Special graduate studies(closed for Melissa_A)

[mathpro18]

Stewart gets up from his desk, pulling his sweater vest down as he stands. He's wearing a normal dress shirt under his sweater vest and a pair of dress pants that hang in a way that shows off his ass not that he's ever noticed.

"So let's see what kind of progress you've made on your own since our last talk," he says as he walked up to the chalkboard in his office and drew an equation on the board. "Now with what we've been working on we can clearly see this polynomial congruence will have 3 solutions modulo 5, can you tell me what they are?" He turns to her expectantly, a puff of smoke leaving the pipe in his mouth. He absent minded leans against the board getting some chalk on his sleeve but thankfully he smudged some old work.

After a moment of silence, he says "Hensel's lifting lemma and then Chinese Remainder Theorem..." his voice trails off as he talks around his pipe and then takes another pull on it. "Really Julia we've been working on this for a week now...you seem very distracted lately. Is everything okay?"

 

[Melissa_A]

Julia’s thoughts ran about in her head, memories of a recent email she’d gotten. How could she not have seen that coming - Michael had been so distant for a couple months before they finally broke up, only interested in being intimate when she had practically thrown herself at him, and then when Lisa had said she had a job offer in the same city that he had moved to. How long had they been seeing each other behind her back? And now they were engaged? How many of Michael’s “research meetings” had actually been dates with Lisa? She couldn’t even really hate Lisa over it; she’d always been nice to Julia. It wasn’t her fault that she was prettier, taller, curvier in all the places she knew Michael liked… unlike herself.

"Really Julia we've been working on this for a week now...you seem very distracted lately. Is everything okay?"

Julia blinked. “Oh, sorry, right - if we apply the lemma” She uncrossed her legs, smoothed her skirt on her thighs, and rose out of the tapestry chair. It was her favorite chair in Professor Gram’s office, its fabric covered in mathematical symbols in rich colors, though it was so comfy and deep that it was easy to get too relaxed. It was hard to get out of in a skirt without risking showing a lot of leg or even more, but with Michael gone it was one of the few little thrills she had to see Dr. Gram’s eye flick down to check her out. She really shouldn’t, she knew, but that actually made it all the more addictively exciting. She had come to wear skirts anytime she met with in in his office.

“If we apply the lemma, then since we know the divisors are pairwise coprime, we should be able to do this.” She picked up a piece of chalk and began to sketch out a new equation underneath the one he had written. Her symbols flowed with rounded shapes, so clearly contrasting with the bold strokes of his handwriting. The sweet smell of the pipe smoke drifted about. It had bothered her when she first met with him in his office, but at least it was better than cigarette smoke, and now she had actually come to like it.

“Let’s see,” she said bent over as the equations went further down the board. Half her mind was on the problem, but the other half was wondering if he’d try to look down her neckline. Would he have noticed that the pale pink he might have glimpsed up her skirt matched the pale pink of the lacy bra she wore? It gave her a little rush just thinking about it.

“There, is that right?” She straightened up, smiling at him and looking to see if she’d catch his eye peeking elsewhere. She leaned her bottom against the edge of the blackboard tray.

“I’m sorry, I have been distracted. I uh… got some news recently that has been on my mind a lot. I’m sorry that it got in the way of our work.”

 

[mathpro18]

As she stood he stole a quick glance up her skirt. He knew it was wrong but he liked it when Julia wore skirts and sat in that chair because it allowed him to steal quick glances of her more intimate parts. As she worked at the board he nodded along silently, smoking his pipe. As she leaned down he looked at her backside as it stuck out a little as she leaned.

At the mention of the news she had received he looked over at her, a concerned look on his face. "It was about Michael, wasn't it? Its okay if your distracted by news of him, I know you two were close...I honestly feel responsible...if it wasn't for me you two would have never met" he says as he moves a little closer to her. He reaches down to put a chalk covered hand against her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze before remembering the chalk.

