College Professor Blossoms Pt. 01

"Jasmine isn't a prostitute," I said, "She's a trauma surgeon. What made you think she was a hooker?"

"Well, obviously the way she's dressed. She's really a doctor?"

"Yep, and a good Catholic girl on top of that. Just because she dresses a certain way doesn't mean anything. She realized years ago that just because she liked feeling sexy and liked the way men look at her, it doesn't take anything away from who she is."

As she looked down at the ground she asked, "So is she your girlfriend?"

"Hmm," I thought to myself, "This is going to be hard to navigate without hurting her feelings."

"I wouldn't say she's my girlfriend, we go out occasionally but we're not exclusive. We both like each other but also realize that we don't have long term compatible goals. I like the way she dresses, that's what initially attracted me to her, but she was really burned in her divorce and she's very clear on the fact that she's never going to be in an exclusive, long-term relationship, much less get married."

"Do you two have sex?" she asked, again with her eyes on the floor.

I looked at her for a couple of very long moments, "I usually make it a point to not kiss and tell, but in this case, I'll make an exception. Yes, usually when we go out, we do, but I get the impression that it's not going to happen many more times."

"Why?"

"I think she's getting scared about getting feelings for me and I can feel her start to pull back."

"Is she nice?"

"Yes, she is one of the sweetest, most compassionate people I've ever met. You two should get together, I think you could become incredible friends. You both have so much in common."

"Like what?"

"I've seen you with your students, Rylen. They all absolutely adore you because they see that you truly care for them, just like Jasmine cares for her patients. You're both frighteningly intelligent, you'd go a mile out of your way to not even step on a bug, you've both had horrible family lives, but you've risen above it, you're both very pretty and neither one of you lets your looks go to your head.

I'm serious Rylen, you two should really get together and see that you're both practically sisters but from different mothers."

"She's so much prettier than me, I'm sure she wouldn't want to go out with someone like me."

"I can tell you don't say that to fish for compliments but you're selling yourself short, you are a beautiful woman and someday you'll make a guy a very lucky person to land you. Unfortunately, I must go to class. I'll see you later?"

"I'll probably be here later than you, I'm going to start on next year's lesson plans."

As I was walking to my classroom, I called Jasmine and told her of our discussion and asked her, as a favor to me, to call up Rylen and see if they could get together sometime. Jasmine is super sweet and said she'd love to have a new friend and promised she'd call Rylen up, and then asked why I'd never asked Rylen out. I told her that Rylen was a bit too conservative for me, both in attitude and especially her attire and since we'd become very close friends, I didn't want to lead her on thinking something else might be there. I also confessed my pretty strong feelings of jealousy when Rylen mentioned that she'd been out on a few dates.

"God, you can be dense at times, I'm telling you she's nuts about you, and it sounds like you feel much the same way. I'm telling you, as a woman and as your friend, ask her out!"

"I understand that, but again I'm pretty clear about what I want and need and it's not someone that is that conservative. I mean seriously, you know me. Have I ever given you the slightest indication that what you were wearing was even a touch too much out there? I mean you look fantastic today but if we were going out for lunch or even dinner tonight, do you think I would have minded at all if your shirt had also been semi-transparent or if you were wearing shorts do you think there is any amount of shortness that I think was too much?"

"But you haven't even given her a chance."

"I'm sorry but I don't think someone could go from her conservative upbringing to what you look like now or when we go out."

"Well, I think you're wrong, but I guess I can see where you're coming from."

I didn't think much more about our conversation, figuring if Jasmine or Rylen wanted to tell me about it, they would.

Since Rylen and I had gotten so used to doing things together, as the term finally ended and rolled into summer break, I realized that I really missed talking with her. I'd was so used to having lunches together and often dinners, it felt very strange to not have her to talk to.

The seventh year that I was a professor, started about like one would expect with one twist. On the first day that several of us professors were back, I looked up to see this very pretty woman standing in my doorway and it took me several seconds to realize it was Rylen. She was wearing a pair of tight jeans, a sweater over a shirt of some kind and a pair of cute tennis shoes and her hair was no longer in the severe bun but in a ponytail. What tipped me off was still the heavy transitional glasses.

