Page 9 of Professor Next Door

6. Galen

“Hey John, what’s up?”

I’d put Rikki into her bed and managed to get a bit of scotch poured before my phone had started buzzing. I wasn’t surprised to see who it was.

Walking into my bedroom I stared across the way to the house next door. Tara had been calm and collected, appearing to be unfazed by her evening with my daughter. That was a good thing.

“I’m on a break between sets, thought I’d check in. Is she still alive?” he asked.

“Who?”

“Tara? Rikki? Both?” His answer was short and couched in laughter.

“Ah, they’re both fine. No problems at all. She’s agreed to watch Rikki for a little while until I can find something more permanent.”

I noticed Amanda leaving Tara’s house and watched her go. She had a fine figure, but my eyes were drawn to the window I’d learned was Tara’s bedroom one night when she undressed whilst I was sitting in the backyard.

I’d looked away but my eyes had moved back on their own, only to be disappointed she’d moved away.

“Cool, man. Have you thought about that meeting tomorrow? What you’re going to do?” John sounded like he wanted to ask more but didn’t.

“Not really. It’s crazy, pointless. Surely they’d have to prove I was some kind of terrible human being before they’d take her away from me?” I let my disbelief drip through, not certain why the courts were even entertaining it.

“Just see what the lawyer has to say first, then maybe you should think about that thing.”

“What thing?”

“You know, that thing. Getting married,” John said in a deadpan voice, trying not to push my buttons.

“I don’t have any candidates, John. Who could I possibly get to do that for me? It’s crazy, no, it wouldn’t work anyway. I don’t have time for it.” I was trying to stay calm and listen to my friend. Sometimes he gave good advice, even if it was shit I didn’t want to hear.

“Maybe she’d do it.” He spoke very quietly, very softly. “I think she digs you, man.”

“Who?” I asked, totally lost now.

“Tara, that girl. She was so hoping you were going to ask her out today.” John wasn’t laughing now, just stating what he thought was a fact.

“Seriously? No way! That girl has no interest in me, at all. She’s too serious. Have you seen those glasses? Those are birth control glasses designed to keep men away.” I remembered the thick, black frames of Tara’s glasses, and though I thought they were cute, I instinctively knew they’d been chosen for their practicality, rather than as an accessory.

“She’s cute and willing, I’d bet on it, Galen. Don’t be so quick to dismiss it.”

John sounded distracted and I knew he’d have to go soon. I was almost glad of it. I took a sip of my scotch before I responded.

“Fuck, no. She’s so young.”

I saw the lights going off next door and waited, holding my breath as I watched. Her light came on in the bedroom and she came to the window, clad only in a bra, hair down around her shoulders.

Even with the thick glasses, there was still something about the roundness of her shoulders that drew my eyes. Tara was a little thicker than most of the women I dated, but there was still something that kept my attention, though I had no idea what.

“As if age was ever a problem for you before! She has to be in her twenties, she’s fine. Look, I have to go, but seriously, think about it.”

I told him goodbye and he hung up, leaving me with a lot to think about.

It was a crazy idea, silly really. Marry someone I don’t know just to convince a court I was a good father. I waited at the window and Tara didn’t move. She stared up at the moon, her face intent. What was she thinking? I wondered.

She was nothing like Amy, the last student I’d slept with. Amy had been blond, self-assured, and determined she just wanted to fuck me and move on. She’d got me off then moved on to her next conquest. Even my wife, Kayla, had been slimmer, more open about her sexuality than Tara. Tara hid behind large shirts, baggy jeans, and those glasses of hers that she was constantly pushing up her nose.

Marrying her would be an insanity too far, even for me. There wouldn’t be any sex, first of all. I couldn’t live without sex so it would have to be a marriage in name only. That kind of marriage wasn’t going to convince anybody.