Ana jumped when the phone at her desk rang. She'd been so intense on her thoughts that she'd forgotten for a moment that she was at work. She reached for the receiver, and pulled it to her ear, "Ana speaking".
"Hi, it's uh, me" the deep male voice said on the other end.
"Hello, you," she smiled into the phone. "What can I do for you?"
"I'd like you to come teach my bones & stones class sometime in the next couple of weeks, if you can. I don't think they know what a library is, much less how to use one. Do you have time? It's the Wednesday evening course."
"Let me check my calendar..." She opened the program on her computer that held her schedule.
"Hm, let's see... I can do it next week. Six o'clock?"
"Yes. Should I bring them there, or do you want to come to the classroom?"
"Are you in a wired classroom?"
"Yes, they finished it over the summer."
"OK, it's best then to do it there. I don't know how many instructional rooms the library has free right now – it's pretty booked this time of year."
"Great then, I'll see you around six then, in my office?"
"Sure, can I stop in a little early to talk over the lesson plan, details of their research, ability, and so forth?"
"Absolutely, I'm not booked for office hours."
"Mmk, I'll see you then" Ana typed the info into her calendar while she held the phone with her shoulder.
"Thanks, I appreciate it Ana." At the sound of his voice speaking her name, she faltered in her typing.
"Sure thing, see you."
"See you."
She hung up the receiver and sighed. What a strange relationship this had turned out to be. She had come to college a little later in life, and had been in his classes as an undergraduate. She had been drawn to him immediately, and he reciprocated a professional interest, well, maybe a little more after a while.
He had encouraged her writing, drawn her into his own, and the inevitable had happened. She'd fallen in love with him. A few years later, she'd completed her masters in library science and gone to work for the same college. They'd been emailing each other practically every day for almost 7 years, even after she had confessed her feelings for him a few years back.
He was more than 20 years older than she, on his third wife and the verge of retirement, so she was unsurprised that he'd acknowledged her feelings with dignity and respect and then declared the subject verboten.
They both agreed that there was value to the relationship as it stood, and it was worth it to take care it stayed that way. They had found the places they fit into each others' lives, and they continued to find new places to grow into. They'd remained close, and yet never once touched – even accidentally. She never spoke his name, either, preferring to address him directly.
Her feelings hadn't changed, but she'd been so used to the way things were, and liked them so much, she gave little thought to them most of the time.
She had built a nice life for herself, and was not opposed to the idea of finding love again; she just wasn't in any hurry. She glanced at her watch. Too much daydreaming today, it was already time to go home.
