Breakdown in Professionalism(closed for such_a_bad_man)

[MidnightBliss]

CHARACTER DETAILS: ----—

NAME: AMANDA MARIE SPEERS
INFO ABOUT HER: SHE IS 5'6" WEIGHS ROUGHLY 137 LBS, LONG BROWN HAIR TO THE MIDDLE OF HER BACK. BLUE GREEN EYES. SHE IS A COLLEGE STUDENT WORKING ON A MASTERS IN COMPUTERS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. SHE IS THE PERSONAL ASSISTANT AND TEACHER'S AIDE TO PROFESSOR NATHANIEL TANSDEN.
SHE IS A VERY FOCUSED WOMAN WHEN IT COMES TO SCHOOL AND HER JOB. SHE HAS NO REAL SOCIAL LIFE TO SPEAK OF. IN TRUTH MOST PEOPLE DON'T EVEN SEE HER. BUT THAT MIGHT VERY WELL BE ABOUT TO CHANGE.


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Amanda sat at her desk across from Professor Tansden. As was normal she sat focused on the task at hand. Instead of biting on the top of her pen she was currently biting her bottom lip as she went through line after line of her notes making sure she hadn't missed a single detail. She let out a soft sigh as she leaned back in her chair stretching her back against the back of the seat. She had been sitting in the same spot for the last two hours and was starting to get stiff. She looked up at the professor and smiled slightly before reaching her hand back to her pony tail and pulling it out.

"Well professor, I think I am going to go stretch my legs and grab a coffee..can I get you anything?"

She stood up running her fingers through her hair and then letting it fall over her shoulders. It cascaded down the front of her light green sweater, covering the large chest that lay under it. Amanda was not one to ever draw attention to herself with her clothing or make up. She was very content being invisible to most people...

 

[such_a_bad_man]

*********Character details***********
Name: Professor Nathaniel Tansden (goes by Nate)
Age: 36
Ht.: 6' even
Wt.: 210 lbs.
Hair: dark blonde/brown
Eyes: hazel

Bio: Prof. Tansden was the youngest professor in the university's engineering department. Always a theorist first, Nate is hopeless with computers which is why Amanda works for him. He comes up with the equations; she codes the simulation software. He has a bad habit of talking to himself on campus as he fights with the ideas he's trying to prove so most everyone keeps their distance, thinking he's a little mentally unbalanced.
***********************************

Nate looked at the dry erase board where he had strung out a long equation, trying to prove to himself that he was making the right model to prove his point for his first research paper. He'd forgotten that Amanda was in the room with him as he was so engrossed in his work. Turning slightly, he saw her pull her pony tail out and let it hang. She almost never did that and it took the professor by surprise slightly.

"Uhh, sorry?" he asked, realizing he had missed the question.

"Well professor, I think I am going to go stretch my legs and grab a coffee..can I get you anything?"

"Oh, uh... no, thank you." The professor said, still not turning away. Nate had known Amanda for a few years. She took his circuit design course to finish her electives in her last year of undergrad course. There he learned that she had a capacity for coding in the simulation software that he just did not have. The last language he learned was C++ and that wasn't going to help him with the software he was going to need. He had worked out a deal with the Social Sciences department to split her time with him as a TA and assistant while she pursued courses in their department. So far, everything had been working fine.

So far...

"Amanda... can you take a look at the board? I need a fresh set of eyes to see if I missed a substitution somewhere." Nate asked, stepping aside to give her room.

 

[MidnightBliss]

Amanda walked up to the board running her fingers through her hair again as she went over the equation Nate wrote on his board. She glanced at it for a few minutes then took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes. She put them down on his desk and walked over to her's. She grabbed her notebook and jotted down the equation and set to working it out to see if it was in fact going to work for what the professor needed. As she worked it through she bit the corner of her lip and glanced from the paper to the board and back again. Her hair fell into her eyes as she leaned over his desk and changed a few spots in the equation. After a few more minutes she stood up and smiled, placed her glasses back on and walked over to the board. She swapped out 2 sections of the equation and then looked at Nate, a bright smile crossing her bite swollen lip...


"There professor I think that should help, it seems like you had a few spots inverted. What do you think?"

Amanda sat down on the corner of his desk and scooted back a little, letting her legs dangle back and forth as she gave.Nate a few minutes to look over the changes she made to his work. She twirled a stray strand of hair around her finger not even realizing she was doing it.

