Birds of a Feather

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"Dr. Carlson?" Casey said as she knocked on his door.

"Ms. Easton. What brings you by? Here to enlighten me on yet some other arcane aspect of the field of sociology?" he said smiling.

Casey smiled back and said, "May I come in?" He motioned for her to have a seat then stopped what he was doing and listened. "So...I've never asked for an extension before but last night my boyfriend and I had a really big...we argued...a lot. It was so bad I couldn't finish my paper and I was wondering if I could maybe get one extra day."

"I can give you an extra day, Casey, but I'll have to dock you a full-letter grade."

"Oh. Well, I was just hoping maybe this one time you could let it slide." Casey wasn't normally emotional in the sense of crying out of frustration but so much had built up inside her she felt like a human pressure cooker and something had to give. She felt the first hot tears well up and fall and her inability to stop them just added to her emotional stew.

"Casey, it's one grade on one paper, not the end of the world," he said trying to sound positive.

"I know," she said. Her lip was now quivering and she felt completely out of control. "It's just that I feel like I've dug this huge hole for myself and there's no way out."

"It can't be that bad," Professor Carlson said. "Listen, I've got a few minutes before my next class. You wanna talk about it?"

"Really? You wouldn't mind?" she said feeling slightly more optimistic. For the next five minutes, she gave him the down and dirty version of her life. Her decision to stay with Caden, her father's reaction, her daily 14-hour routine of nothing but working and studying, and the constant fighting and neglect at home.

She dried her eyes and said, "I didn't mean to unload on you like that, Dr. Carlson. I just felt like I was going to lose it, you know? Thank you for listening and one letter grade seems more than reasonable for being able to turn it in late. I'll have it to you tomorrow—no excuses."

She got up to leave and he said, "Casey? I've been thinking. I have funding available to hire a research assistant. I was seriously considering one of my better graduate students, but I have to say you are quite possibly the sharpest undergrad I've ever taught. I was wondering if you might be interested? Since you're working all those hours now anyway, you could work them here on campus and at $17 an hour, it might help out with your finances, as well."

Casey was making minimum wage plus tips at the coffee shop which rarely added up to more than $10 an hour. This would be a huge increase in pay and let her do something she loved.

"Are you serious?" she said her voice rising.

"Yes, very serious. You could start tomorrow if you're interested."

She dropped her book bag and walked over to his desk where he'd stood as she was leaving and threw her arms around him. "Dr. Carlson, that is the best news I've had in...forever!" She backed off and said, "I'm going to work so hard for you. You won't be disappointed, I promise!"

Seth Carlson knew he'd had a kind of 'thing' for Casey since day one, but he didn't know how strong it was until just then. It wasn't even a real hug and it lasted less than two seconds but when their bodies touched it was as though he'd been electrified. So much so that he hurriedly sat down behind his desk before his growing problem got worse. "I have no doubts, Casey. Just see Ariel up front on your way out and hand her this." It was his approval to release funding for the position. He wrote her name in and signed it before handing it to her.

"Here you go," he told her.

"You won't regret this, Dr. Carlson! Thank you so much!"

"Oh, one more thing. I've been meaning to ask you whether or not you've decided which saying makes more sense: birds of a feather flock together or opposites attract. Or are you perhaps still neutral on that?"

"Well, like I said, I can see pros and cons for both. Why? Do you have an answer?"

"Just an opinion," he said. "When it comes to relationships, at least long-term relationships, I personally think it's ideal to have as many things in common as possible." He saw her tilt her head and raise her eyebrows so he kept going. "Initially anyway, someone who is very different from us can seem very interesting and even exciting. But as time goes on, it's the things we have in common that help keep things running smoothly as everything you share in common is one less thing about which you could potentially argue. So yes, for me, there's a clear and distinct winner, but as I said, it's only my opinion. And for the record, I'm not the best person to be making this argument. My relationships tend to last anywhere from from a few hours to a few weeks so..."

His words about having as much in common hit her hard driving their way into the deepest parts of her heart and soul. She was suddenly aware she had virtually nothing in common with Caden except for great sex and how long had it been since there'd been any sex, let alone the great kind?

