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"You okay, Charlie?" Megan asked and sat down next to me.Her cake was half finished.Don was talking with David, and Dad laughed it up with Natalie.

"How could she have given Don such a morbid gift?" I muttered. I found the towel to be tasteless.

"Don has a very morbid job, and she probably thought he'd find the humor in it." Megan explained with a shrug, then asked gently"Are you sure you're just bothered by the towel?"

"I'm not too crazy about the age difference" I admitted.

"It must have been quite a surprise"

"Yeah. Dad had told us that she was younger, but I didn't think that he'd go out with someone young enough to be my sister!" I complained. Megan was so easy to talk to.

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"Hey Don... I've gotta go" Natalie came up to me after a while and said. " One of my patients got into early labor.Thanks for inviting me to your party, and Happy Birthday!"

"Sure. Good luck with your patient!" I told her. Part of me was relieved. "Thanks again for the gift"

"It was nice meeting you!" David said. Soon, she was saying her goodbyes to everybody. Dad walked out with her.

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"I'm sorry about having to go, Alan" Natalie told me as we walked towards her car.

"Don't worry about it." I told her. Don often got called back to work, so I was used to this, though I had hoped to spend the evening with her after the party. "Let me know how it goes!" . We kissed and she got into her car.

Soon, she was gone. With a sigh, I returned to the party.

"I hope the puppies do okay" Amita commented when I sat down again.

"So do I" Larry added.

"With her around, they will!" I said.

"Hey guys!" Charlie joined our little group, by pulling up a chair next to Amita. "Enjoying the party?"

"The food was delicious!" Amita said. "and the cake was the best I've ever tasted!"

"I got the cake from this bakery in Glendale called Porto's." Charle explained. "Someone once brought pastries from there for a math department meeting. They were mouth watering! So, last week, I asked her where she got them from."

Eventually, the party dissapated,and everyone went home.

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The puppies had to be incubated, and taken care of round the clock. Eventually, they were released to their owner.

"You know I was thinking" Alan said as we watched T.V at my place. I had my head on his shoulder "That it wouldn't be a bad idea if you went to one of Charlie's classes, by yourself. Show some interest in his work"

"Really?"

"Yeah..."

"Okay..." I said. It seemed to mean a lot to him.

"Do you know where CalSci is?"

"Yeah I do." I told him.

He wrote down, quickly, how to find where Charlie had his math for non majors class.

"I'll need to make arrangements in my schedule, but I'll make a visit by next week" I promised him.

"Great!"

Before I knew it, I was looking for a seat in the small auditorium, where the class was held. The chairs, unfortunately, were wooden, and . I was early, so I found one in a middle row. Not to close, not too far. Little by little, students streamed in. Right at three, Charlie came in, put his books on the desk, and noticed me. After giving me a puzzled look, he began the class.

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Why did she have to be at my class? Why couldn't she visit Don at his office? Dad must have put her up to this. I doubt that she gives a damn about math, or my work.

"I must focus" I thought to myself "I owe it to my students"

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Charlie showed a passion for his subject, and was a very energetic teacher. I understood a lot of it, as you needed a good amount of math to get into Vet school. Quite a few students seemed to respond well to him.

The class ended, and I followed him out. After a couple of students came up to him, I followed suit.

"That was a great lecture! Very engaging!" I told him, truthfully.

"I was...surprised when I saw you..." Charlie said. He wore a brown coat over a peach shirt.

"Do you mostly teach beginner courses?" I asked.

"I do a mixture of classes" he answered, looking at his watch.

"It must be hard to fit in full time teaching with consulting." I commented.

"I manage" He said plainly. "Look, I'm sorry but I need to prepare for my next class"

"Okay...well it was nice seeing you..." I said. "If you see Don soon, tell him I said hi!"

"Will do"

With that, we spilt ways.

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Thank God! Good Riddance! I couldn't get to my next class soon enough. She was attentive enough during the lecture, and I could tell that she understood most of the math I talked about.

After that class, I sourly sat in my office. Larry, as if on cue, came in.

"Are you okay Charles?"

"Guess who attended my lecture?" I started to pace around, in front of the green chalkboard.

"Who?" Larry shrugged, and sat down.

"My dad's girlfriend!" I sighed and put out my hands.

"That seems to show an effort on her part" Larry said, trying to sound casual, but it came out like a hint, which was what it was. He gave me a thoughtful look.

"Effort she's only putting forth to stay in dad's good graces!" I insisted.

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Charlie seemed to be in a bad mood when I came into the house.

"She came to one of my classes, Don!" he whispered. Charlie was seated on the couch next to the window. The red pen in his hand indicated that he had been grading stuff. I felt sorry for his students.

"You didn't complain about it to Dad, did you?" I gave him a warning look.

"No! I told him that I was glad that she came, and that she seemed to enjoy the lecture" Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Good."

"She only came because of Dad!" Charlie sneered. "I didn't want her there!"

"You weren't rude to her, were you?" I asked, while I kinda did agree with Charlie.

"No!"

Soon, Dad called us to dinner.

"Did you hear? Natalie came to one of Charlie's lectures" Dad commented, as he cut his steak.

I served myself some mashed potatoes. " Yeah. Charlie was just telling me"

"I was thinking, maybe we could all go out to dinner, with Natalie?" Dad suggested. " Tomorrow night"

"I've uh..." Charlie began.

"I think it's a great idea dad! We'll be there!" I interrupted Charlie, despite the fact that there were other things I'd rather be doing on a Friday night.

Charlie gave me a sideways glare.

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"Aren't you glad it's Friday?" Rick, a Vet assistant asked me.

"Yeah I guess..." I sighed, then decided to change the subject "Have those tests been run?"

"Just waiting for the results"

"Go see if they're ready"

"Okay..."

A little after my visiting Charlie, Alan had called me and proposed that we go out to dinner with his boys tonight. His voice had such eagerness to it, that I didn't have the heart to say no. I would have rather just spent the evening with him, but that's the price you pay when you date someone with kids.

TBC