The Work-Life Balance Disruption

Chapter 29

Clarifications

"I've been informed by multiple people in my social circle that it would be most beneficial if your parents liked me," he said softly, and caged her in against the counter, his hands on either side of her.

"Beneficial?" Amy repeated.

His eyes roamed over her face, drinking her in. He cupped her chin almost gently and pressed his lips to hers.

An electric shock went through her. He pulled back before she could respond to his kiss however.

"Yes, beneficial," he murmured. "I have big plans with their daughter, you see."

Amy inhaled sharply, and his mouth descended on hers again. She moaned in his opened mouth, as his lips devoured her. Their tongues brushed against each other, and it caused Amy's already aroused state to increase rapidly.

Doctor Cooper seemed equally invested in her; he pressed her against the kitchen counter almost roughly, his hands on her hips holding her firmly against him. Amy clawed at his t-shirt – the t-shirt – pulling him closer to her still.

He moved his mouth away from hers, kissing her jaw and moving towards her neck. His hands were firmly grasping her ass, kneading her almost. Amy gasped when he kissed – no, sucked – on her pulse point. "AH!" she moaned, her panties flooding with arousal.

"Sheldon…" she mewled.

He groaned in her neck. "Or perhaps I should decline that dinner offer after all," he muttered against her neck, "I can't keep my hands off you, Amy…"

To emphasize his point, he tugged her skirt up with both hands and pushed his thigh between her legs. Amy rubbed her heated centre against him instinctively. They both groaned at the sensation.

Amy whimpered softly with each brush against him. The friction wasn't enough, but it was something at least.

How had they ended up dry humping in her kitchen this fast? Her thoughts were a blur. Weren't they talking about something important?

One of his hands was groping her breast through her blouse though, and her thoughts went back to the ache between her legs. If he would just move his leg a bit higher, she would be able to hit a certain spot more easily and - -

Sheldon pulled back slightly. He was panting deeply, his eyes nearly black as he stared at her.

"We have to slow down, darlin'," he said, breathlessly, "if we keep this up, you'll end up bend over this kitchen counter with me taking you from behind…"

That didn't sound at all bad to Amy.

"Hmm," she moaned in response, "there's no need to turn me on with dirty talk, Doctor Cooper… I'm pretty aroused already."

She bit her lip enticingly at him, sure of herself that it would take him over the edge.

He groaned softly, and grasped her wrists firmly, lowering her arms and taking a step back.

"You've also been drinking tonight and you're still my student, Amy," he said firmly. It was quite the juxtaposition with his erect member still pressing against the confines of his pants.

Her heart sank. She was so worked up now, she had really hoped to make him forget his earlier promise to wait.

"I thought we had discussed this," he said sternly – as if he hadn't been busy groping her just now.

Amy stared at him. She pouted.

"We had," she said, taking a step closer to him, brushing her bosom against him, "but you also said you were going to leave me alone, and yet here you are in my apartment after dark."

He sighed. "I know I did," he whispered, looking down at her with fire in his eyes. His fingers were fingering a lock of her hair softly. "I just had to make sure you weren't mad I helped Larry out without you knowing…"

He was on first name bases with her father already? She furrowed her brow at him.

"And I really can't help it you're so irresistible to me," he muttered, his fingers had let go of her hair and were softly stroking her neck now. "But you know that already. You were trying to tempt me, weren't you?"

Amy blinked up at him with big eyes. "What do you mean?" she said as innocently as possible, while delicious heat coursed through her.

He smirked at her.

"You wanna play it like this, then?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her. Amy inhaled when she saw the look in his eyes.

"You know I'll win this game, don't you?" he whispered. "But go ahead and pretend you weren't directing my attention to your shapely derriere when we were out in the hall just now."

Amy blushed. "That sounds like completely inappropriate behaviour for a good student such as myself," she said, trying to sound appalled.

"Oh, yes," Doctor Cooper grinned, "completely inappropriate. Coming onto a professor like that. You're asking for a punishment, young lady."

Amy's mouth dropped open in shock. He had spanked her once, in his bathroom. And she had to admit; she had liked it more than she thought she would. Doctor Cooper's grin turned into a smirk.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Miss Fowler," he said, but his eyes roamed over her.

Amy traced the Batman-logo on his shirt with her fingers. She could feel his heart thumb rapidly beneath her fingertips.

"I love this shirt," she mumbled, looking at his chest rising and falling under her hand.

"I figured," he responded. Amy looked up at him.

"Did you wear this for me?" she asked teasingly.

Sheldon narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't flatter yourself, Amy," he said brusquely. "It's simply the eleventh day of my DC shirts-rotation."

She smiled up at him. "Of course," she said, semi-serious. "What will it be tomorrow then, Iron Man?"

He raised his eyebrows at her. "If you think Iron Man is in the DC Comics, we're going to be having some problems," he said, dead serious. He paused for a moment, as if to calm himself down.

"You must know that Iron Man is MCU. Right?"

