"I can't thank you enough for doing me this favor, Daniel, this is my shot at tenure if I can finish my research, and teaching a summer session class would have been difficult for me to pull off."
Richard Mallory, a History professor at Heights University, hastily shoved papers into his briefcase while explaining to his old friend Daniel Corrigan what he could expect from his upcoming class. Daniel had graciously offered to step in, and take Richard's summer class so that he could attend a research trip to the Far East. The two had known each other since their high school days.
"It's fine Richard. I wasn't doing anything else this summer since Nancy decided to take a job to make extra money for the fall."
Nancy Corrigan was Daniel's twenty-one-year-old daughter who still lived at home and attended the university. The two of them lived alone since Nancy's mother, Daniel's wife, had passed away unexpectedly from cancer the previous year.
"I see. Well, this should be a slam dunk for you. It's just one class in European history. I know you have taught this one before and can do it in your sleep," laughed Richard.
"That's true, although it has been a while," said Daniel with a hint of sadness.
"Yeah. I'm sorry, Daniel. Anne was as good as they come."
"Yes, she was...So, anything I should know about this group of students?"
"They're a pretty typical group of undergrads, all except one. I should probably warn you about Marcie Springer."
Daniels' eyes scanned the class roster picking out the name.
"Springer? Yes, I see that she is taking this class for the second time."
"She failed last time around."
"So why do I need to watch out for her? Does she need some extra help?"
"I was going to say be sure to keep your distance from her, Daniel. When things were going south for her before she...Ah...How do I put this delicately? Started coming on to me."
"Seriously?"
"Oh Yeah! I mean she did everything but strip naked, and dance for me. I spent the last four weeks of class ducking her at every opportunity. I've heard from other folks that have had her in class that this is not an unusual tactic on her part. Apparently, she is an indifferent student at best, and likes to get by on her other attributes."
"Does she have other attributes?" asked Daniel with a raised eyebrow.
"Sadly, yes. Marcie is a gorgeous girl I will give her that which is why I am giving you the heads up. It would be a lot of trouble for both of us if you were to let the little head do the thinking for the big one."
"Jesus, Richard! I've never had an ethics violation in twenty-years of teaching I doubt I'm going to start now."
"I know that, but you haven't met Marcie yet. She can be very persuasive, so I just wanted you to be on your guard. Anyway, I need to get going."
Richard lifted his briefcase as the two men headed for the classroom door.
"Oh, if you need any help, and you can't get a hold of me I do have one T.A. that is going to be working this summer. Her name is Sophia Ramesh. She is a good kid."
"Thanks, Richard, and good luck on your trip."
The sun was setting by the time Daniel drove home and stepping from the car he was greeted by a sky filled with different shades of red, and yellow. He stopped to admire the view, feeling a tinge of sadness that Anne was not there to enjoy it with him. She had always appreciated a beautiful sunset. When he opened the door of his modest one-story home, he was greeted by the pungent smell of burning food. Dropping his briefcase to the floor, Daniel sprinted into the nearby kitchen where he found his daughter standing with the oven door open waving a hand towel rapidly in the air trying to disperse the cloud of white smoke pouring out.
"I'm going to guess we are eating out tonight?"
"I'm sorry, Dad, I was trying something different, but I think I had the oven too hot."
Daniel was struck by how much his daughter looked like her deceased mother at that moment biting on her lower lip in frustration with her face framed in a disgusted scowl. The two women did have a strong resemblance both being petite brunettes with short hair, and round, friendly faces. Nancy did favor her father in her coloring with her skin very fair while her mother had shown off her Mediterranean heritage with much darker skin.
"It's o.k., Honey. We can go get a burger over at the Hungry Bun."
Nancy shut the oven door letting it slam closed and swatting at it with the towel for good measure.
"If Mom were here she would have put a gourmet meal on the table. I should have paid more attention all those times she offered to teach me how to cook."
Daniel didn't know how to reply to that. The fact that Anne was gone still seemed to manifest itself in a hundred little ways every day. He slipped his arm around his daughter's slender shoulders steering her away from the smoky kitchen.
"Come on. We will clean this up later."
The restaurant was crowded with college kids grabbing a quick bite before heading back to their dorms to study or more likely to socialize. Daniel and Nancy placed their orders and managed to find a table in the far corner of the dining area.
"Did you get to meet with Dr. Mallory today?"
"Yeah, he turned over his syllabus to me, and gave me a rundown on the class."
"I think it's a good idea for you to get back to teaching. You've been hanging around the house long enough. This will give you a chance to put a toe back in the water."
"I suppose," said Daniel uncertainly.
Nancy reached across the table to take her dad's hand.
"Come on, Dad! You used to love standing in front of a class of trapped kids going on about boring history stuff until they were all unconscious this is your big chance to put another generation of America's youth to sleep."
"Very funny, Nancy! I get your point though it's time that I got busy living again."
"I'll be around when I'm not working to help. I could grade papers or something."
"Thanks, kid. I know you have my back."
Their food arrived, and they each took a big bite of their juicy burgers.
"I have to admit this is probably better than my meatloaf would have been," said Nancy chewing her double cheeseburger.
"It's hard to go wrong with a Hungry Bun special," agreed Daniel.
Daniel looked around the room at all the youthful faces imagining standing in front of them again at the head of a classroom. He was a little intimidated by the thought, but it was like falling off a bike right? Teaching was in his blood it would come back to him he was sure, well, mostly sure anyway.
When he went to get ready for bed that night, he stopped to look in the mirror. The last year of self-enforced exile from the world had caused him to lose a bit of weight, but considering he had been getting a bit hefty before that was probably a good thing. He looked much trimmer now, and he had started lifting weights again recently trying to tone up his forty-year-old body. The hair on top of his head was still thick with just a hint of gray peeking through the dark brown, and despite a few lines around his green eyes he still had the look of a much younger man.
"Maybe this class is just what I need to get back into the swing of things," he thought while brushing his teeth.
He went to bed feeling hopeful that tomorrow would be the start of a glorious summer having no idea just what changes were in store.
The following morning Daniel woke early and prepared himself to face the day with a breakfast of bacon, and eggs with toast on the side. Nancy had left already to work at the daycare where she supervised a class of young children ages five to nine. He didn't envy her the rowdy kids she was facing although college kids could be a handful in their own way. He arrived on campus and walked briskly to his assigned room watching crowds of kids arriving, and scurrying to and fro. The room was empty at the moment, and he took the time to set out his notes, and copies of the syllabus that he planned to cover that day.
About thirty minutes later the first students started to drift in taking seats seemingly at random around the room. As Richard had noted Daniel had no trouble picking out Marcie Springer when she walked in the room even though he had never met the woman. She stood out from her fellow students both in her attire and in the way she carried herself with a hint of narcissistic arrogance. Marcie was a tall girl maybe five-foot nine-inches with her spiked heels adding a couple of extra inches to the total. Her long shapely legs ran up into a skirt that was almost scandalously short revealing a good bit of her creamy white thighs. The shirt she was wearing was skin tight and stretched over a massive pair of round breasts that formed an impressive valley of cleavage. She sat right at the front of the class favoring Daniel with a dazzling smile revealing rows of perfectly even white teeth. Marcie had the features of a cover model with rich, full lips painted a cherry red and brilliant blue eyes that flashed in the bright overhead lights.
