My Education Ch 02

Chapter 02 - Birthday Surprises

My thanks to everyone who left comments and wrote emails. My apologies for this next chapter taking as long as it did. The bulk of it was spent figuring out where I wanted the characters to go, and that took quite a bit of time. I hope everyone will find it to be as fun of a ride as I do. Finally, there will not be a two-month waiting time between the chapters that follow. Nick.

* * * * * * * *

It was the Thursday after my encounter with Professor Grant. The next day was my birthday. Three members of our crowd were going back to their schools tomorrow morning, so we decided to go out tonight. Daryl, Jeff, and Sheila all went to Ivy League schools. Carla, David, Heidi, Sarah, Tony, and I all went to schools local to us in California with Carla and David going to a different UC campus.

Heidi and Sarah had decided upon a club called 'Zen'. The fact that Heidi's brother was the manager and let us in certainly didn't hurt. Rick, Heidi's brother, was like a big brother to us all and knew we wouldn't do anything out of control. Rick had only one condition though: we had to leave all our keys with him and he would check to see how much we had to drink before giving them back. Carla didn't drink at all, so she had driven her parents van and drove everyone but Sarah and I. We were seated at a large corner table to keep us away from casual eyes.

The ride over was an interesting one. I have known Sarah since for twelve years. We were extremely close friends, bordering on being family. We knew each other so well that at times it was scary. I keep things pretty close to the vest, even from my friends. I cannot keep things from Sarah. She took one look at me and somehow knew that I had gotten laid. Sarah was relentless in her attempts to ascertain the identity of the girl in question. Evidently, I was glowing and she had to know who caused it. I finally had to tell her that I gave my word to the person in question that I would never reveal her identity. In twelve years, Sarah has never known me to break a promise once I give it, even when it has cost me personally. Hearing this, Sarah finally relented and then I made her promise me not to share this with others in our group. I did not want to turn around and defend myself all night long. She made it abundantly clear that her curiosity was piqued but gave me her word that she would keep it to herself.

We got to the club and the gathering of old friends took her mind off the question. The club was hopping and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. I was surprised at the mix of people as there were people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s here. While I'm not too big on dancing, I certainly cannot complain when two girls at a time are taking me to the dance floor and focusing solely on me. Plus the evening went on, the girls got a bit more flirtatious on the dance floor, which delighted me to no end. Of course, since none of them was going to finish me off, it was going to make for a long drive home later. Sarah and Sheila in particular enjoyed dancing with me. I was closest to them, going back to events in high school. While we would never date, we thoroughly enjoyed teasing each other to no end. As if I was going to complain. I had Sarah behind me, pushing her large, firm tits into my back and Sheila in front of me, grinding her ass against the bulge in my jeans. If she did not have a boyfriend back at Harvard, she would have made certain I went home with a happy conclusion to the night. Like I said, we would never date, but that didn't stop Sheila and I from helping each other out from time to time.

When we got back to the table, we saw that the gang had put down another round of shots. We were having a good time. There was the tales of our years in high school and stories of our college adventures to that point. Everyone had a horror story to tell about a particular professor. Heidi started with Professor Grant. Chemistry was not easy for Heidi, and it took no small amount of effort from the rest of us to get her through Professor Grant's class with a B. She was almost done sharing the experience of that class when her smile faded and all the color drained from her face.

"Oh shit," Heidi said.

"What?" Tony asked.

"Professor Grant is here," Heidi stated. "And she's coming this way."

We all turned to look. Heidi was correct. There was Erin Grant; and she was dressed to the nine's. All of the events from last Friday ripped through my brain like a storm and my cock was hard in seconds. Professor Grant and two other women walked over to our table, Heidi quickly related the story of the Chemistry Professor from hell. With all the alcohol in her, Heidi was beginning to freak over the thought that Professor Grant might call the cops or something else to bring attention to the fact that underage kids were in the club drinking.

"Don't you think you're just a little too young to be in here?" Professor Grant asked.

Heidi launched into a stream of words about how sorry she was when Professor Grant cut her off.

"Relax Ms. Taylor," she replied with a smile. "I'm not going to say anything. Actually, I came over here to apologize to a few of you. May we sit down?"

