Becoming My Professor's Muse Pt. 01

Iris laid on her back with legs tucked in to fit the small loveseat. They hadn't made as much progress as she wanted. She shuffled through a stack of flashcards.

"Alright, which is the light and dark contrasting one?" she asked.

Eddie sat drawing at the drafting table which took up much of the extra space in cramped dorm room.

"Spumoni!" Eddie replied.

"If you meant sfumato, that isn't the right answer."

"I know, I was joking that time."

"Come on! It's our first quiz and I just want to get through these."

Iris was frustrated with Eddie, but only slightly. Tomorrow's quiz was causing her some mild anxiety. It wasn't a rational anxiousness, her grades were always flawless and there was no reason to think this quiz would be especially challenging, but she held herself to extremely high standards. Eddie wasn't the type to worry much about his grades, though it would have helped him to try harder in his non-art classes.

The young couple had dated since their senior year of high school. They first met and became friends at their school's newspaper as juniors and became inseparable and fell in love the following summer. They were together for all the awkward missteps and beauty that comprise first love and, in their private moments together, they planned for a future -- college, marriage, and a family.

Eddie was a relatively talented artist, and his best path towards a career in art was at the local university -- a decent-sized but unprestigious institution. Iris wasn't artistic like Eddie, but she had substantially better grades than her boyfriend and many options for college. Much to her parents' frustration, she eschewed attending better and more distant universities to follow Eddie. Young love can make you do crazy things.

Fortunately, the school wasn't awful, and it did have an honors college which Iris was easily accepted to. It made her choice a bit less of a compromise. In reality, the honors program meant little more than having priority class scheduling and an extra line on a student's resume, but the 'Honors' distinction might help Iris find a job after graduation, and the program wasn't too much of a commitment. All she needed to do was maintain her grades and attend a few meetings during the semester.

The couple's first year of college had been logistically challenging. Though they found time for each other, it was as though their schedules were at war. They seemed to always have classes at alternating times or on opposite sides of campus. It didn't help that their incompatible majors had very different prerequisites. It seemed as though they were always racing across campus to catch a moment together between classes. Now, at the start of their sophomore year, the young couple's schedules had happily lined up, they were even able to take an elective together -- Art History 201.

"I think we're pretty close to where we need to be on the studying." said Eddie, trying to convince his girlfriend they didn't need to spend the whole afternoon going over their Art History flashcards.

"You would say that. How about this, we get through the rest of this teeny pile of flashcards, and you can join me on the loveseat." Iris gesticulated absurdly, caressing her hands down her body in mock sexiness. Her humor was unintentionally undercut by the fact that she was genuinely sexy and, even with the goofy expression on her face, the display had a provoking effect on Eddie.

"I'm convinced. Let's get back to it." he said.

After they finished studying, Eddie enthusiastically joined Iris on the loveseat. Eddie's dorm room had strange dimensions, leaving a large chunk of the space unusable. But he was happy to have it. Thanks to the odd shape, it only housed one occupant and afforded him and Iris a bit of privacy. Despite the private room, however, the couple's intimate relations were more chaste than might have been expected. It wasn't that they were virgins. The two of them crossed that threshold over the previous summer, having sex twice on a camping trip in July.. But Iris was deathly afraid of getting pregnant, and even though she was on the pill and insisted that Eddie use condoms, she didn't want to take too many risks while they were still in school.

Even though sex was generally off the table, they did have needs. Iris and Eddie began to make out on the loveseat. He kissed her deeply as she straddled him. She wore tight jeans and his hand rested on her butt as she thrust herself into him. Eddie became very turned on by the dry humping but hoped for more. He repositioned himself to take her in his arms and lifted her and carried her to the bed. She grinned a bashful smile and her curly hair dangled behind her in a long ponytail. When he dropped her onto the soft mattress, she let out a playfully girlish shriek.

Iris began unbuttoning her cardigan and, in doing so, gave Eddie permission to take his clothes off. He tore out of his clothes so quickly that Iris hadn't even finished undoing her sweater fully.

"Wow! You seem excited." said Iris. Eddie shrugged his shoulders and gave her a hopeful look. "We aren't having sex."

"What are you talking about? Who said anything about sex?" he said insincerely.

