Chapter 2

Ivan Horton’s Choice

Autumn Writer

PART 2

Ivan left for the upstate campus before the Tutlock brothers arrived at the estate. It was late; night was falling. He had a long drive ahead of him and a chance to ponder all that hap happened As he cruised thorough the night on Route 17 he had plenty of time to play the weekend memory over.

Of course Mrs. Tutlock’s visits to his bedroom were disconcerting. The sex was great, but he wondered why he didn’t regret his unfaithfulness to Robin more than he did. What Beryl had told him as she undressed herself in his room was ringing in his ears. What did she know? Should he expect a ‘visit’ from her at his every visit to the estate; and where would that leave him if they were found out?

Robin’s behavior disturbed him even more. As nuptials approached she seemed cold when he thought she would want to be closer to him. He could get over her refusals, though irritating, but wished he understood better. He didn’t believe her ‘time of the month’ excuse. The worst of it was her humiliating parading of him shirtless at the photo session. How could she have done that to him? It got under his skin that he’d stood still for it.

“Love will conquer all,” he muttered aloud, with only himself and his half-finished coffee to hear the words.

How hollow they sounded, having only the value of the empty cliché that they were. He stared ahead at the blackened road, following the headlight beam,

He thought of his own parents. He realized that he hadn’t thought of them enough of late. The Tutlocks’ snub was nasty and he realized that by saying nothing he was part of it.. Ivan pondered the vast differences between their lives and the Tutlocks’. They had not a fraction of the wealth of his in-laws to be.

“At least they weren’t ready to kick me out because I messed up on that Bio course,” he reasoned in the darkened car. “Ma would never have made Dad parade around shirtless for photos—and Dad was pretty well-built when he was my age.”

He told himself that things would have to change. He knew that he had to play by the Tutlock’s rules, but only to a point. Although Robin was the heiress, he would be the husband. Their name would be Horton, not Tutlock. He would bed his bride and he would not be a boy-toy of her mother. Ivan challenged himself to live up to his bold resolutions.

“Sounds easy to say, but…” he mused in the darkness.

*****************

Rebecca met Ivan in the carrel as scheduled. As she thumbed though his notes and lab report he thought she would be pleased. She went through it without speaking, making a few notes in the margins.

There was a part of the lab that Ivan knew wasn’t right. He’d done the best he could, and then given up on it. He expected a caustic rebuke as she arrived on the sinful page.. She took a deep breath.

“Oh-oh, here it comes,” he warned himself

He could see her thinking—probably thinking up some king of stinging remark to highlight his incompetence. As he thought she was ready to speak she eased the stored breath from herself, closed the notebook and handed it to him.

“Done!” she said. “Do you have any questions about the next lab?”

“I’m surprised that you passed right over the hard part of the lab without a word about it.”

She gave him a surprised look, perhaps that he had squandered her leniency.

“You’re right—I’m sorry,” she answered. “I’m just not myself today.”

“What’s the trouble? Can I help?” he asked.

“I don’t think so.”

She squinted at him through her black-framed glasses. It was an opening. Ivan thought to make good his exit, and he almost did. As he turned to leave the carrel his feet seemed to be stuck to the floor. .

“I’m not myself, either,” Ivan offered.

She continued looking, but didn’t speak. Ivan was ready to give up, but decided on a final attempt.

“You tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine,” Ivan tried again.

“I can’t,” she admitted. “I’m not very good at that sort of thing, and we’re not very close, anyway. I know you’re trying to be nice, but…”

“What’ve you got to lose? After this Bio course is done with you’ll never see me again.”

She was silent again, eying him as though he was a burglar that she’d caught in a private room.

“Let’s go across the street to the student union and have something to drink,” she said at last as she closed her books and stacked them on the shelf..

Ivan bought himself a coffee and Rebecca a tea in the cafeteria line. They found an empty table in an isolated corner and relaxed into the chairs.

“Tell me yours first,” Rebecca said.

“The trip to Southampton wasn’t very good,” he began. “I have a lot of things to think about.”

She didn’t say anything, but cocked her head in a way to let him know that she expected him to spill all of it.

“Robin was like another person. She didn’t even care if I was there or not—except when she needed me to perform some little act for her friends. It was like being a trained seal. She would parade me in front of her friends and then send me to a corner until she needed me again. I even had to take off my shirt for the photographer so they could all see my muscles. It was humiliating.”

“I suppose so,” Rebecca answered. “You asked for the pudding. Now you have to eat it. Maybe she’ll settle down after the wedding. She’s under a lot of pressure. I’ve seen those rich families in the Hamptons. They’re all alike. I don’t even know the name of this one, but it doesn’t matter. To them, life is just one show after another.”

“Speaking of families,” Ivan continued, “I’ve treated my own parents like bags of dirt. Robin’s family thinks more of their servants than they do of them. “

“Is that their fault—or yours?” Rebecca asked.

Ivan was surprised that Rebecca seemed to understand the whole thing so well. Maybe it was because it was so easy for him to tell her. It was hard for him out because she wasn’t the type of girl he was ever interested in talking to.

“You’ve got a point there,” Ivan confessed. “There’s more. This part you won’t believe.”

He told her about how his mother-in-law to be, came to his room—not once, but twice while Robin slept in her room down the hall.

“I wonder if I did the right thing in having sex with her,” he said as he finished the story.

“Definitely not,” Rebecca pronounced. “There is only one acceptable circumstance to have sex with anyone. It’s when the lovers are free to give themselves to one another. You can’t take what you want when someone might get hurt from it.. If you can’t respect yourself or your partner after you’ve done it, then it is not the right thing to do.”

Ivan hung his head. He thought he knew a lot about sex, but was finding out that he did not.

“But look,” he heard her say almost in afterthought, “maybe your mother-in-law to be did you a favor in the long run without even knowing it.”

“Huh?” Ivan grunted. “What does that mean?”

“That is a question you will have to answer for yourself,” Rebecca said.

Ivan scratched his head.

“You haven’t taught me much Biology today, but I’m learning some other things,” he admitted. “I was actually hoping that you would just tell me not to worry about it and everything would be alright.”

“Sorry, Ivan, I couldn’t do that. I always speak my mind.”

Rebecca took a sip of her tea and Ivan poured some cream into his coffee. It was an uncomfortable pause, as both of them sank into their own thoughts and struggled to climb out of them.

“I’m going to be a man,” Ivan thought to himself as he stirred his coffee. “It’s about time. It’s a little late for some things, but better late than never.”

Rebecca had finished her tea and it looked like she was getting ready to leave. That didn’t sit well with him—to be the sole beneficiary of the conversation.

“Now you tell me yours,” Ivan blurted out.

“That’s alright,” she answered. “I’m just in a bad mood because I have to go to a dinner tomorrow night that I really don’t want to attend.”

