She stared at him looking bewildered. “I don’t even know what that means,” she admitted.
Ray smiled. “That’s what is so good about you, Kelly. You’re not afraid of admitting ignorance.”
“I’m not ignorant,” she said, uncertain. “Am I?”
He laughed. “I didn’t say you were. You’re extremely bright. It’s better to admit when you don’t know something than pretend you do and sound like an idiot later on,” he said.
“Well, then, Professor, what does it mean? Notwithstanding. I never heard that,” she said, for all the world as if they were back in the classroom.
“In my opinion, you are brilliant, very intelligent, my suggestion of you not being afraid of admitting ignorance notwithstanding. Does that help?” he said watching her over his coffee cup.
She stared off into space for a minute contemplating. Then she gave a mischievous grin before saying, “Will I still be brilliant if I say no?”
He laughed again. “You are adorable, Kelly.”
“You’re not so bad yourself, Professor,” she said lifting her tea to her lips and sipping carefully.
He cleared his throat and took a few calming breaths. “Kelly, may I ask you something?” he said nervously.
“Will I be graded on it?” she asked.
“No, funny girl. I’m not your professor anymore. School’s out, remember?” he said sadly.
It was a sad day indeed, for him at least. For six glorious weeks he had been seeing this amazing woman twice a week at the creative writing course he taught as part of the adult education program at the high school. Today had been the last day and because of his reluctance to let go he got the nerve up to ask her out for a cup of coffee. That she agreed so readily thrilled him beyond belief. He was almost certain she would refused. But perhaps a coffee wasn’t anything in this modern age of dating and she didn’t consider it such. Yes, that was probably it.
“Yes, I remember it’s the last day, but I didn’t know if you did. You might be one of those who never stops working or in your case teaching. Case in point, you trying in vain to teach me notwithstanding. Or, for all I know, you may be getting early on-set old timer’s disease,” she said brightly.
His smile faded. “I guess that answers that,” he muttered ruefully.
“What answers what?” she asked bewildered.
“You think I’m old and I have to agree,” he replied staring down at his drink.
“Old is a relative term. We’re all old compared to something younger. The pyramids are ancient but not as old as Noah’s ark,” she stated happily.
Reluctantly he chuckled. “Well, at least I’m not as old as either of those,” he said.
“So, what was the question, Ray?”she asked.
He stared at her, her wide-eyed, fresh-faced innocence compelling him to do something stupid like kiss her, but he knew better than to do that. She was so much younger than himself. Fool he may be, but insane he wasn’t, not yet anyway. Although he must be nuts to think this young girl would want to date him. Fifty-one years old he was and getting older by the minute. Over half a century gone in a blink.
He certainly felt as old as a pyramid but oddly not when he was within sight of Kelly. She was like a breath of fresh air to a man long confined to a damp, dark cave. He felt new in her presence, alive, vibrant. She was so sweet and funny, too, without meaning to be. She was a bit naive, perhaps but charmingly so. And she was brilliant in her own special way. She was a mass of contradictions and he’d like to spend the rest of his days on earth unraveling her secrets.
It had been a most happy day when he saw her for the first time. She wandered in looking delightfully flustered, nervous and excited all at the same time. She spoke briefly to some of the others in the class but as soon as Ray closed the door to signal the start of class she propped her chin in her hand and stared up at him with rapt attention, her eyes only on him. It gave him a pleasant jolt to the stomach to see her large, dark eyes following his every movement. Last time he felt something as thrilling he had been on the Tower of Terror ride at Disney Studios theme park. Only this was far better. After all, he didn’t have his kids screaming in his ear this time.
He was used to people watching him as he taught a class, but somehow Kelly’s gaze gave him a warm feeling as if she exuded sunshine with every blink. He found himself looking toward her far more than to all the others combined. He hoped no one would notice, but after a few classes he didn’t care. To him it was virtually a class of one, one very pretty, very likable and very young lady.
Kelly wasn’t the most talented nor brightest in the group, but she was eager to learn. She questioned everything and asked for his advice and his opinion on her writing. Others may have thought she was hogging all his attention, but for the most part the class consisted, as it usually did, of writers who thought themselves far above all the rest. They were mostly in this class for feedback on their current project, but after getting this feedback they usually do as they please anyway. Writers were an amusing bunch, he knew, being one himself.
Then she excitedly grabbed his arm and said, “You know, you’re right. Lap-top guy was telling Grandpa Simpson exactly that.”
“Who’s Grandpa Simpson?” Ray asked curiously. He loved it when she gave nicknames to the other students on the pretense that she couldn't remember names. Lap-top guy was the scrawny man who sat at the back of the class typing away on his lap-top who only stopped long enough for the occasional sneering remark, contemptuous look or a snort of derision whenever Ray said something that didn’t meet his approval.
“He’s the really old guy that looks just like Homer Simpson’s dad on TV. He told Lap-top guy that he should rewrite the whole thing if nobody liked it. Lap-top guy didn’t much like that, “ she said giggling.
Ray felt his stomach swoop again. Oh, he was smitten but good. But the classes were now over and he was crushed. He might never see her again. All right, so he was too old for her, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get her to take another class.
“Ray? Are you back yet?” she asked watching him curiously.
“Back?”he said, realizing he had been staring at her as his thoughts drifted away.
“I’m thinking you went to Juniper or Neptune,” she said nodding knowledgeably. “I go there occasionally.”
“You mean Jupiter,” he said chuckling.
“What did I say?”she asked innocently.
