Chapter One
I sat at the hotel bar and took nervous sips of my apple martini while obsessively clicking my phone to see what time it was. When I was first served, I nearly gulped the entire thing down at once, then I remembered I had twenty minutes to kill and I shouldn't have more than one of these things on an empty stomach. Not tonight. I did my best to watch people outside the bar in the bright lobby of the hotel. The freshly waxed floors reflected the chandelier lighting from the ceiling as suited men and dress-wearing women filed in and out.
Must be a formal event going on tonight
. I thought.
Saturday night, maybe a wedding.
It was a fleeting thought that gave me a much-needed distraction. I found myself jealous of this imaginary wedding. A secret bride and hidden groom off somewhere to be wed. I wasn't jealous of their marriage- god no. But of the excitement of possibilities. What will the future hold for them? Will they buy a house? Move to a new town? Start a new job? All the possible outcomes sounded so fresh and possible. Meanwhile, I sat here in the low-lit and musky bar, facing a bleak future.
Over the years, as I crept into middle age, I've resigned myself to realizing the half of the American Dream that called for me to be married and have kids was not my future to have. The fiction of finding prince charming to whisk me away into a happily ever after never interested me. I was a career-minded woman. My life was grounded in a carefully molded reputation as a tenured professor at a respectable university, and my ability to provide for myself was based on this one possible skill of teaching. Now, because of my stupid horny decisions over the past weeks, everything I worked for over the last 20 years was in jeopardy. So much so that losing my job and reputation no longer felt like a possibility but an inevitability. All it would take is a slip of Justin's tongue to the wrong person or an intentional outing of my sexual life with my students by Jessica.
Jessica texted me shortly after her and mine encounter last weekend. She poked and prodded with intrigue at how I enjoyed our little 'meeting,' as she put it and inquired about a future one. Despite my reservation and attempt to steer the conversation to an amicable parting of ways, Jessica insisted on this Saturday. She invited me to make the reservations this time around and I gladly accepted that offer. At least I won't have to worry about bed bugs or getting robbed at some trailer trash motel this weekend.
When I informed Justin about the conversation, I winced the whole time, waiting for him to demand I disobey Jessica or that he would confront her or some other juvenile response to this real danger I faced. Nonetheless, I told him of our hotel room and date and time we were set to meet. He didn't reply at first. He just laid there shirtless beside me on his mattress, quiet and in thought. After several moments, Justin simply said, "Okay." It wasn't until after he gave this simple response that I realized this was possibly the worst answer he could give. It meant that I was alone in this.
Now, five minutes before our scheduled meeting time at the room, I wonder to myself, am I excited or dread going into that room and facing Jessica again? It was true she awakened feeling for a woman inside me that I had never experienced before. And when I did cum, it was strong, but there was something else there, too. A type of aggression that unsettled me. A misalignment in the kind of dom she was and the kind of sub I am. I shook my head; did it matter how I was feeling? I didn't have a choice when it came to her.
I finally downed the last sip of my now warm apple martini and left the bar. On the 4th floor of the hotel at the end of the hall, I found Jessica leaning up against our door waiting with a smirk on her lollipop-red lips. Show wore a bright red glitter dress that clung to her petite frame and barely hung on to her by the two small spaghetti straps on her shoulders.
"You're a little late, professor," she said, tapping her imaginary watch on her wrist.
I gave a quick smile, "Sorry, had to wait for an elevator."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure you're sorry in a minute," she said, hovering over my shoulder as I unlocked the door. The room was as nice as the rest of the hotel. Modernly decorated and spacious. A large king bed with a table and chairs beside it. Jessica walked past me with a smile on her face and her hands in the air, as if she was previewing the room for me. "Wow, look at this place. You shouldn't have." She stopped in the center of the room and made a twirl while brushing off her dress. "Such a fancy place I thought I'd better dress for the occasion."
"You look great," I said.
"Great?" Jessica sounded offended. "Great? Just great? Looks like we're going to have to start early then, huh? I'm going to need you to get on your knees for that."
I felt small and insignificant walking over to her. Like a beat dog walking to its punishment. Standing in front of her, I went to raise my skirt so I could move to a knee when a quick patter on the door was heard.
