Annie stared at Jack while he talked, and a wretched feeling of despair descended on her. He was gorgeous, intelligent, and now rich, too? It was just too much, she thought bleakly. Of course, she had known that he was way out of her league, even before now. It was ridiculous she should feel so disheartened to find that he was wealthy – ridiculous and foolish. She'd known she'd never stood a chance with him, even before she knew about his finances. So why did this new information make her feel like she had just lost something she wanted very badly?
"So, feel better now?" Jack concluded with a slightly sheepish smile.
Annie nodded numbly, hoping in vain he couldn't tell she was lying.
"Really, Annie," Jack began, when suddenly something occurred to Annie.
"Hey," she said suspiciously. "If you're so rich, how come you don't drive a fancier car?"
"I thought you said you liked my car!" Jack said, surprised.
"I do, it's the most fuel efficient model in its safety class. But I thought rich guys all drove fancy sports cars, not cars with top safety ratings."
"Well, first of all, my sister died in a car crash, so safety ratings are important in my family. Secondly, rich is a very judgmental word. I'm surprised at you for holding such stereotypes, Annie."
"Sorry." Annie blushed. "And I'm really sorry to hear about your sister."
"That's okay." Jack smoothed the napkin in his lap. "She died before I was born, so I never knew her. But it had a huge impact on my whole family, especially my mother." Jack could see that Annie looked unhappy, so he tried to change the subject. "On a lighter note, how do you know so much about cars and safety ratings and so on?"
Annie started to relax a little as she explained that her oldest brother was a car mechanic and had started teaching her and Toby about cars before they even went to kindergarten. "That's why I'm so good at fixing stuff around the lab," she explained. "Eric taught me to fix all kinds of stuff and taught me all about cars."
"Great! Now I know whom to call if my car starts acting funny."
"Oh, no," Annie replied worriedly. "I can't fix your car. Your car's all computerized. You have to have special equipment to even test it, much less fix it. I didn't mean… I mean, I can fix old cars, old tractors, that kind of thing, but your car is—"
Jack laughed to put Annie at ease. "Relax, Annie. I wasn't going to make you fix my car. But I am glad that you're so good at fixing things in the lab. I don't know what I'd do without you."
Just then, the waiter came over to take their order, but Annie hadn't done more than glance at the prices on the menu, so Jack asked him to give them a few minutes. Jack leaned close to Annie so that he could point out a couple of vegetarian entrées he thought she might like, but he noticed that she wasn't even looking past the appetizers.
"If you plan to just order the cheapest thing on the menu, you're in big trouble!" Jack said sternly.
Annie looked up at him in consternation. How did he know what she was thinking? How often could he do that? What else did he know?
"But, but…" she began in a hesitant voice.
"If all you order is the cheapest thing on the menu, I will spank you right here in the restaurant."
Annie gasped, staring at Jack with shock. Spank her right here in front of everyone?
Jack smiled at her reaction. "I'm just teasing! You knew that, right?"
"Of course, I did," Annie lied, knowing that her face was giving her away. "Which of those pasta dishes were you recommending?" she asked, trying to cover her embarrassment.
When Annie had decided on the wild mushroom ravioli (the second cheapest thing on the menu; she hoped Jack wouldn't notice), Jack talked her into sharing an appetizer with him as well. He didn't want her to get too full, because he wanted her to have room for dessert. He had picked this place because, in addition to having a good selection of vegetarian options, they were also known for having some of the best chocolate desserts in all of central New York State, and Annie did seem to enjoy chocolate.
"What will you have to drink, Annie, and don't just choose water because it's free." Jack raised an eyebrow at her.
"Oh, but..." Annie bit her lip in consternation. "But I just want water, really. Bubbly drinks like soda pop make my stomach hurt, and even juice does, if I have it more than once a day. I already had—"
"Annie, we've practiced this. What are you supposed to say if you don't want to do something?"
Annie hid her smile at their private joke as she replied very primly and formally, "No, thank you, sir, I would prefer to have a glass of water."