***************

A person who did not know Rebecca very well would not have recognized her as she stood on the hot sidewalk in the late afternoon sun. She was standing in front of the book shop, over which she rented her small apartment. She awaited her ride to the unwelcome dinner.

If a single word was required to describe her it might have been ‘delicate’. She had put aside her overalls, which made one think that she was a little overweight. Instead, she wore, a sophisticated ensemble made of gauzy material in a black and white print. On top, was a sleeveless shell that she could cover with a black sweater of light cotton. In the heat she just held it along with her small handbag. On the bottom were matching pantaloons cut full so that at first glance one thought of a full-length skirt.

The outfit accentuated her thin frame and pale white skin. Her feet, which peeked out from the bottom of the pantaloons were clad in thin-strapped sandals with a little heel to raise her up just a little. She let her long, black hair fall free, unveiling her natural tight curls. They cascaded to her shoulders like a waterfall of ink, contrasted with the skin of her bare arms. She even set aside the glasses with the dark frames, in favor of her ‘good’ pair with the small lenses and almost invisible wire rims. It was a look that Rebecca could make provocative or neutral, depending on her intent. She fidgeted as she waited for her ride.

It was her idea to wait on the sidewalk. She told her escort it would be easier to do that than for him to find a place to park in College Town. Her real reason was that for him to call on her at her apartment door was just more personal than she was willing to accept...

Before long, a high-end Saab wheeled around the corner and Rebecca recognized the driver. The sedan stopped and she pulled the passenger’s door and climbed in.

“Good evening, Professor Gilbert,” she said in a soft voice. The air conditioner in the car was running, so she draped her sweater around her shoulders, covering her bare skin.

Gilbert pulled into traffic and then cast an admiring glance at her.

“Rebecca,” he exclaimed, “you are absolutely stunning!”

She didn’t answer. The comment sounded phony to her—and she knew she looked nice, but not stunning.

“I just know that this restaurant in Elmira will be exactly the right place for us to discuss your future,” he went on. “It’s one of the best that I know in the area.”

Rebecca had never been very good at small talk. She sought an alternative to conversation. There was a CD player in the dashboard and a stack of CD’s in a compartment beneath it.

“May I play some music, Professor?”

Rebecca saw her host grimace, which she guessed he thought he had hidden from her.

“Of course, Rebecca,” he answered. “Most of my music is classical. You might try some Beethoven.”

She disdained the haunting, sensuous strains and deep, passionate bass chords of the Master.

“Have you any Bach?” she asked.

“Possibly,” he replied, appearing a little disappointed. “Look through them.”

She found one and started it up. She turned up the sound and the passionless mathematical precision filled the passenger compartment.

She looked out the window and they were headed out of the city, to the rural area outside of Town. She peered out the corner of her eye at her mentor as he drove. At middle age he had not lost his looks. He was neither fat nor slender. His hair was light brown, with a few speckles of gray. He sported a van dyke beard, which hid the corners of his mouth and put one at a disadvantage in discerning his facial expressions.. He was well-dressed—perhaps a bit too dapper, in Rebecca’s opinion. His car well-appointed.

It was a twenty mile drive to the restaurant and they said little on the way, listening to the music, instead.

At last, the Saab pulled to a stop in front of an old, but polished building. A simple sign was hanging over the front door: Price’s Inn.

“Here we are!” Professor Gilbert announced. A parking attendant opened the door for Rebecca and the Professor joined her on the sidewalk. He handed the keys to the valet and soon they were being escorted to their table by the Head Waiter.

*******************

It was a nice dinner at the old inn. It was seldom that Rebecca was exposed to such things. The décor of the restaurant was bright with an understated elegance. It wasn’t the darkly lit bistro style that Rebecca expected. Their conversation centered on ‘shop talk’. Professor Gilbert enthralled Rebecca with descriptions of research projects to be, awards that his other grad students had won, new additions to the labs. All the time the focus returned to Rebecca and her fledgling career. It was heady—inspired all her dreams to come to mind.. She knew that her imagination was soaring. On a night of self-indulgences she allowed herself a private one..

“How was your meal?” he asked.

“It was wonderful!” she exclaimed. She meant it, too. She’d learned how nice luxury could be and that it was alright to enjoy it. She learned a lot about the Professor, as well. His womanizing reputation seemed to be a myth. He had been a perfect gentleman throughout the whole evening. He really was interested in her career, after all. It made her regret her chilly attitude on the drive over.

The waiter arrived with the dessert menu.

“Professor Gilbert, I couldn’t!” Rebecca exclaimed while glancing at the menu of sweets. She would really have liked one, but knew how much he had already spent on her.

“I want you to call me ‘Boyd,” he corrected.

Rebecca stifled a smirk. “Alright, Boyd,” she answered in a tone she thought was cool. “But I just can’t ask you to buy me a dessert on top of everything. They all look so expensive.”

“Oh, I insist that you have one,” he answered. “We must always be sure to taste the sweet things as we go through life.”

His philosophical words confused her and she was sure there was a double entrendre cloaked in his dictum, but she didn’t quite get it. As she tried to decipher it she noticed him moving his chair a bit closer to her.

“Have the Raspberry Torte,” Gilbert said. He nodded to the waiter and he set it before Rebecca.

“And for you, sir?” the waiter asked.

“Just leave two forks and we’ll share it,” Gilbert replied. “We don’t want to get too full.”

Gilbert turned back to his guest who was starring at the pastry in front of her. He leaned closer and rested his arm o the back of her chair.

“You’re wondering about what I said a minute ago,” he told her. He took a deep breath.

“One sweet thing that we have in our department,” he began, “is the closeness that we all share as colleagues. Don’t you see that, Rebecca? I decided to invite you here to get acquainted, rather than in my stuffy office. Hasn’t it been a nice to get have a nice evening like this.? It’s important to me. I just don’t feel comfortable working with students that I‘m not close to.”

“I guess so,” Rebecca mumbled

“You see,” he continued, “we need this feeling of closeness to function well together. I try to foster it, especially with my female students who need help from those of us in power. I have power to use and share. All my grad students, who’s Assistantships are renewed, have a close relationship with me. After spending this evening together I feel that you and I share this closeness. You could ask me anything—and, I feel like I could ask you anything.”

He closed his large hand over her small one. “We have so much to give to one another, don’t you see, Rebecca.”

She tried to make sense of what he was saying. Everything they’d talked about the whole evening made so much sense—research, grants, new labs, the cutting edge. All of a sudden he was speaking in riddles.

“I don’t get this; what’s he talking about?” she asked herself.

She’d drank a martini before dinner and she wondered if that was having its effect As she thought about it Gilbert stroked his thumb over the back of her hand—as he had never removed his hand form hers. She hadn’t noticed that, lost in her thoughts as she was. He stroked the back of her hand some more and she looked down at him doing it and then up at his face.

