Recap: Ellie Bennet has just turned 30, been laid off from her job again and decides to take a job teaching English in Spain.
Ellie skipped nervously down the stairs to the meeting room. She had knocked lightly on Charlie's door before heading down but he hadn't answered. She heard the buzz of voices as she neared Aula 1. Ellie took a deep breath, steadied herself and opened the door. The room was a small rectangle. Three long tables filled the room, creating rows, with four chairs at each table. A small podium was in the corner, flanked by two chairs on each side, and a projector was on, displaying the Teaching Abroad logo on a white board.
The chairs were about half occupied and half empty. She noticed Charlie in conversation with Charlotte and so she walked over to sit in the row behind them. "Hi Ellie," Charlie said, disengaging himself from Charlotte for a moment. Charlotte blushed and also greeted Ellie who was beginning to wonder if the poor girl was cursed with an easy blush. Ellie joined in on their conversation about Charlotte's first few days in Spain as the rest of the room filled. Ellie snuck glances at her fellow teachers. Many seemed to be in their late twenties to late thirties, though she did see a gentleman enter that was growing an impressive salt and pepper beard. Besides Charlie and the mountain man, she only noticed one other male taking a seat. Charlotte had looked up as he walked in and quickly glanced at Ellie, raising her eyebrows to the ceiling. Dark hair, caramel skin, a megawatt smile with lips, oh the lips, was what Ellie had immediately captured. Another nonchalant glance to the row behind her discovered deep brown eyes, the hint of stubble and casual Real Madrid soccer jersey. She tried to tend to Charlie's words but noticed Charlotte's eyes kept travelling to the third row with the pretence of making eye contact with Ellie.
So, there are two very good looking men on this program. No big deal. I did not come here for a man. I came here to find myself. Ellie blushed as her thoughts turned dirty. Stop it, Ellie. As she attempted to get her thoughts in a more proper place, the chatter in the room died. Ellie looked up to see Carmen and another woman fiddling with a laptop. Another slide popped onto the wall welcoming them to Teaching Abroad.
"Ok," the other woman said. She looked to be in her thirties, with short brown hair, small gold stud earrings and a knee-length, berry colored shift dress with a sweater arranged artfully over her shoulders. She looked immaculate and unruffled. "Hello everyone. I am Christine Felton-Mariscal, the lead administrator for the Teaching Abroad Inc. Madrid Campus. I would like to congratulate you on your decision to come work with Teaching Abroad Inc., or TAI as we call it, and welcome you all to Madrid, Spain." The room broke into applause at this point and Ellie exchanged an excited smile with the woman sitting next to her. "Over the next few days you will have a series of orientation and training sessions. We will introduce you to our company, your job requirements and the city of Madrid." She pouted prettily. "Most of your days will be filled with long sessions and hard work, but," she said smiling again, "we promise to throw in some fun for y'all too. Today I'll introduce you to the TAI Madrid staff and we'll do a round of new teacher introductions. You'll receive a more detailed itinerary with your schedule for this week and then we'll break for dinner. Tonight we are taking you out to Botín, known for being the oldest restaurant in the world, and quite a destination for anyone coming to Madrid."
Ellie was impressed. She had heard of Botín. Christine gestured to her right. "This is Carmen Cano Conejo, our lead administrator. She is responsible for coordinating the Spanish student enrollments in our program." Carmen stood up briefly and waved girlishly at the room. "And this," Christine pointed past Carmen, "is Will Darcy. Will is returning for his second year with TAI. Last year he was one of you, teaching local Madrileños English and this year in addition to teaching he will be training each of you and working as a teacher's liaison to our office." Will smiled uncomfortably as all eyes were upon him. Ellie appraised him. Kind of handsome. Not as good looking as Charlie and Trouble in the back row, but not bad. He looks kind and gentle; a good teacher. She noticed he was dressed better than the other men on the room with a button down shirt and khaki pants. Will had risen and was passing out the training schedule for the week. "And now, we'll do a round of new teacher introductions before we discuss this agenda that Will is handing to you. Let's start here," she pointed at Charlotte, "and please say your name, where you are from and one thing you're looking forward to here in Madrid."
Charlotte tittered. "I'm Charlotte Lucas, from Buffalo, New York. I am looking forward to meeting my students, of course, and learning Spanish." A murmur of agreement went through the room.
