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Brennon laughed. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I forgot all about field trips. Makes you feel like a parent, doesn’t it?”
Katy nodded. “Exactly. Really...exactly, Brennon. It really does feel like a parent, but I kind of like it. Like when we go to the museum. I see the parents walking by with their kids...or sometimes the grandparents...and I’m like oh, how nice.”
Brennon leaned back into the couch and laughed. “You are too funny. Is that how you see it? I don’t.”
Katy squinted at Brennon. “Uh oh, let’s hear it. You’re a man, so you probably see it like a nuisance.”
Brennon looked away bashfully. “Well, I wouldn’t say that. Yeah, it looks cool in pictures, but when you go with a group of thirty kids and there’s 4 adults, it wasn’t all that fun to me. What made it even worse, at least when I was teaching, was how we had so many field trips that just so happened to be downtown. And you know how that can make you nervous with all the traffic and stuff around.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Katy said, nodding. “I could see that.”
The conversation then steered on to Brennon talking about his true feelings toward being a professor. “Sometimes I wonder what’s next for me. I was actually thinking about our talk we had out on the patio and about what I’m going to do next with my life. I’m kind of inspired.”
“Inspired?” Katy asked, surprised. “Inspired by what? By me?”
“In a way,” Brennon started explaining. “You know how I started my career kind of late. Well, I guess my problem is that I just didn’t imagine myself beyond the point of being a college professor. But, now that I’ve been in it for some years, I’m wondering now if this is where I want to stay. Sure, I like being a professor. But...there’s some things about it that make me wonder if it’s somewhere I want to be for years and years.”
Katy listened as Brennon opened up about his own issues regarding his profession. When she responded with her advice or idea, she noticed how Brennon listened intently. It was almost as if he held on to her every word. Having his direct, undivided attention made Katy a bit nervous, but she took a deep breath and stayed 100% engaged in the conversation.
“Seriously,” Katy said. “If you wanted to work in a field where you help create the educational materials, then you should really go for that. I don’t see why you can’t. Seriously. You might as well. You have the qualifications. You have the skills, the drive. And, if I’m not mistaken, aren’t some of those companies headquartered right here in town.”
“Yes, they are,” Brennon said. “And thank you, Katy. I just thought I would run the idea by you since, you know, you were thinking about making a different move as well.”
The conversation carried on then the two were a bit startled when the front door opened. Katy’s mother Linda walked in, saw the two, then jumped into the conversation by sitting down in the living room with them. Twenty minutes passed, the three of them having talked about numerous subjects, then Brennon announced that he needed to get going so he wouldn’t be late.
Linda thanked Brennon for coming by and talked about how nice it was to see him again. Katy walked him out onto the porch while her mother disappeared, presumably heading back to the kitchen. On the wrap-around porch, as the sun started its early decent out of the sky around 5 pm – orange and purples hues of light streaking across the horizon with the hills in the background – a breeze whipped by. Katy’s golden brown hair lifted up off of her shoulders; Brennon looked at her, taking in her beauty.
“Hey, I just thought I would give you one of these,” Brennon said, extending his arm out with one of his cards in his hand. “I meant to tell you I’ll be meeting some colleagues from the university who might be able to tell you more about the master’s program. If you would like, we could have lunch soon. I can help to write you a letter or recommendation for a program.”
Katy smiled and nodded, not knowing what to say. She had his phone number, but truly hadn’t thought of seeing him beyond coming to a family function at the house. She accepted the card. “Okay, absolutely. That actually...actually sounds nice.”
Brennon looked into Katy’s eyes for a few long moments then glanced back at his car. “Well, I’ll get going. Maybe next week sometime or something like that? Just let me know what works for you and we can go from there.”
“Yeah, no problem,” Katy said.
Katy stood on the porch while Brennon climbed into his car then headed toward the road. Before getting out of sight, he looked back and into her eyes once again. Katy felt a connection, even though she wouldn’t dare say anything. There she stood, on the porch, for a few moments in thought. Finally, she sat down then crossed her legs. She chuckled, shaking her head. “Wait until Eve hears this,” she mumbled. “Just wait.”
Chapter 4
Katy zipped back to her classroom after taking the children down to the cafeteria. She had extra time after grading last night, so she prepared her lunch – a sandwich, soup, and a little salad. She grabbed it out of the teacher’s lounge then returned to her desk and plopped down in the chair. Normally she might scroll through her social media or text back and forth with a friend, but today she wanted silence. The children had been a bit rambunctious for the morning. On top of that, word started to spread that the administration was making some changes that could lead to teacher layoffs. Katy wanted to read through some emails and see if she could get a better understanding of what she was hearing.
Katy got halfway through reading an email sent from the Department of Education downtown on budget issues when her phone rang. She groaned, telling herself that if it was Eve, she would just call her back this evening. It wound up being a name she didn’t expect to see on her caller ID: Brennon. Her heart started thumping out of her chest, but she didn’t know why. She had been thinking about him last night and when she would get brave enough to follow up with maybe going to lunch. Once the call got to the second ring, Katy answered quickly. “Hello? Hello?”
“Hello, Katy, this is Brennon. How are you? Did I catch you at a bad time? I thought I remembered you saying you took your lunch around this time, so I figured I would call you now.”
“No, you’re fine,” Katy said. “I’m doing well, I guess. And you?”
“Uh, oh,” Brennon said. “I can hear it in your voice.”
“Here it in my voice?” Katy asked. “I’m not getting sick.”
“No, that you’re worried about something,” Brennon said. “I can hear it in your voice. I used to be a teacher, you know, so I know that voice.”
Katy smiled then quickly explained in a rough version what was going on. “So, yeah, now I’m opening up emails to see if anything has been sent out about what I’m hearing.”
“Hmm, I see,” Brennon said. “Well, I don’t want to take up all of your lunch break or anything like that. I was just calling to see if maybe you would be free this evening, when you get off of work. If you’re not doing anything, I’ll be in the downtown area and was thinking we could meet for that lunch, well late lunch or early dinner,” he chuckled, “and just chat for a little bit. If you’re busy, I understand.”
Katy smiled, setting her fork down. “No, I’m not busy,” she answered without even thinking. “This evening works for me, actually. I’ll probably be leaving the school today around four o’clock or something like that. Did you already have a place in mind?”
