Behind the Walls of Ivy

He turned and walked back toward the kitchen. When he saw the stack of exams left to grade, he heaved a sigh. "Not tonight," he thought. "I just can't face them now." In frustration and weariness he switched off the lights and went out to the living room to sleep on the couch.

When he woke the next morning his body was stiff and aching. "I've got to stop sleeping on sofas," he told himself ruefully as he tried to stretch out the kinks. When he went back to the bedroom, he found the door open and Sylvia gone. He shook his head: once again he had no idea what she was doing, where she was going or when she'd be home - if ever. "I just can't go on living like this," he told himself.

He grabbed a quick shower, dressed and packed up all the exams, intending to resume grading them at his office. He knew that he had no choice but to finish them all today, no matter how long it might take. The university had made it clear to the faculty that submitting all grades by the deadline was mandatory. Failure to do so was a major no-no that could and would be considered in decisions on tenure.

When he reached his office he closed the door and set to his task. He'd been poring over blue books for a couple of hours when he heard a timid knock at the door. He sighed and said, "Come in."

The door opened and the shapely figure of Mosa stepped around the doorframe. "I know you're on deadline, Shale, so I won't be long. I just wanted to bring you a little sustenance. I figured you might need it." With that she produced a cup of coffee and a pastry from Starbucks.

Shale couldn't help but laugh appreciatively. "Thank you, Mosa, that's really thoughtful of you. I didn't have any breakfast, so you may have saved my life."

She smiled back and then added, "I also brought something else for you." When he looked at her quizzically, she stepped back into the hallway and had a brief whispered conversation. Finally, she grabbed an arm and pulled a reluctant Annika into the small office.

Hastily Shale came around from behind his desk to reach for Annika's hands. "I'm so glad to see you," he said. "How are you feeling?"

The blonde graduate assistant could hardly bear to look Shale in the eye, so Mosa spoke up. "I kinda forced her to come see you. She kept saying she was too embarrassed."

Shale understood immediately. He lifted Annika's chin up so he could see her face. Her eyes were still red, but she no longer had that wild look of anguish and despair he'd seen in her apartment. "You have no reason to feel like that, Annika. You had a terrible experience; anyone could have freaked out."

She looked up at him, her lip quivering. In a whisper she said, "I'm so ashamed, Dr. Stephens. I can't believe I threatened you, especially when you were trying to help me. It's just that I felt so lost, so hopeless when Robert..."

Once again he thought she was going to break down, so he pulled her to him and hugged her. "It's going to be alright, Annika. Robert is a fool for letting you go. Some day he's going to realize that and it will be too late because you'll have found someone better, someone who's worthy of your love."

He took her shoulders and held her at arm's length so he could see her face again. "Don't feel bad about hurting - how could you not be hurt? Believe me, I know what it feels like to learn that someone you love has stopped caring about you."

Annika shot a quick glance at Mosa, who raised her eyebrows and nodded knowingly. "I told you something was going on," the dark-haired roommate said. Then she turned to Shale. "Alright, Dr. Stephens, what's up with you and your wife? You haven't been yourself the last few weeks and you've dropped several hints. What's going on and how can we help?"

Shale let go of Annika and started to deny everything, but his frustration and his weariness had worn him down and he suddenly found himself pouring out the whole story to the two women. As all his suspicions and misery came pouring out, the two of them exchanged glances of concern.

When he finally stopped, Annika took the opportunity to ask, "What was the deal that morning when you came into the office and you were so cheerful? I thought things had gotten better for you."

Her question embarrassed him, but Shale had gone so far that now he felt he could hold nothing back. "I guess that morning I did think things were back on track with us. The night before we'd made love for the first time in a long while - well, she made love to me, you know, with her mouth, but she wouldn't let me do anything for her. That seemed strange to me, but..."

At that moment Mosa burst out with a snort, "She gave him a 'blow-and-go'!" Annika laughed out loud. "It's classic!" she said.

"What are you talking about?" Shale asked in confusion.

The two women looked at each other, and Mosa spoke first. "It's something we girls talk about in the dorms. It's a way to handle a date you don't really like, or one that's getting too aggressive."

