try to study a little, but that is pointless because my mind wanders right back to Jack, so I turn off the lights and drag the covers over my body. When that doesn’t work, I try fluffing my pillows. The last thing I remember is flipping my phone over and reading the digital display at 2:15am.

  Today is Tuesday, so I am heading over to campus for my class with Jack. I try mingling with other students and sit in my regular seat, which I haven’t seen since last week. As I pull out my book and notebook, my phone beeps.

  JH: Hi Beautiful.

  I look around, wondering where Jack is. He gave me his number before he left my apartment, but I didn’t expect him to use mine. He is standing at his podium, obviously texting.

  JH: You look tired. Did you sleep well?

  Barely. Nice podium, BTW.

  JH: I’m kind of attached to it. Meet me after class?

  Why? Where?

  JH: Because I miss you.

  Okay. I plan on going to work after class, though.

  JH: You don’t have that job anymore.

  Don’t pout. It’s the other job. The one you haven’t made me quit yet.

  JH: How many jobs do you have, woman?

  Just enough to support myself. : - ) You’re being bossy.

  JH: Fine. I’ll drive you, just meet me.

  Ok

  JH: Don’t worry about a quiz today. : - )

  I put my phone back in my bag, both relieved and annoyed. We aren’t having a quiz today, and I know Jack is doing it because of me. This is exactly the shit that is going to get us caught. I listen to Jack’s lecture and manage to remember most of what he’s said, making sense of my jumbled notes. As long as I have some things prepared when I meet with Daniel for our tutoring session, it won’t be so bad.

  I stand in a small park across from one of the library halls and wait. Jack pulls up and I quickly get in his car. As soon as I buckle my seatbelt, he takes off. We are both quiet the first few minutes.

  “God, today was torture for me. Seeing you and not being able to touch you…” Jack grabs my hand, squeezing it gently.

  “Jack, you can’t skip quizzes because of me,” I say, looking at him.

  “Actually, you can thank Daniel for that. My unhelpful TA forgot to make copies of it and didn’t have it prepared.” Jack looks over, smiling at me.

  “Okay…,” I say slowly. “So, then, why are we meeting like this? Someone could have seen us. Where are you going?”

  “I want to show you something.”

  Jack pulls up to a small Victorian house in a nice neighborhood about five minutes from campus. A new car, a red Prius, is parked in the driveway. “What’s this place?”

  He takes my hand and walks me up the steps of the front porch. He takes a set of keys from his pocket and opens the beautiful double front doors to the house. We step inside and walk around the first floor, stopping in the back of the house and the large kitchen. I step forward to the counter and double sinks, looking out into the neatly manicured backyard.

  “This is what I want, Edith. For you. For me. For us.” Jack steps behind me, but doesn’t touch me. I’m blown away, but a pit forms in my stomach at the same time. We can’t have this, at least not anytime soon.

  “Jack, we can’t. I can’t.”

  “Edith before you say no and crush me, just listen.” Jack crowds me into the counter and puts his arms on either side of me, resting his hands on the counter, trapping me. “I bought this house a long time ago, but I didn’t know why. I liked it and I had the money to invest, but I had no real purpose. No one to fill these rooms and share it with…until you.”

  “Jack…” I can feel tears clogging my eyes. I hang my head to catch my breath. This is way too soon and I want to run right out the door. Shit like this doesn’t happen to girls like me. I don’t deserve any of this.

  “I know you want to do things your way. I don’t want to fight about this, but I want you to know I’m serious about this. This house will be here when you’re ready, and I’ll be waiting for you. Now, in the meantime, I want you to take that car in the driveway so I don’t have to have nightmares and loose more sleep over the fact you’ve been taking the bus.”

  ***

  “Shit, girl. He bought you a car?” Shelby practically yells at me as I sit inside her dorm suite. I don’t know why I tell Ms. Loudmouth anything. The rest of her roommates are gone, but Aiden is at the microwave about a foot away, nuking hot tea for us.

  “Isn’t that awfully quick, Edie? Not that I don’t like the guy, but he’s your professor and all that.” Aiden hands me a cup of peppermint tea with honey.

  “Pfft. You watched football with him. I saw you eying up the man’s flat screen television like a tech whore,” Shelby states.

  “True, but still, Shelby. Edie needs to think about what could happen if she continues this and anyone finds out. You’re not going to move in with him, are you?” Aiden sits down between us on the couch, and we both put our feet in his lap.

