The day had started off badly. Delia, who was still missing Spencer, was starting to feel overwhelmed at having to pick up his share of work. Professor Oak kept reassuring her that it was just temporary until Spencer got back or until he could get another graduate student to help out.

Then the divorce papers arrived in the mail. Will had filed them without her knowledge.

Guess I shouldn't be surprised, she thought as she put them down on her bed. Will had made no attempt to contact her after running away with Janine.

Later that morning in the lab, Delia was helping Professor Oak restrain a Rattata so he could draw some blood for an experiment. The Pokémon, deciding it didn't want to be restrained, broke loose from her grasp and bit Professor Oak. Pulling the Pokémon off, Professor Oak swore violently as blood gushed from the wound on his hand. He also swore at her for not keeping a firm grip on the Pokémon.

Even though he later apologized to her, his criticism still stung. In an effort to cheer herself up, Delia wandered down to the preserve to visit some of her favorite Pokémon. One of the Doduo, spotting her, made an attempt to jump the fence surrounding the Pokémon preserve and broke its leg in the process. Professor Oak had been alarmed at the sight of Delia's face when she burst into the lab, telling him to come quickly. He had been afraid that something had happened to her.

"Well, that should do it," Professor Oak said as checked the cast on the bird Pokemon's injured leg. He then noticed the worried expression on Delia's face. "Don't worry, he'll be all right. It's a small fracture."

"It's not that," she sighed. "I feel like this is all my fault. Doduo wouldn't have gotten hurt if I hadn't gone to see him. This whole day has been nothing but one bad thing after another: this, your hand, the divorce papers…"

"Divorce papers?"

"Yes," she said sadly. "Will wants a divorce. The papers arrived today."

"Oh, Delia, I'm so sorry." He felt even worse now for yelling at her earlier in the lab.

"Don't be. I know now that Will never loved me. I just wish I hadn't been foolish enough to marry him in the first place."

"Delia, you mustn't blame yourself for everything that happened. I…" He stopped in mid-sentence. He was going to say "I hate to see you so sad," but he realized that was something that a professor probably shouldn't be saying to his student. He gathered up his things and opened the corral gate. "It's getting dark. Maybe we should head back to the house."

As they walked back to the lab, Delia stopped for a moment at the huge Pokéberry tree that stood on the top of the hill that overlooked Pallet Town.

"Oh, what a pretty sunset," she exclaimed. "Let's stop for a second and watch." She sat down on the wooden bench underneath the tree. "This is my favorite spot," she sighed dreamily. "I love to come here and watch the sun rise in the morning and set in the evening. Somehow things don't seem so bad when I'm up here."

Professor Oak leaned against the tree trunk. "It's one of my favorite spots, too. That's why I had the bench put there."

"How's your hand, by the way?"

He sat down on the bench next to her. "Well, it may look pretty nasty, but I think I cleaned it up fairly well." He stretched out his right hand to examine the bite wound and to his surprise, Delia took it in her own.

"Oh," Delia said as she gently touched his injured hand. "That still looks bad. Does it hurt?"

"Not so much now," he said with surprise. Things were getting dangerous sitting so close to her, with her hand touching his.

"I feel so bad. This was all my fault." She raised his hand to her mouth and gently kissed it. Even though she may have intended for the kiss to be innocent, the feelings produced by the sensation of her lips on his skin certainly were not. Warmth rushed throughout his body. Before he could stop himself, he slowly caressed her cheek with the back of his injured hand. But rather than being frightened off by his advances, Delia responded to his gesture by leaning forward and kissing him on the lips. A feeling not unlike an electric shock passed through his body. Before he knew what was happening, he found himself kissing her back. Realizing what he had done, he quickly pulled away from her and jumped up from the bench.

"Oh, Delia, I'm so sorry," he said in an anguished voice as he turned away from her. "I had no right to do that. Please forgive me. It was inappropriate."

"Inappropriate? Why?" she asked him with a quizzical look on her face.

"Because, Delia," he said firmly as he stared at the setting sun, trying to avoid looking at her, "I'm your boss, your teacher, and you work for me. Not to mention that I'm also a good deal older than you and should know better."

"You might be my boss, Samuel," Delia said in a low voice as she stood up and placed her hand on his shoulder, "but we're also friends. And weren't you the one that told me that the best relationships often start as friendships?" She pressed her body against his and kissed him again, this time more slowly, sensually.

