In Love With Shakespeare

Sherry

Professor East lifted herself from her desk and strode gracefully to the sherry near the window. It probably sounds weird, but for a moment she actually reminded me slightly of a giraffe – the long legs, obviously, but also the elegant, unhurried walk and the strangely long eyelashes. Although my professor swayed like a dream as she kind of sashayed across the wooden floors – going clump, clump, clump with those heavy heels – there also seemed to be something just slightly irregular in her walk. Did she even have a very slight limp? I wasn't sure. Anyway, the overall effect was mesmerizing – sexy, very sexy, but also a little vulnerable.

"How 'bout a nice big glass," Professor East said kindly, and I nodded.

I found myself running the fingers of one hand through my shiny hair while I smoothed my short skirt with the other hand. "I hope you're not trying to get me tipsy, Professor East," I found myself saying.

"It's already evening," my professor said. "We might as well relax."

There was a pause and I heard the sherry bottle glug before the golden liquid tickled into the glass.

"After all," my professor said, turning towards me, "literature is meant to be enjoyed."

There was something hugely appealing in the way she emphasized that word 'enjoyed'.

"So educate me!" I said, a little cheekily, fiddling with the top button of my blouse. "I do so want to learn from you."

Professor East gave me a look that seemed to cut to the heart of me. Her general habit was actually an odd combination of looking away from me as if she were slightly socially dysfunctional but then sometimes fixing her beautiful and intense eyes directly on me, almost as if she were trying to hypnotize me. This particular direct stare was very prolonged, and I could feel my cheeks burning.

It was beginning to feel quite awkward, and I remember trying to make a joke, like "Sorry, do I have something stuck in my teeth?"

"Oh no, no, sorry! Was I staring? I do that sometimes. It's just that..."

"Just that what, Professor East?"

"Just that you're really very... oh never mind!"

"I wish you would tell me."

"Well, you're really very... Oh I don't know. Are you quite popular? I would think your social life must be quite lively!"

The conversation was actually getting a little weird, but I figured I'd hang in there and see where it led. Professor East seemed to want to compliment me, but I felt she didn't quite know how.

Silence.