She knew exactly what he was thinking. Ever since the summer, he'd been angling to try sex again.

"Don't look so disappointed. I'll still take care of my guy."

Iris pulled him down onto the bed and started kissing his chest, shrugging off her sweater and unclasping her bra as she made her way down his torso. She sat up and the bra popped off of her elastically, exposing the large pink areolas on her excellent yet modest breasts.

"Can you grab some tissue?" she asked.

"Yeah sure, but can't I do something for you too?" asked Eddie, noticing Iris hadn't taken off her jeans.

"I'm still on my period. It's probably the last day. I'd rather just do stuff for you."

He handed her the tissue, and Iris knelt between his legs and neatly folded it while Eddie ogled the pale curves of her body. She leaned over and kissed her way down his abdomen. Her nipples grazed his naked thighs as she went. Tucking her fingers into his waistband, she worked his underpants down his hips, and Eddie's penis sprang out fully erect.

"Wow. There's my friend." said Iris smiling.

She slowly edged closer to the shaft, then stopped, and looked up at Eddie, her disposition suddenly changed -- now nervous and pathetic.

"I'm sorry sir, but what do I do now?" she said as she looked uneasily from the penis to Eddie's face.

Iris' doe brown eyes reddened with tears. She was an amazing actress but only used her talents for Eddie's amusement -- often playing the role of the timid ingenue when they were in the midst of an intimate encounter.

"Y-You'll figure it out, I'm sure." Eddie responded. He was awful at keeping his composure when Iris played these types of games with him. She loved how easily she could turn him on when she toyed with him.

"But sir, does this look right? I don't want to disappoint you."

She slacked her mouth wide and stuck out her glistening tongue as she slowly arced closer to him, all the while she keeping her pleading eyes locked on his in a moment of palpable anticipation. Iris's breath fell hotly upon his erection as her pretty lips and soft tongue gradually edged closer and closer until they were just millimeters away--

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

"Eddie, you in there?!" called a voice from outside the door.

Iris bolted up and quickly pulled on her cardigan. Eddie followed suit, attempting to slip on his jeans and underwear in one go.

"One sec Aaron." said Eddie, pulling on his shirt.

As well as he tried to hide it, Eddie was pretty disheveled when he finally opened the door.

"Hey Aaron, what's up?" asked Eddie, trying to breath normally while Iris hid against the wall and hastily buttoned her sweater.

"Olsten just posted the signup for studio times." said Aaron. "Hi, Iris!" Aaron indicated that he noticed the bra still in the middle of Eddie's bed.

"Hello." she replied in a small voice while still keeping hidden.

"I thought Olsten was supposed to wait until our next class." said Eddie. "Crap, I gotta go Iris. Otherwise, I'll get a real bad time slot."

Eddie needed extra studio time this semester to work on his submission for the Art School's Student Exhibition.

"It's fine, but I'm leaving for class soon. I'll see you in the morning?" she said.

Iris fetched her bra off the bed, making sure to angle herself away from the door and Aaron. Without the bra, her nipples poked conspicuously against the thin material of the sweater.

"No problem. Love you, see you in the morning." said Eddie as he bolted out the door.

"Love you too."

The next day the couple met in the hall outside of their way-too-early Art History class. A few other classmates were milling about, waiting for the room to get opened.

"Are you ready for the quiz?" asked Iris, trying to stifle a yawn.

"I don't know. I think so. I'm sure you'll be fine." replied Eddie.

"Eh, I'm worried I'll forget some of the words."

"Yeah, you might get like one question wrong."

Iris pushed Eddie gently in feigned annoyance. Quick, loud footsteps approached from the far end of the hall. It was their Art History Professor, the minor university celebrity, J. Brenn. This sharply dressed man was known on campus thanks to his successful art career. He was one of the more highly regarded portrait artists in the US, but he was probably best known for an album cover he did for a major rock band in his early twenties. Professor Brenn taught several of the advanced art classes at the school but also took on a couple Art History courses because his actual degree was in that subject.

"Sorry I'm running behind." said Professor Brenn as he unlatched the door. He genially ushered the students in. "Quick class today though. I'll finish up my spiel on the Dutch Masters, and then we'll have our first quiz."