 

[such_a_bad_man]

Nate watched as Amanda followed through his work, trying to find his mistake. Nate knew he had made one because the equation he was getting at the end didn't make sense. It was scaling in the wrong direction. He didn't think about the equation for a moment when he saw her take her glasses off. Without the distracting frames, he finally saw the striking color in her eyes. They were additionally set off by the sweater she was wearing... the sweater that was stretched so tight over... her...

He cleared his throat and looked back at the board. His view was blocked for a moment as Amanda bent over his desk, reaching over it to change a section of his working that resulted in inverting the parts that he was worried about. He didn't notice what it did to the equation though. He could only look down at her jeans stretched over her round, curvy, grabable...

"There professor I think that should help, it seems like you had a few spots inverted. What do you think?"

Nate snapped out of it as she finished and looked at the new equation with the correct signs. "Of course..." he said, sighing at himself. "I'm subtracting that integral which flips the signs on the components used to solve it... ugh, I always do something like that... Thank you Amanda."

He took up his marker again and then reduced the result to the form he'd been trying to get for most of the day. "There... that's what I was trying to prove before we started our simulations..." Nate turned to look at Amanda to thank her, but saw her sitting there, coquettishly twirling her hair on a finger and his mouth with immediately dry.

Standing up straight, Nate cleared his throat again and spoke to try and cover it up. "For helping me find that mistake, I think I owe you a coffee... Lead on, MacDuff!" Nate proclaimed, pointing his "sword" (i.e. marker) at the door out of his office.

 

[MidnightBliss]

Amanda couldn't help but laugh softly at Nate. He was such a dork sometimes but then so was she so it made perfect sense to her that they worked so well together. She hopped off his desk and fluffed her hair a little, deciding to leave it down for once. She walked over to her desk and grabbed her wallet shoving it into the back pocket of her jeans and then shifting her hips from left to right as she adjusted the way they sat on her hips. Most people would have seen a move like that as flirting but Amanda was oblivious to How it could have been taken.

She walked towards the door and opened it for the professor..

"You don't have to buy me coffee, I can do it myself. Besides it's my job to help you isn't it?"


She smiled as she rested one hand on her hip and the other on the door as she waited for him to join her.

 

[such_a_bad_man]

Nate just stood there as he watched Amanda walk around. He was still thinking about how cute she looked sitting on his desk, twirling her hair. When he finally looked up, she was shaking her ass from side to side, trying to situate her jeans on her hips. He swallowed as he watched her, slightly hypnotized by her shaking ass. When she got to the door, he was a little disappointed when she proclaimed that he didn't need to buy her coffee and that she was there to help.

He stood up straight and joined her at the door, ready to leave for the coffee shop across the street from campus. "No, I should pick it up this time. You need all the help you can with your finances. Trust me, I was a grad student myself once. Consider it a donation to your continuing scholarship fund." He said, waiting for her to moved from the door so he could lock it up behind them. As he waited, he let his eyes walk along the line of her body as she stood with one hip cocked out.

 

[MidnightBliss]

Amanda smiled as she moved out of the way so he could lock the door behind them. She hadn't realized it had gotten so warm out today and thought nothing of it as she grabbed the hem of her sweater and lifted it up, pulling it over her head to reveal a light blue V neck t shirt that had slipped slightly from her jeans as her sweater came off. She draped the sweater over her arm and started walking towards the coffee shop with the professor right behind her.

Something about him seemed a little off today but she couldn't quite place it at the moment. She stopped at the crosswalk and hit the button then turned to face him. Its funny, she hadn't really noticed it before but when the sun hit his eyes they seemed to brighten and even his hair looked like it had sun kissed highlights. She shook her head wondering where that thought came from as her eyes moved over his body the closer he got to her.

She bit the corner of her lip again a slight blush filing in her pale cheeks. What in the world was wrong with her today? All of a sudden she couldn't stop herself from looking over her Professor like he was a piece of Art on display that she wanted to memorize. Her eyes moved from his hair, to his eyes, stopped on his lips then went to his shoulders and chest. She turned quickly when her eyes landed on the front of his pants and silently yelled at herself for what she just did.

Amanda ran her fingers through her hair again, carefully pulling at a knotted curl at her shoulder. Once she had regained her composure she turned back to Nate, her tongue flicking gently over her lips as she smiled.

"Ok, I'll let you buy this time, but the next time its on me. And I won't take no for an answer"

 

[such_a_bad_man]

As Amanda pulled her sweater off, Nate got a glimpse of her waist for a moment. Her soft creamy skin was bared for only a second but he wanted to touch it so badly just on sight. He was spared from being tormented by it as it shifted back. As they walked, Nate got a view of her tapered hourglass torso hidden barely by the t-shirt she was wearing under the sweater. The more he watched her walk, the more he loved how her curves moved as she walked.

