Chapter 7

My Door is Always Open

Friday came and went, and everyone turned in their papers at the beginning of class. Elliot, Amanda, and Olivia then spent the weekend relaxing, exhausted from the amount of school work they had to complete the previous week. Monday also came and went, with Alex giving her students yet another writing assignment. This time, she gave them a list of 5 cases relating to the recent topics discussed, and asked them to write a brief case review that highlighted the facts, findings, and how it relates to what they're learning.


"This class is kicking my ass," Elliot groaned before taking a bite of his burger.

"Yeah, this is actually starting to get a little difficult, y'all," Amanda said, highlighting her notes as she worked on her own sandwich.

"It's definitely challenging, but it's probably my favorite class," Olivia stated, reading through her own notes at the lunch table.

"Of course it is. You can't keep your eyes off Professor Hottie," Elliot teased.

Olivia just shook her head and scoffed. "Hey. Yes, she's insanely hot, but she's also a really incredible person to learn from. She's really smart and actually wants us to understand what we're learning."

"Yeah, yeah. And you're also the teacher's pet," Elliot continued to tease.

Sitting her book down, Olivia glared at Elliot as Amanda watched the interaction. "Excuse me. I am not. I am just really trying and she appreciates that because she wants us to be successful."

"Mhmm. Sure," Elliot said, unconvinced.

"Elliot… what did you get on your quiz again?" Olivia pried, causing Amanda to have to stifle a small laugh.

"Shut up," he responded annoyingly.

"Ah, that's right. A 72. Have you even gone to any of her office hours?"

"Nope. I can do this on my own," Elliot smugly stated.

"Yeah, how's that working out for ya?" Amanda giggled.

"Well, have you two gone? She holds them what, like twice a week?"

"Yeah, I went last Wednesday like Olivia suggested," Amanda said, turning to look at Olivia for her answer.

"Yeah, I've gone," Olivia said shrugging, going back to her notes.

Staring at her momentarily, a smile began slowly creeping across Elliot's face. "How many times?"

Olivia just shrugged again, not taking her eyes away from her notes. Unsatisfied with her answer, Elliot grabbed her notes and sat them on the table, forcing her to finally look at him.

"How many times, Olivia?"

Folding her arms, Olivia mumbled her answer. "3 times, if you count tonight."

Elliot's mouth dropped open as Olivia snatched her notes back up and started reading through them again, finally taking a bite of her sandwich.

"See? What'd I say?" Elliot said, stretching his arms out towards Olivia. "Teacher's pet."

"No, she's just determined, Elliot. Maybe you should go to one of these. You know you can't pass with a grade lower than an 80, and you're averaging below that," Amanda said.

"After 2 assignments," Elliot defended, finishing off his burger. "Plus, this class is the entire year. I've got plenty of time."

Olivia just shook her head and sighed, skimming over her notes.

"Oh, hush. I don't want to hear any lip from you. Say, what's she like outside of class? She seems like she's colder than ice," Elliot said.

"You're just saying that because you're doing bad. She's extremely nice. I don't feel as nervous around her anymore," Olivia said.

"Is her office nice? Does she have a big desk?"

Lifting an eyebrow at Elliot, Olivia opened her mouth to speak before closing it again, then finally finding the words she wanted to ask. "What kind of question is that?"

Elliot shrugged. "Just wanted to know if it's big enough for her to bend you over, since she likes you so much."

Amanda gasped at Elliot's words just as Olivia's notebook connected with the side of his face.

"Ow!"

Unable to control her laughter or the blushing on her cheeks, Olivia said, "Fuck off. You're just jealous she likes me more than you."

"See, you're thinking about it."

"Am not," Olivia lied, her face becoming redder.

"Oh my God, she is," Amanda said with her own giggle.

"No, I'm not!" Olivia defended, unable to stop the smile that kept growing across her face.

"Uh huh," Elliot said with his own smile.

"No," Olivia said with a brief pause. "More like the other way around."

Before they even had time to react, Olivia buried her face in her notes so that Elliot and Amanda couldn't see her face anymore.

"Oh, shit!" Elliot exclaimed. "So you'd take her, huh?"

"Oh my God, Olivia!" Amanda laughed.