“Now I understand what he’s getting at.”

“Well, how about it, Rebecca?” Gilbert asked.

She looked back down at the table. His hand hadn’t moved off of hers. It was as if he was holding her there, although she could have pulled it away and buried it in the pocket of her pantaloons. She wanted to, but it wasn’t easy. She was so close to it all—the research grants, the new labs.

“They have rooms upstairs,” Gilbert said. “I took the liberty of booking one. They’re beautiful—really luxurious. You’ll really be impressed.”

He was caressing her hand again. It was a gentle stoke, but an insisting one at the same time. She kept her glance pointed down, trying to hide the fact that her heart was beating faster.

“I never thought it would come to this,” she moaned in silence. “Naomi would have guessed it—and they be on their way upstairs right now.”

Those dedicated to science must sacrifice whatever necessary to further their knowledge. She had always believed that, as Madame Curie and Rachel Carson must have.

“Someday I’ll be a professor and he’ll be long-gone. I won’t even remember this little affair.”

“You’ve hardly touched your raspberry torte,” she heard him say. “It’s delicious.”

“Besides, I’m twenty-five miles form home,” she thought. “What would I do?”

She set her fork on the plate and looked up at him.

“I not hungry,” she answered.

She rose without saying any more and led him out of the dining room. The deal was set. Her heart ceased racing.

“We’ll have breakfast tomorrow morning in this same dining room,” he promised as they made their way out of the dining room.

**************

They stopped at the front desk where Gilbert signed for the dinner and asked for the key to the room. The clerk was expressionless, and didn’t even glance at Rebecca. She was convinced that it was because she didn’t matter—as noteworthy as if she had been a piece of Gilbert’s luggage. It gave her a dirty feeling, but she was committed. While Gilbert signed she thought.

“It’s just sex, a one night stand, nothing I haven’t done before. I’ll just get it over and done with. I’m sure I’m not the first and probably not the last.”

They mounted the stairway and climbed to the second floor. There were only eight rooms in the small inn on the second floor of the restaurant.. Their room was at the end of the silent hallway. Gilbert turned the key and swung the door open. Rebecca surveyed the small, but luxurious quarters. In the center was a king-sized bed fluffed in the middle by a downy comforter. The bed was so large that there wasn’t room for much else, although there was a small chest of drawers sandwiched into a corner.

The big bed demanded her attention. She couldn’t stop looking at it. Perhaps the giant bed had consciousness and a memory. If it could speak, what would it tell her? Had it known the man who had followed her into the room and was standing right behind her? She took a deep breath, trying to purge the questions from her mind.

They didn’t speak. The only sound was rain pelting the window. She stripped off her sweater and set it on a nearby chair. Gilbert did the same to his sport coat and tie. He kicked off his shoes.

Her fingers went to the bottom of her sleeveless shell, about to lift it over her head. She wondered if he knew that she hadn’t worn a bra,

“Probably so,” she guessed.

She was about to lift her top up and over her head when she felt his hand on her and that made her stop, He turned her to face him.

“I like to do that myself,” he explained, “but first—this.”

He approached her and peeled her glasses from her face, then kissed her. He tasted of coffee and smelled of after-shave cologne. Rebecca kissed back, but she knew that it was a half-hearted reply.

“You feel a little nervous,” Gilbert said. “I imagine you’re new to this. Don’t worry. Soon you’ll like it.”

He paused and she noticed that his expression had changed. He put away his solicitous smile. There was something else. Rebecca saw it as a kind of smirk, but beyond that she could not understand what his face was telling her. His hands were tight around her arms at the elbow.

“How will you be on your first time with me, Rebecca?” Gilbert asked in a hushed voice, but she knew it wasn’t really a question. He took a deep breath.

“I’m going to strip you,” he went on, “and soon you’ll be lying nude in the center of that bed, waiting for me.”

He turned his face from her toward the big bed so that she would look at it, too.

“Some curl up into a little ball, trying to hide themselves,” he laughed. “Such false modesty!”

He shook his head and Rebecca began to understand his smirk better.

“Some just lie there passive and accepting.”

His voice turned into a growl and his eyes sparkled.

“The rest get wild. They spread themselves to show me everything while I take my clothes off. They stretch out their arms to me. They can’t get enough. They can feel my power and they want some of it for themselves.”

Rebecca was shaking, thinking about what Gilbert had just said, wondering what she would do. Gilbert didn’t seem to notice her shaking because he was panting.

“Actually,” he said after pausing for almost a minute, “I like the second kind the most because they knw why they are where they are and understand the power I have over them. I hope that’s what you do, Rebecca. You look like the type.”

Rebecca stood motionless, waiting for him. He began to lift her top until the bottom halves of her breasts were bare.

“You’re braless,” he gasped. “I hadn’t noticed. You must have known we’d end up like this, after all. I think I was wrong about you, Rebecca. You’re a bit more wild than I guessed.”

He paused in lifting her top the whole way, as if playing peek-a-boo with the white, round flesh.

“What a beautiful sight. I can’t wait to taste them,” he said. “It’s almost a shame to lift it off all the way.”

He stroked the underside of one breast with his fingertips, as if to try it out. He bent his head lower, sure to put his mouth on it.

All at once, with all the strength she had, Rebecca pulled away.

“No—No—No!” she cried.

She ripped away from his grasp, ran out of the room and down the stairs of the inn. In a few moments she was out the door and on the street. She didn’t stop running until she found herself at a gas station at the end of the street.

She was out of breath and crying. Her hair and clothing were drenched from the rain that was pouring harder all the time. The gas station was closed for the night, but there was a pay phone, on the outside wall but she had no money with her.

It occurred to her that during the summer session the campus, many miles away, was nearly deserted and none of all her friends had stayed after graduation. There was only one person that she could try. She dialed information.

***************

At the fraternity house Ivan was playing pool with Jerry. With raining so hard they decided to stay in for the night. The phone rang and Jerry answered it while Ivan went to the refrigerator in the basement for two more beers.

Jerry called out to Ivan, who was returning two fresh bottles in hand.

“Ivan, there’s a collect call for you—someone named Rebecca—you wanna take it?”

“What would she want?” Ivan wondered out loud. “Alright! I’ll accept the charges.”

He handed Jerry his bottle and then took the phone receiver from him. It was Rebecca, alright, at the other end of the line.

“Ivan, please help me. I don’t know who else to call. Please come get me.” He could tell Rebecca was crying.

Rebecca told him a few details and then Ivan hung up the phone and turned to his friend.

“Jerry, we’ve got to go to Elmira.”

“What’s going on?” Jerry asked after they had piled themselves into Ivan’s car.

“Dunno for sure,” Ivan answered. “It was my Bio tutor on the phone. She sounded like she’s in trouble.”

“I thought you didn’t like her,” Jerry countered.

