Love Lessons

by Gina Wilkins

  “I have a class this evening. But I’m free tomorrow evening, if that’s good for you.”

  “Yes, fine. I should be home by six.”

  “Do you like pizza?”

  The non sequitur made her blink, but she nodded. “Yes.”

  “Then I’ll bring dinner.” He dug into his shirt pocket, pulled out a card and a pen, and scribbled on the back. “Here’s my cell number, in case something comes up. Don’t feel obligated for this if there’s something else you need to do.”

  Even as she gave him her numbers in exchange, she couldn’t imagine anything cropping up that would be more tempting than having pizza and studying with Mike Clancy.

  Chapter Four

  “Hey, Catherine. You’ll be here this evening, won’t you? Would you mind pulling a couple of plates for me?”

  Catherine looked up from her microscope in response to the question the next afternoon. It was from one of the young women she had overheard talking about her last week, commenting about how Catherine never did anything but work, as if she had no life outside the lab.

  It gave her great satisfaction to be able to say, “I’m sorry, