The gentle knock on the door pulled me out of my writing trance.
"Hey professor!"
I didn't need to turn my head to know it was Helena. I could tell by the voice alone, having spent so much time working with her over the past three years in my media classes. Seeing her bounding into my office was always one of the most welcome parts of my week.
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I teach television production at a public university in the southwest U.S. The program attracts all kinds of students, most of whom come with some vague interest in being on camera, producing the news, or making movies. One of my jobs is to help them channel their vague interest into something they want to do for life as a professional. I like to say my job is half inspiration, half teaching actual skills, and half crisis counselor. Media folks aren't good at math.
Most of the students coming into our program are women. I suppose it's not much of a surprise given that a beautiful woman is made for the camera. I certainly didn't go into teaching because of this demographic, but being around gorgeous young women as part of my job certainly is a nice perk. I'm a pretty average looking guy -- decent looking enough and nearly 6 feet tall -- so I've never really been the type of man that women are just dying to give their attention to. I have to admit that part of the fun of my job is that I often get undivided attention from these young ladies as part of the teaching process.
My female students get a little flirty with me, but I think that's pretty normal in mentoring relationships. It's always in fun, because they're grateful to be getting knowledge that helps them or you spend extra time helping them. I have never taken it to mean anything more than superficial behavior, and because of that I have a little fun with the relationship too. Despite my average looks, I know one area where I'm more gifted than most men. Not only do I have an 8-inch cock, but it gets pretty thick when it's erect. Because of that I like to wear jeans that are tight around the crotch when I teach. I don't teach while aroused or anything, but there is a detectable bulge there simply from stuffing too much into too little space, and I enjoy the occasional fleeting glances from my female students as I pace the class during working labs. My students have never acted on any friendly flirtation, but they know what I have under the hood so fair is fair, I suppose.
Helena has always been a special one to me. I've been at my school for 15 years now and in my time I haven't worked with any student more closely than her. She's one of those rare students who come in knowing what to do and she is someone who has done some early reading and study to figure out where she needs to be. In other words, she's prepared for her studies, not fishing for a career. Because of that I have gotten to work more closely to help her further along, and as a professor it's a rare treat to get an advanced student and get to help them.
I was attracted to Helena the minute I saw her in my first class with her. She's exactly the kind of woman I consider to be most attractive, with a short and compact body (about 5-foot-3) with auburn hair. Short women with small breasts just do it for me, and Helena was all that and more. The first time I saw her in a class she was wearing a loose-fitting V-neck t-shirt and apparently with no bra, as her pokey nipples suggested thanks to an overly air-conditioned room. She was wearing tight-fitting jean shorts that showed off her gorgeous toned legs. As I paced the room during lab I couldn't keep from glancing at her occasionally, wondering who she was and hoping she was taking this class because she was majoring in our department.
Fortunately she was. She first came to my office about two weeks after that first class looking for help on setting up a video project she wanted to do on the side. Music to my ears -- a student wanting to do extra work beyond the requirements? I spent a lot of time working with her on the light and sound setup, and then talking through different types of editing forms in post-production.
Through this whole labor of love I got to know Helena better. She was a sharp student with a wonderful mind and infectious laugh. We often found ourselves joking around about story ideas. I have to admit over time I let my guard down a bit more, suggesting more risqué titles for her segments that had nothing to do with the content but were clever plays on words that would get more viewer attention. A smarter version of myself would realize this was a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen, but Helena would laugh at the suggestions and occasionally use them. It only encouraged me.
The thing I really liked about her is that she was normal and down to earth despite being in a sorority. A lot of sorority girls have a bitchy or better-than-you attitude, in my experience, but Helena was a normal girl. I saw her exhibit random acts of kindness to other students in classes, helping them out even if she wasn't getting credit for it. She was just a genuinely nice young woman with a maturity that was much more advanced than most of her peers, and was hard not to be attracted to that.
Often times Helena would stop by my office after most of my colleagues had gone home, seeking for help. Again, a smarter version of me would probably have asked her to come back when there were others around so there would be no hint of impropriety, but I found it harder to say no to her.
"You're 'that professor' to me," she mused one day while we were meeting in my office to go over her latest website stats.
"Hmmm?" I said, figuring I knew what she meant but I let her elaborate.