“I don’t!” was Ivan’s quick reply. “I’m just curious, that’s all.”

“Sure, whatever you say,” Jerry laughed. “It sounds more like ‘while Robin’s away, Ivan will play’.”

“I wouldn’t be taking you along if it were that,” Ivan said.

“I thought maybe she had a friend…”

“No, it’s not that,” Ivan insisted. He thought for a second. “Look, it sounded like trouble. I need you. I might need help.”

You’re asking me for help?” Jerry mused. “Ivan you’re a changed man. What’s gotten into you?.”

Ivan laughed with Jerry, but was thinking about what his friend had just said. He conceded that Jerry had stumbled on something that was more-or-less true, even if he had stumbled on it by accident. The new truth was, at least, a possibility but by no means a certainty.

“I really don’t like her,” he assured his friend., “at least, not that much. She’s okay if you give her a chance.”

“Then why are we driving through the rain in the middle of the night?” Jerry asked.

“I dunno…I dunno,” Ivan mumbled.

It was a truthful answer, but an unsatisfying one. At least it was so for Ivan, who squinted to see the road through the oncoming headlights and the downpour. There would be time to figure it out later.

************

Rebecca waited outside the deserted gas station for Ivan to arrive. It was locked up for the night, so she stood in the rain, wet and shivering. As she searched the dark streets for an approaching car, Gilbert approached her. He was drenched from the rain, as she was.

“Rebecca, I’ve finally found you. Thank goodness you’re alright. Please come back to the hotel room. We can start where we left off. All will be forgiven.”

“I won’t go back there!” she yelled back at him over the roar of the downpour. “You made me into a whore!”

She backed away from him, wishing to hide her face but afraid to let him out of her sight. She began sobbing—which made her ashamed at showing her feelings to him, but she couldn’t help it.

“It’s not like that, Rebecca,” Gilbert answered. His smirk was returnng. “We were just beginning to make friends. Think of what you’re giving up.”

“I lose either way,” she sobbed. “Why does it have to be like this? I only wanted to be…”

“This is the real world, Rebecca,” Gilbert answered. “Something given for something received. You’re making too much of the whole thing. It’s just a night of pleasure after a nice dinner. What would be the harm?”

“I would always know,” she sobbed. “It would ruin everything that…”

Gilbert drew closer to her and held out his hands to her.

“Just a night of pleasure,” he said. “What’s wrong with pleasure? Believe me, you’re won’t be the first. Now stop this silliness and come back to the room with me.”

“Not the first,” Rebecca sobbed, “or the last.”

“Rebecca,” Gilbert countered, “you’re not like the rest. You’re special. If it were anyone else I would just get in my car and drive home and let you fend for yourself. But look, I’m out here freezing in the rain with you, trying to make you see…”

“I’m not special,” Rebecca sobbed. “I’m just a whore.”

Gilbert shook his head in disbelief.

Come on, Rebecca,” he pleaded. “Come back to the room with me. Do you really want to walk back to campus in the dark?”

The rain was washing the resistance out of her. She was so cold, and the walk back home didn’t appeal to her very much. She didn’t like Gilbert very much, but she knew that far worse than him cruised the lonely night roads.

“What if a police car sees me and stops,” she asked herself. “I’ll have to tell my whole story. It would be so humiliating.”

“You’ll find that I’m actually quite a good lover,” he prompted, perhaps sensing that she was weakening.

“I’ve had plenty of lovers,” she shot back at him. “Don’t be so sure of yourself.”

It was an answer filled with defiance, but already she sensed that it only served to save face.

“Rebecca,” Gilbert repeated.

“And don’t think of yourself as a lover,” she said.

It was more defiance, but she felt herself looking for a chance to give in with some dignity preserved.. She cast her eyes down at the ground, as she knew he would be smirking in triumph. A sudden light made her look up. It was a car’s headlights and glare blinded her from seeing much else. She waited for the car to pass by. There was no use in having spectators in on her moment of humiliation.

The car seemed to slow down. She wished that it would hurry so she could get the whole thing over with. Perhaps it was a well-meaning stranger stopping to inquire and she would heve to assure whoever it was that everything was alright—even when nothing was alright. But that, at least, begin the end of it.

The car stopped. If she could have held out for just a while longer it might have been Ivan, who’d promised her that he would come. It was too soon to expect him.

******************

Hey, who’s that over there?” Jerry asked as Ivan maneuvered the sedan through the downpour.

Ivan squinted and shook his head.

“Dunno,” Ivan replied. “It might be her, but if it is she looks a lot different.”

“She doesn’t look very happy,” Jerry said. “There’s some guy with her.”

“Well, this is where she said she’d be,” Ivan said. “At least, we’ve got to check it out. Let me see if I can get some light on them.”

Ivan swung the car around on the empty street so that the headlights were pointed right at the pair.

“I’ll be damned!” Ivan exclaimed. “It is her. I’ve got no idea who the guy is.”

He turned off the motor but left the lights on.

“Come on, Jerry, let’s see what’s up.”

He swung the door open and stepped out into the rain.

“Is that you, Rebecca?” he cried as he ran toward her.

From the corner of his eye he could see Jerry running along side him. The man with Rebecca took several steps backward.

“Stay right there, Mister,” Ivan yelled at the strange man and pointed at him.

“Ivan, it’s you,” Rebecca cried.

“Are you alright?” Ivan asked.

Rebecca shook head.

“What’s going on?” Ivan asked. “Do you need a doctor or something?”

“Please, just take me home!” she blurted over her tears. “I’ll explain later.”

“Sure, get in the car. You look like you’re freezing. I’ll get a blanket from the trunk.”

He opened the back seat door and Rebecca crawled in.

“He’s got my sweater in his room,” Rebecca yelled out to Ivan as he closed the car door behind her.

Ivan peered at Rebecca’s tormentor through the pouring rain. There was fear in his eyes

“Get it!” he barked at Gilbert in a voice that gave the weaker man little choice.

Gilbert seemed grateful for the dismissal and turned back to the Inn.

Ivan turned to his friend. “Jerry, can you go with him and make sure he does it?”

Sure, Ivan,” Jerry called back as he grabbed Gilbert by the arm.

“Don’t hurt him unless he tries something,” Ivan called after him. Rebecca knocked on the window and said something to Ivan.

“There’s a handbag, too. Make sure her keys are in it. There’s a pair of eyeglasses,”

Jerry kept on walking toward the hotel and waived his arm to show that he’d heard Ivan as he dragged Gilbert along.

Ivan got into the car in the driver’s seat. Rebecca was sobbing and shivering.

“This is so humiliating; I’m such a fool,” she said between sobs. “I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t come.”

“Forget about that,” Ivan replied. “It’s over now. You’re cold. I’ve got a blanket in the trunk.”

He returned a moment later with the blanket and handed it to her

“Thank you,” she murmured as she took the blanket from him and curled up on the back seat. Ivan started the motor and turned on the heater.

