Leila
“You need to slow down. You’ve only been teaching a few years, but you have the look of a woman who has been teaching forever,” Kami said.
“Thanks.”
“Seriously, the whole idea of being a teacher is you get to take a couple of months off every year. I don’t think you’ve stopped working since you graduated college.”
“Because I want to do things and as it turns out, I’m not independently wealthy and people won’t just give me whatever I want. I apparently have to earn money and to do that, I must work. Despite what I thought when I chose to become a teacher, I don’t make a lot of money.”
“You don’t have any money because you save it all.”
I laughed. “You make that sound like a bad thing!”
“Not bad, but come on. What if you get hit by a bus tomorrow?”
I scowled. “That’s not a very positive thought.”
“I’m just saying. If you get hit by a bus tomorrow or even a year from now, what good is that fat savings account going to do you? Unless you plan on bequeathing it to me, then by all means, pinch all your pennies.”
I rolled my eyes. “Nope. I’m going to donate it all to a cat sanctuary.”
“I hate you.”
“I know.”
“When do you start work again?” she asked.
“Monday.”
“Damn, you didn’t even get a full week off,” she complained.
I shrugged. “I know, but I don’t mind really. I like what I do, for the most part.”
“But doesn’t it get old?”
I sighed. “Sometimes. If a class is really not into it, then it gets old, but usually, I have enough energy for all of us.”
“Maybe one of these days I’ll take your class. I’ve always kind of liked the Greek stuff.”
I laughed. “You would hate it. I do require papers to be turned in.”
She grinned. “But not for me. I’m your friend. I would expect preferential treatment.”
“You can expect all you want, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to get it. In fact, I think I would be harder on you.”
“That’s rude!”
I laughed. “You deserve it. It would be the only way I could keep your focus on the class. You’d be drooling all over the young men there to get an education.”
“Yeah right. No one goes to college for an education. It’s all about partying and hooking up.”
“You have a very jaded view on things,” I told her.
“Again, experience has made me a wise old woman at the ripe age of thirty-one.”
“Speaking of wise old women, how’s your mom?”
“Good. She expects me to help her at the bakery when one of her employees goes on maternity leave.”
I laughed. “How dare she!”
“You know what I mean. I like working part-time there and part-time at the feed store. I get bored easily. I don’t want to bake nonstop.”
“You bake all the time when you’re off,” I reminded her.
She wrinkled her nose. “That’s different. I’m baking for me.”
“But you give all the goods to me and your neighbors.”
“Well good lord, Leila, I can’t eat everything I bake. I’d never fit through the front door!”
I couldn’t help but giggle at her absolute horror. “I should get going,” I said.
“No, you shouldn’t. You should sit your ass right there and keep me company while I ogle these men.”
“You’re so bad,” I teased.
I watched as she made eyes at a man waiting at the bar. He was handsome and married. I looked at her, trying to get her attention to alert her to the ring on his finger.
“I see him,” she hissed when I kicked her under the table.
“No, look at the ring.”
She frowned, squinting her eyes. “Ugh, what a pig. He was totally checking me out.”
“I know. Don’t look at him.”
“This is why it’s so hard to date. You just can’t trust anyone.”
“With that said, I’m going home to finish up my lesson plan,” I said, finishing my drink.
“Come on, I thought we were going to hang out all day?”
“Doing what? Neither of us is interested in any of these men.”
She put down her drink. “You’re right. Let’s go shopping.”
“Now that is something I can get into. I need some new winter outfits for school.”
We got up and left the bar. I did notice a few looks but I wasn’t interested. I was just not looking for a man. I didn’t have the time or the energy. It was a good thought, but just not for me. Not at the moment. I followed behind Kami as we drove to the mall. I mulled over all she had said about marriage.
She was right. Marriage was a huge commitment and, in this day, and age of careers taking center stage in most people’s lives as we all chased the all mighty dollar, it just didn’t fit. A good marriage required time and energy and a lot of dedication. I was dedicated to my job. No man would want to play second fiddle to my students.
I couldn’t say I would be okay with being second fiddle either. As much as I liked the idea of having a husband, I didn’t think I could deal with the ups and downs. I didn’t want to fall in love and then fall out of love. I wasn’t interested in getting my heart smashed to smithereens, either.
The single life wasn’t so bad. At least I didn’t have to worry about getting my heart broken or breaking any hearts. I hated to disappoint people, and I felt like I would not be able to live with myself if I had a divorce on my conscience. I hated failure, so I would work myself to the bone and give up who I was to try and make a marriage work.
That was no way to be happy. Single status was what was best for me.