"I have to admit that makes a lot of sense," Casey almost forlornly as she turned to leave.

***************************************************************************************************"Okay, Monica, I'm outta here," the grumpy old GM barked on his way out.

"All right. See you tomorrow!" she said pleasantly. He just waved his hand dismissively at her as he plodded out the side door.

Monica could see Caden was still working and decided to see if she could possibly be of any 'help' to him.

She'd worn her favorite outfit that day which was a very short top that showed off her naval ring while a very short skirt highlighted her long, shapely legs and tight ass. She'd also gone out the night before and had her hair cut, bleached, and styled hoping he might finally notice her.

"Hey, there! Are you almost done?" she asked pleasantly.

"Yeah, just a couple more minutes and I'm callin' it a day." He turned around and tossed an oily rag on the bench as he caught sight of her. He did a double take when he saw her. "Damn! What the hell happened to you?" he said in his typically coarse manner.

"Do you like it?" she asked.

He eyed her from top to bottom and said, "Yeah, you look really...hot. What's that all about?"

She moved closer and said, "Well...I saw how pretty your girlfriend is and I realized that I would have to do something...more...to get your attention." She turned left and right on the balls of her feet as she smiled at him. "So...is it working?" she said coyly.

"I do like blondes," he told her still staring at the new Monica.

"So it is working," she said hopefully. Caden didn't say anything else so Monica spoke again. "Are you hungry?"

"Uh, yeah. A little, I guess."

"Hold on, okay?" she said. She scurried back to her office and came back holding what looked like a stereotypical picnic basket.

"I made lasagna last night and I brought some, you know, just in case you might want to have some with me." Her head was down slightly as she looked up at him. "There's a microwave in the break room. I can warm this up for you if you'd like."

Caden finished up the last item on the work order and said, "You know, that might be nice. Sure, okay. Yeah, we can have a bite to eat together."

"Okay! I'll heat up the lasagna and garlic bread and..." She sat the basket down and pulled out a bottle of red wine and showed it to him. "Could you maybe open this for us, Caden? There's an opener in the basket," she said cheerfully with a bright smile.

"Yeah, sure. Lemme just wash my hands and I'll be right there."

"K," she said sweetly. "See you there!"

Everyone was else was gone when Caden picked up the smell of garlic wafting through the shop from the bread. He also realized he was starving. He'd only had half a peanut butter sandwich for lunch and he'd skipped breakfast to avoid having to talk to Casey. Or rather—listen to her again. The tension around the apartment was thick enough to cut with a knife and from his perspective, Casey seemed to lay all of the blame on him and he couldn't disagree more. The way she'd been acting, he had no desire to even talk to her let alone sleep with her.

"That smells great!" he said as he walked into the break room.

Monica had spread out a red and white checkered tablecloth along with two china plates and actual flatware rather than the paper plates plastic utensils Caden expected to see. She'd put a very large portion of lasagna on his plate and a smaller one on hers.

"Go ahead and sit down and I'll bring over the garlic bread." As she melted some butter on it she asked, "Oh, don't forget to open the bottle of wine for us, okay?"

Caden grabbed the corkscrew and seconds later the familiar popping sound let her know the bottle was open. He poured some of the deep red liquid into her clear plastic cup then did the same with his own just as she came over set the warm bread on his plate. As she did, he became aware of the scent of her perfume along with just how tight her cute little ass looked. He was tempted to grab it or maybe just swat it but decided against it even though she was standing much closer to him than she needed to be.

She put her hand on his shoulder as she set the bread down and bent over enough to show him some cleavage. "There you go!" she said. As she raised up, she stopped just as her face was next to his and without warning, kissed him on the lips. "Hey! What the hell?" he said as he pulled back. "I told you I have a girlfriend."

"I know," she said softly. "But that doesn't mean I'm just going to stop liking you. I do, you know. Like you—a lot."

He sat there looking into her eyes as she spoke and a part of him wanted to grab her and fuck her right there on the table, but something kept him from moving at all.

