She started out the door and then added, “Just do it. You will enjoy it, I promise. It will all work out for the best,” and she was gone.
Terry sat at his desk, not moving. He wasn’t even sure he was breathing. This was the most bizarre thing that had ever happened to him. All of this for a lousy grade?
What the hell did it matter? Who would ever know except her and him? That was the problem. He would know. He tried to grade a paper but couldn’t really concentrate. It was worthless to try to read the drivel stacked in front of him.
He turned to his computer and tapped into the system’s main frame and typed in Sharon Lewis’s name. Her registration information came up on the screen. Sharon Lewis, followed by her social security number; 337-98-1890; Date of birth; June 2, 1982 and other basic information. He switched to another screen and brought up her grades.
He was amazed. She had almost all A’s. Her GPA was 3.61. How could that be? Was his the only class she had pulled this stunt on? He doubted it. He pulled up another screen and started looking at the professors of her classes. In every class that she had received an A, it was a male instructor. Coincidence? He doubted it. This must be how she gets her grades. Her female teachers had given her mostly C grades. Only one, Dr. Elaine Pratt had given her an A.
Dr. Pratt was a vocal, self-appointed, Gay and Lesbian rights spokesperson on campus. Sharon had taken as many courses with men as possible it seemed. She was going to blackmail her way through college.
He wondered what she was like in High School. It must be where she started and refined her technique. She would do it in the business world as well, no doubt. It made sense. She needed the high GPA to land a good job and then she could blackmail her bosses one at a time until she got what she wanted. She was a bloodsucker who wouldn’t stop until someone got hurt. Someone would have to be willing to stand up to her and take their chances.
Terry decided that it might as well be him that put a stop to her plans for good. Of course that was easy to say in the safety of his office, but what about when it actually came time to confront her story? Would he really be willing to take that chance? What if they didn’t believe him and took her word?
She had been right about one thing, she was protected a hell of a lot better than he was. A white male between eighteen and forty-five had virtually no protection in the eyes of the law when it came to this type of situation. Sharon Lewis had him by the short curlies and she damn well knew it.
CHAPTER TWO
Sharon first discovered how stupid some teachers could be when she was in her junior year at North Central High School. She would sit in the front row and always wear a dress. Whenever she got the chance, she would accidentally make sure her legs were far enough apart so the teacher could get a good look up her dress. It was more of a turn-on than anything.
She got a kick out of seeing them try to act nonchalant as they looked up her dress. She would cross and uncross her legs several times. It was even humorous at times as some of her instructors would almost stop talking when she gave them a really good shot.
Mr. Taber was her first real challenge. He didn’t respond like the others. He simply seemed not to notice. He was getting ready to retire in one more year and it was obviously he wasn’t going to respond like she wanted. Not only that, he cut her no slack on any test or quiz. Being cute and giving out beaver shots didn’t have the least bit of effect on him. He became her first serious challenge.
She even went without underpants a couple of times, trying to get some response from him, but nothing worked. She was getting a D and he wasn’t going to give her any leeway.
That is when she decided to try blackmailing him. He was stubborn and wasn’t going to budge. She could do whatever she liked but he refused to give in. Then she told him that she would go to his wife with a sob story and tell her that he had tried to feel her up. He would even keep her after class and try to get her to have sex. It was the one thing that got his attention. He agreed to give her a B but not an A. It was her first attempt at blackmailing so she settled.
As time went on, she got better and better. She learned what strings to pull. She would find out as much as she could about each teacher. In College she refined the technique and would do research on each Professor she intended to take classes with.
Armed with that information, she would determine the best way to get what she wanted. She hated to take classes with women instructors. There was little that she could do about them. She would always take classes with men if at all possible. Only Dr. Elaine Pratt turned out all right.
She used the same technique on her to some extent. She was a known lesbian and proud of it. All Sharon had to do was say she was propositioned by her and she folded like a house of cards. She got her A without any protest. She even took her up on the sex offer. Sharon didn’t let a little thing like being a lesbian stop her when it was convenient.
She was equally happy going with either men or women. She practiced her stories over and over, just in case she actually had to carry though and go to the Administration Department. She was fully prepared to do that. No teacher or Professor was going to keep her from getting where she wanted. She wanted to be at the top.
CHAPTER THREE
“What do you want to do this weekend?” Terry asked his daughter. As a single parent it seemed like he never had enough time for her.
“I don’t care. Whatever you want to do. Want to go on a picnic?” Sophie said cheerfully.
“A picnic? Great idea. Tell you what. I’ll get the fishing gear, you make up some sandwiches and we will go over to the reservoir and plop in our lines.”
“Cool. We haven’t done that in a long time. What kind of sandwiches do you want?”
“You’re in charge of the picnic goodies. I’ll take care of the fishing tackle. Whatever you’re eating is good for me,” he said, heading to the garage.
It would be great. It was a beautiful day, not too hot and not too cold. It was around 78 degrees, with no wind and only a few hazy clouds.