"Oh...sorry...Differential Equations this morning was one disaster after another...apparently I need to review my LaPlace Transforms..."

He took a moment as she was distracted with the chalk on her shirt to take a peek down her neckline. He wasn't sure why but the last few months he'd started stealing quick glances of her...maybe it was the fact that they had worked so closely this semester...or maybe it was the fact that things weren't going well at home. He cringed for a moment at the thought of his homelife, his teeth closing around the end of his pipe causing it to tilt up ever so slightly.

Breaking the thoughts trying to chain him he turned to the board and smiled "Oh you have been paying attention...very good Julia. As you know once we get to this point we can combine all the solutions contributed by each of these equations and then apply the Chinese remainder theorem to solve the system generated by doing so. Do you need to practice doing that or do you think your good with it?"

 

[Melissa_A]

She didn't notice him checking out her bottom, the way that the skirt grew snug as she bent over the pert curves with the barest trace of the lines of her bikini-cut panties..

"It was about Michael, wasn't it? Its okay if your distracted by news of him, I know you two were close...I honestly feel responsible...if it wasn't for me you two would have never met"

She smiled. He was so sweet. "Well, things were really great with him for a while, really - the whole time we were both in your class. Spring semester was when things stopped working." She looked away, turning back to him when she felt his gentle squeeze on her shoulder. Just about any other professor - most other men right now really - she wouldn't have wanted to touch her. But he was different.

She laughed at the chalk and his apology, and brushed it off with her hand. Just as she was looking back at him she noticed how the way her body turned had given him an angle on her blouse's neckline. Her heart gave a little thump when she noticed that he'd been looking. It wasn't by accident that she'd chosen a blouse whose second button was just a little low. He must have seen the lace edging on the bra, the way it fit on her, though it didn't really show that much skin. Could she really get up enough courage to wear something racier for him? The very thought of it was wrong, she knew, but exciting. The thought almost made her miss what he said next.

"Do you need to practice doing that or do you think your good with it?"

"I think I have it. And I guess we're kinda at the end of your office hours anyway." She turned away from him to put the chalk away, which let him see that she had a line of chalk right across her bottom from leaning against the chalk tray. Before he could do more than look though she had turned back and leaned back against the tray again.

"I did wonder though." her eyes dipped away from his for a brief moment "Um, you're planning on coming to the McPherson Society Charity Masquerade tonight, right?" She knew he had gotten an invite, she'd made sure of it through a friend in the social committee. "I mean, I guess if you're going then I'll see you there later tonight." She had a little nervous laugh, almost a giggle. "Or, you know, maybe I'll see you since it's a masquerade and all."

 

[mathpro18]

Stewart looked at the clock in his office and sighed heavily.

"I suppose it is" he said and put the chalk down on the tray. "Great...freshman calculus...my favorite. Let's hope they don't waste my time today and that they all stay awake. How you can fall asleep in a 3 PM lecture is beyond me..." He said as he stole another glance at her ass. Seeing the chalk line there he smiled and almost snickered a little but he didn't want to give himself away. He wanted so badly to reach out and dust her off but his hands were still full of chalk and he didn't need the issues of sending a student out of his office with chalk prints on the back of her skirt.

"Umm...you have chalk...from the tray" He says hoping that was enough for her to get a hint. "Oh and one last thing. Your thesis is going to be due at the end of the semester, I know its only early October, but I want you to have your synopsis and your thesis statement written by the time we meet again? You're still planning on applications of higher order polynomial congruences right? Or did I just waste the last hour and half with you" He said and laughed at the end, obviously teasing her.

At her question about the event tonight he nodded and picked picked up the mask he was going to wear "Yeah I'll be there. I've been ducking the social commity for months and I was told by my chair I need to start attending more events on campus, so I'll be there. Though my wife doesn't understand why I have to go...but thats a story for another time."