After a few minutes Jerry returned with Rebecca’s abandoned items from Gilbert’s room. He deposited them in the back seat and then claimed into the car in the front passenger’s seat.

“Rebecca, meet Jerry!” Ivan called to her the back seat, but she was already dozing. Ivan looked at his friend seated next to him and shrugged.

“Do you know who that guy is?” Jerry asked, as Ivan put the car in gear. Ivan shook his head. “It’s Professor Gilbert,” Jerry continued. “He’s Chairman of the Bio Department.”

“That means he’s Rebecca’s boss,” Ivan answered. “Things are starting to fit together. She told me she had to go somewhere she didn’t want to go.”

“He’s a guy who can make you get an ‘F’ in you rcourse,” Jerry pointed out “He better not find out who you are.”

“What was I supposed to do, Jerry? You saw what was going on. Anyway, what about her?” he said glancing back at the sleeping passenger in the back seat. “She’s sure to lose out in a big way because of all this.”

Jerry shook his head and let a chuckle escape.

“Ivan, you’re softening up in you old age. The old Ivan that I know wouldn’t give a damn. What’s gotten into you?”

“I dunno,” Ivan answered. “After last weekend on Long Island I look at things a little different, I guess. She helped me figure things out.”

“You’re a softy at heart,” Jerry repeated. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Maybe so,” Ivan admitted. “Just don’t repeat it outside this car.”

The two friends had a laugh together and then drove the rest of the way in silence. From the back seat they could hear Rebecca’s deep breathing as she slept.

***************

When they arrived back at campus Ivan dropped Jerry off at the fraternity house and swung around to College Town to take Rebecca to her apartment. She was awake by then, but didn’t say much except to give directions. Ivan pulled to a parking spot in front of her building and accompanied her up the stairs to her door. She opened it and they stepped in.

Her apartment was a modest, little space—neat and orderly. It was kitchen, dinette, study room, living room rolled into one. Beyond were two doors that led to Rebecca’s bedroom and bathroom.

“Make yourself at home,” she said. “I’m going to change. Do you want some hot tea? You must be freezing.”

“I’m alright. I won’t be staying long. I just wanted to make sure that you got in okay.”

Ivan’s clothes were still wet so he didn’t sit on the couch. There was a kitchen chair without upholstery, so he sat on that. After awhile Rebecca reappeared from the bedroom in a bathrobe, her head wrapped in a towel. Ivan wondered for a second if she was nude under the robe.

“Are you sure that I can’t get you something?” she asked.

“No, thanks”, was the reply. “I’m gonna go back to the fraternity house soon and have a few beers with Jerry.”

“Ivan,” she said, “I don’t know how to say ‘thank you’ enough.”

“You just said it,” Ivan answered.

“Don’t you want to know what happened?” she asked.

“No, it’s your business,” he answered.

“I owe it to you, don’t you think?”

“No”, Ivan said. “I owe you for what you told me when we had coffee together. It helped straighten me out. I think we’re friends now. I was glad I was there to help you.”

“Maybe if I told you, you wouldn’t think so much of me,” she replied.

“Then don’t tell me, Rebecca, because I don’t want to think less of you.”

“I want to, Ivan; I need to. You said ‘tell me yours’ and I didn’t. Now, I need to. I need a friend to listen to my story.”

Ivan didn’t answer. Rebecca pulled up a footstool near his chair and sat leaning forward with her chin in her hands. She recounted her story of Professor Gilbert cajoling her to the dinner in Elmira and the proposition and how she nearly took him up on it

At the end she dropped her face into her hands sobbing.

“I’m so ashamed! I did what I promised myself I would never do. I’m so cheap!”

“Don’t be ashamed,” he replied, “You have a lot of courage.”

“If I had any courage,” she answered, I would never have been in that hotel room. You’re the brave one. You chased Gilbert away.”

“You risked everything when you didn’t have to. You could have gone through with it and no one would have known. You would be on easy street right now. I didn’t do anything-just showed a scared guy that I was stronger and angrier than he was. Real courage is when you’re scared and you do what you have to, just the same.”

“I shouldn’t have been there. I thought that I was smarter.”

“It only matters how you end up—not how you get there,” Ivan countered. “You made me see that. You’ve done a big favor for me.”

Rebecca had a look on her face that Ivan hadn’t seen before. He couldn’t tell if it was a happy look or a shy one. She was looking down at the floor.

“I’m finished at this University,” she sighed. “I’ll have to find a new one next year.”

“I am, too,” Ivan laughed, “in a different way. At least, I hope I will be soon”.

Rebecca leaned forward and kissed Ivan on the cheek. “My hero!” she said with a smile.

“You look tired, Rebecca,” Ivan replied, “and my clothes are wet. I better go now.”

****************

On the following Friday Ivan was driving down Route 17 to Robin’s family estate. He had a lot on his mind. It wasn’t the breakup of his engagement with Robin that he’d decided upon. He was convinced it was the right thing to do and he was eager to get that over with.

The big item on Ivan’s plate was Rebecca’s ordeal that week, and her subsequent treatment by the spurned Professor Gilbert. She had been ejected from her carrel in the library and told that the renewal of her assistantship was ‘uncertain’.

It reminded Ivan of how unfair life could be. He hadn’t before realized that those few people who had power sometimes misused it while smaller people suffered for it. He thought of his own grasp for power by his engagement to Robin, daughter of the House of Tutlock from the Hamptons. He wondered for a few minutes what he would have done with the wealth, if it had come to him. He put it out of his mind. It would soon be in the past.

As he drove onto the Tutlock Estate and parked the car he reminded himself that he was still engaged to Robin at that moment in the official sense. That temporary status imparted some power to him, if he could be wise and quick enough to seize it.

The household butler hurried out to meet him. Ivan thought that unusual. The Tutlock’s servants knew where Ivan stood and rarely rendered more than minimal attention to him. As Ivan climbed out of his car the butler stood at stiff attention at the front of the car, staring past Ivan but speaking to him as though reciting a passage from Tennyson. .

“Mr. Horton, sir,” the servant said, “Mr.’s Marsden and Benton Tutlock are awaiting you in the study and request that you join them as soon as you arrive.”

“I’d like to see Robin, first,” Ivan answered.

“They were most defineite in their instruction, sir,” the butler replied.

He escorted Ivan into a large, oak-paneled salon with shelves of books all around and a fireplace at one end. There were Persian rugs on the hardwood floor. He announced Ivan, then drew the double doors shut as he left. Ivan strode to a spot facing the fireplace where his hosts were standing. Marsden and Binky stood facing him, flanking either end of the mahogany mantle. After a long silence Marsden spoke.

“Ivan, let us get to the point right away. Benton and I wish to speak with you about your engagement to Robin.”