"Sure," Annika said, "all a girl has to do is to give the guy a quick hand job or a blow job. Once the guy has cum he's not thinking very clearly and it's pretty easy to get away without getting raped or anything."

Mosa looked at Shale sadly. "I hate to say it but your wife blew you and then blew you off."

Shale's anger returned in full, not only at his wife but also at himself for being duped so easily. He looked at the two young women in frustration. "What's really killing me is that I have no way to find out what's going on with her. The way she's acting makes me believe she's having an affair with her boss, but she denies it and there's no way for me to prove it. And as long as I can't, there's always that element of doubt. It's driving me crazy."

"Couldn't you hire a private detective to follow her and get photos?" Mosa asked.

"Those guys cost a small fortune," Shale said dismissively. "Besides if she's doing something on campus, a stranger probably couldn't find her anyway. I'd do better off following her myself, but I've got so much work to do I can't possible take the time."

Annika and Mosa exchanged glances; then Annika said excitedly, "Let us do it! Mosa and I know what Sylvia looks like and we know this campus like the back of our hand. The next time you think something's going on, we'll be your detectives!"

"No, absolutely not!" Shale said vehemently. "I'm not going to get you two involved in my mess. Besides, if the wrong people saw you and started asking questions, it might cause trouble for you both."

"Okay then, how about this?" Mosa proposed. "We won't break into any buildings or listen at any keyholes, we'll just keep an eye on her, see where she goes and let you know. At least that way you'd know where to look if you wanted to check on what she's up to."

"Please," Annika begged, "you've done so much for me, let Mosa and me do something for you for a change."

"I don't know," Shale said, "I still think..." At that moment his phone signaled an incoming text. When he read it, his face darkened. He held it up for the two of them to see Sylvia's text: "Don't wait up 4 me 2nite."

"She's doing it again," he said angrily. "We're just three days from graduation - what can she possibly have to do that requires her to work late?" He stared at Mosa and Annika, frustration creasing his face. "Alright, if you guys really want to play detective, follow her while I finish grading these exams. When I get through, I'll call you and take over. I've got to get to the bottom of this, but I'll be the one who takes any risks, not you two."

"Deal!" Mosa said, and to Shale's surprise the two of them leaned in and kissed him on the cheeks. "Now, go back to grading, Professor," Annika admonished him, "and leave the detecting in our capable hands!" The two women left, eagerly chattering about what they needed to do to find and follow Sylvia.

As Shale returned to his stack of exams, he wondered if he was making a mistake involving the two women. "At least this is taking Annika's mind off her troubles," he rationalized.

It was dark by the time Shale finished all the exams and entered the grades into the university's online system. When he was sure he'd done everything required, he picked up his phone and sent Annika a text. "S'up? Where r u?"

A moment later his phone rang - it was Mosa. "We're outside Elliot Hall. She just went inside."

"I'm done here. I'll be right over," he told her.

Eliot Hall was the administration building of the university. The gray edifice built in classical Roman style was three stories high. Shale found Annika and Mosa waiting under a huge maple tree on the lawn in front of the building.

"We've been keeping an eye on her all day, and everything she did seemed pretty innocent. Then, just a little while ago, she came outside to make a call on her cellphone. I couldn't get close enough to overhear her, but she seemed to perk up when she finished. She headed straight for Eliot, and that's when you called. We didn't follow her inside because we figured a couple of students wandering around in the lobby would really look out of place," Mosa explained apologetically.

"Listen, you did great," Shale reassured her. "You two head on home; I'll take it from here."

Annika nodded, but Mosa grabbed Shale's arm. "You're not planning to do anything crazy, are you?"

He smiled grimly. "I'm not here for revenge, only to find out the truth." Seeing she wasn't appeased, he added, "I'll call you later and let you know what I find."

Grudgingly she released him, and the two young women headed off across campus toward the graduate student dorm, looking back at him apprehensively.

Shale walked boldly up the marble steps to the front entrance. Once in the lobby he glanced around and, seeing no one, headed toward the stairwell rather than the elevator. He was familiar enough with the layout of the building to know that the Provost's office was on one wing of the top floor, with the President's office on the other. If Sylvia was up there with the Provost, he didn't want the sound of the elevator to alert them.