"Wow, you look fantastic, I almost didn't even recognize you at first," I said.

"Is it okay?"

"Of course it is, you look fantastic. Men are going to be paying a lot of attention to you."

By the end of the last term of the previous year, usually we'd hug hello or goodbye so as I was saying that I went up to her and hugged her. Previously our hugs had been of the short, how are you kind, but this time she held on to me for at least 10 seconds before we broke apart.

I'm usually pretty dense when it comes to signals from women so as we broke the hug I asked if she was okay. She told me that before her ex got out of jail, she had finally gotten a place of her own but was still having a hard time getting used to coming home to a quiet, empty house.

Rylen sat in my office, and we talked for a couple of hours until I realized it was after noon, so I asked her if she wanted to go somewhere and grab a bite to eat. She said she wanted to drop stuff in her office and that she'd be right back.

We had a nice lunch and afterwards we walked back to the college, and she sat in my office, and we talked for several more hours. Several times she thanked me for saving her that fateful day and helping her start to realize her own self-worth. I told her it was an honor to help and any time she needed anything to let me know.

She mentioned that she'd been on a several dates and currently had a boyfriend, which she put in air quotes, but was hesitant to talk about him or them.

Suddenly I realized I wanted to hear about everything that went on during those dates. It was kind of weird, even though we'd never so much as been on an official date, I felt something I'd never experienced before, hearing her talk about being out with a man. As I analyzed it in my head, I realized for the first time in my life I now knew what jealousy felt like. And wow, I didn't like that feeling or understand it.

I was suddenly very startled to realize that I had different feelings towards her than just friends. Out of the blue, I was wondering how she'd feel in my arms, how it would feel to kiss her, and for some reason had the thought what it would be like to be out on a small rowboat on a lake at dawn with mist on the water and her in my arms. I had no idea where that thought came from, but it felt very comforting.

That was the moment where I realized that somewhere along the line I'd fallen in love with Rylen.

During the summer months all I did was travel, spending most of the time in Europe so when I got back, I saw Jasmine a few times over the next couple of months and when I found out the date that the college was having a small gathering for faculty members and significant others the second Saturday of December, I asked Jasmine if she'd be interested in being my date. She said she already had plans but suggested I ask Rylen.

Slowly I started to see a lot more confidence in Rylen and through our daily talks she would tell me about dates she was having. I know it sounds stupid, but again when she was talking about dating, I was getting strong feelings of jealousy, and felt like my heart was being twisted out of my chest because of the guys she was going out with. I knew that in the long term I wouldn't be happy with someone that was mentally and physically conservative but still, it would almost kill me inside each time.

That was one of the things that attracted me to Jasmine, if she wasn't at work she always dressed very provocatively. Hell, several times when we'd go out, she'd flash someone or have a "wardrobe malfunction" and "accidentally" expose one or both of her breasts and or pussy.

Maybe a month or so later, one day we were talking in Rylen's office, and she casually mentioned that she'd met a guy when she'd been out Friday night and after they woke up in the morning they went to breakfast and then the farmer's market. Upon hearing that, that little green-eyed devil of jealousy flooded into my mind, but I realized I had no right to be jealous, so I tried to tamper down the jealous feelings. I think she could tell something was wrong and asked me what was going on, but I just deflected the question and within a couple of minutes I made an excuse to leave, still feeling like someone had punched me in the gut.

Jasmine said a couple more times that I should give Rylen a chance, but I reiterated that I really valued Rylen as a good friend and didn't want to hurt her. I eventually confided to Jasmine that at that point I not only considered Rylen my best friend, but at somewhere along the line, I'd fallen in love with her. I told Jasmine how Rylen and I talked every day, had lunch together most days and even had dinner occasionally and Rylen knew most of my deepest dark secrets, except sexual ones, and that I felt I knew hers, including sexual ones. She again attempted to get me to ask Rylen out, but I gave her my same arguments and eventually I was glad the subject was dropped.