He tried not to look down into her eyes when they stopped at the cross walk; he didn't want to be more distracted. Instead, he stared across the street at the Walk signal. He didn't care how soon the light changed; it just gave him a convenient place to stare.

Her voice brought his gaze down and he really wished it hadn't. She was twirling her hair again in a very teasing way, even though that wasn't what she was doing at all. Her tongue slipping along her lips as she spoke didn't help either.

Nate swallowed hard to wet his dry throat. "Deal. I can live with that."

The light did change and the two of them crossed to the coffee shop where they waited in line. Nate stood behind Amanda, staying single file in the winding line. As the line moved, he kept getting pushed closer and closer into Amanda. As they drew close to the end, he was sure she could feel his hips against the small of her back. 'Oh no... think about calculus...' Nate thought to himself as he tried not to make this situation even more awkward.

 

[MidnightBliss]

Amanda felt Nate's hips against hers and she straightened her body. She did know why all of a sudden being this close to him was making her feel weird. The more he got pushed into her the more her body seemed to tremble. She finally got to the head of the line and ordered her latte then stepped out of the way so Nate could order his and pay for them. She headed to the side to wait for their drinks.

She bit the corner of her lip as she watched him standing there. Her eyes moved slowly over his body and once again landed on the bulge in his pants. She shifted from the left to the right and back again. She really had to stop doing this. She knew better then to mix work and personal life so why was she suddenly thinking about her technical boss and professor in a sexual way? He probably didn't even see her in the way guys look at girls. She was used to not being noticed

 

[such_a_bad_man]

Nate paid for their orders and stood beside Amanda as they waited for their orders. Nate was keenly aware that being pushed up against her in line had made his body react. He didn't want to look down for fear that it might draw Amanda's attention. She was his assistant and she shouldn't see him like this. He swallowed hard, trying to calm it down in his head.

Finally, the coffees arrived and he picked up his, hurrying to a table and sitting down. "I didn't want to miss this table," he explained even though she didn't ask. He really wanted to hide his crotch because it was only getting worse. He sipped his coffee and looked across at Amanda, finally getting the full effect of how she looked with her hair down. It framed her face so well; she looked so different like this. Out from under her sweater, her body was being showed off by her tight tee and it made her look even more attractive.

Nate looked down at his coffee, trying not to look at her. "So... what are your plans when you finish up here?" He meant her time at school, but didn't realize it could sound like he was asking what she was doing after they finished with their coffee.

 

[MidnightBliss]

Amanda sat across from Nate, crossing her legs and looking down at the top of her cup. Normally when she had coffee she just grabbed it and went back to her computer so sitting in the coffee shop was new to her. She was very aware of the fact that people..well, guys...were staring at her. It was really making her uncomfortable so much so that she had missed what Nate said to her.

"I'm sorry, what did you ask Nate? It's so loud in here and I'm not really used to being around all these people "

Amanda flashed him a smile as her hand went through her hair again. When her hair was down, which wasn't often that was the way her parents and friends knew she was nervous. It's not that she disliked being around people it was just that she was used to being unseen in a crowd and for some reason today she felt like everyone was watching her. She took a sip of her latte and shifted in her seat. She didn't want to force Nate out of the coffee shop but she could feel a panic attack coming on and she didn't want to make a scene.

"Nate, I'm sorry I don't mean to rush you, but I really need some air, it's stuffy in here.. do you mind if we head out?"

 

[such_a_bad_man]

Nate looked at Amanda. Something in her eyes let him know that something was wrong. He picked up his coffee and helped her out of the chair.

"Yeah, absolutely." He said as he led her back through the crowded coffee shop. He held open the door for her and followed her outside. Gone were his thoughts from earlier; now he was genuinely concerned for his assistant.

"Everything okay?" He asked, standing to her side and sliding a hand around to gently rub her shoulder reassuringly. He didn't pull her close, but it was probably more "touchy" than it should have been as a professor.

Before hearing her response, he noticed there was a city park down the block. If the shop was too stuffy, maybe she needed a place like that for a minute. Once he listened to her and made sure she was okay for now, he pointed down the block with his coffee held in hand.

"Why don't we head down there and you can take a moment to get your head together before we head back to the office?"

