Pleasing The Professor (The Professor's Student Series Book 1)

by Janae Keyes

  “Dorothy, are you back in Oxford from your trip?” she asked right away, excited. The tears flowed from my eyes, I hugged my blanket to my chest, trying to lock my emotions in. “When will I see pictures? Did you and Ramsey have a good time?”

  “It… was good,” I answered quietly, sniffling.

  “Dora, what’s wrong?”

  Moms knew something was wrong in mere seconds.

  Without more prompting I began to sob, holding my blanket tight. I was too far away from my mommy, and that was the worst part. Moms were around for those moments when you hurt so bad that it felt like you couldn’t move on. She’d been there to patch up my scraped knees, but now I needed her to help me figure how to patch up my broken heart.

  “He broke my heart, Mama,” I cried.

  “Who? Ramsey?” she seemed confused.

  “Yeah, tonight. I don’t know. He just ended it. I don’t know what happened. It went so quick. Mommy, I love him so much. It hurts so bad.” I never knew I’d be this broken up, this hysterical. There was this strange imagining of forever I had with him. Being with him was more than fucking and more than a fling, it was so incredibly real. What I felt like with him, I had touched my future.

  “Oh Dora,” my mom sighed. “I wish I could be there with you. I hate hearing you like this and know you’re all the way over there. Though Dora, I need you to know something. You’re young. This might not be the last time. You have plenty of time. I know you love him, but you’ll love someone else. I can’t tell you how many times I thought I was in love before I met your dad. Keep your head up. The right one will come along and sweep you off your feet, I promise you.”

  Damn, I was lucky. I had the best people in my life. First Simon, then my mom. It still hurt through their comforting words, but I knew when I needed moments of clarity, I had them.

  “Get some sleep, okay DoeDoe,” my mom suggested.

  “Yeah, I love you, Mom.”

  “Love you too DoeDoe.”

  Ending the call, I snuggled into my bed. My fingers held tightly to the pendant of my necklace. I still felt connected to him, I still felt in some strange way that we belonged together. I was mistaken, Ramsey had told me, it was a fling and meant nothing to him. That was the hardest pill to swallow. I meant nothing to him when he meant so much to me.

  Sitting on my bed, I tried to not think about the last week. New Year’s came and went. I hadn’t heard anything from Ramsey. Our only contact was when there was a knock at my door, and I opened it to find my suitcase sitting at my door. He’d brought my things, but hadn’t bothered to see me face to face.

  My eyes fluttered up to the small paper bag on my nightstand. I’d only ventured out of my building once since that night. I’d bought something that could not just tell me my future, but solidify the relationship I held with Ramsey forever. I’d picked it up a few days ago, but my nerves had gotten the best of me. I knew eventually I’d have to take the plunge and learn what my future held.

  Things had taken a shift to a place I didn’t exactly expect. Though my heart was broken there was still that urge, a strong urge to please my professor in the hope that maybe one day, he’d return the feelings I held for him.

  I silenced those feelings. Ramsey wanted nothing to do with me. He made it clear. I was his student, and he was my professor, that was it. Luckily, there were two more weeks before the term began. I’d chatted with Brittany over our school email who shockingly had written her paper. As the days inched closer to the start of the new term, my nerves began to get the best of me, anxiety on high. I’d have to come face to face with the man who broke my heart. I would have to sit in his classroom and let him teach me.

  Get over it Dora, get over him. I could tell myself that over and over, though there was a chance we could be tied together.

  A knock came at the door. I knew the pattern of knocks, it was Simon. He’d come by frequently to make sure I ate and was doing well medical wise. He’d taken the place of my parents as they couldn’t be around. He’d informed me that my mom had been in contact with him and he was giving her updates. Simon was a member of the Monroe clan, whether he wanted to be there or not, I think he wanted it, though.

  “Come in!” I yelled at the door.

  Simon strode in, fully in drag as Olivia. It was karaoke Friday, but I wasn’t going. I hadn’t been in the mood for more than sleeping.