"How many of you are eager to learn Spanish?" All hands went into the air. Carmen and Christine laughed. "Does anyone here know any Spanish?" Ellie's hand raised tentatively into the air.
"Good," Carmen said approvingly. "Stick with this young lady or Will when you are out in public." Ellie panicked. She didn't want them to think she was fluent.
"I'm not that good," she stuttered.
"Yes, she is," Charlie piped up. "I've heard her."
Christine smiled warmly at Ellie. "You've been marked," she joked good-naturedly. She made eye contact with Charlie, "Your turn." Charlie was charming and genial and Ellie felt a flush rising as he turned in his chair to wink at her after he finished speaking. Five other women from various parts of the United States went in between Charlie and Ellie. No one was from the West Coast so far. Ellie cleared her throat and nervously introduced herself. She chose to say that she was looking forward to drinking more Spanish coffee. Truthfully she would love to blurt out that she wanted to find herself, and have an adventure and really begin to live her life, but that seemed a little too deep to accompany, "learn Spanish" and "visit the Prado."
She learned that Trouble's name was Richard Fitzwilliam and he was from Chicago. Mountain Man was Collins from Michigan, a revelation that caused an unexpected, and in Ellie's opinion, over-jubilant response from Charlie. He was divorced and was looking forward to "meeting new people," in Madrid. Collins had looked appraisingly out at the room of women as he said this. The last person to introduce herself was Daisy from Los Angeles. Ellie smiled to have a fellow Californian here with her.
Christine, Carmen and Will each gave a little information about themselves. Christine had participated in the TAI program in Madrid five years ago, had met her husband, a native Madrileño, and stayed after her time was up. "I was very fortunate that TAI wanted to keep me on."
Carmen was as colorful as her makeup. She rambled for some time about her vibrant past and finished with an offer to step outside for a cigarette with anyone, should they so desire it. "I will drop anything, anything, for a tiny break. Just let me know."
Will was from Arizona and gave a brief description of his experience over the last year. "I found that when I returned home I couldn't quite get Madrid out of my mind. So when TAI called me up to see if I wanted to return for another year I gladly said yes."
Christine and Will proceeded to detail their week. They'd be spending their mornings going over curriculum, afternoons split between visits to the classroom space to prepare and Spanish lessons and evenings free with an end of the week plan to see flamenco dancers. "TAI has also arranged an optional excursion to Toledo this weekend. Toledo is a nearby town that is renowned for its architecture and ancient history. I encourage you all to join Will, who will lead you by train to the small city. You now have twenty minutes to prepare for dinner."
The room noisily emptied as the group walked upstairs to change their clothes for dinner. Ellie chose a green sundress she had hung up earlier. It didn't look too bad; most of the wrinkles had fallen out. She selected some gold gladiator sandals and arranged her hair in a messy bun. She caught a glimpse of herself in the small mirror. I look excited. I feel excited. For the first time she was looking forward to spending time with people she didn't know.
She met up with Charlotte and another woman talking in the hallway. "Ready?" Ellie asked.
"Where's Sparky?"
Ellie frowned. "Who?"
"Your puppy," she said winking.
The woman next to her laughed. "You brought a dog?"
"Not exactly," Ellie said, poking Charlotte in the ribs.
"Hi Ellie, Charlotte." Charlie's voice took her by surprise.
"Ah, here he is now," Charlotte said, suppressing a giggle. Ellie scowled and turned to Charlie, her breath catching slightly. He was wearing a navy polo and dark jeans. He had slicked his hair back and looked positively yummy.
"You look beautiful," he told Ellie sincerely.
Ellie blushed furiously. "Charlie, this is Caroline. Have you met her yet?" Charlie began a conversation with the waifish Caroline who was having trouble disguising her admiration of the man.
"Beautiful, huh?" Charlotte whispered, poking her back.
"Shhh," Ellie hissed, straightening her dress self-consciously. "He didn't mean anything by it."
Charlotte rolled her eyes. "I think he meant you look beautiful, dummy." Charlie was laughing openly at something Caroline said as Will Darcy approached the four of them.
"Are you ready?" he asked to them all but looking at Ellie. She felt self-conscious for the second time; Will's eyes seemed to be searching hers.
