Chapter 4
"Elsie Margaret Hughes! I have a bone to pick with you!" Beryl stormed into Elsie's office on Monday, the first day of the term, and slammed the door behind her. Elsie looked up calmly from her desk, deciding she would make Beryl work for whatever information she wanted this time.
"Yes?" Beryl had a tendency to be dramatic, so Elsie just waited to see if Beryl's sudden flair was about the thing Elsie was dreading discussing. It was.
"Do you know who I had lunch with today? Phyllis! She told me that you and that hunky new professor were having a delicious little téte a téte in the courtyard on Saturday! Why have I not heard about this before now? And WHY did I have to hear it from Phyllis?"
Elsie just shrugged, determined not to indulge Beryl's crazy ideas.
"It was nothing important." Beryl practically turned purple at Elsie's refusal to share.
"Also, what happened on Friday night? When I left you two, I couldn't have slipped a piece of paper between you both! And you expect me to believe that this is 'nothing important'?!"
Elsie slowly shut her laptop.
"We shagged in his truck in the field next to Ruby's."
Beryl dramatically threw a hand to her bosom and flopped into the chair facing Elsie's desk. Her face had turned a dangerous shade of red and she was having difficulty breathing. Elsie watched as Beryl calmed down enough to see the smirk on her face.
"Damn you Elspeth Hughes! You're a dirty rotten liar you are!"
Elsie crossed her arms and scowled. "I told you to stop using my full name. You know how I hate it!"
"You deserve it! Putting me on like that. Cruel is what you are. So what actually happened?"
Elsie sighed, resigned to the fact that Beryl wasn't going to give up.
"Well, as far as I can tell, I made a wicked fool of myself after you left and went traipsing 'round in the field. He graciously took me home, although I have no idea how he knew my address, and then I woke up the next day and came to work where he kindly explained what I had done."
Beryl chuckled. "Well, that's slightly more than what I was expecting. But why in the world didn't you just call me?"
Elsie stood and brushed her fingers across the top of her laptop She shrugged noncommittally and said, "I guess I didn't think it through. I was incredibly uncomfortable so I bolted out of there fast as I could… I was much farther gone than I thought."
Beryl stood and went to Elsie's side, pulling her into a hug.
"Oh dear, I never meant to make you feel like that. I just thought you two looked well suited and you did seem to be attracted to him. I'm sorry dear. Sometimes I forget about…"
Elsie pulled out of Beryl's embrace. "Yes, well, I suppose I ought to be getting on. I'm having dinner at Anna's tonight. She called me today to tell me she was fired from her position at the cinema. Bloody rotten place it was anyhow, she's good to be rid of it."
Beryl watched with a look of sadness as Elsie grabbed her purse and her jacket from the hook behind the office door.
"Elsie, you do know that you can trust yourself enough to have a relationship."
Elsie turned abruptly to Beryl with tears in her eyes.
"That's just it. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever trust myself again."
"Anna, what's this?" Elsie walked into the kitchen from the bathroom holding an empty pregnancy test box. Anna turned, and the look of horror on her face told Elsie everything she needed to know.
"Elsie I…" Anna stammered a response as Elsie sat down at the table. Anna came and sat beside her.
"Do you think less of me?" Anna twisted her apron in her hands. Elsie looked up at her and smiled gently.
"Dear girl, I'm happy for you. You and John will make fine parents. Does he know yet?"
"I just took the test this morning. I actually took two, different brands. They recommend that I guess…. Anyways, they both turned out the same. I haven't seen John yet. I guess with the shock of being fired today and then all of this," Anna gestured vaguely toward the test box, then dropped her face into her hands and began to sob. "Oh Elsie, what am I going to do? I can't even hold a job, how and I supposed to be responsible for a tiny baby?"
Elsie wrapped Anna in a warm hug, rocking her slightly. "Anna, John loves you very much. You can't think he's going to let you go because of this? I would think he'd be overjoyed!" Anna sat back, wiping the tears from her face.
