Try and get some work done.

As Spencer drove home he tried to get his conversation with Miss Lynn out of his mind but couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d be had. Spencer had worked for years as a lobbyist getting unwilling people to do exactly the thing they didn’t want to do. He’d be successful. Very successful. But where Spencer had done his best work with underhanded and sometimes outright , here this junior high schoolteacher had turned him in his tracks with nothing more than a smile. Perhaps he was getting soft in his old age.

Unable to concentrate on his current freelance assignment, Spencer gave up on trying to get any of his client’s work done for today. His reputation gave him the ability to be flexible with his deadlines just as it allowed him to be more accountable with who and how he now did business. Not yet feeling hungry enough to really eat Spencer stared into the near-empty refrigerator wishing that something he’d feel like would magically appear in front of him. Resigning himself that it wasn’t going to happen, Spencer once again took up his car keys and wallet and drove back into town in order to get groceries for Amy and himself.

The supermarket was a typical family-run affair you would find in almost every town in America. The owners Syd and Nancy were both in their eighties but still worked every single day despite having a pair of sons ready and able to take over for them. Spencer greeted them both as he slowly made his way down the aisles filling his trolley as he went. He ran into a number of the moms from school that were now out shopping for their families. He greeted them all in turn, even though he had seen them at the school not more than three hours ago.

That afternoon Spencer again passed on his work. This time the finishing stages of the renovation on the upstairs guest bedroom. He instead took out his kayak from the shed behind his house and spent a solid two hours paddling about the large lake his home backed onto. The air was cold coming into winter so there wasn’t another boat in sight. This was just perfect for Spencer as it allowed him to empty his mind of all thoughts and focus solely on the gentle stroke of his paddle, soon falling into a type of meditative trace that comes with simple repetitive actions.

It was getting close to the time be had agreed to meet Miss Lynn back at the school by the time he had packed away from his exercise. Still, Spencer made sure to spray himself with his most favourite cologne before dressing. At the school he parked in the faculty carpark this time, avoiding the mothers out to pick up their children and made his way to Miss Lynn’s Spanish classroom.

Knocking on the door as he made his way inside, he saw Miss Lynn dressed as she had been this morning. She was putting away the student’s papers but rose when she saw Spencer arrive.

“Good afternoon Spencer,” Cindy said beckoning him to come further into her domain. “Its very nice of you to make it.” Miss Lynn had sat herself down on her desk as Spencer come towards her.

“Happy to be here,” Spencer replied, shocked at how polite he had become around this pretty teacher.

“Shall we get started?” she asked as he took a seat on the student’s desk that face closest to her desk.