chuckled and made up a ridiculous reason for his success as a lecturer that went on until they reached the café several blocks away.
“Well since I don’t see myself getting my hands on enough Lithium to sedate the entire class, I guess I’m going to have to improvise,” Tessa laughed, as they seated themselves at a booth inside the, The Daily Grind.
“I’m just saying it works for me.”
“You’re extremely humble, Dr. Hayes.”
With a boyish grin so seductive that it threw her heart into arrhythmia, she forced her attention to the sights outside the window while waiting for her pulse to return to normal.
Leaning back against the seat and throwing an arm across its back, Gregory grinned. “So tell me what you’ve been doing since we last saw each other ?”
With a shrug of disinterest in the subject of herself, Tessa began with a bored flatness, “I was a substitute teacher for about a year but couldn’t make ends meet, so I went to work for an insurance company down in Charlotte making decent money, but hated the job. So I started applying for grad schools and was finally accepted here.”
“What about writing?”
Tessa scoffed, unable to stifle her amusement. “The whole, having to pay bills thing sort of gets in the way.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t’ be. It was one of those silly pipe dreams people eventually grow out of.”
“Only people with no real talent, but you’re not one of those.”
Thankful for the interruption, Tessa focused on the waitress who had come to take their order and took advantage of the break in conversation that would allow the warmth in her cheeks to dissipate.
“What about you,” she asked when they were alone once more.
With a lop-sided grin, Gregory relented and let her have her way. “I took a year off after defending my dissertation, and traveled around Europe for about nine months out of that, until I received the offer from UMass. So here I am.”
There was something in his tone that revealed the fact that he wasn’t exactly thrilled with the way things turned out. It was a mixture of defeat and resignation.
“Isn’t it what you wanted?”
Taking a few moments to think about his response, Gregory hesitated until their coffee arrived, then took his time adding the cream and sugar, leaving Tessa to wait patiently for the answer to her question. First taking a sip, then toying with his cup, he lifted his gaze and forced a smile.
“I loved Europe,” he began. “Some of the people I met when I was there made a real impact in my life.”
“A year long vacation…I can’t even imagine what that would be like.”
“Yeah well, calling it a vacation might be a stretch…I worked odd jobs to pay my way from city to city. I started in London, from there I went to Amsterdam and then to a few cities along the Mediterranean; the French and Austrian country sides were amazing. But I have to say Berlin was a complete surprise, not so much culturally, but in intellectual sophistication. I ended up making some really close friends there. If I hadn’t gotten the offer from UMass, I think I would have stayed abroad permanently.”
Sensing his regret, Tessa patted his hand and smiled. “Then it sounds like you already have your next vacation destination.”
“I don’t want to vacation there, I want to live there, I want to teach there…But with the economy the way it is right now, it’s impossible.”
“You’ve worked so hard to get where you’re at now. For all it’s worth, I think you made the right decision. Opportunities like this one don’t come along very often; it will only lead to bigger and better opportunities for you.”
“I don’t know. I’m not all that sure this is what I want anymore. There was such a real sense of freedom about picking up and going whenever I wanted.”
Tessa couldn’t help but laugh inwardly at his disclosure. Hadn’t she felt the same way for the past
“Well since I don’t see myself getting my hands on enough Lithium to sedate the entire class, I guess I’m going to have to improvise,” Tessa laughed, as they seated themselves at a booth inside the, The Daily Grind.
“I’m just saying it works for me.”
“You’re extremely humble, Dr. Hayes.”
With a boyish grin so seductive that it threw her heart into arrhythmia, she forced her attention to the sights outside the window while waiting for her pulse to return to normal.
Leaning back against the seat and throwing an arm across its back, Gregory grinned. “So tell me what you’ve been doing since we last saw each other ?”
With a shrug of disinterest in the subject of herself, Tessa began with a bored flatness, “I was a substitute teacher for about a year but couldn’t make ends meet, so I went to work for an insurance company down in Charlotte making decent money, but hated the job. So I started applying for grad schools and was finally accepted here.”
“What about writing?”
Tessa scoffed, unable to stifle her amusement. “The whole, having to pay bills thing sort of gets in the way.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t’ be. It was one of those silly pipe dreams people eventually grow out of.”
“Only people with no real talent, but you’re not one of those.”
Thankful for the interruption, Tessa focused on the waitress who had come to take their order and took advantage of the break in conversation that would allow the warmth in her cheeks to dissipate.
“What about you,” she asked when they were alone once more.
With a lop-sided grin, Gregory relented and let her have her way. “I took a year off after defending my dissertation, and traveled around Europe for about nine months out of that, until I received the offer from UMass. So here I am.”
There was something in his tone that revealed the fact that he wasn’t exactly thrilled with the way things turned out. It was a mixture of defeat and resignation.
“Isn’t it what you wanted?”
Taking a few moments to think about his response, Gregory hesitated until their coffee arrived, then took his time adding the cream and sugar, leaving Tessa to wait patiently for the answer to her question. First taking a sip, then toying with his cup, he lifted his gaze and forced a smile.
“I loved Europe,” he began. “Some of the people I met when I was there made a real impact in my life.”
“A year long vacation…I can’t even imagine what that would be like.”
“Yeah well, calling it a vacation might be a stretch…I worked odd jobs to pay my way from city to city. I started in London, from there I went to Amsterdam and then to a few cities along the Mediterranean; the French and Austrian country sides were amazing. But I have to say Berlin was a complete surprise, not so much culturally, but in intellectual sophistication. I ended up making some really close friends there. If I hadn’t gotten the offer from UMass, I think I would have stayed abroad permanently.”
Sensing his regret, Tessa patted his hand and smiled. “Then it sounds like you already have your next vacation destination.”
“I don’t want to vacation there, I want to live there, I want to teach there…But with the economy the way it is right now, it’s impossible.”
“You’ve worked so hard to get where you’re at now. For all it’s worth, I think you made the right decision. Opportunities like this one don’t come along very often; it will only lead to bigger and better opportunities for you.”
“I don’t know. I’m not all that sure this is what I want anymore. There was such a real sense of freedom about picking up and going whenever I wanted.”
Tessa couldn’t help but laugh inwardly at his disclosure. Hadn’t she felt the same way for the past
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