He had mentioned briefly trouble at home so Julia knew there were issues but he never really went into great detail. It was a private matter he had to sort out. He walked over to his desk and gathered his things for calculus and put out his pipe and rest it on the desk.

"Here I'll walk you out" he said with a smile and put a chalk filled hand against the small of her back to guide her out of the room.

 

[Melissa_A]

"Umm...you have chalk...from the tray"

She looked at her shoulder first, dusting the chalk from his squeeze there off, then realized his eyes had been somewhere else. She twisted and looked over her shoulder, then brushed her hands over her bottom. Darn knit fabric picking that all up, she thought to herself, I'm practically as absent minded as he is

She nodded at his reminder on her thesis prep. "Don't worry, I have a draft already. I'll do a few more edits and email you."

She smiled sympathetically at his comment about his wife. It sounded like it was a relationship that had lost all the love, and she knew what that was like from her last few months with Michael. Perhaps she should be happy they hadn't gone on a few years more, gotten married, and then realized they weren't right for each other. Prof Gram sounded unhappy, but at least it didn't sound like they were have screaming matches with each other, but then maybe he was just understated about that too.

As they walked out she felt his hand on the small of her back. She let herself slow a bit, feeling the pressure of it just below the line of her bra. It wasn't exactly a hug, but she'd take what personal contact she could get, particularly from such a nice guy. if only she'd thought more about nice guys instead of daring guys she wouldn't have ended up with someone like Michael.

As she turned away from him as they turned into the hall she suddenly realized. "Hey, did you just get chalk on my top?" She looked back at him, mock angry as she tried to reach behind herself and brush it off even though she couldn't see it. "Maybe I should come to the costume ball as a board eraser!" She grinned at him. He'd be surprised when he saw the outfit she had, she was sure. It was hanging up in her apartment right now, waiting for the big night.

"See you tonight!"

 

[mathpro18]

((going to jump us forward if thats okay))

"Yes I'll see you tonight," He says removing his hand from her back, stealing one last glance of her chest before he parts ways with her.

The rest of the day passed painfully slowly for him and it was with great relief that he returned to his office after teaching. He quickly checked email at his computer before calling home to remind his wife that he was going to be late. His son answered the phone.

"Hey Julius how was school today...that's excellent I'm proud that did so well on your exam...hey look I've only got a moment is your mom home...thanks"

His entire demeanor shifted when his wife came on the phone. "Hello Barabra...yes...no...yes...look I just called to remind you that I have an event on campus to go to tonight and I will be home late. Make sure Julius does his homework and I will see the two of you in the morning. Yes...no...no...but dear...yes dear...no...I have do go" he slammed down the receiver obviously agitated by the phone call. He takes a deep calming breath and when that doesn't work he lights his pipe and takes a flask out of his desk drawer. He looked around to see if anyone was at his door before taking a quick swig and then putting it back in the drawer.

An hour later saw him in his costume and at the party, freshly showered but still smelling of pipe smoke. He was dressed like his favorite french mathematician, Henri Poincaré. He even dawned a fake pair of classes over his mask, a fake gotee, and period correct over coat, shirt, pants, and shoes. He intermixed with people from the University making small talk with students and faculty alike.

 

[Melissa_A]

Julia stared into the full length mirror of her apartment, marvelling at the dress. It was certainly the boldest outfit she had ever worn before, though that said as much about her as it did about the dress. She knew some girls who wore sexier clothes when going out clubbing, but then those girls had earned a reputation very different from Julia. Nobody who knew her would expect her to wear this dress, well except for Maggie.

Maggie was one of her closest friends, and a former art major who dabbed as an amateur fashion designer. One of the things that worked so wonderfully between them was how different they were. Maggie was outgoing and artistic, Julia was quiet and intellectual. Julia had found the fabric and Maggie had designed the dress for her. The fabric was what had inspired Julia - it was a black background with a colorful representation of the Julia set with field lines curving outwards. The center of the Julia set had two expanding nodes; Maggie had designed so that these formed the cups of the bodice. The field lines swept out along her body, helping give more curve to her slender body. She’d only finished it a few days ago...

