CHAP 7
Picture The Audience In Their Underwear?

Kate didn't see much of Sheri for the next four days. After a quick good morning, with quiet sips of the caffeine pushing coffee, the two of them began rushing around getting ready for class still half asleep. Staying out so late Wednesday with Tom, Kate only realized Sheri wasn't going to be home that night when she arrived home after class. It was Thursday, one of Sheri's work nights. Kate was so tired she didn't hear her roommate come home that night.

A brief message scrawled across a notepad left by the coffee machine had Kate frowning. Sheri said she would be gone for the next three days on a sailing trip. Kate was not to expect her back until Sunday. Kate growled throughout the day and ended up accomplishing very little. If she didn't know any better, she'd say Sheri was hiding from her.

Kate wondered at that thought and didn't know exactly how she felt about it. She only knew she didn't like it when Sheri wasn't around.

Sheri must have arrived back late Sunday evening, long after Kate went to bed. Kate watched the taller dark-haired woman stumble in for coffee the following Monday morning. She hoped whoever Sheri had spent the weekend with was currently without a hot water heater and needing a shower. The jealous emotional streak running through her body made Kate feel horrible and angry at the same time. She fought the reaction of striking out at Sheri.

"Did you have a nice weekend?" Kate managed to sound almost civil.

Sheri sipped her coffee and grimaced. "Yes, the water was beautiful." That was all she said as she reached for the sports section of the paper. Moving the other portions, Sheri saw a familiar looking card resting near Kate's hand.

"What's that?" Sheri motioned toward the card. Kate, still frowning, looked down at her Sister's request card for the masseuse; she had been checking off the items she knew she would like to have massaged. Sheri was eyeing the card and motioned for Kate to let her see. Kate shrugged and handed the card over to her.

"They should stop using these. They are really out of date. Most people just write 'the works' into the remarks and the masseuse will do the rest. It's too complicated to track all the individual wants and needs." Kate shook her head.

"That secretary told me to fill it out. I'm gonna try and keep it controlled until I feel a bit more comfortable." Kate motioned for Sheri to give the card back. Sheri grinned and asked if Kate would mind getting her a refill of the coffee, please? Kate sighed and got up to get the pot. As she returned she saw Sheri placing the card back over near her own coffee cup.

"Thanks!" Sheri rose to go back upstairs for a bit to take a shower and get ready for school.

Kate lifted the card to look it over. The only additional field check marked was BAF. Kate had no idea. She started to erase what Sheri had obviously added, but hesitated. She trusted Sheri and wanted to see where this went. She left it on there and started anticipating her appointment tomorrow. Kate stuffed the card back into her notebook.

Returning upstairs she got ready for classes. She would be starting her lectures this week and wanted to go over her notes once more.

The day flew past and Kate found herself struggling over some last minute changes in her lecture notes she had spread across the coffee table. Sheri was at home and attempting to catch up on her chores she had neglected over the weekend.

"You know I forgot to mention you're lecturing to one of my classes this week," Sheri mentioned as she stooped to pick up a few pieces of clothing she had dropped going to the washer.

Kate looked at her wide-eyed. "Really?" Kate's nervous voice squeaked upward in multiple octave levels.

"It had better be good, young lady!" Sheri teased, looking down at Kate.

"I had no idea. I thought it would be lectures to the freshman classes to interest them in biology."

"Well, at least it gets me out of my regular lecture note taking. I was beginning to get mid-term blues. This lecture week will give us a break we really need."

Kate began to shuffle through her notes and straighten the disorder. "I hope you enjoy it, but I get a little nervous in front of a crowd."

Sheri watched Kate fidget nervously and didn't know what to say. Suddenly she remembered Thomas saying something once that might help.

"Tom says if you get nervous speaking before a crowd, you should always picture them in their underwear. It's something to make them less intimidating."

Kate looked up at Sheri and stopped fidgeting as she saw the tall raven-haired woman in nothing but that slinky bikini outfit from the parlor, her nipples hard and the candle light flickering softly over her skin. Kate's tongue came out briefly to wet her suddenly dry lips. Her hands trembled slightly until she clasped them together.

Sheri watched in fascination, as Kate's eyes seemed to dilate and turn a darkened jade. Kate turned away and quickly wiped her palms across her blue jean covered legs. She began gathering up her papers and stuffing them into her book bag somewhat frantically.

Sheri reached over and touched Kate's arm, frowning as Kate jerked from her touch, then stilled. She slid her hand down Kate's arm and covered her hand linking their hands together.

"What's wrong, Kate?" Sheri half whispered, her voice husky with concern, wanting to know what was going on inside the seemingly frightened woman.

Kate lifted her gaze to Sheri's caring blue eyes and felt the warmth of her hand inside her own. She glanced down at their entwined fingers.

"Your brother's theory just doesn't work for me, Sheri. I think I'll just stick to my nervous tension instead." She retrieved her captured hand and stood up with her papers and book bag. Her face flushed as Sheri watched her walking away to her bedroom.

In sudden realization, Sheri grasped Kate had visualized someone in his or her underwear and it wasn't fright Sheri was seeing in that flushed face. It was actually Kate's being aroused. Sheri smiled and hoped she would have nine extra lives full of curiosity when it came to Kate Shefield.

"Who did you think about, Kate?" Sheri teased, beyond interested to hear the answer and not, in the least, expecting one to be given at all.

Just as the door closed, almost muffled from inside, shutting off any further communication, Sheri heard Kate say the word 'you'. A slow grin of satisfaction grew on Sheri's face as she leaned back and savored a small feeling of excitement.

