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Chapter Eighteen
Josh
I finished setting up the PowerPoint on the big screen in class. Naomi had missed Friday’s class but Monday’s session I called for mandatory attendance since it was a review lecture for the upcoming midterm. When time for class came around and she still hadn’t come in yet, I was confused. Was she really going to start slacking on her grade because she didn’t want to see me?
“Alright everybody, let’s start.” I said. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, thanks for sending in questions before class. That helps us maximize review time and I’m going to open up my office hours a little bit to get in any additional questions after today,” I said. I ignored the murmurs that resulted after I said that and gestured to the PowerPoint. “Chapter’s one through three happened to be everyone’s strongest unit based on the papers I got so we won’t spend too much time on it. I thought we could go straight to the questions I received about a few of our theorizers,” I said. Just as I hit the key to change the slide, Naomi quietly slipped into the class room. She wore a loose, lightweight sweater over shorts I could barely detect underneath. Her hair was piled in a messy bun and she looked tired.
I continued to read off the first question and answer it with context from the textbook. My eyes couldn’t help darting to the back of the class where Naomi sat, typing away on her computer. She barely looked up and when she did it was only to look at the slide, not me. Her eyes were more than tired, they were sad. I wanted to pull her aside after class to ask her how the divorce between her parents was going. I wanted to ask her to reconsider her decision to stop seeing each other.
“Dr. J?” her friend, Jacob, rose his hand. He had a mischievous smirk on his face that I wasn’t sure he was aware of.
“Yeah?” I said, annoyed he was asking something when I’d been clear on the whole question thing. But, in the pursuit of not looking like an ass, I called on him.
“Is there something on my head or are you staring at the clock behind us?” he asked. The class chuckled, I didn’t really get the joke.
“I guess I look forward to the end of class just like anyone else,” I joked, calling more laughs. “But seriously, let’s get through this guys,” I said to keep everyone on track. I glanced at Jacob for a split second and wondered how often he noticed me staring at Naomi…and how long had he noticed it?
By the end of class I’d just managed to get through the entire review. Not as many people as I thought stayed behind to ask me questions. Naomi was in the line though and even though she tried to catch me before everyone else left, I kept skirting around her until we were the only ones left in the class. Through the classroom door window, though, I saw Jacob waiting for her outside the hall and his eyes were zeroed in on her.
“Hey,” I said. “How are you?”
“I’m fine. I just had a question about the midterm’s format,” she said quickly.
“Okay, sure,” I said. I told her how many questions there’d be and basically what kinds of questions and she tightened her hand around her bag and stepped towards the door.
“Thanks,” she said dully.
“Wait,” I said and glanced into the hall again. Jacob was still manning the door. “How are you holding up?” I asked.
“I’m fine, really,” she said and hurried out of the room to walk with Jacob. I closed my eyes briefly and sighed in frustration. It had to have been her family that was bothering her so much. That had been the only reason for her to look so distracted before. I doubted our split had anything to do with it since that had largely been her choice.
I went through the rest of my classes trying not to think about Naomi but it was hard to stay on track with her face popping into my head every few minutes. After my classes and office meetings were done, I drove to Amy’s house. She’d asked me to stop by for dinner, apparently Kaden missed me.
I pulled into her driveway, parked and walked to the front door, which was unlocked. When I stepped inside, the dogs started barking and ran at me full steam.
“Hey guys,” I chuckled and patted them on the head, scratched them behind the ears and glanced around the front room. “Anyone home?” I called.
I walked to the family room and found Kaden entranced by some kid show. He looked at me as if shocked to see me, processed that I was really there and then grinned like the sun. “Unca Josh!” he squealed and ran at me. I picked him up, lifting him over my head, and he giggled like a little maniac until I pulled him down for a hug. Then Amy walked into the room.
“Hey, sorry I was in the dark-room,” she said. I kissed her on the cheek when she reached us and then tossed Kaden into the air a few times. I held him on my hip and walked into the kitchen with Amy. I did smell rice cooking and saw a few pots on the stove, simmering.
“It smells good, what’s on the menu?” I asked.
“Seafood gumbo, rice, and some greens,” she said. “I was feeling in a comfort food mood.” Kaden pointed to the floor and I let him down. He ran back to the couch to finish watching his show.
“Same,” I muttered and sat at the kitchen table.
“You’re really bummed that Naomi broke things off?” she asked. I shrugged. “Very expressive,” she murmured and uncovered the gumbo pot to stir it. The fragrance that filled the kitchen was mouthwatering and my stomach growled.
“She didn’t come to class Friday and she was late today—she looked like crap,” I said. I stood up and walked to the stove. I reached into the utensil drawer for a spoon.
“Did you talk to her at all?” Amy took my spoon and scooped a little bit of the broth for me to taste. As soon as the mix of spices and the taste of seafood hit my tongue, my stomach growled as if it would jump out of my mouth.
“Is it done yet?” I asked, Amy laughed at me.
“Almost.”
“I tried to talk to her. It didn’t really go well. She wanted to get out of the class as quickly as possible and her friend kept staring at me. Tried to call me out during class for looking in their direction, it was weird,” I said. Amy’s brow furrowed but she didn’t comment.
