Note 1: This is the sequel to the story
An Old Flame, A New Chance
. If you haven't previously read it, you may want to check it out as it leads directly into this story.
Note 2: Thank you for the warm reception of my first story. The likes, comments, and messages you've sent make me glad that I decided to finish it up after sitting on a partially completed version for far, far too long. If you enjoy this work of fiction, please take the time to leave some stars, comments, or message me directly.
A huge thanks to ShadySweet for editing this, helping to point out the trees when all I could see was the forest.
For now, it's time to head...
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Back to Reality
John sat at his breakfast table, sipping his coffee, and enjoying the few minutes of peace between the chaos of the morning of getting his son off to the school bus and when he had to leave to make it to the high school on time. Thankfully his school started 45 minutes later than his son's middle school. His wife Emily sat opposite him; her face already buried into a pile of papers for her work.
As he looked at her, he thought back to the past few crazy days he had experienced. It had been a unique enough thing to be able to take a few days away from school to attend a national conference, stranger still than his introduction to the conference circuit as one of their keynote speakers. Unlike many teachers, he had no trouble speaking in front of other adults, who for some reason find it difficult despite spending much of their time speaking in front of a room of kids.
No, what had been so earth-shatteringly strange was that one of the other attendees had been his old girlfriend, Charlotte. As it turned out, their meeting was far less a matter of chance, and more one of design on her part. During the flight back home, John had put several pieces together -- Charlotte was right that he wasn't the most observant when it came to these things -- it could have been coincidence for them to be at the conference together, although she had admitted to attending knowing full well that he was presenting. No, the interesting part had been the fact that her room had been directly across the hall from his own. Had she planned that? He had to concede that it was likely she had, and that he was more than a little flattered.
As it turned out, Charlotte still had feelings for him, and after just a few hours with her John admitted that he too still harbored strong feelings for Charlotte. It had been as if they hadn't been apart for 20 years, hadn't each gotten married, had kids, and in her case separated from her husband.
Looking up from his sudoku puzzle, he considered his wife for a moment. They had dated throughout university and gotten married right after graduation. They both had careers they were trying to establish themselves in, him as a teacher and her as an engineer. The first few years had been great, lots of passion, they couldn't keep their hands off one another. Even after their son had been born, she had still made time for him when she could, but between moving up the corporate chain and raising a family, they had lost their passion. Sex had become a chore, something that the hyper-organized Emily would actually schedule on her wall calendar. Once a week and become once a month, then every few months. The past two years, well they had had sex only twice.
He had tried to speak with her about it, tried to be the understanding husband. She explained that she simply had no need for sex, no desire for it at all. He on the other hand was experiencing an increase in his libido, perhaps because of not getting any.
That's not to say he and Emily didn't still love each other, they certainly did. It was more a matter of their love had simmered and cooled over time. They enjoyed spending time together playing board games with friends, grabbing an occasional beer out, seeing movies, etc... the only activity they shared in bed these past few years was reading or watching bad tv.
So, it probably wasn't much of a surprise that while he wrestled with the morality of infidelity, John ultimately hooked up with Charlotte, someone who professed her desire and love for him, and he for her. He smiles to himself... 'hooked up' was perhaps an understatement as he recalls the way the two of them had devoured one another in her hotel room.
"What's that grin for?" Emily's voice breaks his train of thought.
'Just remembering how I fucked my long-lost lover' momentarily pops into his head before he replies, "Just thinking about how jealous the other teachers will be when I tell them about my trip."
"I suppose so, I for one am tired of having to travel for work. But I can see how in your line of work it's much more of an oddity. That reminds me, I have to head up to Toronto on Wednesday for a few days. The usual BS."
John sighs, "That's too bad, but you have to keep your corporate overlords happy."
Emily shrugs, "True, but couldn't we do it over Zoom? The amount of time and money wasted on these unnecessary trips is just painful."
