Page 17 of Learning Curves

Audrey tapped her knuckles against Michelle’s open office door. “Knock, knock.”

Michelle looked up from her laptop, lips quirking in the little smile that had become Audrey’s new favorite thing.

It made her stomach swoop and her cheeks heat, but she wasn’t here to dwell on her rapidly blossoming feelings for Michelle.

Over the last two weeks, they had taken some big steps toward friendship, and Michelle seemed as pleased about it as Audrey, who was pretty damn pleased.

“Don’t you have class soon?” Michelle stared at her out of those black-rimmed glasses that sent Audrey’s hormones into a tailspin every time she wore them.

“I do. I’m about to head over, but I wanted to give you this first.” She held out the box she’d brought with her to work today as butterflies danced in her stomach.

She’d spent a lot of time working on this, and suddenly, she was afraid of Michelle’s reaction to the gift. She was so hard to read sometimes ...

Michelle eyed the box without taking it. “What is that?”

“I made you a little something.” She shrugged, setting the box on Michelle’s desk.

Michelle took off her glasses and picked up the gift, her cheeks noticeably pink. “You didn’t need to do that.”

“It’s something I do for my friends,” Audrey said.

Michelle lifted the flap on the box, revealing the teacup nestled inside. “Oh.”

Audrey sank into a guest chair, watching as Michelle lifted the teacup out of the box.

It was etched in the style Michelle had seemed to like on the vase in Audrey’s office last week.

She had gone back and forth on colors, ultimately deciding on an ombre shade that started out a soft rose near the rim of the cup and darkened to a deep maroon at the bottom.

“It’s beautiful.” Michelle’s tone was reverent, and it made Audrey’s stomach quiver. “Stunning, and the color ...” She traced a fingertip over the rose-petal pattern Audrey had etched into its surface. “I love it.”

Audrey knew she must look as giddy as she felt. “There’s a matching saucer in there too. The only catch is that you can’t put them in the dishwasher.”

“I would never put something as special as this in the dishwasher. Thank you, Audrey. This is a very thoughtful gift, although I’m still not quite sure why you’ve brought me a gift.”

“Anyone who spends time with me ends up receiving random ceramics. I love gifting them almost as much as I love making them.”

“Well, it’s very nice.” Michelle was still touching the cup, tracing her fingers over the pattern on its surface, and maybe Audrey was naive, but she’d been around Michelle enough to suspect she didn’t often fake her emotions.

If she was bored, irritated, frustrated, angry .

.. she didn’t hide it. Her eyes had always been so expressive, and the delight brimming in them now felt like a gift in itself.

“I thought you could get some use out of it.” Audrey stood because, as much as she would’ve liked to sit here and watch Michelle admire her new teacup or, well ... just spend more time with her in general, she really needed to get to class.

“I’ll get lots of use out of it,” Michelle said. “Thank you again. I love it.”

That was the second time she’d said so, and Audrey didn’t even try to hide how happy it made her. “I’m glad. Enjoy the rest of your morning.”

She practically skipped out of Michelle’s office, and her mood was still sky high as she walked into the studio in Kravitz Hall, ready to assist her ceramics students at the pottery wheel.

Laya was already there, sitting at one of the wheels near the front of the room.

Audrey signed hello to her as she walked to the desk, where she left her bag during class.

There was no lectern in this room, only several rows of pottery wheels.

“Good morning, Dr. Lind.” Laya signed her words as she spoke. They’d been doing this a lot over the last few weeks, and Audrey was picking up some new phrases. “You look happy today.”

“I am.” Audrey smiled as she made the sign for happy. “I just gave someone a gift, and she really liked it, and it made me really happy.”

“A special someone?” Laya asked, making a heart with her hands.

“No,” Audrey said, although her cheeks warmed, belying her answer. “Just a friend.”

“Can I show you something?” Laya asked.

“Sure.” Audrey walked over to Laya’s pottery wheel.

Laya held up the mug she’d been working on in class. “I’m having trouble with the handle. It keeps drooping.”

“Ah, I see what you mean. I think if you make your handle a little thicker, that will help it keep its shape. We can practice today if you like.”

“That would be great.” Laya signed, “Thank you.”