"You know, like how everyone has that professor that inspires them to do bigger and better things or see the world in a whole new way," she said. "I don't thank you very much, but I do want you to know that you're that professor I'll always remember. You're the one who inspired me to pursue my dreams without forcing it on me. Some profs here basically are trying to force you to live their dreams, but you just listen and encourage me based on what I am thinking I want. I feel empowered because of how you mentor me."
It's always nice to hear these things. I told her thanks and reminded her that's why I do what I do, that it's important she get everything she needs from the college experience so she can be successful in life.
"Funny," she said.
"Pardon?" I asked. "I wasn't making a joke there, I promise!"
"No," she said. "What I mean is it's funny how we talk about student-professor relationships like it's all about the student experience. Nobody ever thinks about what the professors want or need. I promise I won't be like that. We are going to be lifelong friends."
I swallowed a little, not sure what she meant but the dirty mind in me had high hopes. Fortunately she returned to her analysis and I had no time to push the issue against my better judgment.
One evening Helena wanted to go over a design change to her video so we sat next to each other at a table in my office, where she could show me on her laptop what she wanted to do. We sat next to one another and her scent was intoxicating, a mix of perfume and hair conditioner that gave off the vibe of a young woman full of life. A few times during the session I leaned in to play around with some of the video clip ordering on the laptop and our legs touched around the thigh and knee area. The touch of her beautiful bronze leg to my thigh, combined with her intoxicating aroma, was like an electric jolt in my body. This happened a couple times, and then at one point she reached for the keyboard trackpad to stop me from changing something, and at that point we touched hands. Another jolt to me, feeling the skin-to-skin touch. Innocent stuff, but I was her professor. I might as well have groped her.
I could feel my erection growing. In this case the tight jeans worked against me in ways that were literally painfully obvious. At one point I caught her sneaking a glance down at my bulging crotch and I was embarrassed, trying to cover up the growing problem in my pants without calling attention to it.
That night ended fairly quickly and without lines being crossed, but she did give me a quick thank-you hug on the way out for the first time ever. It was not the last time we had moments like this, and I found that she was stopping by more in after-hours time to get help. I couldn't tell if she was trying to tease me or if she was trying to gauge my interest. She clearly had seen my interest south of my belt line, but that didn't mean I'd act on it.
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Thus today's knock on the door and the standard "Hey professor!" greeting. It was after hours again, but Helena didn't have much reason to be here. Classes were over and she was about to graduate, just waiting during that standard week we have between final exams and graduation. Why was she here?
She looked good. Damn good. She was wearing a tight t-shirt that all of the women in her sorority had and it showed off the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra. What was it with her and no bra? I immediately could make out her nipples but tried not to stare. What I would give to suck those things.
She was showing off her legs too, wearing those short soccer shorts she had from playing varsity ball for four years. Tennis shoes with no socks and a musty odor in the air. I think she'd just come from a workout because her hair was a bit tousled and she had a bit of a sweat going. I shifted uncomfortably behind my desk to hide my growing erection. This girl was a hot little vixen.
"How are you?" I asked her with genuine curiosity. That weird zone between finished classes and graduation is always hard on the student who is about to start a new phase of life.
"A bit frazzled, actually," she replied as she closed the door behind her -- I made a mental note of this, with my mind racing to be sure I'd seen all my colleagues leave today so they wouldn't think anything was going on. "I'm trying to get everything packed up so it's ready for my move. I start work the Wednesday after graduation so I'm on a really tight timeline. I've been working all day getting stuff boxed from four years of living in the same apartment."
Helena had landed a sweet job working on the set of a major motion picture, the chance to study under a top director in Hollywood. I was so incredibly proud to hear the news and she was plainly excited to get going.
"I remember those days. Just don't forget to enjoy the ride. Graduation only comes once and don't lose sight of how you got here, let alone miss the moment right in front of you. Anyway, what brings you by? You don't want to change some edits again, do you?"
The joke made her laugh. This was a regular occurrence with her.
"Actually no, I just wanted to get a chance to thank you for all you've done for me. My parents are in town to help me pack and I was afraid I might miss you at graduation with all the activity that goes on there."
She had a few tears in her eyes and came to me for a hug. I stretched out my arms and swallowed her up, and even though I was her adviser it was just dawning on me that we were going to be saying goodbye to one another at some point soon. I had gotten too close to her and now I didn't want her to go.
