Professor next Door

by Summer Cooper

  “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see then, won’t we? What? Wait a minute, Galen.” I could hear some rustling noises, muffled voices, and a female giggle before John spoke again. “I have to go, man. Call me later. A lot later.”

  From the sound of his voice, I knew John was wiggling his eyebrows again. That man. Women just flocked to him. I told him goodbye and waited, looking out of the kitchen window. A knock at the door interrupted my staring and I went to see who it was. Tara hadn’t left her house so I knew it wasn’t her.

  I opened the door, expecting a kid selling pizza kits that I could buy in the store for far less, or someone selling me religion, but Tara stood there, her eyes huge, her cheeks flushed, and clearly in a state of panic.

  “Galen, I—I need to sit down.”

  I took her hand quickly, putting a hand on her back to keep her steady. I kicked the door shut and led her into the kitchen and to a chair at the table.

  “What’s wrong? Has something happened?”

  Concern filled me as she waved an arm around without actually saying anything, and I wasn’t sure if it was just human compassion or something more that made me want to hold her close. The thought that it might be something more concerned me. I couldn’t have feelings for her, she wasn’t my type! It was just human compassion, that was it.

  I poured a glass of wine for her before I realized something.

  “Tara, how old are you?”

  “What? I’m twenty-one. Why, is it important?” She took the chilled white wine from me and took a large gulp.

  “I just thought I should ask before I gave you alcohol, even wine.” I can be a jerk about a lot of things, but giving alcohol to minors wasn’t something I’d do.

  “It’s fine, I’m old enough. Yes.” She looked up at me with the kind of eyes that could break a man. Naked vulnerability mixed with anxiety, but also bravery and conviction. A rather odd mixture that made me lose my train of thought.

  “Yes, what?” I sat down beside her, wondering why the room was turning so hazy. I was lost in her beautiful eyes that pulled me closer to her, drawing me in.

  “I’ll marry you.”

  I was too lost to notice what she’d said, drawing nearer.

  “Oh, that’s nice.”

  Her lips drew my attention, bare of any lipstick or gloss. They were full, sensual, and just the right kind for nibbling at. They crooked at the corners as she smiled, her body suddenly relaxing as I moved a little closer.

  “I’m glad you’re so excited. I think something’s burning.”

  She sat still, waiting, her breath held as I moved closer. My eyes went back up to hers, locking in place as her pupils dilated and she waited, her lips barely parted, waiting for me to…

  “Shit, something’s burning!” I shot out of my chair and swiftly moved to the stove, pulling pasta and sauce off the burners, staring down at the mess of charred food in the bottom of the pans. “Dammit!”

  “Galen?” She called to me, her hand on my shoulder. I turned to apologize for the burned food when the words she’d said to me finally sunk in.

  “Tara?” I said, relief filling me. “You will?”

  “Yes, I have my own conditions. But yes, I’ll marry you.” She smiled up at me, obviously pleased to be helping me.

  “I can’t thank you enough! Come here, woman! Fuck, I can’t believe you’re doing this for me. I really can’t thank you enough.” I pulled her close, squeezing her tight in a bear hug. She barely came up to my chin, but her body was soft, pliant, and warm. All female. I’d only intended to hug her, but my body was screaming at me to do something far more dirty. Then my brain started, all but begging me to get her naked right there in the kitchen!

  I panicked for a moment, feeling her arms around me. This wasn’t just a woman I’d planned on having sex with before moving on. This was a woman I was going to be living with soon enough, and the fact that I was holding her so close made me uncomfortable. I pushed her away just as she began to snuggle in, and moved to take the bread out of the oven.

  “I guess we’ll have to go out for dinner. I’ve ruined all of this.” I changed the topic in a way I hoped was smooth, and didn’t turn back to look at her until I’d got myself under control. She was going to be my fake wife, no fucking!

  “That’s fine. Look, I know this is just an arrangement, I don’t expect anything… well, I just want you to know, you don’t have to worry about me getting all clingy. I know this is just a business arrangement.” She nodded to emphasize her point, and I realized she wasn’t wearing her glasses.

