Chapter 2
"So...I've sort of found someone."
"Shut up! You have? Who is he? Is he cute? How far have you gone with him? Are you having sex?! Shut up! You are, aren't you? You are such a slut!" My friend Jess's energetic reply came through the phone.
Jess and I had been good friends since college when we roomed together for two years. She was always more man-crazy than I was, and I wasn't surprised by her outburst.
I laughed out loud. "Speak for yourself, there, Sweetie. But yes," I said, calming down, "he's definitely a cutie, although he's a little different from the kinds of guys I usually date. Actually..." I let the word linger, a little apprehensive about how she'd react, "he's one of my students."
"Oh my God, Mia, what are you thinking?" she whispered, sounding scandalized, "you know teachers go to prison for that!"
"Shush, it's not like that," I waved a hand as though she could see me, "he's an adult."
"Well, that's something, at least. But still, Babe, it's so risky. Look, you know I want you to be happy, but you could still lose your job."
"You think I don't know that? I'm not some silly twenty-something anymore, and Jess, I need this."
Her tone became sympathetic, "Well, you're right about that. Nick messed you up pretty bad. But I just don't want to see you get hurt. This guy, I mean, what's so special about him that would make you swim in the kiddie pool? Tell me about him."
"Mmmm, well...thick head of hair; fair skin that makes his big, dreamy ocean-blue eyes pop right out at you; sexy little dimple on his left cheek; cute butt." I was getting a little warm thinking about him. Sitting on the couch, I pushed off my heels, sending them tumbling to the carpet while I started rubbing one foot with the other.
"Hmm, sounds yummy. Good arms? You know I like a guy with arms."
"Yeah, yeah, I know your type. No, he's not huge, but I can tell he's pretty cut."
"You can tell, huh? So, I take it you haven't gotten him to take you all the way yet then?"
"No, we haven't, perv." I chuckled in response.
"Shut up, you know you love me."
I missed Jess. It was a shame she lived over an hour away now. We used to have so much fun getting guys to buy us drinks at bars. Back in our younger days. Those wild times after I finally dumped Nick and went crazy for a while.
"I do love you, Sweetie, you know that. No, Jonathan-"
"Jonathan," she cut me off, faking an erudite voice, "don't call me 'Jon', it's 'Jonathan'."
I laughed at that, she always knew how to pick me up, "It's not like that. He just prefers to go by Jonathan."
"Okay, so then tell me about
Jonathan.
"
"Yeah, so, here's the thing: he's really shy. Painfully shy."
"Oh, God, sister, are you feeling alright? I thought you hated shy boys."
"Well, I usually do. Most of the time they're just creepy, but Jonathan's not like that. He's sweet and charming; he just doesn't say much. And oh my
gawd
, Jess, what he's packing down below..."
She cackled in reply for long minutes, and I had to hold the phone away from my head to keep my hearing intact.
"Oh...oh God...oh God that's rich! Ding ding ding, mystery solved! Mia the cougar found her a shy little boy toy. One she could help to
come out of his shell
and take care of all of her
special needs
. Hooo! This is too good!" she laughed hysterically for another moment before finally settling down, "Tell me, does he know about you yet?"
"Not exactly." I said breezily, "but I did tell him a little about Nick's...proportions. And yeah, I might have said that I enjoyed those things about him." My tone had a bit of a defensive edge. "But that's not all I'm attracted to, Jess. He's really the sweetest guy, and he says the nicest things to me. I mean, yeah," I conceded, "they're coming out of the mouth of an eighteen-year-old... It's not exactly poetry, but I really like him Jess, I think he might have a shot at being the one."
She sobered immediately. "Really? That good? Huh," she considered, "tell me, does he know you're interested?"
"Ehhhh," I hedged, "not really? I've dropped hints," I rushed on, "and told him what kind of qualities that my ideal guy has. And after some of the things I've been willing to do to help bring him 'out of his shell', as you said, it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out."
"C'mon, Mia," she chided, "he's eighteen! He'd probably still have no clue if you asked him out on a date."
Considering that for a second, I had to admit she was right.
Jess continued, "If there's one thing I remember about guys at that age -- or any other for that matter -- it's that you basically need to draw a damned map to get them to figure just about anything out. That, and how quickly they pop!" More peals of laughter.
I chuckled sympathetically, "Oh, stop. To be honest, you're probably right. But I've got to watch how forward I am with this one, Jess. I told you he's shy, but that doesn't capture just how much I'm talking about here."
"Jeez, Mia, you don't have a boyfriend, you've got a project."
She backpedaled at my silent, sullen response. "Sorry, that was mean. Really, I'm glad you're happy, Babe, but I care about you," her voice was tender, "I don't want this young guy -- as great as he sounds -- hurting your feelings because he doesn't notice you noticing him. Or is too scared to do anything about it if he did -- which, let's face it, with your tits is the more likely case, you lucky bitch. And don't forget: you
are
a good deal older than him. You need to think about what that could mean later in life if you're really serious about this."
She did have a point, but I knew I could help him grow up and free the gentle, confident man locked inside by that veneer of doubt his mother had crushed him with for years. The age thing didn't worry me. By the time he was thirty, I'd still be in my mid-forties. Plenty of couples made that work.
"I know, Sweetie, I know. But hey, I wanted to talk shop with you for a second, if you don't mind."
"Oh?"
"Yes, it relates to Jonathan. I was hoping you could give me your opinion as a nurse."
"Is he okay with you sharing this information?"
Say what you would about Jess; she could clown around with the worst of them, but when it came to her job, she was nothing if not professional. I admired that about her.
"Jess, I haven't given you anything more than a first name -- well, besides the fact that he's in my class -- and you live an hour away. I don't think he'd mind since it's very unlikely he'll ever cross paths with you."
This was only a half-truth, really, and in fact, I