I 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 working. Too much time. We had become two ships passing in the night.
When she died, I’d been at work. I had been in a meeting, my cell phone silenced to avoid any interruptions. I would never forget turning on my phone and getting the voicemail that rocked my world, sending me to my knees in the parking lot next to my car.
I got up, not wanting to go down that road again, and did my best to block the memories as I headed back inside. There was no sign of Olin. Typical. I headed back upstairs and knocked on his bedroom door. “Olin, it’s almost seven. It’s time to get up.”
I heard a moan. “Five more minutes.”
“Make it a quick five,” I said before going back downstairs.
I felt like a kid again. I had all the nerves that accompanied the first day of school. It was my first day at the university and Olin’s first day at the new high school. I was hoping like hell it was going to be a good thing for him. I had tried to convince him to go to a private school, but he wasn’t having it. At least if I paid for the school, I had a little more pull. Big checks bought a lot of forgiveness. The public school he’d opted for left me with few options if he got into trouble again.
I pulled the frozen waffles from the toaster, dumped some syrup over the top, and left the plate on the counter for Olin. I popped a couple of slices of bread in the toaster for myself. I couldn’t do sugar first thing in the morning.
I slurped down my coffee while reviewing the latest news in the real estate world. Sometimes I missed it. I missed the closing of a deal and the hunt for a great property to develop. My favorite was taking the dilapidated and making it into something beautiful. I didn’t miss the time I put into closing those deals, though.
“Olin!” I hollered when he still hadn’t come downstairs after ten minutes.
“Coming,” he shouted back.
He emerged, coming down the stairs like he was being sent off to war. His feet dragged across the floor. The new clothes I had bought him were obviously not what he wanted. He was wearing a pair of jeans that had rips and tears up and down the front. The t-shirt he had under the open plaid looked like he had purposely wrinkled it up.
“Where's the new clothes?” I asked.
“These are the new clothes.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You sliced up new jeans?”
He shrugged. “It’s called distressed.”
“They definitely look distressed. Is that the look you’re going for?”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes. Are you seriously going to give me fashion tips?”
“No, no, I was just making sure that was the look you wanted. If you’re happy with it, then so be it.”
“I’m happy with it.”
“Are you ready for your first day?” I asked.
“No. Does that mean you’re going to let me stay home?”
“No.”
“Then I guess I’m ready.”
“I made you a couple of waffles,” I said, nodding at the plate.
He barely glanced at the waffles before grabbing his backpack. “I’m out,” he said, his voice low.
“Hey, I’ll give you a ride,” I offered. “Let me grab my stuff.”
“No thanks. I’ll find my way.”
“The bus? You’re going to take the bus?”
He shrugged. “I’m not driving. Or did you buy me a car and it’s out in the driveway?”
“We’ll talk about it in a few weeks,” I said, squashing the car conversation again. “I need you to show me you’re ready for the responsibility.”
“Whatever,” he said and headed out the door, slamming it behind him.
I sighed, shaking my head. I couldn’t seem to make a right move. I pissed him off with everything I said and did. It was a little hard to feel good about yourself when you were constantly doing wrong. I tossed the untouched breakfast into the trash and left the plate in the sink. The housekeeper would be coming in later, and I had to get going.
I grabbed the small satchel with my laptop and the requisite pen and paper I was told I would need for the class. I drove to the university, planning to get there at least fifteen minutes early. I pulled into the student parking area and looked around. Maybe I had the wrong day. The lot was almost empty.
I grabbed my stuff and headed for the hall where the class was being held. I had not expected it to look like a ghost town. The advisor had made it sound like the short semesters were a popular choice for students. I clearly had the wrong idea.
I checked the information I had as I walked down the hall, stopping when I saw the right number. I felt my first bit of nerves as I walked through the door. There were about thirty seats and half were filled. An older gentleman waved. I glanced over my shoulder to see if someone was behind me. There was no one.
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
ChristopherI arrived to class about ten minutes early, confident I had finally gotten the routine down. I saw Leila, Professor Bell, sitting at her desk. I smiled, looking forward to another interesting class. I figured I would make a little small talk with the class relatively empty.I stepped inside, walking towards her desk. “Good morning,” I greeted.“Hi,” she said with a bright smile. “You’re early.”“I am. I think I have the route down.”“Good. How was your drive?”“Easy. The traffic isn’t too bad.”“Where do you drive in from?” she asked.“Lake Conroe,” I told her.Her expression changed. “That’s a very nice area to live.”I was about to answer her when my phone started to ring. “Sorry,” I mumbled and rushed into the hall to silence my phone. Then I saw the number. “Shit,” I muttered, a feeling of dread filling me as I answered the damn call.“Mr. Evans, this is Mr. Hollister at the high school, we need to talk.”I inwardly groaned. The words I hoped I would never have to hear