“I’m sorry, Julia, it’s a big more snug than I envisioned it; I think it didn’t account for the seams enough. Good thing the fabric has some stretch to it.” Maggie’s fingers ran along the seams at Julia’s ribs.

“No, no, it’s great Maggie. Thank you so much! Look, it fits so well I’m fine with not wearing a bra. Even my nicest bra’s strap would kind of ruin the open back anyway - and I love that so much.” Julia turned in front of the mirror, looking over her shoulder at the back of her dress. The open black plunged until it was only an inch or two from the top of her undies.

“That’s easy for you to say.” Maggie laughed. Julia’s small, perky breasts could get away with a bra a lot more easily than Maggie’s considerably curvier shape. Maggie ran a finger over Julia’s bottom. “You’ll definitely want a thong - these briefs are giving you VPL that cuts right across your bum.”

Julia nodded. Maggie had always been touchy, enough that she’d wondered if there was something more there, but neither one of them had ever raised the topic. She certainly hadn’t minded helping a mostly-naked Julia get into the dress.

“You ready for the mask?” Maggie asked as she walked over, a piece of predominantly black fabric in her hands.

“Sure. Let me do it. After all, I have to be able to put it on myself when I get there.” Her hands wrapped up and around, stretching the soft-form eyes and nose over her face and tying the back in amongst the braids of her blond hair. Constellations of stars sprung out from around her eyes, trailing back toward her temples.

“Do you think anyone will be able to recognize me?” she mused aloud.

“Only people who know your voice. Honestly, I’d never have expect you to wear something like this. That’s why I kept asking you if you were sure.”

Julia nodded. That’s what she had wanted. And that’s why it gave her such a thrill that she was going to wear it. Her heart started beating faster just at the thought that in only an hour she’d be at the party. She wondered how long it would take Professor Gram to recognize her.

“What if I changed my voice like this?” she said, dropping her voice a shade deeper and making it a little husky.

“Woa… damn girl ...”

 

[mathpro18]

The party "raged" on and Stewart quickly began getting bored of the same inane conversations with people and having to explain his costume. 'If I have to explain who Henri Poincaré is one more time...' the thought to himself as he walked over to the bar and got himself a drink. He started to wonder if anyone had noticed how much his drinking had increased due to the issues at home.

He was relieved when someone different arrived and that she was female but didn't recognize her from a distance. He excused himself from the mathematics department chair and made a b line for the new guest.

"Hello there, and who might you be in your gorgous dress. I'm not sure we've met. I'm Stewart Gram, Mathematics professor and PhD canadate advisor." He offered the new arrival his hand.

 

[Melissa_A]

When she first arrived at the party Julia was hesitant and nervous, which wasn’t helped by wearing 4” heels that she was definitely not used to. All summer she had worn sneakers, flats, ballet shoes and almost never any heels. In fact she didn’t think she’d worn these heels since her last nice date night with Michael. It took a little bit to walk confidently, while at the same time she keep feeling nervous about her bustline staying put. But after a bit of walking around, a bit of seeing how men’s eyes were following her, and a bit of the punch she was feeling much more confident. She had to discreetly excuse herself from an undergrad who she had tutored who didn’t recognize her but clearly wanted to get to know her better. She dodged him by heading to the ladies room to take a break and a deep breath. The top was showing more cleavage than she was used to and pushing up her enough that her small breasts looked a cup size bigger easily. While it was a close thing, it was keeping her nipples covered though. The dress was very snug, but she was getting used to moving in it, and she was relieved to see that even after a bit of wearing the plunging back wasn’t showing her thong, nor were any lines from it showing on her bottom.

