For Bill Samuels it was a dangerous kiss, one he feared could threaten his blossoming career as a sociology professor at the U. Not the careful kiss at midnight he'd planted chastely on the cheek of that fascinating undergraduate, Christine Miller. No. Rather, it was the warm and gentle kiss early this first morning of the new year from Pat Richardson, the U’s most successful African-American alumna and now star-student at the Law School. Where would it lead? Was he headed down a slippery slope away from his strictly observed policy of “non-fraternization” with students? Bill was close to panic as he considered the possible consequences.
Soundtrack: Mr Tambourine Man---Bob Dylan
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The evening had started innocently enough at the New Years' Eve party Bill threw every year for his students who stuck around the U over the holidays. (He never invited any faculty, mainly so the students could feel uninhibited and party as they pleased, but also so no horny junior faculty babes would show up and, possibly create an embarrassing scene.)
This year’s party was to have been a little special — a kind of going away party for his protégé, the talented, but troubled artist-athlete, Jake DiAngelis. Unfortunately, things began to take a depressing turn just before midnight, actually shortly after Jake arrived — late and quite obviously strung out on heroin.
Bill was deeply concerned about Jake. Such talent! But talent that appeared to be hopelessly entwined with a dark, self-destructive streak. Recently, even Jake’s extraordinary artistic output had ground to a halt, as he plunged beneath the drowning waves of heroin addiction. Bill wanted desperately to help Jake, to save him from the unfortunate end he seemed to be rushing toward.
Before Jake's arrival, the party had been more or less like any college party these days. Loud rock n' roll music; boys and girls dancing with a blatant sexuality, suggestive of some sort of primitive adolescent mating ritual; a bit too much alcohol being imbibed by students who were too inexperienced to know how to handle it; and the constant stream of young people taking a "smoking break" out in his backyard from which they returned red-eyed and giggling. Did they suppose he didn't know what they were smoking back there? He laughed to himself at their naiveté about his presumed naiveté.
Then, too, there'd been the usual groupie scene! Bill was all too aware of the charismatic figure he cut on campus and he had come to expect that whenever he had a party, a disproportionate number of infatuated co-eds would show up, hoping to seduce him. But, he was seasoned at resisting their tempting young flesh; although make no mistake, he was often tempted! He knew full well that to fall prey to their advances would mean the end of his "brilliant" teaching career. So, he was always careful to avoid being alone with a female student, attractive or not. Instead, he allowed these admiring young women to cluster around him harmlessly in groups after class or at his parties.
Tonight had been one of those times when a gaggle of girls had hovered around Bill almost continuously. They'd finally gotten on his nerves, so that when Jake arrived, Bill tried to redirect their interest to this handsome, strapping young campus idol. However, despite his hints and some pretty intensive come-ons from some of the girls, Jake was so totally zonked that he took no interest whatsoever.
So it was that as the clock crept closer to midnight, Bill found himself still surrounded by a number of overly-eager “sweet young things” with lips puckered expectantly for a New Years' kiss and firm young breasts pressed provocatively against his body, promising more. Did they really think this blatant flirting would gain them an evening of bliss in bed with Professor Samuels?
At the appointed hour, Bill welcomed the new year with a flourish of fast and careful maneuvering, all calculated to get and give half a dozen chaste pecks on cheeks with a minimum of body contact. Those kissed included the lovely and intriguing, Christine, whose sensual lips, although only grazing his cheek, created a temporary bulge in his pants, which he hoped was obscured by the relative darkness of the room.
That was the start of his evening, the part from which he escaped relatively unscathed. From here on out, however, matters really went down hill.
Links
non-fraternization with students
heroin addiction
Bob Dylan (Buy CDs of his albums)
Go to the next scene in Bill's story
New Year's Eve 1968: Bill, Scene 2 "Temptation"
Go to a related scene
New Year's Eve 1968: Jake, Scene 1 "1969 Began with a Kiss"
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