A Professor Living Dangerously Pt. 02

Katherine was coming out of the dressing room when she saw Sam exit through the back door and instinctively she knew it wasn't a good sign. A few minutes later he reappeared as she was talking to Roland and with a nod of his head directed her to his office.

"Why the fuck you acting like a bitch?" he asked with no preliminaries.

"What? What are you talking about?" she answered, although she had a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Those motherfuckers say you acting all high and mighty," he stated.

"Sam, I..." she started, before being cut off.

"Girl, I don't care what the damn excuse is this time. Those two are important to me which means they are damn important to you. They want to see your tits then you drop your top and show them," he yelled.

"Fuck no Sam. Fuck no! I'm not a prostitute!" she yelled back.

Her voice and anger surprised the club owner, however he managed to control his temper and soften his voice some, "No one is saying you're a whore. And I ain't saying to fuck them. But, this is a strip club not a church and seeing some tits is normal. Hell, you've shown them before so what the fuck is the problem?"

"Sam...they're assholes," Katherine said softly, using language that surprised her.

"I know they assholes. That don't matter. I need them so you got to be right...and you forget your girlfriend Chantal. She needs to do her job," he replied. His reference to the black girl caught her off guard and she stared at him unsure of how to respond.

"I'll try to be nicer," she finally said, thinking it was best to just get through the evening.

"Good. Now you go change into a dancer outfit for the rest of the night," he said.

"Why Sam?" she shot back quickly, now confused.

"Best way to keep everyone happy," he replied dismissively.

"Everyone but me!" she exclaimed.

"Listen, you close to being finished here. Don't fuck things up now. You ain't being asked to do something you haven't done before. Now, no more mouthing and come back when you change so I can have a look," he replied in a scolding manner.

Katherine's anger had returned and once again she had to force herself to remain quiet and walk away. She ignored Roland as she walked by the bar on the way to the dressing room, and she took her time changing so it was almost twenty minutes later when she finally got back to Sam. He turned when she stepped into the small office and she could tell he was upset although he said nothing. She was dressed in hot pants and a halter top that was sexy, although it showed no more than her waitress outfit.

"Try again and you got five minutes. You won't get another chance," Sam said and turned.

Five minutes later Katherine was back wearing a red lace halter dress with matching red three-inch platform shoes. A small thong covered her bottom although her breasts were easily discernible through the gauzy material.

"Now, I don't want to hear about any trouble," he warned, acknowledging his acceptance of the outfit.

Katherine turned and left feeling humiliated, but lacked any idea of how to deal with the situation. After picking up her tray and ignoring a questioning look from Roland she walked out the back door towards the small structure, certain trouble was ahead.

The small room was empty when she stepped inside although from the sounds emanating from the bedrooms she could tell that things were in full swing. She started picking up empty glasses and cleaning the mess on the table making sure to work around the spot where the drug was laid out. She left then returned ten minutes later with more tequila and a round of drinks. After placing them on the table, she was just about to leave when Ruben's friend emerged from one of the back rooms completely naked with his fat, uncircumcised dick, shiny with wetness, flopping back and forth between his legs as he walked towards her.

"Fucking nice," the young man said, making her instinctively turn to hide her barely covered body.

For a moment, she thought he was coming for her, but instead he took the bottle of tequila and without ceremony tipped it back. After a grimace, he directed his gaze back to her and looked her up and down before focusing on her breasts.

"Need anything right now?" Katherine asked, eager to leave.

"Nah," he replied still looking hard at her body through the translucent material.

She left quickly and now felt she could wait a while before returning so she stayed close to the bar and talked with Roland, ignoring his leers. It was almost thirty minutes later that she returned and this time Ruben, his friend, Chantal and one of the other dancers were all sitting on the couches completely naked. The other man had the dancer on his lap and by their position Katherine thought it was likely his dick was inside her, but she couldn't tell for certain. Chantal gave her a broad smile while Ruben looked her over much like his friend had.

