During the following eighteen months, Trixie was good to her word to Dr. Sullivan. The grinding schedule of work, classes, and commuting took its toll. But that couldn't discourage the ambitious redhead. Even at the end of a long and tiring day of class, study and work, Trixie would walk across campus toward her bus with her head in the clouds. She set the highest standards for herself and began assembling an outstanding record of performance in her courses. At her weekly meetings with her Counselor, Trixie was showered with praise for her achievements. Weekly tracking of one of her students was unusually frequent for Dr. Sullivan. But she was very pleased with the cute redhead's progress and greatly enjoyed the amusing banter with the bubbly girl, whose innocent enthusiasm was infectious.
Another reason Beatrix looked forward to the sessions was that the girl never seemed to quite fit into her clothes which were usually somewhat provocative. The combination of these two served to provide tantalizing glimpses of cleavage and leg, empathizing Trixie's sensual figure. On several occasions, Beatrix almost came out to suggest that Trixie tone down her erotic appeal a bit. However, she never did. She could not have honestly told you whether it was concern over discouraging the impressionable girl or the Counselor’s enjoyment of the weekly erotic display.
Beatrix Sullivan, thirty-six, from Montgomery, Alabama, had a PhD. in Counseling Psychology from Columbia. She had started her career at Emory University in Atlanta, right after receiving her doctorate. There, the young, rather naive woman quickly fell under the influence of the Head of Counseling, a handsome and debonaire man, six years her senior. Flattering attention from such a man, highly respected in the field she'd chosen was intoxicating to the young, impressionable woman. After a hurried courtship, they married in the summer after her first year.
A few weeks into the marriage, Beatrix began to have doubts about this man. He constantly dropped suggestions that she should defer to his greater wisdom, not only professionally but in every sphere of married life. He insisted on dominating the relationship and was soon denigrating her achievements, intelligence, and general worth. Perhaps worst of all, he insisted on sexual activity and positions that she found demeaning and humiliating. The constant criticism in all things by her husband, who was also her boss, completely eroded Sullivan's self-confidence. At the end of her second year at Emory, and not a year into her marriage, Beatrix was near a nervous breakdown.
Fortunately, the woman managed to recognize the signs of what was happening and related it to what she's learned in Psychology. She filed for divorce based on mental cruelty and abuse. Her husband exploded in anger, said she was having a juvenile regression and swore to fight it to the end. However, when Beatrix threatened to expose his more degrading actions with her, he realized it could do serious harm to both his personal and professional reputation. In the end, he consented to a quick settlement with no-fault and no alimony.
However, the seeds of her failure at Emory were already planted. That summer, she was informed by another administrator (a friend of her husband) that the University would not renew her two-year contract. The late delivered news left her precious little time to apply for the fall term elsewhere, and she was not able to find a position. Unknown to Sullivan (though she suspected), all requests for references to Emory were either unanswered or condescendingly negative with snide jabs and insults subtlely included. It was always arranged that these came from someone other than her ex – though always one of his friends. After two years without work and almost destitute, she applied to the newly renamed South Alabama Technical Institute. The Institute's President was so impressed by her degree from Columbia, her outstanding academic record, and her impressive personal demeanor that he skipped references and hired Beatrix on the spot
Dr. Sullivan was overeducated for the SATI staff position. However, after the disastrous chain of events that had landed her in her current position, she was thankful for any job in her field. Soon, she had found that she loved the work at SATI and the interaction with the students.
Growing up and through her marriage, Beatrix had thought of herself as a plain vanilla heterosexual. However, after moving to her new position, she began noticing that some of the young women she encountered were attractive, even in a sexual way. Of course, Dr. Sullivan remained strictly professional as it regarded her students. On her own time, she dated sporadically, mostly men. The net experience wasn't bad, but none had awakened any strong interest or desire. Any progress in this direction was also hampered by the fact that she now looked on all men with some suspicion after her husband.
While she mostly went with men, she had a few 'platonic' dates with women her age. These tempted her, sometimes strongly, and she came close on a few occasions to 'making a move.' However, she had no experience that way, and Evergreen was a small community and very socially conservative, unlike Atlanta or even Montgomery. She couldn't risk the possible shame and ostracism of being labeled a lesbian.
Now, however, Trixie had affected the woman like no other female and indeed no student. It had been with constant effort and self-control that Sullivan had managed to avoid making a pass at her young protegee.
found in many of the southern bogs on the Coastal Plain in Alabama
found throughout the state in moist woodlands with rich soils. Its shape gives rise to the common name, Little Brown Jug.
