Not What She Had Planned (CLOSED)

[ms_tiff]

A hush fell over the lecture hall as Dr. Adler strolled in; the click clack of her black stilettos muffled by a beige carpet that had seen better days. Towards the back rows of the hall a backpack zipped close, causing a number students to whirl around in their seats and shush the offender. A well-manicured hand lifted, placing a leather briefcase on the desk by the lectern.

“Lights.” Dr. Adler commanded, sending her TA scurrying towards the light switches. The room went dark, the only light coming from the projector overhead. The shusck of the projection screen being pulled down sounded like gunfire in the stillness.

“Phones off.” Another sharp command issued in a voice as smooth as molasses, a slight southern twang hidden beneath an Ivy School polish.

Dr. Adler’s form appeared silhouetted on the screen before she stepped into the light. The light from the projector caught in her fiery hair and highlighted her cream complexion. She raised a hand and aimed the remote towards the project. A painting of two women sleeping, naked and entangled in a bed, filled the screen behind her.

“Welcome, to the Psychology of Erotica.” The room was so quiet that Dr. Adler could have whispered and still been heard all the way up at the twentieth row without any issue. The only other sound was the expectant breathing of overly eager students.

“My name is Dr. Penelope Adler and over the next few months we will be discussing the historical significance, stigma, kinks, and psychological aspects of erotica. You may be thinking that this is a course all about sex. That you will be able to watch porn and call it homework. I am here to abate you of that notion. This course will require you to broaden your mind and to think deeply and philosophically about what erotica is and what it does to the human psyche. This is an upper-level psychology course and, as such, I will be harsh in my grading and critiques of your work. I will demand nothing less than excellence from each and every one of you. If you do not feel up to the task, you may leave now.”

She paused, allowing her students time to leave should they so choose. Not a single soul moved.

“Very good.” She nodded and pressed a button on the remote, moving to the next slide. “Being passed around now is the course syllabus,” she nodded towards her TA, who gathered up the stack of papers on the desk and began passing piles out to each row.

“Now, I am not one of those professors who uses the first day of class to go over the syllabus page by page with you. You are all adults and I expect you to be able to read and comprehend the assignments on your own. So, let us begin today’s lesson.”

~*~*~​

Closing the door of her office behind her, Penny set her red quilted Chanel briefcase on the floor beside her desk. She sat in the black leather chair and pulled her planner from the briefcase. While her peers were embracing the digital calendar, Penny remained strictly analog with planner she had custom made each year. Glancing through the pages, Penny made note of the faculty meeting that evening and the cocktail hour at the president’s house directly after. She scanned the page, smiling at how every hour was carefully scheduled and color-coded, even her lunch hour and dedicated writing time were noted within the time table. Penelope Adler was nothing if not a planner and she had been since she was ten years old and was gifted her first Lisa Frank planner, a unicorn racing across a rainbow on the plastic cover. Even her dates got penciled in, when there was a free moment to spare for such frivolity at least.

At thirty-one, Penny was the youngest tenured professor in the university’s history. She held two master’s degrees and a doctorate. And she published regularly in psychology and human sexuality journals. All in all, Dr. Penelope Adler was a busy woman and she had no time to waste on something as trifling as dating. Especially when she could easily satisfy her own needs when they arose.

A knock sounded on her door. A glance at her calendar showed she was now in open office hours.

“Come in.” She called, setting her planner aside with a final loving caress.

 

[wickedpen]

"Doctor Adler?" a smooth yet clueless voice called from behind the door. Sara is a sophomore who somehow manages to keep her standing in school while attending every show she can score tickets to. She is a dirty blonde, almost emaciated, post-model look with baggy jeans hanging from her pronounced hip bones. Blue eyes, often blood shot, wander into the room as she opens the door.

"Doctor Adler?" she calls again seeing the woman sitting behind the desk perfectly still, fitting perfectly into this office as example of "extreme OCD." Sara exhaled, louder than she hoped, as she slid into the crack in old office the door with "Penelope Adler, PhD." stenciled onto the frosted glass.. Her blue tie dyed Phish tour tee shirt clung nicely to her figure as she slid her flip flops across the hardwood floor.

Sara was a free spirit who was not bound by the constraints and restrictions of Ivy League society. She applied on a lark and got in with a prayer, and they needed someone from Idaho. Since then she begs, borrows and if necessary steals to stay. Lucky for her plenty of weak men are in positions of power and wealth and for a little of the right attention can move mountains.

Realizing she was now in the good doctor's office, mostly uninvited, she turned to the bemused older woman. Suddenly Sara realized Professor Adler, the stodgy BDSM professor was young and hot. From a distance in the back of the auditorium where Sara was waiting for her friend in "the Psychology of Erotica" Dr Adler looked older. Even as Penelope Adler had said the words, that day, the magic was everywhere. Sara always saw and felt the magic and she had to know this Dr Adler who teaches "the Psychology of Erotica" and appears to be wound as tight as a jammed clock spring.

"Hey!" Sara says cheerfully to Dr Adler's nonplussed demeanor. "I'm Sara and I would like to take the Psychology of Erotica." as she sat her left hip on the front of the desk and reached her hand to shake with a genuine smile and piercing blue eyes, like jewels sparkling in the afternoon sun.

 

[ms_tiff]

Penny stared at the young woman who bounded into her office like an over eager puppy. The girl's attire and disheveled appearance seeming out of place in the office. The bloodshot eyes with dark bags beneath them were a distinct sign of unhealthy living and, more than likely, drug use, something of which Penny had a harsh disdain. She never could understand how her students, even some of her own colleagues, could partake of such a mind-altering substance that left one's clothes reeking of musk with an undertone of garbage.

The girl, for there was no other way to describe the manic pixie walking into Dr. Adler’s office, gazed around the room wide-eyed. Penny watched, silently, as the girl took in the pristine office.

There was a certain pride that Penny took in her office. The room had been carefully curated, each piece from the furniture to the artwork had been thoughtfully chosen and placed in just the right space. Her aesthetic gravitated towards Scandinavian chic with sharp, simple lines. Every texture was soft and supple, the colors a pleasing combination of pastels and earth tones. The left wall was covered floor to ceiling in bookshelves; each shelf equal parts books (arranged alphabetically by author’s last name) and mementos from her travels. The opposite wall held a sleek, cream-colored sofa and, above that, a print of the same painting that had opened her lecture that morning. The wall behind Penny’s desk was a large, picture window that overlooked the tree-shaded quad.

A small shudder ran down Penny’s spine as the girl propped a waif-thin hip on the edge of the desk.

“Hey! I’m Sara and I would like to take the Psychology of Erotica." A hand extended towards Dr. Adler.