It was adorable how he seemed almost panicked to find out she barely knew anything about comics. It also caused some sort of delicious warmth to spread through her when he said 'we're going to be having problems'… Did that mean he was in it – whatever this was – for the long run?

It would seem that way. Right?

He called her father Larry for crying out loud!

"Really Amy, you must have seen some of the Marvel movies. They were the highest grossing franchise for three years in a row," he said. Amy could only giggle at his antics – it was strangely cute to see him this flustered. It was such a change compared to his professor persona.

She didn't know which one she liked best.

He narrowed his eyes at her again. "Are you messing with me?" he said, a smile at the corners of his mouth.

Amy just grinned back at him. "I wouldn't dare, sir," she said, biting her lip for good measure.

His eyes dilated fully now, and he was swallowing away a lump in his throat. Was it the lip biting? Or maybe the fact she called him 'sir'? She would have to look into that.

"Amy," he said, sighing deeply. "Just a few more days, alright? Can you wait?"

Amy's chest constricted. She could. Probably. Maybe.

"I guess," she said, her fingers still tracing the Batman logo on his shirt, "but you're making it very hard for me like this."

"I know." He pulled away from her and walked over to the couch, pulling on his windbreaker. "I should go, before you manage to talk me out of my pants."

Amy's heart sank a little. A few days. She could wait for a few more days.

"Okay," she said. But couldn't help ask him the question that had been nagging her ever since the car ride over.

"I can't even convince you to stay with the promise of another mediocre blowjob?"

Sheldon looked at her.

"If your blowjobs were really mediocre, I wouldn't have such a hard time saying no to you now, Amy," he said, his eyes burning her. She blushed.

"Oh," she murmured.

And suddenly he was in front of her again, lifting her chin with his strong fingers. His mouth brushed against her lips softly. Amy felt her heart beat faster immediately.

"I'll see you Monday," Sheldon said, pulling away. "I was thinking of pencilling you in at 4:30. Your schedule allows it, so that shouldn't be a problem."

Amy blinked at him. "Pencilling me in?"

"Yes," he said. "To discuss your paper."

"I thought that you just wanted to talk to me," she said, caught off guard that he was getting into professor-mode again.

"And we just did," he said. "And come Monday we will discuss your final paper. I thought that was clear?"

Amy gaped at him for a second. "Ehm, sure," she said. "Did I pass at least?"

"You'll find out Monday morning with the rest of the students," he said with some finality.

Amy took a step back. Taken aback by this distant tone. "Alright," she mumbled, looking away from his face.

"I'll see you then?" he asked, more softly this time.

"Yeah," Amy replied, avoiding his eyes. She felt weird suddenly, and she couldn't really pinpoint why.

"Alright," he said. "Good night, then." And with that he left.

Amy stood there for a long time, trying to make sense of the conflicting thoughts and feelings going around in her head.


Amy woke up to her phone buzzing with text messages. She felt a slight sting of disappointment when she saw no new messages from Doctor Cooper, just the girls.

Penny
Amyyyy…. Are you up yet? You gotta spill!

Bernadette
Oh, yes! Did Dr Cooper give you a 'private lesson' Hahaha

Penny
Well… I heard him come home, so he either left after teaching or it never came to that…

Bernadette
Maybe Amy is a quick student tho. Lol.

Penny
Hehe. I should think so yeah

Bernadette
Amy! Wake up! We want details!

Amy opened the group chat. She didn't really know what to tell them. He had taken her home; they had talked about her parents – the girls knew nothing of this – and then they had made out. It wasn't really that exciting. Certainly not more exciting then what had happened between them in the library or in his classroom. Or Leonard's lab. Or his bathroom. Or his bedroom.

When she listed all of the locations they had done dirty stuff, Amy couldn't help but feel a little scandalous. Who would have thought moving back to California would have her experiencing these kind of exciting things! With her teacher no less…

Her teacher. He had behaved strangely last night, right before he left. Gone was the more laid back Sheldon who flirted and joked about comic books, and Doctor Cooper had returned. All business when he mentioned how he expected her to come to his office to discuss her paper.

Why?

Wasn't he the one who called her out before on her inconsistent behaviour? Giving her so-called time, but in the meantime he continued to proposition her, in libraries, in his classroom, and now even in her own home.

Was he trying to create some sort of distance between them now, by reverting back to his earlier professor persona? It seemed obsolete now, with everything they had done. And the planned dinner at her parents as well. Didn't he say he had 'big plans' with her? What did that mean?

With him being almost two people in her head now, she really needed help. From women who knew what she was dealing with.

Taking a deep sigh, she started typing.

Amy
I'm up. You guys available for drinks tonight? I could use your advice.


Amy opened the door to her apartment for the two blondes later that evening. They were both holding up bags filled with whatever they deemed was necessary for a girls night; which was mainly wine and popcorn.

Amy couldn't really complain.

After about two glasses of wine, Amy felt loose enough to voice the concerns that had been nagging her all day long.

"So," she started. And Penny and Bernadette looked up at her; both with questioning eyes.

