The Professor's Predicament

by Dianne Harman

  Deborah dropped her fork on her plate with a loud clang. She sighed deeply and slouched forward, her tense shoulders slumping. Leaning her elbows on the table, she rested her forehead in her hands and looked up at Kat. There were tears in her eyes.

  Kat put down her own fork and leaned forward. She placed a hand on Deborah's arm. "You can trust me to keep whatever it is completely confidential. Nothing you say will go any farther," she said.

  "When you walked in, I was finishing a conversation I was having with a private investigator I hired," Deborah began in a low voice. "I've had some suspicions that my husband hasn't been faithful, and I wanted to find out for sure. I found out way more than I ever wanted to know. I'm absolutely crushed. We've been married for nearly twenty years. How could he do such a thing to me?" she asked as the tears in her eyes started to trickle down her cheeks.

  Kat remembered what Susie had told her back at the beauty salon, but she kept the information to herself, at least for the moment. She figured she'd wait and see how much Deborah already knew. The last thing she wanted was to tell Deborah that word was already getting around about Geoffrey's infidelities. From what Deborah had just said, it sounded like the news the private investigator had given her was bad enough, and she didn't want to add to that by telling her in some circles it was common knowledge. If Susie knew, it would be all over Lindsay in a very short time.

  "What else did the investigator find out?" Kat asked.

  "He told me that Geoffrey's mistress is one of his students, can you believe that?" She blinked through the wetness in her eyes. "It's bad enough he's having an affair, but with someone at the university, a young woman half his age? I just can't get my head around it. Her name is Courtney Adams. It seems she's one of the students in his creative writing class."

  "I'm terribly sorry, Deborah. No wonder you were so upset when I first walked in. You have every right to be devastated. You don't deserve this."

  "Thanks, Kat," Deborah said softly. The tears that had been welling up throughout their conversation erupted even more. She took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

  Kat reached across the table and handed Deborah a clean napkin. "What do you think you'll do next?"

  "I don't know what to do," Deborah said, wiping her cheeks. "I mean, I have to confront him with what I've just found out, but do I just leave him? Do I throw away almost twenty-eight years of my life? Do we try to work this out? I guess it all depends on what he has to say for himself. I don't know how long this has been going on. What does all of this mean about our marriage?

  "I'm so confused, and you know the kicker of it all? I'm the dean of the Department of Sex Therapy. How ironic is that? I'm supposedly an expert in matters related to sex and relationships, and my own husband is having an affair. I'm sure my private practice patients will all leave when they hear that. I mean, if I can't even keep my own husband from having an affair, why would they bother coming to me to look for a solution to their relationships that have gone bad?" She let out a hollow laugh. "I'm not much of an advertisement for my own business, am I?"

  "What prompted you to call an investigator? Was there something specific that clued you into Geoffrey's behavior?" Kat asked.

  "Yes, as a matter of fact I found a glaring piece of evidence," Deborah said. "Before I take our clothes to the dry cleaners, I always check all the pockets of each garment to make sure we haven't left something in them, like money or a tube of lipstick.

  "In the back pocket of a pair of Geoffrey's jeans was a credit card receipt for some motel south of town. I've never heard of it, but from the name, I was pretty sure it was probably one of those cheap places you pass by on the highway and wonder who would ever stay in one of them. I decided not to confront him right away. He could easily have denied it meant anything, and then what would I have done?"

  "I don't know. What did you do?"

  "I called the private investigator instead. Now that I know the truth, I'm not sure whether to confront him about it and try to work things out, or head straight to my attorney's office and file for divorce."

  "I can't blame you for being upset, but why don't you take some time to calm down and think things through before you make any major decisions you might end up regretting," Kat suggested. "I'd hate to be in your position right now, but twenty years of marriage isn't something to throw away in the heat of the moment."