"Mmm... did you order some room service?" Jessica bubbled as she skipped over to the door. "I really could go for some Champai-"
She opened the door and froze mid-sentence. Standing on the other side of the door was a larger lady. She was heavy-set but with ample breasts that bounced in her gray dress. Her beautiful long blond hair flowed behind her. It was Amber, my assistant. And she was as white as a ghost. The silence hung almost too long before a familiar voice chimed in.
"I don't know about Champaign, but I did bring some wine," Justin said, appearing beside Amber.
"What- what are you-" Jessica stuttered. "Why are you here?!" The question seemed shot at both of them but with separate connotations.
"We're here for the party," Justin said, walking past Jessica with eyes locked on hers the entire time. Justin was relatively well dressed. He wore a pair of clean black jeans with a black button-up shirt that fit him well. Jessica glared at him, then shot a look at Amber and finally at me. "You invited them?" She spat. The disgust is heavy in her voice.
Before I could even try to stutter a word free, Justin took over. "No," he simply said. "I invited me. And her, you know Amber, right?" Jessica fidgeted, crossing her arms. It was the first time I had seen her uncomfortable and out of place.
"You and Amber have been seeing each other for some time now," Justin said, as a matter of fact, then added, "She told me." I shot a look of shock to Amber, who only barely now crept into the hotel room and let the door shut behind her. Her eyes were low and her fingers were kneading each other. After letting the information sink in, Justin looked at me, "Amber was the one who told you when to walk into Professor Mill's office to catch her in the act- that part I put together for myself." Justin said, leaning against the sink. "And Amber's the one who helped you mess with the professor on the group chat on the computer in class, too."
Finally, Justin waited silently as he stared at Jessica. Until she glared back at him and said, "So you're the side piece she was fucking with behind my back." Justin just stared at her with a ghost of a smile in the corner of his mouth. "Professor," Jessica said with the edge of arrogance back in her voice. "Tell this trailer trash boy to leave and maybe I won't ruin your life." She emphasized that last word as her gaze fell hard on me. "You will fuckn' leave, too," Jessica sent a glance towards Amber.
Amber moved at once, turning for the door, but was halted by Justin's command to stay. "You know, you're right, Jessica. I am trailer trash. We don't travel in the same circles. The few times I've seen you at a party that overlapped with both our crowds, our people never hung out with each other. In fact, this math class created for morons is the only class we have in common." Justin crossed his arms as he spoke. "Your family, I bet, are important people. Rich and established. I bet your Dad's some CEO asshole and your Mom's a stay-at-home alcoholic. That's your Mercedes in the parking lot, isn't it? The one with all the pink shit on the trunk. I recognized it from school. I bet you have some bullshit major to go with it. Like fashion or interior decorating."
"You know, what cock sucker? Fuck you!" Jessica snapped. But Justin continued with his speech, unphased.
"Me? I have an even bigger bullshit major," he said. "Criminal justice. Easiest fucking degree, but I figured such a blue-collar job would be fitting for some trailer trash like me. But you know something I did learn in my bullshit degree this year? Using coercion or blackmail are illegal."
Jessica made a face and shook her head, unimpressed. She was finally starting to see Justin's play in this battle of wills and she didn't think it was a good one.
"I know, I know," he continued. "It's not a common one and I'm sure one of your big wig family members has even dealt with it before. I'm sure you learned your cute little femdom ways from one of them, strong-arming your way into people's lives. Who gives a shit about a little misdemeanor charge of blackmail? But then I looked again and saw if you used coercion or blackmail to force another party into sexual activity... that's not called blackmail anymore. That's called rape."
The hard-jawed grin that was on Jessica's face slowly slipped away now. There was a look of disbelief in Jessica's eyes as she shifted in her stance some. And I, for the first time during Justin's speech, just realized he was talking about me.
"No, it's no-" Jessica started but was cut off.
"And man did you fuck up," Justin's voice boomed louder now. "Creating a digital log-in group chat that can be looked up, not to mention texts, hotel security cameras, involving witnesses that will be compelled to confess against you," Justin pointed to Amber. "Victimizing a well-established professor." Jessica's looks turned inward as she digested the words. "I mean I'm a fuckin' 2nd year CJ student and I can put this case together at ease. And that's just the legal system. Imagine mommy and daddy finding out their daughter is a rapist? Imagine spending the rest of your life registering as a sex offender."
