Behind the Walls of Ivy

If winning Sylvia was Shale's first big success, submitting his dissertation was his second. "Variable Rates of Diastrophism in the Late Archean and Proterozoic Eons" caused a minor sensation within the stuffy fraternity of geologists. His research on the cause of irregular pulses in the movement of the earth's tectonic plates had been groundbreaking, so much so that his doctoral advisor had insisted on being listed as co-author when it was published. Shale would normally have been outraged at his advisor's undeserved usurpation of credit, but his resentment was forgotten when he received an offer of a tenure-track position at an Ivy League university. Such an offer was the academic equivalent of winning the lottery. Shale proposed to Sylvia the same night he received the contract, and she had squealed in happiness when she accepted.

At first the move to the university had seemed like a great adventure, the next big step in their pursuit of happiness. But that illusion was soon eroded by the unexpectedly high cost of living in their new city, the long hours that were required of Shale and the difficulty they'd had in making new friends among the clique-y university community.

Over time Sylvia's resentment began to grow, and there was little Shale could do to appease her, especially since he was also dealing with his own disillusionment. Even as she complained about her husband's workload, Sylvia's new job began to consume more and more of her time. By the start of their second year at the university, their work schedules had cut so deeply into the amount of time they shared that the two of them seemed more like roommates than husband and wife at times. Their sex life began to suffer as well, and as the second semester started it had gone from frequent to occasional to almost non-existent. "When was the last time?" Shale asked himself.

In addition to his own sexual frustration, Shale began to wonder if Sylvia might be meeting her needs some other way. She had always had a high libido, and that thought only added to Shale's paranoia.

Excavating himself from his gloom, he checked his cellphone. Even though the faculty reception had been scheduled to end at 9:00 p.m., he saw that it was almost midnight and Sylvia still wasn't home. Shale remembered the Provost's arm around Sylvia's waist and that memory only inflamed the fire of his jealousy.

Just then he heard her key in the lock. Because he was seated at the kitchen table, Sylvia didn't spot him as she came in, and he took the opportunity to examine his wife closely, looking for any evidence that she had been doing more than working. She had certainly dressed attractively, but he had to admit that he could see nothing about her to suggest any inappropriate behavior. Nevertheless, he couldn't resist voicing his jealousy.

"The reception was over hours ago. What have you been doing all this time?" he demanded, startling her. She flinched, then turned to face him.

"I didn't expect to find you up," she said coolly, folding her arms as she turned to face him. "You're usually sound asleep by this hour. But to answer your question, I've been working with Eric. He had lots to do after the reception and he needed my help."

"It seems to me you always have something to do for Eric these days," Shale spat out. "You're never at home anymore."

"You're one to talk," she snapped back angrily. "When you're not in the classroom you're always grading papers or going to some committee meeting. You work longer hours than I do. Besides, you were the one who wanted me to take the job with Eric in the first place."

Shale felt the argument slipping away from him and he felt his frustration growing. "This is not about me," he shot back, "this is about your being out at odd hours. It's about me never knowing where you are or when you'll be home. And when you are home it's 'Eric this' and 'Eric that.'" Before he could stop himself he demanded, "Are you having an affair with the Provost?"

For just a moment Shale saw an expression he didn't recognize cross her face, but then she burst out "Hah!" in a derisive laugh. Then she began to pace back and forth before finally stopping to stare at him.

"Where do want to be in five years?" she suddenly asked.

"What?" stuttered Shale, caught off guard.

"It's very simple," she said snidely, "Where do you see yourself five years from now?"

Confused by the change in topic, Shale's orderly mind automatically tried to think through the problem and come up with an answer. "Well, in five years I expect to have been granted tenure, which will mean real job security for us. I also expect to be promoted to Associate Professor, which should mean a nice bump in my salary as well. We'd be bringing in enough that you wouldn't have to work anymore if you didn't want to. We could even start a family," he added hopefully.

But Sylvia's only reaction was a curl of her lips that hinted of a sneer. "Have you ever thought about going into Administration?" she asked.

