Tom Smith stood outside the restaurant waiting for Suzy to show up. He smiled when he saw her pull into the parking lot. He looked at his watch. It was noon.
"Right on time," he thought to himself.
He was glad that their friendship seemed to be back to normal....even though he'd almost fucked it up with the comments he'd made to his colleague and friend John. He'd dodged a bullet and thanked his lucky stars she hadn't overheard his juvenile comments.
It had taken a few months, but things seemed to be on track again. She continued to email him, and send him funny gifts and notes. She had also become bold in her teasing. He could tell she loved to make him blush....
He was brought out of his reverie when he heard her say, "Dearest Professor!"
He smiled and laughed out loud. It was good to see her. He enjoyed her company. She made him laugh. That was the single most appealing quality about her. She got his humor and made him laugh.
"When are you going to understand I'm no longer your professor?"
She smiled and said, "What do you mean?! You'll always be my dearest professor...."
She began peppering him with questions about his latest class of paralegal students as they walked into the restaurant.
'They are a varied bunch....lots of international students in this class. Makes it interesting..."
"But I bet they aren't as good as my class was, right?! I mean, how could you beat that awesome first class?"
He laughed, "Well, you were quite the class, I must admit. However, I learned something from it. I'm nowhere near as open as I was then. I learned I have to be more guarded and not share as much..."
She looked at him quizzically.
"What do you mean? Are you saying you regret you became friends with me? Do you regret sharing stuff with me?"
"No, no...not at all. I just never realized how much of myself I shared in class...I wouldn't have ever known, but as you provided me with instant feedback on the class the following morning via email, well, it let me see how much...uummmm, maybe that I shared a bit too much."
He was surprised she remained quiet. He sometimes was at a loss around Suzy. He often felt as if he were on shaky ground around her, sometimes up, sometimes down, but never boring that was for sure. Just when he thought he understood her, she would throw him for a loop with one of her sexual innuendos wrapped up in a sincere compliment.
He thought to himself, "God almighty...as if it wasn't hard enough to understand one woman in my life, I have to figure out another one..."
He would occasionally go out to lunch with other former students, both men and women, yet he never gave them a second thought. He never took them for more than what they were at face value -- a professor and former student discussing school or a letter of recommendation over lunch.
What he didn't quite understand was why lunch plans with Suzy felt as if they were "dates." He would find himself looking forward to lunch, thinking of how she made him smile and laugh.
"I'm married for Christ's sake. It's just a lunch meeting with a former student............ So why do I wish it were more?," he thought to himself.
************ He literally threw in the towel and said, "Oh jeez, I shouldn't have eaten that chocolate cake."
