The Slut Rose: Clever Girl
*Author's Note - This is a standalone story, but if you want more background on the Slut Rose and Slut Spray, please read "The Slut Rose: Origins" and "The Slut Rose: Hammer".
Ding dong!
The doorbell rang, breaking up Julia's quiet afternoon. Surprised by the interruption, she walked across the foyer and opened the door. The sunshine and warm air from the late spring weather cascaded through the screen door.
"Brooke?" she said, surprised to see the young woman standing at her door.
"Sorry to just show up, Professor." Brooke lifted her bound art portfolio to hand to her. "I finished my portfolio for my class and was wondering if you could look it over."
"Sure," Julia said, remembering that she said she'd look over the portfolio for her ex-student and friend's daughter. "Why don't you let me have it and I'll bring it back to your parent's house by Wednesday." She took the large bound work from Brooke's hand, looking at the cover.
Brooke looked sad and scared. "Oh, please, it's due on Monday! If I don't get an A on my portfolio, I'll have to retake my 3D Foundations class and my parents will kill me."
Julia remembered that the girl had fits of drama frequently. "Oh, please, your mother is very accommodating to you. I'm sure she's not going to mind if you need another year."
"You are an amazing teacher, Professor Carleton. I know you can save the day if you let me come in. Even if just for an hour!" Brooke begged, folding her hands together in front of her in her plea.
Julia looked at her watch and tried reasoning with the young woman. "Look, my boss is coming over in like thirty minutes. I know college is pretty hard, but it does prepare you for the real world."
Brooke started crying and continued to beg. "Please professor, just for a little bit."
Julia couldn't take any more of this drama. She knew she didn't have much time to deal with her, but maybe it wouldn't take much time to just finish it. "Oh, uh, honey, come in. I've got like half an hour, maybe forty minutes. We'll see what we can accomplish."
Julia stood back from the door to let Brooke come in. Instantly, Brooke's tears seemed to dry up and the teen was smiling once more. She closed the door behind them and led Brooke to the dining room.
"Come over to the dining room table and we'll have a look at it," she said, pulling out a chair for herself and sitting in it. Brooke took the seat next to her.
Julia opened the cover and began scanning the artwork. She didn't study it in depth, but felt that her comments after a quick view would give Brooke enough to work with. "This looks pretty good," she said as she got about half-way through, already coming up with a few helpful suggestions.
Brooke's cell phone dinged indicating she received a text message and she looked at it. She didn't appear to be happy with what she saw and put it aside on the table with a disgusted sigh, bringing her attention back to the professor.
Julia looked at her, a little unhappy with the distraction. "You should always turn off your devices while working. You can't have distractions when you have deadlines."
"Uh," she groaned with exasperation. "It's your daughter. She's mad at me." Suddenly she shifted gears back to her report. "Did you see how I made the archway look like it was coming off the page, just like you taught me?"
Julia looked surprised and confused. "Why is Morgan mad at you?" she asked.
Once again, Brooke looked a little disgusted about the text. "Oh, she didn't want me to come over to your house." She then quickly deflected back to the portfolio. "Do you like the coloring I used in that one? Is that a good shade or should I go darker? I'm going for an eerie feeling."
Julia was still puzzled, setting the portfolio down on the table. "Why in the world didn't she want you to come to my house?"
"Because I'm going to seduce you," Brooke said, smiling smugly. She opened her purse and started looking through it, as if looking for something important.
Julia looked at her, stunned at first and then smiled at the obvious joke. "You have quite the imagination, which is a good thing when you're an artist."
Brooke lifted a small, one ounce spray bottle, looking at it as if verifying it was what she was looking for, then extended her arm, pointing it directly at Julia.
"What's that?" Julia asked in surprise.
"Oh, just a little concoction I found on the internet. It worked well to make your daughter more fun so I figure it'll work well on you, too." She pumped the top and a spray of pleasant smelling liquid squirted into Julia's face. Julia had raised her hands and turned her face to deflect it, but was too late.
"I... I can't believe you just sprayed me with that!" Julia said loudly, wiping the liquid off her face with her hands and seeing if any of it got onto her dress. "Oh my gosh!"
"It smells nice, though, doesn't it?" Brooke asked, lowering her arm, but ready to spray again if needed. Morgan only needed to be sprayed once, but she wasn't sure how much Julia had received.
Julia looked at her wet hands and could smell the sweet liquid. It was sweet... wonderfully sweet in fact. She brought her hand to her face and sniffed it again and again. She'd never smelled anything so nice before. "Yes... it's..." she said absently.