Professor Tim Coughlin looked up from his desk when he heard the door to the outer office slam shut and his secretary's sigh of dismay. Only one person would be brazen enough to bang doors shut right in front of Ellen. If there was one thing his elderly secretary hated, it was sudden, loud noises and no one knew that better than Daphne Anderson, his Teacher's Assistant, did. He caught himself smiling at the mental image of Ellen clucking her disapproval and Daphne sticking her tongue out behind the poor woman's back. He quickly wiped the smile from his face and cleared his throat. Unconsciously, he straightened his tie and smoothed his wrinkled jacket before his TA waltzed into the room.
Daphne carried a stack of graded papers in one hand and carefully watched the cup of coffee she held in the other hand so that no liquid sloshed out. She walked to his desk and set everything down, then slid the coffee towards him.
"That's for you," she said brightly.
"Black?"
"Yep. I actually had to leap over the counter knock the creamer out of the barista's hand before he screwed it up."
"Why on earth were you a political science major? Sounds like you'd be much more in your element fighting crime, one misguided Starbucks employee at a time."
Daphne laughed, and the sound filled the room. Tim smiled despite himself and heard Ellen sniff outside in disapproval. Although he knew it would make his prim secretary suspicious, he rose to shut the door so that he would not have to hear the sounds of her judgment. When he turned from the doorway to his desk, he caught Daphne watching him.
"What?" He asked gruffly.
"Nothing. It's just..." she blushed and his mind filled in her pause with some very strange and very sexual things. For some reason he could not stop it.
"What?" he persisted, waiting for...what?
"It's just that you have the tape dispenser stuck to you. Not just a piece of tape- the entire dispenser is attached to your shirt."
"Where?" He spun around, looking for the offending object.
"It's on your lower back. Hang on, I'll get it." She crossed the room and stood behind him, laying a small hand on his shoulder. He was very aware of her fingers pressing down on him as she yanked the plastic dispenser off his clothing.
"I don't know what to tell you," she said, with her hand still on his shoulder. "I've told you and told you to stop sitting on the office supplies." She giggled and removed her hand. He found himself at a loss for a comeback and instead simply turned away and walked back to his desk.
"I graded the environmental politics essays according to your rubric."
"Ah. Thank you." He bent his head back down to the papers on his desk, but sensed that she did not get up to leave. He glanced up and saw her watching him with her big brown eyes. She was a lovely girl, he supposed, although of course he never considered it. He was always drawn to her eyes when he looked at her; they were undoubtedly her best feature. If the eyes are the window to the soul, he thought, her soul is deep and beautiful. A stubborn lock of dark hair fell into her face and she tried in vain to blow it out of the way, puckering her lips and frowning in frustration. He smiled at this and her eyes lit up when she noticed.
"Aha! There it is, Sunshine. Would it be too difficult to smile more often, Prof?"
"Yes, it certainly would. I've heard it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile, and this is the only way I'll get any exercise. Why are you still here?"
She feigned hurt. "Because I work for you, Dr. Coughlin. You hired me to grade papers, bring you coffee, remove office supplies from your person, and generally assist you. I'm all yours until five o'clock, so you might as well take advantage of me."
He looked at her sharply, not sure that he'd heard right. She laughed when she realized how that had come out.
"Oh man! Not like that!" She winked. "I just meant you might as well let me do some grading or something while I'm here."
He relaxed. "I'm not sure I collected much this week," he said. "I've been working on that case for the town in Nevada."
"Oh, are you doing that now?"
"That's what this mess is. It's kept me pretty tied up, going through all the info for the prosecution, and it looks like everything's sound, but I still need to look into some things. Anyway, I don't think I have anything else for you this week. You can go home. I'll call you if I staple anything to my pant leg or something."
"Alright. I'll get out of here. I've got to get ready for a date tonight anyway, and since I haven't worn heels since Prom, I should probably do a dress rehearsal." She grinned at him and left the room. He could hear the door in the outer office slam again and he grinned, too, thinking of Ellen's strife.
He typed an email to Nevada and sent it, then leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling. His thoughts drifted, and then settled on a subject that surprised him. The harder he tried to push Daphne from his mind, the more he found himself focusing on her. His 23-year-old assistant was slim and tiny. Her small frame made her breasts look bigger. She wore shirts that were not revealing, but which highlighted all the right spots. Her stomach was flat and tight, and her ass... Oh God, her ass. He shoved these thoughts from his mind, but kept inadvertently returning to them. How large were her tits? A respectable B cup or a C? What did her bras look like? Occasionally he saw a strap, but wondered if they were lace or cotton and he wondered what they felt like under someone's hand. What kind of panties did she wear- thongs? Boy shorts? What was her preference? Was her pussy shaved, or- STOP IT, he commanded himself, and turned resolutely back to his work.
Daphne stood in front of her closet in only her lacy bra and thong, frowning. What does a person wear on a fancy date? What did fancy entail? If it was Italian food, she'd be bound to spill sauce, s she couldn't wear white or anything that was dry-clean only. She finally settled on a basic black dress, knowing she couldn't go wrong. The neckline dipped a little deeper than what she usually wore, but her boobs looked great. The heels were doing wonders for her legs as well, although she'd wobbled a little at first. She brushed her hair and ensured she had her cell phone and enough money for a taxi fare, just in case. Then she sat down to wait for Ryan, her date.
As she waited, she found herself thinking of her preoccupied professor. She'd had a crush on him since her first year of college, and she wondered what her 18-year-old self would have thought of being alone with him in his office with the door shut. I probably would have jumped him, she thought. I'm wiser now, though. That man would be nothing but heartbreak." He was so young for a professor, and really good looking. His dry sense of humor was a definite appeal. When she'd first seen him, he'd been married, but now in his mid-30s, the professor was divorced. She wondered briefly if he was seeing anyone outside of work, or if school was taking over his social life. He probably needed someone at home to remove the paper clips and Post-It notes he accidentally stuck to himself. She smiled, then saw Ryan's car pull in the driveway and wobbled to her feet.
Tim was leaving his office at nine when Ellen dropped the bomb.
"You're quite sure you won't need me tomorrow?"
"Why would I need you tomorrow? It's Saturday."
"Tomorrow's your presentation for the civic leaders, Dr. Coughlin. You're supposed to tell them about the laws regarding that nuclear waste facility. Don't you remember? Larry Flends wants you to back the humanitarians?"
"Oh fuck!" he yelled and darted back into his office. He heard Ellen's shocked hiss behind him, but didn't care. That presentation was at ten tomorrow and he'd completely forgotten. He had 13 hours to do what he needed a month to prepare for.
Dinner was not going well. It was Italian, and Daphne was wrestling with her spaghetti. It was a battle pitting her against pasta al dente, and she was losing miserably. Ryan looked at her with disdain.
"You know, in Italy, they use a spoon. You can't even manage with a fork."
She laughed in what she hoped was a charming manner, but mentally she considered launching a saucy meatball at his pristine starched shirt. Conversation lagged. He was a boring prick, and she couldn't believe that she had thought she might be getting lucky tonight. She had shaved her pussy for nothing.
In her clutch, her cell phone buzzed. She knew it was rude, but the date was awful. To spite him for criticizing her spaghetti technique, she excused herself to take the call. She stepped outside and flipped open the phone.
"Daphne." Tim's voice sounded urgent and gruff. For some reason, her stomach flipped.
"Professor Coughlin? Are you ok? Is the copier broken again? Did you put a dime in this time?"
"Will you please shut up long enough to let me explain?" She was immediately silent. "Thank you. Remember that nuclear waste presentation that I was supposed to give?"