Sadness still over came her as she started to erase the board from the day's lesson. It had been over three months since her husband served her with divorce papers, but Laura still felt the sting of deceit. She thought he was in love with her...but one day she walked in on her husband with his ex-girlfriend in their bed. Then all through the divorce he kept telling her how she wasn't emotionally his and he had to do what he did. She admitted to herself that she wasn't emotionally his but she did her best to be a good wife. She cooked his meals, cleaned his clothes, kept his house, and took care of him when he needed it. Yes, it bothered her that when she tried to make love to him, he would deny her, say he wasn't in the mood, but she never found love elsewhere. Instead, she threw herself into being a wife. It was the worst betrayal when he went and slept with his ex instead of her.
But time moved on therefore she had to. Laura now just threw herself into her studies at the university. She was now student teaching at a local high school and she was busy enough with that. Her thoughts however, still trailed on to how much she wanted someone to love, or to make love to...Suddenly it was as if fate was reading her mind. She heard his voice deep and smooth in the doorway...
"What's cookin', good lookin'?"
She stopped in mid erase. He loved the fact that he surprised her. There she was in her black mini skirt with a purple sweater and high heels. And her body...that hadn't changed since he last saw her. She still had that round butt, with beautiful, shapely legs, and an oval face with almond shaped brown eyes. The only thing that changed was her hair. It was longer, and straighter than the last time he saw her. It reached down to her butt and he just wanted to run his hands through it and pull it tightly towards him. Instead he laughed at her surprise.
"Tony?" She whispered softly without looking in his direction.
"Yeah, surprised?"
She turned to look at him. Thirty-five and he was still as handsome as the first day she saw him. He was Adonis in person. Chiseled face, piercing blue eyes, blonde curly hair, tall, medium build. She still wanted him so much, but she knew deep down, she couldn't act on her feelings.
"Yes, very", Laura responded, "How did you know where to find me?"
"You told me where you were student teaching silly." He laughed. The two had been talking over email since a mutual friend gave Tony her email address. Then there was this past Christmas...
"But Tony, how did you find this place?"
Tony walked over to her. He had one hand behind his back and she couldn't see what he was hiding.
"There's this great thing, it's called Mapquest" Tony joked.
"You mean you know how to use it?" She joked back.
"Yeah!" Tony smiled wide.
"I'm so proud of you!" Laura mockingly held her arms out to hug him. Tony took the opportunity to put the bouquet of flowers in her hands. Laura looked down at it alarmingly.
"I was in the area...wondered what you were doing for dinner." Tony said.
There was so much to ask Tony, but this wasn't the place.
"Um, sure, that would be great. I'm just about to leave...follow me."
Laura beckoned Tony to follow her out of the room. They walked down the hall in silence then turned to go down the stairs. The student buses had already left so the halls were quiet. That's when Laura started in on Tony.
"So...what brings you here, business?"
"Nope, I wanted to come see you."
"Tony, your wife..."
"Wants a divorce" Tony cut her off.
"WHAT? I mean, well, what does your dad have to say about this."
"I don't give a damn what my dad thinks, Laura. I'm tired of thinking about what my dad thinks..."
"But why, what happened?"
"She got tired of me."
"What did you do?"
Tony stopped walking down the stairs, "What makes you think I did something?" he sounded insulted.
"I didn't mean it that way..." Laura backtracked, "it's just...hey give me some slack, my husband just cheated on me."
"Yeah well, he was stupid." Tony said flatly.
"Thanks." Laura whispered as they continued down the stairs, "How are the kids?"
"I don't know" Tony said, "How were you after your parents got divorced?"
"Well considering I found my mom in bed with another man, I didn't take it too well."
Tony nodded at Laura's response. He forgot about that tidbit of her life and he felt sorry for bringing it up.
"So, where are the kids now?"
"With my soon to be ex in Tampa."
Laura stopped in her tracks in the hallway, "You mean Florida?!"
"Yup, I mean Florida."
"Tony..." her voice trailed as she reached out for his hand.
Tony stared at her briefly and then he shook the thought out of his mind.
"Hey listen, I'm staying at a Ramada on Dupont Circle..."
"Dupont Circle, swanky." Laura joked.
"Well I was hoping we could do dinner out there."
"Sure, why don't you follow me to my place and we'll drop off my car and then later you can take me to the Metro."
Laura walked out of the building and Tony followed.
"That's if you go home tonight." Tony said under his breath.
"What did you say?" Laura heard it but she pretended not to.
"Nothing." Tony smiled.
"By the way, thanks for the flowers."
Tony stopped then knelt down towards Laura's lips, pointing at his cheek. Laura kissed him and Tony broke out into a big grin.
"God, I miss you." He said.
"Tony, she didn't find out about Christmas, did she?"
"Hey." Tony stopped by his car, "I told you, she got tired of me, ok? You didn't do anything. No one knows about Christmas except you and me. You believe me, right?"
Laura nodded. Tony got into his car without another word. He smiled at her from the inside. She smiled back and then walked over to her car. It looked like they weren't going to deal with Christmas just yet.