"Yes?" Bernadette said, taking a sip of her drink.

"I wanted to ask you something about Sheldon," Amy said, unsure of herself .

"We kinda figured," Penny said. "What's up?"

Amy didn't really know how to start. She just couldn't make sense of his behaviour. One minute he would be flirting with her, and the next he was treating her like she was just one of students. She wasn't, was she? He had come to the funeral to support her. And "taken care" of her before that, when she had felt really low.

Maybe he was just interested in her physically?

That did seem to be the one thing they kept going back to – performance reviews on blowjobs, handjobs in libraries, dirty talk between the sheets of his bed.

He wanted her, that much was sure. But did he want her for her, or just her inexperienced body? Did he make a game out of it? Making her wait so she would be really desperate for him?

Who knew what would happen after they had had sex. What then?

"Amy?"

She didn't know what to think anymore.

So, she just spilled it all. The things they had done; in the bathroom at his apartment after the funeral, in his bed the morning after. The things he had said to her; how he wanted her, but they would have to wait until she was no longer his student, how he had been in contact with her father behind her back, the complete 180 he did last night…

Both blondes kept their mouths shut until she was finished talking.

"That man, I swear," Penny just said.

"Well," Bernadette chimed in. "At least he learned from that whole ordeal with Ramona, keeping it somewhat clean until it's no longer frowned upon."

"True," Penny said, taking a sip from her wine.

Amy felt the ground beneath her disappear. What did that mean?

"What do you mean?" she asked, afraid to hear the answer. This was the umpteenth time either one of them mentioned his ex. It bothered her that she didn't know the whole story behind it.

"Ramona was his co-worker," Penny said. "They worked together on some sort of project or a paper? I don't know what about, but bottom line is they did a little more than just work together if you know what I mean…"

Amy knew what she meant, yes. She felt slightly nauseous.

Bernadette guffawed. "According to Howie they were at it like bunnies," she said. "It was before you came to Caltech and before he started teaching, so you probably haven't heard about it. It was quite the scandal."

"Oh?" Amy's voice wavered. "When was this?"

"Right before he started teaching, I think?" Bernadette said, looking at Penny for confirmation.

Penny emptied her glass and refilled it in quick succession. "Uh, yeah," she said, giving Bernadette a knowing look. "If it weren't for that little dalliance, he wouldn't have gone into teaching at all. It was either take a job in a different department of the university, or resign altogether."

Amy stared at Penny. Things were starting to fall into place somewhat, but it was still a lot to process.

"What?" she whispered.

"He hasn't told you any of this?" Penny asked, slightly surprised.

Amy just shook her head 'no'.

Bernadette seemed to sense her discomfort. "You know," she said, "I get why he hasn't told you. I mean, she tried to ruin him professionally after he ended things between them."

"Yeah," Penny nodded along. "That was not a fun time to be living across the hall from him."

Amy's thoughts were racing. It made sense. The amount of papers he had written was insane. Even a man as smart as he would simply not have had the time to write that much with a full time teaching job. And hadn't Ms Davis said that he was fairly new to teaching when they first met?

Why had she never asked him what made him choose teaching? It wasn't as if he seemed to enjoy teaching that much…

"Anyway," Bernadette said. "It all worked out for the best. Didn't Ramona transfer to UCLA? If you think about it… If it weren't for her, you wouldn't even have known Sheldon. Isn't it funny how things work out?"

Amy wasn't able to laugh though.


She dressed carefully Monday, in her usual conservative style. She would be going to this appointment to talk about her paper, nothing else. Amy figured if she dressed uninvitingly, he would stay away from her. He was trying to create some distance between the two of them, wasn't he? She was just going along with his course of action.

Her entire Sunday had consisted of thinking about the stuff the girls told her.

She finally knew more about the elusive Ramona, and she thought she had been better off not knowing. She felt strangely jealous of her; they were at it like bunnies, Bernadette had said. And apparently they were colleagues who enjoyed each other's company inside and outside the workplace.

Penny had made it sound like Sheldon almost lost his job because of this. Why else would they have transferred him to a teaching job? Amy had looked up his bio on the University website, and he was listed as a Senior Theoretical Physicist before he became a teacher. It was quite the step back.

Now she didn't have to wonder why he knew so much about what rules the University enforced about relationships. Just a week ago, he had told her how familiar he was with the rules about students dating their professors.

Again, she had thought nothing of it.

She was done being naïve though. She wasn't going to fall for his sweet-talks anymore. It was time to confront him once and for all.

She took a deep breath and knocked on his office door at 4:30 sharp.

The door opened, and Doctor Cooper came into view. He had taken off his usual suit jacket, and he looked way too good with his sleeves rolled up.

"Ah, Miss Fowler," he said, a sparkle in his eye. "Please, come in."

She just glared back. His resolve faltered for a bit when he saw the icy way she looked at him.

Amy took a deep breath, and entered his office.

To be continued

A/N The end is getting nearer and nearer. Thank you for sticking with me! I love your responses so, so much.

Please stay home and stay safe all.