Audrey signed, “You’re welcome” just as another student approached with a question. This was such a great group. They were so engaged and eager to learn. Idly, her mind wandered to the way Michelle’s students had tuned out during her art history class.

How she wished those students could have known the Dr. Thompson who’d taught Audrey twelve years ago ...

As September drew to a close, Michelle and Audrey had tea together in Michelle’s office again to go over ideas to present at the next Sustainability Committee meeting.

They’d spent more time together over the last few weeks, often lingering in each other’s offices between classes, and Michelle couldn’t decide whether she loved or dreaded the way her body perked up every time she was around Audrey.

“Did you see the email from Brad this morning?” Audrey rolled her eyes as she lifted her teacup. “It doesn’t sound like they made a single decision after we left last time.”

“Does that actually surprise you?” Michelle heard the bitterness in her voice. “Ironically, the university could probably save energy by eliminating the committee altogether rather than paying to run the lights during these pointless meetings.”

“Well, Thursday’s meeting won’t be pointless if I have anything to say about it.

” Audrey tapped her phone, bringing up a list of bullet points.

“And reducing unnecessary power usage is actually on my list. Lights in the classrooms could be put on timers with motion sensors, so if no activity is detected in a room after a certain amount of time, the lights shut off. Have you ever noticed how many lights get left on in empty classrooms?”

“Mm.” Michelle knew she didn’t sound very encouraging.

“You don’t think they’ll go for it?”

“I don’t think they’ll find room in the budget to install the sensors.”

Audrey threw her hands up in the air. “Then what’s the point of the committee?”

“Indeed,” Michelle mused. “Now you’re starting to catch on. What else is on your list?”

“I have several ideas for reducing plastic use.”

“That’s sounds promising,” Michelle said. “Especially if any of your ideas have little up-front cost.”

“Okay.” Audrey made a note. “We can switch to paper straws ... which also helps save sea turtles.”

“I like it, and who doesn’t want to feel like they’re saving sea turtles?”

“Exactly.” Audrey beamed at her, and Michelle’s heart gave a happy thump.

“We can also install more water fountains around campus, the kind designed to fill water bottles, and before you mention the cost ... we can start by selling NU-branded reusable bottles to help fund it. Encourage students and faculty to refill their water bottles rather than buying single-use plastic bottles.”

“Now you’re talking. Run the numbers before the meeting so you can show them how many reusable bottles we need to sell to fund the water fountains and how quickly we could expect to break even or even save money with reduced plastic usage.”

“Give them numbers.” Audrey jotted more notes on her phone. “Got it.”

Michelle’s gaze snagged on Audrey’s turquoise ring as it caught the light.

She’d been extremely careful not to think about that ring again in any capacity, but over the past few weeks, she could no longer deny—to herself at least—what she was feeling.

This never-ending pull to be near Audrey, to hear her laugh, to see the way her eyes lit up when she spoke about art . ..

Michelle wasn’t naive. She was forty-five years old, for god’s sake.

She knew attraction when she felt it, but she couldn’t lust after her former student.

She just couldn’t. Honestly, it had been so long since she’d felt anything for anyone.

Her marriage had been dead romantically for years.

She’d actually been excited about the possibility of feeling butterflies for someone new, but it couldn’t be Audrey.

Audrey still looked up to her as a mentor, and Michelle would never take advantage of that.

She had endured more than her fair share of unwanted advances from older male colleagues when she was Audrey’s age.

She remembered exactly how frightened, how powerless she’d felt when a male professor had rubbed up against her ass or invited her back to his place for “a little fun.” Once, a colleague had even suggested she might receive tenure sooner if she was a little friendlier with the men in the department.

If she ever acted on her attraction to Audrey, she’d be no better than the men who had harassed her.

Besides, Michelle wasn’t even looking for a new relationship.

She had no desire to date. These days, she was built for solitude.

She’d become quite familiar with her vibrator over the past few weeks now that her libido had finally returned, but she’d been very careful not to fantasize about Audrey.

On the contrary, she was enjoying her own company more than ever, and she’d become obsessed with her new writing project. Michelle had spent countless hours this month poring over her research and writing more than she ever had in her life.