Professor Tom Ch. 04

Tom Smith smiled when he opened up the Christmas card Suzy sent him. He chuckled at the silly note she had written.

"Dearest Professor Tom, Hope Santa brings you a big old ...."

Jolene, his paralegal, knocked on the office door and entered. He looked up from the note and saw the smirk on Jolene's face.

"It's HER again. Do you want to take the call or not?"

He cleared his throat and said, "I'll take it in here. Close the door on your way out please."

"Sure thing boss." Jolene snickered as she closed the office door.

He was slightly irritated when he picked up the phone and said, "Tom Smith".

"Professor Tom! I just wanted to say hi. I also wanted to make sure you got my gift." Suzy said brightly over the phone.

"Yes. I got them both. Thanks for the thoughtful gifts and card, but you really didn't need to do that. By the way, I also got the flowers you sent a couple of weeks ago."

She laughed and said, "Good to know. Anything for my favorite professor!"

She continued to chatter away while he thought of all the work that was piled on his desk.

He felt guilty that he was irritated by her phone call. She was nothing but kind and thoughtful towards him. She sent him the flowers to cheer him up when he lost an important appeal a few weeks ago. She sent him a "Case Management Survival Kit" to "help him survive his big case" as she indicated, a couple of weeks before that. She also sent him cheerful notes, took him to lunch and called him on a regular basis.

He sighed and focused in on her chatter when she said, "Professor? Suzy to Professor Tom. Are you listening?"

He said, "Of course I am. I'm just getting ready to go to lunch so I really should go now."

He hung up after saying goodbye and breathed a sigh of relief. He wondered why he felt flattered, irritated, glad and annoyed all in one, when it came to Suzy.

He definitely knew he didn't enjoy being the butt of jokes around the office. He thought of Jolene's smirk when she announced Suzy's call.

John, his best friend and colleague, constantly teased him about his "favorite stalker student". His co-workers at the firm didn't know she wasn't in any of his classes anymore. He'd never bothered to correct them.

He swore to himself that he would limit his contact with her in the hopes she would move on. Unfortunately he lost all resolve whenever he met her for lunch, or, more accurately, whenever he saw her. He also fervently hoped that one day he'd wake up and she'd have turned into an old hag. It would certainly make it easier to move on. He was still waiting for that one to happen....

He even thought about taking the plunge and just "doing her". Fuck her brains out in the hopes that he would get her out of his system and then be able to move on. He knew he wasn't that much of an ass, so he kept on taking her calls and answering her emails and being nothing but kind to her.

It just seemed as if the harder he tried to get himself out from under her, the deeper he got sucked in.

"Fuck. Christ almighty. What the fuck am I going to do?" he thought to himself.

***

John Howard, Tom's colleague and best friend, was teasing him yet again about his "favorite stalker student".

"Shit Tom. How many times has she called this week? 50?"

"Fuck off John. What do you care? Are you jealous you don't have a fan club like I do? You know, it's not my fault you have such a small dick."

John laughed and said, "Dream on asshole. I don't get complaints from my women. As for your stalker.... Man has she got an ass I'd love to grab. Oh, and those tits..."

"Shut the fuck up. Quit being such a dick and lay off, will you?"

"Alright, alright Tom. Don't get your knickers in a twist. Geez, I just stopped by to see if you wanted to go grab a bite to eat. Or has your stalker student already grabbed you for lunch today?"

Jolene's voice came on over the intercom on the phone. "Mr. Smith, Suzy's on line 2. Would you like to take the call?"

John laughed and said, "See. What did I tell you? She's going to claim you for lunch yet again."

"What can I say? She isn't horrid to look at. She's harmless and actually quite useful. All I have to do is say "jump" and she says "how high?" he snickered. "Like you said, has she got an ass on her or what? That's what keeps me on a leash. She can be annoying at times, but her tits make up for that...."

John laughed and said, "Oh, the truth comes out now, doesn't it? What happened to me being a dick, huh?! I knew you weren't such a saint. I was actually beginning to think there was something wrong with you because you kept insisting she was just your student and that you weren't interested..."

"Oh she's my student alright. My favorite one at that. Maybe you'll get lucky and I'll tell you all about it once I fuck her. Or maybe I'll let you have her when I'm done."

John roared with laughter.

Tom really couldn't quite believe what was coming out of his mouth. He chalked it up to the fact that he was trying his hardest to make John think he didn't give a rip about Suzy. He knew he couldn't keep playing the "innocent" card with him. He knew John wasn't falling for it anymore. He figured if he was just as crude as John was, he would eventually lose interest and never be the wiser to the fact that Tom actually cared for Suzy.

"Jolene? Jolene? I'll take the call on line 2 please." He looked up at John and smirked.

He waited for Jolene to connect the call. When nothing happened he picked up line 2.

He said, "Tom Smith.....Tom Smith here......How can I help you?...."

He heard a click on the other end, and then a dial tone. He looked at the phone as if it would explain what had just happened.

He looked up at John and said, "Christ, I tell you, Jolene is great, but sometimes even the most minor of things gets past her."

Tom clicked over to line 1 and dialed Jolene's desk.

He said, "Hello Jolene. I'm still waiting for you to transfer the call on line 2 please. Or did you drop it yet again?"

"Puhleeze Mr. Smith. I'm not that much of an idiot. I didn't drop the call. I connected it just like you wanted. I figured you'd take the call so I dropped it into your office via speakerphone. The call log shows it connected direct to speakerphone and the call lasted 2 minutes....."

Tom felt as if he would hurl when he realized Suzy's call had actually come through to his office. He realized the click he heard when he finally picked up the earpiece was Suzy hanging up on him.

"Oh Jesus. What have I done? What do you mean you fucking connected the call via speakerphone? I didn't know you could do that....."

He began sweating profusely and silently prayed that perhaps Suzy hadn't overheard he and John. Or at least hadn't heard it all.

John roared with laughter and said, "You fucking idiot. You're telling me she heard everything? Oh you poor sod. Do I feel sorry for you or what?! You better hope she doesn't report your ass to the university sexual harassment office. You can kiss your pristine professor ass goodbye...."

Tom shouted into the phone piece, "JOLENE. Get me Suzy on line 2 NOW..... Yes, I mean NOW. I don't care if I just fucking hung up with her..."