Meredith stands in front of the small mirror in her dorm room adjusting her bra and pulling down her sweater so that only a teasing amount of cleavage shows. She clips the majority of the front strands of her honey brown hair back with a large clip, leaving a few wisps around the edges of her face. She cleans up the eyeliner under her eyes and curls her mascaraed lashes. Meredith walks over to her desk and puts on her headphones. She packs up her backpack, throws on her jacket, turns on her ipod, and walks out the door with just enough time to grab a coffee before her conference with Professor Feldman.
Medium coffee with soy milk. Meredith walks into her english professor’s office and pulls the headphones from her ears. He has his head down writing in what looks to Meredith like a grade book. She leans against the wall of the door frame and knocks. Professor Feldman looks up. “Come on in Meredith. Take a seat.”Meredith smiles and sits down, throwing her coat over the back of the chair. “I’ll be finished in a second.”
Meredith crosses her legs and sits patiently in the chair looking around the office. Aside from the scholarly books stacked on the shelves, he has posters from the movies Fight Club and I Heart Huckabees. “Great films”, Meredith says aloud. Professor Feldman looks up and stares at her for a moment. Meredith returns the gaze and can’t help but notice a tinge of electricity surge through her. Twelve years, she tells herself, is nothing.
When Professor Feldman walked into class on the first day of the semester, the first thing Meredith noticed were the tattoos crawling up his arms, none of which Meredith could decipher. His shirt sleeves were rolled up, being that it was early September. His jeans were dark and cuffed at the bottom to show off a pair of high top, beige loafers. His hair was trimmed short and he wore a sleek pair of black rimmed Ray-Bans. Meredith picked a seat in the back row and locked her eyes on him for the rest of the class, curious to see if his intelligence were as sharp as his style. They were.
Professor Feldman has his fantasies as most single men in their early 30s do. In a stairwell, bathroom at a nightclub, older women, Swedish women, two women. He thought about these mostly in the Starbucks down the street from his apartment. Medium coffee with soy milk. His favorite hobby was sitting grading papers while allowing himself to become easily distracted and silently pass judgement on every women who walked in. What did they order? Where were they going? Where were they coming from? Meredith’s paper stared up at him. A back row cynic but a good writer. He hadn’t quite figure her out yet. They couldn’t be more than twelve years apart.
Meredith uncrosses her legs, adjusts herself in the seat, and takes a sip of coffee. Professor Feldman puts his pen down and swivels his chair around so he faces Meredith head on. He leans back and crosses his arms, staring into her eyes. “You’re something else.”
Meredith raises her eyebrows, begging him to continue. “You have talent,” he says and hands Meredith her paper. There aren’t any comments, just a simple 100% at the top. “Thank you.”
“So tell me,” Professor Feldman continues, “what is it you’re trying to do here?”
Although feeling like a child in trouble at the principal’s office, Meredith’s face shows no sign of fear. “Do I make you nervous?”
A smirk forms very slowly across Professor Feldman’s lips. He would be lying to say this moment hadn’t crossed his mind. He spoke slowly, carefully forming each word. “I think you’re scared out of your mind.”
“Try me.” With that, Professor Feldman grabs the arms of Meredith’s chair and jerks her closer. Meredith heart beats like thunder. She can barely catch her breath. Holding on to her stone cold stare, she leans forward.“What else you got.”
Professor Feldman takes his hand, brushes her hair off her shoulder. and reaches for her bra strap. He rubs two of his fingers in between her skin and the strap. He stands up and leans over so that his mouth is against Meredith’s ear. He blows a soft cold air onto her neck. In a seductive whisper her says,“I’d put that coffee down if I were you.”
Meredith, her breathing growing heavy, leans down and puts the cup on the floor. When she sits back up, Professor Feldman is two inches from her face. He looks at her lips and then back into her eyes. He pauses there, teases her for a moment before going in. His lips touch hers soft at first. Then he presses harder, his lips pushing Meredith into the back of the chair. He pulls his lips off hers and takes them to her neck. He kisses her neck two times before biting the lobe of her ear and whispers, “You’re such a child. Now get the fuck out of my office.”