The echo of the tapping of her high heels was the only sound in the dimly lit hallway. The not-quite hunter green lockers were dark against the pale peach walls. Carol wondered if they actually hired a designer who chose those colors, or if it was just what was lying around the storage room.
Turning the corner, she saw the door with the brightly lit transom above it, providing the only light in the dusky building.
"That must be the bastard's room," she thought. The uninterested man in the security office had said Mr. Hudson was probably the only one in the building this late. "After I get through with him, he will wish he had a life to go home to," she stated under her breath.
She had actually been grateful for her freshman daughter's call when it interrupted her after-work drink with the new plant manager. Tall, dark, and handsome, she had been flattered when he had asked if he could buy her a drink sometime. Carol even dressed more provocatively today than she normally does for work. Her gray skirt and blouse were professional in color and style, but the skirt was definitely shorter than she usually wore, revealing her shapely bare legs.
"Maybe the outfit worked too well," she wondered, remembering her date's leer and crude suggestions.
"It's not my fault that he does all his thinking between his legs," she said, her anger growing as she remembered the demeaning way he had treated her.
Actually, they were probably both saved by her daughter's frantic phone call about the jerk math teacher she had been stuck with this semester.
"Mom, you have to talk to that asshole, Mr. Hudson! He is making my life miserable! He just doesn't like me. He's always singling me out! I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't hate women period! He even coaches tennis," her daughter, Lily, had screamed rapidly, leaving Carol gasping for breath.
"Well, I'll call tomorrow and make an appointment with him," Carol said in her most motherly voice.
"No tomorrow is too late! I think he is going to make me ineligible for the first football game of the season, and I worked so hard to become captain of the freshman cheer squad! It just isn't fair," Lily whined.
"Lily, I understand your urgency, but school has been out for hours. I'm sure Mr. Hudson is home by now," Carol reasoned.
"Not him," Lily said. "He never goes home! At least go by and see!"
The urgency in Lily's voice was normal for the teenager and ordinarily would not have moved Carol to immediate action, but the dark haired man leering at her gave her the motivation to jump to immediate action on the "crisis" of the day.
She had excused herself quickly, glad that the pub was close to work so she could walk to her car. Of course her date had not offered to walk with her, as there were other "alternatives" he was checking out in the crowded pub.
Slowing as she approached the door with the lighted transom, she stopped to refasten the top button of her blouse and tug her skirt down a bit.
"Now, to get this bastard off Lily's back," she hissed, glad that she had an outlet for the rage she had felt toward the plant manager.
Carol found herself at the front of a brightly lit classroom with whiteboards splattered with math problems in red, black, and green dry-erase marker. The variations in handwriting suggested that it was mostly student work. In the back of the class, a broad shouldered man looked up from the papers he was grading. His formerly dark blonde hair was liberally dusted with gray, and shined softly. Carol was taken aback by the olive green eyes that glanced up at her, and she saw his eyebrows knit, almost imperceptibly, and then a smile came to his eyes.
"You must be Mrs. Clarke," he stated cordially, as he came out from behind the desk offering his hand in greeting.
Carol offered her hand automatically and was surprised to find that it disappeared into his large hand with the firm but gentle grip.
"I guess security informed you that I was here," she said.
"Actually, no, but I am glad to see you. I was going to call you tonight," Mr. Hudson stated.
"Have we met before?" Carol inquired.
"No, but since I know that Lily is an only child, you can't be her sister," Mr. Hudson said.
Carol ordinarily dismissed such compliments, but the gentle warmth in Mr. Hudson's green eyes spoke of sincerity.
"How can I help you?" His deep, melodic voice broke the spell of his eyes, and Carol struggled to remember why she was here.
The man before her was definitely not who or what Lily had described. Carol had expected a bookish man, a small vindictive man, the feminine gay tennis coach of Lily's tirade. The man standing before her was a powerfully built man. He was not a youthful hard body like the plant manager, but more like a lumberjack. Despite the black dress shirt, tasteful tie, and tan dress slacks Carol could easily picture this gentle giant in lumberjack plaid. Even his salt and pepper mustache and goatee, though well-trimmed, spoke of a modern day Paul Bunyan.
"Well, I got a frantic call from Lily," she said, regaining her composure. "Something about being ineligible to cheer at the football game."
A warm smiled crossed Mr. Hudson's lips. "I hoped that would get her attention," he said.
"So, it's true?" Carol asked.
"Not yet, but I am considering it," Mr. Hudson said.
"Is she failing the class?" Carol asked.
"Not yet, but she is close," Mr. Hudson stated.
