“Sounds like heaven,” she says as she trudges to her bedroom.
Have I mentioned how much I love being a parent?
And my mom thinks I need a man in my life. I’ve seen my dad in man-flu mode — the guy becomes useless for days and mom suddenly loses a partner and gains another child.
With Sunny down for what is hopefully a few-hour nap, I head to the kitchen and see Skye pouring a sports drink into popsicle molds. “Well now, that’s pure genius.”
She grins and nods her head. “I know, right? This is what my mom used to do when I was sick. Cools down the throat and replenishes electrolytes at the same time. Two birds, one stone.”
“Are you here for the rest of the day?” I ask, leaning my hip against the cabinet.
“Yeah, I’m staying here. I’ve been in close proximity to the puke monster so I’ll probably skip tomorrow as well just to make sure Ididn’t catch the same thing.” Skye sets the filled popsicle molds in the freezer and says, “I’m going to take a nap.”
I nod at her and then take advantage of the quiet and use the downtime to shower and change into pajamas before opening my laptop to work on a paper that’s due next week. As soon as I open my inbox I see an unread email from Dexter.
From: [email protected]
Subject: Checking In
Alis,
Deborah let me know you won’t make it to our meeting today. No worries. I’ve attached a list of upcoming assignments and grading deadlines for each.
I’m sorry you aren’t feeling well. Please let me know if I can bring you anything to help. I’ll see you next week for our Wednesday meeting.
Cordialement,
D. Belanger, PhD
Associate Professor of French Language and Literature
Middle Peak University
Please let me know if I can bring you anything to help. Two things cross my mind as I read this. 1) So much for being professional, and 2) Does he actually mean that, or is the offer akin to asking “How are you?” when you only expect the person to say, “Good! How are you?” I’m fairly certain having a professor offer to bring his grader soup or meds to her home is outside the strictly professional boundaries we’ve established, so it’s safe to assume the offer is rhetorical.
Should I respond to him? Of course; I need to acknowledge receipt of the list. I’ll just ignore the other part of his email. Better not to address it than to make things awkward.
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Checking In
Dr. Belanger,
Thank you for sending the list. I’ll get to work on those assignments ASAP.
See you next week.
Alis
There we go. Short, to the point, but not necessarily rude. I have a hard enough time not wanting the man when he stays within the professional boundaries we’ve set. If he starts blurring those lines now I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to resist him. We’ve been working together for just over a month and a half, and with every interaction the forbidden fruit that is Dexter Belanger becomes more appealing, damn the consequences.
Thankfully, Skye has stopped hounding me about him — whether that’s because I stopped bringing him up or because she’s preoccupied with something else, I don’t know. She’s driven home four out of the last six weekends to stay with Tori. Something is going on there, but Skye has been tight-lipped whenever I bring it up. Skye isn’t usually so cryptic, but nothing else about her seems off so I haven’t yet pressed for more information.
“Hey there, daydreamer. You okay?” Skye’s question snaps me out of my wandering thoughts and I realize I’ve been staring blankly at the turned-off television for who knows how long.