"But that's not what I'm worried about. I know John will take care of the baby and me but I want to be able to stand on my own. After what happened- I just never want to feel that helpless again."
Elsie looked gently on the young woman in front of her. She was all too aware of the pain and fear of losing oneself, and for Anna it had been even worse. It had been a blind date, a friend of Anna's boss. Green was his name. He and Anna had hit it off immediately, sharing a few dinners before Green had revealed himself for the monster he was. Anna had spent the better part of three years in counseling working through the horror he had put her through. When Elsie had introduced her to John, it had taken quite a long time for Anna to be comfortable with him. Anna had also told Elsie her fears about being intimate again, but was so thrilled and relieved when she realized she could overcome those fears because John was so good and kind to her. And now, so soon after their relationship had begun to blossom, Anna was expecting a child.
"Anna, my girl, talk to John. I am so sorry I broached such a sensitive subject before you'd had a chance to tell him. And don't you forget that I am always here for you. We ladies must stick together."
Anna laughed and wiped more tears from her cheeks. "Thank you. You've always been like a mother to me, and I'm not sure I've ever properly thanked you for loving me like one."
Anna reached out and pulled Elsie into a warm hug. Elsie held back the tears that threatened, tears that had come for more reasons than Elsie could admit.
The next afternoon, Elsie was teaching her intensive lit studies course when a student wearing a lab coat strode into the classroom.
Annoyed at the interruption, Elsie looked at the young man over her glasses. "May I help you?"
The young man was quite handsome and had unruly brown hair that fell in a large swoop over his forehead.
"My name's Jimmy, ma'am. Dr. Carson sent me here with a note for you, and instructions not to leave until you'd answered." He looked quote pleased with himself at the fact he was privy to some special message between the two professors. A snigger of laughter rippled through the room, and Elsie shot them all a look.
"I know you haven't all read the entire passage I assigned, so use the time wisely while I deal with this." The class delivered a collective sigh and a great rustling of pages could be heard as Elsie turned back to Jimmy.
"Well, aren't you going to read it?"
"I am, but don't look so hopeful. I'm not sharing it with you." Elsie ripped open the small envelope and pulled the paper from inside. She opened it up to Charles's neat, steady handwriting.
Elsie,
If you will let me, I'd love to bring you lunch today. 12:30? I'll come to you. Please say yes.
C.
Elsie huffed at the note. "What a stubborn man!" She muttered to herself under her breath. Jimmy cleared his throat to remind her of his presence. Elsie looked up to see Jimmy smirking.
"You tell Dr. Carson that this is inappropriate use of student time!" Elsie ripped up the letter and put it back into the envelope, then handed it to Jimmy. He smiled.
"Dr. Carson said you might react like this, so he sent me with another note." Jimmy handed Elsie a second note, and she took it from him, flabbergasted at the gall it displayed.
Elsie,
I'll be at your office at 12:30. I can't wait to have lunch with you.
C.
Elsie just threw her hands in the air.
"Oh for Heaven's sake." She exclaimed. She went to her podium and scribbled a quick note on the letter from Charles, replaced it inside the envelope, and handed it to Jimmy.
"Take that to Dr. Carson please. And if he requests this service from you in the future, it would be in your best interest to refuse!"
Jimmy just shook his head and chuckled to himself. He turned on his heel and left the room. Elsie turned to her students. Not a single student was reading; instead, they were all staring at her and smiling.
At precisely 12:00pm on the dot, Charles rapped lightly on the doorframe to Elsie's office. She was startled from her close reading of a student manuscript, and she looked up at him over the rim of her reading glasses. Charles chuckled a bit at her fierce expression, understanding why students had given her the nickname "Scottish Dragon." She lifted her head and sighed, flipping the pages of the manuscript closed.
"Dr. Carson."
