That evening, Lewis showed up as instructed with two six-packs of expensive German longnecks. Blanca answered the door wearing a pair of coke bottle glasses he had never seen, quickly grabbed the beers and handed one to Gus, who was sitting on the floor sorting through a batch of DVDs. Today he was wearing a more conventional C-Leg prosthesis. “Dude! You brought the good stuff!” he beamed. “I knew I liked ya.”
Then he noticed Lewis’s attire. “Dude! Nice shirt!” The professor had searched through several boxes to find a Night of the Living Dead T-shirt his college roommate had given him. The shirt was faded, but still fit, if a bit snugly. Luckily he had been hitting the gym a lot more since Spring Break, so the snug fit actually served to accentuate his improved tone.
He wanted to ask where Mandy was, but feared coming across as too eager to see her. After all, Blanca was the one who had actually invited him. The two men examined the trove of zombie films. Lewis lost count after ten. “How long is this paper supposed to be?” he queried.
“I think it’s only like, ten pages, but Blanca always does too much research. She’s such a suck up,” Gus said. “Hey, at least it’s a good excuse to watch some cool movies.”
Cool was not exactly the term Lewis would have applied to some of this garbage, noticing that at least Blanca seemed to have limited her research to films that contained the word “dead” in the title.
Julie came home shortly thereafter, dressed in her Navy uniform. She greeted Gus with a kiss and threw her backpack on the floor. “Hey Lew!” She soon returned in a sweatshirt and shorts, beer in hand, followed by Blanca with a fistful of pizza coupons. “Good beer, Lew!” they all agreed. He wondered when he had picked up a new nickname. Only people with whom he shared DNA ever called him “Lew.”
As the threesome sat in front of him, he kept trying to figure out where Mandy was. Surely if she was changing clothes she should be done by now. As the trio figured out what toppings they wanted and how many pizzas to order, Lewis’s patience finally wore out. “Where’s Mandy?”
The three students exchanged knowing glances, then Julie explained, “She had to work until 7:30. She’ll be home soon.”
Once the pizza order was placed, the intention of his timed entrance became clear. The threesome put away all distractions and sat in front of him like an inquisition.
“So,” Julie began. “What do ya think of Mandy?”
He was a bit taken aback by their directness. “Uh, I . . . I’m very fond of her. She’s a great person.”
Julie gave Blanca a furtive glance, as if to signal that it was her turn to talk. “Well, she likes ya, Dude,” the New Orleanian announced.
He sat dumbfounded. She likes you. It should have sounded so childish, so seventh grade. But the words made his heart skip a beat. He knew exactly what they meant. She likes me!
“Do you like her?” Blanca grilled. “Ya know, like, LIKE?”
As the threesome waited for his response, Lewis considered asking to have his attorney present.
“See, Dude, here’s the thing,” Gus chimed in. “Mandy likes you. Like, a LOT, knowwhatImsayin’? But she don’t wanna get ya in trouble.”
“Plus, she doesn’t think you’re over your wife,” Julie added.
“So,” Blanca explained, “we just wanted ya to know that she likes ya, and if you like her, we’re cool with it. We won’t say nuthin’ to nobody.”
“But,” Gus leaned forward aggressively, “if you’re just looking for some rebound cootchie, don’t bother. Mandy ain’t that kinda girl.”
“So don’t screw her over, okay?” Julie ordered.
“Or we’ll all three have to take ya down and beat ya with Gus’s leg. Got it?” Blanca summed up, with a tone that indicated she was only half-kidding.
Sensing that the roommates wanted to be on his side, Lewis decided to bare his soul.
“The truth is,” he admitted. “I do like Mandy. I like her a lot. But I know it’d be inappropriate for me to act on those feelings right now. I think I already offended her with my behavior over Spring Break.”
“Oh, you didn’t offend her,” Gus offered. “Dude, she wanted you bad!”
“Gus!” Julie chastised, putting a finger to her lips to indicate that he was revealing too much confidential information.
“Go on,” Blanca ordered the professor.