Standing, John drains the last of his coffee and places the cup in the sink, "Funny, that's the exact reason we normally are given when the school board denies our requests for things like the conference." He crosses over to where Emily is seated and leans in to give her a kiss, which she manages to turn her head away from her work to return unenthusiastically. "I'm off. Try to have a good day."
"Thanks, you too," she replies, her nose already buried back into the quarterly report she's reviewing.
John grabs his bag as he heads out to his car. Wondering what the day would bring as he drives across town to school. Monday was always a good day for John, his prep period was first thing in the morning, so he had plenty of time to drop his stuff in his classroom and head down to the office to check in with his Principal, Mark Perry.
Poking his head into Mark's office, John knocks on the office door's frame.
He is greeted by the larger-than-life voice of Mark, "John! Welcome back!" He stands from his desk and comes around to usher John in, "I heard great things about your presentation at the conference!"
"Oh? Who from?" John answers trying to recall who else the school board had sent.
"Jean Treadwell, a friend of Helen's, was there from the district office and said you did us all proud." Helen was Mark's wife, a fellow teacher who worked as the district supervisor for elementary schools.
John smiles, "Thanks, I tried not to trip over myself," he chuckles. His mind racing to remember if he had seen Jean. He's pretty sure he would have recognized him, but had Jean seen Charlotte hanging off his arm?
"Anyways," Mark continues, "I'm glad you stopped by. I had a favour to ask you."
"Sure, how can I help?"
"Well, Rebecca has had a bit of a health scare, and has to take some time off. Even when she does return, hopefully in a few months, she will be on a reduced workload."
Rebecca Watson was one of the other history teachers at the school, and a close colleague of Johns. She was an older lady, pushing her mid-60s, and had for years been the driving force behind the annual graduating class trip.
"Really? What happened?"
"Afraid I can't get into it, but it was rather sudden this past weekend." Mark grimaces. "Anyways, we have a long-term supply teacher coming in today to take over Rebecca's classes..."
"I'll touch base with them to get them up to speed, I've taught all the same classes as Rebecca so I can share what I have."
"That'd be great John, but the favour I wanted to ask is if you might consider taking over planning the grad class trip. At this point in the year nothing has been done, which could be a blessing as you don't need to try deciphering Rebecca's notes and plan it from scratch. The downside is that you would need to plan it from scratch."
John considers the request for a moment, "That shouldn't be a problem at all. I've helped her out in the past, so I have a decent understanding of what is needed."
"Outstanding, I knew I could count on you John," Mark beams, clapping him on the shoulder.
Just then, one of the school secretaries knocks on Mark's door, "Mr. Perry, sorry to interrupt but Rebecca's substitute is here."
"Perfect, show her in please, Ms. Finny."
The secretary turns her head and says to someone, "You can come right in."
John's eyes light up in recognition when the newcomer steps around the corner.
"Lily? Lily Thompson?" he asks. "Is that really you?"
Smiling back at him is perhaps one of John's favorite students he had ever taught. Lily had taken several advanced placement courses from John several years ago. She was always eager to please but in a way that didn't let people walk all over her. Standing barely more than 5 feet, Lily still possessed the slim and leanness which had helped her immensely in cheerleading and gymnastics, both sports in which she captained for the school back in her time here. She was still very obviously active but had lost some of her teenage awkwardness replaced now with a feminine grace and poise. Her long red hair, which was worn in a tight ponytail and her smooth skin had a few of the same freckles that red-heads the world over are infamous for. Most striking however were her eyes, a luminous green color emphasized even more by her black rimmed glasses.
Smiling back, she replies, "Mr. Prescot! I'm so happy to see you again!"
"I see you remember Lily, she graduated in the spring with her education degree and was the first person I could think of when the vacancy opened. I was honestly surprised that you hadn't already been scooped up by one of the other schools."
Lily smiles, "Thanks Mr. Perry. I have my heart set on teaching high school, so I opted to not jump at the other positions that were advertised over the summer and hope I lucked out here." She looked down at her feet sheepishly, "Although I'm sad to hear about Ms. Watson."
