I try not to be obvious, but sometimes there are lovely women in the grocery store, and taking a nice long look makes the shopping more enjoyable. Ask any guy!
Anyway, I tend to shop after work to get stuff for dinner. Last Friday night was no exception, but the evening was. I had stopped at a grocery in the next town over from where I lived-it was close to the liquor store I wanted to hit next. That night, I was buying up only for myself-my wife had taken both kids to her parents house for the weekend. I had a lot of work to catch up on after being out sick, so she kindly offered to leave me alone for some peace and quiet. I decided a good stir-fry would set me up for the weekend, so I got some flank steak on sale and went to get vegetables.
As I turned down the aisle between carrots and potatoes, I saw a tall, slender woman browsing along in front of me. She wore low suede boots, jeans that clung tightly to her long legs, and a puffy white bomber jacket. Since I am generally an ass-man, I let my eyes linger discreetly on the delicate swell of her hips below the jacket's waistband. The muscles flexed as she rocked forward to choose a head of garlic. I slowed my pace to enjoy the subtly shifting curves. Her short blonde hair fell forward to cover her face, but I was already attracted by her delicious derriere and the cool, slim hands that I could see as she sorted through the produce.
Sadly, discretion has its price. I had to keep walking, and I'm not enough of a lech to turn around and blatantly scope her out. As I passed, though, I saw her head turn toward me.
"Hey!" said a happy voice from her direction. I turned with a smile to see what she wanted. The voice was familiar, and when I saw her wide smile, my mind snapped back five years to my classroom. I taught her as a senior-British Lit-and she was a very smart but very troubled young woman. My brain whizzed, then her name popped into my head.
"Hey, Britt!" I said with an appropriate teacher-like smile. I didn't want my voice or my expression to betray the intense interest I was just taking in her body as she fondled the garlic. "What brings you so far up the coast?"
"My mom and I are selling a house up here, and we are living in it to fix it up!"
"That's great! How is your mom?"
"She's good. She's right there!" she exclaimed as she pointed to an older version of herself at the end of the aisle. "Hoi, Mam!" she called.
Britt's family was Dutch, I remembered. Her mom looked up, saw her daughter's expression, and looked to me for the cause. Her brow crinkled as she wondered briefly who I was, but then a polite smile smoothed her expression and she came toward us.
"Hello?" she said with a stronger accent than Britt's.
"Mam...this is Mr. Robertson. He was my teacher, remember?"
Mam looked back at my face, but clearly did not. She shook her head slightly, but continued to smile politely and looked at Britt for more information,
"He was my English teacher-the one who was so aardig to me."
"Hello," I said to the mother in formal tones. "I am Steve Robertson, Britt's teacher for English Lit her senior year. I don't know what "aardig" means, but I hope it's something nice!"
"It is nice to meet you," she replied with equal formality. "I am Lara Janssen. Aardig means kind in English."
"Well, I am glad to meet you, and I'm glad that Britt remembers me being kind. She was a wonderful student."
With that, Lara reached out her hand and shook mine once. Just once. Must be a Dutch thing. Then she turned to her daughter, still holding my hand but ignoring me for a moment.
"Was hij degene van wie je zoveel hield?" [quick note-I'm recreating the Dutch as best I can!]
Britt's eyes went wide. "Mam!" she hissed as a blush spread across her face.
I looked to Lara for an explanation. She grasped my hand with both of hers and grinned at me delightedly. "I asked Britt if you were the teacher she was so much in love with!"
My eyes flicked to Britt's crimson face. That pretty much said it all. Then I turned back to her mother, trying desperately to think of something to say to defuse the moment.
"I must have been teaching really well that year!" I said, somewhat lamely after a long pause.
"No, no," Lara answered. "Britt said many times how smart and handsome and funny you were. It was not only about being a good teacher. She said all the time how she loved you as a man, a...een goede man...a good man."
"Mam!" Britt hissed again. "I'm going to get the bread! You are SO embarrassing!"
With that, she turned and strode away down the aisle, not looking back. I watched her in sympathy, knowing how mortified she must be, but also enjoying the undulation of her ass as she fled the scene.
Lara, however, was not embarrassed at all. She tugged on my hands and I turned back to face her.
"I know she is embarrassed with me," she said indulgently, "but I am only telling you the truth. She talked so much about you. We are alone, Britt and me, and we talk of things like this together. Like sisters. She talked so much about you that I expect to find you in my house some day making love to my daughter!" She laughed with gentle delight at the idea.
"Well..." I said, struggling to find a response. "That's usually not what teachers do!"
"Ohh, pfff!" she exclaimed dismissively. "She is young and beautiful and so in love! I would not have been surprised at all if she convinced you. You are a man." She nodded wisely.
"A married man," I told her with my most serious expression, eyebrows raised.
"A man," she replied. "A married man simply must be more cautious."
All of a sudden, my perspective shifted from Britt's predicament to the tall, pale woman who was still holding my hand with both of hers.
"You sound very...experienced in such things," I said with a glimmer in my eye.
"Oh, yes...I have been a real estate agent for many, many years!" she told me, as if that should explain everything.