Heidi just nodded.

"Of course Professor Grant," I said.

To make room, Sarah jumped into my lap and Sheila jumped into Tony's. I hoped she wouldn't say anything about what a hard seat she had. Sarah just looked at me and smiled as she took a sip of her drink. The women took their seats and joined us at our table.

"And please, for the next few hours, I would like you all to call me Erin," Professor Grant said.

Heidi just nodded again.

"This is my sister Allison," Erin stated looking at the brunette with blue eyes who sat down to left of her.

"Good evening," Allison said. "I hope you don't mind us crashing your table."

"And this is one of my closest friends Maria," Erin continued indicating the dark haired woman on the other side of Allison.

"I don't think they mind," Maria said with a grin and a nod.

We followed her nod to David and Jeff who were openly staring at the three sets of breasts that just joined our party. Sheila started laughing out loud, while Sarah just smiled and explained that David and Jeff didn't get out much. Carla was definitely annoyed. Sitting between the two guys, she pinched both of them in the arm. David and Jeff immediately realized they had been caught and the women just started laughing. The two of them just turned a bright shade of crimson. I can't really say I blamed either of them.

If Erin Grant was one side of a coin, then Allison was the other. While Erin was a blonde, Allison was a brunette but both shared those amazing blue eyes. I think Erin was just a little shorter, but since all the ladies were wearing heels I couldn't be certain. I have no doubt that like me, Daryl, David, Jeff, and Tony all noticed that Allison had slightly smaller breasts than her sister. Not that it really mattered because she was still stacked. She just wasn't as stacked as Erin and Maria.

Where both Allison and Erin were fair-skinned, Maria had slightly darker complexion. Without knowing any more about her, I would guess that Maria was from the Italian or Spanish regions of the Mediterranean. Maria was definitely taller than either Allison or Erin by three or four inches. All three women were dressed elegantly, but each outfit did provide enough of a view to perceive the curves hidden beneath. I am certain that every male at our table noticed that the swell of Maria's bust was every bit equal to Erin's.

"You seem to have him house broken though," Allison commented to Sarah.

"I wouldn't say he's house broken," Sarah replied. "Justin's much better at looking without being caught, but trust me when I say part of him has definitely noticed your arrival."

Now it was my turn to blush while the ladies laughed. Sarah emphasized her point by wiggling in my lap and now everyone joined in. When my eyes drifted to Erin, she was laughing but looking straight at Sarah. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought Erin was actually jealous of Sarah.

"But he isn't mine," Sarah continued.

I looked up at Sarah and her looking right back at Erin. I wondered if Sarah saw the same thing in Erin's eyes. Fortunately, Heidi kept the conversation going.

"You said something about an apology?" she inquired.

"Do you mind?" Erin asked while indicating a round of vodka shots that had just been delivered to the table.

Sarah leaned forward and handed one of the shots to Erin and made offers to Allison and Maria as well. Sarah took one and together the four women downed the shots in one quick motion. I looked over at Heidi and I was beginning to think someone was going to have to slap her back to reality. When they were finished, Erin raised her hand and ordered another round for everyone. She then took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Thinking back to the events this past quarter, and I believe I have been more than a little ... tough on your class. I have no excuse and I apologize for being as harsh as I was."

We all sat in silence.

"Why?" a voice asked.

It was Heidi who had spoken.

"Why was I such a bitch?" Erin said, finishing Heidi's question.

"Well yes," Heidi responded.

Without pause, Erin offered her explanation. She spoke of her ex-husband and the divorce that she went through. Her ex, the dirt-bag that he was, had taken up with his secretary. The secretary was of course much younger. But that was only the tip of the iceberg. Erin recounted their last few years together.

She had been clueless as to the affair. When he stopped being affectionate, Erin had joined a gym. When he stopped initiating sex, Erin tried lingerie and other outfits to peak his interest. She had just about accepted that she was in a sexless marriage when he dropped the bomb and told her he wanted a divorce. He stated her failures as a wife. In his mind, she had placed her career above their marriage and family when she spent six years getting her doctorate degrees. Because of that, she had been a horrible role model to their daughters. Because of the energy she poured into pursuing her degrees, she had left their bed cold and empty. The dirt-bag even went so far as to tell that it didn't really matter because she wasn't that good in bed anyway. His last comment before leaving was to tell her that as he looked back on their marriage, she had lost the one thing that attracted him to her in the first place: her looks.