  “We’re getting ahead of ourselves. I’ve crushed on him for years and, apparently, he feels the same. I don’t want to rush into anything, and I don’t want to jeopardize our futures. This kind of scandal would ruin him, and I’d be financially screwed because I’d have to probably pay back all my scholarship money.” Just the legalities alone make me sick to my stomach.

  “At least tell me you’re going to keep the car…” Shelby smiles.

  “That was part of our compromise. I keep my apartment and the car. We get through the semeste
r unscathed and I graduate next semester.”

  “Shelby and I will do what we can to help.”

  “Thanks.” Shelby and I climb over to hug Aiden.

  Chapter Nine

  Edith

  The next few weeks pass quickly, bringing us into November. Most students are heading home for the Thanksgiving weekend, including Shelby and Aiden. They invite me along, but I decide to stay behind. Jack is planning on cooking a turkey, and wants me to stay at his house for the weekend. Considering we’ve been careful and only had a few stolen moments between our schedules at school, work, and other things, we haven’t been intimate very often. But when we have, it is hot and carries my fantasies for days. We text daily. Jack has given me a new phone to make calls, take pictures, and connect to the internet. I tell him it is a sweet gift and he says he knew he could convince me to keep this one because it is so practical. He is right.

  ***

  “Before class ends for the break, I just want to remind everyone that you should check ‘e-college’ for your mid-term grades that were posted a few weeks ago, and begin to study for the final exam. We have two classes left and I’ll try to review terms with you each session,” Jack says and many students groan. I’m not as worried as I had been before because I continue to meet with Daniel for tutoring, although he is kind of weird and intense. I also have my special meetings with Jack. I try really hard to study but, more often than not, we end up making out and Jack just yells out ridiculous things about T and Z scores and intervals. Surprisingly, I am able to retain the information during his unorthodox teaching methods under pressure. At the end of class, my new phone pings.

  JH: I see you trying to peek behind my podium, Miss Willows.

  You’re imagining things, sir.

  JH: So formal. What’s the probability you’ll call me “sir” later?

  Not a chance in hell.

  Jack laughs as students file out of the classroom. To any observer, it would look like many students were texting someone outside of class, with the exception of he and I. I am beginning to think our grins might give us away at some point. We continue to keep our meetings off campus at either his place or mine, and have curtailed any PDA to inside our apartments. Jack kept the house he bought, but we never go there. To me, it seems like a painful reminder of what we can’t have for a long time. After getting a bag of my things together, I drive my little car over to Jack’s place and park in his garage. I use my key to open the door.

  “Hey, Edith. I figured we’d order in tonight since we’re cooking tomorrow,” Jack calls from the kitchen.

  “Correction. You’re cooking tomorrow, but it sounds good to me.” I hang up my jacket, take off my hat, and go into the kitchen to find Jack bent over, looking under the sink. “Um, as fine as your ass is, what are you doing under the sink?”

  Jack bumps his head, causing whatever was in his hands to drop. “Oww, shit. I think the sink has a clog. Can you grab my phone from my bag?” Jack stands up, leaving his meager plumbing tools on the floor, and I rub his head, kissing it gently. He smiles and I grab his leather messenger bag. Everyone has one of these darn bags I love.

  “Hey, babe. Are you sure it’s in here? I don’t see it.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure… Ah, shit…” Jack covers his face with his hands.

  “What?”

  “I think I left it at my office, or maybe campus.”

  “Eh, is that bad?” I ask, a little worried.

  “Nah. I’ll just pull up the ‘Find my phone’ app. Can you call for pizza?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’ll be right back to discipline you, brat.”

  “You better.” Jack spanks my ass lightly, leaving the room and heading for his converted office. I call for pizza and order half of my favorite and half of his. “You find the phone?”

  “Yeah. I left it in my office on campus. I’ll drive over sometime this weekend and pick it up. I was sure I hadn’t left it anywhere. Oh well. I’m not going to worry about it tonight. I’ve got something else with which I’d rather occupy my time.” Jack puts his arm around me, fake biting me, making me giggle.

  “Arrg! Stop. Pizza is coming!”

  “And so will you!” He is a total cheeseball.

  Jack picks me up, making me scream a few obscenities, then dumps me on top of the bed. I’m panting and coming before the pizza guy delivers our dinner. I make Jack go pay the man while I hide in the bedroom. With sexed-up hair and in my teacher’s house, I am not going to greet a possible classmate working as a deliveryman. Jack is crazy, if not deluded, thinking we won’t get caught that way.