Jack clapped his hands approvingly, then looked over the drink menu, where something caught his eye. He had gone to college and graduate school at Stanford and had found a small vineyard nearby that made some of the best wine he had ever tasted. He was surprised and pleased to find his favorite label on the wine list at the restaurant.
"You said you knew a lot about cars. Do you know how to drive?"
"Of course, I've been driving since I was twelve."
"Twelve?" Jack's voice sounded skeptical.
"Well, just around the farm until I got my license." Annie was worried that Jack would think she had been bragging.
"Because I was thinking of having some wine with dinner, unless you'd rather I didn't. I was wondering if you would be willing to drive home."
"Well, okay," Annie said slowly. "How much were you planning to drink?" Was he planning to drink so much that he couldn't drive?
Jack laughed. "Don't worry, I'll just have a glass. I never drink and drive, even if I've only had one glass. I told you my sister died from being hit by a car. My whole life my parents have stressed the importance of safe driving, to the point where I'll never be able to drive after drinking, even if I'm well under the legal limit."
Annie felt better hearing that he wasn't planning to get drunk. "Sure, I'd love to drive your car."
During dinner, Annie questioned Jack more about his upcoming trip to Copenhagen. She asked him if he needed someone to watch Sammy while he was gone, but he told her his neighbor was keeping Sam for the week. He told her about his previous trip to Denmark, when he spent a summer abroad in high school. When he asked her if she had ever been to Europe, she was embarrassed to tell him that she had never been to any other country except Canada, which was only twenty minutes from her parents' home.
But she did brighten up when she told him about her upcoming trip to Quebec. Her roommate's grandmother was turning eighty next weekend and had invited Annie and some of Sonja's other friends up to her birthday party.
"She's just incredible! She came and visited Sonja on campus last semester. She's seventy-nine-years-old, and she came and stayed in the dorm with us and ate with us and even went to a party with us, like one of our friends. We all just loved her, and she lets us call her Mamie just like Sonja does. I can't wait to see her again. Sonja's boyfriend, Tyler, is driving us, and our friends Becca and Katlyn are coming too. We're all going to leave on Saturday morning and stay over at her house after her party Saturday night. Mamie says it'll be a big slumber party.
"Oh, but don't worry." Annie suddenly glanced up at Jack. "I already asked Seth to take care of the rats for me while I'm gone. He doesn't usually like to get up in the mornings, which is why he does the evening shift and I do the morning shift, but he was so grateful that I don't make him split the mornings that he was willing to take the weekend for me. So you don't have to worry."
"I wasn't worried." Jack loved to watch Annie talk when she was excited about something, like this party for Sonja's Mamie. "Tell me more about Mamie."
* * *
Annie enjoyed driving Jack's car back to Ithaca. She often got nervous driving in the city, because if she tried to be nice and let someone out in front of her, sometimes the people behind her got mad. It's so hard to make everyone happy. But here on the open roads, it was actually relaxing to her to be driving such a nice new car. The hour-long drive seemed to go by all too quickly.
&nb
sp; They had to drive right by Jack's house on their way back to campus, and Jack asked Annie if she would mind if they stopped in so he could let Sam out. Annie was pleased at the thought of seeing Sammy again.
"Can he ride in the car with us when we drive me back to campus?" Annie asked hopefully, as she pulled the car into the garage.
"Sure! He loves to ride in the car." Jack opened the door and Sam came bounding out. Jack tried to shepherd him back into the kitchen so he could let him out into the fenced backyard through the kitchen door.
Jack and Annie went into the moonlit yard with Sam, and Jack began throwing snowballs for Sam to chase. Annie was glad she had her boots on instead of Sonja's fancy shoes. It was cold enough as it was.
After Sam had been emptied and had run around for a while, all three of them went back inside and Jack let Annie give Sam a few dog treats. Annie then started back toward the door to the garage, when she heard Jack's voice behind her.