Penny gave a pointed look at the girl’s hip and then to the empty chair right by the desk. “Have a seat.” She commanded without shaking the girl’s hand.

She waited until the girl had moved off the desk before proceeding.

“As I am sure you are aware, the class registration is closed. Rules are rules and I cannot make exceptions. Additionally, this class has course requirements. Have you completed those requirements?” She didn’t ask so much as state, as she was quite certain that this girl had not completed the classes required for her course. “If that is all, you may see yourself out.”

Finished, Penny picked up the Montblonc pen, a gift to herself on achieving tenure the year before, and jotted a note in the book reserved for her office hour sessions. Noting the time, student, and reason for visit. With the notes completed, she looked up to see that the girl still sat across from her.

 

[wickedpen]

Resistance to what Sara wanted was neither unexpected nor unusual as she was a person who went for it. Her first time "on tour" as the deadheads called it, lasted a month with a couple college freshman when she was a Sophomore in high school. Her parents had given in to her a long time ago, unable and unwilling to sway her desires.

Her blue eyes were looking deep in Dr Adler's eyes by the time doctor looked up from her fastidious note taking. Sara held her stare then looked away as if nothing had happened. She continued to sit noting her own strange inability to read Dr Adler. She searched the shelves for something to use. Something to pry open this disciplined hard ass.

Sara's blank expression began to warm but only an undetectable degree as she realized all of the art and statuary was purely feminine focused. This brought Sara upright in her chair as she looked at the painting over the couch. Sara wet her lips at the image of the women, so at peace. "So spent" she thought bringing a grin to her face.

Looking back at Dr Adler she refocused on the static woman whom now had a completely different vibe for Sara. Sara has spent the summer with a girlfriend in Yosemite, in a van where she had taken a deep dive into feminine eroticism, both creating and modelling.

"Would you have a problem if I audit the class Dr Adler?" she asked watching for any reaction she might use to her advantage. Sara was a student of human behavior. She knew a lot about body language and tone and intent, mostly from hard knocks but with knowledge comes power and Sara was no longer a victim of unforeseen intentions. She knew there was something here that was out of place, but could not quite put her finger on it. She had never met anyone like Dr Adler, so disciplined and buttoned up yet living and breathing in a beautiful wide open sexual world. The doctor was not demanding or dominant nor was she submissive or weak. "There have to be layers under there." Sara thought looking at the professor.

Sara slowly stood as Dr Adler continued to await her departure. Sara was conscious of every movement and tried to collect all the information she could but Dr Adler was as stone faced as the ancient sculpture on her shelves.

"I really like your stuff." Sara offered up trying to appear casual, as she looked back from the still closed door. Her back to the teacher, only her face turned back over her shoulder.

"Was she checking out my ass?" the thought flashed through Sara's head.

"I wouldn't require any special attention or anything, unless..." Sara said letting her eyes fall away. This was classic Sara and worked with 99.9% of professors to get them to give her what she wanted.

Dr Adler not saying anything caused Sara's hopes to drop as her long thin fingers fell onto the worn brass door knob. Sara paused feeling the smoothness and wondered how many hands had gripped that knob. As usual her mind flashed to a more obscene fantasy question, how many co-eds had been fucked against the door.

"Have a good night." Sara added turning the knob.

 

[ms_tiff]

Was the girl incapable of understanding that her time was done? Penny couldn’t comprehend why the girl, Sara, was so oblivious to the obvious dismissal. Instead of leaving, she sat in the chair, looking around the office as if she were taking a mental inventory and trying to piece together clues to a mystery. What mystery could there possibly be? What could she be trying to decipher?

Finding herself strangely intrigued, Penny sat back in her chair and watched as Sara’s eyes landed on the painting. Her head cocked slightly as she appraised the piece, Penny watching her carefully to gage a reaction.

Done by Gustave Courbet, “The Sleepers” was Penny’s favorite art piece. She’d first discovered it during her undergrad semester abroad in Paris. On a whim, something rare for her even then, Penny had signed up for an art history class. She’d gone with several of her classmates on a trip to the Louvre and, while the others had wandered about, Penny had been captured by the quiet beauty of the Courbet’s work. The gentle eroticism of the piece, how the two women seemed so comfortable asleep in each other’s arms. Even in sleep there was a mysterious knowing on their faces, as if they had discovered something at which the rest of the world could only guess. It was this piece that had pushed Penny onto her path. From that day, she made it her mission to understand what that knowing was.

As she watched Sara study the painting, Penny wondered what she thought of it. Did she, too, want to delve deeper into the paint to get to the very minds of these two women? The longer she surveyed Sara, the more Penny could see a bit of her younger self in the girl. Oh, certainly not in any obvious way – on all those accounts the two could not be more different – but, rather, in how she thought and perceived the world. Or perhaps that was merely wishful thinking on the young doctor’s part?

“Would you have a problem if I adult the class, Dr. Adler?” Sara asked, turning back around to face Penny.

Penny could feel Sara’s gaze assessing her, watching for any clue or reaction. But she would not give the girl the satisfaction of a visual response. As if her silence was answer enough, Sara stood slowly and moved towards the door, seeming to, finally, understand that she was dismissed.

“I really like your stuff.” She offered, body still facing the door, head turned to look back at Penny. Her body clearly set in such a way to highlight the lines of her figure and to draw the eye.

Dr. Adler arched an eyebrow. Oh, this girl was good. She was quite obviously using the fact that Penny’s office was outfitted mostly in lesbian erotica to suss out what she believed to be the professor’s sexuality and use that to her advantage. If not a good student, the girl could make an excellent case study for her latest research.

"I wouldn't require any special attention or anything, unless..." The subtle shift of her eyes, the coquettish dip of the chin. Yes, Penny wanted to study this girl further.

As Sara made her good-byes and turned the handle, Penny made her decision.

“If you want to be in my class, I will make an exception this one time. But you must do something for me.” She picked up her planner and began to look for an empty block of time. “I’m working on a new paper and I believe you could be of some assistance with my research. If you want to take my class without meeting the course requirements, then you will meet with me once a week for the duration of the semester. You may not ask questions about the research or my methods. In addition, you must attend every lecture, turn in all coursework on time, and maintain a B average or you will be dropped. Is that clear?”

As she waited for the girl’s reply, Penny jotted a note in neat, precise writing on her personalized stationary.

“If the terms are satisfactory, you may take this to the registrar’s office and they will have you enrolled in the class.” She placed the note on the desk. “You may go now.”

 

[wickedpen]

Sara had a difficult time concealing the joy erupting in her heart as the doctor made an excuse, an effort, for her. Although Sara's bravado had been manufactured over years of less than supportive circumstances. Stepped forward on stiff legs unsure how to walk, her excitement almost irrational.

