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Authors: Sandra Miller
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six years? The nomadic lifestyle was very liberating, she couldn’t deny that, but as her children so aptly put it, it was also a cop out.
“Why can’t you have both? You know, teach during the fall and spring semesters, and then travel during the summer?”
“It wouldn’t be the same; I’d still have a time table dictating where I go and what I do.”
“That’s true, I suppose. But chances are, living with no restraints would become just as boring as working a 9 to 5 job. I think enjoying your life is a balancing act of moderation. Maybe if we could keep ourselves from over-indulging in anything, everything would stay new and exciting.”
“Maybe,” Gregory laughed, sounding as if he wasn’t buying it. “I must sound petty to someone like you.”
“Someone like me?”
“Yeah, I mean, you have life already figured out.”
Allowing herself to honestly laugh for the first time in a long time, Tessa threw her head back and enjoyed the moment. In fact, it took her some time to finally stop. Even then, she couldn’t help but to continue smiling from ear to ear.
“I take it you find that amusing ?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Thank you.”
“Can I ask why?” he inquired, sounding as if her laughter had lightened his own mood.
“I’m forty years old, and I’m more confused now about how to live my life than I was when I was sixteen. So no, I don’t have life figured out. I don’t have the slightest clue what I’m doing.”
“Good, that makes me feel better then. I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me.”
Shaking her head, Tessa, still grinning, responded, “Oh, I’m not saying that. There probably is something seriously wrong with you, with both of us.”
A few hours later, standing outside the café, there was a brief moment of strained silence before Tessa finally extended her hand to say goodbye to Gregory. It irked her to no end that he stood there so calm and causal while she was drowning in a pool of her own sweat, brought on by the palpable chemistry between them.
Gregory, being the younger and bolder of the two, leaned forward and placed a lingering kiss against her cheek before stepping back and stuffing his hands down into the pockets of his Dockers. As he waited for a response, Tessa surprised herself and stared back without feeling self-conscious as usual. What wasn’t said between them in those brief moments was far more revealing and honest than anything they had shared during their entire conversation.
“Thank you for the coffee and the company,” she said softly.
“It was my pleasure, believe me.”
“I’ll see you around then?”
“Most definitely.”
“Well, I better go…” she stammered. “Have a good evening, and enjoy the rest of your summer.”
Gregory chuckled, “I was hoping I could convince you to have dinner with me this weekend. Summer is a terrible thing to waste.”
“Oh,” she giggled, caught off guard by the invitation. She hadn’t been asked out in twenty years and didn’t recognize the signs that one was forth coming. “I’d love that.”
“Well, you have my number, and I fully expect you to use it by Friday”
“I will.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
“Good.”
With neither of them willing to be the first one to walk away, Tessa finally forced herself to wave and head towards the direction of her car. As she walked it didn’t take long before her head cleared from the powerful pull of sexual attraction, and she began asking herself valid questions like: What was she doing? Why would she assume after an innocent offer of coffee, that a young man like Gregory would be interested in a broken down old hag like her? And why, after years of being for all intensive purposes dead from the neck down, did she have to suddenly come to life around someone just a few years older than her daughter?
Truly, she needed some serious therapy. It
“Why can’t you have both? You know, teach during the fall and spring semesters, and then travel during the summer?”
“It wouldn’t be the same; I’d still have a time table dictating where I go and what I do.”
“That’s true, I suppose. But chances are, living with no restraints would become just as boring as working a 9 to 5 job. I think enjoying your life is a balancing act of moderation. Maybe if we could keep ourselves from over-indulging in anything, everything would stay new and exciting.”
“Maybe,” Gregory laughed, sounding as if he wasn’t buying it. “I must sound petty to someone like you.”
“Someone like me?”
“Yeah, I mean, you have life already figured out.”
Allowing herself to honestly laugh for the first time in a long time, Tessa threw her head back and enjoyed the moment. In fact, it took her some time to finally stop. Even then, she couldn’t help but to continue smiling from ear to ear.
“I take it you find that amusing ?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Thank you.”
“Can I ask why?” he inquired, sounding as if her laughter had lightened his own mood.
“I’m forty years old, and I’m more confused now about how to live my life than I was when I was sixteen. So no, I don’t have life figured out. I don’t have the slightest clue what I’m doing.”
“Good, that makes me feel better then. I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me.”
Shaking her head, Tessa, still grinning, responded, “Oh, I’m not saying that. There probably is something seriously wrong with you, with both of us.”
A few hours later, standing outside the café, there was a brief moment of strained silence before Tessa finally extended her hand to say goodbye to Gregory. It irked her to no end that he stood there so calm and causal while she was drowning in a pool of her own sweat, brought on by the palpable chemistry between them.
Gregory, being the younger and bolder of the two, leaned forward and placed a lingering kiss against her cheek before stepping back and stuffing his hands down into the pockets of his Dockers. As he waited for a response, Tessa surprised herself and stared back without feeling self-conscious as usual. What wasn’t said between them in those brief moments was far more revealing and honest than anything they had shared during their entire conversation.
“Thank you for the coffee and the company,” she said softly.
“It was my pleasure, believe me.”
“I’ll see you around then?”
“Most definitely.”
“Well, I better go…” she stammered. “Have a good evening, and enjoy the rest of your summer.”
Gregory chuckled, “I was hoping I could convince you to have dinner with me this weekend. Summer is a terrible thing to waste.”
“Oh,” she giggled, caught off guard by the invitation. She hadn’t been asked out in twenty years and didn’t recognize the signs that one was forth coming. “I’d love that.”
“Well, you have my number, and I fully expect you to use it by Friday”
“I will.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
“Good.”
With neither of them willing to be the first one to walk away, Tessa finally forced herself to wave and head towards the direction of her car. As she walked it didn’t take long before her head cleared from the powerful pull of sexual attraction, and she began asking herself valid questions like: What was she doing? Why would she assume after an innocent offer of coffee, that a young man like Gregory would be interested in a broken down old hag like her? And why, after years of being for all intensive purposes dead from the neck down, did she have to suddenly come to life around someone just a few years older than her daughter?
Truly, she needed some serious therapy. It
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