  “You’re still in bed,” Simon scolded, hands on his lady hips. Damn Simon was a goddess when he was dressed as Olivia. She sported a curly blonde wig, a tight silver dress with lots of cleavage, and the sexiest stilettos I’d even seen.

  “I’m tired,” I told him as he sat on the edge of my bed.

  “You’ve been tired a lot. I know the breakup has been hard, but it could be more than the breakup. Maybe you should see a doctor,” Simon suggested.

  “I’ll see a doctor, I promise. I’m coming to terms with the fact I really am a whore.” My face in my hands, I’d lived up to that reputation.

  “Dorothy-Dear, don’t you ever call yourself that again or I will… I don’t know what I will do, but don’t you ever fucking say that again,” Simon growled.

  I shrugged. My eyes on the pharmacy bag that sat on my nightstand. Everything was a little too real, and my reality was spinning out of control.

  “Come tonight. It will help. You can shower, you haven’t done that in...” Simon sniffed around. “Days. Whatever do you woman, please shower.” I nodded in response to showering. I could use a scrubbing after not spending too much time on my personal hygiene.

  “No Simon, I’m going to stay in. I promise to shower, though. Tell everyone at the pub that I say, hi.” I needed time to continue to wallow in my own sorrow. I had two weeks to rebuild myself. To sit in his classroom, in front of his podium, and at least pretend to hold my head high, even if the pain still mellowed inside.

  I took a deep breath. My decisions had come to haunt me. I woke up thinking of Ramsey, I spent my day with him in my mind, and I went to bed imagining his arms around me, holding me the way they used to. His voice still echoed in my head, and … I couldn’t think about it. The possibilities scared me. My life would no longer be how I saw it.

  My parents raised my brother, and I color outside the lines, I don’t think they expected me to color as far outside as I’d done.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Ramsey

  I’d really done it this time. I had fucked up bad enough. I didn’t think anything I did or said could solve this. The last week had been a blur. I couldn’t remember much beyond getting drunk.

  My life was in shambles, and it was my own fucking fault. I had pushed her away because I was afraid. I was terrified of hurting her, afraid of our future, tormented by my past. I wandered around my house, reminded of her everywhere I went. My bed smelled of her, my bathroom held her things.

  She had left her suitcase when she left. I packed all her things in it, and got in my car, determined to talk to Dora. To bring her light back into my life. I pulled up outside her building, debating how to handle the situation. Stealing myself, I stepped out of my car, grabbed her suitcase and went inside.

  Simon confronted me on my way in.

  “I don’t know what your game is you bloody wanker, but you aren’t going up there. Dorothy-Dear is beyond tore up. I won’t have you rip her heart out again. I told you, if you hurt her again I would fuck you raw.” Simon looked at me pointedly. “You have two minutes to get the fuck out of our building, or I will hold true to that faster than you can run screaming. Got it, Prof?” Simon was glaring at me. He truly hated me right now. I couldn’t blame him. I hated me.

  “I just wanted to give her back her suitcase. She left it at my house. Make sure she gets it. I’m sorry. I have to go.” I turned before Simon could say anything, or read into more than I wanted him too. He would be able to tell I was a disaster, but how bad I didn’t even want him to know. I didn’t want him to tell Dora and have her run back to me again.

 
; “Simon?” I turned, hoping he was still there.

  “What?” He rolled his eyes at me. He was obviously watching, making sure that I left without bothering Dora.

  “Don’t tell her you saw me.” I knew Simon wouldn’t put her through the pain of saying I was here to Dora, but I still had to tell him. I had to, to make sure that I didn’t follow him.

  I got back in my car and drove away, knowing it would be the last time that I drove to this building. The next time I saw Dora would be in class. Maybe she would find somewhere else to sit, not so close to the front. Nowhere near me. Somewhere I couldn’t distract her from her work.

  My mind was a mess. I couldn’t keep my thoughts straight. One minute I would be focused on my papers, the next I would be thinking of something Dora had done. Or something I wanted to do to her still. I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering. The only time I could focus anymore, was if I was drunk.

