+Please read Part One for context...
I arrived on campus early for the first day of school, far before the teacher’s contracted time of 8:00 am. By the number of cars in the teacher’s parking lot, it looked like I was not the only “early bird.” It was a full hour before first period and the lot was over half full. It was never like this with our old 7:20 am starting time.
My walk to my classroom was typical, I ran into several staff members and said hello. When I arrived at my classroom, I did my usual routine: put my lunch in my mini fridge, started my coffee pot, and opened all of the heavy industrial curtains covering the windows on the north side wall.
I texted Kathy, “Good Morning! If you’d like some coffee, I have a pot brewing.”
Shortly after I received a reply, “Shoot! I just went through the Starbucks line. But I’ll need another cup after second period.”
During the middle of second period, I decided to make a fresh pot of coffee knowing Kathy would be stopping by in about twenty minutes. I also made sure to wash one of my spare coffee cups in case she did not have one.
As the students filed out after class, I was excited to see Kathy, after all, we did have a nice little fuckfest the night before. But it was more than that. I really did like this woman based on what I knew about her.
Our passing time between classes is only five minutes so students can get from one side of campus to the other if necessary. This would give Kathy and me plenty of time to get coffee and chat before she needed to get back to her classroom before the bell.
I went back to the sink and counter and poured myself a fresh cup of java and when I turned around in walked the blonde beauty. “Miss Zimmer,” I said.
Kathy smirked, “It’s Mrs. Zimmer. That’s my married name.”
“Oh, of course,” I said.
“I thought about changing back to my maiden name, but I wanted to keep the same last name as my son,” she explained.
Kathy was empty-handed so I poured her a cup of coffee into my spare “Patriot Pride” mug. “I hope you like bold French Roast,” I said.
“That is my favorite,” she said. “I’m not one of those typical soccer moms with the fancy mocha-whatever with whipped cream.”
I laughed and told her, “You get bonus points for that.”
“Do I need bonus points after yesterday?” she joked.
“Not really, but they can never hurt. Just like the students and extra credit,” I said with a grin.
We made a bit of chit-chat and agreed to have lunch in her room. The rest of the morning flew by and at the end of the fourth period, I was starving. I headed over to Kathy’s room and knocked as I walked in since she had her door open for the passing period.
“I guess I should close this door with the new emphasis on keeping doors closed, huh?” I said.
“Yes, I better follow the rules since I’m new to the school and district,” she joked.
As we ate lunch at one of the large tables we both commented on what a great day we had with the boys playing golf, and with each other in the evening.
“I really needed that last night. Don’t get me wrong, you’re a nice guy, good-looking, but I just needed some fun sexual contact,” she said looking at me.
“I can say all of the same things about you too,” I said. “Let me be blunt. What are you looking for? Are you looking to date? Or do you see us as a “friends with benefits” type of thing?” I asked.
Kathy had a blank look on her face. “Neither right now. Look, Jack, we just met last week. I have so much going on right now with a new job and my son starting a new school, I don’t think I want a serious boyfriend right now.”
“Serious? Oh, no, that’s not what I meant,” I said. “Let’s just let this play out naturally. I’m happy to show you around, we can hang out, along with the boys too.”
“Jack, I’d enjoy seeing you casually to start. I do feel a spark with you and we seem to have so much in common. And we certainly had fun last night,” she said giggling. “Maybe something in between dating and a fuck buddy.”
We agreed to discuss this more over the next few days but to be very professional on campus. We also agreed that we should tell Parker and Spencer that we’re just friends and co-workers who have a lot in common.
As the lunch bell rang and I got up to leave Kathy gave me a nice hug and a quick kiss on the lips. I went back to my room and as students were entering the room my head was spinning. I had no idea where I stood with Kathy. I decided to “slow play” the situation and not ask her out again, but to simply hang out at school and hopefully in our real lives.
Over the next few months, our friendship developed as we did a lot together by ourselves, and with Parker and Spencer. She and I would go to dinner, catch a movie, or attend Patriot football games together. A lot of the staff figured out that we were more than just colleagues, but we told them that we were just friends with a lot in common, as well as our boys.
We hooked up two more times during September and October. Parker and I had been spending the past few Thanksgivings with my in-laws since they don’t get to see him much due to their distance in San Diego. At the beginning of November, Kathy asked about our plans, and I told her what we’d been doing since my wife had passed. She said that Spencer would be spending the entire week with his dad, so she’d be alone, and she was hoping she could spend Thanksgiving with Parker and me.
It was about the tenth of the month when I had an idea: send Parker to his grandparents for the week alone, and Kathy and I go on a mini vacation. I pitched the idea to her over lunch and she loved it.
That afternoon after school we brainstormed ideas for locations as we both looked up information on our laptops. Within an hour a Sunday to Friday trip to an all-inclusive was booked. We’d get our boys off to their destinations on Saturday and pick them up the following Saturday.