by Renea Porter
With my bag over my shoulder and a little pep in my step, I head back to my apartment. Inside, it doesn’t look like the dead has risen yet so I get started on making some lunch, making BLTs. Once I get the bacon made, I assemble the sandwich and knock lightly on Bea’s door.
“Bea, you up?”
I hear a groan on the other end, and turn the knob to go inside. I sit next to her on the bed while she is still lying down.
“Do I smell bacon?”
Her eyes light up. She loves her bacon.
“Made one just for you. Might help your hangover.”
I shove a plate toward her.
“You are the best,” she says, wasting no time sitting up and eating it.
By her reaction, you would think I served her an orgasm on a plate.
***
Monday morning comes so quick. I blink and the weekend is over. Bea sounded excited when I told her I am now a professor’s assistant. I left out the details of wanting him to take me every which way to Sunday.
Since Professor Murphy’s class is the first one I have today, I got to sleep in some, still leaving enough time to grab his black coffee, and arrive to his class early. Twenty minutes early, to be exact. I notice he isn’t in class and remember he has an office off to the left, so I walk farther and find his office door open, his head bent down looking over papers. I lightly knock on the door.
“You didn’t go back on our deal, did you?” I ask, playfully.
“No, come on in, and have a seat.” He motions with his hand, barely looking up.
I sit the coffee down in front of him. He picks it right up and takes a sip. “Mmm, thanks.” I sit my bag down on the floor by the chair. “So, I’ll have you grade some papers for the time being, and then we can add more stuff as time goes on. Sound good?”
He’s so serious. “Do you ever lighten up, or are you always a hard ass?” I ask.
“What do you think?” He looks up, and there is a slight crinkle in his eyes, as if he’s almost smiling.
“I think you block people out a lot. And I don’t know why. But you should lighten up some. You might enjoy it.”
He sits back in his chair and takes his glasses off, watching me intently. Picking up his cup, he takes another sip. “In the classroom, I have to be a hard ass.” He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Otherwise, students would be on their phones and iPad.”
“And out of the classroom?” I boldly ask.
“I’m not trying to get in trouble by getting involved with you,” he states.
“No one said anything about you getting in trouble. No one would know,” I say, standing up and closing the door. I lean against the door for a moment, willing him to stop me. Walking toward him, our eyes lock and then his eyes move down my body and back up again. I move the papers to sit on his desk in front of him.
“And you shouldn’t be teasing people,” he adds.
“I’m only teasing you, Professor Murphy.” I take his glasses and put the corner of the arm on my lips, barely in my mouth. “Did you see the show I put on for you the other night?”
“I did. Like I said, you shouldn’t be teasing.”
I lightly giggle. Leaning forward, I grip his rough chin and look into his eyes. He knows what I am about to do, and he doesn’t stop me. I lean in closer, and closer to where our noses are almost touching. The anticipation is building, his breathing hitches, and I think I stop breathing altogether. With our lips almost touching, I bite down on my lower lip and look at his, imagining what they taste like. A smirk plays across my face.
Suddenly, he breaks the trance and speaks with his stern voice. “We have class in a few minutes.” I move from his desk, pick up the papers he wants me to grade, and then I grab my bag and head to class.
At least I have an hour class to listen to him speak, to study his movements and mannerisms. Most of the time, he avoids eye contact with me, and most of the time, I can’t take my eyes off him. I think about the almost kiss we had, how bad I wanted to kiss him, but I wanted him to want it more. I could have kissed him and he would have let me, but I want him to not be able to deny how he feels. I don’t want him to be able to stop himself. Why isn’t he able to offer himself to me? Thinking about the almost kiss puts some dampness in between my legs and I squirm in my seat. Suddenly, I see a barely smirk play across Professor Murphy’s face, when no one is looking.
He knows what he’s doing. And I’m fully aware of what I’m doing. And soon, both our doings will come together and it’ll be the most intense thing I’ve ever experienced, and it’ll be worth the wait.
