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I shook my head, trying to denyit.
“You need to think about that, though,” she continued, now going into full-on lecture mode, since she’d had plenty of practice as a teacher. “Not a good idea. After that pinball kiss, I wouldn’t want you banging him in the chapelnow.”
While I feigned innocence, the idea of banging Trent Milner in the chapel actually sounded sexy-licious. His height and presence, and whatever he’d learned since I saw him last, could be hot as hell. I couldn’t help thinking that no-fraternization policies sucked ass because that had been a really goodkiss.
But it was just a fantasy. A really freaking prettyfantasy.
Still, nope. No lusting afterstudents.
I’d be the slightly professional hippie princess I already was and would do my work amazingly well—and I told Louise this as we got up to go to our offices at theschool.
Inside, though, I was simultaneously enthusiastic about Trent Milner showing up in my life in a matter of days, and anxious about what would happen when hedid.
* * *
After coffee with Lulu,we walked the five blocks to school to prepare for class. Passing through the old bazaar, a woman wearing a black straight skirt to her knees with a printed top stoppedme.
“Would you like to know your future?” she asked me inSpanish.
Lulu gave me a nod. “Doit.”
I paused. I didn’t really, but I wondered what she would say. With a smile, I accepted the lavender she pressed into my hand, and let her read mypalm.
In Spanish, she told me, “You will have a big home. Big mansion. You will be married, with a prosperous and kind husband. You will have three children. Maybe more. Bigfamily.”
Resisting a guffaw, I stared at her and tucked my hair behind myears.
Thatwasn’tmyfortune. She clearly used a generic fortune for everyone. No kids for me. No way in hell did I want a husband. Not after my dating experience. And I could care less about amansion.
Freedom. I wanted freedom most of all. The ability to pick up and go anywhere, anytime. The globe was my home. Not some ginormous housesomewhere.
Still, I thanked her for her time, gave her some Euro coins, and continued walking to school to lessonplan.
“Can you believe that fortune?” I asked,huffing.
“Sounds right tome.”
I shook myhead.
Spanish universities didn’t have a central campus, but were located throughout the city in different buildings. The translation school backed up against the cathedral, whose most famous residents were Ferdinand and Isabella of Christopher Columbusfame.
I couldn’t help but think that I was a bit like them. Constantly seeking newlands.
(Not that I agreed with how they treated Native Americans or the colonizationattitude.)
But still, the wanderlust, the desire to explore—I had that down to myDNA.
This building was the shit, meaningawesome. Very traditional Spanish, with a sunbaked tile roof and white stucco walls. Classrooms surrounded a central courtyard, which featured a short basin fountain, shaped like a squat bowl, surrounded by benches and plants in large pots. Students hung out there to smoke and talk. It was pleasant even on hot days, because of the shade and thebreeze.
The offices were on the top floor, and Lulu and I headed up, although I wanted to stay down in thepatioand meet the new students. But I had planning todo.
There was no question about my ability to teach. I’d learned Spanish at an early age, hanging around friends who spoke it and making them explain what they said. I watched telenovelas and listened to Spanish music. And now I thought of it as my own language, even though it wasn’t my first. I even dreamed inSpanish.
As I bounced on my tiptoes down the hall, I shuddered with excitement. Another chance to teach people. Get them immersed in language. Show them a new point of view. Let them understand each other. I couldn’t wait to see mystudents.
Especially one inparticular.
