Chapter 1
Amy's head bounced off the damp window and her eyes fluttered open. Her hair was wet from the condensation on the window and it clung to her face. Through the head shaped gap in the misty glass Amy could see Buckingham Palace. "Shit," she thought with a glance at her watch, "I'm going to be late, again." The number 19 bus crawled through the rush-hour traffic towards Chelsea. Amy wriggled deeper into her winter coat and wiped the window clear. She liked to sit on the upstairs deck of the bus. From there she could ignore the crowds of tourists, yelling motorists, and relentless Starbucks chains. Amy preferred to watch the cityscape; London's imposing architecture was her getaway. Not that it helped much today. The buildings were the same grey as the sky and the drizzle and the suits that marched past.
Amy thought she had better send a text to Caitlyn, the mother of the children she was supposed to have started babysitting five minutes ago.
-Traffic is a state, so so sorry C! Be with you in 10!
The phone buzzed almost instantly.
-No problem hun, see you soon x
Amy smiled to herself. It wasn't ideal having to travel across town after a day of university classes, but Amy was barely making ends meet and she needed the money badly. Besides, Caitlyn's home was a cozy sanctuary for her. The wood burner was always going and no doubt Caitlyn has been baking during the day. Amy always dreaded when the time came to tuck the kids into bed and return to her icy student flat.
And there was one other benefit of the number 19 bus. Amy's cute literature professor, Dr. Mitchell, was often on it too. She would rush from her final lecture so that she could get the seat behind the bus stairs. Then she had the perfect view of his tight butt as he climbed them. As he rounded the pole he would often catch Amy's eye and she would quickly look away with a rosy blush. If only she could just muster the courage to talk to him!
But she never did, and the professor would take his seat across the aisle from Amy and she would berate herself for being so timid. "That's probably why Tom dumped you for that cheerleading slut," Amy criticized herself silently. Remembering the damp hair plastered to her forehead she hastily rearranged it, hoping that Dr. Mitchell had not seen. If only she had the balls to talk to him, then maybe, maybe, she could forget about Tom for five minutes.
Chapter 2
Amy and her best friend, Georgia, were staring across the student union bar at Dr. Mitchell.
"Do you think he's single?" Amy asked without taking her longing gaze off him.
"With a body like that, you must be joking." Georgia replied.
At that moment the third member of their trio arrived with three jaggerbombs and a bottle of sauvignon blanc.
"Nope, he's still on the market," Emily said nonchalantly, "Now drink up girls, essays are in, time for the gin!"
Emily was about to knock back the shot when she noticed the dumbstruck look of the other girls.
"Ok, it's not gin, but you get the point," Emily said before necking the drink, "cheers!"
Amy couldn't restrain herself; she just had to know more. "It's not that, you bimbo. How do you know he is single?"
"Spill the beans!" Georgia added.
"Oh, it's nothing. I found him on Facebook and had a little stalk. Ok, a long stalk. You should check it out, the beach pics from Barbados '14...yes please!"
Amy poured herself a large glass of wine and went back to wistfully staring at the professor, daydreaming of rubbing sun lotion onto his tight abs and strong arms on a white sand beach... Amy was snapped back to reality when Emily reached over and popped a button undone on her blouse. Amy had worn her favourite one today for Dr. Mitchell; it clung tightly to her figure and revealed just enough of her white lace bra to tease the professor. Or so she hoped. But even by Emily's brazen standards this was forward.