The Ultimate Betrayal (2 page)
Summer 2005
Sophia Torre squinted into the bright sunshine as she looked up at the familiar brick building. The City University of New York campus felt like home. She’d spent four glorious years here before attending Rutgers University for her doctorate. She was grateful to be back in New York but anxious about her interview with Dr. Francine Forester. She didn’t have anything against New Jersey, but it wasn’t New York.
Dr. Forester was her favorite professor when she’d attended CUNY, earning her undergraduate degree from the innovative LGBT studies program. She’d wanted to absorb every bit of information from the course and had managed to get a choice internship with the warm-hearted professor. Dr. Forester was instrumental in Sophia’s decision to pursue her doctorate. Now, Sophia was back, after the professor had
tracked her down to ask her to consider a position in that same life changing program.
Joy, her best friend, was delighted to have Sophia back in New York. During their conversation last week, she’d told Sophia that New York was where she belonged.
Sophia retrieved her cell phone from her purse when she heard the muffled ring.
“Hello,” Sophia answered.
“Hey, gorgeous. I just wanted to call and wish you luck. Not that you will need it. Call me as soon as the interview is finished and we can celebrate—just like old times. You, me, a bar full of hot women to choose from, and an intimate party back at my place afterwards. You’ve become a huge disappointment since starting grad school. Who knew Jersey would be so bad for you. They must have beautiful women in New Jersey, so what’s the deal?” Joy asked.
“Don’t start with me. Graduate school was not a walk in the park and I wanted to do well so I could return to New York. No celebration plans until I know whether I’ve got the job or not.”
“Oh
ple-eze
, she called you. Remember? You are going to rake in the little baby dykes. Their program will grow to epic proportions with a hot professor like you. That Dr. Forester is a shrewd one. She knows that you will draw in more students,” Joy insisted.
“
Gotta
go. I promise to call after the interview. Don’t buy the champagne just yet. Okay?”
“
Righteo
, but I got a good feeling and it’s about time you came back. I missed hanging out with my best bud. Talk to you soon. Love
ya
.”
“Love you too, goofball.”
Sophia closed her cell phone, took a deep breath, and walked up the stairs to face what she hoped would be her future.
†
Sophia’s high heels sounded unusually loud as she walked down the hall. The echo reverberated in the empty corridor. Students were always sparse during the summer term. She smiled as she trod familiar territory.
She knew her way around the building and like a homing pigeon she found herself in front of the door where she’d spent countless hours discussing everything from politics to religion, helping her favorite professor with whatever research project she was working on at the time. The small conference room was a short distance from Dr. Forester’s office.
Sophia knocked on the door.
The five foot tall prof, with curly brown hair that always looked disheveled, opened the door, and pulled her into a warm hug. “Sophia, you look wonderful. I am so delighted you are interested in our position. I can’t think of a better fit for our program.”
Dr. Forester was a quirky middle-aged woman who seemed to love every part of her job but obviously reveled in the energy and enthusiasm of her students. Sophia knew that, as a gifted teacher, Dr. Forrester would never completely give up teaching for a job that required her to spend one hundred percent of her time on administrative tasks. Sophia admired that.
“Thank you for thinking of me, Dr. Forester.”
“Stop with the Dr. Forester. Call me Francine. After all, we are going to be colleagues shortly.”
Sophia chuckled. “I thought this was an interview.”
Francine waved her arm in the air. “Merely a formality. Come in, come in. Can I get you some coffee or tea?”
“No, thanks.” Sophia took a seat at the conference table.
Francine poured herself a cup of coffee and sat at the head of the table next to Sophia. “Let’s get right to it. We’d like you to start teaching some of the one hundred level classes in the LGBT studies program, but intersperse some of them with the upper level courses. I know the youngsters can tire a person out, so we’re not expecting you to take the entire entry-level curriculum. I don’t suspect it will take you very long to achieve tenure. The pay is horrific as an associate professor, but the hours are divine and eventually you’ll do okay when you become a full professor. We always have someone on sabbatical, so I can make sure you have a place to stay where you won’t have to pay an outrageous amount of rent. That should help with expenses for the first few years until you become a full professor. Any questions?”
“Am I to understand that you are offering me an associate professor position?” Sophia asked.
“Well, yes, of course. I didn’t track you down to have coffee. Although we will have to find some time to get together after all this is settled so we can catch up properly. I have a contract right here for you to sign.”
“Um, okay.” Sophia laughed. “Why the heck not? The program meant so much to me as an undergrad, I guess I can’t really see myself teaching anywhere else but CUNY. Just how crummy is the salary?”
“I pushed a little and got you sixty thousand to start, even though there is a collective bargaining agreement I was supposed to adhere to. Human Resources hates dealing with me because I pointed out that the union contract has a clause allowing the university to pay above scale. They spouted some crap about fairness and equity, but I went above them to the president.” Francine grinned and pushed the contract toward Sophia.
Sophia glanced at the piece of paper in front of her and turned to the final page, noting the line for her signature.
Francine handed her a pen and two minutes later, the deal was done.
