Office Hours (Curriculum Vitae, #1)

by Katrina Jackson

Alejandro was a patient man. He’d been waiting for Deja for over a year. A year of watching her out of the corner of his eye across the auditorium at the monthly Faculty Senate meetings. A year of wasting too much time in the hallways of their building in the vain hopes that he might catch a glimpse of her. A year of training his body to recognize the very particular sound of her heels echoing down the hallway. A year of trying to decide if he should sit next to her at the Provost’s speeches so he could try to decipher each individual note in her perfume or sit where she was in his line of sight so he could study each microexpression as it flitted across her face. A year of running into her in the student union and then his heart matching the beat of the unconscious and impatient tapping of her right foot — always her right foot — while they waited in line for coffee. A year of wet dreams that made him feel like a pre-teen all over again. A year of waiting for the right moment to ask for so much more.

“I’ve wanted to do that since the day we met,” she whispered, almost shyly, nervously making eye contact. She held his gaze as she backed away until the backs of her thighs bumped into her desk. “So my plan worked?” he asked with a grin as he followed her as if she was reeling him in, because she was, even if she didn’t realize it. “Your plan?” “I might peacock a little. For you,” he admitted. Her mouth fell open, and her eyes widened. “This can’t be real. I’ve literally had dreams about you putting on a suit.” “On?” “And then taking it off,” she added. He burst out laughing. “I’m happy to make that fantasy come true whenever you want.” “Oh my god,” she groaned, covering her cheeks and shaking her head in embarrassment.

“And I don’t know what it is about it, but watching you concentrate so hard makes me hard.”

“What’s wrong?” Deja asked, sitting down as well. He smiled and shook his head as he crossed his legs. “Nothing, I just… If I’m going to keep my hands to myself, I should keep my mouth shut and stay over here. And you should definitely stay over there.”

Her shoulders slumped, and a weight she hadn’t quite realized she was holding on her shoulders lightened.

“I want you to know,” he said, butting into her trip down erotic memory lane, “that when I’ve dreamt about touching you, it was never here.” He smiled at her, dirty and seductive and playful. Deja’s entire body began to warm again. He shrugged and corrected himself slightly. “Well, sometimes we were here or sneaking around on campus. But those were the PG dreams, I promise,” he laughed. “A little making out, nothing too risky.”

“You’ve been dreaming about me?” she croaked. Alejandro’s eyebrows lifted and then furrowed. “Of course, I have. You really didn’t know I was interested in you?” Deja shook her head. “I thought you were just being friendly.” He stood up and leaned fully across her desk. Those hands moved to either side of Deja’s coffee cup, and his mouth was right there at eye height, tempting her. Deja wanted to grab his face and pull him closer, but she couldn’t do that — not again — so she fisted her hands in her lap instead. “I promise you, I’m not that friendly,” he whispered to her.

“Don’t worry. I made a promise. I won’t touch you.” She huffed a laugh. “I’m more worried about myself right now.”

He walked around her desk and leaned over her to dip his head. He brushed his mouth along hers in a chaste kiss. She closed her eyes briefly and lifted her chin toward him as he pulled away, a small whimper falling from her lips. When she opened her eyes, he was smiling down at her. The man never stopped smiling, and she loved it. She cleared her throat. “You said you’d keep your hands to yourself,” she whispered. He moved his head to brush his lips along her cheek to her ear. “I didn’t say anything about my mouth,” he whispered to her.

Not for the first time since he’d met her, Deja’s beauty slapped him in the face. Deja was the kind of beautiful that hurt.

“I didn’t imagine you had an outie in my dreams,” he said, absentmindedly. “Guess you’ll have to correct that the next time you dream about me,” she panted.

“I wanted to take off your cufflinks and unbutton your shirt slowly, one button at a time. Sometimes that’s all I can think about when we’re in the Faculty Senate meetings, how I want to undress you painfully slow, so you’ll fuck me the same way.” Her face was hot with her admission. Deja had never been the type to talk dirty, but she liked to tell the truth. She meant every word she’d said to Alejandro, and there was more where that came from.

“I really hope you have condoms,” she whispered against the mushroom crown of his shaft. “I bought two boxes after Wednesday,” he admitted in a rush. “Gotta love a man who’s prepared,” she said, sitting back on her heels.