  “Did you get contacts?”

  Her hand went to her face, pulling at her eyelid for a moment.

  “Yeah, I thought it was time to give them a try.” She looked doubtful but excited too. It was too fucking cute! I grinned at her, liking the brave new Tara.

  “Cool, I like being able to see your eyes. Let me get Rikki. I know a great place we can all go to.”

  I’m sure her head was spinning as much as mine was at that point, the conversation jumping so erratically, but the whole thing was just weird. We were going to get married for Rikki’s sake, not because we were in love or really wanted to. That made it awkward for both of us.

  At least she was at ease now, I thought, grabbing a bag for Rikki and picking her up. My baby girl was asleep but woke as I held her. She curled into my chest, much the same way Tara just had, and I stopped as realization hit me. Comfort, that was the feeling I had before I pushed Tara away, a soothing comfort I hadn’t felt in a long time, not just arousal. That’s why it had been so damned scary. I can’t remember the last time I’d felt that. It must have been some time before my wife died.

  Taking a deep breath I went back into the kitchen and smiled at the woman that was slowly turning me upside down. I had to wonder if this was such a good idea after all. Somehow this nondescript, unassuming, but very intelligent woman was getting under my skin. I hadn’t really noticed at first but there it was. I had to stop it somehow. I can’t afford to let anyone but my buddies and Rikki that close ever again.

  9. Tara

  I watched Galen feeding his daughter apple sauce as we picked at barbecued ribs, fries, and coleslaw. She simply was his world. He was unguarded with her, the hard façade dropped and he showed a softness I’d only ever seen when he was with her. Admittedly, I barely knew the man. Maybe he was like that with old ladies and puppies, but I’d never seen it.

  “You alright?” He turned to me as Rikki reached for her sippy cup, her little hands covered in mushed apple. “Need anything else?”

  “A stomach pump and another round?” I grinned, sitting back with my hands over my tummy. I was stuffed, but he’d been right, the food was fantastic.

  “I hear ya, the food is great here. Next time, try the chicken wings. Out of this world!” He gave Rikki a bread stick to gnaw on and sat back, taking a sip of his beer.

  I gave him a noncommittal smile, screaming at myself inside my head. What am I doing here? What had driven me to go out and buy contacts? Was I about to make the biggest mistake of my life? He’d barely spoken to me since we’d arrived other than to suggest what I should try first. Inside I was a screaming ball of “fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck”, but I pushed it down, and hid it behind a calm smile and quiet eyes. I hoped.

  When the waitress came we ordered desserts and Galen pulled out his phone. “Sorry, I have to take this.”

  He wandered off to a dark corner around the bar area and I moved closer to Rikki.

  “Tar-wah!” She giggled with a mouth covered with soggy bread and I wiped her face with a napkin.

  “You’re the reason for all of this, you know? I may never have your daddy’s love, or be important to him as anything other than a convenience, but I’ll have you, right? You’ll make it all worthwhile.” I gave her a watery smile and pulled her out of the high chair she was in when she lifted her arms to me.

  “Wuv woo!” she cried as she hugged me tight around the neck, dancing on my lap with
joy. It was well past her bedtime and she was getting hyper at the break in her schedule. I’d done some research on babies and knew this was a possibility.

  “I love you too, Rikki.” I held her tight as she bounced, but then let her pull away, her attention taken up by the fudge brownie sundae the waitress was bringing to our table.

  “Want…” she cried as she held her hand out and made a motion that said “give me”.

  “I don’t think that would be a good idea but you can try it, baby.” The waitress smiled at me as she set the dessert down. A tall, dark-blond haired young woman, she was pretty and smiled at me as Rikki bounced in excitement.

  “Oh my God, she’s delightful! How old is she?”

  “She’s two, aren’t you darling? A whole two years old.” I snuggled my face into Rikki’s hair and she screamed with glee, turning back to give me a sloppy nose kiss.