“Juniper.”
“Silly me! I must have been thinking of the bushes I’m planting this weekend,” she said making a funny face. “So, are you going to ask me?”
He took a drink, collecting his thoughts. “Did you like the class, Kelly?”he asked.
“Oh, yes! I’ll never be Beatrix Potter, but I may be able to write a cute children’s story one day and if the kids aren’t too smart they might actually like it,” she said brightly.
He laughed again. “Then maybe you should take another class,” he said albeit casually. “You’ve done so well. You should continue with my next class.”
He gaped for a minute then raised an eyebrow. “You don’t strike me as a basketball fan,” he said.
She giggled. “No, funny boy. My babysitter just so happens to be the captain of the girls varsity team.”
“Oh,” he said, his hopes completely dashed with that one statement. “You have kids.” He knew kids usually came with husbands or at least boyfriends.
“Just one, my sweet angel, Melina. She’s six,” Kelly said proudly.
“I remember six being a nice age,” he said, feeling his heart slip down to his toes. Something told him to stop, just quit while he still had some dignity, but he couldn’t. “Surely, a sweet little girl won’t be too much trouble for her father.”
He regretted saying it as soon as the words rolled off his tongue. He hated the haunted look in her eyes and his careless words had done it.
He regretted saying it as soon as the words rolled off his tongue. He hated the haunted look in her eyes and his careless words had done it.
“No, she wouldn’t be if he were around,” she replied sadly. “He died when she was two.”
“I’m so sorry, Kelly,” he said grimacing.
“Thank you,” she replied then lifted her tea and drank from it.
What possessed him to persist he couldn’t say, but he couldn’t stop himself.“Maybe we can find you another sitter,” he suggested.
“Well, I can’t have just any sitter. They have to be trained in CPR and such.”
“Naturally, all babysitters should,” he agreed readily.
She smiled. “No, you don’t understand. Melina has seizures. Most people get a bit nervous when they know about it. The medication she’s on now has really helped. She rarely gets them now,” Kelly explained quickly seeing the concern on his face.
“Well, then you could bring her to class. She can sit in a corner with some toys and books and then you won’t have to worry at all,” he said excitedly. He thought that a perfect solution.
“Ray, I couldn’t do that. It’s adult education. You’ve heard some of the stuff Grim Guy reads out to us. It’s too gruesome for me let alone Melina,” she said with a mock shiver.
He got it now. She was letting him down easy and using her child to do it, if she really had a child. “Do you have a picture of her?” he heard himself say.
He smiled too. “She’s you in miniature. A perfect angel,” he said wistfully.
“She’s all I have,” Kelly said a tiny catch in her voice.
“Must be tough being a single mom,” he said sympathetically, handing the photo back.
“Tough is a relative term. Some things are tougher than others and some easier. Tough is as tough goes or something. That make any sense?”
He grinned. “It does. You have a most delightful attitude, Kelly. I’m going to miss you terribly. But at least I got to meet you and have fun with you during class.”
Her smile faded. “You talk as if we’ll never see each other again.”
“Well, if you won’t take my next class...”
“Is that all you wanted to ask me tonight?” she said obviously disappointed.
He gazed at her with such longing. “I already know the answer, Kelly. You think I’m too old for you,” he said sadly.
“I never said that,” she retorted.
“Yes, you did. Not in so many words but...I got it.”
She frowned. “How old are you?”she asked.
He grimaced and said, “Fifty-one, last week.”
She gasped. “It was your birthday and you didn’t tell me? Bad boy! Well, brace yourself. You’re getting a late birthday present.” She then sang the Beatles Birthday song complete with air guitar and air drums. She was precious. Then she shocked him with a tiny kiss on the corner of his mouth.
The air rushed out of his lungs. His heart started dancing the jig. Delighted, he smiled broadly and knew he was desperately in love. “Best present I ever got,”he mumbled. “Makes me wish I was your age.”
She frowned. “How old do you think I am?”she asked curiously.
He didn’t like this question, not one bit. No good could come from it. He gulped. “Please, don’t be any younger than twenty-five. I already feel like a dirty old man just talking to you.”
She burst out laughing. “You are kidding, right?”she said, incredulous.
“You have to be at least twenty if you have a six year old kid,” he said getting more nervous.
“You are not seriously telling me that’s how young you actually think I am,”she said, astonished.
“It’s impolite to ask a woman her age, Kelly.”
She shook her head in amazement. “Brace yourself, Professor. I’m thirty-four for only two more months. Can you handle that?”
“No, you’re not,” he said stupidly.
She laughed and rummaged in her purse again, this time pulling out her driver’s license.
“Wow...wow,” he said dazedly. “And here I thought you were younger than my kids.”
“You’re married?” she shrieked.
“Widowed.”
“Oh,” she said with relief. She gave him a funny look. “So, tell me, Ray. Am I too old for you now?”
He laughed nervously. “You realize I was sixteen when you were born.”
She propped her chin in her hand as she did the first day in class. “I’ll bet you were as cute then as you are now,” she said a mischievous grin on her face. “I always wanted to know what it would be like dating someone over fifty and now I know. It’s a lot of fun. You know why?”
He couldn’t imagine so he shrugged.
She leaned forward and poked him playfully on his nose. “You think I’m a hot young thing. Sounds good to me.”
He grinned, a weight suddenly lifting off his chest. “Someone very dear to me once said old is a relative term,” he said lifting her hand to his lips and kissing it. “I think she’s right and brilliant, too.”
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