  "It's a shame Geoffrey didn't think of that before he cheated on me," Deborah said softly. "That's good advice, and you're probably right." She glanced at her watch and then backed her chair up with a start. "Kat, thank you so much for meeting me for lunch, but I've lost track of time. I have to teach a class in a little while, so I better hurry back to campus," she said waving to the waiter and indicating she wanted the bill.

  Kat stared across the table at her. "I'm glad you felt you could confide in me, Deborah. I'm really sorry about what's happening between you and Geoffrey, and if you ever want to talk about it, I'm happy to make myself available."

  "Thanks, Kat. I appreciate it," Deborah said.

  The two women signed their membership numbers on the bill and headed out of the dining room into the bright afternoon sunshine. Even though the sun was shining brightly, Professor White was thinking some terribly evil and murderous thoughts. She wasn't sure who she wanted to murder more - her husband, or the woman he'd been unfaithful with.

  CHAPTER 6

  Dr. Jodie Morris walked into her office and slammed the door. As angry as she was, she thought slamming it had been quite a restrained action on her part compared to what she'd really like to do and silently congratulated herself. She sat down heavily in the black mesh ergonomic chair she'd bought for herself as a present when she'd become the first woman asked to join a prestigious wine group.

  What she didn't know was that she had been invited to join, not for her knowledge of wine, but for the amount of money she'd donated to the group at their various wine tastings. Privately, some of the members referred to her as

  "Ms. Big Cellar," a very uncomplimentary term in the wine world which referred to people who didn't really know a lot about wine but were willing to pay big bucks to look like they did.

  She drummed her fingers on her desk, trying to figure out what to do next. This was not going the way she'd planned. When she'd met Geoffrey White at a wine seminar in Napa, she'd immediately been attracted to him. In fact, she been way more than simply attracted to him. It was like a powerful magnetic force was drawing her to him. During her stay at the seminar, it was all she could do to keep her eyes off of him. She could barely eat, sleep, or think because of her fascination with him.

  From the flirtatious way he'd looked at women during the seminar, she assumed the fact that he was wearing a wedding band, and no doubt had a wife at home, was rather incidental. He was attractive, intelligent, a fellow wine connoisseur, and a professor of English, as she was. After she left the wine seminar and returned to Boston she turned in her resignation as a professor at the prestigious East Coast private women's college where she taught a freshman class, Introductory to Writing.

  Having been published numerous times in well-known trade journals, as the author of The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Bestselling Novel and having been named as a USA Today Bestselling Author, she assumed that any university would be thrilled to have the well-known English professor, Dr. Jodie Morris, on their staff.

  As she predicted, the university located in the small Kansas town of Lindsay had been delighted to receive her application. Just as she'd suspected, they'd been more than happy to offer her a position on the faculty. The Dean of English at the university couldn't believe that someone of her caliber would even want to teach there. Her teaching contract was sent to her the same day her application was received, something that had never before happened in the history of the university.

  Dr. Morris was no fool. She'd carefully observed the women that Geoffrey White had eyed at the wine seminar. Each one was very attractive, flawlessly groomed, and
elegantly dressed. As a professor without a husband or children, and as an only child who had inherited a large amount of money when her parents had died, Jodie had amassed quite a large estate in the form of stocks, bonds, savings accounts, IRAs, and other investments. She decided the time had come to make an investment in herself.

  Jodie spent a week in New York having multiple appointments with well-known beauty experts as well as the senior Saks Fifth Avenue personal stylist and clothes consultant who had later come to her hotel, The Plaza, to bring clothes to Jodie that she thought would work for her. Two delivery men had made several trips to her room with the clothes the consultant had chosen. Twenty-five thousand dollars later, the Jodie Morris who left The Plaza in a limousine headed for JFK Airport bore no resemblance to the Jodie Morris who had registered there seven days earlier.

  Saks had shipped Jodie's purchases to her home in Boston. There was no need to send the hairdo, nails, and silky complexion smoothed out by microdermabrasion. Those were now a permanent part of the new Jodie.