Am I supposed to do something special? She thought about going back to her room for the itinerary to make sure it didn't say, "Ellie Bennet: lead the group to dinner" when Charlie put his arm lightly over her shoulders and said, "Sure, we're ready, right ladies?" Ellie froze as Charlie's fingers grazed her bare shoulder.
"Ready," Charlotte piped up gleefully.
This is just a friendly, chums/pals, sort of gesture, right? Will had already turned to walk towards the stairwell as Charlie said, "Oops, almost forgot my camera again. Be right back." He smoothly removed his arm from Ellie's shoulders. Charlotte was covering her mouth, attempting to stifle her mirth.
"What?" Ellie snapped.
"Dogs are always marking their territory, aren't they," she burst out.
Caroline giggled. "I want a puppy too."
Charlie stayed by her side most of the night, keeping up the majority of the conversation. Ellie was awakening to the novelty that a handsome man was seeking her attention. This had not happened in some time. Charlie enjoyed talking about his most recent home in Michigan. He revealed that he lived on a farm with his grandmother. He spoke passionately about the different animals on the farm. "I told you I love to talk and once I ran out of people I began to talk to animals." The admission was actually endearing.
Fatigue began to grip her soon after they arrived at the restaurant and by the time the group was to leave she was positively comatose. Charlie offered her his arm - Swoon. Yawn. Stop it! - and she happily accepted the physical support as they crawled into taxis to ride back to the residencia. Ellie sat in between Charlie and Charlotte in the back of the taxi and nestled herself against his shoulder to sleep as they drove away.
Ellie awoke the next morning, full of excitement. Her head was a little dull and her mouth like cotton but she was able to look past that to anticipate her first day of training. As she gathered her bathroom bag and clothes for the shower she thought back to last night. Charlie had practically carried her up to her room and deposited her in bed. She tried to protest but he insisted and even removed her sandals before awkwardly tugging on the green blanket to cover her. Ellie remembered little. She knew she was vaguely afraid of Charlie seeing up her dress and he placed her in bed and she was fairly certain she may have drooled on his shoulder. He had been such a gentleman that she was sure he wouldn't have minded a little drool, and a show.
After her shower she went down to the dining room to grab breakfast. It was pretty empty and she avoided the teenagers and sat with Caroline.
"Morning," Caroline said acidly. She managed the greeting to sound slightly insulting.
"Morning," Ellie said, taking a long drink from her coffee mug. She looked at the other woman through heavy lids. Caroline had on a velour sweatsuit, an odd choice for work, and for August and really for Madrid. And the color was a sickening orange, like a pumpkin had be regurgitated on cloth. It really made Ellie a little sick to look at it and so she looked away, watching a pair of boys grab pads of jelly for their crusty bread.
Caroline nibbled on her cantaloupe and stared at Ellie. "How are you doing?" she asked slowly.
"Fine," Ellie said, confused. Did she give off the aura that she was slow or hard of hearing? "You?" she asked companionably. She might as well be friendly to the pumpkin; they would be in close company for the next year.
Caroline put down her melon. "Fine, but I didn't pass out last night." Her lips pursed into a pitying sneer.
Ellie rolled her eyes. "The jet lag got to me. I'll be fine after a few days once my body adjusts to a nine hour time difference."
"Oh," Caroline drew out. "We thought you drank too much."
Ellie scowled. "No," she said icily, taking another gulp of coffee and looking away again. Maybe she couldn't manage a year of niceties to the pumpkin.
Caroline threw her hands up. "My mistake. You had an adorable escort either way."
Ellie smiled, pacified. "Yes, I did," she said. She pushed across her pastry to Caroline and asked, "Want?" Caroline covered her mouth with both hands and shook her head vigorously.
Ellie didn't see said escort at breakfast. Charlotte stumbled downstairs a few minutes before they were set to leave, grumbling, "Not a morning person. Leave me alone." She punched her order into the espresso machine, waited for her cortado to brew and the threw it back in one quick motion. "Let's go, bitches." Ellie laughed raucously, not expecting this from sweet Charlotte.
The women waited out front for Carmen and Will. Most of the new teachers had assembled out front and finally Will and Charlie walked out together. Charlie let out a huge yawn and said to Will, "but their problem is defense. If they could pull together some quality players we'd have a chance." Will just nodded and took out a clipboard, busying himself with his paperwork. Charlie ambled over to Ellie. "Morning," he said sleepily.
