Note 1: This is the sequel to the story
An Old Flame, A New Chance
. If you haven't previously read it, you may want to check it out as it leads directly into this story.
Note 2: Thank you for the warm reception of my first story. The likes, comments, and messages you've sent make me glad that I decided to finish it up after sitting on a partially completed version for far, far too long. If you enjoy this work of fiction, please take the time to leave some stars, comments, or message me directly.
A huge thanks to ShadySweet for editing this, helping to point out the trees when all I could see was the forest.
For now, it's time to head...
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Back to Reality
John sat at his breakfast table, sipping his coffee, and enjoying the few minutes of peace between the chaos of the morning of getting his son off to the school bus and when he had to leave to make it to the high school on time. Thankfully his school started 45 minutes later than his son's middle school. His wife Emily sat opposite him; her face already buried into a pile of papers for her work.
As he looked at her, he thought back to the past few crazy days he had experienced. It had been a unique enough thing to be able to take a few days away from school to attend a national conference, stranger still than his introduction to the conference circuit as one of their keynote speakers. Unlike many teachers, he had no trouble speaking in front of other adults, who for some reason find it difficult despite spending much of their time speaking in front of a room of kids.
No, what had been so earth-shatteringly strange was that one of the other attendees had been his old girlfriend, Charlotte. As it turned out, their meeting was far less a matter of chance, and more one of design on her part. During the flight back home, John had put several pieces together -- Charlotte was right that he wasn't the most observant when it came to these things -- it could have been coincidence for them to be at the conference together, although she had admitted to attending knowing full well that he was presenting. No, the interesting part had been the fact that her room had been directly across the hall from his own. Had she planned that? He had to concede that it was likely she had, and that he was more than a little flattered.
As it turned out, Charlotte still had feelings for him, and after just a few hours with her John admitted that he too still harbored strong feelings for Charlotte. It had been as if they hadn't been apart for 20 years, hadn't each gotten married, had kids, and in her case separated from her husband.
Looking up from his sudoku puzzle, he considered his wife for a moment. They had dated throughout university and gotten married right after graduation. They both had careers they were trying to establish themselves in, him as a teacher and her as an engineer. The first few years had been great, lots of passion, they couldn't keep their hands off one another. Even after their son had been born, she had still made time for him when she could, but between moving up the corporate chain and raising a family, they had lost their passion. Sex had become a chore, something that the hyper-organized Emily would actually schedule on her wall calendar. Once a week and become once a month, then every few months. The past two years, well they had had sex only twice.
He had tried to speak with her about it, tried to be the understanding husband. She explained that she simply had no need for sex, no desire for it at all. He on the other hand was experiencing an increase in his libido, perhaps because of not getting any.
That's not to say he and Emily didn't still love each other, they certainly did. It was more a matter of their love had simmered and cooled over time. They enjoyed spending time together playing board games with friends, grabbing an occasional beer out, seeing movies, etc... the only activity they shared in bed these past few years was reading or watching bad tv.
So, it probably wasn't much of a surprise that while he wrestled with the morality of infidelity, John ultimately hooked up with Charlotte, someone who professed her desire and love for him, and he for her. He smiles to himself... 'hooked up' was perhaps an understatement as he recalls the way the two of them had devoured one another in her hotel room.
"What's that grin for?" Emily's voice breaks his train of thought.
'Just remembering how I fucked my long-lost lover' momentarily pops into his head before he replies, "Just thinking about how jealous the other teachers will be when I tell them about my trip."
"I suppose so, I for one am tired of having to travel for work. But I can see how in your line of work it's much more of an oddity. That reminds me, I have to head up to Toronto on Wednesday for a few days. The usual BS."
John sighs, "That's too bad, but you have to keep your corporate overlords happy."
Emily shrugs, "True, but couldn't we do it over Zoom? The amount of time and money wasted on these unnecessary trips is just painful."
Standing, John drains the last of his coffee and places the cup in the sink, "Funny, that's the exact reason we normally are given when the school board denies our requests for things like the conference." He crosses over to where Emily is seated and leans in to give her a kiss, which she manages to turn her head away from her work to return unenthusiastically. "I'm off. Try to have a good day."
"Thanks, you too," she replies, her nose already buried back into the quarterly report she's reviewing.
John grabs his bag as he heads out to his car. Wondering what the day would bring as he drives across town to school. Monday was always a good day for John, his prep period was first thing in the morning, so he had plenty of time to drop his stuff in his classroom and head down to the office to check in with his Principal, Mark Perry.
Poking his head into Mark's office, John knocks on the office door's frame.
He is greeted by the larger-than-life voice of Mark, "John! Welcome back!" He stands from his desk and comes around to usher John in, "I heard great things about your presentation at the conference!"
"Oh? Who from?" John answers trying to recall who else the school board had sent.
"Jean Treadwell, a friend of Helen's, was there from the district office and said you did us all proud." Helen was Mark's wife, a fellow teacher who worked as the district supervisor for elementary schools.
John smiles, "Thanks, I tried not to trip over myself," he chuckles. His mind racing to remember if he had seen Jean. He's pretty sure he would have recognized him, but had Jean seen Charlotte hanging off his arm?
"Anyways," Mark continues, "I'm glad you stopped by. I had a favour to ask you."
"Sure, how can I help?"
"Well, Rebecca has had a bit of a health scare, and has to take some time off. Even when she does return, hopefully in a few months, she will be on a reduced workload."
