History Lessons

Angelina choked back tears.

I pulled her close to me.

"Marc," she whispered. "I—"

"I know," I said quietly, barely able to see through my own watered eyes. My feelings overwhelmed me. The words came easily, almost naturally. "I love you, too, Angelina."

We finally managed to get to the garage and I loaded her things into the car.

I didn't want to let her go, but I knew I had to. Each lingering touch was soft and warm.

With one final kiss, I closed her car door. She smiled at me, makeup running down her cheeks.

I opened the garage door and she backed out. Angelina waved as she pulled away.

In the cold February air, I watched from the driveway as her car disappeared down the street. I went back inside and found myself still shivering. It wasn't just the cold; I felt lonelier now than I ever had in my life.

I looked around the house and saw small traces of my lover, left behind for me. I found a magnet and put the Valentine's Day card Angelina had given me on the refrigerator. There was an empty frame in a closet, and I propped up the picture we had taken at the restaurant on top of my TV. Her perfume still hung in the air.

The house was suddenly quiet. Before, I enjoyed the solitude, the peace. Now my home—and my life—seemed barren, as if something were missing.

It was as if a part of me had driven off with Angelina.

**********************

I set the last of the boxes down. The place was a mess. But I couldn't dwaddle too long; I was due to pick Angelina up in a few minutes.

For the next four months we had seen precious little of each other. I had gone to visit her a few times. She came home twice, once to see just me and once to see her folks.

Sure enough, after her first visit, rumours began to swirl around school. The kids and other teachers said I had the "guess who just got some" look the following Monday. They tried to pump me for information, but I said nothing. A little part of me liked the intrigue of our tryst. I think a few people had an inkling of who had been in my home, but no one knew for sure.

Somehow, we had made it through the end of Angelina's spring semester, through prom and graduation for my kids, and it was summer time. She was taking some extra summer classes and trying to graduate in December. Then we were going to see where our relationship was headed. At least that was the plan as far as she knew.

I went to my car and drove to her apartment. Her roommate Molly answered the door with a smile. When I came to visit, we usually got a hotel room somewhere and disappeared from Friday afternoon until late Sunday night.

"Angelina's in the bathroom," Molly said. "Big plans this weekend?"

"Not really," I shrugged.

She gave me a sly grin, seeming to know that there was something I wasn't letting her in on.

Angelina came out of the bathroom and jumped into my arms. After a long kiss, I held her close to me. It had been about a month since we had last seen each other, although we talked just about every day. It was a good thing we were with the same cell phone company and had free mobile-to-mobile calling.

"I've missed you," she said.

I twirled her around in the living room and took in those deep brown eyes that I could never get enough of.

"How did I get so lucky?" I asked her for the millionth time.

"You, of all people, should know," she giggled. "Didn't I teach you anything in your class?"

"I guess not."

"You should listen to your own lessons more carefully, Mr. Thompson," she said with a laugh. "You taught me to believe in myself. That nothing was out of my reach. You gave me motivation. I wouldn't have gone to college if it weren't for you; I wouldn't have gotten the scholarship if you hadn't pushed me. You made me want it. So I went for it."

Her arms wrapped tighter around me.

"All those papers we wrote for you. All the extra work you made us do. You didn't want us to just pass a test. You wanted us to learn, and not just the facts. You wanted us to succeed at anything we put our minds to."

"Which you always did," I could only smile into my lover's eyes.

"That's right, Mr. Thompson," She kissed me gently, although I could feel the passion in her lips. "And now I want you. And you know that when I want something, Ialwaysget it."

"You sure do," I stared into the eyes of my lover. "I guess I had forgotten."

"Oh, get a room!" Molly rolled her eyes. She swatted me across the rear with her magazine. "Now get her out of here beforeI jump you."

We laughed. Angelina got a small duffel bag and we headed out to my car.

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

"Not really," she said. "Where are you going to take me?"

"Someplace special."

"I hope it's not that sushi place where the fish was still moving. I like sushi, but that was a little too freaky for me." She got in the car after I opened the door for her.

"No, we're not going there tonight," I said with a grin.

I got in and started driving.

My handed rested on her leg. She had on a thin blouse and a pair of shorts that showed off her shapely legs. Her hair was pulled back. Like the first time we had gone out all those months ago, all I could do was stare at her beauty. It made driving a little difficult.

"Where are we?" she asked after a while, not recognising the roads. Instead of heading downtown or to any of the usual places where we stayed, we were in a small friendly neighbourhood.

"You'll see."

I pulled into the driveway of a one-level brick home. It wasn't much, but it was in pretty good shape and only needed a little bit of work. I had closed on it the month before.

There was a soft breeze blowing through the trees as we got out of the car. I took her hand and she followed me dumbly. I led her to the door and fumbled for the keys.

"Marc . . . What are you doing—" she gaped. I think it was finally sinking in.

I wrapped my arms around her. "My love, I couldn't go another year living so far away from you, so I moved to be closer."

"You can't . . . You have a job . . . the school . . ." she stammered.

"I found a job here. I start working in the county school board office next month." I pushed the door open. There were boxes of stuff everywhere.

"What about the high school?" Tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"I've already taken care of that. I gave my notice back in April," I clutched her close to me. Truly, I hated leaving the high school and my students, but I knew that my relationship with Angelina was a gift from the Heavens, and it would be crazy for me to let her go, even if it did throw my personal life for a loop.

Sobs of joy wracked her body. "I can't believe you did this for me."

"I didn't do it for you, honey," I kissed her gently. "I did it forus."

She was trembling.

"Didn't I teach you anything?" I asked. "Don't you remember what I told you kids? I said it was the most important thing I could ever teach anyone. Life is like a game . . ."

"You can play, or you can watch," she completed the phrase I had drilled into them from the first day of class. "Life will pass you by if you let it."

"I still don't know what brought you back to me, my love," I said. "But I love you too much to watch you move back to the middle of nowhere just to be with me, and I'm sure as hell not going to let you pass me by. This was a chance to make 'us' work, so I went for it."

"Marc . . . I don't know what to say," her voice broke. I brushed the tears out of her eyes.

"Say you love me," I kissed her.

"I love you, Marc Thompson."

"I love you, too, Angelina. Now stop crying," I said with a grin. "I can't stand to see a pretty girl cry. Makes me horny."

Angelina threw her arms around me and laughed.

"Now let me show you around your new house," I whispered. Before she could respond, I threw her duffel bag through the doorway, picked her up and carried her over the threshold. "Welcome home."