Professor Murphy dismisses class, and I take my time gathering my things together. It’s just us in the room and the air is thick between us. I feel like I can hardly breathe, and I don’t know why. My heart rate kicks up because I know he’s watching me gather my stuff. What the hell has gotten into me?
Handing him my paper, our hands barely touch and I feel a bolt of electricity from him. My palms all of sudden feel sweaty. Maybe it’s because I’m so worked up from the almost kiss between us. I want a taste, but I wish I knew if he really wanted it as much as I do. Things could be a lot less complicated. Being around Nathan long enough, I know there was something different about him, but I can’t put my finger on it.
“Follow me to my office. Maybe you can organize it for me before you leave for the day,” he says. I follow behind him. Inside the office, I set my bag down on the chair. “I’m so disorganized,” he says, looking around, at the papers are scattered all over his desk, books, and miscellaneous things.
“Oh, okay, well, I can definitely get this in order for you,” I tell him. “I can probably file some into your filing cabinet, and organize it so everything is labeled.”
“Great, I’ll leave you to it then.” He cracks a smile, for once. “That’s if you don’t have another class. Because it can wait.”
“No, I don’t have another class today.”
“Okay, then.”
When he leaves the room, I scratch my head and look around. Where to even start? I’m sure a simple spell would help the room along. Shutting the door behind him, I try to concentrate and chant the spell in a soft voice. Hearing the papers shuffle, I open my eyes to a complete mess. Well, that didn’t go well. Yeah, I’m still trying to get the hang of this magic thing. Apparently, I suck at it. This is why I don’t practice all that much. But I can’t even be mad about it, because I’m in Nathan’s office cleaning it up.
I start with his desk, and stack all the papers in a stack in the corner, deciding to separate them once I get the desk cleared. One thing I notice is that he doesn’t have many pictures around his office. He has one of him and another guy; they are both smiling and it appears they are fishing. I pick up the picture and inspect it, him more closely. Obviously, it doesn’t do him justice, but he’s smiling and appears happy, which I haven’t been able to see yet.
I move some things around and already his desk is shaping up. Taking the books, I put them back on the book shelf, noticing everything is in alphabetical order makes sense. I run my fingers around the spines of old and new books. I take my index finger, pull one out just to see what it is. I flip through the cream colored pages and see it’s a book about Adam and Eve. It intrigues me. It kind of reminds me of him and me, like I’m the fruit and begging for him to bite into it. And he just keeps resisting the temptation. Yes.
Shaking my head from my thoughts, I pull the drawer to his filing cabinet open and file the papers that I had stacked. His office is shaping up. I don’t know why his office is so disorganized since his home seemed so nice and neat, and boring.
I straighten up the clutter around the office. I lay the throw across one of his chairs in the corner by the bookshelf. It looks like the perfect reading corner, nice and quiet with no interruptions. It looks so inviting so I decide to spare a few moments, and take the book about Adam and Eve back off the shelf, sit in the inviting chair, and read a few pages.
Chapter Four
NATHAN
A few hours later, I make it back to my office. It’s the end of the day, and when I open the door, I’m speechless at how nice it looks. Riley did such a good job. Out of my peripheral vision, I see a figure off in the corner. It’s Riley, asleep on the chair in the corner with a book lying across her chest and the throw wrapped snug against her body. She looks so peaceful, beautiful even, taking my breath right out of my lungs.
“Riley.” I lightly shake her shoulder.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I fell asleep reading.” She looks around bewildered as embarrassment washes over her face.
A soft chuckle escapes my lips. “You’re welcome to come in here and read anytime you want. You did such a good job in here. Thank you.”
She stands, folding the throw, placing it over the chair, and then puts the book back on the shelf. “I’m glad you like it.” She runs her hand through her hair and scans the room for her bag, walking over to it.
She straps the bag over her shoulder, about to leave. I’m trying to think of every excuse to keep her in my presence for a little longer. I should tell her to stay away from me, but the magnetic pull between us would make that impossible to uphold.