“Welcome to CUNY. Oh, by the way, we have a couple of big fundraisers each year and it would be a crime not to take advantage of your good looks and charm. Can I count on you to attend both of them? There are a lot of prominent women who attend and a few of them have very deep pockets.” Francine waved her arm in the air. “I know, don’t lecture me on feminism and all that crap. Do you really believe that Gloria Steinem would have been as popular as she was if she looked more like me? Welcome to the politics of academia.”
Winter 2005
Sophia hated attending the stuffy fundraisers for her college, but she didn’t want to let Francine down. The annual holiday black tie fundraiser that brought in money from affluent New Yorkers and alumni, was the first of many that she was expected to attend.
Sophia hung toward the back of the room, practically plastered to the wall, sipping her glass of Riesling, when she noticed a stunning honey blonde prowling confidently into the room. In Sophia’s mind, prowl was the right word because the woman seemed to have a kind of animal magnetism about her. She reminded Sophia of a sleek lion or leopard. When the woman came closer, Sophia came face to face with brilliant green eyes. Sophia remembered seeing a friend’s pictures of her African safari where a leopard peered back at her with the same color eyes as this woman.
The fundraiser no longer seemed boring to her as she locked eyes with the woman. A slow, sure, grin made its way across the woman’s face as she came closer. Sophia felt like she was this woman’s prey for the evening. Somehow, the thought of this woman hunting her was not at all unappealing.
Sophia knew what it felt like when another woman was cruising her, but this woman’s appreciative look was more like a caress. The woman screamed class and sophistication. Sophia suspected that her self-imposed celibacy as a result of the intensity of graduate school and settling into her new job was about to end.
“You must be the new professor everyone is talking about,” the huntress said.
“Excuse me?” Sophia raised her eyebrow.
“Criminally sexy Italian. That’s what they are saying about you. The lesbian students in your program are going to love you.” The woman stuck out her hand. “I’m Lara Beck. I run a boring financial services company,” she stated.
Sophia chuckled. “Well, I must admit that’s a pretty good line, using others to deliver a compliment. Yes. Sophia Torre. Nice to meet you.” Sophia shook Lara’s hand. “I am the new professor in the LGBTQ studies program. They only hired me because I was a right pain in the ass when I was a student in their program and they knew they’d never get rid of me unless they hired me to teach for them.”
“Somehow I doubt that very much. I’ll bet you’re brilliant and it certainly doesn’t hurt that you’re attractive. Enrollment in the program will most likely increase now that you’re a professor.”
“I can already tell that I’m going to have to watch myself around you. You are quite the charmer,” Sophia admitted.
“Any chance I can charm you into having drinks with me after this soiree is finished?”
“I’d love to—especially if it will get me out of staying until the bitter end.”
“How about if I promise to make a very large donation in exchange for stealing you away earlier than the minimal, acceptable amount of time?” Lara asked.
“Oh, I think that would be a fair compromise. Let me just make my excuses to my boss and you can lead the way,” Sophia answered.
†
A limousine pulled up in front of the circular drive and Sophia gracefully folded herself inside after her charming companion used a feather light touch on her back to guide her to the vehicle.
A bottle of wine was chilling in the compartment opposite the two women.
“Although this isn’t exactly the drink I was referring to earlier, would you like a glass of wine?”
Sophia didn’t want to drink too much alcohol and miss the opportunity to get to know this intriguing woman better, so she declined the drink.
“We have a couple of choices for where to go for drinks. We could either go to one of the loud, obnoxious, dance clubs, an unhealthy smoke infested jazz club, or my smoke free penthouse that would be quiet enough to actually have a conversation.”
Sophia chuckled. “You are a crafty one. By describing the other two options in a very unappealing manner, I suspect you hope I will choose your penthouse.”
“Beautiful and intelligent—that is a lethal combination for me. Sophia, I’m not one to play games. I find you positively delicious and I would like nothing more than to take you back to my place and make love to you all night long, but I won’t push for anything more than you willingly wish to offer. If sharing drinks and conversation is all that evolves tonight, I’ll just bide my time and keep asking you out until it’s the right time for both of us.”
“I’m not opposed to having drinks at your penthouse and then we’ll see where it takes us,” Sophia offered.
†
Sophia had never been in such an opulent apartment. She stood at the floor to ceiling windows that revealed a spectacular view of the city, the glimmering lights winking at her. She knew places like this existed in New York, she’d just never been invited to one before. It was a bit overwhelming to her and she took another large sip of the drink in her hand. She was surprised to see that there was nothing left but a few ice cubes.
Lara gently removed the glass from her hand and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. Sophia instinctively moved closer and their lips came together in a gentle union.
Sophia felt Lara’s hand caressing her face and the next kiss slowly increased in intensity until she heard herself moan loudly. “Oh God, I swear I felt that all the way to my toes.”
“Are you more relaxed now?”
Sophia thought that, while the kiss managed to break the ice a bit, she was anything but relaxed. She imagined this was a lot like when someone revved up a sports car engine. Her engine was definitely purring.
“If you’re intending to relax me, it would be best not to kiss me like that again.”
“What do you want, Sophia? I want to give you whatever your heart desires. Tell me and I’ll make it happen,” Lara whispered.
Sophia was definitely not a prude, but had never slept with anyone after just meeting them. She wasn’t the kind of person to have one-night stands. Tonight she would venture into new territory. “You, I want you.”
“You have me.”
Lara took Sophia by the hand and led her into the bedroom.