“Well, as I said, I really like her, but I know it’s not appropriate for us to see each other. So I’m not sure what to do.” He felt small pellets of sweat forming on the back of his neck.
“Well,” Julie pointed out. “In a few weeks she won’t be workin’ for you anymore, right?”
“And she’ll be here all summer,” Blanca informed him. “She’s workin’, not takin’ any classes.”
Lewis smiled. They were giving him the greenlight to act as soon as Mandy was neither his employee nor, technically, a student. More importantly, they were granting their approval.
Mandy arrived home around the same time as the pizza, blissfully unaware of the alliance that had been formed in her absence. Lewis paid in full for the food, sealing the four-nation treaty.
As they prepared to watch the first movie, the roommates not-so-subtly positioned themselves so that Mandy had to sit on the couch right next to Lewis. As they started the DVD, she apologized in case he had a problem watching zombies devour other people’s intestines while he was trying to eat dinner. “We’re startin’ out with the black and white one, so it won’t be as bad,” Blanca assured him, which did not stop Gus from pointing out how various pizza toppings resembled internal organs. Julie accused him of trying to make the rest of them lose their appetites just so that he could scarf down more of the pizza himself.
Once again, Mandy apologized for her friends, not realizing that Lewis now considered them allies. Mandy seemed much more nervous than she had been that night over Spring Break. Every time her leg bumped Lewis’s, she jumped back and apologized. By the time a little girl zombie ate her parents onscreen, Lewis had lost track of the number of times Mandy had apologized. He need not have worried about being too grossed out by the films, since he spent much of the time staring at her, only half-listening as Gus offered commentary on how certain shots had to have been set up, and Blanca theorized about the racial and socioeconomic implications of the plots.
Once the food was devoured, they turned down the lights so that only the television screen illuminated the room. Blanca put her feet up on the couch, wrapping herself in a pillow, with notebook and pencil in hand. Whether by accident or intention, she began gently pushing Mandy in Lewis’s direction with her feet. Like a teenager on his first date, Lewis subtly put his arm around Mandy in the dark. By the time the second movie’s opening gross-outs started, she was leaning towards him, half shielding her eyes. He leaned a little closer, gently rubbing her shoulder.
By the time the lights came up, everyone was appropriately freaked out. Julie went to go make popcorn while Blanca ordered Gus to start Dawn of the Dead. It was now approaching midnight and Lewis knew he could not stay up all night again. “Well folks, sorry to bug out, but my fairy godmother said I needed to be home by the stroke of midnight!”
“Dude’s tryin’ to be funny!” Gus noted, giving the professor a knowing nod and smile.
Mandy walked Lewis to his car, holding his hand and fully aware that the nosy trio was probably watching their every move. Lewis leaned with his back against the driver’s door, unsure what to do next.
“I had a nice time. Thank Blanca for inviting me,” he said.
“Yeah, my friends are real subtle,” Mandy noted. “I hope they didn’t bug you too bad.”
“No, no. I like your friends,” he said, honestly.
He took both of Mandy’s hands in his and they just stood facing one another for a moment. She fingered the spot on his left hand where his wedding ring once sat. As if to thank him for removing it, she leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. In one smooth move he turned and pressed his mouth to hers, then paused for
a half second to gauge her response. After briefly looking into his face, she responded by kissing him back, first in a series of small pecks, then more eagerly. Their bodies shifted into a tight embrace as their lips parted. Lewis could not remember the last time he had kissed a woman this passionately.
For Mandy, his kiss was a revelation—sure and confident but not too overeager—far unlike most of the sloppy sucking she had experienced with randy high school and college boys.
Lewis was a bit surprised when he was the first to come up for air. Rather than push things further than would be prudent, he said his goodnights with one last tight hug. Pulling away from the curb, he turned up the radio and began to sing along with the sappy love songs, loudly and off-key while Mandy entered her house to a chorus of whoops and high fives.