"Hello, Dr. Hughes. What a pleasure it is to see you this fine afternoon. Would you like some lunch?" Charles extended a small tote; it contained a number of homemade dishes in pretty turquoise glass containers. Elsie shook her head in resignation and waved him in. She gestured to the chair in front of her desk, where he could only assume students would sit as they waited for her to mete out a punishment or a grade they'd been dreading. What Charles didn't know, however, was that Dr. Elsie Hughes- for all of her severity and decorum- was a soft, kind hearted woman who more often than not acted as a safe harbor for students needing guidance or a gentle word of encouragement.
Elsie remained seated in her desk chair. Charles smiled to himself when he realized she meant to keep the desk firmly between them, rather than sit on the floral settee about the size of a loveseat that occupied the front of the office near the door. He decided to give her a break, and he took the proffered chair and sat, placing the tote on the floor next to him.
"I received your note, Dr. Hughes." Elsie again flicked her steely blue gaze to his over the top of her frames, and he failed to stifle a chuckle.
"And, obviously, you did not bother to heed it."
Charles pulled the piece of paper from his breast pocket and read aloud. "Dear Dr. Carson, please note that if you show up at my door this afternoon, I will happily beat you about the head with whatever is handy. -Dr. Hughes"
Charles folded the note up carefully and placed it back into his pocket. Elsie just rolled her eyes, then rapidly packed up the manuscripts scattered across her desk.
She placed them in a drawer, then reached out her hands and wiggled her fingers at Charles. "Well, come on, I haven't got all afternoon. Let's get on with it." Charles smiled and lifted the dishes from the tote, opening each and setting the lid aside.
"My my, what an impressive spread Dr. Carson. Lobster salad, croissants, tiramisu, and fresh strawberries. I am impressed." Charles puffed out his chest.
"I'll have you know, Dr. Hughes," and when he said her name in his deep, throaty baritone he really drew out the s, and Elsie shivered a bit at the sound, "I am an accomplished culinary artist." Elsie smirked. She reached over and plucked a dish from the desk, looking at the bottom.
"So am I to assume your initials are B.M. then? I'm going to throttle that woman!" Charles grabbed the dish back and set it down.
"We will not speak of this moment! Beryl swore me to secrecy and that is one frightening woman! I should fear for my life if she finds out I gave up the gig."
Elsie sinks back into her chair and laughs. "Goodness me, I feel like I've got an entire tribe conspiring against me. I give in! I'll enjoy this damn lunch, and then I can report back to Beryl, tell her you're perfectly lovely but that there is nothing between us. Hand me that fork."
Charles holds out the fork, but won't let it go when Elsie grabs it. "You, Elsie Hughes, will enjoy lunch with me, but not because you feel you have to. Because we are both intelligent, interesting people who enjoy rich conversation." He slowly slides his hand around her hand as it holds the fork, and his gaze never leaves her face as his large fingers begin stroking her soft wrist. Elsie gets stuck staring into his dark eyes, and suddenly realizes she's been gazing at his face for far too long. She clears her throat and gently twists her hand out of his grip. He lets her hand go, sliding his fingers along her skin as she pulls away.
"Dr. Carson, I will enjoy this lunch, but I will not be making this a regular thing. I will not be a part of anyone's game." Charles was shocked. Game?
"What game!? Elsie, I don't say things I don't mean. I don't do things I don't mean." Elsie just speared a strawberry on the fork and raised it to her mouth, popping it between her lips and narrowing her eyes at him. He swallowed because he had paid too much attention to how her lips caressed the strawberry, but he wasn't entirely surprised when she said, "Dr. Carson, I am no one's fool. Keep your hands to yourself, or to someone else- I could really care less- but keep them off of me. Now, hand me a croissant."
Charles was bemused, but no less entranced by this woman. He truly believed she would beat him about the head if she felt so inclined, so he handed her a croissant and watched as she daintily picked it apart. "Are you going to eat lunch?" She asked innocently, looking at him with a blank expression. Charles couldn't help himself, he laughed aloud.
"Just you wait, Elsie Hughes, I'll prove just how serious I really am."
"Dr. Carson, you will be the death of me."
Charles couldn't have known then just how true those words would be.