Honesty

You look at the large wooden doors with the letters Prof. Andrews engraved on a brass plaque, your hand hovering a few inches from the door while you tried to mentally run through what you'd say, before taking another deep breath and knocking on the door. Normally you'd be far from nervous about going to see a professor in their office, but then again normally you have a perfectly reasonable request or some questions about their class, so providing they weren't busy they'd happily welcome you in. This time, however, you waited with baited breath for some form a reply from the other side of the solid door, the only clue of it being occupied was the artificial light spilling out of the small window at the very top of the door frame.

You glance around the unfamiliar hallways, silently hoping that no one would walk by and question what you were doing here. This section of the college was dedicated to the arts, which covered a very broad spectrum, from classical studies of painting, and sculpting right the way through to the more modern media like photography or filmmaking. Prof. Andrews headed up the filmmaking, and to distract people taking his class for being perceived as easier as anyone could use a video camera, he would often ask his students to read up on filming styles, and editing techniques. Granted this did entail some amount of studying films both classic and modern, it was by no means a cake walk. In fact, it was likely Prof. Andrews seeing Tanya skip a class or two and thinking she subscribed to the easy pass school of thinking, that caused him to bust her. You just had to hope that you could use sound logic and reason to convince him to let her prove that she knew her stuff, and her skipping was for the right reason.

Suddenly the sounds of footsteps beyond the threshold of the door to the professor's office brought you back out of your head, and into focus. The door swung inward and a tall lean man dressed in smart loafers, jeans, a smart white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow and a sleek charcoal black waistcoat. It was a difficult look to pull off without just looking like a waiter or someone working in a casino, but the broad smile and easy confidence that the professor carried himself with helped him pull it off.

"Hello there, I don't believe I recognize you, have we met?" Professor Andrews asks while extending out a hand which you happily take.

"I'm Ellie, and I don't think we've met before Professor Andrews," You reply with a smile, glad that he seemed so approachable.

"Pleasure to meet you Ellie but please call me Derick," The professor replies as he steps back and gestures for you to step into his office.

You walk in and are somewhat surprised about how the office is decorated, causing you to stop in place a few short steps in, but thankfully enough for the professor to close the door behind you. The office felt more like the private room of a movie buff, with the walls festooned with full-sized movie posters mostly of classics both older and new, and a few which seemed out of place, but you assumed must hold some significance to the professor. Aside from the posters, there was a collection of various film paraphernalia scattered throughout the office, from film reels, and old ticket stubs, there was even an actual popcorn machine in one corner. While you continued to survey the room in amazement and surprise, the professor walked over and took a seat down behind the desk, and cleared his throat to catch your attention.

"Sorry, Professor," You reply with a slight blush before sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"It's quite different than the offices of my colleagues I imagine, and please Ellie call me Derek your not a student of mine so we needn't be so formal,"The professor replied with a warm smile.

"It really is different," You reply letting out a small laugh and looked at the desk before you, leaving you unable to not notice how at odds it was to the rest of the room. It was the only furniture bar a few filing cabinets lurking behind the professor, and the laptop resting on the desk that reminded you this was a college professors office. Although, a few trinkets and high end looking camera's seemed to be making an effort to **** the orderly desk to look like the rest of the room.

"So you're not a student of mine, at least not yet, so what brings you to my office, because if it's the hope to land a role in some big budget film, I'll tell you now that I don't have any connections in Hollywood," The professor offers with a wry smile, which you found somewhat infectious.

"No, no I didn't come to get any contacts for the film industry," You reply with a smile, hoping to keep the good mood flowing before you broached the subject which could potentially sour the mood.

"Was it to offer me any contacts you had?" The professor asks hopefully, his face falling into a comedic look. You laugh and shake your head as you try and compose yourself again.

"Ah well worth a shot, so what can I do for you?"

You take a moment to compose yourself and for the sensation of wanting to continue laughing to subside enough. "I'm here for my roommate," You begin.

"Oh?"

"Tanya she's in your class..."

"I know her, nice girl it's a shame she'll have to retake my class she had talent and passion, but despite that kept skipping my classes," The professor replies, his smile faltering to a more neutral tone, which leaves you feeling more on edge despite not doing anything wrong, well other than the outfit currently hugging your body. Suddenly the tight white top that helped framed your assets, and the miniskirt exposed a large portion of your legs, left you feeling more exposed rather than giving you a fallback, in case you decided to go the seduction plan.

"That's actually my fault professor, and also why I'm here," You respond rather timidly, which causes the professor to raise a solemn eyebrow and waits for you to continue. "You see I've been helping her keep on top of her other classes, which she's been struggling with,"

"So she skipped my classes to be with you to study up for her other classes?" The professor asks his eyes looking up at you for a moment.

"Yes," You reply and the room settles into an unnervingly long pause.

"I did wonder why a keen student like Tanya suddenly started skipping, it's good to know it was for such a worthy cause," The professor says with a smile.

"So do you think you could change your decision on giving her something to catch up on the missed quizzes?" You ask in a hopeful tone.

The professor leans back in his chair and glances over at some of his movie posters, as he considers your question. You find yourself hoping you hadn't taken the wrong option, but on the upside at least you hadn't done anything wrong so at least you couldn't make the situation any worse for Tanya.