"Research project?" Sara said looking sideways at her new teacher. She slid the expensive parchment to the side of the desk and held it, as though Dr Adler might take it back. "Sounds fun." Sara answered her own query beaming a genuine appreciative smile at this unusual woman. Strangely unique from the hippy chicks Sara was used to.

It was like getting her college acceptance back in Whistlers Hollow. Butterflies and excitement coursed through her. Over the rainbow! On top of the world! So many feelings for something she had not know existed when she woke up this morning.

This time she backed away from the desk not looking at the note. "Thank you Dr Adler I will not let you regret this." she said honestly appreciative. She turned and opened the door only to once again wait for Dr Adler's eyes to rise to meet hers.

"When do we begin?" Sara asked unclear what it was, but definitely more intrigued in this than so many past classes.

 

[ms_tiff]

"Oh, there you are Dr. Adler. There's someone I'd like you to meet." Dean Benson ushered Penny over to the high top where a handful of her colleagues were already deep into their drinks.

These cocktail hours and networking events were a bore to Penny and a complete waste of time. She already saw enough of her peers during working hours, must she really socialize with them on her own time? Forcing the corners of her mouth up into a passable smile, Penny wandered over to the table; a glass of scotch in her hand.

The phycology department's faculty meeting had run late, something which Penny could never forgive. Why did people insist on prattling on? This, coupled with the chair of the department cornering her to ask about the new paper she was working on, had caused Penny to arrive late to the cocktail hour at the bar three minutes from campus.

Penny nodded a curt greeting to the professors around the table. She vaguely remembered some of their names, but, as they weren't in her department it really wasn't important.

"Dr. Adler, this is the newest addition to the art department, Professor Miles. He's joining us from London. He teaches art history at the Royal Academy, but has decided to grace us with his presence for the year." Dean Benson gestured to the tall man beside him. "Professor Miles, this is Dr. Adler, one of the rising stars in our psychology department."

"Please, call me Devlin." His voice deep, accent cultured. He extended his hand and Penny placed her hand in his, feeling the callouses on his fingers and the assertive grip.

"Penny." She replied. Just as she did with everything else in life, Penny took his measure as they shook hands. From the square line of his jaw that was dotted with stubble to the broad expanse of his shoulders. The clean cut of a well-tailored suit which clung to his body in a way that had every woman (and some of the men) stealing glances at the professor. He was rugged looking, but the glasses perched on his nose gave him an intellectual air.

When he released her hand, Penny felt somewhat unmoored. He nodded towards the drink in Penny's hand, Scotch neat with a twist.

"You have excellent taste." He smirked, raising his own identical glass.

"I know." Her clipped reply lacked the sting it usually held as she raised her own glass and sipped. Her lipstick leaving a dark red stain on the rim.

Devlin chuckled and took a swig of his drink. "Direct, I like that in a woman."

"Tell me, Devlin, what will you be teaching this year?"

"I'm doing a specialized topics course about the sexualization of art through the years. How artists began painting nudes as a study of the human form and how it has progressed into something more sexual."

"This is why I thought you two should meet." Penny blinked as Dean Benson interrupted the conversation. He placed a hand on Penny's shoulder, quickly dropping it when she threw him a look. The repugnant man quickly excused himself, leaving Penny and Devlin alone.

"What was that?" Devlin asked curiously.

"I believe Dean Benson was referring to my upper-level lecture on the psychology of erotica." She replied with another sip of her drink. "It seems we both have a fascination with sex."

"It would seem so." Devlin leaned on the table, moving in closer. "Tell me, Penny, are you working on anything interesting at the moment?"

Never good with small talk, Penny appreciated the fact that Devlin didn't try to engage her in something trivial. Instead, she launched into her latest research project, telling him about the young student she had met that day and how she hoped to use her as a case study.

"She's to come by my office tomorrow at 5:42 for our first appointment." Penny said.

"5:42...why such a specific time?" Devlin quirked an eyebrow.

"My last lecture ends at 5:30. 5:42 allows for the five minute walk to my office, three minutes to boil water and start the coffee in my French press, two minutes to check any last minute emails, and two minutes to prepare for our meeting."

Devlin laughed, causing Penny to raise her eyebrows. "What is so funny?"

"You are quite odd." His smirk grew and he clinked his now empty glass against hers, "I like that."

~*~*~​

The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the office as Penny gathered the materials she would need for the meeting with Sara.

A pile of forms sat in front of the chair where the girl would sit, the edges carefully aligned. A pen sat neatly on top, at a perfect 45 degree angle.

A glance at the clock showed 5:42 on the dot, Penny looked to the closed door expectantly. It would not bode well for young Miss Sara if she were late.

 

[wickedpen]

Like a wind through a wild flower patch Sara breezed into the hallway outside Dr Adler's office practically silently in bare feet, baggy blue yoga pants and another tie dyed tee shirt. This one was yellow to start. She looked at her Apple Watch and saw it was 5:42. She smiled as she paused to think, how strange to have "to the minute" punctuality as an expected thing. None the less she was part of Dr Adler's game now and it was 5:42 and she was there.

She knocked twice and then tried the door. It was open and she looked in, unsure what she would see. There Dr Adler was at her desk with the hot wet nutty smell of coffee whispering up from the press.

"That smells amazing!" Sara said crawling into the chair in front of the desk with her legs crossed under her. She sat and waited as the feeling of being so wrong for this seemed obvious in the awkward silence. She turned and took in the painting of the women again.

"How free," she heard herself say, meaning to only think it. She then looked guiltily at Dr Adler, unsure why.

 

[ms_tiff]

The door opened just as the clock hit 5:43. Feeling generous, Penny allowed it to slide as Sara settled into her chair. The young woman made herself at home in the office, crossing her legs beneath her and settling back as if she meant to set up camp. Her gaze drifted once more to the painting of the entwined women.

"How free," the words were said softly, thoughtfully, as if she didn't mean to say them aloud.

"Yes, it's my favorite painting." Penny offered, a wistfulness in her tone as she recalled the day she saw the painting for the first time. Returning her gaze to the girl in front of her, Penny nodded towards the papers in front of her.

"Now, let's get to business shall we." Penny stood and walked towards the bookcase where the French press sat. Her black Louis Vuitton's clacked softly against the hardwood floor.

"I'm sure you're wondering what exactly this project is that I am working on." She poured two cups of coffee and glanced over her shoulder. "Do you take cream or sugar?" Nodding to her at Sara's response she prepped the two cups and carried them back over to the desk. She placed one cup in front of Sara and carried the other to her own seat. Smoothing her plum colored pencil skirt she settled into her office chair and crossed her legs.