For several days after zombie movie night, Mandy and Lewis both avoided seeing one another, but stayed in touch via text messages. Without ever stating so, they came to an understanding that they would not see each other again socially until the semester ended. A week before finals, they bumped into one another in the very public copy room, where Lewis shook her hand and thanked her for her help. “You may now officially consider yourself done as my assistant,” he declared within Isobel’s hearing range.
As they parted ways that day, Lewis caught a glimpse of Dr. Stevens sitting alone in the faculty lounge reading a newspaper, her walker next to the couch. She normally did not lounge in the lounge, but he was glad to see her. He greeted her in a friendly tone and asked about her plans for the summer. “I shall enjoy life!” she declared.
Although she did not ask about his plans, Lewis mentioned that he would be teaching summer classes. Before stopping himself, he asked, “So, is Ms. Dejean going to be working for you this summer?”
She shot him a knowing glance over the top of her reading glasses. “I believe she has other employment for the summer months.”
Lewis nodded, then used the opening as an opportunity to talk about his new friends with someone who actually knew them. “Have you ever met the other roommates? Gus and Julie? They’re quite a foursome.”
Still eyeing him over the glasses, she affirmed, “Yes, I have.”
“They’re a really amazing bunch of kids, aren’t they?”
Removing her glasses and leaning her chin against one wrist, she carefully assessed Lewis’s demeanor. He continued, a bit more nervously, “I mean, they really seem to have it all together, know where they’re going, that sort of thing?”
“Dr. Burns, where is this conversation going?” she asked plainly.
“Uh, uhm, just making conversation,” he tried to explain.
“Come here,” she entreated with a wave. He obeyed, approaching her carefully. When he was finally close enough, she ordered him to stop. “May I please borrow your arms?”
Realizing why she had been sitting on the couch for so long, he obeyed, carefully helping her up from the seat. She leaned her body first against his arms, then shoulders. For a split second he felt a sensation that had never before emanated from Dr. Stevens—vulnerability. Then, with one hand on the walker and the other still leaning against his shoulder, she offered in a low voice, “They are a fine group of young people. You would be enriched by their company, but tread carefully if you venture into those deep waters.” She straightened herself upright, leaning heavily on the walker for support.
“Thank you,” she said, though he was equally grateful for her personal support. Lewis watched as she left the room and made her way to the elevator, making sure she would be okay without offering more help than her dignity would allow.
Lewis knew exactly when Mandy’s last final ended. Grading graduate research papers at home, he thought of her as the clock struck the final moment of the testing period. One minute later, he called her cell phone. She had been done for 20 minutes, but was still debriefing with some other students. Seeing his I.D., she excused herself to find a private place to talk. He asked how the test went.
“Okay, I guess. I think I totally bombed the second question, but from what I can tell everybody else did, too, so hopefully the curve’ll fix it. Are you done with your grading?”
“Not yet. I have to turn in my final batch by Thursday morning. It’ll be a busy couple of days.” He took a deep breath. “So what are your plans for the week?”
“Blanc’ and Jules are done, so we’ll probably go out ‘n’ celebrate tonight. Next week I’m goin’ home, then back for work right after Memorial Day.”
“You’ll still be in town Thursday night?” he asked nervously.
“Uhm, yeah. I have to work Friday and Saturday. Grad weekend’s usually pretty busy.”
He cleared his throat. “Well, I was wondering if I could make dinner for you on Thursday.”
“Make? Like, cook?” She stifled a smile.
“Yes,” he laughed. “I would like to make dinner for you, Miss Taylor, at my home. Consider it a partial “thank you” for a job well done and a celebration.”
“Celebration of what?” she asked.
He had been waiting all week to announce confidently: “I received my final divorce decree this week. I’m officially a single man.”
Her face broke into a smile so wide that he could see it over the telephone line.
On Thursday evening Mandy arrived five minutes early and sat in her car just collecting herself. She had been anticipating this moment for days. She had gone shopping the day before to select the perfect outfit—a cream-colored, open-backed casual dress set—and a bottle of California wine the Chug’s head bartender had recommended. She double-checked herself in the car mirror one last time before approaching the front door.