No sooner had she stepped back into the main room then she saw Dr Gram heading towards her. Her heart beat faster; this would really be a test. She drew herself up and let her hips sway just a bit more, acting as if she didn’t see him coming as she angled towards a nook amongst the tables that was relatively empty of other people.

”"Hello there, and who might you be in your gorgeous dress. I'm not sure we've met. I'm Stewart Gram, Mathematics professor and PhD candidate advisor."

“And here I thought that you were Dr. Henri Poincaré.” She remembered to keep her voice disguised with its husky undertones, giving him a playful wink. She let him take her hand, offering it in a formal manner as if she expected him to kiss it. She was glad she’d had a full mani and pedi, her nails painted with a deep blue that matched part of the Julia Set pattern of her dress as well as her mask.

“Of course, I suppose that my representation was discovered a bit after your time.” Her voice was lightly teasing, her eyes following his. Despite her heels, Dr. Gram still stood taller than she. She wondered if he’d play along, the idea of remaining a mystery to him sending a thrill through her that was far more sensual than she had expected.

 

[mathpro18]

Dr. Gramm smiled at her and knew instantly it was Julia once she recognized him but decided to play along. He took her hand and almost took the invite to kiss it, the booze starting to lower his inhibitions but he reminded himself that he had to act professionally. His eyes looked over his body and he started to feel something stir deep with in himself...something that had been dormant for a long time. The hours spent together talking and working in his office combined with the sight of her here in that dress and the fact that he had been stealing glances of her breasts and ass for weeks now had started to develop into something, and despite knowing it was wrong it was something he wanted to explore further.

His eyes settled on her breasts and he allowed himself to linger longer than ever before. Silence started to grow between them as something else started to twitch to life as well. Finally, when things almost seemed deafening between them he broke the silence.

"Very good, you are the first person to get who I am..." he started, his eyes still drinking in the sight of her breasts in that dress. He did his best to try to pull them away and look her in the eye before he was noticed.

"I get tired of having to describe to people who I am and why he was important? Tell me, can you name one contribution I made to the field of mathematics?

 

[Melissa_A]

Her heart gave a little jump as he took her hand formally, but he didn’t kiss it. She could almost feel his eyes lingering on her chest, far longer than he did when she noticed him steal glances of her in the past. It stirred an excitement in her, the way he looked at her, feeling quite different from when a random fellow student looked at her when she was in yoga pants or a brief top. Perhaps because he was her professor… she had to snap herself back as after a long pause he had spoken.

“Well, Dr. Poincaré, I think in particular I admire your work that won the prize set forth by King Oscar II of Sweden on the n-body problem. I’d like to think that in some way my own nature comes from those foundations.”

She could feel a light flush in her skin, the warmth of which went far deeper within her. She shifted to put her weight on one leg, letting her hip sway out to show its curve, as she took the last sip of her glass of punch. The fabric’s small motion on her chest gave her a little reminder on how excited her nipples has become by this little play with Professor Gram. Without the bra she knew there wasn’t that much thickness of fabric to hide them, though with the flat finish of the fabric maybe they wouldn’t be that obvious unless the light has hitting from the right angle from his perspective. She could only wonder.

“Perhaps do you recognize my inspiration as well? Would would you say about this?” She swept her hand that was not burdened by the glass down her dress from bust to hip. She was practically inviting him to stare at her figure again, and the thought sent a nervous thrill through her. She was on a dangerous edge here, flirting with her mentor.

 

[mathpro18]

He studied her dress for a moment, getting lost in his thoughts. She looks breath taking today...why haven't I ever noticed her before. She really has blossomed into a stunning woman over the last year of working with her. His eyes settled on her breasts one more time, gazing at them for longer than he should. He started to get a little erect in his pants as he looked, being to lost in thought to notice however.

After far to long he finally responded "no I don't recognize your inspiration, care to clue me in my dear?"