"The purpose of my research is to study how a person can manipulate a situation utilizing body language to send specific signals. Mostly I am looking at how people respond when the words and tone a person uses on them is in direct opposition to their body language. I suppose you could say I am studying the effects of flirting when one uses only body language.”

Penny took a sip of her coffee - a dash of cream, no sugar and absolute perfection.

“That is where you come in,” she continued, setting the cup back down. “From our interaction yesterday, I suspect that you are used to being able to manipulate people into doing what you want. It’s not a judgement, merely an observation. I want to use you as the baseline of my research. Once a week I shall give you an assignment, which you will follow to the letter. Some days I will accompany and observe you on that assignment. Others, I will require you to make note of your own observations and report back. We shall proceed through the entirety of the semester, which should give me enough data to compile an accurate result.”

She nodded to the papers in front of Sara.

“Should you agree, I’d like you to read over the contract and non-disclosure agreement and sign them. Any questions?”

 

[wickedpen]

"No, nothing, just black." Sara answered as Dr Adler poured the second cup of coffee. "I learned to drink it black living in Yosemite last summer." Sara continued suddenly feeling like a vagabond who happened into the quicksand. Dr Adler was all business but with style. Everything was the best, or had some specific reason for being and Dr Adler moved like a part of her clock, purposeful and by design.

"Thanks" Sara said, strangely excited to take the warm cup she offered. Sara watched the doctor and felt so slack seeing her perfection of speech and poise. Her character was beyond reproach yet here we were, under a painting of two woman relaxing after what only be imagined as a good time. Also I do not think the good time stepped out of frame at any point, it was all them.

The coffee was delicious, not surprising, but then Sara caught a hint of her perfume as well.

Dr Adler explained her experiment.

"So, flirt then say 'no'?" I asked as she looked at me. There was something there in her eyes, behind her elaborate facade. "I, I mean that's an over simplification." Sara stammered feeling she had boiled down a woman's work to a dare on a Friday night between girl friends.

Dr Adler went on and further explained the situation and moved some papers to the front of her desk, in front of Sara. They were serious forms with those sticky arrows that say "Sign here."

Sara put her coffee on the desk, not thinking of a possible ring on the polish. Sara lifted the pen and looked back at the doctor.

"How will you measure the man's reaction?" Sara asked wresting her chin on her hand that held the pen. "I mean an experiment needs controls and variables and measures. Will these men have no idea who I am or be men I know? Will I pick them? How much data do you need?" Sara's mind raced with a new way of looking at the world. This is what she loved about college. She learned different ways to appreciate the world. Her interest in the subject seemed pleasing to Dr Adler who watched her think and ask questions.

"What will i wear? Same thing every time? and where?" Sara caught herself running on and then sat up and signed where the plastic arrows pointed. "When do we get started?" she said vivaciously as she dropped the pen and fell back into the chair.

 

[ms_tiff]

The questions rolled off Sara's tongue quickly, Penny remaining silent until the girl ran out of breath.

"Valid questions." Penny surveyed the girl. "Every assignment will be different and the instructions will be carefully mapped out each time. To go into too much detail at the beginning of the research could corrupt the data."

Penny settled back into her chair, fingers steepled beneath her chin as she gazed at Sara. The more time she spent with the girl the more certain she was that she had chosen the perfect subject.

"To appease your curiosity, I will give you a little information on your first assignment. However, for the sake of the research, I can only tell you so much beforehand." She opened a file on her desk, pulling it closer to read over the contents.

"The first assignment, which will occur this Friday, will take place at the Student Union. You will be required to dress as usual, the person you approach will be of your choosing. This first task will serve to establish a baseline for your own behaviors."

Penny glanced at her watch and collected the signed contract and non-disclosure form.

"Now, if you have no further questions, I must conclude our meeting for the day. Be at the Student Union at seven on Friday night. I will text you more details regarding the assignment when you arrive."

Standing, Penny straightened her skirt and adjusted her white blouse. She moved around the desk and held a hand out to Sara.

"I look forward to working with you." She offered the girl a slight smile as they shook hands. As Sara left the office, Penny watched her, quite certain that this was going to prove an interesting experiment.

 

[wickedpen]

Cup of Fame

Sara stepped away from Dr Adler's office in a strange daze. Her feet stepped down the hall in automated silence as most people had left for the day and the sun was beginning to disappear behind the Berkshires. Unaccustomed to the maniacal order and strict discipline of Dr Adler she wondered what she had gotten into. She walked slowly thinking of every moment, every detail, every smell, every word. Excited and nervous she walked the tree lined streets and paths across campus towards her apartment.

"Maybe Natalie is working?" she thought out loud as an early autumn breeze gave her a chill through the tee shirt and thin pants as she neared Six Points, the cool part of town where the bars and restaurants cater to the locals and college kids alike.

Sara pushed open the multi color flier pasted door of the "Cup of Fame" coffee shop where her friend Natalie sometimes worked. It was on the way home and she could use a reality check.

Natalie was cool, a local who is a few years older than Sara. They met through some other dealings, and became fast friends. Different worlds now, but back in Idaho they would have had similar lives.

"Cut from the same canvas." Sara would tell Natalie as they shared coffee and cigarettes. She worked at the coffee shop whenever she wanted, since the owner, and nearly every other swinging dick in Six Points had a thing for her.

Who could blame any of them for being attracted to Natalie, a tall vivacious redhead with long curly hair over a tall sturdy tomboyish frame, but definitely not a boy body. She wore her hair in pig tail braids tonight, and wore what appeared to be a nursing uniform costume, stopping about mid thigh.

"Girl's gotta eat." she said responding to Sara's disapproving look, until they burst out laughing and gave each other a hug.

Natalie bounced around with endless energy and seemingly endless cleavage, as the tip jar filled. Sara envied and pitied the wives or girlfriends the men here would be returning to tonight well caffeinated and horny.

Cup of Fame was the store front for a communist collective that lived out in the woods. It was the most granola book store coffee shop you could imagine. It had been their since the first road, lore would have you believe.

Natalie followed Sara to her favorite coffee table book ended by two plush fuchsia lounge chair. She sat across from Sara and lit a cigarette as customers held up coffee mugs for more coffee.

"On break." she would dismiss their calls with a wave and take another drag focusing on her friend.

After some small talk Sara began to tell her about the class and the professor.

"I stumbled into this psychology class to pick meet Mike." Sara said, Mike being a mutual friend. "He was going to hook me up after class, but I was so taken with Dr Adler and the class I blew him off." she said then stopped, as an attractive man at the counter smiled at her. He wore glasses with short dark hair and had an aura of intrigue.

"So I went to see her in her office." Sara said her excitement growing as was Natalie's interest.

"This is the most build up for a college class I ever heard." Natalie said snuffing her cigarette in the old aqua ashtray on the table.