"And I'm not going to quit trying. I mean, you're not married, right? So...all's fair in love and...whatever the other thing is," she told him. She picked up her glass of wine and waited for him to do the same. "Cheers?" she suggested. They touched glasses and took a sip before she moved to the other side of the table and sat down.

They said very little as they ate. When they were done, Monica told him, "It kind of felt like things weren't so great between you and your girlfriend when she stopped by the other day."

"Oh, yeah. I guess you're right. We've been kind of going through something lately, you know?"

"Well, whatever it is, I just want you to know I'm here for you." She pulled out a red pen and scratched something on a clean napkin and handed it to him. "And not just here at work." She'd written her address and phone number on it with a big heart at the bottom. "I'm available for you anytime, Caden. Day...or night, okay?"

He folded the napkin and stuck it in his pocket but didn't say anything. He got up and thanked her for the meal and the wine. "You're welcome," she said.

He told her he needed to get going and she said, "I'm actually a pretty good cook so if you ever want a real dinner with...you know, someone who really does want you around, well, now you know where to find me." He nodded but still didn't say anything. "And Caden? I do a lot of other things for a guy I like besides just cooking."

She wasn't in Casey's league in terms of looks by a long shot, but she was still a very cute girl. Casey was easily an '8' on an un-inflated 1-10 scale with a true '8' being like the cutest girl in an entire high school and a '6' being a reasonably cute girl. Caden thought almost everybody tended to way over-inflate looks making an '8' a '10' or a '6' an '8'. In his book, '8s' were very rare so being a '6' wasn't bad thing. Monica was easily a '6.5' or maybe close to a '7.' Cute face, nice hair, decent boobs, great ass. And unlike Casey, she actually seemed to want him around and she liked the same stuff he liked.

"Yeah, okay. Cool," he said. "So um, thanks again for dinner. It was really great." He found himself smiling at her and in response he got an even bigger-than-normal smile from Monica. She even blew him an air kiss which he found almost charming rather than silly, which is how he would have otherwise characterized something so...silly.

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"This looks fascinating. So essentially, I'm assisting you in studying the effects of technology on tribalism in a historical context?"

"Wow. That's impressive. You gleaned that from the introductory paragraph?"

"It seemed relatively straightforward to me," she told him truthfully.

"Casey? Have you given any thought to graduate studies? I'm not kidding when I say you're head and shoulders above most of my graduate students. And there are very few slouches in grad school."

"I've thought about it, but right now my life reminds me of that saying that goes like this: When you're up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember you came to drain the swamp."

Carlson laughed. "Is it really that bad?"

"I don't know, Dr. Carlson. It's just that everything that seemed so clear to me just a couple of years ago now seems so convoluted." She paused then added, "And that's on a good day." She liked that he smiled as she continued, "Other than school, it's like I created the exact opposite life for myself than the one I need to be happy."

"I'm not trying to play therapist here, Casey, but why do you think that might be the case? Surely you didn't set out to intentionally to this so how did things get so...jumbled up?"

She sat there and stared out of his office window for a moment then told him, "You know, if I answer that question honestly, it's going to require me to face...and admit...something I haven't wanted to think about."

He just tilted his head letting her know he was waiting for her to continue. She either would or she wouldn't. She chose to keep talking. "I'd have to tell my father he was right all along."

"How so?" he asked.

"I was such a straight arrow growing up, you know? I was your classic good girl. I obeyed my parents, I was a straight-A student, I didn't smoke or drink or hang out with kids who did."

"And then you went to college?" he said smiling.

"Well, not just that. Sure, I tried a few things like nearly every college freshman does. But I really messed up getting so involved with my current boyfriend, Caden."

"Ah! Opposites attract?" he asked seeking clarification.

"Exactly! I mean, he's everything I wasn't. Bold, daring, aggressive, risk taker, motorcycle rider, devil-may-care kind of guy. I'm none of those things. I like to study. I enjoy the quiet. For me taking a risk is trying a new flavored latte at Starbucks, you know? But he was just so...exciting and dangerous."

"Okay, now I understand. Maybe you need to find a bird with similar feathers," he quipped.

Casey laughed for the first time in a very long time. "Right! So we can flock together," she said.

