There were a few raised eyebrows among the cleaners on Tuesday evening when I turned up for work. Instead of my usual jeans and baggy jumper, I was wearing a short pleated black skirt and tighter fitting white top and short denim jacket.
"Bloody hell. You'll catch your death dressed like that, girl!" Marjorie exclaimed, looking at my bare legs before heading outside for a cigarette.
"You've fancied yourself up today haven't you?" another of the cleaners muttered.
"Oh me and some mates were having a party. I didn't have time to get changed again." I lied.
"Parties, cleaning here. When do you find time to fit in your studying then?"
"I manage!"
"Well just don't bend over when you plug in the vacuum cleaner, otherwise you'll end up showing all that your mother gave you!"
I laughed and hurried off to the science block.
Mr. Bibby was at his desk as usual. I felt my face flush; the anticipatory excitement building, my body reacting to the close proximity of him with little shivers that make my arms tremble.
"Good evening!" I said, with considerably more confidence than last night. "How was your day?"
"A bit stressful," he replied, staring at me and then quickly averting his eyes downwards to his paperwork. "I had a difficult Year 10 class today. Some of those students are a lost cause. I get sick of the backchat and the endless distraction of smartphones."
"Sounds tough. Would you like a cup of tea?"
As cleaners, we had access to the staff room and were allowed to brew ourselves a hot drink before starting work.
"That's very kind but I don't want to trouble you, I know you have a lot of work to do."
"Oh it's no problem Mr. Bibby. I'll be right back!"
"Okay, well a tea with two sugars please. By the way, please call me Brian. No need to be formal these days!"
"Okay...Brian." It felt weird to be calling him by his first name.
I turned and headed out of the lab, my black skirt short enough to give him a pleasant view if he happened to be looking, but subtle as not to look deliberately provocative. As I stole a sneak peek, I noticed his reddening face. 10 out of 10 for observation skills, I thought. So far so good.
A few minutes later I returned with a cuppa.
"Oh thanks, just what I need," he smiled.
"So...uh, what are your lecturers at Durham like?"
I leaned against a table, on which numerous items of lab equipment were placed.
"They're a nice lot. The lectures are very enjoyable." I idly ran my fingers down the tube of a Bunsen burner.
"Still using those too?" he added, meaning the burner.
"Not just these." My hand was caressing the burner as though it were a phallic object. "I've graduated to using Teclu and Meker burners now."
"Ah, well sometimes a much hotter flame is needed."
"Mmm, yes, you can get a whole 9 inches of roaring blue hotness." I purred, my hand going up and down the tube in the same way a porn star jerks off a cock. If Bunsen burners could blush, I expect this one would have done.