"Her office was like Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter." Sara said somehow excited by this.

"The one in all pink? The evil one?" Natalie asked confused.

"Yeah, yeah, and her office was super orderly with all this weird erotic sex art." Sara said.

"Well it is what she teaches right?" Natalie asked, adding in, "sounds hot".

Sara could not help but notice how the man at the counter kept looking at her.

"Oh it was!" Sara said excitedly. "But Dr Adler is so prim and proper you would never think she spends all day teaching about sex and what man has made in the name of it."

"If I didn't know better I would say you have a crush on your professor." Natalie said with a wicked smile.

Sara looked at her surprised, then played it off as the reality set in. "Don't be ridiculous. I am into guys." she said defensively, "like that one at the counter."

Natalie of course made a big turn and only saw the side of his face and then turned back to Sara. "He's mine!" Natalie said with a big smile, "he is a cutie right? We are going for drinks after my shift."

"Slut." Sara said jokingly.

"Intern." Natalie shot back knowing just how to slide the knife in and twist it so it felt almost good. Sara's face glowed with a smile as her friend embarrassed her.

Natalie, never having seen her friend like this asks, "you have never been with another girl? Never thought about it?"

"No, I mean yeah, I have made out with a few but never for real. Certainly not a teacher." Sara said lowering her voice into the cultured trained upper crust wanna be she was becoming.

"So wait," Natalie began, "Dr Adler is going to study you picking up dudes?" with a big smile.

"Yeah, I guess. It's all hush hush and secretive, like that little book of hers." Sara says returning Dr Adler.

"What little book?" Natalie asked.

"Hey Nat? Can I get some coffee over here? I'm dying." A gruff old economics professor called out from under a nest of eyebrows and mustache.

Natalie stood and said "in a minute", then leaned over the table and whispered in her ear. "Let me know how it goes, girl friend." she said into Sara's ear and in a tone when she said "girl friend" that sent a thrill down her spine. Natalie kissed her cheek, which was unusual and then bounced away to service the surly professor and sexy stranger.

Sara sat and finished her coffee as the guy at the counter was clearly not interested in her as he had not looked back since Natalie returned to her post behind the counter, entertaining his every word.

"Good night Natalie." Sara said with a smile and grateful to have talked about it.

"Let me know." Natalie shouted back as she pour coffee and parried her customers endless innuendo.

Sara walked out and up the hill to her studio over the garage of an older professor, just outside town. It was not much but cheap enough for Sara and they left her alone there.

 

[ms_tiff]

A glass of Scotch in hand, Penny slipped off her shoes and curled up on the cream-colored settee. With a pen in her other hand and a notebook in her lap, Dr. Adler studied her notes thus far. With Sara now signed on to the research, Penny had a lot of work ahead of her.

The clock on her desk chimed 7 o’clock and still she worked. Nights spent working were not unusual for the young woman. Growing up, while her peers were out at parties and football games, Penny had been studying. In college, she had been locked in the library while her classmates were at frat parties. And in grad school she had been too busy working and studying to partake in fun of any kind.

Sipping her Scotch, Penny jotted a few notes in her book about the meeting with Sara. Thinking on her research and thesis, Dr. Adler knew that she had selected the right girl. The semester would, not doubt, be an interesting one.

A knock on the door roused Penny from her thoughts. Dinner had arrived.

“Professor Miles, you are not the Indian food I ordered.” Her lips pulled into what appeared to be a smile as she saw the dashing British professor in the hallway.

“Ah, but you are mistaken.” He held up a plastic bag bearing the mark of her favorite restaurant. “I happened to run into your delivery in the hallway.”

“Please come in, to what do I owe this surprise visit?” Penny stepped aside, allowing Devlin into her office. He settled onto the seat she had just vacated, noting the Scotch on the end table and her notebooks on the opposite side of the settee. His eyes moved over her, taking in the unbuttoned and untucked blouse and the white, lace trimmed camisole underneath.

“I had a suspicion that you would be tucked away in your office, and I thought that it was a crime for a woman such as yourself to dine alone at night.” He replied, all charm as he draped an arm casually over the back of the couch.

“I do some of my best work at night.” Penny said, offering him a fresh glass of Scotch.

“I don’t doubt that.” He smirked at her over the rim of his glass. Nodding towards the notebooks he asked, “Is this your latest research?”

“Yes. I just met with my subject today and I believe she’s going to be my most fascinating research yet.”

Devlin arched an eyebrow. “I’d love to hear more about it.”

Penny began unpacking the bag of food as she outlined her work to Devlin.

“And you’re keeping her in the dark on this?” Devlin asked as Penny finished detailing the research method. The two were now settled on the settee, helping themselves to naan and chicken tikka masala.

“Yes, she’s to be kept blind to the main purpose of the study. I can’t have the data corrupted, so you must keep this a secret.” A slight, teasing smirk tugged at the corners of her lips.

Devlin mimed zipping and locking his lips closed. “On my honor, I shall not breathe a word.”

He stood and began to clear away the empty containers, before turning back to survey Penny who sat with her legs tucked up under her, heels abandoned on the floor.

“Since I have crashed your dinner tonight, I must insist that you allow me to repay you with dinner tomorrow night.” He said, leaning the desk.

“Would this be one colleague treating another colleague? Or a man treating a woman?” Penny wondered aloud. A manicured finger placed ponderously on her chin as she met Devlin’s eye.

He smirked, a teasing glint in his eyes. “Lady’s choice.”

~*~*~​

The lecture hall fell silent as Dr. Adler strode in. Day two of the Psychology of Erotica was beginning and every student was as eager as they had been on the first day.

“Cell phones off.” She commanded, placing her briefcase on the desk. A shuffling of students rushing to silence their phones. Penny stood in front of the desk, leaning back against it, her legs crossed in front of her as she surveyed the students. She wore a pair of dark red high-waist pants with a black, lace-trimmed top underneath a dark red blazer. Her hair was pulled up in a no-nonsense bun and a pair of thick, black-framed glasses perched on her nose.

As she surveyed the class she wondered if Sara would keep to her end of the bargain of perfect attendance. Her eyes traced each student until, yes, there she was.

Content, to see Sara taking this seriously, Dr. Adler commanded her TA to dim the lights.

“Let’s begin.” She said, pushing away from the desk and clicking to the first slide.

Class passed quickly and, as the lights came back on, Penny watched the students gather up their things.

"Sara, come see me up front." She commanded as students began to file out. Everyone paused, wondering who she was talking to and why one student in particular had been singled out.

