Joshua's Grace

Chapter 3 (1)

September flew past. A busy time of the year. The numbers of students taking her second semester courses had nearly doubled. The resulting work load quadrupled. She put in quite a few late nights, caused mainly by her post graduate lectures running during the evening. She also put in several early morning stints because she had a lot more marking to do. All in all a very busy time of the year.

Her lectures on Women's role in society and in the family had led to several heated debates during tutorials. And whilst she welcomed the opportunities for students to reflect and challenge their thinking, it was tiring facilitating those discussions. Some men had also enrolled on the course. That pleased Grace. It brought another perspective to the discussions. Keeping the discussion in perspective and allowing everyone an opportunity to debate issues that were at times intensely personal and emotive was not an easy feat. So it was hardly surprising that she was often mentally and physically drained by the end of the day.

She was really looking forward to her summer holiday. She kept her sanity by simply remembering that she and Sasha, her youngest sister, were going on holiday at the end of the academic year. The thought of the vacation break kept her working flat out trying to get her marking done and her preparation for next year up to scratch.

But it was early inOctober that Grace received an unexpected invitation to a party. She hadn'trecognised the hand writing on the envelope, but once she saw the scrawledsignature she couldn't help smiling. Zac. She read the crazy invite and thenpenned him a negative response, dredging up a suitable excuse. The last thingshe really wanted to do was go to a party for Joshua. The fact that he had beenin her thoughts an awful lot simply supported her argument. Self preservation.She was not going to get involved with the man. It, the situation, him; wascomplex. Every time she thought about him, and it was far too often, she becameflustered, and when she recalled the way he'd held her, she might as well not have had a brain. This was one man who managed to annoy her and make her heart hammer with intense awareness at one and the same time.

No, the last thing she wanted was to spend time with him, not if she was interested in her independence and maintaining her dignity. The instinct was strong, somehow without knowing why, she knew that he could make her drop everything.

She felt vulnerable when she was around him. Apprehensive even, not because he scared her, but because she scared herself. She was scared by her feelings. She recognised that. And she fought it. She had worked too hard to get this independent, she wasn't going to loose it now.

Grace finished giving a third year lecture, on Gender issues in the classroom, to a group of undergraduate teacher education students, and made her way back to her office. Grace was already mulling over how she would change it next year.

When Grace walked into the foyer, she couldn't help but notice the commotion in the corner. She stopped contemplating her lecture and flashed a look of inquiry at the receptionist. Tina signalled her over. So Grace ambled over, all the while keeping her eyes on the ruckus going on in the corner. 

"Don't tell me we've got an All Black visiting." Grace suggested as she reached Tina. The only people Grace could imagine getting this type of attention were the men from the national rugby team.

Tina grinned, "No such luck. Though he is fit." Tina told her when Grace had come close enough to hear. " A guy to see you."

"OK." Grace answered absently, as she watched the group in the corner. She was interested in finding out more about the bedlam there, nevertheless she asked, " Did you send him to my office?" Grace inclined her head, unable to restrain her curiosity any longer, "So what is going on over there?" 

"He's there." Tina used her finger to point at the commotion.

"Who?" Grace looked askance at Tina. Then realized who Tina meant. She didn't know guys who'd get this kind of attention. "Who is he?"