"Bitch, that's better," he stated rudely.

Chantal instantly reached over and took his hand in an attempt to distract him, however he shrugged her off and continued.

"Come closer so I can see those tits," he followed.

"Baby," the black dancer tried again to divert his focus, but was once again ignored.

"You can see them from here," Katherine finally answered, and turned to leave.

"Bitch, I ain't through. You want me to make another call? Why the fuck you think you dressed like that? Cause I made it happen! Now move your ass over here!" he shot back, with his words escalating in volume.

Katherine, seething in anger, stopped her movement towards the door and stood still for a moment before turning and stepping closer to the drug dealer. She was shaking slightly in rage as she stepped in front of him, and was surprised and angry to find that the adrenalin had made her nipples stiffen.

"Take it off," Ruben demanded.

"No," she quickly responded.

"Bitch, take it off," he said again.

"Why? You can see everything," she asked, fighting back her tears of frustration.

"Take it the fuck off," he said even louder as he began to lift his naked body from the couch.

"Baby...," Chantal said, trying once more to defuse the situation.

"Damn you!" Katherine called out as she lifted the gauzy top over her head and off.

It took all her willpower not to cry and now stood in only her thong and shoes before the man. Ruben looked her over without speaking as a smile came to his face then quickly he plucked the garment from her hand and tossed it on the floor next to him.

"Get us some more drinks and when you come back I'll titty fuck you," he laughed, as he gripped his dick in his hand.

"Sam, they're scaring me," she said to his back, after retreating from the structure.

"They ain't going to hurt you..." he started to speak as he turned, then stopped when he saw her uncovered just a few feet away. For a moment, he thought about throwing her flushed body down and taking her, but with a deep breath he leaned back and continued, "What happened?"

Katherine explained the event and the nervousness she felt and his demeanor made her feel she was sympathetic to her plight however, that thought was killed when he finally spoke.

"It will be alright. He just wanted a look," Sam said although, for the first time since she had known him she sensed doubt in his voice.

When the young professor returned to the room, she found it once more empty, and after setting the drinks out she made a hasty exit still uncovered from the waist up.

The Hispanic men didn't leave until three in the morning with only Sam, Roland, Katherine and the three dancers staying past closing. It was only when they talked just before leaving that Katherine learned that Chantal had put all her efforts into getting Ruben drunk and sexually satiated so he would leave her alone. It was an amazing show of friendship and it made the young professor's bond with the dancer grow even stronger.

Fortunately, she received no calls or texts from Jeff which indicated to her that he had gone to sleep, and when she finally got home, she quietly went to bed and was successful at slipping in without waking her husband.

Amazingly, the final two survey happened the following Tuesday afternoon when the two straggling girls showed up at the club within minutes of each other. Normally they only worked weekends so, she was thrilled to catch them and within forty-five minutes she was done, and with a huge feeling of accomplishment she went to tell Sam.

"Sam, I got them. I'm done," she announced to his back.

"Well, don't you leave me hanging. You need to work tonight," he replied not looking around.

"I will," she responded feeling it was a fair request.

Sam was disappointed that the opportunity to get a taste of her never worked out. He was certain he was going to get there when he learned about Chantal, however she proved to be more industrious than he expected and took care of her business. Inside, he had to admit he was going to miss her too. Besides, being a boon for the club, especially when she danced, he was drawn to her beauty and spirit.

"Chantal, I'm all done. I got the other surveys," she told the young black girl during a break.

The look of disappointment on the girls face instantly removed her own euphoria and she allowed herself to be drawn into an embrace.

"You can't leave," the dancer whined, close to tears.

"You knew I was just here for work," Katherine answered.

Now that she was finished, her rational mind was quickly returning, and she knew she needed to make a clean break with the club. However, she was very fond of Chantal and certainly didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"I know, but..." she girl started, then became quiet.

"Chantal, we'll stay in touch. Leaving here doesn't mean we can't," she said, while trying to figure out how it could work.