 

[wickedpen]

The alarm on her phone went off, but today it was not a struggle. Somehow the endless snooze was over. Sara sat up and got right out of bed, showered and while showering she began to do something unusual, think about what to wear. This was foreign territory. "For class?" she thought to herself reflecting on Dr Adler's immaculate presentation, in all things.

"If I am going to be working with her I should probably dress better." she decided. She went and brushed her unkempt knotted mess of golden hay into long straight strands of light, then pulled back them into a bun.

She looked at the pile of clothes, her laundry, coming or going was the question. Sara was a slacker and had the wardrobe to prove it. Jeans, shorts, tee shirts and yoga pants were he go to's. She was about to give in when she saw hanging in the back of her closet, the white blouse her mom had sent her for Christmas. It was very nice, but too conservative for old Sara, but not today. Sara wore a bra, another unusual move, and tucked her blouse into the wrap around black skirt that would get her in any club or show.

It was a strange transformation from hippy mess to business formal, and Sara liked it. At this hour, dressed up like this Sara felt almost like she was pretending to be someone else. It was strange in it's normalcy. She felt pretty and sophisticated, two things she never would have admitted wanting before meeting Dr Adler. She looked at her dark rimmed glasses on her dresser. She sometimes wore them to see professors in hopes of making her look more serious. Purely for style as her vision was twenty twenty and the lenses were clear. "Too much" she said to herself with a laugh.

"What the fuck am I doing?" she said looking in the mirror and laughing, until she really saw herself. She looked amazing and vibrant and most importantly she hoped Dr Adler would see her this way.

She took a moment and looked around her messy apartment and felt disgusted. "Maybe Natalie was right? Maybe I do have a crush?" she thought in silence. Her apple watch pinged as the secondary alarm she had set, just in case she did not get up with the first woke her into the moment and it was time for class.

She was on top of the world as every guy looked her way, whistled or said something with a smile and the world was just a nice place. Sara was not one to see wolf whistles and cat calls as demeaning like some of her more militant feminist friends. She was a few minutes early for class and was able to take a seat towards the front of the lecture hall. Dr Adler's sorority girl cult like following already occupied the first three rows. This struck Sara as odd for someone barely tenured. But the Greek girls love them some marble bodies.

Dr Adler looked amazing in red and black and in total control. That was the thing Sara marveled at, how in control Dr Adler was. She hushed the room with a look and barked commands that could not be denied. Sara mentally tried to write off the eye contact and slight upturn in Dr Adler's thin pink lips, but her inner desires were not so quick to.

Sara was glad she left the glasses at home. Propping her chin on her palm she gazed at this woman. She felt drawn to her for some reason. She was attractive, obviously but there was more. She was mysterious and outside Sara's cool world of rock and roll and parties.

As the lights went down and Sara's new favorite professor lectured, explaining the slides of photographs of the earliest examples of erotica, Sara could not help but think of the scene in "9 1/2 weeks" where Kim Bassinger studies slides of art in a back room. The slide projector controller gets jammed under her, forcing slides in and out of projector while the beam of light over her head flashes their content, culminating in a thunderous climax. I could not get the image of her shoes kicking the wall as she struggled out of her black skirt thinking of Mickey Rourke.

Class ended and Sara was somewhere between amazed by the wonderful lecture and art, and and wanting to be trapped in a Soho gallery, when Dr Adler called to her. The cult instantly took note in unison glaring their overly made up eyes at Sara as she stepped passed them with a "excuse me but I just got a miracle," smirk. This was sweet revenge after having been the target of their derision for the last year. Never fuck a sorority sister's crush, is all I can say.

"Hey, Dr Adler, you look very nice today. I loved the lecture. Very interesting." Sara said excitedly with a genuine smile the burned the Greek girls to watch.

"What can I do for you?" Sara said almost giddy.

With the eyes of the class upon them, as Dr Adler rarely spoke with students outside office hours Sara came to learn, she was glad she wore something appropriate.

 

[ms_tiff]

Penny eyed the Phi Beta Cappa girls, each dressed in the sorority's unofficial uniform of a short skirt and a polo of varying pastel colors bearing the Greek letters. She held a long seated hatred for the Greek system. Perhaps it stemmed from her own time as an undergrad and the torment they had put her through. It didn't help that Penny had entered college at the tender age of fourteen and all the awkwardness that age entailed.

"If you girls do not have another class to attend, I suggest you get started on next week's reading." She dismissed them, turning her back on them before they could utter a word and reached into her briefcase.

Drawing a journal - it's burgundy cover a soft, buttery leather - from the briefcase, Penny turned back towards Sara.

"Your first assignment is tonight. Once you are done, I want you to write down your observations in here." She held the journal out to her student. "As I stated before, when you arrive at the Union I will text you the exact details of the assignment."

Appraising eyes swept quickly over Sara's skirt and blouse.

"You'll need to change before tonight. You mustn't change anything about your normal appearance. Otherwise the results will be skewed."

Without another word, Dr. Adler gathered her briefcase and strode out of the lecture hall.

~*~*~​

Precisely thirty minutes before Sara was set to arrive at the Student Union, Penny had taken her seat to observe her experiment in action. Situated on the upper level, Penny's table sat against the balcony's wall. From there, she could see every inch of the main level.

While many students were off campus on a Friday night, enjoying the bars and clubs that the city had to offer, there was a respectable crowd remaining on campus. An open mic night was scheduled to begin within the hour and a sizable portion of the student body had turned up.

In order to blend in and observe, Penny had dressed in a pair of fitted jeans and a plain, white v-neck t-shirt. Her hair, which she normally kept up in a bun, was loose and wavy around her shoulders. She looked like any number of the coeds wandering about. The only difference being the notebook lying open on the table in front of her.

She took a sip of her latte, eyes moving towards the front door, waiting for Sara's arrival.

The second the girl walked through the door, Penny's finger pressed send on the text message.

There is a man at the coffee counter: brown hair, brown blazer and jeans. He is your target. Approach as you would any normal flirtation. Your object is to get him to agree to go home with you.

As she watched Sara look down at her phone, she picked up her pen and settled in for what was sure to be an interesting night.

 

[wickedpen]

Experiment #1

Sara left class doubly dejected, Dr Adler objectified her as only an experiment actor with a certain look, while dismissing the clear intent Sara had shown to make an effort. "Was I only a lab rat for her?" she thought as she pushed the building door open to be greeted by four Greek witches sitting on the steps as she walked past.

"Hippy trash." one of them hissed and the others laughed.

All Sara could do was wave at them with the lovely notebook Dr Adler had given me. This is all so strange. Sara wondered what Dr Adler was studying. "Was she studying me or am I with her?" she thought as she pulled the bun out of her hair and let it fall. She loosened a few buttons on her blouse and felt better.