“I don’t think you’re pathetic, by the way.” “I do,” she shot back. “Don’t. If you feel the need to run again, just leave a note. Please,” he said quietly and winked at her before leaving the room. “Fuck, he’s perfect,” she breathed. “I’m really not,” he called from the hallway with a laugh. “You heard that?” “These walls are thin as fuck.” Deja’s entire body warmed, and she buried her face in the closest pillow. Alejandro wasn’t just as great as she’d thought; he was better.

“You can’t tell anyone I said this,” Alejandro continued, “but it’s really not necessary to be that prepared. Take whatever classes you want. You can change your major as many times as you want to. There’s no penalty. But you want to have a plan. Declare a major, look at your degree audit, see what classes you still need, and if you won’t have room for the things that matter to you like BSU or your work schedule or study abroad, if you want to do that, then maybe that’s not the degree path for you.” And then he smiled at Jerome again. “It’s actually not a secret, you can tell all your friends.” “That’s what Doc’s been saying,” Jerome said, even though he was nodding his head and looking at Alejandro as if he’d never heard any of this before. “Glad to know you’ve been listening to me,” she mumbled. “I listen,” Jerome said with a sheepish grin, “but it’s just hard not to feel like I’m wasting time and not doing enough, you know.”

“The thing to remember about college is that this isn’t your entire life, it’s just one phase of many,” Alejandro said. “You’re here to learn as much as you can and not just in the classroom. Sometimes the thing you need to learn is balance. You can take all the classes and double, even triple major if you want to, but when you’re burnt out at graduation and can’t even enjoy all the things you’ve accomplished, you’ll regret it.” “So, what do I do?” Jerome asked. “Give yourself the rest of the academic year. Don’t make any decisions until the summer. Until then, take classes in your prereqs with majors you might like without commitment. Then, when the year is over, and you’re back home and resting,” he said, his eyes flicking mischievously to Deja, “then you can decide what you want your majors and minors to be.”

“I like the way this looks on you.” She frowned and dropped her chin to her chest to look at her boring gray sweater and blue jeans. “Happiness,” he corrected. “I’ve always loved the way you smile.”

“You want to go find a table?” he said, straightening. “I’ll get your drink.” “You don’t have to,” she said, eyes darting side to side, and her hands clutched over her stomach. He sighed and smiled at her calmly, hoping it would put her at ease. “This again?” “I don’t want anyone to think, you know…” “That I might buy a friend a cup of coffee?” “You know what I mean,” she said. “I do, and I think you’re worried about nothing. But if you’re really worried about people noticing that we’re…you know,” he said with lifted eyebrows and a wink. She rolled her eyes but chuckled lightly. “Then maybe you shouldn’t run your fingers through my hair like that. Very unprofessional.” She licked her lips. “Or look at me like that,” he added. “Like what?” “Like you want me to kiss you.” She licked her lips again. “I’ll go find a table,” she said and then rushed away. Alejandro smiled and watched her walk away.

“Okay, I might be burning this,” he said. The sound of his brother’s laughter filled his ears. He would have ripped his earbuds out, but he didn’t have a free hand since he was currently trying to gauge if it was time to flip the pieces of salmon sizzling in the pan or not. “Angel, help me,” Alejandro said. “Fuck, I wish I had recorded that. Flip.” “Now?” Alejandro asked, panicking. “Yes. Duh.” When he did so, he didn’t feel any less nervous. “Did I burn ‘em?” “Do they look burned?” “Kinda?” “Send me a picture,” Angel said, clearly judging his older brother. He wiped his hands on the dish towel over his shoulder and then took his phone from his pants pocket. He took a quick picture of the fish filets and took pictures of the couscous and salad, which he hadn’t burned, and sent them over, waiting with bated breath. “They look alright. A bit sloppy but good. She there yet?” “If she was here, I wouldn’t be on the phone with you.” “So you’d just be burning this fish in front of her? Bold.” “You said it wasn’t burned,” Alejandro panicked, and then his doorbell rang. His chest actually hurt from his heart hammering against it. “Shit, she’s here.” “Take the fish off,” Angel said nonchalantly. “Why? Fuck.” “Because it should be done by now. Take it off and let it rest. You’re gonna have to eat now, though.” “Oh, okay. Okay,” Alejandro said, turning in a small circle, unsure what to do with himself. “Damn, bro, you sound nervous as fuck. Send me a picture.” “Of what? Me freaking ou...