 

[Melissa_A]

Julia couldn't help but notice that his eyes seemed more concerned with the cleavage that the tight bodice provided than the pattern upon that bodice. It was the kind of guileless stare that should have earned him a dismissive insult or even a slap if she was that kind of woman, but instead it was only increasing the warm energy inside of her. Nervously she glanced around, but the spread of the crowd didn't seem to show anyone paying attention to them over by the side doors. It looked like the dean was telling some anecdote to a large cluster of people that was either entertaining them or they were politically wise enough to feign it.

She looked back to him as he spoke. Her heart beating. How much was she really willing to push this? She took another sip of her drink before replying.

"It is a visual representation of a Julia set." Her hand traced a line down between the twin nodes of the pattern that were also her breasts. "Perhaps you've heard of them. Complex rational relationships - hmm, it seems that could describe many mathematicians as well, don't you think?" She let her finger trace the boundaries of where the brightly colored node met the black background. "Describing precise limits, yet also driven in chaotic sequences outside of those limits." The feeling of her fingernail on her skin through the thin material made her nipples feel all the more charged. She swept her hand down along the arcing field line towards her hip. "And discoveries often go where we don't expect, wouldn't you say."

Her heart was pounding. If it wasn't for the wine could she have possibly dared this, or was the wine just making her limits a bit more ill-defined. She smiled nervously.

 

[mathpro18]

"Ah yes the Julia set. I see it one. The person wearing it distracted me from recognizing it at first, what with the cleverly placed nodes." He tried to make light of the fact that he found her rather attractive dressed like that. His thoughts started to go in new directions and despite his best reminders that she was his student the liquor in his system made it hard to ignore what was right.

Not wanting to loose the feelings he was starting to feel he decided to see just how far this would go. But he knew he had to work this carefully and delicately.

"Care for another drink" he tentatively asked reaching out a hand and placing it on her back right above her backside.

 

[Melissa_A]

"Care for another drink?” She smiled at him as her heart thrilled at the warm feel of his hand on her bare back. It felt casual and yet so intimate. She’d never worn such a plunging backless dress before and was still finding surprises. When she’d first taken off her coat for the foyer coat-check she had felt a chill from the air that made her feel exposed, then that had faded and it had felt normal in the warmth of the main room, but now feeling his hand there - it was frankly erotic, like she was clothed and naked at the same time. Even though the fabric was snug against her bottom, there was the momentary thought of how easy it would be for him to slide his hand down and over the thin strap of her thong. She blinked, trying to dismiss the thought, and drained her glass.

“Certainly. Moving up to a glass of chardonnay sounds wonderful.” Julia let his hand guide her, which felt all the more steadying as she started walking again in the tall heels. She glanced at the crowd around the far end of the bar, and wondered how long it would be until someone noticed who they were - particularly now that he was acting rather more familiar than some might approve of. At that thought another wave of laughter came from the very social cluster. “Perhaps after that we can find somewhere quieter to continue our conversation?”

 

[mathpro18]

Feeling the warmth of her back against his hand stirred something inside him and his heart skipped in his chest. His eyes momentairly drifted down her back to the top of her dress clad ass and it took all the restraint he had not to sensually slide his hand down her back to the top of her backside and play with her thong. Through the alchoholic blur that he was in his mind still had the ability to eek out 'this is wrong...she is a student...but...its been so long since I've felt the contact of another human and she'd be my first choice if things were different.'

Her words snap him out of his thoughts. "Ah yes a woman of fine tastes in drink as well as mathematics then I see. Well we could continue this elsewhere, I know the perfect spot." He takes his hand and guides her by her back through the crowd. He hoped no one notices him with her as even this little touch could get him in trouble. He cleverly lead them around the mathematics administration that he was desperatly trying to avoid and made his way over to the open bar.

"A bottle of your finest chardonnay please" he said. The bartender paused for a little bit and Stewart gave him a harsh look. The bartender finally nodded and gave him the bottle and two glasses.

