A Teacher's Love Story

Chapter 9 - Rumors

"Yes it was; a man that mentions his wife right on the first date?"

"It wasn't a date, and second, it was respectful. He was being honest with me—that's  all a woman really wants. He's telling me everything already," Emma exhaled, attempting to focus on the road as she spoke to her mother. Her mother had been livid when she heard about their café "date", unsure whether it was a good idea to trust a man who was technically still married.

But for Emma, it was a good sign that he was honest about it.

It was Friday today, and from all the days she had headed into that school, Emma had woken up on the right side of the bed. Ever since her conversation with Dylan over coffee, it had taken over her habitual routine and given her something to look forward to, even if it was to simply see Dylan in the morning. As much of an arrogant and rude jerk he had been, he was showing a much more pure side of him which she enjoyed being around.

Which was exactly why she hung up the phone on her mother; it was not something she wanted to ruin because of overthinking, and she was simply going to let destiny run its course. She wasn't exactly thinking of dating the man yet, she had only known him for a couple days, but the fact that they considered one another friends was a good start.

When Emma entered the building, she was greeted by a few teachers and walked past Dylan's door, pausing for a moment and admiring it. Maybe she had stopped because she thought he would arrive a bit sooner and catch her, but she knew that wouldn't be the case, he was never here as early as she was.

Once she headed inside her classroom, she began organizing her files for that day when she heard soft knocks on her door. Assuming it was Dylan, she immediately stood to her feet to greet him, but when the door opened, she realized it wasn't Dylan, but Mr. Bradley Avery.

As always, Emma felt a lump form in her throat and she stepped backwards, doing everything in her power for her cheeks to remain as pale as they could instead of blushing. Bradley's green evoking eyes were piercing into her soul, and she struggled to keep their eye contact for too long.

But man was he handsome. He was wearing a navy dress shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, and it was a smaller size than he should have, since it tightly held to his pecks and his biceps. His shoulders were broad, widening his stance and he stepped inside with the charming smile she had seen a few days prior.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."

"No," she realized all her air had escaped, and breathlessly, she added, "no worries. How are you?"

"I'm alright, I just wanted to give you this." He reached her desk and landed a paper over her folders. When she turned over the paper, she realized it was the fire escapes routes for her classes. Since she stayed in the same room throughout the day, she was lucky that it was the same route every time, and it was a different direction that Bradley's class. "I remember you needing help with this last time, so—"

"Emma!" Both turned their heads towards the door, seeing Kara storm inside with such shock on her face, but giddy excitement. Without even realizing Bradley was standing there, she approached Emma's desk and beamed, "You went on a date with Dr. Walter?!"

"What?" Emma inhaled a sharp breath, and from the corner of her eye, she noticed Bradley raise his eyebrows. Frantically, she chuckled before adding, "It wasn't a date."

"Don't do that with me, you guys went out for coffee yesterday during the lunch break. We were wondering where you both were..." she folded her arms. "I thought he was a jerk to you."

"He had been, but he apologized and said he wanted to treat me for coffee. So it wasn't a date, he was just making it up for being rude to me—"

"The way he dressed yesterday..." Kara shook her head with a small snort, "that was definitely a date in his eyes. So, details—did you guys end up kissing?"

"No! I told you," Emma shook her head violently, "it wasn't a date."

"Boring," she sang, rolling her eyes. "I'm glad he treated you though, that's very gentlemanly of him."

Emma forced a smile, "It was."

"Well then, I guess I should—oh, Mr. Avery. I didn't realize you were—"

Bradley turned away and left the room.