"Okay, baby," she answered and hugged the young professor tighter.

With the data all in, Katherine set a time with her mentor to review her preliminary findings. Since the data collection had taken so long, she had worked to advance her paper and had already prepared a solid outline along with a full write up of the opening sections and a bullet point synopsis of her findings. Fortunately, the latter surveys had not altered the direction of things so she felt that, after receiving the blessing from Professor Dominguez, she could finish up in a matter of weeks.

The email she sent requesting a meeting was almost instantly returned and she could sense the excitement from her mentor who informed her she could meet the following Monday. Katherine knew she would need to spend some time cleaning up some loose ends to be ready, but accepted the suggested time. So, less than two business days later, she found herself in Professor Dominguez's office excited, yet nervous to present her case.

Helen Dominguez let the younger woman present all the material then peppered her with a litany of questions that Katherine felt she handled well. Two hours later, with a smile and a sigh, the full Professor leaned back in her chair and spoke.

"Katherine, I can honestly say I have never seen work of this quality in someone at your stage in their career. You have set the bar quite high for your peers and yourself I must say," she stated, and Katherine found herself choking back tears.

"It's so exciting. You know it was exactly the type of thing I was interested in researching," she finally was able to respond after several deep breaths.

"Look, Katherine..." the older woman started. She paused for a moment when she saw her look startled then continued, "You know we talked before about sample size and I just feel that it will be the area where your work gets attacked. You know as well as I that the community will focus on something to go after. Isn't there some way you can get more surveys?"

"I...I don't know. It will be quite hard," she replied softly while looking at the floor.

The enthusiasm her mentor had shown to this point had made her feel that she was passed the sample size issue, so it took the wind from her sails. She knew it would mean begging Sam, and even though they had parted on good terms, she didn't trust him nor did she want to.

"Katherine I can say this with some confidence. If it weren't for the one issue I believe your work would get you promoted to Associate Professor," Professor Dominguez said.

"Are you kidding?" she responded with surprise. There were fairly strict rules concerning time in roles and something like this, while not unheard of, was very rare.

"I'm not kidding," came the firm response.

"Let me look into it," Katherine replied, with her mind suddenly alive with ideas.

She had come so far, overcoming so many obstacles and compromising her values, that she just wasn't ready to deal with any negativity. Thus, she called Jeff and told him the good things about the meeting and agreed to his suggestion for a celebratory dinner. They went to their favorite restaurant and over a bottle of wine and several after dinner drinks had a good time reminiscing about the past few months.

"I still can't believe you did it. It was so bold!" Jeff exclaimed with a proud smile.

"I can't either," she replied, letting her mind wander just for a moment to all the craziness and the things her husband didn't know.

"Well, I'm glad it's over although I will miss your stories," he said, with a little boy grin.

"Oh really? Maybe there are some I haven't told you yet," she teased, then laughed when she saw the look on his face.

Later that night in bed, while she sucked on her husband's dick, she told him enough to get him to explode in her mouth then, after giving him a few minutes to rest, she started again with the teasing that quickly brought back his stiffness. It was something she had learned that allowed them to both be satisfied and she climbed on top and rode him until she reached a nice climax of her own.

The following Sunday, after going to church for the first time in weeks, she brought up the subject of needing more data.

"Jeff, there's something I'd like your input on," she started.

"What's that?" he asked with enthusiasm.

"Well, when I met with Helen and went through my work she was very enthusiastic, although there was one thing she felt was a little weak," she said.

"Okay, well nothing is perfect. What is it?" he asked.

"It's the sample size. The number of surveys. She thinks I should get more," she explained and cringed inwardly.

"Oh," Jeff replied.

He was smart enough to understand the implications of her description, and the thought of losing his wife again for who knows how long was not appealing.

"Jeff, she said that if I didn't have that issue I would get promoted because my work is so good. Promoted to Assistant Professor at my age is unheard of!" she explained, hoping he would see the compelling case.