"What? No! Why would I want to do that? Being a full professor is something I've been working for all my life. I love geology and I love research - why would I want to give that up for a desk job doing administrative work?" he asked, truly puzzled.

"Well for one thing it would be a lot more prestigious," she responded. "You'd be out working with the real movers and shakers of the world, not stuck in your lecture hall or that dusty laboratory all day."

"I don't understand where this is coming from, Sylvia," Shale said. "Teaching at the university is what we've always talked about. This is what we've been working for together. I thought this was the life you wanted too. I know the last year or two haven't been easy for us, but things will get better." he added, trying to sound an optimistic note.

She stared at him for several moments without speaking. Then she gave a small sigh and said, "Never mind. I'm tired and I have to get to work early tomorrow. I'm heading for bed." With that she turned and walked down the hall toward their bedroom, leaving Shale standing there perplexed.

"What was all that about?" he asked himself as he cleaned up in the kitchen. By the time he finished and had changed out of his clothes, Sylvia was already in bed with the covers pulled around her. Shale climbed into bed beside her and turned out the light. He didn't even try to touch her; it was pretty obvious to him how she would respond.

When he awoke the next morning, Sylvia had already left. Because he had only an afternoon class that day he had time for breakfast before he also headed off to the university. As he began going through his paperwork at his desk, the conversation he'd had with Sylvia the night before kept replaying in his mind. "What was all that stuff about my goals and expectations?" he wondered. "And where did that thing about working in administration come from?" As he thought back, he suddenly realized that Sylvia had never given him a direct answer to the question that had started the whole conversation. "She never denied she was having an affair," he thought suspiciously.

At that moment, Mosa stuck her head around the corner. "Professor Stephens, can I interrupt you? Annika asked me to bring you the lab report you asked for."

Shale looked up, and the sight of the pretty young woman momentarily lifted his mood. He beckoned her in. "Thanks, Mosa, I really appreciate it." Suddenly, a concern struck him. "Is Annika okay? She's not sick is she?"

"Lovesick," Mosa answered with a big grin. "When I left her she was on the phone with her mother, deep in planning the details of her wedding. It's a wonder that girl can get anything else done right now!"

"Well, let her enjoy it while she can," he replied. "The honeymoon won't last forever."

"Uh-oh," said Mosa quickly, "do I detect a little discontent on the Stephens' home front in that comment?"

Shale mentally admonished himself for letting his concerns creep into his conversation. The last thing he wanted to do was to involve Mosa and Annika in his personal problems so he quickly tried to dismiss her concern. "No, no, nothing is wrong. I was just trying to make a bad joke about how quickly time passes. Anyway, you're really nice to do this for her, and for me."

Mosa dropped the subject. "Okay, Professor, I'll get out of your hair so you can get back to work. Have a good day." And with a wave and a smile she departed.

He managed to get through his class that afternoon without incident, but his dark mood returned in full when he got back to office. He needed to review a draft of the report by the Dean's Committee on the Status of Adjuncts, but he found himself unable to concentrate. So when Perry Ryan came by and asked him to go out for a beer, Shale was happy to put the report aside.

The two of them found a quiet table at a tavern just off campus and ordered a round. Shale was glad to have Perry's company and he wanted to get the older man's thoughts on his problems.

Perry was also an assistant professor in the Geology Department, but he was a few years older than Shale. Despite the fact that the two of them could wind up as rivals for tenure at some point, Perry had welcomed the new man and been friendly from the day Shale had come to the university. In fact, Shale thought, Perry was probably his only friend in the department.

Both men had wives who were young and attractive, and the two professors had tried a couple of times to promote a friendship between the two couples. But for some reason Sylvia didn't hit it off with Camille, Perry's wife, and since their wives set the social agenda, the only time Shale and Perry got together was to share a beer or two.

