Coffee and Croissants

Chapter 4

Monday morning arrived at last. Dan woke up extra early eager for two reasons. One, at the prospect of seeing her again. Of talking to her even. Two, for his first time taking the role of a university professor. He wondered which would be more difficult and settled on seeing her.

He had to see her again. Gone were his rational thoughts he had before Friday night. The thoughts of how he would likely not run into her, or at least not very often. Replacing them were thoughts of how he could see her. Where she might eat at lunch, grab a coffee, what classes she took.

The one scenario he did not imagine was her being in his class. So when students began filing in his classroom, he was unaware that she was clustered in with them.

He turned to face his now filled auditorium and he scanned the faces and finally, his eyes met hers. Blair. In his class. They locked eyes and he wasn't able to speak for a moment. Suddenly, he felt overwhelmed with the promise of nine hours each week. He was somewhat shocked Blair was in this class. She did always love classic literature though so maybe he shouldn't be that surprised. He wondered what program she was enrolled in.

Personally, he was invited to teach this course since the university thought it would be fitting for him since he was an American writer. Who better to teach the material and be able to understand how location could impact a writer's work. He was looking forward to getting to discuss some of his favorite novels and how the authors thrived in Paris. 

Then he remembered, the classroom full of blank faces was waiting for him to speak.

He composed himself and began, "Hi, I'm Dan Humphrey, I'll be your professor for the semester. We'll be studying expatriate writers in Paris, including some of the greats such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemmingway, and Mark Twain."

The next few hours were spent going over the course and giving the students a preview of what the class would be like. He did a brief introduction by covering a few famed expatriate authors. Every so often, he would glance at Blair who dutifully took notes and only glanced up occasionally. 

He noticed how her hair was darker than when he had last seen her but still was styled in loose curls. Her eyes were just as doe-like as he had remembered. Her skin looked glowy and it seemed like Paris suited her, bringing out her beauty even more. He would have to remind himself to look at other students and not just her. It was incredibly difficult. Her face was like a magnet to his eyes, he was unable to tear them away.