ChristopherI stepped inside the walk-in closet and stared at the shelves filled with neatly folded jeans. I turned to look at the other side where my business suits were hanging. That was a definite no. I stepped in a little deeper and pulled out a couple of pairs of slacks and then a pair of jeans. I laid the outfits out on the bed and stood back.I was putting way too much effort into deciding what to wear. After finally getting dressed, I headed downstairs to start some coffee. It was a sunny morning, and I enjoyed the sunshine. It was a huge mood lifter. I grabbed my coffee and headed out to sit on the patio. It was a little cool outside, but not cold enough to send me back in.I sat down at the table and thought about my wife. I thought about her a lot. I missed her. I knew I hadn’t been a great husband. I took my role as provider very seriously. Too seriously. I had focused on making us comfortable and kind of let her take over the raising of our son while I spent my time worki
ChristopherWhen I looked back, he was still waving at me. He obviously thought he knew me. I walked to where he was gesturing for me to sit down. I took my seat in the front row to save us both any more embarrassment.“Hi,” he said with a bright smile.“I’m sorry, have we met?” I asked the guy that was barely holding onto his hair. He reminded me of a version of Bruce Willis with his round head, friendly smile and outgoing persona.“Not yet, but when I saw you come through the door, I knew we needed to stick together.”I laughed, looking around the room and seeing all the youthful faces. I didn’t think some of them were old enough to grow facial hair. A true testament to my age. “Thanks. I’m Christopher Evans.”“Alan Pierce,” he said extending his hand for me to shake.“Nice to meet you. Is this your first foray into higher learning?”He chuckled. “No. Third time. I’m hoping it’s the charm.”“Wow, you must really like school?”He laughed. “Not so much, but I just can’t figure out wha
LeilaI scanned the chairs, not really looking at the faces of the students I would have in class the next few weeks. I was focusing on the chairs themselves and the fact there were a lot of butts in the chairs with very few empty ones. It was damn near full. I wasn’t expecting that. I was actually thinking I would skate by with a light class roster which would mean there would be fewer papers to grade. That wasn’t the case at all.“I guess you all had Enders as an advisor?” I quipped. “He likes to stuff as many people into my class as he can. I suppose he gave each of you the speech about my class either being a great way to pick up a couple of fun credits or to determine whether you are really serious about whatever major you are going into.”There were some laughs, telling me that was exactly what had happened. I smiled, appreciating Gerald’s support. He was a nice man and was convinced that without him I would lose my job due to a lack of interest in the old Greek stuff as he call
Leila“You’ll see there is a different name on each day. I’m going to be zipping through these guys fast. The class is too short for us to cover demi-gods, so we’ll be sticking with the big guns. Before we dive in, can anyone tell me anything about Greek mythology at all?”I looked around the class and saw a lot of blank faces. “Anyone?”A young woman raised her hand. “I took a class in high school about it.”I nodded. “And do you remember any of it?”She grimaced. “I kind of remember something about Zeus,” she said hesitantly.I laughed. “Well, that’s good. He’s kind of a big deal in the Greek world. Next question, can anyone tell me how many gods there are?”“A lot,” someone answered.“Good answer. There are a lot, but for this particular class, we’ll be covering the twelve that are most well-known in history. That isn’t to say the other many gods and goddesses didn’t play a very important part in the shenanigans of Greek mythology, but they are lesser-known because they were either
ChristopherI had nothing waiting for me at home and figured I could check out the huge cafeteria on campus. I wanted to do a little people watching, even if the campus was a bit like a ghost town. I didn’t mind eating alone. Hell, I’d been basically eating alone for the last year. Olin rarely liked to be in the same room with me, let alone share an entire meal together.I did a quick walk around the huge buffet line to see what was being offered. It actually looked good and unlike any cafeteria I had ever gotten to eat in during my college years. I headed back towards the front of the line, although there were only a few people grabbing a bite to eat.I picked up a tray and began to slide it down the stainless-steel counter, reaching for some sliced fruit. It smelled amazing in the commons area. College students today had no idea how good they had it. I made my way around the counter, adding a slice of pepperoni pizza to the tray as well. It all looked so good.“Hey! You sure were in
ChristopherProfessor Bell smiled. “I think it’s a good thing that you don’t look forty-four.”“I’m guessing by that Texas twang, you’re from the area?” I asked.She winked. “And I’m guessing by the flat A’s I hear and those long O’s you’re from up north somewhere. Dakotas? Minnesota?”I laughed. “I do not have flat A’s.”“And I don’t have a twang.”“I like the twang. It feels very inviting and friendly.”“Thank you,” she said, emphasizing the drawl. “I find the northern accent tends to have some Canadian influences.”I nodded. “Makes sense since we’re right up there next to them.”“I visited Wisconsin a few years ago and I was just amazed at the difference in dialect. Half the time I felt like we were speaking different languages.”I laughed. “We do have some colloquialisms that can confuse people. Just as Texas does. The ‘fixin to’ is something that is going to take me a while to get used to.”She laughed. “Oh, so many new words you will learn. Depending on who you’re talking to and
LeilaI got to class early, kind of excited about the day. I had really enjoyed talking with Christopher after class. He had an intelligent look in his eyes. He was smart, good looking, and charming. His quirky smile was warm and made me feel like he was a humble man despite his wealth.I wasn’t sure if he was necessarily wealthy, but he was comfortable. He was the kind of guy that had enough money to buy Gucci’s and wear them to class because that was what he was used to wearing. The casual confidence he had was also very attractive.It wasn’t often I got to have a conversation with a man who was of equal or higher intelligence than myself. I didn’t think I was a snob, but dumbing down to have a conversation with a man was getting old. I didn’t want to pretend to be ditzy. I was a blonde, but I hated the stereotype.When I was younger, I had played it up. Until I hit puberty, I had always been the fat girl in school. Adding smart to the label just made things worse. I had been teased
LeilaThere was a silence in the room. A good silence. They were hanging on every word. I had learned to speak their language in a way that they could understand and relate to. It helped make the stories come alive so the students were able to relate to the trials and tribulations of the poor misunderstood gods.“He killed her?” someone offered.I looked at Christopher and smiled. “Dear Heph, did you kill me?” I asked in a high-pitched voice.He slowly shook his head. “Death would have been a kindness.”I raised an eyebrow. “You think so?”“Yes.”“Is this the scarlet letter story?” one of the guys asked.I groaned. “No, wrong century.”I heard Christopher mutter something under his breath. I looked at him and had to fight not to laugh.“Hephaestus wasn’t interested in killing his wife or the man she’d lain with,” I started. “He wanted to embarrass her. Humiliate her. He probably thought no one would believe him. He needed proof. How would he get proof?”“We’re assuming they didn’t hav