She began to look at the drawing journal Dr Adler had given her. It was very nice. The paper felt like linen and the leather cover was sumptuous. She hoped for a note from Dr Adler but "that would have been too human." Sara said with bitterness of her unrequited interest.

She walked home, not even stopping to see Natalie. She needed to get her head right. She put on some Patsy Kline and smoked a joint in her apartment looking out on the tree that hung over the driveway filtering the sun.

* * *

"Punctuality can really become a thing." Sara thought as she hit the student Union right on time. Immediately of course she heard a ping and had to dig her phone out of the woven blue beaded handbag slung across her shoulder. The bag was so worn that it looked like it had been to war. Her curly blonde hair was back bouncing over her eyes as she looked up. She tried to see if Dr Adler was around or using some super high tech surveillance mechanism. Her long blue skirt with small multicolored flowers embroidered into it was a stunning piece of craftsmanship, lost on generation obsessed with screen time. As she stepped the bells tied around her ankle tinkled, all but drown out by crowd as her bare feet became apparent below. Her shirt was a loose fitted linen shirt several sizes too big, tucked into the skirt mostly. The sleeves were rolled up exposing a myriad of woven bracelets around one wrist and an Apple watch on the other. The watch was the only thing that gave her look temporal context as far as 1970 or 2020. In any time she was pretty hot.

Identifying the young man at counter was easy. How she wanted to do this was the trickier part. She walked over and sat down with her fingers interlaced on the counter in front of her on the stool next to her target, and let her face fall forward under her hair. It was all quite dramatic and luckily the whole Union was full of drama so this production was limited in it's audience.

She did not move for thirty seconds before the man said "Hey, are you OK?" A smile came to Sara's face hidden under the hair, as her mousetrap kicked off it's first trick.

On her walk over she had time to ponder Dr Adler, and if and/or how she wanted to let Dr Adler watch or hear about this experiment. "She never really said how far to go?" Sara thought to herself. Then she came up with a solution to both of these issues. Sara reached into her bag and pressed send on the response to Dr Adler earlier message with her target. The message read, "Ladies Room." Then Sara sat up and turned, spinning the counter stool ninety degrees to face the stranger.

"I am OK. Thank you for asking." Sara said with an upbeat tone and a confident smile. "And for showing such empathy I am willing to go into the ladies room and wait for you in the back stall." Her blue eyes riveted to his brown eyes, passing confidence and honesty to a strange but most likely not unwelcome request.. His unshaven chin and thick lips were instantly wet by a thin flat instinctive tongue, he was cute.

Sara leaned her hand to his thigh as he still faced the counter. "Just follow me and I will make it worth your while." she said, turned and stepped off the stool, letting her hand drag up his thigh as she left. She did not look back as she jingled across the busy area of tables and students. Sara assumed he was settling his check and would along directly. She Opened the door to the bathroom.

 

[ms_tiff]

Though the Student Union was getting busier, Penny kept her eyes trained on Sara as she made her way across the floor to the counter. She couldn't hear what was going on, but that didn't matter. The whole point of this was to observe the body language. And, from what she was seeing, Sara wasn't engaging too much.

In fact, the girl appeared stiff, unmoving and somewhat closed off. Pursing her lips, Penny began to wonder if she'd made a mistake. But then the man engaged Sara on his own and Penny's pen began flying over her notebook as she wrote down every minute movement between the two.

Focused as she was, Penny startled when her phone buzzed on the table. Sara's name flashed on the screen above the message: Ladies room.

Interesting.

Penny considered for a moment what this message could mean. Did Sara merely mean to inform her that she had to go to the ladies' room or that she needed to meet Penny there. Contact during the assignments wasn't allowed per the contract; it could ruin the integrity of the interactions. But, there was something about Sara that intrigued the professor.

A quick glance back towards the counter showed that Sara had yet to move. Making a spur of the moment decision, Penny gathered her things and made her way down the stairs and to the small hallway off the first floor. She pushed open the door to the bath room and leaned against the counter, waiting.

 

[wickedpen]

Sara smiled as she strutted towards the bathrooms and saw a casual Dr Adler scurry into the ladies. Sara pushed open the door and then locked it, before turning to face Dr Adler.

"He will be in here in a moment." Sara said looking at how cute Dr Adler was, like a college kid practically. "I am not sure how far you want this to go? If he comes through this door should I stop or do you want to confirm full arousal was achieved?" she continued speaking in dry science terms in an appeal to save some respect. A thud came on the door. "That's him, enough?" she said with her fingers on the deadbolt to open the door.

 

[ms_tiff]

"He will be in here in a moment."

"This was not the assignment." Dr. Adler crossed her arms as Sara locked the door. "You were to flirt and have him agree to go home with you. Whether or not you actually took him home was up to you. But this..." Penny looked about the bathroom, "was not the assignment."

She should have known something like this was going to happen. Sara was young and rash. But, Dr. Adler was in this for the research and, if going off script was something that the girl did, who was she to argue at this turn of events.

"That's him..." Sara's fingers were on the deadbolt and there was an urgent, almost predatory knocking on the door.

Penny allowed herself one quiet sigh before straightening her shoulders.

"The objective doesn't change. You must get him to agree to go home with you. How you do so is up to you. How far you're willing to go is up to you." She whispered, her voice rough and on edge. Dr. Adler did not like changes in her plans.

Easing into one of the stalls, she nodded to Sara. "Let him in."

As the girl opened the door, Penny locked herself in the stall and waited.

 

[wickedpen]

"Hey" Sara said as the subject entered, tall and good looking.

"Were you talking to someone in here?" he said giving a half a look under the stalls.

"Just me." she said as silence permeated the tiled space. Only their breathing could be heard as Sara kissed her new friend and he kissed back and then some.

"You are cute." Sara said breaking the kiss as his hands were pulling up her skirt. She had let his fast hands go almost everywhere without resistance but needed to clear up a few things.

"So, I don't live far, want to come back to my place?" Sara said hoping to be very specific for Dr Adler.

The subject was not quite as keen on that as he had been of getting a quickee in the bathroom from the hot hippy chick.

"I am supposed to meet my professor here." he said looking painfully torn between these options. Like a little boy torn between ice cream and a puppy,.

Sara glanced towards the stall where Dr Adler was squatting on top of the toilet like a naughty kid hiding and listening to something she shouldn't.

"Your professor huh? Gonna hook up with your professor?" Sara said sarcastically, a little put out by his lack of enthusiasm for her offer.

"I wish, but Dr Adler would never date a student." he said as Sara stifled her reaction to this confession.

"I think I know her." Sara said on a brief tangent as she glanced again at the stall containing the petite academic. "Real uptight, and everything has to be prim and proper and organized? but cute, yeah?" she added playing her part with the subject for her cohort in the stall.

