I almost didn't see him. I have this bad habit of walking with my head down β fear of tripping, I guess β so I didn't notice him until I heard his voice. He was talking to Emily, one of the other teaching assistants, about the head of the German department, and as soon as I heard him, my head snapped up. I wasn't expecting to run into him β he was supposed to be in Frankfurt for the summer, but apparently he hadn't left yet.
"Hey!" was the total of my intelligent comment, barely managed through my complete shock. I received a short wave in response, which was enough to freeze my face in a smile all the way to International Politics.
The class was interesting, but I couldn't stop thinking about him. Sad, I know β he had to be at least ten (probably twelve) years older than me, married, a perpetual student with no observable goal in life other than to study forever and teach conversational German to freshman language majors. Why, then, did a casual flip of his hand cause some large part of my soul to swell until I thought I'd burst? Why did I show up to his 8:30 class at 7:50 every morning for an entire semester, desperate to be the first one there, desperate to share a few moments alone with him? Why did I fantasize every night about slipping off his slightly (okay, really) out-of-style pastel polo shirts and yanking down his dark gray trousers to reveal...what? Something amazing, surely....
After class, I had the great fortune of a free afternoon, which I decided to spend on campus in the hopes that I'd run into him again. I set up camp on the green with my textbook and my highlighter, keeping one eye on economic theory and the other on the sidewalks that criss-crossed the grass.
After two hours of reading and looking, I'd gained a slight sunburn and an only marginally better knowledge of politics, and had yet to see him. As much as I wanted to stay there forever, I decided to pack up and walk back to my car, a black Accord parked in the student lot about six blocks away.
As I zipped up the larger compartment of my backpack and opened the smaller one to search for my keys, a sensed a shadow over me. I looked up...and there he was.
"I didn't get a chance to really say hi to you earlier," he explained before I could speak.
"Hi," I half whispered, half said.
"How have you been?" he asked, reaching down to scoop up my Jansport. "Let me get that for you."
"Good...I've been good," I stuttered. Oh my god, he's here! He's actually talking to me outside of class!
"I haven't seen you much since the fall, and I kind of missed having you in class. You were always the most interested in German."
My heart threatened to beat its way through my rib cage and out of my chest. "I missed you, too. Dr. Komzer isn't as good as you... I mean in class; I just don't like the way he teaches."
He smiled. "Thanks, but you shouldn't say that too loudly. Where are you headed?"
"Uh...home, I guess. What about you?"
"Nowhere in particular."
There was a brief pause, during which I looked at everything but him and he looked directly at me.
"I probably shouldn't be asking you this, but do you have a little while to go get a cup of coffee or something?"
I was floored, completely unable to respond or even to do anything but stand there, eyes wide, staring straight at his beautiful face.
"Um..." I swallowed hard. "Uh...what...what'd you have in mind?"
"I was thinking...when Ellen and I split up, I got the espresso machine. I make a pretty good cappuccino, if you don't mind your milk a little scalded and your espresso kinda strong."
I laughed at his humble offer, but then processed all that I'd heard. "You got a divorce?"
It was his turn to avoid eye contact. "Yeah, early last spring...it...uh...."
I interrupted. "You don't have to tell me. But yeah, I'd love a cappuccino. Especially at your place."
Though I hadn't really shown a great capacity with words up to this point, I do have this rare gift of being able to offer sex rather easily.... That is, once I'm positive that a guy's interested in me (assuming I'm also interested in him), I lose almost all of my shyness and turn into Pussy Galore, gaining the ability to insinuate an offer of "more to cum" in practically every sentence. A good quality? Depends on who you are, I guess.
He finally looked at me. "Really?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
"Do you mind walking?" he asked. "I didn't bring my car."
I shook my head. "I don't mind, but I'm parked in the student lot, if you want to talk mine."
"Sure," he shrugged.
When we got to my car, I opened both doors and started in, then got back out. "The sun," I explained. "I like to air it out a little before I get in the oven."
Michael laughed, tossing my backpack in the back and leaning against the hood of the car.
"Holy shit!" he exclaimed, jumping up immediately. "That's really hot!"
It was my turn to laugh. "Told you so," I taunted from a safe distance away from the car.
When the air conditioner finally began to replace the steam inside my car with breathable air, we got in. Michael directed me to his apartment, close to campus but far enough outside the "student ghetto" to be in a pretty nice complex. I parked next to his car, and we walked up two flights of stairs to his place. I was curious to see what the inside would look like. I knew a lot about Michael β he was an ex-high school football coach and English teacher, he loved German as much or more than I did, he was neat, he liked computers (and, as I'd just discovered, cars). I don't think you can really get a sense of a person until you see their house, though.
Michael unlocked the door, letting me in first. "Here it is," he said, closing the door behind us. I took a look around. The living room was carpeted in white, with black leather couches, an expensive-looking sound system and a huge flat-screen TV. Two Ansel Adams prints hung on the wall, to my great pleasure. Across the living room was a well-stocked bar (complete with the aforementioned espresso machine) connected to a kitchen and a small dining room with French doors that opened onto a deck.
"Can I use your bathroom?" I asked.
"Yeah, sure, it's to the left. Want me to make you a cappuccino while you're gone?"
"Is that what you're having?"
"Actually, I think I'll have a rum and coke."