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.
* * * * *
The building that held his office and the classroom was a towering old brick building, marble and cast iron everywhere. It held the social sciences and the humanities departments on campus. She went in through the front door and climbed the stairs to the 5th floor where the Anthropology department was.
Glass and wood partitions lined the hallway, and she reached his door; an office like Philip Marlow would have. The door was open about a foot, and she tapped softly on the glass with the tip of her finger, pushing the door open a bit further.
"Come in," he said, "have a seat." The ubiquitous pencil sticking out of the bun in her hair preceded her head around the corner of the door as she entered the room. She found him typing at his laptop, and recognized the text on the screen as a portion of his novel. She smiled and teased, "Oh, I see. I'm teaching for you tonight so that you can get some writing done."
He gave the rough exhale that passed for laughter and said, "I'm not, really. But I am. They're ahead of schedule, and they need the help at the library if they're to do well on their assignment. I really do appreciate it."
They discussed the details so that she could tailor the lesson to the students' needs. When they wrapped up a few minutes later, she said "All right then. I'll go set up the lesson plan and let you get to it. I'll come and get you when I'm done?"
"Yes, thank you. I might send them home afterwards, I don't know yet. Haven't decided." He turned back to his writing as she slipped from the room.
She spent the next half hour working in silence preparing the lesson for the class. It took about an hour to show them the databases and to make sure that they knew how to operate their email. When she was done, she came back and knocked on his door. "I'm done," she said as she pushed the door open.
"Wow, where did the time go? That was fast." He looked surprised as he glanced at his watch. Ok, thanks. I'll be right back. Will you wait here?"
"Sure, can I peek?" she indicated the screen.
"No, wait for me, I'll let them go and be back."
"OK"