  The next few weeks were spent in a haze of arranging for all of her personal items, as well as her furniture, to be sent to the luxury condominium in Lindsay she'd bought sight unseen on the internet. Jodie had also bought a new Cadillac from Ranz Cadillac Motors located in nearby Chanute, Kansas, which would be waiting for her when she arrived in Lindsay.

  She made her plane reservations, finished up the semester at the small college where she taught, said a tearful goodbye to her best friend, and prepared herself for a new life - and a relationship with a soon-to-be colleague, Dr. Geoffrey White.

  Attracting the attention of Dr. White had been easy. She'd been introduced at the first faculty meeting of the new semester, and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She savored the thrill of him undressing her with his eyes, following every curve of her honed body, and looked forward to the moment when he would undress her in person.

  When the meeting was over, she walked over to him and said, "I believe we met a few months ago at a wine seminar in Napa. It's good to see you again."

  Dr. White was clearly at a loss for words, and it was very evident he didn't remember meeting her. Jodie was neither surprised nor concerned by his reaction. Since the ugly duckling had turned into a beautiful swan, and he didn't pay attention to ugly ducklings, there was no reason he would have remembered her.

  "As I recall, we discussed different types of wine, and I mentioned that I was fortunate to obtain several bottles of one of the finest French white burgundies ever made from Domaine Leflaive, a Montrachet Grand CRU," she purred. I drink one from time to time, and I would be more than happy to share a bottle with a fellow connoisseur."

  The words were hardly out of her mouth before Geoffrey had arranged to come to her condominium late that afternoon. The bedroom wasn't far from the library where they'd shared the bottle of wine, and a pattern was quickly established that had lasted for several months. Dr. Morris had never been happier. If this was what new clothes and a makeover got her, her only regret was that she hadn't invested in herself earlier.

  One day, in an uncustomary gesture, Geoffrey had asked her to go to lunch. She'd expected that the lunch would terminate in her bedroom, which was fine with her. She was mistaken. Geoffrey had taken her to the Student Union, bought her a dried-out sandwich for lunch, and told her he was sorry, but he was going to have to end their relationship, because he'd promised his wife to recommit to their marriage.

  Jodie didn't believe it for a minute. He'd been married too long to do something like that at this late date. No, it had to be someone else. Geoffrey was ending their relationship because he was involved with another woman, she was certain of it. But who?

  She began stalking him, which was almost too easy. The following afternoon he drove to a seedy "No-Tell Motel," south of town, parked his car, and registered at the motel office. He walked back to his car and then a young woman got out of it. They walked together into one of the motel rooms. Jodie waited until they reappeared less than an hour later. Her only small consolation was that when they were together his visits to her condominium went on much longer.

  Finding out the young woman's name had been simple. Jodie had watched the cute brunette go into Geoffrey's Intermediate Creative Writing class and from there it had been easy to get her name. One day after class, Jodie accidentally on purpose bumped into the young woman on the steps outside the building, and said, "I'm so sorry," with an apologetic smile.

  "Not a problem, honestly," the young woman had said.

  "I'm Dr. Morris, and you are...?"

  "My name is Courtney Adams. I'm really fine," Courtney assured her, "but if I don't leave now, I'll be late to class."

  Finding out where Courtney lived was also easy. It just involved a matter of following her, first to the library, and then to the low-end apartment just off campus.

  Jodie had dramatically changed her life to get Geoffrey White interested in her and interested he had been. There was no way she could unwind what had been done and then go back to her former self. No, there was only one way to have Geoffrey White regain his interest in her and that was to remove anything that was in the way. Permanently. Dr. Jodie Morris made a plan. A plan that involved a young girl's premature death.

  A young girl by the name of Courtney Adams, to be precise.

  CHAPTER 7

  After saying goodbye to Deborah in the parking lot of the country club, Kat headed towards home. She looked forward to an afternoon of losing herself in writing the novel she'd just started that morning. The drive through Lindsay was calm and smooth at that time of day, and as Kat gazed out at the passing blur of greenery and pavement, she reflected back on the time she'd just spent with Deborah.

