Forbidden Affairs
Instead she stayed seated, thighs pressed tightly together under the desk, afraid to move.
Lila leaned forward, elbows on her knees, blouse gaping. “Read it, Professor. Or I will.”
Evelyn’s voice came out hoarse. She read the first stanza, then the second, words about older women begging to be ruined by younger mouths, about silk blouses ripped open in locked offices, about the taste of forbidden fruit leaves behind when it finally bites back.
By the fourth stanza her voice cracked. Lila’s hand had found her knee under the desk, sliding upward with agonizing slowness, tracing the seam of Evelyn’s wool skirt.