I put the food on the table so that Rick could get it when he came down. I went upstairs and went into Grace's room to see if the Checkov book was still there. It wasn't. I sat on her bed and was thinking about when Grace was little. I heard a voice calling me.

"Lily . . . Lily." Yelled Rick.

"What." I said.

"Where are you?"

"I'm in here." I said hoping that he would follow my voice.

"Where's here."

"In Grace's room."

"Oh." He yelled. I heard him coming up the stairs, so I got up and walked to the doorway. "There you are. I am leaving now." He said as he kissed me. "You all right?" He said.

"Yes. I'm fine." I said assuring him that everything was fine. He turned around and went down the stairs. I went into the bedroom and got my shoes and my purse and I left.

Judy was there by the time I got there. I walked over to the table and sat down. I put my purse on the table.

"Hi." I said.

"Hi. So what's this big thing that you wanted to tell me." As soon as she said that, a waitress walked over.

"Can I get you something?" Said the waitress.

"Yes. I would like a cup of coffee." I said.

"Make that two." Said Judy. I waited for the waitress to leave. As soon as she did I blurted out "This woman called me and said that her daughter told her that Grace has been." I stopped as I saw the waitress coming back with our coffees.

"Here you go." Said the waitress.

"Thank you." Judy and me said at the exact same time.

"Is there anything else that you would like?" Said the waitress.

"No." I said. The waitress left.

"Grace has been what?" Said Judy continuing the conversation.

"Grace has been doing things . . . with her teacher."

"What things." She said with a confused look on her face. Then it hit her. "Oh . . . those things."

"Yes, those things." I said sipping my coffee.

"Well atleast we know she's not a lesbian." She said jokingly.

"Judy, I mean she's 17."

"I know . . . I know." She said trying to comfort me.

"And this man who is educating her-whom she trusts and admires is actually seduced her. I would-I would." I saw Jake coming towards us so I stopped what I was saying. "Hey." I said hoping that he wouldn't figure out that something was bothering me.

"Hey." Said Judy.

"Hey . . . is everything all right." He asked. He had his hands resting on his hips.

"Yeah . . . great. How's the baby?" I asked.

"Fine . . . fine. Everyone's good." He replied.

"Good." I said.

"Ok. Anything you need?" He asked.

"Oh-uh-no were good. Thanks." Judy said. As soon as he walked away, Judy asked, "I can't believe your not even going to tell him"

"How do I tell him? What do I tell him?"

"I guess I see your point."

"How do you tell someone something about something that may not have even happened. Something that may not even be true. I mean, he could just really be a

mentor . . . who lends her Checkov books and takes her to Japanese movies. See, I just can't tell her that I don't believe her. I mean a part of me doesn't believe her." I said wanting her to comeback with something that would comfort me. Instead I got a confession.

"I had an affair with my art history professor my freshman year of college." She said thinking back to the time when she thought she was in love.

"Of course you did." I said putting my hands on my forehead. "After all he was one of the men their."

"Professor Suskin. He was 47 and obsessed with Georgia Keefe. And he looked like Cat Stevens."

"Don't tell me this." I said.

"It's true. He came along in this moment in time when . . . I just needed a man to fall in love with me . . . and he did. And I'll always be grateful to him for that." She said.

"I'm sorry. That's just wrong. It's wrong. I don't care what the circumstances are, a teacher should never do this with a student. Ever." I said making my point get across.

"Your right. It is wrong. Was wrong . . . but, I'll never be sorry it happened." She said.

"I can't believe anyone would want to get involved with their teacher." I said.

"Haven't you ever had a crush on a teacher before." Judy said as we both took a drink of our coffees.

"No." I said not thinking, not listening to what she just asked me. She was silent as she thought about something that I thought that she would have forgotten. I knew where this was headed.

"Yes you did." Judy said finally breaking the silence.

"No I didn't." I said lying to her.

"Yes you did. I remember. You were about Grace's age. I can't remember what his name was, but you always had a smile on your face when you were going to his class and coming out of his class. I remembered that you cried for two weeks after you graduated." She said opening up my eyes a little bit. "You put a heart around his picture in your yearbook."

"I did not." I said.

"Yes you did." She said as she finished her coffee.

"Well that was different. WE didn't actually do anything. We didn't have a "relationship"." I said.

"Grace may not have had one with her teacher . . . besides, we don't know if he seduced her. I mean, Professor Suskin didn't seduce me and your teacher didn't seduce you into having a crush on him."

"No. But."

"But what. Maybe Grace's teacher didn't seduce her. Were not even sure what really happened." She said cutting me off.

"I know . . . Mr. Redner." I said.

"What?" asked Judy.

"That was the name of my teacher, the one I had a crush on." I said. I looked at her and she started laughing. I was comfortable then. It was like everything was going back to it usual place. As soon as I finished my coffee, we left. Everything was fine. But not for long.