  She felt sorry for her friend and sad that Deborah was having to deal with her husband's infidelity after such a long marriage. The mere idea of it made Kat feel deeply grateful for not only the love and faithfulness of her late husband, Greg, but especially for her second chance at happiness with her new husband, Blaine.

  As she drove down the street where their home was located, Kat decided she'd fix a special dinner for the two of them. She had everything she needed to make steak Diane, baked potatoes with all the trimmings, a big green salad, and a warm loaf of brown bread, one of Blaine's favorites. Kat pulled into the garage and saw that Jazz and Rudy were already standing up in their kennels, each wiggling their hindquarters in a happy greeting at her arrival back home.

  I probably should have named them Miss Wigglebutt and Mr. Wigglebutt, she thought, smiling, as she got out of her car.

  "Hi, guys, I'm happy to see you, too," she said, opening their kennels. She scratched their heads lovingly and led them out to the backyard for a quick run around the yard.

  While Kat stood watching the dogs run and jump around on the grassy lawn, her cell phone rang. She pulled the phone from her pocket and saw the caller ID indicating it was her daughter, Lacie.

  "Hi, sweetie, how's your day going?" Kat asked, turning away from the window.

  "Hi, Mom. I've been studying my tail off for final exams, but I wanted to take a break and check in with you. Have you gotten back to writing your new series now that everything with Blaine's last case has been resolved?"

  "Yes, actually I just got back to it this morning, and I'm planning on working on it this afternoon for a while before I make dinner," Kat responded. "How are you feeling about finals?"

  "Since this is my last year at the university, it's been kind of hard to concentrate," Lacie said. "Only one more semester to go, but I'm still thinking about maybe going to graduate school, so I don't want to do anything to mess up my grade point average."

  "That sounds wise, although I'm glad you're still managing to enjoy yourself. I saw the photos you posted online from your sorority semiformal dance. You looked absolutely beautiful. Was your date anyone special?"

  "Thanks, Mom. My sorority sisters and I had a lot of fun shopping for those dresses. And no, he's not necessarily anyone special.
Just a good friend who's a great dancer, and we always have a good time when we're together. He was a natural to invite to the dance. How are my furry brother and sister doing these days?"

  "They're happy as can be, running around in the yard right now as we speak," Kat said, glancing over her shoulder. As she predicted, the wigglebutts were still frolicking on the grass. "When finals are over, you need to come visit. They'd love to see you, and you know I'd love to see your sweet face as well."

  "I miss all of you, Mom. I promise I'll come for dinner as soon as I have some breathing room in my study schedule. What else have you been doing today?" Lacie asked.

  "Well, I wrote for a little while this morning, and then I had a hair appointment with Susie at her beauty salon. After that I met Professor White from the university for lunch at the country club."

  "Oh, Mom, I hope you didn't meet up with Professor Geoffrey White?"

  "No, it was his wife, Deborah White," Kat responded, wondering what Lacie's strange reaction was all about. "Why the strong reaction to Geoffrey White?"

  Lacie was quiet for a moment. After everything Kat had learned from Susie and Deborah that day, the idea of her daughter knowing Geoffrey White made her a little nervous.

  "Didn't I ever tell you about him?" Lacie asked.

  "No, you haven't, but I'm beginning to think you have something rather interesting to say about him," Kat joked, hoping against hope Lacie hadn't had an intimate relationship with Professor White.

  "Yeah, I had an English composition class with him during my sophomore year. I hate to be so blunt, Mom, but I was lucky to escape with my virginity still intact."

  "Oh, no, Lacie, what in the world do you mean by that? Did he try to pressure you into something?" Kat felt a wave of anger and concern at the thought of this no-good man preying on young women in his classroom. And that he might have dared do such a thing to her precious Lacie was more than she could stand. She took several deep breaths to stay calm, but her heart raced and her mind was spinning. The thoughts she was having were not pleasant.