Professor Brenn caused a mild stir amongst the student body. Aside from his professional reputation, he was a notably handsome man and still in his thirties. On more than one occasion, Iris and Eddie overheard comments from their classmates about how attractive their professor was and what those students would be willing to do with him if given the chance. Iris wasn't one to fawn over men, but did admit, after some cajoling from Eddie, that Professor Brenn was objectively attractive.

As promised, the class ended early. Eddie strolled out of the room a few minutes after Iris. She sat on the hallway floor waiting, having finished the quiz before anyone else.

"See, that was so easy. You worried for nothing." said Eddie smiling.

"It was, but he never said it would be multiple choice. That made it way easier than it could have been." replied Iris.

"You heading to the Business School next?"

"Yeah, accounting in an hour and then econ right after."

"Geez, your schedule is packed. It'll be hard to find time for a job this semester."

The remainder of the class filed out behind them.

"The sooner I finish school, the sooner I'll be able to get a real job." said Iris lifting her arms towards Eddie expectantly.

He casually helped her up from the ground. At the same time, Professor Brenn stepped out of the classroom and caught Iris's eye.

"Are you... Iris?" Brenn said, peeking at the name on the top sheet of the stack of quizzes.

"Yes." Iris replied uncertainly.

"Great, I was just grading a few of the quizzes and you are the only one who got everything right. Even the extra credit. Good job."

"Oh. Okay thanks." Iris gave a timid smile.

"Well, you take care Iris. See you next class."

Brenn continued down the hall, nodding in minimum acknowledgement of Eddie as he passed.

"Already getting in good with the Professor." Eddie teased.

"Whatever. I should get going."

"Huh? You still have a while until your class."

"Yeah, but I need to get the charging brick from my dorm. My phone didn't charge last night."

"Say 'hi' to your roommate for me."

"Ha. One of these days I'm bound to run into her again. Hey, I was thinking maybe we could catch up tonight? I could meet you before your studio time."

"Yeah, I'll see you then."

"Love you."

"Love you."

Iris crossed the central campus commons on the way back to her dorm. It was early fall, and the weather was still nice enough that there were plenty of people about. Many groups sat at the tables or lounged on the lawn of the greenway. As Iris passed a particularly rowdy bunch of guys, one peeled away from his friends and made his way towards her.

"Wait! Wait! Miss, I have something incredibly important to tell you." said the likely stoner.

"And what's that?" said Iris without slowing.

"Your jeans. They're so tight."

One of the stoner's friends ran up behind him.

"Ha, ha, ha. We're sorry ma'am. I'll put this guy back where he goes." said the stoner's friend as he pulled the stoner back to the rest of their group.

Iris had a hard time understanding interactions like that -- why guys would bother her or try to get her attention. She was incredulous about the effect she had on men, finding it hard to believe that anyone, aside from Eddie, might find her attractive. Because of this, she found the often very simple motivations of guys confusing. It had caused her problems in the past. In her freshman year, she was part of a study group with some other people from the Honors College. Without Iris realizing it, one of the guys in the group developed a huge crush on her.

Chris, the guy with the crush, would regularly invite her to school events, and when she casually communicated the details to Eddie, he said Chris probably liked her. Iris wasn't convinced and thought that Eddie was either mistaken or jealous. But then, on the day before the final exam. Chris confessed his feelings to Iris. It was a big awkward emotional display where he told her he was in love with her and tried to convince her to break up with Eddie. She did not reciprocate his feelings at all and felt bizarre hearing him say those things. The event was made more uncomfortable, because a couple of her friends in the group assumed she knew about the crush and thought she might even break up with her boyfriend for Chris.

Eddie wasn't disturbed when she told him what happened, though she left out the detail about her classmates thinking she might break up with him. Eddie understood how appealing and likeable his girlfriend was and knew she wouldn't get through college without attracting a lot of attention. He told her it wouldn't be the last time.

When Iris returned to her room, she found a sock on the doorknob. The illicit sounds of carnal satisfaction emanated from the opposite side of the door. Unfortunately for Iris, it seemed her roommate had returned and brought a friend with her. Iris stood outside the room and checked the time on her dying phone and decided to go to class without the charger.