"Shut up, Elliot. I'm not dignifying that remark with a response."

"Ahh, come on. She's so insanely hot, how could you not picture yourself doing that?"

Biting her lip slightly, Olivia smirked before shaking her head.

"He's got a point," Amanda said, causing them both to look over at her. "What? I'm bisexual. And she is hot!"

"See?" Elliot said.

"Alright, alright, come on. We need to study!" Olivia said, hoping to break away from this conversation.

"Yeah, yeah. Need to practice your speech for your date this afternoon," Elliot joked as he ducked his head, avoiding another swing of Olivia's notebook.


"Alex, this is… almost brutal," Casey said, reading through the assignments Alex had recently given her classes.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, her tone comparable to that of someone who had just been given bad news.

"You want them to pick a case and write a brief case review? Alex… they are only what, less than 6 weeks in? Man, I'd hate to be in your class," Casey teased, leaning back in the chair in front of Alex's desk as Alex snatched back the papers.

"Oh, stop it. It's really not that bad. I haven't heard any complaints."

"And you won't. They're students, Alex. They will just do what they're told to do, and complain quietly amongst their friends."

Alex paused to look down at the assignment, re-reading it before looking back up to Casey. "Is it really that bad?"

Just then, a knock was at her door.

"Come in!" Alex said.

"Am I interrupting something?" Casey whispered.

"No, probably just someone here for office hours," Alex answered, smiling at Elliot who just came in the door.

"Hello, Elliot. How can I help you?" Alex asked with a smile as he made his way to the chair next to Casey.

"I better get going, I'll catch up with you later babe!" Casey whispered, waving to Alex before smiling at Elliot and standing up to leave.

Before she was completely out the door, she heard Elliot tell Alex, "Prof, we gotta talk about this assignment. This is too much too soon."

Shooting her eyes over to Alex, Casey flashed a smile that read "I told you so" before slipping out of the room.


Sighing to herself, Alex ran her fingers through her tousled hair as she heard yet another knock at her door.

"Come on in," Alex said, less enthusiastically than she had sounded earlier in the afternoon.

Opening the door, Olivia walked in and shut the door behind her before making her way to the chair in front of Alex's desk.

Sensing the unease in the room, Olivia quietly said, "Is this a bad time?"

"No, no," Alex assured her, forcing a smile. "Not at all. My door is always open, Olivia."

Giving a small smile in return, Olivia brought out her notebook and laptop.

"So, I'm working on Magsumbol vs. People for my assignment and I had a few questions about it."

"Sure, shoot," Alex said, her mood immediately lifting at Olivia's continued dedication to the class.

"Okay. Well, it says that due to the uncertainty of where the coconut trees were located in terms of the property lines, that this negates the presence of criminal intent to gain; meaning, the accused were found not guilty of theft."

"Correct," Alex said.

"But they still cut down and took the trees on Avanzado's property. So isn't that proof enough?"

"Hmm, not quite. Repeat what you just said," Alex said, leaning back in her chair.

"They still cut down and took the trees on Avanzado's property?" Olivia repeated with uncertainty.

"Okay, now what did you just tell me before then?" Alex challenged.

Thinking to herself and reading through her notes again, Olivia mumbled to herself for a few minutes before the lightbulb went off in her head.

"Oh! Duh. Since they didn't know the location of the trees originally, there's no criminal intent. So even if the trees were in fact from Avanzado's property, because there was nothing physical on the land that indicated the separation of the two properties, the men who cut down the trees couldn't have acted with criminal intent. Right?"

Smiling wide, closing her eyes briefly and nodding, Alex said "You've got it. Try to remember, you have to separate what you think to be fact, versus what you know to be fact. Because there was no way to prove they were intentionally and knowingly cutting down Avanzado's trees, no crime as been committed."

"Got it, that makes a lot more sense. I'll really try to remember that," Olivia said, quickly typing a note on her document, her tongue trapped between her lips in thought.

As she typed, Alex drummed her fingers lightly against her desk, deep in her own thoughts.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Alex said, breaking the silence.

Looking up from her laptop, Olivia's eyes met Alex's, and she nodded.

"Do you think the assignments have been too difficult?"

Olivia pursed her lips together as she thought, wanting to ensure her response was genuine.