"Are you not a morning person?" He looked adorably rumpled with his hair mussed and his clothing wrinkled.
Charlie grinned at her. "Hey, it's only the second day. My body hasn't adjusted yet." He lowered his voice conspiratorially, "but no, I'm not really a morning person. Not before the farm and not since. You?"
The whisper, the intimate question about her sleeping habit, and his proximity all served to make Ellie quite unable to concentrate. She paused, attempting to think of something witty to say when Will cleared his throat and looked at her. "Ready?" Ellie, startled by his intrusion into her moment with Charlie, nodded curtly. She turned her attention back to Charlie but he had started up a conversation with Charlotte who was still looking grumpy.
The fourteen of them, Will, Carmen and the twelve new teachers walked noisily along to the TAI campus. It was actually the third floor of an office building only four blocks from the residencia. It had a small reception and waiting area and twelve small classrooms. Each classroom was not much bigger than an American office or cubicle. It was outfitted with a moon-shaped table, six tiny chairs and a large teacher chair. The walls were filled with pictures and the matching English words. A whiteboard and markers lined one wall. To Ellie it looked adorable.
"You will have six students per regular class, for three classes per day. Parents can also opt for private instruction. Each week you will receive a schedule with your teaching commitments." Will motioned to the open doors down the hall. "Each classroom contains identical materials. Carmen will assign you a classroom and you can rearrange yours if you'd like. Last year one of my classes was really interested in Harry Potter so I brought in some books and posters and we did a mini-unit on Harry." Will's eyes lit up as he described his classroom. Ellie smiled appreciatively. She remembered setting up her classrooms in the summer. Lack of funding and supplies didn't dampen her enthusiasm for hanging the alphabet over the chalkboard and making nametags for each child's desk.
They spent some more time poking around at TAI. Christine's office was at one end of the floor and at the other end was a small lounge with an espresso machine, microwave and refrigerator. Ellie approved of the set up. It was really as much as she could ask for. After the tour they walked back to the residencia. There wasn't to hold them all at the school and so they returned to Aula 1 to go over curriculum plans and the regulations of TAI. Lunch was brought in as they continued to go over essential material.
Ellie was exhausted by the end of the second long training session. It was nearing 7:00 p.m. and Ellie's stomach was rumbling. She glanced over at Charlie who pouted and pointed to his stomach. Ellie stifled a giggle. Will cleared his throat. "It appears that everyone is getting hungry," he said frostily. "Let's break for dinner and we'll start again in the morning."
Charlie motioned to her and Ellie walked over and sat on the corner of the table. "Want to get dinner with me?" he asked.
Swoon. Kinda stop it. "Ok," she said.
Charlie and Ellie found a little restaurant a few streets over called El Tablao. "I'm nervous," Charlie whispered as they were seated.
Ellie blushed. He was nervous! Ever since he had asked her to dinner she had felt unable to function properly. Charlotte had tried to converse with her as they walked back up to the rooms and she hadn't answered in the proper places.
"What's with you?" she had asked, poking Ellie in the ribs.
Ellie blushed and pulled Charlotte into her room. "Charlie asked me to dinner," Ellie said shyly.
"Woo hoo," Charlotte whooped. "That's awesome, right?" she asked unsurely, noticing the look of discomfort on her friend's face.
"Yes," Ellie said hesitantly. "Charlie is sweet and funny and gentlemanly. He doesn't always get my jokes but I'm trying not to hold that against him because he just met me 48 hours ago."
"He's a gem. So what gives?"
Ellie was trying to put her finger on it. She had been trying all day when Charlie brushed up against her arm during a break in training or last night when he supported her out to the taxi. "I haven't been..." she paused, unable to go on.
"You haven't been what?" Charlotte prompted.
"I haven't been out with someone, on a date, I mean, in quite awhile."
Charlotte arched an eyebrow. "How long?"
Ellie screwed up her face, debating on how much to share. The length of time since dating someone would surely be a topic that would take up more than the ten minutes she told Charlie she needed to freshen up. "A long time. I'll go into detail later. Charlie's waiting for me now. I just am so nervous. How do I act? What do I do? I mean, he just asked me to dinner. I don't even know if this is a real date, or not. I feel like a stupid adolescent."