Another period of silence followed. Ivan wondered if the brothers were waiting for him to say something.. His impulse was to jump ahead and blurt out his intent to break the engagement, but stifled the urge. It was Marsden, after all, who had to ‘get right to the point’, so Ivan decided to let him do it. There would be time for announcements later. He thought that he owed it to Robin to speak to her first, anyway. The whole scene put him on edge..

“Ivan,” Marsden continued at last, “your wedding with my daughter will not take place. It must be called off! Robin already knows; she is not here. She’s at her aunt’s summer home on Martha’s Vineyard.”

“Of course,” Binky added, “our offer to join our firm is withdrawn.

So, as Ivan stood before the two men he first felt relief that Robin’s family scions had put his burden on their own shoulders. In the next seconds he thought more and began wondering why they had done so. Perhaps Beryl’s late-night visits to his bedroom had been found out. He reasoned not, for if it had been so Binky not have been in on the meeting?

“Am I to know the reason?” he asked. “I was counting on that job. I could have had other offers, you know. I have an offering letter from your firm.”

“Rather not state the reason, Ivan. It’s nothing personal; it just isn’t the right thing. We’re sorry for your obvious disappointment. Look, here is the engagement ring that Robin left behind,” Marsden answered. Ivan took the ring from him.

“There could be some compensation for the lost position,” Binky piped up. He was the brother with all the charm.

Ivan straightened up, sensing opportunity. It had been a long time since he had been so smart.

“I think there might be something,” he said.

“What will it be, then? We could advance you a sum that could…” Binky started to say.

Ivan shook his head.

“I’m not looking for a handout. I have something else in mind, gentlemen.”.

“Too good to take our money? Well, what would it be, then?” Marsden demanded.

Ivan drew a deep breath. The brothers leaned closer, paying close attention as Ivan presented his demand. When Ivan finished the brothers gave each other a puzzled look and shrugged.

“That’s it? That’s all you want?” asked Binky.

Ivan nodded.

“Give us a moment, Ivan,” Marsden said.

Ivan took a chair at the opposite end of the study as the brothers huddled together. They murmured for about five minutes. Ivan couldn’t hear what they were saying, and he didn’t try to listen closer. He knew from the start what their answer would be. It occurred to him that he’d learned more than he had realized.

The brothers ended their conversation and straightened up. They turned, standing side-by-side facing Ivan as he waited at the far end of the room. Ivan walked back to where they were and faced them.

“It’s possible that something like what you’re suggesting could be done,” Marsden said.

“It’s got to be for sure,” Ivan countered, “not just a maybe.”

“Yes, yes,” Marsden spat, showing some frustration, “that’s what I meant. I just was trying not to be blunt, that’s all.”

“Sorry,” Ivan answered. “I’ve got to be sure. This might be my only chance and all…”

“You must promise to never ask for anything else…ever,” binky interrupted.

“And to never contact Robin again,” Marsden added in haste.

“I’ll keep up my end if you take care of yours,” Ivan promised.

The two brothers harrumphed for a few seconds. Ivan wondered if he’d been too bold, but realized that what had been said could not be retracted”

“That’s all you want—that’s really all you want?” Binky asked once again, and Ivan knew that he’d won.

“Then you shall have it!” Marsden pronounced all at once, borrowing some of his brother’s charm.

“It’s a deal,” Ivan said. He thought to shake hands on it, but neither brother offered and he felt no particular urge to do so on his own part .

“If there’s nothing else, then,” said Marsden, “we’ll say good bye.”

Ivan turned and left. He didn’t glance about for a last look at what could have been his. It didn’t matter. He was glad to be rid of it, a nearly ill-gotten dowry bought and paid for with his body pimped by his own hands.

As he retraced his journey on Route 17 that night he felt something that he had not felt in a long time. He was sure of the feeling, but was unable to define it Whatever it was, it was good.

******************

The next weeks passed by faster than he would have expected.. Ivan repaired his relations with his parents, which had been under strain, but never really broken

The friendship between Rebecca and Ivan grew. She tutored him in her apartment, since she had lost her carrel privileges. Ivan worked hard to pass Biology. He never became an ‘A’ student , but he tried his best. When studying was done, they had time to share a meal and talk.

“It must have taken a lot of nerve for you to break off your engagement,” she said to him one day.

“Not that much,” he answered. “Besides, I told you that I was only about to break it off. Robin’s old man did it for me before I had a chance to do it for myself.”

“But you would have done it if they hadn’t beaten you to it. That’s what you said.”

“Oh sure, I was all set to do it.”

“Any regrets?” Robin asked.

“You mean that I didn’t get the chance to do it before they did it?”

“Don’t be a wise guy,” Rebecca scolded and punched him on the arm.

“No—no regrets,” Ivan assured her.

“You must have some,” Rebecca insisted. “I’ve heard that family has a lot of money. You’ll have to make your own way.”

Ivan drew a deep breath and began speaking.

“It was worth it. As I was driving away—and all the way up Route 17 I was thinking how good it felt to be done with it. I lost a lot of money, but gained a lot, too. I knew that I’d never have all that money, but I wasn’t afraid to give it up. I’m not afraid now. You can’t imagine how good that feels.”

Rebecca got one of those smiles on her face and looked at him.

“Good for you, Ivan,” she said in a tiny voice. She paused for a second. “I keep wondering about something. Those rich families usually pay out some money when something like this happens. It’s so that everyone keeps silent. But, you say they didn’t offer you anything.”

“No, nothing,” Ivan said. “Maybe I wasn’t smart enough to ask.”

“Or greedy enough,” Rebecca corrected.

“Anyway,” Ivan said, “it was nothing compared to you standing up to that Professor-guy. You could have it made right now and no one would be the wiser.”

“I would be the wiser,” she countered. “And I would be right now if you hadn’t come for me. You’re quite a man, Ivan.”

Ivan shook his head.

“You’ve got to stop giving me the credit that belongs to you,” he said. “Anyway, I take it that you have no regrets, either.”

No,” she answered. “I’m finished at tis University, though. I’m going to have to find another one, somehow. I don’t have a clue about what to do for references. I think I’ll have to try to get a job teaching high school Biology, at least for a few years.”

Ivan shrugged.

“You never know about these things. Something always works out.”

“You say that every time,” she said. “I wish I could be so sure,

And so it went for the summer as Ivan struggled to get his Bio credits and his degree while Rebecca treaded water as an unwanted part of the Department.

“I wonder if she’s expecting to try to make it with her,” Ivan asked Jerry one day as they were playing pool at the fraternity house.

As Jerry shrugged that he didn’t know Ivan answered his own question.

“Better not—it might ruin everything. Besides, we’ll be going separate ways in a few weeks, anyway.”