Terry gathered up the fishing tackle and put it into the back of the Jeep. The top was down on his Wrangler as it always was on every warm day. He hated to put the top up. It was his holdout over winter which he did not like one bit.
They would have to stop and get bait, and depending on what Sophie could round up, maybe some snacks. He didn’t like to keep too many around. If they were in the house he would eat them and he was trying to watch his weight. It was the great American sport after all. Sophie came out to the Jeep and placed a cooler in the back and a small picnic basket.
“You ready?” she asked excitedly.
“You bet. Let’s go see how much we can lower the reservoir when we pull all those fish out,” he joked.
“It may rise with all the bait you lose,” Sophie countered.
“Get in dunderhead,” he said, pulling her ponytail.
The ride to the reservoir only took a half hour and a few minutes later they were sitting on the bank with their lines in the water.
“How are things going pumpkin?” Terry asked Sophie. They were very close and often just spent time just sitting and talking. She gave him a quick rundown on her current ups and downs. Terry just let her talk. It was always interesting to find out what she was going through. The cool boys, the clothes she just had to have, and various other crises that came up that were ever so important, at least at this time in her life.
She was eleven and it wouldn’t be long before he would lose her to the teenage years. He was both looking forward to it and regretting it at the same time. He would hate to see her change but knew there was nothing he could do to stop it.
She had been such a trouble-free kid. She was a good daughter and one that he was proud of. She had recovered from her mother’s death with a good attitude and no resentment. She would probably never have the sister or brother that she wanted but she had adjusted well.
“It just wasn’t meant to be,” she said during one of their chats. It was
a great afternoon. Sophie caught three largemouth bass and of course, as predicted, he caught nothing. Sophie always got a kick out of doing better than him. It wasn’t that he didn’t try, it was just not important to him. It was the time he could spend with her that was the most important.
They stayed until the sun started to set before they finally gave up on the day, loaded up and headed back home. The air was much cooler on the ride home and he gave her his jacket to put on. The phone was ringing when they pulled into the garage. It was one of her friends. He had lost her for sure now. She would be on the phone half the night, talking about very serious middle school life problems.
He went up to his room, and flopped on the bed. He didn’t feel like doing much but decided he needed to take a bath and get ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow was Sunday and he was dreading what still had to be done. It had been a hard week already. He had to fight to get through the stack of term papers.
Half he just skimmed and gave a grade to.
Not his usual style but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t put his heart into it. He felt like he wasn’t doing his job and he was right. Not all of the students had waited until the last minute to do their papers. A few were actually quite good.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Hi Doc,” a voice said.
Terry looked up startled. He hadn’t heard anyone come in and it had caught him off guard.
“What are you doing here?” he stammered.
“Just seeing how you are doing. You know. I thought I would see if you wanted to negotiate my grade,” Sharon said, smiling. She had on hip-hugger shorts that almost exposed the top of her crotch. Her halter-top was short and looked like it had been painted on. It was bright pink and set off her golden tan.
“Negotiate? Sharon, I am not about to negotiate or debate about your grade.”
“Still. You could get some of this,” she said, rubbing her breasts with both hands.
“Stop it. That isn’t going to happen. You are not going to get away with this young lady. I am not just going to set by and let you lie your way through this,” he said, grabbing her by the arms.
“Oh, Doctor,” she said, pressing up against him, “I like it rough. Come on Doc. Take what you know you want.”
Ryan shoved her back but she came forward again.
“Stop. I mean it. If you don’t, I’ll….”
“You will what? Hit me? Go ahead. It will work for me either way,” she hissed.
“Sharon, I want you to just go. If you don’t, I’ll call security and have them throw you out,” he said.
He wasn’t sure if security was even around on Sunday but he knew he had to get her out of his office.
“All right Dr. Ryan. You can cook your own goose. You are missing the chance of a lifetime. I could have given you something your wife never did,” she sneered.
“You…,” but he stopped before saying anything else.
What was the point? She was just trying to goad him on. He held his mouth shut tightly. She winked at him once more, turned and shoved her butt out towards him and then, suddenly she was gone. He stood there feeling light headed. She wasn’t bluffing. She was going to go through with it and there was nothing he could do about it.
* * *
Terry hated having to try to find a parking place on Mondays. The faculty lot was always full and he would have to end up parking in the student’s lot, if he couldn't find a spot. It was a universal problem with all facilities of higher education. Not enough parking slots for all of the instructors and students. He was lucky this morning and he was able to find a spot only a half block from the Business College building at the University.
It was a bright sunny morning with very little humidity and the temperature was right at seventy-four according to the weather report he had heard driving in from home. It was hard to tell if that was accurate however, especially since they said it was going to be mostly cloudy today and there was not a cloud in the sky.
“Good morning Dr. Ryan,” his secretary said cheerfully.
“Morning, Janet. It looks like it is going to be a nice day,” he said as he headed to his office.