Lewis had been watching her from the window, but waited a beat before answering. Like her, he had been looking forward to this date all week. He also had thought carefully about his attire, but went the opposite route. Trying to appear more youthful, but not immature, he arrived at the door wearing an untucked denim shirt, rolled up at the sleeves with the top three buttons undone, along with khaki shorts. As Mandy entered the house, they both assessed each other with sly looks of approval. He longed to kiss her right then, but held off.
He gently touched her back as he invited her to make herself comfortable on the couch and offered to get her something. She asked for a couple of glasses in which to pour the wine. While she waited for him to return from the kitchen, she noticed the stained glass window. She was still sitting against one arm of the couch staring at it when he returned, handing her the glasses and a corkscrew. As she opened the bottle and poured, she offered mini-lessons on proper wine-serving techniques she had mastered at the Chug.
‘Of course, most of our customers prefer cheap beer, but it’s a good skill to know,” she said, leaning back against the arm of the couch.
Sipping the wine, they silently examined the window. “I like it,” Mandy assessed.
“Thanks,” he replied, moving in to lean against the couch right next to her and slipping an arm around her waist. “It’s kind of my spiritual guide.”
“Mhmm,” she mused, “Lewis’s Church of the Stained Glass Window. So that’s your religious preference.”
“Yeah, weird, I know,” he admitted.
“Hey, I’ve seen stranger things,” she replied. “At least it’s not snake-handlin’.”
Taking another sip, she nervously asked what they were having for dinner. He described the chicken pasta salad he had made a few hours earlier, explaining that it was meant to be served cold, to let the flavors marinate. There was something seductively dirty about the way he pronounced the word marinate.
“So you don’t have to keep rushing back to the kitchen?” she asked, her trepidation beginning to show.
He shook his head, rubbing her back and moving his hand up to her neck. As their faces began to get closer, she leaned her forehead against his and sighed. “Lewis, what are we doing here?”
He knew what she meant. For so many reasons this flirtation of theirs was w
rong, but he had come to the conclusion that for so many reasons it was also right. He took both of their wine glasses and set them down on the coffee table. Then, wrapping one arm around her waist, he entwined the fingers of their free hands, then looked straight into her eyes and echoed her own words. “Look, Mandy, I really like you. I don’t do hookups. I haven’t seen anyone since my wife and I split up and for ten years before that I was never with anyone else, so I’m a pretty dependable guy. In a lot of ways, this year has been pretty awful for me, but you’ve been my bright spot. I think about you all the time. I mean all the time. Just seeing you and hearing your voice makes me smile. If you aren’t comfortable with this, that’s fine, but I’d really like to keep you in my life.”
He kissed her hand, then slowly looked up as their lips touched. Mandy turned her face away for a moment, then took both of his hands in hers and led him over to the couch. Without saying a word, he moved in next to her. She took his face in her hands and kissed him back, hesitantly at first, then more urgently and passionately. Their lips parted, sharing the warm taste of their mouths. The kissing seemed to last forever. Whenever one of them would pause to catch their breath, the other would move to continue.
Lewis let Mandy take the lead, not wishing to go further than she was comfortable with. His reticence only made him more desirable. After an eternity of kissing, Mandy finally took the next step, carefully unbuttoning Lewis’s shirt and caressing his chest and ribs. As her hand moved along his waistband, she could feel the rock hard mound of his desire. She let her hand caress the outside of his shorts. As she did, he moved his hand up the open diamond in the back of her dress and around to the front. Slipping his hand over one firm breast, his excitement rose further as the nipple hardened in his fingertips. She carefully slipped a hand up through one pants’ leg to stroke him. They continued kissing and fondling one another fully dressed as their pleasure rose.
Without even thinking about it, they slowly began to undress one another. Soon they were sitting on the couch completely naked. Upon realizing this, Lewis sat back a moment just to gaze at her nubile young form as he ran his fingers around the outline of her breasts. “God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered.
Tenure Track Page 27