"Is it safe to assume you now find yourself wanting a life more compatible with who you really are?"

"Right, again. But it's all just so tangled up and messy."

"Or maybe it isn't," he offered.

"Oh, trust me. My life is a regular Gordian Knot."

The intellectual reference made him smile again. "You're a very intelligent, very poised, very well-read young woman, Casey."

Casey felt herself start to blush but thankfully, it didn't go very far. "Oh, well thank you, Dr. Carlson. Coming from you that means a lot."

"If you're in a relationship that's not working for you, perhaps it's time to give staying in it a lot of serious thought. And Casey? When we're working alone together, I'd like it if you'd call me Seth."

Casey was touched by his offer and she smiled appreciatively. "Okay, I think I can do that—Seth."

Seth couldn't believe just how amazing her smile was. He caught himself staring and said, "I have to tell you I have a very similar situation in my own personal life. I did something very much like you did when I chose to get involved with my current live-in girlfriend. We have precious little in common and until I sat here and listened to you spell out the problems in your relationship, I just couldn't put a finger on it."

"Did opposites attract?" Casey asked.

"And how," he told her. He spent a few minutes detailing the ways in which he and Alexis, the woman he lived with, had almost nothing in common. "Except for great sex and I did not just say that." She laughed having had the same thought regarding Caden and her laugh made him laugh.

"I guess what I'm really saying is I'm getting to a point where I think I'd like something more long-term, you know? Maybe even something permanent. I guess I've always...maybe even intentionally...taken the 'opposites attract' tact knowing there's no chance of it every getting serious. But lately..."

His voice trailed off and he didn't finish his thought. He looked over at Casey and said, "I know it's getting late, but I was wondering if you might like to have a drink with me to kind of celebrate our working together. I know a place nearby and we could walk...if you're interested."

"You know, I think I'd like that," she said cheerfully. "Sure. Why not? It's not really late. It's only 7 o'clock and I'd be shocked if Caden's home yet so...yeah, let's do that!"

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"So where have you been all evening?" he asked as soon as she walked in.

"Oh, gee, look who got home before 9 o'clock for once and wants to know where I've been. That's rich, Caden."

"Were you working this late?" he asked with an edge to his voice.

"That's really none of your business," she told him with an edge of her own.

There were already four empty beer bottles on the coffee table and he had a fifth in his hand. "So who is he?" he asked as he drained a quarter of the bottle.

"Who is who?" she retorted angrily.

"The guy you're fucking, that's who!" he said raising his voice. "Now I know why I'm not gettin' any. You're gettin' everything you want from one of those pansy-assed college boys, aren't you?"

She stood right in front of him and pointed her finger in his face. "No, I'm not fucking anyone. And for your information, the reason you're not getting any, either, is because of...this!" She pointed to the empty beer bottles and the mess in the apartment.

"You don't want to have sex with me because I have beer or two? Jesus, Case—that is just so like you these days," he told her.

"A beer...or two? Are you kidding me? You get shitfaced almost every night! You don't do a damn thing around here and you're never home. But other than that, yeah, I'd love to have you crawling all over me! Jesus yourself, Caden!"

"I don't have to put up with this shit, you know. There are plenty of hot chicks out there who'd like to have some of this," he told her using his hand to indicate his body.

Casey couldn't deny that. Caden would never have trouble getting laid. He really was hot as hell. But it had gotten so bad lately she no longer cared how good he looked. The way he treated her nullified any other feelings she may have once had for him.

"Oh, really? Then don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out!" she screamed. She ran into the bathroom, the only room with a door on it, and slammed it shut. She closed the lid and sat down on the toilet and started to cry. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of letting him hear her, but it had to come out. And this had to change—or else.

Her pity party ended suddenly when she heard the front door slam a few minutes later. She got up and peeked out into the living room/dining room/bedroom/kitchen and saw that he and his greasy jacket were gone. She stood there just staring at the door until she saw something on the floor. She walked over and picked it up. It was a rumbled napkin with some kind of writing on it. She smoothed it out and saw a phone number along with and address written in a girl's handwriting along with a big red heart at the bottom.