13. Cedric
13
CEDRIC
F or my own sanity, I had to beg off my meeting with Sofia, but she sends me her rough cut to review.
And thank fuck, I watch it at home.
Because the first viewing scandalizes me. I have to close my eyes to control my breathing before I rewind and press Play again.
Most of her week runs in a similar vein to the previous ones. She tries something new. Her classes and job are blips. But the movie night when Orion Knight links their fingers together has my pulse hammering with jealousy. How casually he touches Sofia…
But his story thread in this narrative is pretty clear, especially with the small laugh that accompanies a young female student practically charging him when the movie finishes and Sofia pulls away.
The sweet bits with Birdie build new layers of intimacy in Doctor Braxton Barlowe’s house.
And fuck, she hid the identity of the romantic—let’s be honest, the erotic—bits, but I know it’s Barlowe there with her.
I bet she’s got some absolutely torturous footage of that event, given the bits she does show. A hand sliding down her stomach. The ceiling flickering with moonlight. Her unsteady breathing and slick noises signaling exactly what’s happening.
It amplifies how badly I want to touch her, to make her moan, to watch her writhe in pleasure, to fuck her.
I’ve never struggled this hard before. Especially not with a student.
That nasty green beast clings to my back and has me sending out a query to Barlowe to come sit in on a meeting with one of my students for her project. It’s an assholish thing to do, but it’s also a test.
I don’t tell him who it is, but I’m sure he can guess. Still, he responds with an affirmative, and I want to see how Sofia navigates this situation. Can she keep her cool?
It’s important to me for some reason.
Torturing myself, I watch the rough cuts again, dropping into a daydream of all the things I want to do to her. The one image that rebounds in my mind again and again is a version of her on her knees, that pouty mouth wrapped around my cock.
I refuse to let myself do anything about the desire that rides me hard, letting myself suffer with the inaction. I can’t have her. Not right now. So there’s no need to pretend.
Maybe I just like the punishment.
When it’s time to meet with Sofia again, it’s midweek. Three days after reviewing her footage. I’m still simmering in the discomfort of my wants and my reality.
Dr. Barlowe arrives first, shaking my hand and exchanging the usual pleasantries.
“I hope you don’t mind my calling you in on this, but I have a very promising student who’s flirting the line between art and branding. I thought you might offer some excellent insight.”
“I’m always happy to help a student.” He nods and takes a seat, filling the chair with his bulk.
If that’s what Sofia wants, I’m not able to give it to her. But then again, I don’t think she knows what she wants. Not yet, anyway.
When she knocks and steps in, Dr. Barlowe slowly turns toward me with a new look on his face. Sofia is surprised but curious about what’s going on here. Her cheeks hold a hint of red.
“Good morning, Professor Trevino. Dr. Barlowe.”
Barlowe rumbles, “Good morning, Sofia.”
“Have a seat.” I gesture to the open chair. “Reviewing your rough cuts this week prompted me to contact Dr. Barlowe to weigh in on your project. More in the vein of telling the truth, creating a visual memoir, as it were. Or turning yourself into a product or a brand.”
Sofia sits, back straight as always, notebook appearing in her lap.
“You two already know each other, of course.” Neither of them reacts, no sweat or flinches. Sofia does tilt her head just slightly, trying to figure out what I’m doing. “The bits of your daughter in the story so far are very powerful.”
Barlowe’s brow jumps up, and he peeks at her, like he didn’t know about the project she’s working on. Surely, he’s seen her set up the cameras in his home.
Sofia turns a smile on him. “Don’t worry. I’m not putting any of her personal information in there. Just some giggles back and forth and a few inside jokes we have.”
The way he smiles is the only break in the professional. He seems profoundly glad that they have those things together.
Interesting .
They’re playing it cool. Did they talk about this before? How they’d act if they interacted on campus? In this kind of situation?
Not likely. They probably didn’t think they’d be in a meeting like this. He’s not her professor, after all. Just her dad’s best friend. Her employer.
