A shopping run between classes

It was late in April when you walked from college to a nearby supermarket to pick up something to snack on in between classes. Not only was it cheaper, it was actually better. You had no idea who the lowest bidder was who'd won the college's patronage but you did know that you didn't think much of the quality of their food. Just as you were about to go inside you crossed paths with a gaggle of children, about kindergarten age. They walked in a row, all holding hands, while they babbled about kindergarten things. You had a faint smile on your face as you passed them.

"Miss Sarah, is this where we're going?" one girl asked.

"No, Sandy" a young woman said. You looked up and then your eyes met. You were speechless as the woman smiled at you.

"This is a supermarket, stupid" a boy told the girl called Sandy.

"Patrick, don't call anybody stupid. That's not nice" the woman said.

"I'm sorry Miss Sarah and Sandy" the boy said. You couldn't help but softly laugh. Kids were so weird. The entire group filed past so that you could go inside. Shaking your head in amusement you went to get your food and drink and before you went outside again. You thought of the young woman as you ate back on campus, then shrugged as you finished up. You'd probably never see her again.

Your thought was proven false when the same happened the week after. You saw the gaggle of kids walk down the streets, all holding hands, with the young woman accompanying them once more. Your eyes met again and you smiled at her, after which she averted her eyes with a blush. When she thought you weren't looking she looked at you again, a smile on her face as well.

"Miss Sarah, why are you staring at that man?" a girl asked.

"I thought I knew him from somewhere, Margie" the woman lied. You had never her before, not until last week. Then again, what were you going to tell a child of, what, 6 or 7? You decided to be forward and say hi to her. When you did the woman stammered. "Hi" she said, then turning to her kids, "come on. Let's keep going. You don't want to be late, do you?" A heartfelt "no!" chorused from the kids and they kept going, walking a little faster. As you watched her go, you dared to hope you'd see her again next week.

Sure enough, you did. By that point you figured that whatever Sarah was taking her class towas a weekly thing, so you actually started looking forward to seeing her again. You found yourself thinking about the young teacher more and more, wondering what she was like. She was pretty, to start with. She had a gorgeous smile. She was obviously a caring person who loved kids, otherwise she wouldn't be working with them. You were building up this entire fantasy about her. Sarah, you thought. It was a beautiful name for a beautiful person. Shaking your head, you scolded yourself. You were practically already thinking of asking her to marry you. Lost in thought, you bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry" you said, only to realise it was Sarah.

"It's quite alright" she replied. "I should know better than to stop in the middle of the street."

"Sarah, right? I'm John" you said. When the teacher looked startled you smiled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I overheard one of your kids the other day" you told her.

"Oh, alright" Sarah said, smiling. "Nice to meet you."

"And you" you said. "So, are these yours?" Sarah laughed at this.

"Not by birth" she said. "Can you imagine? That's 18 times 9 months, assuming there's no twins or triplets."

"Thirteen and a half years of pregnancy" you said. "No thank you."

"Thirteen and a half years of strange cravings" Sarah said, musing on this.

"Miss Sarah? What are you doing?" one of her children asked.

"Just talking to mister Doe" she said. "But we should go."

"Yay!" the child exclaimed.

"You're really good with children" you said.

"That's why I'm a teacher" Sarah replied. "See you next week, huh?"

"Hopefully" you said with a smile. Sarah blushed but hid it by returning her attention to the children again. As you watched her go you thought you got along pretty well. Maybe there was something more...You resolved to look at her hand next time, to see if there wasn't a wedding ring there. That ass was very nice, too. Before long you could no longer see her as she and her class had turned a corner.

"Hi" you said the week after when you saw her again.

"Hey John" Sarah said. "How are you?"

"Doing just fine. And you?" you asked.

"Good, thank you" she said. "Hang on. Hey, Charles!" she called. As she was distracted by one of the boys, you took the opportunity to look at her hand. There was no ring there, but you saw the imprint of one there. That gave you pause. Was she divorced? Or had she lost her husband? You looked at her other hand, knowing that people sometimes put their wedding on the other ring finger after that, but there was nothing there. So a divorcee? She was so young, though. Although you were definitely into her, you didn't want to seem push if it hadn't been long.

"Kids huh?" you asked as she returned her attention to you.

"Yeah, they can be a handful. Especially little Charles, there" Sarah replied, pointing at the boy. "He's a good kid, but he needs more attention than I alone can give him."

"That's sad" you said and meaning it.

"Yeah, it is. But soon he'll be able to get into a different needs program" Sarah said. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that" she added. "Just forget I said that, okay? I'm not supposed to talk about this with strangers."

"Well, we've met a few times now" you said. Sarah gave a small smile at this.

"True, but I should not have told you. Just forget I said anything, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah, alright" you said, nodding. "Didn't hear a thing."

"Thanks" she said, giving you a real smile now. That smile was dazzling, so you hoped you'd see it more often. In the end, you decided to just shoot your shot.

"So, I like our little talks but they're always a bit on the short side. Do you think we could go out for a drink or something some time?" you asked. Sarah laughed, though not mockingly.

"Are you asking me out on a date, John?" she asked.

"I am" you said, nodding. She looked at you for a moment then grinned.

"I'm not saying yes, mind you. Here's my number" she said after scribbling it on a slip of paper she took out of her bag. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to stop these kids from uprooting all those flowers. Sorry!" she called before hurrying off to four of her charges that were digging in a flowerbed. With a grin of your own you walked off, happy to have scored her number.