Picture Perfect

"Why?" Dana asked excitedly.

Roz handed the photo back and took a sip of her coffee.

"Take a close look at that photo. Who does she remind you of?"

"I've done nothing but look at it for weeks."

"Put her in a business suit," Roz prompted.

Dana thought it was stupid, but she tried. Picturing the woman in a business suit didn't do anything except hurt her head.

"I don't see it," Dana said, massaging her temples.

"Try her with red hair."

"Fucking-A!" Dana mouthed.

"Resemblance is uncanny isn't it?"

"Yeah. I mean...fucking–a."

"Explains a lot," Roz said with a chuckle.

"It could really be her, I mean if it wasn't from way back then." Dana said in a hushed tone.

"You sure it's old? I mean, not just a black and white reproduction?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Besides, you know she wouldn't be posing for beaver shots."

"Never can tell kiddo, some women are all freaky under that proper exterior, but I think you are right about that."

"Still...fucking-a,"

"You said you found this in a book?"

"Yeah, on Catherine of..."

Dana sat in Dr. Smith's office, waiting patiently as the professor discussed a meeting on the phone. When she hung up, she turned to Dana and smiled.

"You've taken several of my classes and this is the first time you have visited the office. What can I do for you?"

"I'm not sure," Dana began hesitantly, "I've had something really weird happen lately and..."

Losing her courage she fished into her book bag and brought out the red biography.

"Do you recognize this?"

The teacher seemed taken aback.

"Should I?"

"I don't know. I was going to do my report on Catherine of Aragon. It hasn't been checked out in a long, long time. In fact, I sweet-talked one of the jocks over at the library. The last person to check it out was you."

The tall woman plucked the book from Dana's hand and opened it. Her face softened and she laughed.

"Yes, I recognize it now. The only biography on her in the library; I did much of my graduate thesis from it; the margin notes are mine. I suppose it is an interesting coincidence, but surely you didn't schedule an appointment to tell me this?"

"Do you recognize this?" Dana said, holding up the old photo. The professor froze and it was only after a long silence Dana realized she was holding her breath.

The professor finally recovered and sat up straighter.

"That's highly inappropriate. If I were you, I would be more careful about displaying pornography. I don't suppose you know it, but there are security cameras in all the professors' offices. I find this joke in rather poor taste. If you will excuse me, I have another appointment waiting to discuss academic material," she said in a stern voice.

Dana glanced at the small camera suspended from the ceiling. She hadn't noticed it when she came in, but she quickly put the photo away.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled as she beat a hasty retreat from the office.

Dana was so embarrassed by the episode, she skipped her next class with Dr. Smith, the first she had ever missed. She was in the cafeteria, with Roz and Angela when they stopped talking and she felt a presence behind her.

"I missed you in class today," the doctor's soft voice chided.

Dana whirled and faced her. She was wearing a black suit today, impeccably groomed, and to the student's mind, particularly stunning.

"I'm sorry," Dana mumbled.

Glancing towards the faculty table the redhead slipped a piece of paper out of her jacket pocket and shoved it into Dana's hands, before retreating with a blush that was priceless.

The paper was letter paper, in a pale lavender color. She was examining it when she looked up to find Roz and Angela staring at her.

"Gonna sit there all day or tell us what it says?"

"Oh!" Dana responded, returning to reality.

It read:

I'm sorry for my reaction in my office. The board of governors is cracking down on impropriety since the last lawsuit and you can never be too careful. If you really want to know about that photo, I'll be at Danny Boy's tonight from eight to nine.

After Dana read it, she passed it to Roz, while Angela read over her shoulder.

"Are you going?' Angela asked, her voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper.

"Yeah, I think so," Dana replied, holding the note to her nose and smelling the delicate lilac perfume.

"Better take your strap-on," Roz advised with a grin.

"Get out."

"Don't blow me off, kiddo. I know women. Play your cards right and you'll have those long legs wrapped around you before the night is out."

"Ya really think so?" Dana asked dubiously.

"Mark my words, she may be old, but she's in heat," Roz stated sagely.

Dana wanted to object, but she could tell her friend was serious and she felt herself nervously anticipating the meeting.