I always hated the end of the calendar year because having no living family and not in a serious long-term relationship since I split with my ex, I had been alone the last 10 or 11 holidays. Just the thought of that was depressing.

The Wednesday of the week before Thanksgiving, Jasmine called me up and asked if I was busy that Saturday. When I told her I wasn't doing anything she said she had a friend in town and said if I had a good-looking friend, and she reiterated good looking, the four of us should get together. I asked who her friend was, but she just said I wasn't familiar with her, but she was very pretty and super nice. I teased her a bit about setting my friend up and not me, and then she turned the tables on me and asked if she wasn't enough for me.

I may not have been in that many long-term relationships but I knew that was a loaded, dangerous question so I just laughed it off and told her I'd see who I could find. I asked for more details on this mystery woman, but Jasmine just kept saying she was sure he wouldn't be disappointed. I told her I had a myriad of friends, ranging from construction workers to a few CEO's and tried to get a few hints as to what kind of guy this woman might like. However, Jasmine was not to be dissuaded, just kept saying she'd leave it up to me.

I already had an idea who I'd ask, but just wanted to mess with Jasmine a bit to see if she'd give me any clues. I knew a guy quite well from working with Habitat for Humanity, but his day-to-day job was a sales manager for Maserati. While it sounded like a hoity toity job, he is very down to earth, very respectful to those around him, and to appease Jasmine, incredibly handsome.

Jasmine called me Friday morning to see if I had found someone and see if we were both interested. I told her that Andrea, my friend, trusted my judgement about his "upcoming date" and that we would both be wherever she was thinking of going. I reiterated to her that she shouldn't be joking with me about her friend being nice and good looking, and she reassured me that he wouldn't be disappointed. She told us to meet at 6 pm at a new restaurant/club that had just opened the weekend before, first for dinner and drinks and then dancing. She said the reason we were meeting so early was because there had been so much hype about the place even before they opened, that the only way we could get a table was at that early hour.

I spent the day working on a house for Habitat for Humanity and by 3 pm I was exhausted from swinging a hammer all day. On my drive home, I was seriously thinking of calling Jasmine and cancelling for the evening but figured I'd committed to it and didn't want to let the other three down.

I figured that Andrea's Maserati would be much more impressive to arrive in than my Genesis, so I asked him if it would be okay to take his car and I'd be the designated driver at the end of the evening. He'd sold me a Maserati before, so he knew I was used to driving exotic cars, so he didn't have a problem with that plan. I'm sure he was also secretly hoping that his date would be suitably impressed.

I've never been much of one to spend much on "stuff," with the exception of first edition books, clothes, and a few cars. My favorite designer for the last several years has been Tom Ford. Henceforth a lot of my wardrobe consisted of his things, so I picked out a pair his black jeans, white shirt, black evening jacket, shoes and my favorite cologne, 'Fucking Fabulous'. I knew Andrea would also be suitably dressed and when he picked me up that I saw that my thoughts were confirmed. In fact, we comparably dressed, except his jeans were blue and his jacket was double breasted.

Even when we arrived at 6 on the dot, there were a few people waiting outside to get in. I told the maître d' that we were meeting two ladies and asked if it would be okay if I looked inside to see if they were already there. I looked around for a few seconds and saw what I knew instantly was Jasmine's back sitting at a high-top table. She has a very distinctive tattoo of a lion on her back, and heaven knows I'd seen her back enough naked to recognize it from 30 feet away. She had on a halter top that showed half her back, a skirt that looked pretty short and a triple strand of pearls that I'd given her a couple of years before.

At almost the same time, I noticed her friend sitting next to her. And wow, she looked hot. I was instantly jealous of Andrea. Jasmine's friend also had on a halter top but hers was open all the way down to her waist where there was just a small bunched up bit of shiny silver fabric. She had on a black pleated skirt, but hers was so short that I could tell from the way the back was covering up just the back of the seat, that her bare butt had to be on the seat itself. I've never been much of a hair person, but she had the most amazing hair that I think I'd ever seen, or at least noticed. It was a dirty blonde with different colored streaks of blonde through it, with very loose curls and came almost half way down her back. If I looked up tresses of lightly curled hair in the dictionary, hers would be it.