"Yes that sounds like her." he said as Sara put her arms around his neck again, and rubbed her inner thigh on the outside of his leg as she whispered, "we could smoke a joint and get naked."

"Sold!" the subject blurted out, "lead the way!" and they were gone, leaving Dr Adler in the empty bathroom alone.

 

[ms_tiff]

Penny placed her keys on the hook by the door as she flicked on the apartment lights. She kicked off her shoes and placed them on the designated rack in the closet, her purse taking up residence on the shelf above.

Notebook in hand, Penny wandered into the kitchen and set water to boiling. She gathered her favorite mug and the canister of loose leaf peppermint green tea. As she water boiled, she made her way into the bedroom. Clothes went into the hamper and she donned a pair of lavender silk shorts and a matching top.

As the tea kettle whistled, Penny wandered silently back into the kitchen and prepared her tea. As it steeped, she moved into the living room, the wood floor cool beneath her bare feet. Against one wall sat a floor to ceiling bookshelf, half of which was dominated by an eclectic mix of records - all sorted into alphabetical order by genre. Soon, the apartment was full of Ella Fitzgerald's smooth voice. Swaying as she walked, Penny hummed along as she gathered her tea and notebook and settled onto the couch.

Contrary to popular belief, Dr. Penny Adler's home was not an extension of her office. It was rumored that she slept in a crypt, that her home was as cold as her office, that she simply plugged into a wall at night and recharged. None of which were true.

Penny took pride in the fact that she was able to separate work and home. While she loved the feel of her office, it was just what she needed to focus on work. Her home, on the other hand, was all bright colors and life, the things she needed to unwind at the end of the day. Yes, certain aspects of her office followed: such as the erotic artwork and collection of books. But that was where Penny drew the line. While it was true that Penny lived and breathed her work, that didn't mean that it had to follow her home.

And, normally, she was able to leave her work behind when she left the office. That night, however, she could not stop thinking about how Sara had done on her first assignment.

The girl had been a loose cannon, obviously keen on making her own rules. Penny made a note to have a conversation with Sara about following the rules of the contract. As she finished writing her observations of the night and adjusted the assignments she'd already planned, Penny's mind wandered, unbidden, to what might be happening in Sara's dorm room at that moment. Or maybe the girl lived off campus? Penny jotted a note to find out Sara's living situation as it could play into an assignment in the future.

Recalling the frantic breathing and sounds of a fairly heavy makeout session, Penny's mind conjured things that she had no right to be thinking. Shaking images from her head, Penny sipped her tea and set her notebook aside. She needed to remain impartial to this research if it was to be successful. There was no room for her to be imagining a naked Sara in the throes of passion. No room whatsoever.

~*~*~​

The next morning, Penny followed her usual Saturday routine: yoga class at 6 o'clock followed by grocery shopping. After dropping the groceries at her apartment and changing into skinny jeans and an off-the-shoulder, slouchy gray sweater, Penny headed out for a late breakfast. Her favorite spot, The Cracked Mug, was a small cafe off the beaten path. It was just large enough for a handful of tables and a couple couches inside, but the patio is where Penny's usual table sat.

After placing her order, Penny sat back and sipped her latte, watching the people wandering by. In a college town people watching was one of the best past times as you were never sure what you would see. There were the usual families out for early morning strolls, the dog walkers and senior citizens power walking in jogging suits, the obviously hung over and the walk of shame-ers.

As the waitress set the bowl of fruit and a plate of French toast with a side of bacon in front of her, Penny caught sight of a familiar figure. Was that...yes. Making her way down the sidewalk was Sara.

 

[wickedpen]

Wearing the same clothes she had on the night before, with a rats nest of hair on her head untended, but a happy smile on her face as she walked unknowingly closer to the patio where Dr Adler was having breakfast. Sara looked up as she passed a small white gate to a yard and several finches flew inches from her on their way somewhere in a hurry. They snapped her out of her sleepy trance and into a giggle at being surprised by the little birds.

She raised her face to the sun and closed her eyes, feeling how wonderful a morning it was. She then took a deep breath and stepped forward down the sidewalk leading past her professor quietly having breakfast.

 

[ms_tiff]

Setting her cup down, Penny made a decision. If she wanted to make any headway with Sara as a subject, she needed to learn more about her.

Sara was strolling down the sidewalk, looking a complete wreck, with her head tipped back and eyes closed.

"Good morning, Sara." Penny greeted the girl as she drew even with her table. "Care to join me for breakfast?"

 

[wickedpen]

A wonderful solitary stroll home was suddenly rocked into reality as from laughing with the birds was replaced with unexpected surprise!

"Oh hey," Sara responded, slowly warming to the offer with a growing smile, once the shock of being pulled back to earth from her solitary planet wore off.

"Hey, how are you?" Sara practically erupted, as though a switch and been flipped, stepping back into the courtyard where Dr Adler sat and drawing the attention from all in earshot. That and vision of Sara bouncing through the beautiful Saturday morning excited with life.

"Yeah, yeah, breakfast would be great!" she spoke rapidly, beamed at the doctor, now looking more Sara's age than Sara previously thought.

The waitress came by and Sara ordered, "black coffee and toast with peanut butter." She started to pick up her cigarettes and lighter out of habit but then left them in her bag.

"Dr Adler is definitely not a smoker." she laughed to herself in her head.

 

[ms_tiff]

People stared as Sara as she breezed onto the patio, her chipper voice at odds with her bedraggled appearance. While Penny didn't care what people thought, but she did wish that Sara would have a little more care for her appearance. The girl was pretty and, with a bit of attention to personal grooming, could be quite attractive. But, Dr. Adler knew that any shift in Sara's usual appearance would tip the scales of her research.

As Sara ordered, Penny observed her, making mental note of the basic black coffee and toast and the girl's demeanor with the waitress. Did she always have a small appetite? Was breakfast not a usual thing for her? Had she already eaten and was simply ordering to be courteous about taking up a chair? The questions flew through Penny's mind. Though it was Saturday, Penny simply could not turn off her mind. She wanted to know more about this enigmatic girl.

"Normally I would wait until our scheduled meeting on Monday to speak with you about last night's assignment. However, I do not believe in wasting opportunities. And as you are here now, I believe we should discuss what occurred." Penny said once the waitress had left.

"Before we begin, however, I would like to make it quite clear that the contract you signed stipulates zero contact between you and I during assignments. Thus, if you wish to remain in my class and a part of this research, there will be no more texts asking me to meet you in the ladies' room or anywhere else. The integrity of the research requires it. Is that understood?"

She paused, letting the words sink in, as she took a bite of strawberry.

"On to business then," she reached into her bag and pulled out the ever present notebook. "Did you have time to write down your own account of the night?"