Danny Boy's was the lounge in the old Holiday Inn. It was far from a hotspot, reserved mostly for the visiting alumni who stayed there and a few regulars. Dana had never been inside, having been told it was an "old folks" bar in her freshman year.

The inside was dark and smoky, with a big screen TV showing the basketball game. She felt a lot of eyes on her as she walked in, but it lasted only a moment before the patrons went back to watching the game and the buzz of several conversations filled the place over the game commentary.

She spotted Doctor Smith in an out of the way booth and made her way over. Dana slid in across from her and smiled tentatively. The doctor's red hair was up and the green cocktail dress accentuated her curves, while offering a tantalizing glimpse of her décolletage. Silver earrings and a necklace set with emeralds highlighted her green eyes.

"I was afraid you wouldn't come," she said hesitantly.

"Nothing could have stopped me," Dana replied.

Dr. Smith blushed slightly and lowered her eyes.

"Can I get you a drink?" the waitress interrupted.

"Bourbon, neat for me, and whatever she's having," Dana replied, indicating the empty hurricane glass in front of the doctor.

"Coming right up," the girl replied, grabbing the empty glass as she departed.

Nothing was said before she returned and placed a drink before them both. After she had gone the professor finally managed to look up.

"I really shouldn't. I don't drink much and it goes to my head."

"Go ahead, no harm in a little buzz," Dana replied.

The redhead nodded and took a sip, licking her lips in a most distracting way when she put the glass down.

"I guess I should apologize again. You really startled me in my office and I overreacted."

"No, I didn't realize you were being watched. If I had, I would have been more discreet, but I am still curious, do you know the woman in the picture?"

"Yes, but not as much as I would have liked to. She's my grandmother."

When Dana didn't reply, the doctor took a deep drink from her glass and launched into her story.

"Where to begin? I guess from the beginning," she started with a nervous laugh.

"That's the only picture I had of my grandmother. I was beside myself when I lost it. I cried for days. I guess I must have stuck it in the book before returning it. Considering how much I searched for it, it's really odd I never thought of that; even now I don't remember sticking it in the book."

"I've done similar stuff. I stuck a check in a school book once, didn't find it until I was taking them back to sell after the semester." Dana said.

The Doctor nodded and took another swallow of her drink. Dana thought it was a kamikaze and she wondered how hard it was hitting the pretty professor.

"Well, you can imagine my shock when you pulled it out of your bag. I was tempted to just grab it, but administration has gotten to be like Big Brother recently and I feared the results. I'm really sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Doctor Smith..."

"Helen, please call me Helen, we aren't in class now."

"All right...Helen. I don't mean to pry, but can you tell me about your grandmother? I've spent a lot of time wondering about her."

"No doubt you have. Posing for cheesecake shots in her day and age was something out of the ordinary," Helen laughed.

"To be honest I didn't know at first, but I have done a lot of research and it struck me as odd."

"Odd? Yes, Matilda was very odd. The picture was taken for my grandfather, I don't guess you can tell, but she's pregnant with my mother in that photo. He was the only man she ever loved and she was of course devastated when the letter returned unopened along with a notice that he had been killed in action."

"Killed?"

"Yes. His plane was shot down in a raid over Wilhelmshaven in late 1942."

"I'm sorry." Dana said, sliding a hand across the table and squeezing Helen's. The professor looked scared for a moment, then forced a smile.

"I am too. I never met him or knew anything about him for a long time."

"Why not?"

"Ah, now there's a story in and of itself. My mother and my grandmother were estranged. They never reconciled and so I never met grandma Matty until I was old enough to defy my mother. By then the old bird was getting on in years, but she was still...quite a character."

"Why were they estranged?"

The doctor colored again, the pretty blush rising in her cheeks, but she took another sip and continued.

"I said Matilda never loved another man after Grandpa, but she wasn't without lovers. Mother was dreadfully embarrassed by it and resented the attention it brought her. I guess your mother being a lez during that time period was hard on her, lots of teasing and looks I suppose. She never would say. She married a holy-roller and took her repressed guilt out on me. We haven't spoken in years, nor are we likely too. My father hasn't forgiven me yet for choosing to get an education and not getting married."