Her husband knew enough about the academic world to understand that what she was saying was significant. So, he fought the urge to get flippant and replied, "Seriously? She said that?"

"Yes!" Katherine answered, feeling he appreciated her motivation.

"Darling, I hate the idea of losing you again for weeks, but I'm not going to get in your way on something this important to you. You would never forgive me," he told her.

An immense weight was instantly lifted from her shoulders and she felt grateful to her husband for being so unselfish and supportive, however at the same time a wave of guilt washed over her as she thought about her infidelities. She made a pledge to herself that this time round she would stop well short of any adulterous behavior.

Katherine left school early the next day and was at the door of the club at two where she hoped to have a productive conversation with Sam. He certainly didn't owe her anything so, she was relying on the small relationship she felt they had built to carry the day.

"Hi Sam, do you have a second?" she spoke to his back, while he sat at his desk. She had bypassed Roland so he had no idea she was in the club.

The club owner had no idea why she was there as he expected never to see her again, however he was quick enough and clever enough to know that her presence likely meant she needed something from him. He took his time to think through the situation then very slowly turned in his chair.

"Well, well...did you forget something?" he asked, seeing some distress in her eyes.

"Sam, look...uhhh...I think I may have told you before about the number of surveys being a problem," she began before realizing that he was likely completely unfamiliar with rules of statistics so with a sigh she started over, "In research you have to have a certain number of data points to validate your findings and well...after going through my work with my supervisor she...we...think that the number of surveys I have is at the low end of requirements."

The black man remained silent and she wondered if he understood. She was just about to try again to describe the situation when he said, "So you need to talk to more dancers?"

"Yes," Katherine blurted out instantly, happy that the subject was now on the table.

"And you need my help," he followed, while his mind considered the possibilities.

"Yes," she replied once more, although this time in a lower voice.

Sam purposefully stayed quiet letting the young wife's nervousness grow before he finally spoke, "And what is it you want?"

"Uhhh...you have the other club and I wondered if I could work there and do the same thing I did here," she said.

"That's a nude club and the waitresses are topless. You ready to be topless every night and nude when you need to dance?" he asked.

Katherine was aware it was a lower end place, and she didn't know the details so his description took her aback. For several seconds, she tried to determine a solution that would work, but failing to think of anything, she finally responded, "No, I guess not."

"Then I guess we're done," he replied and started to turn. He knew he had his fish on the line, but needed to play it well to land it.

"Sam, please. Can't you make those girls available in some way? I can go there before the club opens and interview them or they could come here. It would be over quickly and wouldn't cause a problem," she begged.

"Girl, I told you before these dancers will lie unless they know you and get comfortable. Is that what you want? A bunch of bullshit?" he asked, reminding her of why she had dealt with the ordeal of working in the club.

"Fuck Sam...FUCK! What can I do?' she let out in frustration.

Sam knew she wasn't using her normal language and that she was quite upset however, he didn't let it bother him and stayed focused on his goal.

"How many more you need?" he asked, giving the young professor a glimmer of hope.

"A dozen," she shot back.

"Then your best chance is to keep working here and talk to the new girls that come in," he stated.

Katherine knew from her experience that the dancers came and went with regularity. Still, she felt that following Sam's suggestion would take at least a month.

"Sam, that will take weeks," she responded.

"Likely," he said, but offered no sympathy or alternate plan.

There was silence in the room and the club owner could tell she was running the idea through her head. Finally, she replied, "Well, I guess I have no choice."

The tone in her voice pissed him off and he quickly went off on her, "Baby, you have a choice. You can walk the fuck out of here and leave me alone. That's your damn choice."

"I'm sorry Sam. I didn't mean it like that," she replied, realizing she had been sarcastic.

"Now look girl. I let you come in here even though I thought it would be a problem. You did mostly good, better than I expected, and I did what I said. Why do I want to start all this again?" he asked.