When Michaela had volunteered to become a mentor, she had only imagined helping with homework and studying for exams.
However, here she was with Colleen Cooper, her young protégé, attending her brother's baseball game.
She had been assigned to the Coopers for six months through an organization aiming to help young talents, who wanted to focus their studies to apply for a scholarship.
Michaela found that Colleen was very gifted, and with her father gone and her mother working 2 jobs to get the family through financially,
she qualified as a talent with a need for guidance and help that her mother could not provide.
Michaela had grown very fond of Colleen and her family, and this Saturday she had agreed to take Colleen and her younger brother Brian to watch their older brother,
Matthew, play while their mother, Charlotte, was doing an extra shift in the café.
Matthew's team was doing well, and soon they were all cheering and jumping up and down in excitement as the final ball was played,
and the outcome was in favour of Matthew.
"Let's go down to the field" Brian was pulling her arm, and Colleen was nodding her head.
"He said it would be ok, I asked him this morning" she exclaimed, and Michaela agreed.
She had met Matthew quite a few times, and he was a sensible young man who had just applied for a sports scholarship so he could follow his dream to study law.
"Let's wait for him to come out", Michaela kept a firm hold of Brian who was ready to take off anytime.
However, Matthew quickly spotted them, and came over.
"Matthew!" both Colleen and Brian gave him a hug, and he lifted Brian off the ground.
"You played real good", Brian beamed at his brother, and Michaela could not help but correcting him "he played well, Brian".
Matthew smiled at her. "Thanks for taking them".
She was just about to answer, when Colleen grabbed her arm.
"Matthew… we need to debrief", his coach was approaching them, and that was the reason Colleen suddenly held onto her so firmly.
"That's Sully…" she whispered, and Michaela eyed her quizzingly.
"He's so hot…" she added, and Michaela tried her best not to show her amusement.
"Sorry to disturb you…" Sully had reached them, and Matthew nodded.
"This is Mike, Mike this is Sully, my coach and mentor. You already met Brian and Colleen before", Matthew quickly did the introductions,
and Michaela stuck out her hand to greet the coach.
"Mike?" he questioned taking her hand, and she felt her cheeks turn a little warmer than usual.
"Well, it's a nickname really. I'm Michaela"
"Well, I hope you enjoyed the game." His eyes were very blue and twinkled under that baseball cap, and she nodded.
"Yes we did –especially Brian."
"Mike's my mentor" Colleen quipped, and Sully raised his eyebrows a little
"Are you with the organization?"
Michaela tried to sound casual when answering:
"Yes, I'm in my final year in Med school, and I'm helping Colleen with her studies. Only today she persuaded me to come along and watch Matthew play".
Sully gave her a broad smile "I hope you weren't disappointed then."
He could not help running his eyes over her petite frame as she stood there before him, and she could not help but notice the intensity of his gaze.
"We better head back to the team", Matthew said, and Sully nodded.
"Maybe I'll see you around… Mike" he flashed a smile at her before taking off in the other direction.
"What had just happened?" she wondered on their way back in the car.
Brian kept babbling about the game, and Colleen had gone a little quiet.
Yet Michaela did not really notice. She was lost in thought.
Something about Sully had stirred her, and she was not sure what to think of it.
A few weeks later she attended a meeting for mentors with the organization.
It was a course on how to deal with various issues in being a mentor, and how to motivate the talents in their work.
It turned out Sully was one of the speakers on motivation.
She had signed up for the meeting at the very last minute as she had a complicated test coming up, and had been unsure of whether or not she would have the time to go.
However, her revision had gone quite smoothly, and she had decided to take a few hours off the books.
Therefore she had not read all the details on the programme.
When he stepped forward to tell about motivation she felt a surge in her stomach.
This time he was not wearing a baseball cap, but jeans and a fitting t-shirt.
He really did have very blue eyes. She swallowed hard and willed herself to concentrate on what he was saying.
However, Colleens words 'he's really hot' kept creeping into her head, and she found it very difficult not to let her eyes wander a little and enjoy the view.
"So how long have you been with the Coopers?" Sully had spotted her long brown hair over by the refreshments,
and he knew straight away it was her. He was not going to miss this chance to speak with her some more.
She nearly jumped at the sound of his voice.
He had come up from behind her and caught her by surprise.
"Sorry, I did not mean to startle you," he touched her arm, and she immediately felt a tingling sensation.
"Don't worry about it, " she smiled, and added "I liked what you said about motivation. It was very… inspiring"
"I'm glad you liked it. I don't usually do things like this, but since the team is doing so well this year they asked me to share my experiences with you all."
He leaned closer while talking and reached behind her to grab a snack from the table she was standing next to.
Their eyes met for a brief moment, and he caught her off guard.
"Your eyes are two different colours" he stated
"Yes" she raised her eyebrows in response. She did not know what to say. Nothing seemed to fit.
He simply smiled at her and added "I've never seen anything like that before."
He sipped his coffee and took a bite from the apple he had just retrieved from the table.
"It's called heterochromia" she said drinking her own coffee.
"So have they always been that way?" he leaned close again with a curious expression, and she smiled broadly.
"Yes, it's permanent, I'm afraid."
"Don't be…" the proximity between them, or the lack of it, was suddenly evident, and she held her breath when he touched her cheek to get a closer look.
"It's different… I like that."
She bit her lip, and the moment was over.
"You never answered my question" he said lightly.
She must have looked puzzled.
"The Coopers" he repeated, and she got herself together.
"6 months… I used to do a lot of charity back in Boston, and I've not done so much since I moved here, because of my studies.
But when I saw the poster about being a mentor, it just made sense to me, and I was paired with Colleen."
He nodded while listening. "It's a great family… too bad their Dad left them" he said.
"How long have you known them?"
"A couple of years… Matthew did not take his father's disappearance very well, and lost his focus for a while.
That's why I started training him. He's a smart kid –he'll be a great lawyer some day."
Sully smiled at her, "I bet Colleen is ambitious too"
"Yes, she's determined to study medicine." She found his gaze intense, and for once she was struggling with her words.
"She thinks you're hot.." the words had left her mouth before she knew it, and she felt her cheeks go warm.
He laughed a soft laugh and looked her straight in the eye. "I'm flattered, but she's a little young for me, don't you think?"
He had a twinkle in his eyes.
"She doesn't think so…" What was wrong with her? She wondered feeling utterly stupid.
In an attempt to get herself together she muttered "Well, I better go. I have a test I need to study for. It was nice talking to you."
She spoke quickly, and then she left.
When she got outside she almost felt like running to her car.
"I am so dumb…" she mumbled to herself as she rummaged through her handbag to find her car keys.
"Hey, Mike!" his voice sounded across the parking lot, as he jogged toward her.
She closed her eyes before turning around with her back against the car.
"Look, I just want to say one more thing before you leave."
She did not say anything, but waited for him to finish.
"I think you're really nice, and I'd like to see you again." Silence.
She still did not speak, but merely took in his words and his expression.
"Think about it?" He reached for her hand and pressed a small piece of paper into her hand.
"My number, Michaela. Think about it…"
Her name was soft on his lips and there was something about the way he said it that she liked.
She liked it very much.