When he reached the third floor he poked his head out of the stairwell and checked to see if anyone else was around. The hallway appeared to be empty so he tiptoed to the door of the Provost's suite, trying not to make a sound on the marble floor.

When he leaned against the door to the reception area, to his surprise it opened easily. Peeking inside he saw that no one was working at the reception desk. He hesitated, unsure of his next move, when he heard a woman's earthy moan coming from behind the door with a brass plate inscribed "Office of the Provost". It was easy for him to walk silently over the carpeted floors to press his ear against the door, trying to determine exactly what was happening inside.

Again he heard a feminine moan, and now there came the sound of grunting accompanied by the slap of flesh on flesh. Shale's anger ignited and he started to put his shoulder to the door to barge his way in, intending to catch his wife and her boss in the act. But he remembered his promise to Mosa, so instead he eased the door open just wide enough to let him peek inside.

As he'd expected, he saw the Provost vigorously pounding into Sylvia, who was face down on his desk, her long brown hair draped over her face. Solveig's eyes were closed as he grasped her hips and thrust so hard that the desk actually shook. His grunts sounded to Shale like the noise a wild boar might make, but it was obvious that Sylvia was loving every second.

Taking a chance, Shale pulled out his smart phone and set it for video. "Now I've got my proof," he thought bitterly as he cracked the door open a little farther and began recording. As he watched, the Provost reached down and grabbed a handful of Sylvia's hair, pulling her head back. But something was terribly wrong, because Shale suddenly realized the Provost's lover wasn't Sylvia at all! He gaped in confusion for a moment, then suddenly jerked back, stifling a gasp. He knew who the woman was now: it was Perry's wife Camille!

He let the door close carefully so as not to make a sound and backed away. What he had witnessed not only surprised him, it thoroughly confused him. "If Solveig is having an affair with Camille, then maybe Sylvia has been telling the truth all along." But even as he felt a twinge of doubt, he recalled his wife's contemptuous attitude and unexplained absences. "I didn't imagine all that. What in hell is going on?" he wondered as he slipped out of the Provost's suite and back into the hallway.

He stood there trying to decide what to do next when he heard the sound of the elevator rising. A thrill of panic shot threw him: he knew he had to move if he didn't want to get caught. Quickly Shale darted down the hallway in the other direction, not wanting Solveig and Camille to find him if they happened to leave.

Then he heard the sound of footsteps heading in his direction, and when he heard Sylvia's distinct laugh he knew he had to hide. Frantically he began trying different doors, looking for one that was unlocked. When he came to an unmarked door with no knob near the end of the corridor, he pushed in desperation and was relieved when it opened. Slipping inside the darkened room, he let the door close; then he listened carefully, trying to determine where Sylvia and her companion were going.

As he waited he glanced around to try to figure out where he had hidden. At the other end of the room, light was coming in through a vent at the bottom of another door, and as his eyes adjusted to the semi-dark he realized that he was in a lushly appointed bathroom. "This must be the President's private potty," he thought irreverently.

Just then he heard Sylvia's voice again, this time accompanied by the unmistakable tones of Magnus Jefferson. The sound was coming from the office outside his hiding place. Shale tiptoed over to the door and got down on his hands and knees to peer through the louvers. He almost gasped as he saw Sylvia perched on Jefferson's lap with her arms thrown around the President's neck.

"I'm so disappointed," she was saying. "I thought we'd have the whole evening together."

"God knows I'd love to, but I have a meeting that I must attend," he said in his deep voice.

"At least let me give you a quick one," Shale heard her beg. "I love you pleasing you so much. Please, Magnus."

"Very well," he said, "but you'll have to leave in ten minutes so I can get ready."

"Ten minutes is all I need," she said huskily. With that she proceeded to slide off his lap and kneel between his legs. As she loosened his belt and pulled down his zipper, Jefferson leaned back in his chair.

The momentary hope Shale that Sylvia might actually be faithful had long since been dismissed, but learning the truth still filled him with anger. "So much for giving her the benefit of the doubt!" he thought bitterly. He grabbed his phone again and began recording through the louvers, knowing that this time there was no way Sylvia could lie her way out.