 

[MidnightBliss]

Amanda smiled at him thankful to be out of the coffee shop, when he placed his hand on her shoulder a warming buzz ran through her body, like an electrical current that focused right at her core. She bit her lip, another nervous habit when around guys, and looked toward the park he was pointing at with his cup. She leaned in and pressed her lip to his cheek.

"Thank you for understanding, I'm fine I just don't like crowds all that much... I would love to go to the park though."

She brushed her hair over her shoulder, tied her sweater gently around her hips and started walking in the direction of the park

 

[such_a_bad_man]

When Amanda leaned up and kissed his cheek, Nate froze for a moment. He'd never had a student do that before. Instantly, he tried to figure out why she did that. He wasn't her brother and certainly wasn't her dad. Still, he managed to walk along beside her towards the park.

The park was a plaza with a lot of greenery that was on a block between some of the city buildings. There were people in suits hustling here or there, but Nate and Amanda were the only one bothering to stop and sit on a bench on a day like this.

"Ahhh, much better," Nate sighed as he took a seat, eyes squinting against the sunlight.

 

[MidnightBliss]

Amanda sat next to him, sipping her coffee and watching as people hurried by the two of them. She leaned over towards Nate a bit, looking into his eyes, she would probably never admit it but she really loved looking at his eyes, especially when the sun caught them in just the right way. She reached up and brushed a stray strand of hair from her face and flicked her tongue over her lips slowly.

"So what were you asking me in the coffee shop Nate? "

 

[such_a_bad_man]

Nate looked over as she asked her question. When he did, he saw her staring slightly. He caught her doing this on more than one occasion. He could never figure out why she looked at him with such... intensity. Was that even the word for it? He cleared his throat and leaned forward a little to help get the sun out of his eyes as he spoke.

"I had asked what are your plans when you finish up here?" He turned and looked at her eyes, watching the wind blow the hair back over her face. He reached out and gently pushed the loose strand back behind her ear without a word or a question.

 

[MidnightBliss]

Amanda looked down as he reached over and brushed the strand of hair from her eyes pushing it back behind her ear. She shivered as his finger grazed her skin and looked up at him again.

"I'm not really sure what I am going to do next, I mean originally I had planned on going out and looking for a job with computers but I haven't really seen anything that caught my eye and to be honest, I really like working with you. So I might apply for the new computer tech job on the campus website... I mean, you would give me a recommendation right?"

She looked at him, her eyes hopeful. She felt at peace here and God knows she didn't want to go back to where she came from. And really she knew the people here.. she wouldn't have to go through aother get to know your Co workers phase.

 

[such_a_bad_man]

Nate looked over at her, biting the inside of his lip thoughtfully.

"No... I won't." He said, completely startling Amanda. He saw that reaction on her face and held up his hand before she could protest.

"Because I don't think you'd be happy in a job like that. I don't see you sitting in an IT office trying to put a guy's drive back together after he unwittingly formatted it. You're too smart for that. You need to be doing work like we're doing. You need to be leading the charge into the unknown; you need to be peeling back the layers of ignorance... You're going to have my job someday; I feel it."

He finished, not realizing how passionate his voice had become. But he knew what he saw when he had her as a student in his class. He saw how hard she threw herself at the tasks he had put before her to even get to this point in their research. He knew she was going to be one of the "good ones".

 

[MidnightBliss]

Amanda didn't understand why but suddenly she felt like he had just slapped her. She knew her reasons for wanting to stay at the school...for wanting to continue working where she was, and yes they were partially because she had a fear of the unknown, but if she was honest...completely honest with herself..it was because she wanted to keep working with Nate. Somewhere in all the time that they had spent together she grew attached to him. She didn't want to leave his side. She couldn't explain it completely but she knew she would be lost without him. Lost if she couldn't work with him anymore. She bit her lip and looked down at her now empty coffee cup. Her chest heaved slightly as she took a breath and stood up.

"I see..well, if that's how you feel Professor.... I should go get my computer and head back to my apartment. Looks like I need to start looking for a job. Can't stay your assistant forever right? "

Amanda forced a small smile, walked to the trash can to throw her cup away and headed back towards campus, her eyes wet from unshed tears, that she really didn't understand.

 

[such_a_bad_man]

"A new job? Why..." He wasn't able to finish asking his question; Amanda was already walking away from him. He scrambled up, tossing away his coffee in the same bin she had used even though he wasn't done with his. His feet slapped the pavement as he hustled after Amanda, calling out for her to stop.

Finally, he overtook her as they were back on the street, very near their building on campus. Slightly out of breath, he put his hand up and caught her shoulder as he stood in front of her.