Shale wondered if part of the problem might be that Camille was an adjunct professor. He had never thought much about adjuncts, but after he began serving on the Dean's Committee he began to see why there might be issues. Even though "adjunct professor" sounded impressive, and even though three-quarters of the faculty at the university were adjuncts, they were little better than indentured servants. The university paid them the equivalent of the minimum wage for each course they taught, and Shale had been amazed to learn they received no benefits whatsoever. They were like highly educated temporary workers with no status and no job security. If too few students signed up to take a course taught by an adjunct, the course could be cancelled as late as the first day of classes, and the adjunct would be abruptly unemployed. Shale had heard of adjuncts at other universities who had to go on food stamps to survive.

Given the shabby way adjuncts were treated and the low regard in which they were held, Shale thought it wasn't surprising that Camille might feel uncomfortable socializing with other professors and their wives.

But today Shale had other issues on his mind. After a little meaningless chit-chat, Shale leaned closer to his friend and said, "Listen, Perry, I've got a situation at home and I need a little advice." With that he began to voice all his frustrations and concerns about Sylvia. "I think she may be having an affair with the Provost," he concluded.

Perry looked around with concern. "Don't say things like that where other people can hear," he said in a low voice. "This campus is filled with faculty and students alike who love to gossip, and every one of them is armed with a camera phone and a Facebook page or Twitter account. Accusations like that can spread like wildfire and cause big trouble."

He took a swig of his beer. "Besides, I think it's pretty unlikely that Sylvia's running around behind your back. It's obvious from what you've said that you guys are going through a rough patch in your marriage. But every marriage goes through that. Anyway, all you've got are doubts and unproven suspicions. If you accuse Sylvia of cheating, you're only going to drive a wedge between the two of you that's going to be very hard to heal.

"But let's suppose you're right - suppose Sylvia is cheating on you. Is that really such a big deal? Isn't it better to turn a blind eye than to wreck your marriage? If it comes to a divorce, your finances are going to take a hell of a hit. Isn't it better to keep your cool till she gets it out of her system than to be paying alimony for years until she remarries?"

Shale looked at him in astonishment. "You're saying I should just ignore it, pretend like nothing ever happened?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Perry said calmly. "It's just sex - what's the big deal?"

Shale was aghast. "I guess I'm just not wired that way, Perry. Sylvia and I made some vows to each other when we got married and I've kept mine despite having opportunities," he said, thinking back to Taylor Poindexter. "I expect Sylvia to keep hers as well."

The discussion went around in circles from there, and finally the two men left to return to their respective homes without any opinions changing.

When Shale got home he was surprised to find Sylvia already there. Even more surprising was the fact that she had dinner in the oven. The two of them had a pleasant home-cooked meal together for the first time in weeks, and spent the time talking about various events and activities on campus. "This is just like things used to be," Shale thought.

After the two of them had cleaned up the dishes together, Shale excused himself to do a little work to make up for the time he had spent with Perry at the tavern. When he finally finished going over the report for the Dean's committee, the light in the living room was out. But when he made his way back to the bedroom he found Sylvia waiting for him. As soon as he entered, she climbed out of bed to come to his side, and he saw that she was wearing the sheer, smoky nightgown she had brought on their honeymoon.

He tried to ask her what was going on but she pressed her fingers to his mouth, saying, "No questions." Then she proceeded to undress him and push him back on the bed. Kneeling before him, she started to lick her way up and down his thighs, sending quivers through his nervous system. He tried to reach for her to return the caresses but she pushed his hands away. "No, this is all for you tonight," she said in a husky voice.

As he slumped down on the bed, she moved her head back and forth so that her hair brushed over his swollen cock, causing exquisite sensations. Idly he tried to remember the last time they'd made love, but then all rational thought dissipated as the tip of her tongue came out to lick the underside of his erection. She made catlike purring noises in her throat as she ran her tongue in a circle around the head of his cock. Then, looking up into his eyes intently, she took him into her mouth as deeply as she could and began to hum. Shale could only groan at the pleasure he was feeling.

After a few minutes she pulled back slightly, and then Shale felt her hands wrap around the lower part of his cock while her mouth continued to suck and lick on the head. Her hands began gently rotating in opposite directions while also moving up and down.