If he had wanted to devastate Erin, he had all but succeeded. She was in tears and it was then that they heard the gasps. They turned to find that their daughters had returned early from the mall. Before either girl could say a word, the man lashed out at them for eavesdropping. Then he left. At first they thought he would be back, but after looking in the den and master bedroom they saw that he had already taken those things that were important to him. Family pictures remained, but his clothes, awards, degrees, and other personal affects were gone. In his wake, he left the three of them wondering if they had ever truly known this man.

Fortunately, Erin's daughters were there for her. They spent the next few weeks watching out for their mother. They took over the day-to-day activities of maintaining a home. The two cooked and cleaned. They also made certain their mother knew not only much they loved her, but also how great of role model she had been. Her daughters were also there in another and all-too-critical way. While she had been clueless her husband's activities, her daughters had not. They never said anything because they never had any concrete proof and they did not want to destroy their family over suspicions. In a few short minutes, their father had torn himself away from their family. His words freed them to act on what they did know, and act they did.

While Erin was struggling to keep some semblance of a life for her daughters, they had gone to work putting together the pieces of his activities the previous year. Then, they took what they had to three women who were childhood friends of Erin; friends who were also attorneys in a mid-sized law firm. Even if they weren't motivated, these women were efficient in their tasks. Within three weeks, they had everything they needed to take him to the cleaners.

"They took that lousy dirt-bag to town," Maria interjected. "Because he tried to hide it all, she got the house, the cars, the cabin in Arrowhead, the two townhomes, and half of the little nest egg he thought he had safely hidden."

To speed up the divorce, Erin agreed to no alimony but he was going to have to pay child support. When he found out his children had played a part in his loss, he went nuts. Right there in the courtroom, he called his own daughters "ungrateful little whores who wouldn't get a fucking cent from him." Of course, the judge saw it differently. He doubled the child support and extended it through college. Then there was the cherry on the sundae. The soon-to-be ex-husband stormed out of the court, slamming the doors in the process. The judge looked at the bailiffs and told them to go get him. When he was brought back, the man was yelling about his rights. Although his lawyer managed to shut him up, the judge placed him in contempt of court and fined him $1,000. His response was less than complimentary. It took the judge increasing the fine to $5,000 and ordering him serve five days in jail before he finally shut his mouth.

With a final bang of the judge's gavel, Erin had won but it was a hollow victory. The man Erin planned to grow old with had crushed her emotionally. She felt betrayed and hurt. She had just started to get past the pain when she saw him with his new wife this past New Year's Eve. The new wife decided to try to even things out. She rubbed it in about the vacation they had just taken to Bora Bora and Italy. These were two places Erin had always wanted to vacation at, but he never had the time to take her. Evidently, the dirt-bag had made time with her. This was what finally pushed Erin over the edge. All the negative feelings just boiled to the surface and came out.

"Two days later, I was informed that I was going to be teaching a freshman class in addition to my normal course load," Erin said. "Regrettably, I believe I took it out on those kids. I took it out on four of you. I can't apologize to everyone in that class, but when I saw you four sitting here I just had to come over and say something."

"It wasn't really your fault," Sarah said. "I imagine I would have probably done the same thing."

"Maria was right," I said. "What a dirt-bag."

The rest of our crowd agreed, as we all offered comments reflecting our newfound low opinion of Erin's ex-husband. Heidi and Sarah went over to Erin and gave her a hug. It must have been a woman thing, because I really did not understand the significance of that.

"So did Justin's actions last week with your daughter have anything to do with your revelation," Sarah asked.

"Yes," Erin replied. "I would have never believed that a man would help my girls or me and not expect anything out of it."

"So you're the one who helped Michelle?" Allison asked.

"Yes," I said.

