Page 20 of Ghosted

Walking along the courtyard,I carry my favorite book to the shade tree just on the other side. This is my treasured spot to collect my thoughts before the next class of the day. But as I approach, I notice a beautiful woman has taken my place.

I think about not stopping until she looks up from the book she’s reading.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I take your spot?” she asks, a slight smile on her ruby-red lips.

“Maybe,” I smile back. Her sparkling, hazel eyes study me with amusement as I raise my eyebrow at her. I’m not usually this forward, but she is far too breathtaking to just let it go.

She scoots over. “Here, there is plenty of room for the both of us.”

“That is too kind of you.” I say, lowering myself to the ground with care not to flick any dirt on her light-yellow dress. “I’m Professor Lucien Wolf, and you are?”

“Professor Iris Quinn, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise and what is it that you teach?”

“Math and you?”

“History.”

“Well, you don’t look like any of the stuffy old history professors I’ve known.”

Her comment catches me off guard and I let out a surprised laugh.

“I think that was a compliment, thank you.”

There was that smile again.

I took a seat under the shade but not too close to her, Stella always pops up at odd times and I don’t want to put Iris in an awkward position. The poor woman didn’t take the hint that we were no longer in a relationship. A few dates and I knew that she wasn’t the one for me. But Stella had other ideas. As if she was waiting in the shadows, bam she was there any time I talked to another woman. Scaring them off as she yelled in their face that I was her boyfriend. Once the other lady disappeared from sight, she would turn and smile at me sweetly as if the encounter never happened. The shift from angry to soft-spoken was so startling it often left me speechless. Some days, I considered leaving the university altogether to avoid her, but I honestly felt at home here and didn’t want to let her ruin this for me.

“How long have you been teaching here?” Iris asks as she sets her book aside to focus on me.

“About five years now. It’s a nice little college,” I reply. “What brings you here?”

“I received a letter from a family friend about the open position here. I applied and they sent for me to come and interview.” She pauses for a moment as she glances around at the stone buildings and students walking from class to class with a soft smile on her beautiful face. “It is not as busy as some of the other larger colleges and I think that is what gives this particular school its charm. The rest is history.” I don’t have to look around to agree.

“How is everyone treating you?”

“So far, everyone has been really nice. I haven’t met many of the staff yet. Just the Dean and a couple of people in my department. I share an office with Lois and she has to be one of the kindest ladies I’ve met.”

“That she is, we joke that she is the mother of the college. Be careful with mentioning your favorite foods in front of her, or you'll find a new treat on your desk every other day. She is the main reason none of the staff starve,” I joke. Just today, I found a homemade brownie on my desk that I devoured with my morning coffee.

Just as Iris is about to comment, none other than Stella jumps out from behind the tree. Her eyes spark with fury for a moment at the sight of Iris, but it fades into the sweet mask she wears for me in mere seconds.

“There you are, darling, I thought you were meeting me in your office after class?” she asks, when an eyebrow raises. “Who is this?”

Stella’s lip snarls back and she points to Iris.

Iris extends a hand toward Stella. “I’m Iris. I work in the math department. It’s nice to meet you.”

She rebuffs the hand and glares at me. “Come now, Lucien. I have lunch ready in your office.”

“You go ahead, I’ll collect my things and be right there.” I smile sweetly, hoping to convince her that I will follow her.

“Don’t be too long.”

I don’t say anything to Iris until Stella is out of earshot. “Sorry about Stella. We went on a few dates and I broke it off but she refuses to get the hint.”

“Are you going to have lunch with her?” Iris asks.

---