He liked to believe that it was just a conscious choice that he was making. Working with youth was very humbling, and he felt like he was doing something that was worthwhile. That's how it felt, anyway.
The truth was probably a little bit different than that. The truth was more likely that he still had times where he thought of Mallory and it haunted him. She was the one that he was supposed to have, but he fucked her, and now he was never going to see her again. It wasn't near as satisfying as he thought it would be. It turned out that getting revenge on his cousin Balthazar hadn't been as important as he would have imagined. It was the woman that he had met because of it that was the importance. But, of course, he had waited too long and said the wrong thing. She had taken off and hadn't been seen since. Most likely she had gotten married anyway.
The whole thing bothered Vincent. He thought about her, even four years later and that was probably the worst part of it. Vincent didn't want to think about a woman that he couldn't have, couldn't find. None of that was going to end well. All it did was make it clear to him that he wasn’t going to find happiness again. Or at least that’s what it felt like.
That was a lot for him to think about. He had never thought about a woman in that way before. Never would have been satisfied with one and maybe he wouldn't have been satisfied with Mallory. The fact was, though, Mallory was the first one who made him think along those lines. He had to imagine that something important must have taken place for that to happen. She had somehow been different than all the rest, even if he didn't understand why.
He introduced himself to the class and wanted to know the names of the few people that he did not know yet. When he got to Ethen, he was rather surprised at how well the kid spoke. He was one of the younger ones in the class and from what Vincent observed and saw, he was going to be a fine addition to the school.
The class began and they worked on simple lessons. The Academy was not for ABC's and reading. It was for strengthening of the body and familiarity to their powers. Even at that young age, they had enough power inside of them to kill a human. It was always better as far as Vincent was concerned, to make it less likely to happen. He did that by making sure that all the shifters that he could get his hands on knew what to do. If they didn't freak out and they took certain steps, Vincent was convinced that shifters and humans could live together peacefully. That was the whole basis of the school, to make it safer for everyone to live together.
Vincent wasn't the only one that was running the class today. He was more of a shadow, and he would insert himself when he found it necessary. The rest of the class was run by Denise Couter. She had been with the Academy for a couple of years, and even though the woman obviously had a crush on him, Vincent had done his best not to show any kind of attraction to her. It was pretty easy because he really just didn't feel it. She was nice, even cute, but there was something missing. It should have been because he had learned his lesson about getting involved at the Academy, but that wasn't the case at all. If he had felt something, hell, if he would have felt something for any of the women that he had tried to date through the years, he would have jumped on it. It would have been easier than wishing and wanting somebody that he could never have.
Denise hadn't gotten the memo, though, and because she was so pretty and most guys flocked to her, she was not taking the way that Vincent was trying to put her off very well. She kept asking him out on dates and they had been on one, but it had only been because Denise had asked so many times. Vincent didn't want to make her feel bad and had agreed. He had wanted it to be their last, hoping that she would see that they were so different, but it actually only made her want him more. It hadn’t made sense to him, but that's just the way it was.
Vincent spent his time with the kids to avoid her, and he found himself watching the little boy that he came in late. Ethen. He didn't know his last name and he didn't ask, but there was something strangely familiar about him. Then again, maybe it was his own realization that he wanted a family that was kicking in. It had started a couple years back, the desire to procreate, but since Vincent didn't have anybody special in his life, he had put off the feeling. Now, it was becoming harder and being around the children was helpful, but it also brought about feelings that he wasn't quite sure he was ready to process.
He couldn’t help but zero in on Ethen. Throughout the whole first class, the boy was lengths ahead of the rest. It didn't matter that he was younger than most of them. The same kind of determination reminded him of Mallory for some reason.
Was it because he was like Mallory that he wanted to spend time with the boy? It was probably because he realized at some point that he wanted to have a son. He didn't know when it was going to happen or if it would even happen. All he could hope was they would be like Ethen. Would his own son excel, just like he had when he was in Academy?
The bell rang and Vincent helped a few kids get their things together and waved at them, telling them that he would see them next week. Vincent was glad that he had started taking part in the younger classes. There seemed to be so much more growth there, and he felt more relaxed being around the children. That was something that he never thought he would say.
Denise had a big smile on her face when she walked up to him. Vincent knew what she was going to say, or at least what the gist of it was. Denise was convinced that the two of them should go out and have some fun. She had even offered herself on his desk once, but he had made it clear that he wasn't interested. Vincent didn't know why he wasn't interested in any other woman. He had tried in the past, but he had a feeling that it had something to do with Mallory. It all revolved around Mallory, for some reason.
He had taken her innocence and she had taken his peace of mind. Vincent wasn’t sure if it was a fair trade off or not.
“How are you doing this afternoon, Vincent? You are so good with the kids. I am glad you were able to make it.”
She was always walking around giving out compliments. She was too nice, sickly sweet almost, and Vincent found it hard to believe anything that she said. It probably said more about him than it did her, though. Vincent was just skeptical by nature.
“I don't know about that, Denise. All I have to do is help them with the training. You’re the one that's going to teach them about all of the stories and lore. I think you're the one that has your work cut out for you. It is a lot to remember.”
“I don't mind. I just want to help.”
She had that look in her eyes again, and the help that she was suggesting had nothing to do with the classroom or the kids in it. She wanted to help him personally, and while Vincent could see the beauty in Denise, he knew that it would be wrong to mess with her. How could he start something with one woman when he was still painstakingly thinking about the last?
“You are a very big help. I am extremely happy that I hired you.”
“Well, I would be more than happy to help out more. I think that you need my help more than you let on. If you would just give me a chance-”
Vincent stopped her from getting into the middle of another awkward conversation that she didn't want to be in. He didn’t imagine that it would end well. Yeah, they could have sex, but then what? She would be even more in love with him, and he wouldn't have anything to do with her. That's what Vincent knew would happen, so he tried to steer her away from it.
“Thanks for the offer, Denise, but I don't need any help right now. Just keep doing what you're doing, because you’re doing a great job.”
He left abruptly before it could get any worse than it already was. Vincent knew that eventually he was going to have to say something to her. It was becoming bothersome. How though? Better than that, how did he say such a thing and not offend the person? That was something that he really needed to know.
***
Nathan was waiting for him when he got down to his office. “Hey, Vincent, what’s going on?” Vincent could see that his short friend was about to blurt something out. He was never good at secrets.
“I just got some really weird news and I don't know how to say it.”
“Easiest way is just spit it out, man. What's going on?”
“I just talked to one of your dad's old friends. I guess friend is the wrong term. It was some guy that worked with him. Oh, what was his name?”
Vincent didn't know what Nathan was talking about. He didn't understand why he was talking about his dad. What did that have to do with anything?