***************

They met for a study session on the night before the final biology exam. They’d done so many times and nothing had changed. Yet, something unspoken hung in the air like smoke in a stale barroom. It made the eyes water and the throat feel parched. Ivan tried to hold back but in the end had to say what was on his mind.

“After tomorrow’s exam our study time will be over,” he said. “Soon we’ll go our separate ways.”

I suppose so,” she answered, “but you need to concentrate on that exam tomorrow.”

He was a bit disappointed that Rebecca didn’t share the ache he felt. He thought she should have—maybe she would later.

“Tell me again the difference between meiosis and mitosis,” he called out to her in the kitchen, as she fixed a light meal for them.

“Look it up,” she said, “then you tell me!”

He did what she said and she was satisfied that he had learned the concept.

“Here is a twenty-minute quiz,” she said as she set a plate in front of him. “Eat your sandwich and take the quiz. You can look up the answers if you have to. While you’re doing that, I’m going to take a shower.”

Ivan bent to the task with the sound of the shower running in the background. The quiz had some hard questions, but wasn’t too bad. In the end, he found that he could answer about three quarters of them without looking up the answers. While he self-corrected the test he heard the shower turn off and the hairdryer running. He thought to ask her to go out for pizza later. As he finished, Rebecca emerged from the bathroom, wearing her terry-cloth robe.

“How did you do?” she asked.

“About seventy-five. Don’t you want to see it?”

“No,” she said. “You’ll pass. Just walk in and answer the questions. You know it well enough.”

Ivan wasn’t sure, but chose to believe her.

Rebecca turned quiet and subdued.

“This is your last tutoring session,” she said. “Since you’re soon to be a college graduate, I bought something for us to celebrate with.”

She went to the refrigerator and took out a large green bottle with gold foil over the cap. There were two wine glasses on the kitchen counter that she placed on the table where Ivan sat..

“You bought champagne?” he asked.

“What did you expect, Mogen David? Go ahead and open it.”

Ivan said nothing, but was touched by the gesture. He opened the bottle and poured each a glassful.

They sipped the wine in silence, heavy with emotions and thoughts of the summer just gone by.

“You never told me exactly why you called off the wedding,” queried Rebecca.

Ivan thought for a second, and wondered why she always came back to that subject. It was as though she expected some new revelation, but it was true, Ivan never really explained his reasons. He couldn’t put them all into words.

“I told her that I liked you more than her.”

“C’mon, tell me the truth,” she said. “And I don’t care to be compared to other women, Ivan.”

“Well, that’s what I should have told her,” he said.

Ivan paused. He knew that she was waiting for more.

“What if I said that I liked you more than anyone?” he countered.

“That would be different. Did you?”

“Yes.”

“What about now?”

“Why would anything be changed now?” he answered, then went on, “If I had known you a few years ago, a lot would be different now. There would never have been an engagement to Robin.”

“You mean that you presume that you would be engaged to me?” she demanded. She seemed determined to make him suffer for his presumption.

“Who knows what would have happened?” Ivan mused. “But, I would have wanted someone who could have measured up to you.”

There it was: honesty as pure as he could tell it.

It seemed to touch her as it brought a small tear and a look he hadn’t seen since that night in Elmira in front of the gas station those many weeks ago. Even on being ostracized from the Biology Department she hadn’t reacted in the same way. To Ivan, it seemed like she saved it up when there was some kind of moment going on between tem.

Ivan had looked away, embarrassed and wondering if he’d said too much.

“How is your champagne?” she asked.

Ivan was sure that Rebecca didn’t intend for him to see her loosen the cord at the waist of her robe. It was not all the way, but just enough to allow the cloth to part from her chest and allow a view down to her breasts below if she were bent over just enough.

She refilled the glasses with champagne. Ivan turned his face back toward her. Rebecca leaned forward and loosened robe again to fall away just a bit more. Ivan’s instincts were to take in what was offered, and he noticed Rebecca watching him enjoy the view. He wondered what would be next.

“To friendship,” she toasted.

“Yes, friendship,” Ivan repeated. They clinked glasses and sipped.

Rebecca leaned over and kissed him gently on the forehead. Her lips felt tender on his skin. It was the softness of a woman. Ivan liked it. Rebecca reached out with both hands and held his face on either side. She leaned in again and kissed his lips, slow, soft, and warm. First she kissed Ivan’s two lips at once, then caressed his upper lip with her lower one, then stroked her moistened tongue on his bottom lip. It was better than Robin’s kiss, but he knew enough to keep that to himself.

He stood and kissed her back. It was, perhaps, rougher than hers, but as tender as he could be.

Rebecca stepped back several paces. She set her glasses on the table. In a single motion she pulled open the cord of the robe, slid it from her shoulders and dropped it to the floor. There she stood for him to see her—and he did

She was slender from shoulder to ankle. Her breasts were not large, but were round. They sat hung on her narrow chest as though custom-mde for her. The nipples were hard and brown. His glanced down past her tiny navel to the triangle of jet black hair.

He looked up again to her face and saw her watching him, seeming to enjoy watching her nude body excite him. When she knew that he had seen it all she did an abrupt pivot and began a long, slow walk to her bedroom. Ivan watched her bottom swing from side to side. When she reached the door she turned back toward him.

“I’ll be waiting for you,” she whispered and then disappeared through the door.

Ivan was not far behind her. He passed through her bedroom door as she was settling down in the center of her bed, the covers all turned back. Her ebony curls splayed out in contrast to the white linen on her pillow for a sort of halo around her head.

“Strip for me, Ivan,” she whispered.

A woman had once asked him do do that, he reminded himself as he remembered Robin commanding him at the party on her parents’ estate. That was a lot different and seemed so long ago. Rebecca voice sounded full of desire so he decided to let her take the lead

Ivan kicked off his shoes, then paused and looked down at her as she watched him. Her lips were slightly open and her tongue passed over them.

“I’ve been waiting so long for this,” she said as she gazed up at him.

Ivan stripped off his shirt, saw her breathing deepen and become more rapid, the erect brown nipples seeming to swell even larger and harder. He gripped his jeans and boxers as a unit and pushed them down his legs. He was naked, just as she was. He stood with his arms to his sides, allowing her eyes to drink him in, as she had done for him a few minutes before.

His erect penis projected straight out and he made no pretense to hide it. Droplets were escaping from it and lingered on the tip befor falling off. The moisture made it feel cool, in a strange sort of way, despite the warm summer air. He thought about it soon being inside the warmth of her.

“All in good time,” he cautioned himself.

He understood that he was on a journey. He would arrive at his destination in due course.

He stood still as he let her look as long as she wished. Rebecca bent up her knees and then opened herself by spreading them. She reached out her slender, white arms..

“Come to me, I can’t wait any longer,” she breathed in a raspy voice.

It all seems so right,” he answered.

“Come now,” she answered, the tone of her voice sounding more urgent..

