Teaching Mr. Graham

Chapter Eight

    Tatiana took in the length of the dress. "It's cute. You don't think that would be extra long on me, though?"

    "Honey, this is a sundress. Okay? The dress is supposed to be long. It's still cute. It's still sexy, despite being long." Kenya held the dress up to Tatiana. "Yes, you're going to look cute in this. We knot it at the back so it doesn't fall off of you, change out your earrings, throw on a few bracelets, stick a flower in your hair, and you're done."

    After following Kenya's suggestions, Tatiana had to admit that the new look was ten times better than the original.

    Kenya reviewed Tatiana's shoe selection. "God, I love your parents but sometimes I hate your parents," she muttered. She looked up at the dress she'd knotted for Tatiana. "Thankfully, the dress is long. One of the benefits of a long dress is the fact that they cover your shoes. Especially when your shoe collection looks like yours. So...we're going to go Bohemian with this look and throw some pink flip flops on you. The shade matches the dress, at least, and no amount of wizardry is going to help make my shoes fit your tiny ass feet."

    Tatiana laughed. "Thank you so much for all of your help, Kenya. What would I do without you?"

    Kenya stood up with the pink flip flops in hand. "Go to parties looking like you're dressed for a prayer meeting, apparently." She handed the flip flops to Tatiana.

    Tatiana slid her feet into the flip flops, and then gave her reflection one more evaluation. Kenya had found a plastic pink flower in one of her boxes. She'd cut the plastic stem off of it and pinned it into Tatiana's hair, which curled down around her shoulders. Although Tatiana wasn't a fan of wearing a lot of makeup, she did apply eyeliner to her eyelids, mascara to her eyelashes, and lip gloss to her lips.

    Kenya grinned and gave a look of approval. "Okay, now you're ready. Let's go."

                                                                               ~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The coffee shop was fast-becoming one of Aubrey's favorite haunts on campus. His condo in Chicago had too many distractions. Televisions, video gaming systems, liquor, hookah, the swimming pool, which he'd frequented before he started coming to campus.

    The coffee shop on campus had a nice, relaxing vibe - especially at night. Music played late at night. It was possible that the music also played during the day, but the shop chatter drowned it out. He made a mental note to check on that next time. The corner booths, if you were able to grab them, were tall, providing a measured amount of privacy. The windows provided a great view of some of the campus courtyards. No one bothered anyone else...but the reason for people not bothering him could be because he tended to wear a baseball cap with the brim pulled down low over his face, to help prevent people from recognizing him.

    It was silly, really. Once classes started, it wasn't like he could continue to wear hats to help cover his face. He'd have to show his face eventually, at which point students would know who he was. But he felt like he'd rather wait for that point before being recognized. He wanted his identity to interfere with campus life and his ability to teach as little as possible.

    Prior to coming to the coffee shop, he'd stopped by the admissions office. He wanted to check to see if any new students had enrolled in his class, and he told himself that he wanted to check only because he was curious. In reality, he hadn't had to stop by the admissions office to check on that. Everything was online these days, and he could have just as easily checked by signing into his faculty account on the college's website portal. He wanted to show his face around campus and stay active as much as possible, however. If he were being honest with himself, he might get around to admitting that there was also a familiar face he was hoping to see.

    Stop it, he thought, flipping through his lesson plan for the semester. Stop that line of thinking before it goes too far. He drew a hand across his forehead and turned his gaze. Of course, that was when he saw her...

    A brown-skinned angel wearing a pink and white dress and a flower in her hair, running across the courtyard with a friend who was having trouble keeping up with her. She laughed and turned around. Then she started running backwards.

    Aubrey drummed short nails on top of the coffee shop table. Don't run out there like an idiot. Don't try to go out there and catch her. He self-consciously tugged the brim of his hat downward. She's a student. What good can come from flirting with her, or checking to see where she's going?

    She stopped running and turned towards the window. The smile on her face froze, and she tucked strands of hair behind her ear. It looked like she was staring straight at him.

    He stared back, sure that she couldn't see his eyes, not from outside of the window. She shouldn't even be able to tell he was the man who'd been a sarcastic dick to her the day before. But she continued to stare as if she knew exactly who he was.

    Her friend reached her, and looped an arm around her neck. Then the two of them took off, with the angel in the pink dress craning her neck to get a few more glimpses of the coffee shop before they were out of view.

    It only took Aubrey a minute. He crammed his lesson planner and notebook inside of his briefcase, reached in his wallet and grabbed a few bills. He didn't even check to see which bills he tossed onto the table. They could have been hundreds, for all he knew. With his eyes locked on the window, he stood up from the booth and slung his briefcase strap across his shoulder. Then, he slid his wallet in his jeans pocket and took off in the direction the girls had gone.