  I stumbled to the liquor cabinet and looked in. I needed something strong, something that would make me forget. Something to take me away from tonight. Away from this week. Away from the darkness that was creeping from the hole in my heart every time I turned around. I pulled out the bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label I had been saving for a special occasion and pulled it open.

  I inhaled its aroma, strong, velvety, smooth, and took a long drag. It burned as it went down my throat. A welcome distraction, it was gone too soon. I stared at the bottle and laughed. I had finished it, and I still didn’t feel any better. Fuck me! I threw the bottle across the room and listened as it crashed to the floor, several books thudding down as they were knocked off their shelves.

  Three, maybe four days after I had returned Dora’s suitcase I couldn’t take it anymore. There was still time left before classes started again, I had to make things right. She was my everything. I needed her in my arms, in my world. In my bed. I couldn’t go another day without her, and I was going to tell her as much.

  I didn’t care if I had to beg her to come back to me on my hands and knees. I would beg, plead, admit how much of a fucking twit I was. I would tell her how I truly felt about her. I grabbed my keys and left the house. It was Friday. Karaoke night. I knew if she wasn’t in her room, then I would have to go face my doom at the bar. At least Simon couldn’t kill me there. Or the entire bar would be on his side. I wasn’t sure.

  I walked to my car, but there was a very busty body blocking my door. I didn’t need to hallucinate now. I needed to get to Dora and apologize.

  “What are you doing? Trying to kill yourself?” I knew that voice. Great. Not only was I hallucinating, but I thought Simon of all people was here. I pushed forward, attempting to walk through the mist I was sure that was standing in front of me. I winced as I ran into fake boobs and a solid body.

  “Fucking hell Ramsey. You smell like you’ve been sleeping at the sewage plant. When was the last time you showered?” Simon was holding his nose as he pushed me back. I hadn’t noticed the stench coming off of me. Though, it probably was pretty bad. I hadn’t changed clothes since I chased Dora away. “Are those the same …? My God, they are, aren’t they? For someone so eager to drop Dorothy-Dear … you are a total wreck. I shouldn’t let you go to her like this, but I have to.”

  I looked at him confused. “Oh, for fuck's sake. She is like a sister to me and seeing her so destroyed has been destroying me. I’ll drive, and before you say anything, it’s not the first stick I’ve driven. And it damn well will not be my last.”

  I couldn’t help it, Simon made me laugh. And I couldn’t stop laughing as he guided me into the car, drove to the student building, and got out of the car. He handed me my keys and attempted to straighten me out. There was nothing much that could be done for me, though.

  I was covered in scruff, smelt like a week-old diaper, and looked like I had come out of the bottom of the hamper. I was sure Simon was doing this on purpose until I remembered that leaving the house looking like a scrub, as I had heard men like myself called in America, was my idea.

  “Aren’t you going to karaoke?” looking at Simon in drag following, I didn’t know why he hadn’t left.

  “Oh no, Ramsey. If this goes south, I will not have your blood on my hands. Someone has to make sure you get home safe. After that, you are on your own. Come on. I’m already past fashionably late.” Simon grabbed me by my arm and led me up into the building. Towards Dora, toward my life. Towards forgiveness.

  I braced myself as I stood in front of her door and knocked. Everything weighed on this moment.

  She opened the door in her robe; her hair wrapped up in a towel. Her eyes widened in pain as she saw me standing there, then betrayal when she saw Simon behind me.

  “What do you want Ramsey? Haven’t you rubbed it in enough that you don’t want me? Or need me? Whatever it was that ripped me apart.” She was hurt and angry I didn’t blame her. I couldn’t help it. I gathered her in my arms and claimed her mouth with mine, our tongues dancing a familiar dance … until she pushed me away.

  “Dora, please… I need to apologize.” I tried to talk to her, but she turned and walked further into her room. I followed her. I needed her to hear what I had to say.