"For most people, who don't spend a lot of time studying, probably. For me personally, no, not really. I think they've been really trying and challenging – in a good way. You know, they're really helping me understand the topics. But for others, like –"

"Elliot?" Alex chuckled, cutting Olivia off. Realizing what she said, Alex immediately clapped her hand over her mouth, coupled with an "I'm sorry."

Unable to hide the laughter that wanted to escape, Olivia began shaking just a bit as she bit back her shit-eating grin.

"Actually, yeah. Elliot was who I was going to say."

"He's very smart, I just wish he would apply himself more," Alex said, almost forgetting she was with one of her students, and probably shouldn't be talking about this.

"Good luck with that. Trying to get him to study when we're together is a whole task in and of itself. He's too busy talking about girls and sports," Olivia laughed.

"Typical boy things," Alex scoffed, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Yup. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like talking about girls too, but sometimes you just need to study," Olivia admitted, not realizing she just outed herself to her professor. Not that it really mattered; Olivia was always out and proud of who she was.

Pondering for a moment over Olivia's admission, Alex finally said, "Oh, is that right? Well, at least you have your priorities in order."

"Yeah," Olivia laughed nervously, rubbing the side of her neck. "Sorry, I guess you didn't need to know that."

Alex flashed a friendly smile to Olivia. "Hey, like I said. You can talk to me about anything, Olivia. I don't mind getting to know you better."

"Thanks," Olivia said. "What about you?"

Alex lifted her eyebrows in mild confusion. "Me?"

"Uhh, sorry, I –" Olivia said, squinting her eyes closed in embarrassment. "That's not what I meant. I mean, tell me something about you, too."

"Hmm. Well, I love cats. Unfortunately, my boyfriend is against us having one. But, maybe one day."

Boyfriend? Damn.

"That's not cool. Why not?" Olivia asked, crossing her legs on the chair to get into a more comfortable position, now having completely abandoned her laptop and notebook.

"He says they're too messy. He likes having a super clean house; he's very particular. Doesn't want a cat tearing things up."

"I have a cat," Olivia admitted smugly, as if she was trying to somehow compete with this mystery man of her professor's.

"You do?!" Alex said excitedly, leaning forward on the desk. "Do you have pictures?"

Smiling at her small victory and the sudden change in Alex's voice, Olivia pulled her phone out of her pocket and began showing her professor the pictures of her calico cat, Sprinkles.

"Aww, she is so precious! What's the story behind her name?" Alex asked.

"Well, have you ever watched The Office?" Olivia asked.

Alex shook her head, causing Olivia to gasp. "What? Never?! Seriously?"

Chuckling, Alex responded, "No. I've heard it's good though."

"Oh it's so good. You have to watch it! I promise, you won't regret it," Olivia said.

Just then, another knock rapped against the door. Checking her watch, Alex sighed ever-so-slightly before calling for the person to enter. A girl from her afternoon class entered the room, making her way to the chair next to Olivia.

"Sorry, Olivia. I hate to cut this short. Did you need anything else?" Alex asked, her tone somewhat disappointed and sad.

Shaking her head as she stood up, Olivia threw her backpack over her shoulders once more. "Nope, that's all I needed. See you Friday, Professor Cabot."

"See you Friday, Olivia. Take care!"


Opening the door to their brownstone, Trevor could hear laughter coming from the living room. After setting his things down by the door and slugging off his suit jacket, he made his way over to the couch. Taking a look around, there were papers scattered everywhere.

"Wow, what's going on in here?" Trevor asked, interrupting another fit of laughter from Alex.

"Oh, hey honey," Alex said, scooping some more chip dip into her mouth. "Just watching The Office and grading some papers."

"The Office? Since when do you watch that?" Trevor asked curiously, moving some of Alex's papers to sit beside her on the couch, laying his arm behind her.

"Since today. I'm already on season 2 and I have got to tell you, Trev. This show is pretty great."

"Interesting. What made you watch that?" He asked, scooping some of Alex's chip dip into his own mouth.

"One of my students recommended it to me."

"Ahh, got it. No Bachelorette tonight?"

Alex shook her head, answering before turning her attention back to the screen. "Nah, I'll catch up on that later. I can't stop watching this."