"Amanda, why do you want to quit? You're doing such great work and I'm going to need your help when we start running our simulations. You can't quit on me now." He said, slightly pleading as he stood before her. She wasn't just important to him because he needed her help. He had come to care about what happened to her, more than a professor should if he was honest with himself.

He stood there, his hand on her shoulder, his eyes staring into hers, waiting to hear her explanation.

 

[MidnightBliss]

Amanda stood before him, looking at him as his hand rested against her shoulder. His eyes looking into her that still had the glaze of her unshed tears. She heard him say something about needing her help with his work and it eased her mind slightly, at least for now. She looked down and realized that he must have thrown half of his coffee away when he ran to catch up with her. She ran her fingers through her hair again, slowly pulling at the kinks that spread across the ends and let out a soft sigh.

"Nate, when I asked if you would give me a recommendation it was because I wanted to continue working with you. The Dean is only giving me two more weeks as a TA before I have to move on. I thought you knew that. I'm sorry I guess I misunderstood what you were saying. I really do want to keep working with you."

She leaned in and softly kissed his cheek again then headed back towards his office. She would have to make an appointment to see the Dean and find out about extending her current placement until she could figure out how to stay on a more permanent basis.

 

[such_a_bad_man]

Once again, Amanda stole a kiss on his cheek. This time, there were students walking to and from classes around them. He swallowed bashfully and dipped his head so he could see any knowing looks from the students as he went back to his office. Amanda was still there and he felt like they weren't done talking about this.

"You don't need a new job. I can file the paperwork to make you a research assistant on my project. You should keep your stipend that way, and I can pay you out of the grant I'm getting to work on this. It won't be much, but if its about money, we can make this work. I don't want you to go..."

Nate said, walking over and putting his hands on hers as she was packing for the day. If she looked up at him, he would say it again.

"I don't want you to go..."

 

[MidnightBliss]

Amanda looked up at him a soft smile crossing her lips. She left her hands right where they were on top of her bag and under his hands. She flicked her head slightly so her hair fell back over her shoulders and at the same time moistened her full pink lips.

"You've said that... twice already Nate. The more I think about it I guess the Dean is just trying to push me into making a decision where the school benefits from what I know...he can't really push me out until I'm done with my degree right? I mean my GPA is one of the highest... I probably got freaked out over nothing right??'

She looked down, blushing slightly from realizing she was probably just being silly.

 

[such_a_bad_man]

Nate sighed softly and let her hand go. "It's not silly to think of your future. And you're right, the Dean can't kick you out so long as you're making progress towards your degree. But, if you run into any trouble with that, you know who you can talk with about it." He moved to the desk to resume their work. As he did, he looked back at Amanda.

"So have you not thought about staying in academics? It sounds like you want to go to industry or IT. Was that your plan when you started? Have you thought if that's what you really want?"

He asked as he picked up his notes and started to document the solution they came up with before they left.

 

[MidnightBliss]

Amanda had finished putting her stuff away minus one notepad and a pen. She moved over to Nate's desk and sat on the edge, working out a few more equations that she had been thinking about that might help with research. She heard his question and looked at him with a smile placing the notepad on her lap

"Well I have been thinking about what to do next and as much as I like the academics aspect could you really see me standing in your spot teaching others? I don't think so, I'm to well...skittish to do something like that. And as far as industry and IT goes, well same issue. I'm just not sure yet Nate. I mean I think I might have to get over being afraid of everything."

She let out a soft little laugh and stood up from his desk. She grabbed her things and tossed her bag over her shoulder then walked back to him and handed him the notepad she was just writing in. "here I came up with a few more equations that might help a little bit. Have a good Night Nate" With that said she walked out of the room and headed to her dorm.

A few hours later a loud bang in the hallway made Amanda jump from her computer and head to the door. She opened it slightly to see what was going on just as a group of people ran past screaming "Party!!" She slammed her door and went over to her desk quickly. Normally she knew about parties in the dorm in enough advance time that she could make sure she was far out of the way. She didn't like parties and she really got freaked out by all the people.

She stood there looking from her computer to her cell phone to the door. She was already panicking and the music had just started to get louder. She sat herself between her bed and desk, staring at the door and before long she heard loud voices and people running back and forth. This was the reason she hated living in the dorms. She really needed to find a place off campus. As she started to calm herself down the sound of a body hitting her door launched her out of her spot. She grabbed her phone and called the one person she knew wasn't going to see her as silly. She Dialed Nate's number and waited for him to answer. When he picked up the phone she was on the verge of tears

"Hello? Nate?"