From his awkward vantage point Shale watched as Sylvia began to twirl her tongue around the President's exposed cock. Jefferson gave a deep groan. "Every time you do that it drives me absolutely crazy," he gasped.

Glancing around, Shale noticed that a mirror hanging on the office wall gave him a better view of what was going on behind Jefferson's desk. He focused his camera on that, all the while seething as he watched his wife fellating the university President.

Now Sylvia had the full length of her lover's cock down her throat, and it looked to Shale like she was making swallowing motions. He could hear gagging sounds coming from her, but she refused to pull back. Magnus gripped the arms of the chair and his back arched in ecstasy as Sylvia brought him closer and closer to orgasm. Suddenly his knuckles turned white and he gave a loud groan as he ejaculated repeatedly into her mouth. When he collapsed back into his chair, she made a great show of rolling his cum around in her mouth before swallowing.

Bitterly, Shale recalled how Sylvia had spat his spunk into a towel the night she'd given him her "blow and go." The difference told Shale all he needed to know about his wife's true feelings.

Deftly Sylvia laved Jefferson's limp cock with her tongue to clean it before deftly reinserting it back into his pants and carefully zipping him up. Then she rose and kissed her lover passionately.

"That was wonderful, my dear, but now I really have to prepare for my meeting," he told her.

"I understand, Magnus. I'll get out of here for now. But I hate being able to have you only a little while at a time," she said fervently.

"I know, I know," he said, walking her to the door. "I feel the same way."

Now that Sylvia had left, Shale was eager to get away, but he decided it would be wiser to wait until Jefferson left for his meeting. "Just so long as he doesn't need to use the restroom," he thought fervently.

But before he could stand up and ease his aching knees, he heard a new feminine voice say, "Well, Magnus, I hope you enjoyed yourself."

In shock Shale looked through the vent again to see Margaret Jefferson enter the office through another door. He was even more startled to hear Jefferson's response. "I definitely did, my dear. That is one lusty young woman."

Mrs. Jefferson seated herself in a chair by her husband's desk. "I have to admit, she is a pretty little thing." She looked at her husband shrewdly. "You do know she's in love with you, don't you?"

"Of course," he said with a laugh. "That's part of what makes her so passionate."

Margaret looked at him sharply. "Just make sure you don't fall in love with her."

Magnus laughed again. "Now, now, dear, you know better than that. Besides, I'd never leave you."

She wasn't appeased. "You'd better not if you want to keep my father's support - and his donations."

"Don't be boring, Margaret. I know what I'm doing. For your information I'm just about done with the lovely Sylvia. I plan to break it off with her right after graduation."

His wife relaxed and stared at him. "Hmm, I wonder if I might be able to persuade her to give me some of that loving attention after you dump her. She is a pretty little thing, and I'd love to see what she could do with that talented tongue of hers between my thighs."

"I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere, my dear. I can assure you that that little minx is heterosexual through and through."

"Too bad," Margaret said, "but I suppose there are plenty of other choices I can find."

Jefferson glanced at the ornate clock on his Chippendale desk and stood up abruptly. "We're going to be late, my dear. Quick, do I have any semen on my pants?"

When she reassured him that he was clean, the two of them quickly left the office, allowing Shale to scramble to his feet with a groan. But the pain in his knees was nothing compared to the pain he felt at the bitter turn his life had taken.

When he was safely outside the building he grabbed his phone again and called Annika. "What happened, Shale? What did you find out?" she asked anxiously.

"Would it be alright if I crashed at your place tonight?" he replied in a low voice. "I'd really rather not go home."

"Oh, Shale, I'm so sorry," she said.

After another night on the couch, Shale went in to his office and looked up the name of a local attorney to handle his divorce. Now that he knew the truth about Sylvia there was no way he could stay with her. He was fortunate to get a quick appointment.

After listening to the situation and reviewing various considerations, the attorney promised to have the necessary papers filed the following week. She also gave Shale some advice about what to do to protect himself financially, and Shale spent the next few hours setting up a new bank account, transferring funds from their joint account, canceling joint credit cards and making the necessary changes to his insurance. It felt good to be taking action, but overhanging everything was the shadow of failure. His marriage had failed and his life as he'd imagined it was about to come to an end.