"I know the type," Dana said, wincing with thoughts of her own father and his disapproval.

"I left home when I turned eighteen and looked Matty up. She was a wonderful woman and her partner was too. They took me in and I lived with them for a while before my financial aid came through and I went off to school. I think she knew she was dying when I left, but she didn't say so. She gave me that picture the night before I left and told me about it. The only other pictures I ever saw of her were with Terry, her partner, and I suppose Matty left them all to her."

Dana watched her as she paused and a far away look came into her eyes. The small girl reached into her inner pocket without thinking and pushed the photo across the table.

"You'll be glad to have it back then."

"Thank you," she whispered as tears welled in her eyes.

"I had hoped you would return it to me, but you never know with people. I'm...I'm so glad you found it."

"I'm glad to get it back to you."

"I've answered your questions, feel like answering a couple for me?" she said as she used a napkin to wipe away her tears.

"Shoot," Dana replied with a smile.

"What led you to think it was mine?"

"She looks just like you," Dana answered.

"Really? I mean...well..." she stuttered, blushing furiously.

"The resemblance is uncanny. You have her eyes and lips and you definitely inherited her killer body," Dana said.

She wasn't sure about this, but she trusted Roz. She knew if she was too passive she might lose the opportunity, if it existed, but at the same time she didn't want to be too aggressive. She felt this was a good way to steer the conversation towards sex without seeming too desperate.

"Thank you," Helen mumbled, lowering her head again, "I didn't think anyone noticed."

"You do a good job of hiding it, but it's there for anyone who is looking."

"And why are you looking?" she asked in a strangely soft voice.

Now it was Dana's turn to blush. She felt the heat rising in her cheeks and the bar suddenly seemed stuffy. She decided now was the time to up the ante.

"You're hot Helen. You can't really think I have suffered through your classes because I love history? Not with my grades."

"I always wondered, but Dr. Prosser told me you were just killing cores."

"You asked my advisor?" Dana asked, not believing what she was hearing.

"Well, you did say it was kind of strange."

"I guess I did," she replied with a grin.

Helen held up the photo and examined it carefully.

"I guess she was a looker. I never noticed, her being grandma and all."

"Yeah, she's beautiful. Of course since I realized she looked like you, I've been imagining it's you in the photo."

Dana couldn't tell if the drinks were getting to her companion or if she was just getting comfortable with the banter, but she only blushed slightly.

"I'm afraid I don't look nearly that good," she murmured.

Dana was watching her closely. She was still relatively inexperienced, and had never put moves on an older woman before, but she was prepared for the games. Fishing for compliments was something most every girl did. Even those who weren't interested in sex liked to have their egos stroked. Her first thought was 'yeah, right', but in this case, she felt like Helen really meant that. She wasn't fishing, she was just that oblivious to how she looked.

"Bullshit, a garterbelt and some frilly knickers and you would be the spitting image."

"You're too kind," she replied, her voice falling to such a whisper Dana could barely hear it over the buzz of conversation.

"I mean it," Dana said earnestly, "If I could get you in that pose, I'd go nuts."

Helen looked up into her eyes and studied her face. Dana refused to blush or lower her eyes.

"I think you do mean that," she said carefully.

"Damned right I do," she declared, letting her enthusiasm get the better of her.

Helen's face showed a conflict of emotion, she was obviously pleased with Dana's statement, but there was also fear in her eyes.

"You're not very comfortable here are you?" Dana asked, lowering her voice.

"Or is it with me?" she prompted, when the beautiful redhead was silent.

"It's not you, how could you think that? It's just...you're a student and in the current climate, I could lose my job. It just takes one person with a big mouth and I could be in really hot water."

Dana swallowed hard. This was it, the biggest moment so far tonight.

"Would you like to go somewhere more private?" she asked, trying not to let her nervousness show.

Helen's eyes got big and she looked around like a spy in a bad movie. She then pulled a pen out of her purse, scrawled something on a napkin, rose and hurried out. Dana waited a while, finishing her drink. She felt eyes on her and noticed a thin man with an unkempt moustache watching her. She wanted to say it was just her imagination, maybe getting too caught up in Helen's paranoia, but she didn't believe that.

