Alex's Story

Chapter 4

Spring, 2005

Alex was cramming for her final law school exam. In addition to finishing the work of a normal JD candidate, she was also completing her LLM at the same time - her master's degree in Taxation that would help her get a leg up in practice later and make her more promising candidate for potential employers. Hopefully, those extra tuition dollars would pay off in the long run.

Holed up in her carrel, Alex didn't realize that Paul had stopped by until he leaned over her shoulder.

"Cost recovery tables," Rich said in a fake Barry White voice ... "mmm that's sexy baby."

"Rich," Alex half-laughed/half-groaned, trying to resist looking at his gorgeous body, because then she knew she'd get distracted. They'd only been seeing each other off-and-on throughout the spring semester, and she tried not to let it show that he made her drool just about every time she looked at him. He was a wicked flirt and knew how much his finely-toned physique set him apart from the other soft-bodied students. In her firmest voice, Alex whispered, "Get lost. This is my last final. I have 24 hours, then we can go as crazy as you want. Just let me get through this first."

"Crazy ... sounds good to me," he tempted. "Come on baby," he said. "You're ready. You're done. You've been looking over that stuff for weeks. Come out and party with me." Unfortunately for Alex, Rich could be extremely persuasive. She stubbornly refused to look at him knowing it would be game over once she saw his big blue eyes. Total deer/headlights, moth/flame situation. She'd be a goner, tuition money and grades be damned.

"Noooo," Alex said. "And ssh! There are other people studying here, you know!" She hoped the snappish attitude would scare him away, but it didn't. He persevered. Where were all the librarians? Alex wondered. Of course it would be the one time she needed someone to "shush" Rich, that there were none to be found.

Finally, after a few minutes of hushed conversation and futile resistance, Rich reached snaked his hand over the carrell wall and effectively silenced Alex. With his strong, warm fingers under her chin, Rich lifted her face and guided her gaze up to his. Game over.

He looked her full in the eyes, and even then she knew she was a goner. He just fried her brain, melted her bones. Who was she to resist his magic allure? He knew, too, but just to seal the deal he slowly crowded her in ... she had nowhere to go, surrounded by Rich on one side and the desk on the other ... and laid a soft, sweet kiss right on her lips. "Please?" he whispered. He brushed his lips against hers again, and slowly closed his eyes. She tried to stay stiff and unwelcoming, but he persisted with his gentle delicious kisses until Alex couldn't help but grab his collar and bring him down closer to her.

She felt him smile, and he immediately pulled away. "Come on, baby. Let's party. I'm done, you're almost done, let's do it right." Alex sighed and packed up her stuff. Rich slung her bag over one shoulder, and put his other arm around her waist, tucking her right into his side. Together they walked out of the silent library. Despite her fears about her exam performance, Alex felt like the luckiest girl in the world, because this handsome boy -- man -- wanted to be with her and wasn't afraid to show it to their classmates, professors, anyone walking by on the street. It was really hard for her not to grin like a complete fool.  She snaked her arm behind his back and let her hand rest in his jeans back pocket. Together, they headed over to the student bar, called the 21st Amendment.

Before they even got in, Alex could hear the raucous sounds of freedom and summer vacation. Inside, the big rectangular bar was three deep with people ready to blow off some serious steam at the end of another nerve-wracking finals season. The lights were low, the volume was up, and she could see peoples' inhibitions disspiating as they started to wend their way back to the dance floor behind the bar. Rich let her go as he saw some buddies playing darts in the corner. Alex offered to go, and he waived her off. "Sure, hon. Sounds good." Turning back to the game, he checked his friends' glasses. "Better make it a pitcher, right guys?" While they hi-fived Rich and congratulated each other on crossing the finish line, Alex smiled, rolled her eyes and headed for the bar. Boys!

Eventually Alex made it through the crush of bodies. A petite woman, this was no small feat. She placed her order at the bar, and waited for the bartender to prepare her drinks. She caught the eye of the person next to her, and rather than look away like she normally would do, she smiled. He smiled a goofy, lopsided grin back and said, "Hey." As the bartender brought her pitcher over, she signed her bill and left a tip.

Returning to Rich, she was met with a warm welcome ... or at least the beer was. In the past few months and weeks that they'd been seeing each other, Alex hadn't minded hanging with his crew every now and then. The guys were funny, average dudes who liked sports, beer, video games, and hanging with each other. They weren't unfriendly to Alex, but she always felt kind of like an outsider. None of them ever had girlfriends, just hookups. Usually that was fine with her. Tonight, however, Alex could feel herself really starting to loosen. All of those tightly-coiled nerves were slowly but surely unwinding. Rich sneakily made sure to keep her beer topped and Alex appreciated taking her first deep breath in what felt like ages. As she relaxed into her seat by one of the high tables, Rich stood behind her pinched the soft spot where shoulder met neck. It felt glorious and she would've sworn her spine was melting under his able hands. She turned and gave him a kiss, right on the lips.

"Hey," he said, pulling away from the baseball chatter and looking down at her with a smile in his eyes.

"Hey," she said back, smiling. Rich looked at her for a second longer, and held out his hand.

"Come on." He held out his hand to her, palm up, and Alex hopped up, eager for contact, for his touch.

"Where are we going?" She laughed, not really caring.

"Well, first, we're going to take a shot." Rich looked over at her, expecting opposition. She didn't.

"Uh huh." She felt so good, so relaxed, that she just wanted to chase the feeling. They wandered over to the bar, where the crowd had thinned out as more and more people made their way to the dance floor.

"Two shots of tequila, please." Paul ordered