“Coffee?” she asked as he disappeared inside.
“You bet,” he yelled back.
All he had to do today was turn in final grades and then he would have two weeks off before the first summer session started. He waited for his computer to boot up and Janet brought him a mug of coffee.
“Are you ready for a break?” she asked, making small talk.
“More than ready,” he assured her.
“I’m looking forward to it too. My son is coming from California to spend a few days with me. I haven’t seen him since he returned from Iraq,” she said.
“That should be great. I’ll bet he has some stories to tell,” Terry replied.
He wanted to get his work done but Janet Flossy had been his secretary for seven years and was a very lonely lady. Her husband had died of a heart attack a year after his wife so he understood the need to have someone to have conversation with.
Her son was grown and in the Army and she seldom ever got to see him. He was lucky, he had Sophie around. After a few more pleasantries, she departed and he pulled up the grade screen.
He spent the next hour filling in the final grades and only one remained to be typed in. Sharon Lewis. He stopped with his fingers still on the key pad, just looking at the name. No way was he going to give in to her demands. It was going to be an F and that was all there was to it.
His thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing in Janet’s office. He could her talking and then say, “I’ll ring you through.”
“Dr. Ryan. It is Dean Richards.”
He closed his eyes. It was starting already and he hadn’t even entered her grade yet. He looked unhappily at the screen. The grade was still not entered. He decided to wait.
“Terry, Bob here. I want to talk to you and I would like to do it in person but I want to give you a heads up,” he said.
“I see. Is this about Ms. Lewis?”
“Why yes. Listen, I know how unsettling this can be so I am sending over our attorneys to help you get through this,” Dean Richards told him.
“Really? I suppose that makes sense. I’m just a little caught off guard by the suddenness of this,” he replied.
“It’s part of the Universities SOP. Anytime something like this comes up we want to make sure our valuable faculty and the institution are well represented,” Richards said.
“Great. That is really assuring. I had been dreading today and now I feel much better,” he said.
“We know. This isn’t the first time for this sort of thing. It is unfortunate and it never makes the University look good but we have already started damage control,” he informed Terry.
Terry rolled the term ‘damage control’ over in his mind.
“When are they coming?”
“They are on their way. They should be arriving in just a few minutes. I just didn’t want them to show up at your office unannounced.”
“Thanks Bob. I appreciate this more than you know,” Terry said.
“That’s what we do. You’re a valuable asset and we wouldn’t want you to say something that would make the matter worse. Just let the attorneys handle it,” Richards replied.
“Will do. Thanks again,” he said hanging up the phone.
Well, this wasn’t going to be so bad after all the thought. He wondered how they knew about this already. Sharon said she would talk to him first before going to the Dean but she had obviously changed her mind. She had also said she had a meeting at 2:00 p.m. and it was just a little after 8:00 a.m. Maybe she sensed he wasn’t going to cave in and decided to strike first.
Whatever, he had the University on his side and that was the important thing. He felt a lot better as he drank his coffee and looked out of his window. Maybe it wasn’t going to be such a bad day after all. By the time he had finished his coffee, Janet announced that there were two gentlemen f
rom Dean Richard’s office to see him.
“Good morning, I’m Terry Ryan,” he said extending his hand.
“I’m Wesley Markham and this is my associate, Al Blazer. We are with the law office of Markham, Blazer, Baldwin and Phillips. We represent the University in legal matters outside the normal realm of the daily operations,” Markham said, shaking his hand.
“Well, I can’t tell you how glad I am to have you here today. I was worried about this all week and spent half the weekend thinking about what today was going to be like. I feel a heck of a lot better how that the University is involved.
The two attorneys exchanged looks before going on. Markham had an odd frown on his face.
“Well, let’s just see how it goes before we get too excited,” Blazer said.
“Please,” Terry said, motioning to the two chairs in his office, “What do you want me to tell you?”
Blazer took out a leather bound pad of paper and a Mont Blanc pen. He made sure Terry noticed it.
“Sharon Lewis. She was a student of yours. She was in your 10:00 O’clock Business Law class, is that correct?”
“When she bothered to show up,” Terry replied.
“And according to your secretary, she came to see you last Tuesday.”
It was a statement, not a question, so Terry didn’t reply.
“What was the nature of her visit?” Markham asked.
“Ms. Lewis came to see me about her grade. She was failing and wanted to know what could be done about it. I told her nothing actually. It was too late. She asked if she could make up the work and I told her I didn’t see how. It was too late for that,” Terry told them.
“And what was her reaction?” Blazer asked.
“She got upset. She said that if she didn’t get an A she would go to see Dean Richards and tell him I had tried to force her to have sex to raise her score. It was really something. She was very calculating. She said he already had a meeting set up and I had until Monday, ah, today, to give her the A. She was going to come by around noon and see what I had decided. If she didn’t like the grade she would take the story to the Dean.”
BLONDE DECEPTION - The Logan Files Page 2