He seemed to notice she was watching him and too quickly turned back to the screen. Dana grabbed the napkin, finished her drink, shrugged her coat on and made her way out. It was really cold now and she was glad she had worn her heavy jacket. All the way back to her apartment she kept looking over her shoulder. She felt an electric thrill when she caught a glimpse of the thin man following her. Once inside, she cut on the light in the living room and pulled the crumpled napkin from her pocket.

It only said '125 maple street'.

"Maple Street?" she mused aloud.

She knew where it was, over behind sorority row. Big, pretty houses, all belonging to tenured faculty. She could get there in fifteen minutes, but she was still worried about the thin man, if he had really been following her and it wasn't her imagination. Dana killed the light in the living room and cut on the light in her bedroom. She then slipped back into the kitchen and out onto the small back patio.

Once away from the apartment, she moved boldly across campus and entered the Chi O house. She had almost pledged with them, but her lack of funds would have made it difficult and the friends she had made here all told her not to worry about it. She was still invited to the parties and often stopped by to visit, so she was a known face and no one even blinked when she breezed through the main hall and out the back.

The night was cold, but she felt all warm and tingly. She was caught between desire and fear, but she wasn't going to let anything stop her tonight. At the edge of the back yard was a thin copse of trees; these acted as a shield between the campus and the houses on Maple. 125 turned out to be a smaller brick house around the curve from where she came onto the street.

Dana felt kind of foolish, but exercising extreme caution she walked past the house and then slipped around to the back door, where she knocked discreetly.

"Who's there?"

"Dana."

The door opened and she slipped inside. She was standing in the darkened kitchen, Helen was just a shadow among shadows.

"I didn't expect you to be at the back door," she said quietly.

"I know it sounds strange, but I thought this man was following me when I left the bar," Dana said.

"Thin man with a moustache?"

"Yes!"

"I saw him too. Ray Perkins, Doctor Vargaso's lap dog. Since January, he is in charge of upholding the standards and integrity of this fine institution." she said sarcastically.

"A snitch?"

"Of a sort. He reports on the activities of various faculty members. Who is dating whom, who was out at what night spot, who spends too much time behind closed doors with their students or TA's."

"That's bullshit!"

"Yes, well, most of us ignore him, especially those with tenure. I've made an art form of it, until tonight," she said, again in that quiet whisper.

"What's different about tonight?"

"Well, it's the first time I've ever contemplated doing something with a student," she said, her dark face showing a trace of a smile.

"And just what are you contemplating, Professor?" Dana said, quietly, her voice heavy with desire.

"I'm not sure, but whatever it is, I am sure it's inappropriate and detrimental to the moral standards of this fine institution," she replied sardonically, before turning and gliding though the darkened kitchen into the living room, which was illuminated softly by the glow from the fireplace. Dana followed, feeling herself grow bolder and more confident.

The living room was cozy, with a long red plush sofa and two wingback chairs in identical upholstery. Cherry finish ends and a coffee table in the same finish with intricate Queen Anne legs. The walls were tastefully hung with well-framed prints of the masters. A bookcase held a selection of hardbacks and a curio held cutsey knick knacks. The fireplace was brick, with a dark wood mantle and a cheery fire crackling.

Dana barely noticed, her eyes were glued to her teacher's soft plump ass. Helen had changed out of her dress into a black dressing gown made of some thin silky material that fell to just below her knees. She was still wearing her stockings and heels, the sight of which had Dana's heart beating a mile a minute. The tall redhead curled up in one of the chairs, motioning for Dana to take a seat on the sofa. Once they were both seated, they sat silently for a while.

Dana was lost in thoughts that had her feeling all squirmy and Helen seemed to be studying her face in the fire light.

"From your expression I would guess you're thinking something naughty," Helen said finally.

Dana felt her blush rising, but laughed. It didn't feel humiliating to get caught daydreaming by this woman. It just felt hot.

"Are you going to let me in on it?" Helen asked from under her long lashes.

"Well," Dana started, beginning to feel hot under the collar, "I was imagining you posed like the picture. That chair is just perfect for it."

"It should be, this set belonged to my grandmother," she replied.