  “I love you, Dora. I was a stupid git. I should never have let you go. I was terrified of what could happen. I was afraid you would leave. My past haunts me all the time too.” I stopped, taking a deep breath. “I need you in my life, Dora. Please don’t walk away from me again. I don’t think I could take it.”

  “Ramsey, you smell like a week-old, road-killed skunk. It’s making me sick to my stomach.” Dora’s eyes drifted from mine to the nightstand where she was staring at a white baggy. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

  “Whatever you want to talk about, I’ll listen. I want to make us work.” I was eager to hear what she had to say. I needed her with me.

  Dora took a deep breath as she looked at me, a calm resolution entering them.

  “I think I’m pregnant.”

  The End

  To Be Continued in Book 2

  ‘Loving the Professor’

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  Ramsey’s Lasagna Recipe

  I know that you all want the recipe for my lasagna so you can make it yourselves! Why else did you keep flipping pages in the book?

  Oh? You just wanted to see if we had a sneak peek of book two? Not today. But, you get a recipe! That’s better than a peek. Right?

  So I invite you to Ramsey Kendall’s Cooking 101.

  Now listen up Ladies and Gents. This takes a long time to make, so make sure to attempt this on a day you have time to sit around all day. (I’ll put your measurements in American to make it easier for you.)

  Ingredients Lasagna

  1.3 pounds ground beef

  2.1 pound other ground meat (Italian seasoned.)

  3.2 pound container Ricotta Cheese

  4.6 eggs

  5.2 pounds Mozzarella cheese Shredded

  6.4 1 pound boxes ready-to-bake noodles (It cuts down the time for the Lasagna)

  7.1 pound Feta or Cottage Cheese (you Americans are weird)

  Ingredients Sauce

  1.4 pounds Vine fresh tomatoes

  2.3 hot house tomatoes

  3.2 ounces fresh parsley minced

  4.8 ounces of garlic

  5.1 large onion

  6.1 pound mushrooms minced

  7.3 tbsp oregano

  8.3 tbsp thyme

  9.3 tbsp sage

  10.3 tbsp rosemary

  11.Salt

  12.Pepper

  13.2 cups water

  14.12 ounces tomato paste

  15.2 tsp extra virgin olive oil (quit snickering you perverts!)

  Directions

  Maybe I should have told you it’s better to do the sauce in a crockpot, than on the stove. Far less risk of it becoming scorched. A
nyway, whether you are cooking this on the stove or in a crockpot, you need to take the leaves off the top and bottom off all the tomatoes, put them in the pot and add your water, then let them cook on medium until they are falling apart.

  Oops, I got ahead of myself. I forgot to tell you what to do before you mess with the tomatoes!!! You need to sweat the minced garlic and onion once you’ve minced it on the stove in the olive oil. If you are using the crockpot scrape it all into that, if you are using the stove then sweat those in the pot you plan on cooking in!!!

  Now, back to our tomatoes! Once they are falling apart, take a masher, or some sort of blender (a food processor is acceptable) and mix to a saucy consistency. Mix in your fresh herbs, salt and pepper to taste and the minced mushrooms. (I suppose those can be optional, but you won’t know what you’re missing! Maybe use zucchini instead?)

  Where was I? Oh, yes! The Sauce! Once you have added the herbs and mushrooms, let it simmer for another 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

  After the sauce has been simmering for 2 hours, cook all the meat, drain it, and mix it into the sauce to continue marinating the flavors together. Add more salt and pepper if needed.

  While the sauce is simmering, mix the ricotta and eggs together until creamy, and place in fridge to keep cool. Prepare pan for lasagna. Now how you do your pans is up to you.

  I prefer to make to large pans of lasagna and freeze one for later, or you can use bread pans and make a lot of little pans. Preheat the oven to where the noodles tell you to, so you don’t overcook the noodles! That would be bad!

  When the sauce has finished cooking, start layering your lasagna as described below. Or how you would prefer to layer your lasagna to your specific taste.

  Layer Order

  1.Noodles*

  2.Sauce