  “Wow, you’ve taken really good care of yourself, you should be proud!” The waitress winked at me and walked off before I could tell her I wasn’t Rikki’s mom.

  I sat there, stunned. We weren’t even married yet and already people were buying into our charade! It might work.

  I knew there wasn’t going to be any love, and right now I should really be focusing on my studies, but Galen needed me. Rikki needed me. I could be a wife, a step-mom, and finish school. He’d be there to help, I knew that, and I doubted I’d ever get an opportunity to marry a guy like Galen again.

  I glanced over at him, wondering who he was talking to. It must be one of his friends; he wouldn’t be smiling otherwise. I wanted him to smile at me like that—unguarded, totally easy. That wasn’t the arrangement, I reminded myself, and gave Rikki a small bite of the ice cream on top of my microwaved brownie.

  Rikki was definitely the best consolation prize ever, and even if I couldn’t somehow convince Galen to eventually make our marriage a real one, well, I’d always have her as a gift I’d never expected to have.

  Galen came back and settled down to his dessert without another word. I entertained Rikki until we left, Galen driving us back to his house. As we pulled into the driveway I blurted out what had been on my mind the entire drive.

  “Galen, I’d like to get a few things discussed tonight if it’s possible? I assume you want to get married as soon as we can?” I looked over at him, and saw him tense.

  “Sure,” he said, looking up at me with guileless eyes. “Anything you want.”

  “Good.”

  I waited until we’d got Rikki to bed and were settled in his living room with two glasses of wine before I dropped my one and only bomb on him.

  “Tell me how your wife died.” I stared at him without blinking, wanting the whole truth, all of it. A man didn’t just ask a virtual stranger to marry him without a good reason. I understood he thought it would look good, but there was more to it than that. There had to be.

  “I’m sorry, what?” He blinked at me, anger and confusion mixing.

  “Look, if we’re going to protect Rikki, I have to know. All of it, Galen. I’ve heard rumors on campus, some very nasty ones. I’m not stupid, I know rumors are usually bullshit, but some of them really bother me. I have to go into this with my eyes wide open. So spill.”

  He shifted in his seat, giving me a glare that would normally have shut me up and made me surrender, but this wasn’t his life we were playing around with, it was his daughter’s.

  “I don’t think—”

  “It is my business, because you’ve made it my business.” I sat straight, letting him see just how much of a backbone I really did have. I wasn’t going to be put off by him. “Rikki is my business now, you are, and how my life turns out is totally up to this moment in time. Don’t screw it up by getting on your high horse and thinking you can just snow me under.”

  “Alright, alright.” He put a hand up to stop my flow of words and brushed a hand over his tired face. “I’d wanted to put this off for a bit, but you’re right. You have to know before we get married.”

  I settled back into a recliner, kicking the bottom out to put my feet up and settle in. “Go on then.”

  “I guess you’re talking about the rumor that she killed herself?” He looked at me for confirmation and carried on. “We’d been arguing a lot before she died. A lot. She was so, fuck, I don’t know the right word. Manic, maybe? Moody?”

  I glared at him. The woman had just had a baby!

  “Don’t look at me like that, this was different. She’d cry even when she held Rikki. She wouldn’t feed her, she’d just hold her and cry. When I’d come home from work she’d scream at me for not being there for them. I tried to get her to go to a doctor, but she wouldn’t go. Then she started going on about me having an affair. She was leaving me, leaving us, the night she died.” He’d spoken in a monotone voice until the end, when his voice cracked. His words had come out in a flood, rushed, as if saying the words hurt him, and I guess they did.

  “Were you having an affair?”

  “No!” He looked at me with stricken eyes. “I am a lot of things, quite a lot, but I wouldn’t do that to her!”

  “Some men would, and would feel justified. The wife’s not giving it to him, she’s caught up in the baby, some men even lose their attraction to their partners after the women give birth, it’s somehow traumatic for them.” I rattled off things I’d read in magazines over the years and waited.