"Oh, God, Sylvia, that feels amazing!" Shale moaned. "I won't be able to last long if you keep doing that."

In response, Sylvia accelerated her motions, driving Shale absolutely crazy. Soon his back was arched off the bed and he gasped and reached for Sylvia's arms, trying to warn her because he knew she didn't like him to cum in her mouth. But once again she rebuffed his efforts and suddenly he groaned and shuddered repeatedly, his orgasm pulsing into the mouth that had driven him wild. Finally he collapsed on the bed and lay there in a stupor. He barely heard Sylvia spit her mouthful into a towel before slipping away to the bathroom.

When he sensed her return, he struggled to sit upright, reaching for her to try to return the wonderful pleasure she had given him. But she gently pushed him away, reminding him, "Tonight was just for you, remember? I haven't paid you enough attention lately, and I wanted to make up for it."

With that she slipped under the covers, and by the time he had cleaned himself up and returned to bed she was already asleep. As he slid in beside her, a feeling of happy lassitude came over him. As he drifted off to sleep, he remembered that this was how it had felt when they had first been married.

The next morning Shale was in a cheerful mood. "I guess Perry was right: I was just being paranoid about Sylvia," he told himself as he drove to work.

His good mood carried him through the final exam he had to administer to his upper level geology class, and even the prospect of having to grade all the papers couldn't daunt him. He was whistling to himself when Annika walked into his office. She looked at him for a moment and then gave him a sly grin. "Well, it looks like someone is pretty darn cheerful today. If I had to make a guess, I'd say somebody got laid last night."

Shale was caught off guard by her comment and blushed. Annika laughed and said, "Hey, don't be embarrassed, that's a good thing. Mosa was telling me that you seemed in a bad mood yesterday, but I guess everything got straightened out last night - no pun intended."

To cover his embarrassment, Shale pretended to take a stern attitude with her. "So the two of you spend all your free time talking about me behind my back?"

Then it was Annika's turn to blush. Shale let her squirm for a few moments before changing the subject. "Did you have something I need to see, Annika?"

Grateful at the change in topic, she brought the final exam she planned to give her lab class over to his desk for him to review. They chatted about the questions for a few minutes before Annika left for her next appointment. As she walked out the door, Shale thought to himself again how fortunate he was to have such a bright and capable graduate assistant. He regarded both her and her roommate as friends, not just colleagues.

That afternoon was the meeting of the committee that was reviewing the status of adjuncts at the university. As Shale had learned to his regret, his fellow professors seemed to delight in debating every proposal to death; arguing with colleagues seemed to be their favorite sport. As a result, meetings were interminable and agreement almost impossible to reach.

But as he listened to the endless debate, something happened that shook Shale to his core. One professor had recommended giving a small increase in compensation to all the adjuncts, and another had immediately challenged him. "You're doing nothing but throwing a bone at a starving dog to keep him from barking," he said contemptuously.

The professor's words seemed to grip Shale's stomach in a clammy hand. "Was that what Sylvia was doing last night?" he wondered sickly. "Was she throwing me a bone to divert me from what she's doing behind my back? I'll bet that's why she didn't want me to make love to her. It was all for show."

As he sat there stewing, his smartphone suddenly began to vibrate. When he pulled it out he saw he had just received a text from Sylvia. "Working L8 2nite. Don't w8 up." As he stared at the screen, the text seemed to taunt him.

If anyone had asked him to summarize what happened for the rest of the meeting, Shale would have had no clue. He sat there lost in emotions that rotated from anger to sadness to misery and back again. When the meeting finally broke up, he immediately headed back to the isolation of his office to try to sort things out in his mind.

"I can't believe this is happening to me," he moaned as he sat there in the darkened room. "If Sylvia isn't having an affair, she's sure acting like it. But how can I know for sure? She won't admit it and I can't prove anything. I don't want to throw away my marriage if I'm wrong. Besides a divorce would be a catastrophe from a financial point of view. But if she is cheating on me, I could never look the other way like Perry suggested."