Eric was wasting time on Facebook, looking at his friends' posts and trying to avoid the innumerable sponsored ads which seemed to have overtaken his feed. There were the usual jokes, a few of which were funny, the usual pet pictures, a few of which were cute, the usual political statements, a few of which were appalling, and the usual new profile pictures, a few of which were good. As he was scrolling down, he suddenly stopped and stared at the new profile picture posted by Heather. She was wearing purple yoga pants and a simple white tank top that hugged her body.
"Wow," he thought, "she looks fantastic!"
Heather had been his daughter's third grade teacher. It was her first year of teaching, and she was very good at it. She really cared about each student, and she took time to really know and understand each of them. She used different techniques during lessons since she knew different kids reacted better to different methods. When kids had a weakness, she worked with them individually to help. She also got to know the parents and wanted to understand any difficulties the child might be going through.
Eric's daughter loved her, and she continued to keep in touch even after she starting going to middle school. In fact, once his daughter turned 14, Heather asked her to babysit for her own daughter. Eric would sometimes drop off or pick up his daughter, so he used to see Heather throughout the years. He and his wife occasionally ran into Heather and her husband around the neighborhood.
Last year, after Heather's daughter graduated high school, she and her husband split up. Eric never really liked him, and he always thought Heather got the raw end of that marriage. But he felt bad that she was now alone, with her daughter off at college. He heard from his daughter, who kept in touch with Heather, that she had started working on her Master's degree in Education.
Although he hadn't seen her in a while, he decided to say hi. He flipped over to Facebook Messenger and sent her a note.
Eric: "Nice picture! You look fantastic! How are you doing?"
She replied pretty quickly.
Heather: "ERIC!! How are you? So nice to hear from you."
Eric: "I'm doing well, thanks. Sorry to hear about your divorce."
Heather: "Oh, please don't be sorry. He was an asshole. Abigail and I were much better off after he left."
Eric: "OOOOOOOOOKay! How's school? Kinda' hard to go back after all these years?"
Heather: "Oh, you know about that? I suppose Hannah told you, huh? You know, it took some getting used to -- thanks for asking about that. But it's going pretty well. I've got some exams next week, so I've been studying a lot."
Eric: "Okay, well I didn't mean to mess up your studying. I just wanted to say hi and let you know it was nice to see your new picture. Looking good!"
"Heather: "Thanks, Eric. Really nice to hear from you. Keep in touch."
Heather smiled after she sent the last message. She always liked Eric. Of course, she loved his daughter, Hannah, and thought his wife was okay, but Eric was always really nice to her. She liked it when he'd drive Hannah to her house when she was babysitting -- she just liked saying hello to him.
After he read Heather's last note, Eric smiled. He always liked Heather. She was a good teacher, was great with Hannah, and was always friendly to him. He heard some of the other Dads talk about how hot she was when she first got to the school, but he never joined in those discussions. But the truth was he definitely thought she was hot.
A couple of weeks later, Eric used Messenger to IM Heather again.
Eric: "How did your exams go?"
Heather was online again, and replied quickly.
Heather: "How nice of you to remember and to ask! They went pretty well, thank you. How are you doing?"
Eric: "Doing well. Nothing too exciting going on... but no complaints. As long as I can get to the gym 3-5 times a week, it's a good week. You know, as an old guy, I have to work on keeping the heart strong."
Heather: "Ha - you are NOT old!!"
Eric: "Well, not if your 50s are the new 30s. I see all these young kids at work, and I know they're thinking, 'geez, that Eric guy could be my father. What an old man.' "
Heather: "Haha. I know what you mean. The new teachers are so enthusiastic, and THEY look really young to me. Hell, they're way younger than Hannah. Makes me feel old, too."
Eric: "C'mon. You look just like you did the day you started teaching. The new kids probably think you're only two or three years older than they are."
Heather: "Clearly you haven't seen me in a while."
Eric: "I saw that last picture you posted. You look GREAT!"
Heather smiled. She DID think she looked pretty good in that picture, but she liked hearing Eric say HE thought she looked good.
Heather: "Really? You think so? Can I list you as a reference if I join a dating site?"
Eric: "Sure, but I'll be jealous of the guy who gets to go out with you."
Shit, he thought, that was a stupid thing to say.
Gee, Heather thought, is he flirting with me? I'm sure he's just being sweet to me.
Heather: "Ha -- yeah, sure you would. But thanks for pumping up my ego. You're good for my soul, Eric. Anyway, I have to get back to work. Major paper due in two weeks for my class. Nice talking with you."
Eric: "Oh, sorry... didn't mean to interrupt you."
Heather: "No, no... I LOVE chatting with you. You always make me feel good about myself. I just have to get this damn paper going."
Eric: "OK. Take care. Have a good week."
Eric smiled to himself. He liked the thought of making Heather feel good. Lately he'd been thinking about her more and more -- and he wasn't just thinking about her schoolwork.
Eric loved his wife very much. But she had virtually no interest in sex. Occasionally -- maybe once a month -- he could convince her to do it, but even that was getting harder and less frequent. Eric, on the other hand, thought about sex all the time. And lately, when he jacked off, he was thinking more and more about Heather. He doubted she had any interest in him -- he was almost 15 years older -- but in his fantasies, she was VERY interested.
Three weeks later, Eric messaged Heather again.
Eric: "How did your paper turn out? Were you happy with it?"
Heather: "HI! Wow, you've got a good memory. Thanks for asking about it. I was actually pretty happy with it. Ask me next week when I get my final grade in the class. Of course, let's be honest -- my grade in any of these classes isn't going to change my job situation. While I actually enjoy most of the classes, one of the primary goals is to get the degree so I can record it and move to a higher pay band. But I definitely felt like the paper was pretty good."
Eric: "Yeah, but if YOU like what you did, you feel good about a job well done -- even if no one else cares about the results."
Heather: "You are so right. You really understand me. Have you been sneaking into my head without my permission? :-) "
Eric: "Ha. No, I wouldn't touch your brain - or any parts of your body - without your permission. "