The rest of the day was fairly typical for Iris. After her last class, she went to the Art Building to try and catch Eddie before his studio time. Eddie was working on a large-scale abstract piece -- a study of geometric shapes which was too big to fit in his dorm. Iris sat outside the studio and ate her PB & J dinner and waited for her boyfriend. He didn't show. She waited another fifteen minutes. When he still didn't come, Iris began to look up and down the halls. It occurred to her that she may have had the wrong room number and went around, peeking her head in the other open studios. In one of the rooms, a student sat painting at an easel. She glanced up when Iris entered.

"Looking for something?" said the painter.

"No. My boyfriend had studio time tonight, and I was looking for him." responded Iris.

"You gonna model for him?"

"No! Nothing like that." Iris' voice betrayed shock at the question.

"You don't need to be offended. I didn't suggest you were stripping down. Tons of respectable artists need models." The painter gestured towards a stool which had a stack of fliers resting on top of it.

WANTED: ART REFERENCE MODELS OF ALL TYPES

Looking to complete a large-scale humanity piece. Three-hour sessions, $200 per session. If interested, return completed form to the office of Professor J. Brenn, room 404 Art Building.

"$200 would be nice, but what are the models asked to do?" said Iris.

"Oh, it's real easy. I did it already. I didn't have to take my clothes off or anything like that. And he wasn't inappropriate. Not that I'd have minded if he was. Have you seen him, he's actually kind of hot." said the painter.

"I could use the money."

Iris took a flier with her as she walked out, not thinking anything was likely to come of it. After checking Eddie's supposed studio once more and not finding him, she decided to fill out the flier and drop it in Brenn's mail chute before leaving the Art Building. It might be weird to pose for her professor, but she didn't need to make the choice right away. Iris could make up her mind if and when she heard back.

The fourth floor was almost completely dark, aside from the light which spilled out of an open office halfway down the hall. Iris strained her eyes to read the office numbers, looking for 404, but the effort proved unnecessary as the open office belonged to Professor Brenn. She approached timidly, carrying the flier which was now covered with her neat handwriting. Professor Brenn sat at his desk staring at his open laptop. Iris peeked inside, hoping to find a tray or something to drop the flier in without catching the Professor's attention.

"Hello. I know you... Iris Finnegan, right? Do you have a question about class?" said Professor Brenn leaning back in his chair -- clearly happy for the distraction.

"Yes-- Sorry, no question. I." She held up the flier, slightly flustered and embarrassed.

"Great! Let's see what we've got here." The Professor jumped up and grabbed the paper from Iris and perused it.

"I was right about the name." he said. Brenn looked Iris up and down appraisingly. She shrank and blushed when she realized he was examining her body. "Alright, what's your schedule look like? Are you free tomorrow evening? I'm busy during the day."

"No, I have a night class tomorrow."

"Okay, and I'm booked Thursday and Friday. How about now? You're free?"

Iris rarely felt so put on the spot. She hadn't even decided to go through with it before stepping into the office, but her professor's confident and presumptuous manner created the sense that she would. The decision was already made, just not by her.

"I have some time now. I guess." replied Iris automatically.

--

Professor Brenn's studio was also on the fourth floor. The room was much larger than the other studios with big north-facing windows and various furniture and platforms scattered throughout to display his subjects upon. One long wall of the studio was covered in art pieces. They were all presumable works by Brenn, showing a variety of people doing a variety of things. Brenn didn't pause on entering his studio. He immediately began moving the lighting, arranging them about a cluster of seats. Iris stood at the entrance, unsure of how to proceed.

"You can set your backpack and purse down over there and then go recline on the couch or the chaise." he said, noticing her hesitance.

Iris dropped her bags and walked to the couch. She decided to slip off her sneakers before lying down, feeling it was impolite to climb on the furniture with her shoes on. Professor Brenn walked over and again gave her an appraising look.

"Pick your head up." he commanded.

She did as told and he grabbed a paisley pillow from behind the couch and shoved it under her head.

"Now lay back"

She obeyed.

"Good." he said.

Brenn pulled up a stool close to the couch and opened a large sketchpad. He started drawing with a piece of soft charcoal, blackening his fingers in the process. Iris hadn't received any further instructions, so she lay stiffly, afraid to move. He rose from the stool and turned the page of his notepad and moved the stool closer to the couch. He was now near her knees, looking up towards her face. While drawing Brenn had an air of total confidence. He was cool -- in his element.