**Author's Note... Sadly, no one in this story was born in South Detroit, but I hope you still enjoy it anyway.
*
It wasn't until that very moment that the full gravity of the nation's economic downturn hit Lisa Ross. The newly hired Vice-President of marketing at an upstart South Florida publishing company, the previous handful of jobs Lisa had, air travel (usually first class) had been the mode of choice. Now she found herself seated and staring out the window of an Amtrak train as she prepared to embark from Miami to Washington, D.C. for a weekend conference.
Lazily thumbing through a section of the presentation she was going to give at the Expo, Lisa knew there was certainly a golden opportunity to make some waves for her new company. On the other hand, as shaky as the economy was, she also wasn't going to miss an opportunity to put in some valuable networking time in case the need to find another new job presented itself.
Keeping her fingers crossed no one had a ticket for the seat beside her, a lump of trepidation formed in Lisa's throat each time a straggler made their way down the aisle. It wasn't that she felt uncomfortable mingling with complete strangers, she fancied herself a very social person, but given her recent relationship issues, not to mention the humbling experience of having to take a train on a business trip, Lisa really wasn't of a mind to make small talk about the minutia of life.
It was only a few minutes from departure time, and Lisa was just beginning to feel comfortable enough to sit her laptop down on the seat to her left when she looked up at the last few approaching passengers. When she did, her heart nearly stopped.
As a polished and poised 34 year old business woman, one who admittedly was rarely ever at a loss of words or confidence, Lisa suddenly found herself reverting back to being an eager but somewhat awkward college undergrad when she saw one of her former professors from the University of Miami enter the cabin looking for his seat.
"My God... that's Dr. Jerden," she mouthed, immediately kicking herself for not taking the time to do her hair and make-up before getting on the train for the long trip.
"He's aged some, but he still looks good," she noted, doing her best not to make direct eye contact as the unsuspecting older man followed the herd down the aisle.
Unsure quite how she'd handle the situation when Dr. Jerdon walked by, Lisa found the previous 15 years or so passing before her eyes as he approached.
Dr. Garrett Jerden had been Lisa's English Professor her Sophomore year at Miami and helped set her up with two internships over the Summer while she was there. There was nothing more to their relationship than a typical teacher-pupil dynamic, but Lisa certainly saw the now 62 year old man as a mentor and certainly someone she learned quite a bit from, and held in deep regard for some of the doors he helped open for her right out of school.
So there was simply no way Lisa could avoid making eye contact with the man as he walked past, and after a few seconds of excited pleasantries, Lisa invited Dr. Jerden to take the available seat beside her.
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Garrett was taking the train up to Maryland to visit his Son and Grandkids for the weekend.
A Widower for a little over a year, he'd always been a train enthusiast and it was his preferred choice of travel when time wasn't a factor. To say he was shocked when he locked gazes with Lisa would have been an understatement. Still teaching two classes each semester, there had literally been thousands of students that had walked through Dr. Jerden's doors, but only a handful of them really stood out.
"Lisa Sanderson," he exclaimed the instant he recognized the girl staring back at him two rows ahead.
"Well it's Lisa Ross now... or at least for a little while longer," she smiled back before leaning forward and giving the Professor a big hug.
Once he was seated and the train departed the station, the two spent the next few hours lost in conversation. Lisa consoled Garrett on the loss of his Wife, he listened and gave some rather sage advice about the impending dissolution of Lisa's marriage. The two talked about careers and changes to the academic landscape along with a million other trivialities of the day. By the time they looked up and realized how much time had passed, they were well into South Carolina, nearly half way to D.C.
The extended conversation with Dr. Jerden created quite a transformation internally for Lisa. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had such an intimate and in-depth conversation with a man. Having grown up with an emotionally, and often times, physically absent Father, for some reason Lisa seemingly gravitated over the years to men just like him, her now estranged Husband being the king of that unfortunate crop.
Even as a doe-eyed college student however, Lisa always felt a measure of comfort in Dr. Jerden's presence. His paternal aura combined with his acumen in the field, not to mention his humble an unassuming presence made it easy for an impressionable young woman to fall under his spell. Even then Lisa knew Garrett Jerden could have had his pick of the pussy on the co-ed buffet, but never once did he give the slightest inkling he'd be interested in crossing that sacred line that so many of his fellow professors freely did. She even remembered how quant and romantic it was seeing how he always kept the picture of his Wife and kids on his desk, as if showing them off for the whole world to see.
To hear his Wife had died caused such a stroke of sadness to shoot through Lisa that she'd subconsciously extended her left hand and closed it tenderly around Dr. Jerden's right as he relayed the story.
By the time their conversation started to peter out, Lisa found herself less than a foot from the older man as the surrounding gallery of travelers occasionally looked over at the talkative couple with a mixture of fascination and annoyance. In many of those onlookers' eyes there was a clear twinkle of premonition of how the night would end for Garrett and Lisa long before they had a clue.
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The Sun was just starting to set in the Western facing windows of the train as the attendants began milling around taking people's orders for dinner. After talking non-stop for so long about such a varied array of topics, suddenly the words became tougher for Garrett and Lisa to find.
"So... is someone meeting you at the terminal?" Lisa asked as she looked hopelessly down at the unappealing menu.
"Yeah... my Son's gonna be there... you know its a shame you already have the hotel lined up on the company's dime... you'd be more than welcomed to come stay with us for the weekend," Jerden offered.