“Say, it’s late. Let me walk with you if you’re headed home. It’s dark out.”
Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she smiles. “Sure, that sounds good.”
I grab my bag and we walk in a comfortable silence. At least, I think it’s a comfortable silence. Today Riley seemed vulnerable. I actually like that side of her, shows me she isn’t always so forward, but I wonder about the sudden change.
“So, do you have family around here?” she asks as we continue the walk.
“I do. I have a twin brother, he lives about an hour away. My parents are no longer around, though. So it’s just me and my brother. I’ve never been married. Just waiting on the right one to come along. What about you?”
“Are you identical twins or fraternal?”
“We are fraternal.”
“Oh, okay. My parents are very…how do I say this?…eccentric. They live in Iowa, and I think they are just glad to have me out of the house and away,” she says, laughing it off.
“Well, I’m sure they’re proud of you, getting into such a good college and you’re here with your best friend. They probably find that comforting.”
She shrugs. “Maybe.”
So this girl does have some depth to her. I like it. We arrive to our respective places way too soon. I actually like having a real conversation with her. I like uncovering the layers that make her up, that lie deep within. She intrigues me.
“Well, this is me.” She says, shoving a hand in her pants pocket.
“This is me,” I say, throwing my thumb over my shoulder toward my place.
“Thanks for walking me.” She smiles. “See you on Wednesday, Nathan.”
“See you, Riley.”
I turn to head to my place, and a smile plays across my face. She called me by my name. I loved the way it sounded coming out of her mouth, her perfect lips. I haven’t stopped thinking about those lips since earlier today, since she came into my office and our faces were so close yet so far away. I was desperate to kiss her, yet I resisted. Forbidden fruit. Temptation. Everything so right, yet so wrong. She reminds me of a rose beautiful, delicate, so silky and smooth, and the fragrant scent that emanates off it. But she isn’t just a pretty face.
Opening my door, I watch her go inside her place before closing the door behind me. It’s late, so I decide to pour myself some whiskey in a glass and light a cigar. I feel like now is the perfect time to try one. My brother got me a box, and it’s our thing now, whenever we visit each other. Alex lives about an hour away and I’m looking forward to seeing him this weekend.
Relaxing in my chair with my whiskey in one hand, my cigar in the other, I find it odd to be alone. This really should be enjoyed with others. I take my remote and flip on my stereo, not loud enough to bother the neighbors, yet enough to dissipate the feeling of loneliness. The classical sound relaxes me as I close my eyes for a moment.
Felix the cat comes over and rubs on my ankle. Letting the cigar rest in my mouth, I bend down and pet Felix, and he purrs. I sit back in my chair and puff on my cigar.
***
RILEY
It’s been about three months since I first walked into Professor Murphy’s… uh… Nathan’s office. Quite frankly, I haven’t been right since. Things seem easier between us, he lets me sneak in his office to read in his corner. Mostly, I do it, so I can smell him as his scent lingers in there. It’s a calming scent. Sometimes he even gives off a faint cigar scent. I inhale it in, letting it consume me. Things just seem easier between us, and he is continuing to let me assist him with grading papers and such.
Bea snaps her fingers in my face. “Earth to Riley.”
“Sorry, what? I got lost in my thoughts there for a moment.”
“I was asking you if you were coming with me for winter break. You know my family loves you like their own and they wouldn’t mind,” she says.
It’s true; her family has been like a second family to me. I always feel at home there. But I just don’t feel like the company this time around. I really should try to practice some magic and study my family book of spells.
“You know I appreciate that. But I think I just want to enjoy the solitude here. I’m going to have to get used to my own company sometime.” I flash a weak smile. “Mom wasn’t too happy I wouldn’t be home for the holidays, but she seemed to understand.”
“Are you sure?” Bea asks.
“I’m positive,” I tell her.
“Well, if you change your mind at all, you can come at any time. You know that. I’m going to go pack.” She stands from the stool she was sitting on and comes over with outstretched arms. She hugs me tight.