He wasn't going to be able to take much more. She was so soft and warm. But he had to stop before it was too late. He pulled away from her again.

"What's wrong, Samuel?" Delia asked with hurt evident in her eyes. "Don't you want to kiss me?"

"I'd be lying if I said 'no', Delia." She saw the desire in his eyes.

"Then don't say no," she whispered as she kissed him again.

He couldn't fight what he felt any longer. As they stood under the tree kissing passionately, Delia started to shiver as darkness fell.

"Come on. Let's go inside." He took her hand and led her back to the house. As soon as they were inside, his hands started wandering over her body. She started to pull him down on the sofa.

"No, not here," he whispered in her ear. "Upstairs."

Once in his bedroom, any shred of self-control that he had left completely vanished. It had been over a year since he had been with a woman, and he was hungry for her and her body. He had been fantasizing about being with her for weeks. And now he was totally consumed with the thought of touching her, holding her, making love to her. He could barely control himself as he undid the buttons on her sweater. Being with her made him feel like a teenager again. Delia was so young, so pretty -- just like how Rose had been on their wedding night.

Except the difference between then and now was that after nearly twenty-five years of marriage, he knew exactly how to please a woman. Delia gasped with ecstasy as he touched her in ways she had never even imagined. She closed her eyes and let herself be carried away by the incredible sensations that were coursing through her body.

It never, ever was like this with Will. It was never this wonderful.

---

The next few weeks were incredibly blissful. With Spencer gone, they didn't have to keep their relationship hidden. Mornings were spent working side-by-side in the lab and evenings were spent making love. But they both knew that when Spencer returned from his expedition that they would have to be more careful about keeping their affair a secret. The consequences would be enormous if anyone discovered the truth.

---

"Anyone home?" Spencer stuck his head in the doorway of the lab.

"Spencer!" Delia cried out happily as she jumped down from her lab bench and ran over to hug him. "Oh, I missed you so much! And I like what you've done with your hair." He had decided to let his hair grow long while he was away.

"I've missed you, too," Spencer said as he leaned forward and kissed her. He had been eagerly anticipating this moment for weeks: finally being with Delia again, holding her in his arms, kissing her. But as his lips met hers, he noticed Delia's reticence. Even though she tried to hide it, it was obvious to him that she didn't want to kiss him. His heart sank.

"Did something happen while I was away? You seem different somehow."

"How so?" she said cautiously.

"I don't know, just different."

"No, silly. I missed you terribly." She went over to her workstation and handed him a huge stack of papers. "Now get back to work," she ordered him with a grin. "That's all of the stuff I had to do for you while you were away."

"Oh boy, looks like I have a lot of catching up to do." As Spencer sorted through the pile of papers, he watched Delia out of the corner of his eye. She was humming a tune to herself while she tickled the chin of the Caterpie that she was holding in her lap. He noticed that she looked almost blissful.

Something did happen while I was gone. He was afraid to ask what.

"Delia, this might not be any of my business, but did you meet someone while I was gone?"

Delia stopped humming and froze.

"What makes you say that, Spencer?" she said nervously.

"The way you're acting. It's like you're in love or something."

Delia's face turned red.

Oh, no.

Delia panicked. She couldn't tell him that she and Professor Oak had been sleeping together for nearly a month.

I don't want to lie to Spencer, but I don't know what else to do.

"Um, uh….Will came back into town while you were gone and we got together. We're talking about trying to work things out."

Delia felt terrible at the sight of her friend's crestfallen expression.

"I see," he said quietly.

Oh, Spencer, I'm sorry. So sorry.

"Well, I hope everything works out for you two," he said with false brightness.

"Thanks," she said quietly as she was overcome by a wave of guilt.

---

Later that evening after Spencer had gone home, Delia and Samuel were in bed together.

"I told Spencer that Will and I were talking about getting back together. Oh, Samuel, I feel so guilty for having to lie to him."

"I don't like lying to him either, Delia."

"I didn't know what else to do. If anyone knew about us…"

"Don't worry about that now, Delia," he said as he held her close to him. "Let's just enjoy being together right now."

Delia snuggled against him as he started to slowly caress her body. He really did have wonderful hands.