  We stay in for the long weekend, Jack cooking us an intimate Thanksgiving feast for two. It is one of the best holidays I have had since leaving home behind and deciding to go it alone. Jack makes me feel like I want to finally be a part of something, and like I have something worth giving that isn’t monetary or materialistic. Maybe the world would frown upon how we met and how we conducted our relationship in secret, but at least we are adults and we aren’t hurting anyone. My final exam will be proctored and graded by a TA so I know Jack isn’t breaking any rules there, except for his unorthodox study sessions of which I took full advantage.

  It is hard going back to class on Monday. Leaving Jack’s cozy house for my sparse studio apartment is hard and lonely, but it is the right thing to do and I keep telling myself that it is only going to be temporary.

  Jack

  Watching Edith leave my bed this morning to go back to her apartment kills me. I kiss her every step she takes away from me, hoping she’ll linger long enough to be late for work or just decide to stay. I want to tie her to my bed and never let her go. In the past few weeks, she had become so precious to me. Meeting her as a high school student had really screwed with my head. Lusting after her for years made me crazy with guilt. Our first kiss had been a thing of combustion I had tried to brush off and forget, only to be sucker punched by it later. Even now, there is a clear line we are crossing and I want to protect her as best as I can.

  Since it is Monday, I head into my own office, speak with my PA, and schedule a few meetings for later next week. Teaching the Tuesday and Thursday block means I can’t travel much until after the class exams are graded and turned in. I am hoping that maybe I can convince Edith to come with me. I thought she’d like to see Miami in December. Who wouldn’t? Warm sunshine, beaches, and shopping. I want to spoil her for Christmas and this seems like a great opportunity for us to get out of town. I get through my work day pretty easily and know I’ll see Edith in class tomorrow.

  I head back home and change into workout clothes, not wanting to be in the house without her. I run a few miles until my phone dings with a text.

  EW: Hey, smarty pants. I’ll see you tomorrow. XOXO

  It was so cute, I had to reply.

  Maybe I won’t wear any behind my podium.

  EW: I think you want to get caught. :-)

  Only with you, babe.

  She doesn’t reply so I let her go and use the pent up energy to sprint home, running some extra miles and working up a good sweat in the cool November air. I order takeout and pick it up, walking back home. Before Edith came into my life, I didn’t know what I was missing. I turn in early, sending Edith a good night text and awaiting Tuesday’s arrival.

  ***

  “Hey, professor.” I turn around and find Daniel just inside my office door.

  “Just the man I was looking for, Mr. Munson.” Daniel is wearing some kind of shiny fabric slacks that were dry cleaned too many times, aging the poor kid at least twenty years. It makes me wonder if that’s what got him the position under my predecessor to begin with.

  “I wanted to let you know I’m available to proctor the exam next week. I was able to take my Calculus exam early, so that frees up my time to proctor the Statistics one for your second block class.”

  “Excellent. I didn’t know who was doing it yet and Dean Andrews said he had several people available if you were n
ot here for your own exams.” I shuffle some papers and find the stack of the last set of quizzes he’d graded for me before Thanksgiving. “Too bad you can’t enter the grades, too!” I laugh. “I’ve got an awful lot of papers to sort through this weekend.”

  “Oh, you know…university policies. They can be such a drag, right?” Daniel looks at me for a second, a strange expression on his face. It makes me feel guilty for the policies I am breaking.

  “Oh, yeah. I suppose.” I try brushing off the feeling I have, but Daniel has this intensity about him that just plain irritates me. I attempt to ignore what he might have been implying.

  “Well, I’ll see you in class,” he says, leaving my office.

  I reach into my drawer as he shuts the door on his way out. I pick up my cell phone and stare at it before sliding my finger across the screen. I shake off the feeling, thinking it is impossible for Daniel to suspect something between Edith and me. We are very careful and it is just my guilty conscience playing with my mind. Besides, Daniel has been tutoring Edith twice a week for the last few weeks. If he didn’t figure it out the one time I stopped by the library to drop off her sweater that she had left in my car, which I lied about and said she left in the classroom, I am sure we are pretty much in the clear.

  I try calling Edith to check in, but her phone is off, as usual. She still isn’t used to taking calls on it. No matter. I’ll see her soon.

  In class, I review the exam materials and sneak glances at Edith, who is rather attentive to my lecture. She is passing my class and will do better on her exam next week, if she doesn’t let her nerves get the best of her. It’s easy to admire how much hard work she puts into everything, and I will be both glad and relieved when she graduates.

  “Daniel will hand out the last review guide. Use this to study and you should all be fine. I’ll also be dropping the lowest two quiz grades to help average out your final scores. See you Thursday.” Murmurs of “thank you” echo from students exiting the classroom and I wait for everyone to leave until it’s just Edith and me.