Boundaries (girlxgirl)

Just a Glimpse

      When Haley wasn't in school or internship, she was usually working at one of her two jobs. Her favorite was being a nanny to two incredible kids. On this particular day, she was taking the boys to their grandma's house about twenty minutes away from where they lived. It was a beautiful fall day where it was warm enough to have the windows down on the car and music in the background. People were walking their dogs and cycling down the road trying to get in the last few days of good weather before winter came. Haley was stuck at a red light that took forever to turn green. At the corner two cyclists were waiting to cross the road. Haley gave no mind to the women until the one took her helmet off and waved her arm as if trying to get someone's attention. Tess had been biking with a friend and saw her sitting at the light. Her eyes shifted from Haley to the two boys in the back seat waving back at her. Her facial expression became perplexed as she put the helmet back on her head and rode off in front of us. Almost simultaneously a car beeped and the boys  yelled, "Go Miss Haley," as the light had turned green without her knowledge.

Haley couldn't help but wonder if Tess lived in the area, but what she did know was how happy she felt just seeing a glimpse of her. It gave her butterflies in her stomach both because she was so incredibly sexy, but she also worried Tess thought the kids in the back seat were hers. Haley wondered what Tess's life looked like. What her morning routine was, what she did for fun, and what her values and beliefs were. She genuinely wanted to get to know who Tess was, but she couldn't because of the boundaries they had to keep. Haley has never been a fan of labels and became angry thinking about the labels as professor and student. Perhaps this was because she felt like everyone was an adult in grad school or perhaps it was because she found herself struggling to set those boundaries with Tess.

Haley's POV--

I thought to myself I have to figure out how to drop the hint that the boys aren't mine and especially that I'm single. I stopped in my tracks after realizing what I just thought. Why would she care if you are single or a mom for that matter? She's your professor, and she's probably straight, but a little part inside of me said, "Just in case, you better bring it up somehow."

I had no proof that Tess was into women, let alone into me. Sure she was athletic, kept her nails short, and wasn't married, but that didn't mean anything. Then why did I have some strange feeling inside that there was a side to her she never let anyone see?

I was talking to Dr.H about the population I wanted to work with after I graduated and purposely waited for Tess to walk by as I told him I wanted to work with children because I loved the little boys I work with. As I continued to talk I noticed her slow down her walking to try and pick up on what I was saying. 

A weight was lifted off my shoulders knowing she heard what I said. It was actually a pattern I began to notice when I was talking to someone. If she walked by when I was talking, she'd slow down and try to eavesdrop on the conversation. Joey and I had been talking about cars since I enjoy working on them from time to time when Tess blurted out, "You fix cars?" I was kind of shocked at her response, feeling a little frustrated. Surely, I wasn't the first woman she's met that knew how to handle a car. She must have noticed the change in my behavior as she began apologizing for coming off like it was a bad thing. Instead, she simply commented on how convenient it was? Whatever that meant.