"Hey, Annie, I just thought of something. I recorded the first episode of that new show about neuroscience that's premiering on the Discovery Channel. They're going to have an interview with my advisor from grad school on it. Would you like to watch it with me?"
Annie turned around in surprise. Did Jack just invite her to watch television with him? Her heart leapt. That sounded like a…a…date?
Stop it! she scolded herself fiercely. It's a show about neuroscience, featuring his advisor! It's just work! Don't even think anything else!" She tried to make her voice sound casual when she answered him.
"Sure. That sounds fun." Crap! Annie bit her tongue. She didn't mean to say fun! It's not supposed to be fun! It's work, remember!
"I mean, it sounds very educational." Annie reached in the box and got another treat for Sammy, just to show how nonchalant she was. She wanted to make sure Jack realized that she wasn't misinterpreting the situation and thinking it was anything more than work.
"Great!" Jack took their coats and hung them in the closet while Annie pulled off her boots. It's just work! she reminded herself silently. As they walked from the kitchen into the front of the house, Jack asked her if she wanted anything more to drink or eat, but she was still quite full from the restaurant.
"All right then, let's go up to the study." Jack turned and started toward the stairs.
"Wait!" Annie froze. She couldn't go back to his study. He'd spanked her in there! She most definitely didn't want to go back in there.
Annie looked around wildly. She didn't see any television in the living or dining rooms. There'd been a small TV mounted under the counter in the kitchen, but he wouldn't have taped anything there. The only television she could remember seeing was the one in the big study where he had spanked her.
"No, I-I can't." Annie couldn't keep the distress out of her voice. "I have to go home now."
"Annie, what's the matter? Are you okay?" Jack turned to stare at her. He couldn't imagine what had made her change her mind so quickly.
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm fine." Annie had already hurried back into the kitchen and had begun pulling her boots back on.
"Then, what's the matter? Why did you change your mind?" Jack followed her as she went to the closet and took out her coat.
"I just… I just remembered that I have to be up early to take care of the rats." Annie wrapped her scarf around her face while she talked to try to hide from Jack. She knew he could tell when she was lying. "And I have to stop at the lab to pick up Sonja's shoes. I need to get them back to her tonight. I have to get going now. I can't stay. Sorry."
"Okay, then. No problem." Jack felt confused as he quickly slid into his own coat and followed Annie back to the car and got behind the wheel. "Is it still okay if Sam rides along?"
"That would be great," Annie said with relief. She slid into the passenger seat and called Sammy to sit in her lap.
"He's kind of big for a lap dog," Jack argued as he pulled out of the garage. But Annie seemed much calmer as she held and petted Sam, so he let it go.
Annie buried her face in Sammy's fur and gave him a big hug. The panic she'd felt when Jack wanted to take her back into his study was starting to subside. "Oh, did you want me to drive?" she asked belatedly.
"No, it's fine, it's been almost two hours since I had that glass of wine." Jack turned the heat up. The car had already started to cool in the few minutes they had been in the house.
"What was the name of that winery again?" Annie hoped that getting Jack to talk about the vineyard he used to visit in graduate school would be distracting enough that he would forget how oddly she had acted about going into his study.
And it worked. For the rest of the ride into campus, Jack reminisced about graduate school and places he had visited while he was there. By the time they got back to the neuroscience building, they were both laughing at a story he told about the elephant seals near Big Sur.
Jack pulled behind the building and parked the car. When he started to get out, Annie stopped him. "I'm fine, Jack! You go on home and I'll see you tomorrow for our morning briefing."
"Nonsense," Jack replied firmly. "I'm not going to let you walk home in this cold. I'll go in with you while you get the shoes, and then I'll drive you back to your dorm. Let's go."
"No, Jack, really, I-I have a lot of work to do in the lab. I'll be there for a while, and I don't want Sammy to have to wait out here in the cold. You go home and I'll see you tomorrow."