Charlotte put her hand on Ellie's shoulder. "Calm down. It is a date. He didn't ask anyone else, did he? Not me at least and he didn't know I've got a booty phonecall with my out-of-town lover in a few minutes." Ellie smiled at Charlotte's description. "He could have invited me and he didn't. It's a date. Just relax," Ellie rolled her eyes and Charlotte reached out and pinched her, "throw on a new shirt and have fun!"
"You're nervous?" Ellie said breathily, still not herself from their journey. Get a hold of yourself, Bennet. Do not swoon! Charlie had offered her his arm as they walked in the warm summer air towards the restaurant. She felt giddy being on an actual date.
"Yeah," Charlie replied as they were shown to a table. The restaurant was dimly lit and soft music played. Ellie looked at him expectantly. "They only speak Spanish here," he explained. Ellie drooped. Not excited about the date. "I'm glad I have you with me," he said warmly. Ellie felt herself perk up. Now if only I was certain he was into more than my language skills we'd be in business.
Ellie assisted a helpless Charlie with the menu as best she could. They weren't in a tourist area so there weren't English translations and they didn't have the sandwich shop benefit of pictures. "I think this is beef," Ellie said uncertainly. "I wish I had reviewed more food vocabulary, I truly do. Maybe we can request specific lessons in our Spanish class." She looked up from her menu to see Charlie studying her, smiling at her. "What?" she asked self-consciously. It was the kind of look Ellie would expect if she had food on her face and someone was trying to decide whether to tell her.
"I like the way you talk," he said sincerely.
She snorted. "I talk darn purdy sometimes." Charlie looked confused and she recanted. "Sorry, joke. I have a hard time with compliments. Thank you. English or Spanish?" she said uncertainly.
"Both, but I meant English. You use interesting words."
"Interesting words?" she repeated, her eyebrows raised.
"Purdy words," Charlie said nodding. "I've heard at least half a dozen that people just don't use anymore. 'Truly' made me think of it tonight."
Ellie flushed with pleasure. "I majored in English Literature. There are some wonderful, old words rattling around in my head. I talk to myself in Regency sometimes."
"You talk to yourself in what? Regency?" he asked confused.
"Nevermind," Ellie said, realizing she wasn't ready to explain another of her idiosyncrasies. "Do you know what you're going to get?"
Charlie changed course easily and said he was considering the suspected beef dish. "It's all new to me anyway so I'm not sure how much I'll gain from knowing what it is."
Ellie thoroughly enjoyed her night. She found talking to Charlie very easy. She told him about losing her job - twice - and moving in with her parents. She also told him about Lydia and her obsession with broken Brits. He in turn shared about his college glory days (he was a football player. Swoon. Stop it!) and working for his uncle. Ellie knew the story was chronologically leading them to his time on the farm in Michigan. She was dying to know what brought him to that tiny town where he had no one to talk to.
"We'd better go," Charlie said, seeing her stifle a yawn. "I didn't notice how late it was."
"What time is it?" Ellie asked, looking at her watch simultaneously.
"Almost midnight. As much as I don't mind staying out all night, and in fact, look forward to doing that soon, I think I'd better be a responsible date and bring you back home early. Well, early for Spain."
Ellie smiled weakly. She had been feeling the effects of the late hour and fatigue from being an active participant in her conversation with Charlie. He had talked for the better part of the last hour, and though extremely interested in his story she was losing steam. She probably wouldn't have listened this long if it wasn't Charlie. It wasn't that she didn't care about others. It just truly fatigued her to have constant social interaction. Teaching had been the one exception. She had a nice combination of imparting information, making sure her students understood what she was teaching and then sitting back and allowing them to run with their new knowledge. At least that's what she had been telling herself. The two times she was unemployed from teaching she had felt recharged. Ellie wasn't ready to chalk it up to lack of communication, more a chance to regroup and assess her life, but her time in Spain might shed some light onto this personal trait of hers.
Charlie and Ellie managed to figure out how to ask for the check, fumbled with their Euros and walked the few blocks home. He deposited her outside her door with a hug and walked down the hall to his room. Ellie drooped again. She had been hoping for a goodnight kiss. There wasn't anyone around and the corridor was dimly lit. She berated herself as she changed into a nightdress. You wouldn't have known what to do if he kissed you. It's been too long. She got into bed, weary and confused. She would know what to do with a kiss, wouldn't she? She drifted off to sleep with a frown on her face.