Within seconds, I found myself getting a hug from her. I tried my best to hide the fact that I really liked feeling her mash her chest against me. She pulled back and gave me a light peck on the cheek and I could see Erin smiling over her shoulder. If my chest burned from having her breasts pressed against, my back burned from the envy of Daryl, David, Jeff, and Tony. Carla, Heidi, Sarah, and Sheila gushed about what a nice guy I was. Then they teased me about being a man now. Everyone laughed at that, but I didn't mind because it lightened the mood.

"That was pretty cool of the judge to throw him in jail too," Tony said. "I didn't know they could do that."

"Oh yes," Allison said. "We have broad authority in the courtroom, especially when someone goes too far and is declared in contempt of court."

"Oh shit," Heidi said.

She was just verbalizing what we were all thinking. Allison said "we" meaning she was a judge as well. Sarah was 21, but the rest of us were underage. Here was a sitting judge and there were underage people consuming alcohol. It seemed the night could take a decidedly bad turn for us and an even worse one for Rick since he had let us in.

"Oh shit is right," Allison said. "I cannot condone underage drinking."

"ALLIE," Erin exclaimed. "You can't really ..."

Allison cut her off with a wave of her hand.

"However, since two of you appear to be designated drivers and because Justin did such a decent thing for my niece last week, I would be willing to overlook it this one time on two conditions."

I think even Erin had joined the nine of us in sitting on the edge of our seats.

"One: that someone take my sister out on the dance floor. It's her birthday and I want ..."

"No way," Sarah interrupted. "Tomorrow is Justin's birthday."

"That seals it young man," Allison stated while pointing at me. "You are taking my sister on the dance floor."

Smiling at me, Erin said, "Well if you insist Allie, I suppose I can settle for him out there".

"I'd like to see you dancing with one of your students," Maria commented. "How very ... taboo."

Allison just giggled at that comment.

"Yes," Allison said almost purring. "That would be so out of character for you sis."

In the next instant, I could feel all eyes upon me. The girls obviously loved the prospect of seeing me out on the dance floor with the Professor Grant. The guys were, I think, envious of my nomination. Older or not, Erin Grant was a goddess. I have no doubt any of them would have stepped on to the dance floor with Erin.

"Two," Allison said adding a dramatic pause.

All eyes were back on her now.

"You let me buy the next round."

A bunch of sighs came from around the group.

"Bitch," Maria said while laughing.

"Hag," Allison replied and just stuck her tongue out at her.

Allison ordered a round of tequila shots, requesting something called Patron. Maria asked for two glasses of water for everyone seated. While we waited, I asked how Michelle was. A few others asked what happened last Friday, so I recounted the story from last Friday: Michelle's accident; me showing up late; Officer Coles driving me up to the Chemistry building and then relaying what had occurred to Erin; and Erin's decision to let me take some extra time to finish the exam. Of course, I left out what happened after I turned in my final exam.

"So is Michelle alright?" I asked.

Erin filled in the blanks. Officer Coles had relayed the extent of Michelle's injuries and that the paramedics had said they were superficial. Erin would have liked to leave to go to the hospital, but all of the other Chemistry exams had finished Wednesday meaning most of the faculty would not have been on campus. Using her radio, Officer Coles discovered that Michelle had already called her sister from the hospital to pick her up. When we got back to her office, Erin had called her house. Her other daughter Kathryn had already picked Michelle up and they were both at home. Michelle suffered a cut over her eye and some bruises but that was the extent of her injuries. She was already planning to go down to San Diego to join her friends for Spring Break the next day. All of this was a great relief to Erin.

The shots arrived and Allison quickly passed them around. She explained that Patron was new but that it was very good. She offered cheers to the birthday girl. Erin offered cheers to the birthday boy while nodding in my direction. Then all the shot glasses tilted back. I've never been much of a drinker and I really don't go for tequila, but I have to admit the Patron was really good. As we downed the shots, "I Love Rock N' Roll" by Joan Jett started playing. Erin stood up and took two steps to me. She took my hand, said, "I believe you are mine Mr. Rhodes" before leading me to the dance floor. I don't know if my friends were saying anything, because my brain was reliving the hours I spent with Erin in her office last Friday.