“You’re here, and until a couple of months ago, I didn’t think you’d ever...” She shook her head in disbelief. “Best believe, every single woman on campus has a crush on you, straight or queer. Some of the married women, too. Maybe even some of the queer men, I don’t know.” “You’re exaggerating,” he said, blushing. She scoffed. “And you’re oblivious, apparently. You, Mike, and Johan in Physics are the single male avatars of the College of Arts & Sciences. You three could have any woman on campus if you wanted.” “I just want you,” he said.

Deja felt so pathetic because she was on the verge of tears, not just because Alejandro wanted to celebrate with her, or because he knew how important this was, but because he thought she would write more pages. She didn’t know if she believed him, but knowing that he believed in her was everything.

“Four out of ten,” Deja said. “Not the best strip show I’ve ever seen, but I have faith in your ability to improve if you’re willing to put in the work.” Alejandro laughed as he crawled back into bed. “Next time I’ll Magic Mike you, I promise.” “God, I hate that movie,” Deja mumbled.

“Did you walk to campus today?” he asked. She nodded. “Want a ride home?” She finally met his eyes. He watched as she licked her lips and then nodded again, but slowly this time. She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, and it riveted him like it always did. He wanted to do the same thing with her lip, to run his tongue along the soft flesh and taste her. And even though they were surrounded by a bunch of their colleagues and Mike’s warning was still ringing in his ears, he didn’t hide the depths of his desire for her in his eyes. He’d done it for long enough as far as he was concerned. “Alejandro,” she whispered to him. He heard the censure in her voice — he knew he shouldn’t be looking at her this way while they were on campus — but he also heard the desire between the syllables of his name. And fuck if he didn’t love that. “Come on,” he said, tilting his head vaguely toward the faculty parking lot. She took a few steps, and as she passed him, he bent forward to whisper softly into her ear. “I promise not to touch you yet.” She shivered on that last word. So did he.

“You don’t teach tomorrow, right?” he asked. “Yeah.” “Neither do I.” She tried to bite back her smile. “Yeah. I know. What’s your point?” He shrugged, tossing the chicken bone on the plate between them. “Nothing, just…you know…if you were interested in having a sleepover with the special dude you’re dating—” Deja rolled her eyes and threw a packet of wet wipes at him. “Shut up.” He caught the packet with a deep huff of laughter. “You really want to spend the night?” she asked. He looked at her, and it was his turn to roll his eyes. “Of course, I do, but I’m not gonna beg.” “You sure about that?” she asked, her voice dipping with a seedling of arousal; a seed she knew he would water. His hand froze over the basket of onion rings. She saw his Adam’s apple bob, and that made her smile. “Please,” he whispered. She smirked triumphantly. “Thought so.”

Deja had dated a lot of losers in her life. Alejandro was no loser.

He spotted Sheila when she stepped into the coffee shop. He waved at her, and she headed straight toward them and stepped into line next to Alejandro. “You sure you want to teach them that cutting in line is fair?” he asked, gesturing at the line of students that had formed behind them like magic. This was campus coffee shop rush hour. Sheila turned to him with a mischievous smile on her face. “We’re historians, not philosophers. All we do is teach them life isn’t fair.” “That’s harsh, Dr. Meyer,” a student yelled from somewhere down the line. Sheila turned and squinted at them. “Shannon, have you done the reading for today?” she called. “I have,” Shannon yelled back, “and you’re being a Gilded Age baron right now, FYI.” Mike stifled a puff of laughter, and Alejandro smiled. Sheila broke into a wide smile at her student. “I like the analogy. Five extra credit points.” “Nice,” Shannon yelled back. She turned to Alejandro with a wink. “Every moment is a teachable moment,” she said before turning forward again.

“Is this a thing you do?” She squinted at him. “Toni said you’re a creature of habit, so I just want to know if taking on the weight of the world is a thing you’re prone to do so I can be prepared for the future.” “You talked to Toni about me?” “Of course. And she lectured me for being a lackluster ally to women of color on campus. I got way more than I bargained for,” he said with a smile. “You sat through one of Toni’s lectures? For me?” she asked, shocked, and also warmed by the thought. “Not to repeat myself, but of course.” “I don’t deserve you,” she breathed. “Oh, you definitely do,” he whispered, squeezing her soft waist. “But if you need to be reminded of that…” Alejandro’s voice trailed off. He bit his bottom lip and smiled up at her through his long eyelashes. “I missed you.” “Good. I missed you too,” he said.