Jack tried to argue, but when Annie continued to protest, he finally gave in. He had promised her that he would listen to her if she told him no, and now he was forced to take her at her word.
"Well, if you're sure," he began reluctantly.
"Yes, I'm positive." Annie quickly got out of the car, trying to hide how relieved she was. She couldn't bear to be alone in the lab with Jack tonight. She just couldn't! She hurried over to the building and let herself in with her key, steeling herself not to look back.
Jack sighed as he watched the door close behind her. He looked over at Sam, sitting up straight in the passenger seat. "Well, what do you think, buddy?" Sam gave a sharp yip in reply.
Annie took a deep breath once she was in the building and out of sight of Jack. She'd been so afraid that he would insist on coming in, and the lab just had too many memories from her dream. She was sure it would be better by morning. It would be daylight by then, and the dream wouldn't be so recent. She just had to make sure she didn't have any more dreams like that!
Annie took the stairs and then hurried along the hall toward the lab. She reached in her pocket for her phone so she could call Sonja and let her know that she was coming. She and Sonja always did this as a safety precaution if they walked alone anywhere on campus at night. They always felt safer if they were talking to someone while they walked.
She would just grab the shoes, call Sonja, then head for home. Annie had her key card in one hand and her phone in the other, all ready to call Sonja as she rounded the corner.
She slid the card through the lock and opened the door to the lab. Abruptly, she heard a noise behind her. She turned to look when, suddenly, she was hit from behind and knocked sprawling into the lab!
Chapter 11
Annie felt dazed as she collected herself on the lab floor. What had happened? She looked up and saw Paulie smirking down at her.
"Paulie! What are you doing here? You can't be in here; you know that. I got in enough trouble last time. Get out—"
"You know what I'm here for, bitch. I'm here to take what's mine." The smile on his face made Annie's blood run cold.
"Well, I threw your stuff in the dumpster when you didn't come back for it," Annie started to explain. "It's probably gone by now, but if—"
"I'm not here for the fucking mattress, you cunt! You owe me. And I'm here to get what I should have gotten last week."
"Fine, Paulie." Annie tried not to show how scared she felt of him. "If you think I owe you for the cost of your rum and the other stuff I threw in the dumpster, I'll pay you. I only have about twenty
dollars in my wallet, but I'll give you what I have." Annie set her phone down next to her and started to reach into the pocket of Sonja's good coat to take out her wallet.
"You think you're funny, don't you, you little slut. I don't want your money, although, on second thought, yeah…I'll take that, too. You do owe me for the rum and the weed."
Paulie grabbed the wallet out of her hand and stuffed the whole thing in his coat pocket then knelt next to her on the floor and grabbed her by the hair. Annie had been scared when he knocked her over, but it was nothing, compared to the fear she was feeling now.
"Paulie, let go of me! You're hurting me!"
Annie tried to think. Where was her phone? She had it in her hand just a moment ago. She tried to grope around for it without drawing Paulie's attention. "I told you I would give you whatever you wanted, just let me—"
"Oh, that's right; you're going to give me whatever I want. And I want everything you gave him."
"What? Who? I didn't give your stuff to anyone. I told you, I threw it in the dumpster…ahhh!" Annie screamed in pain as Paulie shook her by her hair.
"Don't play the joker with me, you little bitch. You know what I'm talking about. You fucked that asshole prof, last week, so you wouldn't get in trouble – sucked and fucked him. I know all about it."
The images Paulie had been playing in his head all week of his girl and the asshole doing it came flooding into his mind again, causing him to see red. He paused and caught his breath as he imagined again all the things he was sure they had done – things she should have been doing with him. Things she was going to do with him, just to start with. Oh, he had big plans for her, all right.
Annie's fumbling hand finally closed on her phone, next to her hip. She said a quick silent prayer of thanks and, without looking or drawing any attention to it, felt for the redial button and pushed it. If she could get Sonja on the phone, Sonja would be able to hear what was happening and would call the police.
Submitting To Her Professor Page 11