Penny wound her arm around mine. "He has a personal chef.”
"Very fancy," Melissa said. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "It's strange, I never pictured a professor in our dorm room."
Yeah, this was not going well at all. "I never pictured myself in a student's room either. It just happened."
Melissa smiled, but it looked very forced. "So, tell me about yourself."
I forgot that this would involve answering questions about my personal life. I took a deep breath. It was better just to get this over with. "Well, I grew up in New York. I lived there my whole life until I moved here last year. I'm sorry, what is it that you want to know exactly? Something specific?" Breathe. I could already feel myself closing off. I could do this. Just a normal conversation. Melissa wasn’t a reporter. Just a nuisance of a human.
"Where did you go to school?"
"Can I sit down?" I gave Penny a smile. She looked so nervous, but she had no reason to be. No, this night wasn’t off to a great start. But seeing Penny’s worried face was all the encouragement I needed. She wanted Melissa to like me. I’d make this right. I could be very charming when I needed to be.
"Yes," Penny said. She pulled out her desk chair for me.
I took off my jacket, draped it over the back of the chair, and sat down. Penny jumped onto her bed and sat Indian style. I wished she was closer. I wanted to be able to reach out and touch her. She had this way of calming me down. I took a deep breath instead. "I went to Harvard,” I said.
"Your parents are wealthy then?" Melissa asked.
Wow. Okay. I took another deep breath. "My parents are wealthy, but I had a scholarship to Harvard."
"Impressive."
That didn’t sound sincere. "Thank you,” I said anyway.
"But even so, you're very handsome and your parents are wealthy. Most things in your life must have been handed to you."
What the fuck? Breathe. She didn’t know me. That’s why I was here. She wasn’t even giving me a fair shot. I could be judging her too. I’d helped Penny out of a lot of perilous situations since meeting her. Where had her supposed best friend been then? Breathe. "In some regards, yes. Many things that were handed to me I didn't want though. I owe my success to myself, not my family. Do you have another question for me?"
"Well there's one main one. Why is it that you want to date students?"
God, she was terrible. "I don't want to date students." I emphasized the plural. "You seem to have gotten the wrong idea about me. I just want to date Penny."
"So you have never dated any students besides Penny?"
"No, I have not."
"Can you really even date someone if you're married?"
I glanced at Penny. So she had told Melissa some things. I was kind of hoping she’d just talked about my good qualities, even if they were few and far between. I turned back to Melissa. "I'm getting divorced."
"But you're technically still married."
"Melissa, my soon to be ex-wife has been cheating on me for almost as long as we were together. As far as I'm concerned, we are no longer married." Penny knew that I was uncomfortable talking about my personal life. It felt like she set me up, trying to get even more answers out of me. What else could she possibly want to know?
Melissa was finally quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry about your wife. But you are still married. How much longer will your divorce take?" She finally didn’t sound accusatory.
"I honestly don't know. I thought she would have signed the papers by now. I've given her everything she wants."
"It seems wrong to pursue a relationship in that situation."
"I have to disagree. There hasn't been anything that's felt so right in my life." That was the truth. And if Melissa didn’t see that, I wasn’t sure what else I could do or say to change her mind.
"It may feel right, but there are consequences. Won't you get fired if someone finds out about you and Penny?"
"Not necessarily."
"But aren't you thinking about Penny too? If this gets out, no one will believe the grades you've given her. No one will see her as just another student. Even other professors will question her grades. I know that she's just with you, but people may think she's been with other professors too. Her whole college career will be in jeopardy. You may be fine with getting fired, but she still has to go to school here."
"I think that Penny can make her own choices." I could handle the onslaught of questions. But if Melissa thought I didn’t care about Penny, she was dead wrong. I had done nothing but think of Penny. That was why I’d tried so hard to push her away. But hearing those words fall out of Melissa’s mouth made my chest feel tight. I’d tried to save her from me. I looked over at Penny sitting on her bed. The tightness in my chest eased slightly when her eyes locked with mine. "I've thought about all the possibilities. And I'm willing to risk it as long as she is."
"I am." She smiled at me.
Every day it was growing harder to imagine my life without her in it. I saw a future. Did she see it too?
"And you aren't at all concerned about your age difference?" Melissa continued.
"No, it doesn't concern me.” It was honestly the least of my concerns, besides for every now and then when Penny’s immaturity seemed to show. But really, who cared about six years? After this semester and the next she wouldn’t even be my student any longer. “How about we have those brownies?" I suggested.
"Why, because chocolate makes all women's problems go away?" Melissa scoffed.
Jesus. What is with this girl? "I'm just hungry." I shifted in my chair. Melissa was tough to please. "What are you majoring in anyway, criminal justice?"
"I'll get plates,” Penny said. She hopped off her bed and found some paper plates from the closet.
Melissa was just staring at me accusingly. "No, political science."
"Do you want to be a lawyer?"
"This isn't really about me, James, it's about you."
"I was under the impression that we were supposed to get to know each other tonight."
"Yes, I want to be a lawyer. Now back to you. I find it hard to believe that you can't find someone to date that's your own age."
"The only person I want to date is Penny. I don't know what else I can say to make you believe me."
Melissa sighed. "Okay."
"Okay?" It was hard to believe that after all those pointed questions.
"I believe you. I'm sorry about all the questions. I'm just looking out for Penny. Dating a professor just isn't like her."
"I would hope not," I said.
"That's a little hypocritical."
"Then I guess I'm a hypocrite." I smiled at Penny. I liked that she was usually good and just bad for me. God I loved when she was bad.
Penny finished cutting the brownies and handed them out.
"These are really good," Melissa said sweetly.
Maybe her onslaught was finally done.
"I'll pass on your compliments." Ellen would appreciate it. I put my half-eaten brownie down on the plate. "So, if Penny isn't the type of girl who dates a professor, what type of girl is she exactly?"