“That’s it?” she asked Alejandro for the third time since they’d stepped onto the elevator after leaving the HR office. “That’s it.” “But like…how?” He turned to her with bunched eyebrows. “What do you mean?” “I thought they would like…interrogate us or something. Ask for documentation? Something more than make us sign a bunch of paperwork.” “Is HR the CIA now?” he asked, laughing. “Shut up,” she said. “That can’t be it. Right?” “Do you want an answer, or am I still shutting up?” he asked playfully. “Don’t make me go right back up there and tell them we’ve already broken up.” Alejandro burst into laughter. He released her hand to wrap his arm around her shoulders. “That’s it. There’s nothing else we need to do. As far as the university’s concerned, they aren’t liable for any mess we make of this relationship. All we have to do is stop getting each other off in your office,” he said, whispering that last sentence into her ear. Deja shivered, in good and bad ways, but for the first time in weeks, she didn’t break out in a cold sweat thinking about that door closing. “No more,” she said resolutely. “No kissing on campus, either.” “What?” Alejandro stopped in his tracks and turned her toward him. Deja started laughing. “No one wants to see us making out in Brews! Chill.” “Okay, I’m not saying we should make out, but I can, like, kiss you hi or goodbye, right?” “No. Use your words.” “Deja,” he started.

“Jesus. We should get new friends,” Alejandro breathed to Deja. “Very much agree.”

“Oye, Profé’s got a girlfriend,” someone yelled from elsewhere on the Oval. “Is everybody and their mama out here today?” Deja mumbled, trying to hide her face behind Alejandro’s arm. Mike and Marie laughed and started following Toni toward the Union. “Mind your business, Tomás,” Alejandro yelled at a cluster of students he recognized from the LSU. They laughed in return. Deja pushed him to follow their friends. “This is why there’s no kissing on campus.” He smiled, “We can discuss it later.” She rolled her eyes at him with a smile. She wasn’t exactly back to normal, but in that moment, she felt more like herself than she had in days, especially with him by her side.

Alejandro — this perfect man she’d been dating for five months and nine days, not that she was keeping exact track — only seemed to have two real flaws; he dunked his wings in ranch and he had the worst taste in coffee.

“So you’re poaching my best student?” she accused. “I’m your best student?” Jerome asked, his voice full of pride and mystification. “He came to me,” Alejandro said. “And he said double major.” Deja rolled her eyes. “It’s always the ones you l…” Her voice trailed off, and Alejandro leaned toward her, his eyes widening in shock. Deja’s eyes widened as well, and she took a step back into the hallway. “Never mind,” she said.

“So, what do you need help with this time?” Toni said. Deja rolled her eyes. “Shut up.” “Oh, it’s about Alejandro,” Marie said. “Oh my god, shut up.” “Girl, just tell us what cute shit he did so we can get to this terrible meeting.” “Hey, I’m running the meeting.” “Okay,” Toni said. “Do you not know this meeting is about to be terrible?” Deja rolled her eyes but didn’t refute her. “I almost told Alejandro I loved him.” “Y’all ain’t did that yet?” Toni shrieked, shaking her head. “Pathetic.” “We’ve only been dating for a few months.” “Girl, so what? That man is fine, and none of us is getting younger.” “Very, and I don’t even like dudes like that,” Marie said. “And he doesn’t talk all the damn time,” Toni said, grabbing her laptop from her desk. “Mike doesn’t talk that much,” Marie countered. “You only think that because you tune him out. When I tell you that man has never met a thought he didn’t want to share…” Toni shooed them out of her office. Deja squinted at the back of her head while she locked her door. “So y’all aren’t going to help me?” she asked. Toni turned around with a frown on her face. “With what? You got a fine boyfriend, all those cliquey white women in the English Department are jealous as hell, and your hair looks great today. Some of us have real problems, Deja Evans.” “Yeah,” Marie said with a smile on her face as they walked away. “I truly hate both of you so much,” Deja frowned at their retreating backs. “You can practice saying you love us if that’l...

“Whenever you’re ready, I’m ready, too.” She didn’t know it until he said them, but those were the exact words she’d needed to hear. “I don’t deserve you,” she mumbled. He looked down at her. “Let’s discuss that—” “Over dinner?” she asked. “In bed,” he corrected. Deja sighed and unlocked her car door before climbing inside with a smile on her face.