I went back out and pulled Andrea away from the women he was talking to and told him the ladies were already inside. He briefly commented that his date better be something special because one of the women he'd been talking to had really been flirting with him. "Oh, don't worry," I said, "I just saw her from the back and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly happy."

We came up to the ladies and I gave Jasmine a brief kiss on the cheek before we moved over and sat in front of the ladies. Except I screwed up. When I bent over and kissed Jasmine on the cheek, I blocked Andrea from getting past me, so I ended up sitting in front of Jasmine's friend as Andrea sat in front of Jasmine.

As I finally paid attention to the woman I was now sitting across from, an almost whispered, "Holy Shit," passed out of my lips. I immediately apologized for my unintended, rude outburst but that thought passed so strongly through my mind that I couldn't help that it was partially audible. She was what I'd call "stone cold gorgeous." Now I was really jealous of Andrea since this was his date.

Everyone was looking and laughing at me like I was a blithering, stuttering idiot because I could hardly form a logical sentence without stuttering. Working on a day-to-day basis with some occasionally striking co-ed's, I'm seldom impressed with beauty, much less have a difficult time talking to anyone, but I felt like a fish that's been pulled out of the deep and suddenly found myself with my mouth opening and closing with nothing coming out.

I've always had a different sense of beauty than most men. Sure, I think Pamela Anderson or Bo Derek were pretty in their day but not what I'd call beautiful. Very few women would I ever put in that category but the woman now sitting across from me was at the head of that short list. Her beautiful hair framed her face and while I'd never been much of one for eye makeup hers fit her perfectly. It was done exquisitely in a smoky brown hue and blended into her face to accentuate her eyes. I was sure she was either a makeup artist or had her makeup done professionally. And her eyes, I'd never really seen eyes that brilliant of an amber color, not brown, amber.

When Jasmine was finally able to quell her laughter at my discomfort, she, bless her heart, finally introduced herself to Andrea and extended her hand to shake his. As he was also able to stop laughing, he took the back of her hand and gave it a brief kiss and she certainly took her time taking her hand away from him. He was still laughing at me but was able to say, "The pleasure is all mine, I'm Andrea."

I was of course mortified at myself and was blushing furiously and felt like an absolute idiot. Especially now that Andrea thought Jasmine was his date.

I saw Jasmine's eyes sparkle at my obvious discomfort but also, I could tell that she also thought Andrea was as good looking as I thought her friend was. She looked right in my eyes and said, "And you. If you'd pick your jaw up off the floor and be a gentleman like Andrea here, I'm sure you'll recognize my friend here."

I was confused as I looked from Jasmine to her friend and back to Jasmine with, I'm sure a complete blank look on my face, especially since Jasmine said I didn't know her friend when we first talked.

Suddenly it hit me, and my head whipped back to her friend, and again I couldn't keep the words that were shouting out in my brain, off my tongue, "Holy Fuck!! I mean Holy Shit! I'M SO SORRY, OH MY GOD, RYLEN! OH MY GOD I'M SO SORRY!

OH MY GOD, YOU LOOK INCREDIBLE! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to swear but my God, you are absolutely beautiful."

Of course, after that outburst, everyone around us was looking at me, Jasmine and Andrea were laughing at me again, and Rylen had a huge smile on her face but also a couple of tears coming out of her eyes. I was suddenly worried that I'd hurt her feelings or something and once again started stuttering. "I'm so sorry about being so rude but oh my, I mean holy shit. Shit, I mean I'm sorry but oh my God you are stunning. I can't believe it's you, I mean I can but oh my God!"

Finally, Jasmine helped me out and said, "Anson. Anson, look at me, take a couple of deep breaths, pull yourself together, it's not like you've never seen a pretty woman before, and yes, I'm starting to feel like chopped liver here."

After dabbing her eyes a bit and still smiling, Rylen stood up next to the table, smoothed down her skirt and asked, "Are you sure I look okay, it's not too much?

"Oh my God, are you kidding? God knew what he was doing when he made you and then broke the mold. I think you are the sexiest woman on earth."