Sheri took a deep breath and let it out with a whoosh. Well I've managed to get her interest. How am I going to tell her I'm the masseuse and not have her freak out on me?

Sheri lit a cigarette and took a long drag, releasing it slowly. Without finishing it she put out the cigarette. What am I going to do? She stood up and walked over to Kate's door. Raising her hand to knock, she tried to think of something to say that wouldn't make Kate think she was a sick pervert playing games. Slowly, without knocking, she lowered her hand.

"Kate? Are you OK?" Sheri spoke through the door.

A softly muttered 'Fine, I'm OK!' came back through the muffled interior.

Sheri placed her hand on the doorknob and instantly pictured Kate pulling away from her in anger or fear. She wanted Kate to have time to adjust to her feelings. God knew what had caused this shy person to evolve, but Sheri wanted to spend the time and show Kate how it should be between two people. She released the doorknob with a swallow of regret. Maybe Kate needed more time and Sheri should just back off.

"You know where I am if you need to talk to someone…or anything else, too. OK Kate?" Sheri said stepping back from the door. Not hearing a response, she crossed the room and softly closed her own bedroom door behind her.

Kate found another scrawled note next to the coffee pot. She had mixed feelings about it. A briefly written note said they would see each other soon. Kate realized Sheri would be in the student audience this morning for her lecture. She wondered if Sheri would also be her masseuse for tonight? As far as she knew, things were beginning to get a little too complicated. What was making Sheri pretend to be someone else and why did I ever tell Sheri she was the one I had pictured in my imagination?

Kate drank some orange juice and deliberated over her lecture notes trying unsuccessfully to keep Sheri out of her thoughts. How could one person become so ingrained in my life? She'd managed quite easily to isolate herself from others before. Why wouldn't Sheri give up? Sighing deeply, Kate gathered her notes and briefcase full of slides. Dumping the unfinished OJ into the sink, she cursed these events of her professional choice and headed off to class.

Arriving at the campus, she wished suddenly she were just getting her bachelor's degree like Sheri. Being an instructor wasn't her idea of a learning process; it was tension overload and a quick suicide. She hated speaking in front of a crowd. As she entered the half full lecture hall, she realized she was 10 minutes early. She discretely scanned for Sheri but didn't see her yet. Kate almost sighed again. She realized she had been hoping for a quick pep talk from her friend.

As she dropped her notes and briefcase on the front podium she glanced to make sure the slide projector equipment had been set up already and the screen was lowered. After checking the projector, she spread her note cards onto the podium and grabbed the briefcase full of slide cartridges. When she opened her briefcase, a small pink envelope fell out onto the floor. Kate picked it up and saw her name boldly printed on it.

The envelope contained a small card with a bouquet of flowers on the outside cover. Inside, there was a note. "Good Luck. You'll be fine. I would have liked to give you the flowers myself but…they wouldn't be as beautiful as you."

There wasn't any signature, but Kate recognized the handwriting. She blinked back a few heart warming tears that threatened to escape and tucked the card into her blazer pocket.

The class buzzer rang a few minutes later and Kate looked up from her notes to a sea of faces waiting on her every word. She reached down and felt the small card in her pocket, then confidently began her lecture.

After leading the students through a half hour of facts and nomenclature in the study of Biology, she flipped on a cartridge of slides with a tape-recorded audio. Walking over, she turned off the hall lights and let the overhead take her place. She sank down into a nearby chair, exhausted.

Scanning the crowd of students, she looked for Sheri. Suddenly she caught blue eyes staring back at her through the darkness. Sheri was sitting just three rows back from where Kate had dropped into a chair. Her friendly smile and wink had Kate smiling back. Kate silently mouthed 'thank you'. Sheri nodded. She mouthed back 'It's true about the flowers' and Kate blushed in the darkness, turning back to watch the slideshow she had put together.

As she stood and concluded her presentation, a few of the students began leaving early and Kate watched Sheri exit out a side door. Kate gathered her notes and grabbed the slides while answering some of the lingering students' questions. She handed out a few pamphlets from the Biology department and exited the lecture hall with a sigh of relief. Sheri was nowhere to be seen, so Kate headed to her car to drop off all her teaching aides.

As Kate neared her car, she saw Sheri leaning against the hood.

"You're a natural, Kate. Or should I be calling you Professor?" Sheri grinned as Kate smiled. Sheri took the slides and books from Kate's full arms while Kate opened the trunk of her car. Sheri set everything inside. She shut the trunk and smiled at Kate.

Kate said 'thank you' and shrugged as she started to analyze her performance.

"Thanks, but I sort of cheated a bit with the slide show thing," she said, self derisively.

"Don't kid yourself. You did fine. I know half a dozen people running to transfer majors right now!" Sheri teased. They both chuckled as Kate got into the car. Sheri leaned over the window and smiled down at Kate.

"You really deserve a medal for putting up with most of the students here. Maybe I could persuade you to accept a dinner invitation instead? We could celebrate your success over the first hill?"

Kate eyed the tall woman and wondered if this were an official date invitation? She sure hoped it would be.

"When is this dinner gonna take place and where?" Kate hesitated knowing Sheri had to work tonight.

"I'll meet you at our house around nine. Is that OK?" Sheri asked gently as she reached over and pushed a stray wild lock of blonde hair back behind Kate's ear. Kate closed her eyes at the soft touch and swallowed.

"I can't wait. I'll be there," Kate stated with a husky voice. She looked up to see blue eyes twinkling and a satisfied cocky smile.

She started the engine and backed out of the slot. Glancing back she saw Sheri wave, and she waved in return before heading across the campus to get to another class. Dinner date at nine and a massage at five…tonight is going to be quite interesting.

Continued...