Ted closed his eyes and rubbed them several times, hard, before sliding his hands down his face and staring at the computer screen with exasperated exhaustion.
His eyes hurt.
His head hurt.
He was fairly certain that he could feel his brain beating its own head against the wall of his skull in frustration.
"Why. Won't. You. WORK?" he half growled at the screen.
As he sat there, contemplating whether or not to keep trying or start over, his phone beeped to let him know that he had a new email.
"Bet that's Sasha," he said with a deep sigh. "If I'm having this much trouble figuring this out, she's got to be ripping her hair out."
He pulled up the message on his phone and chuckled. "Yep, sure enough."
'
Hate to be the bearer of bad news
," he typed, "
but I'm three steps ahead of you and it's not getting any better
."
Ted shook his head and looked at the screen while he waited for her to reply, which didn't take long.
'
Seriously? This is ridiculous. I'm never taking an online class again.
Any chance you would be willing to help me with step 4?
'
He squinted up at the clock. "Might as well," he said to himself. "I'm not getting any farther on this tonight."
'
Gladly
' he replied. "
Here's my number, I can talk you through it a whole lot easier than trying to email back and forth
.'
A moment later his phone rang. "Hello?" he answered.
"Ted?" asked the voice on the other end, almost as if she was unsure that she had the right number.
"Yep, it's me," he answered.
"Hi. So sorry to have to ask for your help again on this. I consider myself pretty good with computers for my age, but this has just been an uphill battle for me."
Ted chuckled. "Not a problem at all, I've worked with this program for several years straight now, and it's giving even me a lot of headache. I think the instructor knows how to do all this, but forgets that we aren't experts at it."
'
What's she mean by "for her age
"?' Ted thought to himself.
'She doesn't sound old... she actually sounds kind of hot
'.
"I'm just thankful I have a work partner who's willing and patient enough to help me out."
Even in her frustrated state, her voice had a husky, seductive melody to it. '
I bet I could really enjoy listening to her talk
ยด he thought.
"Glad I can help. Let's see..." He clicked back over to the assignment instructions to refresh his memory on where she was stuck at. "Step four... step four... here we go."
"I have what it gave me for step three, and I put it in the box on the other tab like the instructions said to," Sasha informed him.
"Okay... and you told it to process that, along with the added yield?"
"Yes, and it popped up an error that said - wait, hold on one second."
Ted heard her hand brush over the microphone as she covered it, and he could hear another muffled voice in the background. A few seconds later, Sasha came back.
"Sorry, that was my daughter. She's sixteen, has a driver's license, and the world belongs to her."
"Yeah... I can understand that," he answered with a chuckle.
"Really?" He heard her voice perk up. "Kids of your own?"
"No," he answered. "Sadly, putting my parents through that is still relatively fresh in my memory."
"Oh," she said, a little dejected. "Great. Now I gave away that I'm old
and
accused you of the same."
Ted laughed. "What are you talking about?"
Sasha sighed. "Well... it just bugs me. I know that people my age usually don't go in to this field, and I don't want to be seen as a dumb, old lady who can't figure this stuff out."
"Like I said, don't worry about it," he reassured her. "You're not the only one struggling. It's no secret that I'm half way decent with this program, and that's the only reason I'm as far along as I am. Over the last couple days most of the people in all the other groups have been asking me for help. Most of them were completely stuck back on step
two
. Trust me, you're getting this and doing well."
He heard a quiet, relieved sigh on the other end of the phone. "Thank you," she said. "It really helps me to hear that. This project has really been stressing me out."
"Well, let's at least get you through this step. I don't know about you, but I think after that I'm going to be about done dealing with this for tonight."
"Agreed."
"Okay, so you said it gave you an error..."
* * *
"... and that
should
come up with 147. Well, at least that's what
I
got, and it seems to make sense with the numbers later on," Ted informed her.
Sasha sighed anxiously. "Okay... here we go. I'm telling it to process... now it's processing."
"It'll take a second."
"Okay... wow, has it been forty-five minutes already?"
Ted looked at the clock. "Yeah, time flies when you're having fun," he said with a chuckle.
"Sure, if you want to call-" A loud shriek came across the line. Ted cringed and jerked the phone away from his head.
As he brought it back to his hear, he could hear Sasha carrying on excitedly. "It worked! It worked! I can't believe it worked!" She shrieked with joy again. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you so much, Ted! I can't tell you what a help you've been. Thank you."
After another chorus of "thank you", Ted finally got a word in.
"Glad I could help. I'm glad you were able to figure it out."
"Oh, thank you. Wow... You know what, it may be late, but I think I am going to open a bottle of wine and celebrate. I think I deserve that."
Ted opened his mouth to speak, but Sasha continued on.
"No,
we
deserve that. You, for your work and for putting up with me. Too bad you're not here so we could share some."
"As enticing as that sounds, I'm ready to crash. So, have one for me and go celebrate with your husband."
"I'd love to, but unfortunately he passed away quite a few years ago."
'
Great job there, dufus.
' Ted thought. '
Way to go, put ting your foot in your mouth & killing her good mood.
'
"I'm... I'm sorry to hear that," he replied, not sure of what else to say.
"Don't be. You didn't know and it was a long time ago."
Now it was Ted's turn for a sigh of relief.
"Okay, then. Shall we try again tomorrow? I get off work around four if that would work for you."
"You want to work with me some more?" she asked, and he could tell she was surprised.
"Sure."
"Wow... I mean, sure. Sure. That works for me, I'll be around here. Just give me a call when you're ready."
"Will do. Have a good night."
* * *
That night, Ted's mind spent many hours in his dreams trying to come up with a face to fit her voice - and he slept better than he had in quite some time.
* * *
Several weeks later, Sasha's phone chirped with a new text from Ted. '
Any luck figuring out part C?
' he asked.
'
Maybe. I think I have the doubling part, but that's it. Do we get a homework date? :)
'
She scoffed at herself. "You're flirting over the phone with a guy barely half your age," she said, shaking her head. Then, she bit her lip and her face took on what would have been a coy look had there been anyone else there to see it. '
Well, it is kind of fun
...' she thought, a slight blush rising to her cheeks.
'I'll a
lways take a work date with my classy lady
' came his reply.
'
I'm not the only one flirting...
' she thought.
Her phone rang, snapping her back to reality.
"Yes, dear?' she teased.
"Have I ever mentioned that I love the sound of your voice?"
"Yes, you slipped up and admitted it about a week ago and haven't let me forget it since."
"I can't help it that you sound good!" he said in mock defensiveness.
"Well, lucky for you, you don't have to see me. I guarantee I don't look half as good as I sound."
'
What are you doing?
' her mind asked. '
He's only four years older than your daughter!
'
A twinge of excitement in her stomach and a faint stirring between her legs answered that question. '
There's no harm in flirting
' she thought. '
He's a couple hundred miles away, single, and you're widowed & single. Nothing is going to come of it, might as well have a little fun.
'
Her mind started to wander, but the words "Are you offering to let me be the judge of that?" brought her back once more.
"What?" she asked, confused.
Ted paused, and she could tell he was trying to decide whether or not to continue.
"Would you..." he began. "Uh... be willing to... um... have this date over a... uh... video call?"
Sasha blinked a few times, considering this question while the excitement in her stomach grew.
"Sorry", he stammered. "That just came out... I didn't expect to say that."