Honours year, and the going was tough. Going to uni at hours I didn't know existed, to check up on experiments. Going to uni on weekends, for God's sake. Writing methods, hypotheses, tabling results, hoping against hope that things would go OK - there's no margin for error as an honours student. At the end of the week, there was little I could do other than collapse into my bed and sleep. Drinking, drugs, dancing, sex - all postponed until those occasional long weekends, and I'd decided to completely blow out when the year was finally over - distant prospect though it seemed. Basically, I'd gone from full-time party girl to ultra-serious student, and I was longing to break out in a few months' time.
There was compensation, of course. For one, I seriously enjoyed the work - it was what I'd envisaged myself doing all my life, geeky as that might sound. For another, I was working with my favourite professor, Dr Colin Braden. Dr Braden was the sort of teacher every girl wants - funny, brilliant, easy to talk to, ready to help, and absolutely, achingly gorgeous. You know the kind. You sort of want to do badly in your classes, just for a chance of acting out those porny student-teacher fantasies about extra credits and all that silliness, but then you kinda want to impress him by doing your best too. I was firmly in the second camp, and Dr Braden's frequent encouragement and occasional praise seemed to be all the fuel I needed to keep going. He was a great supervisor - vastly knowledgeable, approachable, and it didn't hurt that he looked a lot like a Calvin Klein underwear model. I was happy. Sure, I'd never really considered making a move on him, or anything like that, but I enjoyed looking, and it didn't hurt anyone.
It was about three quarters of the way through the year when I'd vaguely started realising that Colin's interactions with me were subtly changing. I'd sometimes straighten up from bending over to put a retort stand away, to see him staring thoughtfully at my ass. Or he'd watch the profile of my breasts when I reached up to put something away on a high shelf. The praise was growing less frequent too, although when it was delivered, it seemed unnecessary... and insincere. Perhaps because his eyes wouldn't be on my face, but glued firmly to my cleavage. I didn't really think about it. It was a busy time of year for both of us, and I put it down to stress - either mine, his, or a joint effort. And I'd always been attractive - 36DDs on a naturally slim 5'6" frame, which I tried to keep fit even now; glossy brown hair framing what most people seemed to consider a pretty face - so I honestly didn't think much of a man checking me out. There was too much else to worry about.
One of those things was a certain part of my experiment, where I just couldn't replicate previous results. I'd managed a breakthrough one evening, but everytime I tried again, I'd flubbed it somehow. Finally, choosing superstition over science, I decided to go in again on a Friday evening and see what I could manage. When I got to the labs it was 7:30 and the place was pretty deserted. I saw a night watchman's torch flash occasionally across the grounds down below when I first arrived, but soon even he left to complete his rounds. I was all alone in the building, and I used my time wisely. By 9:00, this part of the experiment was almost finished and going well. I was elated, sure I'd get my results, and that I'd be able to leave by 9:30. Hell, I grinned to myself, I might even go down to the pub for a bit of a celebration. I turned off a vacuum pump and waited for my ears to adjust to the sudden silence, thinking about packing up, when I heard a little *clink* behind me. Turning around, I saw Colin, standing at the door with his hand on the frame, looking like he'd just come in, and as though he'd seen a ghost.
"Hi Colin," I smiled over at him. "What are you here for, so late?"
"Oh, Anita, it's you," he smiled back, seeming to shake himself a little. "I didn't think anyone would be here now, I got a bit startled. I've just come to pick up some reports I have to mark." He nodded his head towards his desk, some metres behind me.
"Cool. I came in to fix up the fifth part of the experiment, it hasn't been working so far. It seems OK now."
"Why this time of night?" he asked, closing the door and walking towards the desk, eyeing my setup curiously.
I blushed a little, shamefaced at my superstitiousness. "Well, the first time I did it was in the evening, 2 weeks ago. I've tried repeating it during the day but it hasn't worked out... so I thought I'd try again tonight."
He laughed lightly. "Luck over logic?"
I grinned too. "Something like it."
He stepped over to examine my equipment. "Well, that looks fine." He leaned down to look closer, and as he did, his black hair brushed against my arm. As he straightened up, he seemed to get about 3 inches closer to me. He looked down at me and smiled. I returned it, secretly hoping he wouldn't hang around to chat for too long. It was 9:10 already and I was looking forward to getting out and having a drink. His smile faded and he began watching me with a peculiar intensity in his piercing hazel eyes. I shifted slightly uncomfortably under his gaze, wondering whether I'd done something wrong with the experiment that he'd noticed. So the next words out of his mouth were a bit of a shock.