  “No, Kayla didn’t deserve that! I might not have been the most faithful of men when we were first married, but once I knew she was pregnant, that all changed.” He looked supremely guilty and flashed his eyes to mine before looking away. “I’m not perfect, I was an asshole, but not after I found out about Rikki. Not once.”

  Right, so he could be a dick but he could also change. That was good to know. I wasn’t totally happy about the unfaithful part, but I had no right to judge.

  “Okay. Anything else?”

  I watched him, a man full of life and sex appeal, shrink in a second. “Nah, that’s all I can tell you. We were in love, I was a dick, she went off the deep end, and skidded into a light pole during a storm. It was quick, they told me, and she died instantly. I’m just glad…” He paused, pain etching lines into his face. “I’m just glad she’d left Rikki behind for me to care for. She might have killed our daughter too.”

  I noted his odd choice of words but let it go. Maybe that was just the angry stage of grief coming out. I didn’t think Galen had dealt with any of it properly, he’d just carried on the best he could. My heart broke for him even more. And for Rikki, that poor child. We both knew what it was like to be abandoned by our parents.

  “That brings me to the only request I have. Barring any proof of insanity, abuse, or other barriers that would make it unfeasible, I’d like an agreement that, no matter what happens between us, Rikki is going to be allowed to be in my life for however long she wants to be in it. Whether we divorce and you remarry, or not. She needs a steady mother figure. Taking me away and making me leave her after a couple of years would be cruel.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense. I’ve seen you with Rikki, you love her.” He was coming back to himself, picking himself up off the emotional floor I’d flung him onto. “So, you think we can make this work?”

  I stared at him for a moment, not sure of where to go next. I’d already agreed to marry him, what more was there to say?

  “I think we can. I think we should go over the rules.” Rules made me nervous because I didn’t want to fall apart at the mention of infidelity. I know he’s not going to be my real husband but there was a little flame living in silence in my heart that begged to be kindled.

  “Number one, no obvious infidelity.” Galen went straight for it, obviously getting back into beast mode. His tone was cold, emotionless, and let me know he was just as capable of being hurt. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have turned himself off like that. I’d learned over my years of sitting back and watching others quietly that people show signs all the time, even when they thought they weren’
t.

  “I wouldn’t do that, Galen. Not to you or to Rikki. It won’t be an issue. I don’t have a boyfriend, nor do I plan on it. It’s not something I’m worried about. I understand you might want to find someone...” I paused for a moment, uncomfortable with the conversation. “But, yeah, I know men need comfort, so whatever, just don’t make it obvious please.”

  “I never would.” He was looking at me in a strange way and I didn’t know if he was saying he’d never make it obvious or if he was saying he’d never cheat. My heart froze for an instant before skipping back into life hard and fast.

  Awareness, again, that strange knowing that had overcome me before. I knew he was there but now I knew he was there. I felt him, I felt his heat, his presence. I could all but feel the blood coursing through his veins as he looked at me across the coffee table.

  “Tara, I…”

  But he stopped, a buzzing sound letting me know he wasn’t going to finish his thought. I turned away as he talked to his friend John. I breathed deeply, my fingernails digging into the soft cloth of the sapphire blue recliner. So, so close. Again.

  Maybe there was hope. It was probably more stupid to hope than it was to marry him, but Galen was changing, he actually saw me now. Maybe there was hope. I wanted to wait for him to finish his conversation, to finish ours, but I fell asleep. I’d spent the entire night tossing and turning, fighting with myself over my decision to say yes.

  You might find someone, I thought. That made me laugh.

  He might find someone. That made me cry.

  Maybe he’ll get custody without you? That was worth smiling over but took me out of Galen’s life.

  Galen might get in trouble with the school. That one made me pause. I wasn’t his student but he was an instructor. The school had no official written policy on student-teacher relationships, so maybe he’d get away with it? Perhaps a slap on the wrist, but nothing more? As his wife, there wasn’t much that could be done, but they could still fire him. How would that look to a court? On the other hand, I’m a grown woman. That one still worried me though, how would it look that he married a student? We’d have to cross that bridge when we came to it.