And I’m not even sure if I want to get involved with a man now. Although my best friend from Tampa, Layla, insists it’s time I try dating again, I’m not ready. Considering I just moved to a new state, a new guy is the last thing I think I need.
And since Shane, despite the occasional intense and lingering looks my way, doesn’t seem inclined to make a move, I decide to wrap things up. “Well, thanks again, and it was nice meeting you.”
Feeling like a dork, I wave a hand in the air, turn, and walk away, hoping I am headed in the right direction this time. And doing my best not to turn around and look back to see if he is watching me.
***
Shane
I watch thesexy sway of Amber’s hips as she walks away,damning myself for letting her go without exchanging numbers. Despite the fact that I know it is for the best. With the summer session beginning, I have two months to work on my paper in between teaching Intro to Economics as a substitute for a fellow professor, a friend who is on sabbatical.
I always throw myself into my work, determined to be successful in a way my father told me I’d never be.
My father, and I use the term loosely, is a lawyer at a major Boston law firm, who divorced my mother when I was five years old and married the partner’s daughter in the firm where he worked, starting a new life and a new family. Leaving my mother to raise me essentially on her own.
Sure, there was alimony and child support, but my mom was a single parent, there for me when I was sick, picking me up after school, attending every major event in my life when my father didn’t.
Yet despite being a mostly absentee parent, Zachary Warden, a top corporate attorney, expected his only son to follow in his footsteps if I wanted him to pay for college. My decision to become a college professor was a disappointment to Zachary, one he never let me forget. Not even when I graduated summa cum laude from Yale with an MBA and a minor in economics. And my father didn’t pay for my education.
Instead, I took loans and worked my way through college, determined to live life on my own terms, preferring to bury myself in academia rather than legal briefs or corporate mergers. I enjoy teaching students and watching them succeed. Earning tenure will be the final step I need to ensure the future I’m working toward.
Succeeding is important to me and not to prove something to my old man, with whom I have no relationship to speak of. I have a goal, and I’m determined to reach it. Tenure and job security mean everything to me, and I nearly had my dreamsderailed thanks to a student who reported me for coming on to her when I was an adjunct professor at another school.
Not only hadn’t I made a pass at her, she approached me in my office, practically stripping before I could stop her. I turned her down. Not only because of the no-student-teacher-fraternization policy, but because I had no interest in the younger girl. Even after I was proven innocent thanks to another student, who did the right thing and told the truth about her friend’s retaliatory behavior, the incident left a bad taste in my mouth for how my fellow professors treated me during the scandal. They ostracized me until I was exonerated. I don’t need colleagues like that.
Seeking a new start, I came to Linton when a friend here told me of a job opening, and I don’t regret the move. Though I date on occasion—I am a normal man, after all—I am always careful to choose women who aren’t involved with the school. Women who are busy with their own careers and aren’t looking for a man who would shower them with attention. I don’t have much time to give. Still, it’s been awhile since I’ve been with anyone, my paper and my teaching taking up all of my time.
Hell, I haven’t thought of a womanthatway… until bumping into Amber. And as I watch her go, I can’t help but be filled with regret for letting her leave without any way of getting in touch with her again.
***
Amber
I wake up,my stomach a jumble of nerves, as I ready myself for my first college class in ten years. I dress in jeans and a pair of sandals, a silk sleeveless top with decorative roses completing the outfit. Drawing a deep breath, I eat my oatmeal and downmuch-needed caffeine before walking over to my backpack, where I recheck that I have everything I need.
Instead of the used laptop my mother could barely afford like I had the first time, I now pack the top-of-the-line laptop the guys in New York bought me and insisted I can’t return, along with a notebook because I am still a handwritten note taker at heart, pens… and courage. I need a big heap of that.
I spent the weekend unpacking the most necessary boxes and trying to start making this new house my home, beginning with pictures of L.J. and his dad, along with those of Landon, Tyler, and Jason holding L.J. as a baby. My mind often goes to the man with whom I shared a meal and the new feelings he inspired.
Those enlightening sensations in my body have me thinking that maybe Layla is right and I should use my time alone this summer to put my toe back into the dating pool. I don’t think I’m ready for the new world of online apps and swipe right or left, but a man I meet the old-fashioned way? While walking on campus?
I wished I’d had the courage to ask for Shane’s phone number. Maybe if I run into him again I’ll suggest we go for pizza. My treat this time.
As I am about to walk out the door, my phone chimes, indicating my FaceTime is trying to reach me. I pull the phone from my bag and answer, happy to see L.J.’s smiling face.
“Hi, Mom!”
“Hi, sweetie! How are you?” I ask, picking up my keys from the counter and swinging my pack over one shoulder.
“I’m good! I just wanted to wish you good luck. Grandma reminded me you had your first class today.”
I laugh as I step out into the heat of the summer morning and lock up behind me, keeping my eye on my son’s face. “What are you up to today?”
Glancing down the street, I follow the directions I looked up this morning, more certain I have the right way this time.
“We’re going to the Empire State Building!” He lets out a loud cheer, and I laugh.
Samuel calls for him from another room.
