Heidi Tate sat alone in the living room of her home, feeling extremely depressed. Her life was in chaos. Her marriage was falling apart and would likely end in divorce before too much longer, but that wasn't the worst of Heidi's troubles. A few days earlier, under the sway of emotions she still couldn't understand, she had seduced a young man named Bobby Draper, who was a student at Jamestown High School where she was employed. And she'd done it in her office at school.
That incident caused Heidi far more distress than the impending end of her marriage did. Although the experience had been extremely pleasant - Bobby, it turned out, was a marvelous lover - Heidi was acutely aware that what she'd done was a serious violation of the ethical standards of the nursing profession and the rules of the school district. If anyone found out what she'd done her job and her nursing career would be at risk and it was possible she might even wind up facing criminal charges.
"I don't know what happened to me. I acted like a slut...a...a tramp, a woman with no morals, no self-respect, no self-control. My God! I seduced a student! I endangered my job, my reputation, everything. What on earth is wrong with me?" she thought. Shame, embarrassment, and anger filled her mind.
Unfortunately, as she recalled what had taken place with the young man in her office, her feelings of guilt and remorse began to be replaced by warmth and passion, evoked by the stirring memories.
"Bobby was such a wonderful lover!" she mused. "He was so warm, so considerate, and he touched me so..." Her pleasant thoughts were interrupted by the trilling of her telephone. She picked the phone up. "Hello?" she said.
"Heidi?" It was her husband.
"Yes?" Heidi said.
"Look, I decided I'm not going to come home tonight," he said. "I think, considering what you said about getting a divorce, that's probably the best thing for me to do, don't you?"
"I guess so. Where are you going to stay?" Heidi asked. She was surprised she wasn't more upset by what her husband had just said. Apparently he, too, was aware that there was little chance to salvage their marriage.
"I don't know. I guess I'll get myself a room somewhere," he replied. "I'll call you tomorrow."
"OK," Heidi said. She put the phone down. "Well, I guess I might as well get ready for bed," she told the empty room.
She went upstairs, took a shower and dried herself off. Then she went into her bedroom and slipped on a sheer lacy teddy she'd bought years earlier, when her husband still took pleasure in seeing her in sexy things. She pulled back the bed covers and was about to slip in when she heard her doorbell ringing.
"Who on earth could that be at this hour?" she wondered. She walked to her closet, got a robe, slipped into it, then went to the front door and opened it. Tim Jackman, a young man who she knew from school stood on her front porch, looking uncomfortable and upset.
"Hi, Mrs. Tate," the young man said. "I...I hope you don't mind my stopping so late. I...I need to talk to somebody about something when I saw your lights were on I..." The girl he had asked to the prom had turned down his invitation. It wasn't the first time he'd been turned down for a date, but it was his senior year, and the prom was a special occasion. He really wanted to go, but he'd waited too long so, when the girl he asked turned him down, he didn't have time to find another date. Now it was prom night and Tim found himself driving around Jamestown, feeling depressed and desperate for someone to talk to.
When he drove by Mrs. Tate's house and saw her lights were on, he thought, maybe, he could talk with her. Like his friend, Bobby Draper, he'd taken the Emergency Medical Technician's course the school nurse had offered and, as a result of doing that, he'd come to like the pretty nurse. She was easy to talk to and very understanding.
"Um...no...uh...it's all right, Tim," Heidi stammered. This was a development she hadn't expected. She liked Tim. She knew he was painfully shy, and had heard rumors that he hadn't managed to get a date for the prom. Since Heidi had missed her senior prom, too, she had an idea how horrible he must be feeling. "Come in, Tim," she said. She stepped back and held the door for the young man, who walked by her, into the living room. After looking around the room nervously, he took a seat on the sofa.
Heidi closed the front door, went to the living room, and sat down in a chair facing Tim. She carefully pulled her robe over her bare legs. Her mind was still awash with memories of what happened in her office with Bobby Draper, and some remnants of the strong emotions those memories had evoked remained in her. She wished she was wearing something more substantial on under her robe.
"Why did Tim pick tonight, of all nights, to stop and see me?" she mused. "I'm probably not any better off emotionally than he is." Deep inside her, warmth glowed, and she desperately wished she could make it stop.
"I...I, um needed to talk to someone, Mrs. Tate," Tim said, blushing furiously. "And...you know...I've talked to you a couple of times in school and..."
"What's wrong, Tim?" Heidi asked. She looked at the young man. He was big and bulky, but he was also quite handsome. He was a good student, and seemed to have a lot of male friends. She wasn't sure why he had a problem getting a prom date.
"Well...I...I..." Tim began. "I...I'm not sure exactly how to tell you. It's..." Tears started to roll down the young man's cheeks. Embarrassed about crying in front of Mrs. Tate, he jumped to his feet and walked to the picture window that faced Heidi's huge back yard and stood there, with his back to her. His shoulders shook as he cried silently.
Heidi felt tremendous empathy for the young man, who was suffering such obvious pain. She wanted to offer him comfort, but wondered what she could do. How could she help him when she wasn't doing a very good job of managing her own life?
Acting on impulse, she got out of her chair, walked across the room, and put her arms around him from the rear. "It will be all right, Tim," she said softly. "I think I know how you feel. You're upset because you didn't get to go to the prom, aren't you?"
"Uh-huh," Tim replied. Surprised to feel the nurse's arms slide around him, he turned and looked down at the woman, who was quite a bit shorter than he was. He had a baffled look on his face. "Mrs. Tate, how...how did you know about...about that?" he stammered.