“I’ll miss you. Just remember what I said,” she says.
“I’ll miss you, too. And I will.”
She smiles and turns to go toward her room, and I look out the kitchen window and see Nathan taking out the trash. He looks up and catches me looking out the window, and he waves. I wave and smile. My stomach does somersaults as my heart kicks up a few notches.
Shaking the thoughts from my head, I make some popcorn so Bea and I can have a girls’ night watching movies before she leaves tomorrow.
***
The next morning, I bid Bea a tearful goodbye and a safe flight home. Yeah, we’re both big crybabies; our magic makes us more emotional than your average folks. I putter around the apartment. The weather is turning cold, so I change out of my pajamas and throw on a cowl neck blue sweater and a pair of jeans.
Sitting on my bed, I pull my magic book out and flip a few of the pages until I come upon the page on fire. This could be dangerous, but I decide to try it, anyway. Standing, I grab a piece of tissue paper and hold it flatly in my hand, chanting the spell over and over. Then I feel the heat as the tissue rises, bursting into a ball of fire. Holding my other hand out, I chant the spell that will put out the fire, but instead, I feel two strong arms around me. Nathan holds the waste basket and flicks the fire ball inside and doesn’t even flinch. I’m amazed and speechless.
“What the hell are you doing?” he says, his voice filled with anger. “You could have lit this whole place on fire.” His eyebrows furrow.
“How the hell did you know what I was doing?”
“I saw through my window. Come with me.” He tugs on my hand to follow him, struggling to keep up. We go downstairs and out the back door. He hands me my coat from the coat rack, and I put it on. And I’m surrounded by the forest that resides in my back yard.
“What are we doing?”
“Close your eyes and stand very still,” he orders.
Playing along, I close my eyes, focusing on his voice.
“Now I want you to focus on your breathing, slowly pulling it in and then slowly exhaling it out.”
I can feel Nathan walking around me, telling me all the things he nee
ds for me to focus.
“Now listen to the birds singing.” He pauses. “Smell the evergreen trees.” He pauses again. Feel the cool air wrapping around your body.” Pause. “Listen to the animals that nature inhabits.”
Nathan continues walking around me, his voice smooth, and every word meticulously calculated. I continue to breathe in and out. But the slight shiver I get along my spine that he causes is hard to ignore.
“Now, keeping your eyes closed, hold your hands out, palms down. I feel his palms against mine. A magnetic jolt shoots through me. Remaining focused, I hear him chants some words that I barely understand, and that’s when things start to make sense. He’s like me. A witch.
There’s a pause before he speaks again. “Now open your eyes,” he finally says.
When I do, I blink a few times to help my eyes adjust. Looking around, the snow lightly falls around us. An owl sounds on the tree limb to my right. A bear is sitting in the distance, and for once, I’m not afraid. In fact, it has the opposite effect on me. A bunny hops from my left, and out of nowhere, the most beautiful butterfly lands on my arms before flying away again. How is all this possible? The scenery astounds me. Finally, my eyes meet Nathans. He has the biggest grin on his face; his eyes are soft and serene.
“Wow,” I finally manage to say. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“How about we discuss it over dinner at my place?” he suggests.
“Yes, because you have some explaining to do.”
“See you at seven?”
“Yes,” I agree.
Dumbfounded, I watch as Nathan heads around the corner of my place, heading to his. My mind is racing a mile a minute. How did he do what he did? My stomach rolls with nervousness. The snow is still falling around me, and the animals have scattered along except for the bear, who is still watching me, but he looks serene.
Back in my bedroom, I put the magic book away and get ready for my date with Nathan. Wait, is it a date? No, it can’t be. Besides, Nathan has some explaining to do.
After showering and fixing myself up, I pace the floor until 6:55 and then I walk across the street to Nathan’s place. Before I get a chance to knock, he pulls the door open and invites me inside. The smell of food wafts through the kitchen as I enter.