It’s incredibly naughty.
That deep jealousy starts to swerve in another direction.
I spread my hands to take us back to why I actually believe Barlowe will be helpful. “I know we’ve talked about this before, but I want to ensure that your excursions, the hobbies where you test your creativity, skills, and strength, don’t become gimmicky as the story progresses. So I want to discuss the balance of hammering home your point in challenging yourself with the personal connections you’re developing this semester so far.”
Sofia’s shoulders wiggle almost imperceptibly. How she wakes up when posed a challenge is such a big part of her appeal. Someone who can be corrected without being a pushover.
She would work so well in my bedroom. She would suit my needs.
Finally, I see Barlowe nod, as if he understands why I’ve dragged him into this officially. It’s a difficult line to navigate.
“Any objections to showing him your first two weeks, revised? If you have it with you.”
“Of course, I do.” She pulls a thumb drive from her bag and offers it to me without hesitation. Sofia has to lift from her seat and bend over my desk to dip her cleavage at me.
“Always prepared.” I don’t waste time, plugging it in and turning the monitor for us all to see it.
The revised edition shows more of the flirty Professor Orion Knight, and she’s clearly annoyed with him, but the film he’s gotten her and the Film Club on set for is impressive.
The new section with the pole dancing creates an interesting repetitive pattern of her falls. She even splits the screen into three vertical frames centered on her, and they show her progress, even though it’s near nil. Her laughter gets bigger each time.
She’s added a new splice of Jordan making sexy faces at Barlowe’s back after the class. Sofia’s face goes pink as it plays, but she doesn’t squirm. Would she if I played the rough cuts from her most recent week for him?
I’m playing with fire, and I know it.
Barlowe flashes her a heated look, but it’s so quick I wouldn’t have caught it. Only I’m looking for it. It’s not the first glimmer of heat I’ve caught in Barlowe’s gaze.
Am I just as bad? It makes me want to comb through her raw film to see if I look at her like that. It feels like I might.
It’s also clear that I need to do something about it. And if I do, would it end up in her rough cuts or on the editing floor?
Birdie gets a cameo, as she said, full of giggles and inside jokes, plus a moment where Birdie is trying to teach Sofia about creating textured brush strokes. It’s something she attacks with gusto, but it doesn’t come out nearly as polished as Birdie’s.
The rest of the video is baking with her son, Noah, and coffee time with her dad. It has progressed into a slice of life documentary.
Finally, she sits in front of the camera, which we get a glimpse of from her POV, and she talks about her hopes for this. “I guess my goal here is to prepare myself for what happens next. I’m going to graduate with my degree. At the same time, my son’s going to be old enough to go to school. A lot will change, and I guess, getting used to the unknown will help me through it.”
The Sofia on screen shrugs and smiles. “Okay. See you later, dorks.” She leans forward and blacks out the camera with her hand as a transition.
Silence stews.
Barlowe clears his throat. “Wow, Sofia. That was nicely done.”
The way she beams at him grates at my heart.
“I do have a few notes, though.”
Set and ready, she nods, and he begins a discussion that takes us nearly an hour to work through. At the end of it, Sofia is full of ideas, primed and ready to get to work.
I return her flash drive to her and dismiss her.
“Thank you both. I find this really helpful.” She waves at us both and nearly prances out the door. The tightness of her jeans is not hiding the way her ass jiggles on the way out.
When the door closes behind her, Barlowe and I sit in a tense silence, staring at each other.
“Wanted to make it as hard for me as it is for you?” Barlowe says, his brow lifting in accusation. Apparently, I do look at her like I want her just as badly as he does. “What would the board think of this?”
“What would her father?” I counter, “Because I’ve seen enough to know what you two are up to.”
Barlowe’s head falls back, and he presses his palms to his eyes. “Fuck.”
“Indeed.” I wait for him to level his gaze on me again. “Two things. First, I have a proposition for you. And second, I have something to show you.”