"For you and your lady friend" the bartender explained.

"Thanks" Stewart said and then turned them around, his hand sliding a little lower on her back, toward the top of her ass now. "Come I know the perfect spot, did you have a coat?"

 

[Melissa_A]

Julia was a bit concerned about Professor Gram browbeating the bartender into giving him a bottle, as that’s the kind of thing that was likely to get back around to the administration. However, her own tipsy state didn’t help her think of anything quick to defuse the situation, and with everything going on she found it hard to care.

"Come I know the perfect spot, did you have a coat?"

“Ye… yes” His hand sliding towards the very edge of her dress, and what little was beneath it, was distracting and enticing. That mixture of feelings ran through her, both wanting more and being a bit alarmed. A bit of distance would help, she thought.

“I’ll just pick it up.” She stepped away from him, breaking the contact of his hand on her back, immediately feeling the lack of its warmth and sensuality. Did she really want everyone to see them leaving together though, with that bottle in his hand?

“Maybe best that we get our things and … meet somewhere … less visible.” In the back of her head was nagging the concern that she was only a short scandal from being out of the program without her degree.

 

[mathpro18]

He looked at her nervously as she seemed a little distracted and seemed to be distancing herself a little. 'I hope I don't come on to strong' he thought to himself. Deciding to play this cool he nods as she speaks.

"That's a very good point, why don't you grab your coat and I'll meet you in the quad in say 10 minutes. Best not leave at the same time, you never know who's watching. I'll make some more small talk with the higher ups and be right along to meet you. Here you might want to take this" he said handing her the bottle of chardonnay.

As she turned to leave his eyes focused on her ass as she walked away and he knew exactly what he wanted from the evening and hoped she would be receptive. He would let her decide how things went tonight but his days of resisting her have come to an end. He just needed to be careful on how to go about it. She was right, they couldn't afford to be caught so they would need to be discrete. As she left the room he tore his eyes way from her and headed to one of the department administrators and started to make small talk with them, buying her time to get her coat.

After five minutes he excused himself from his conversation and made some excuse on how it was getting late and his wife would be expecting him home soon. "I'll see you on Monday" he said as he made his way out of the room. He quickly went back to his office to get some glasses for the chardonnay, and locking the door behind him, went to the quad to meet Julia.

 

[Melissa_A]

Julia stared down at the bottle of wine that Professor Gram had pressed into her hands. How was she supposed to nonchalantly stroll out carrying this? She certainly couldn’t conceal it in this skin-tight dress … but maybe in her coat. She let the bottle slide into her hand down by her thigh, hoping to take it out of sight of more of the room, then wandered over to sit down at a comfy looking chair between the bar and the coat room exit. She snuggled the bottle up against the thick leg of the chair as she pretended to adjust the strap on her high heel. She found herself very conscious of how much leg the slit of the dress showed when she sat down into any chair that is meant for reclining. It was a nervous excitement, even as she saw Dr. Gram engaging in conversation with the nearest administrative types, taking even more eyes off of her.

She rose and went to the coat room, feeling now as if the long black coat was a cloak that concealed more than just the ample skin her dress revealed. As she headed for the door she paused by the chair again and retrieved the bottle, slipping it inside the coat, its glass cool against the skin of her arm and the thin fabric at the side of her chest. Trying to look boringly normal she headed out the door. One length of the building and a flight of stairs later she slipped into a post-doc study room. She tucked the costume mask into a corner and leaned against the wall. She knew she really should just cut this off, head home and apologize later, say it was a terrible idea, and just chicken out. But the way her heart beat made her want to go on. She never took risks like this, never had been the teen who got into trouble, she had even been a virgin when she arrived at college. Surely she had to take a chance sometime, particularly when it made her feel like this.

Ten minutes after their parting Julia stood, half shrouded in shadow, on the edge of the quad looking out for Dr. Gram.