Ivan climbed on the bed and kneeled between her spread thighs. The soft skin caressed his flanks. He fought off the urge to put himself insede her right away.. He placed his hands just outside both her shoulders and With his arms supporting his weight he bent his head to kiss her. He was dripping more fluid in his excitement . It spattered onto her belly, which seemed to set her on fire. As Ivan’s tongue probed through her lips, she grasped his massive shoulders and pulled him down to her.

In a tight embrace they tasted and ravished each other for some minutes. Ivan felt her erect nipples stabbing at his chest. He broke the kiss and slid down to suck each one in turn as Rebecca pressed his head to her chest

Ivan went further down her lean body to the triangle of jet-black hair at the juncture of her thighs. He eased himself off the mattress onto the floor, kneeling against the bed.

Before he could ask her she turned her body to face him. He dipped his tonghue into her, searching out her pleasure. She moaned to let him know that he’d found it. Her sounds of pleasure were like music. He learned the rhythm ad strummed over and over again. After a while she thrust her hips up and pressed his head down into her. Ivan grasped her with his powerful hands and pulled her even tighter.

Ivan sensed Rebecca’s release approaching. When it arrived it was with great force and it left her panting for breath as it faded and her body uncoiled. Ivan caught his own breath but stayed at his station in front of her.

“It’s never been like that,” she said at last.

Ivan didn’t know what to say. He wanted to tell her that he was grateful to her for having accepted pleasure from him. He decided to tell her later. He was thinking he might serve her again. He touched her with his tongue, but she stopped him.

“Let me do you,” she whispered.

“Later,” he replied. “I just want to be inside you.”

She eased back to the middle of the bed as he stood. Her legs were parted,bent at the knees. She reached out her arms as he climbed between her thighs. Ivan eased into her, only an inch or two for the first few seconds. It was a first that he wished to remember. He pushed forward. Her canal was warm and slick. He was in all the way. They remained that way for a minute, enjoying the union.

“Raise up off me a little. Then hold still. Let me do all the work until you come inside me,” Rebecca said as she lay beneath him.

Ivan had never contemplated such a gift from a lover. He rose up on all fours as she asked.. Rebecca wrapped her legs and arms around him with all her might. Impaled on him, suspended in air over the bed, she thrust up onto him over and over

“I’ve never had a lover who was strong enugh to do this,” she gasped.

She wasn’t very heavy at all, so it was easy for Ivan. Rebecca seemed to know what she wanted to do. He decided to let her have her way. She captured him deep inside, pulsing herself around him. He was in the grip of the pleasure she brought him. He wondered if she felt it, too.

He felt his climax approaching—decided to do what he could to fend it off for as long as he could. Rebecca tightened herself around him even more and began gasping with each thrust.

His resistance evaporated, he felt himself coming and he let it pour through him. As he began, she pressed into him as hard as she could and let out a triumphant cry, letting Ivan know that she had brought them both to the summit.

They collapsed on the bed, exhausted for the moment. It had been as intense a session of lovemaking that Ivan had ever experienced. He was glad for it—sorry that it was over. Ivan rolled to the side onto his back, Rebecca threw her leg over the top of him and rested her head on his shoulder.

The couple came together twice more that night as they created their secrets together. It was late into the night when they slept at last..

**************

The next day Ivan took his final Biology exam. He was sure that he passed it. It wasn’t nearly as hard as Rebecca’s quizzes. He hurried to her apartment to tell her.

Her expression was the brightest and happiest that he had ever seen it. He puffed his chest out, thinking it was because of his performance the night before. Before he could speak she rushed to him.

“Before you say a word, I have to tell you something.”

“You’re pregnant?” he asked and chortled at his own joke.

“No!” Rebecca rolled her eyes and punched him in the chest. “Be serious and listen.”

“Okay—sorry.”

“Professor Gilbert was fired this morning,” she began. “Well, they said he ‘resigned’. The rumor is that it has something to do with an investigation into diverted grant money..”

“That is big news,” Ivan agreed.

“There’s more,” said Rebecca, her excitement growing. “I have a new advisor, Professor Knight. My assistantship is restored. I even got my carrel back!”

“That’s great, Rebecca! I’m happy for you!” Ivan exclaimed. “What will happen to Gilbert?”

“I heard that he landed on his feet, as usual. He landed a job as Research Director at a new bio-tech company. Some Wall Street investment bank by the name of ‘Tutlock & Tutlock’ set it up. Can you imagine that?”

“You never know, do you?” Ivan said, shaking his head..

“I’ve never heard of this ‘Tutlock Bank’,” Rebecca mused.

“Me, neither,” Ivan shrugged.

Rebecca paused for a second, searching Ivan’s expression. Her face lit up again.

“I’m so excited! I’m ready to burst,” she said. “We have the whole afternoon free. What do you want to do?”

“I can think of a few things,” Ivan replied.

But, it was not to be. They spent the afternoon at the lake, saving Ivan’s ideas for later that night.

***********

It was early on a summer morning. They were having coffee on the deck overlooking their garden.

“I thought you had an early meeting this morning,” Ivan said. Rebecca spun her head around.

“What was that?” she answered.

Ivan knew that faraway look that Rebecca got when she was lost in thought.

“You’re thinking about the old days,” he said.

“Yes,” Rebecca admitted. “It was at this time of year.”

“Sure, it was thirty year ago,” Ivan answered.

“We’ve come a long way together,” Rebecca said.

“No, we’re still right here in the same town we started out in,” Ivan retorted.

“Come on, you know what I mean.”

Ivan knew that Rebecca was right, of course. She was Professor Isaacson-Horton and had just become Chair of the Biology Department at the University. Ivan went to the Police Academy and worked his way through the ranks of the Sheriff’s Department of the local county. He was elected Sheriff and then, a year ago, County Executive.

“I heard from the boys yesterday,” Rebecca said. “They called to say ‘Happy Anniversary’.”

Their sons had their own families.

“What about that meeting?” Ivan asked.

“Oh, it was postponed until next week.”

“In other words, we have nothing to do right now?” Ivan asked.

“Nothing to do if you can’t think of something,” Rebecca answered and then covered Ivan’s hand with her own.

Ivan chuckled a little bit. It was the answer that he was hoping for.

“Clean up the dishes,” Rebecca said. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

She arose from her chair and disappeared through the sliding glass doors. Ivan knew that the clean-up task would give her just enough time to get ready.

When he walked into the bedroom he found her lying on the bed, covers turned down. Her black hair was spread over the white linen of the pillow case.

“Strip for me, Ivan,” she said as his eyes drank in her naked body.

“So you you still think about the old days,” Ivan said as he unbuckled his belt.

“:Of course,” she answered. “That’s when everything changed.”

THE END

***************

Dear Readers,

Thank you for reading “Ivan Horton’s Choice”. I hope that you enjoyed it. As always, I welcome your comments and questions.

Autumn Writer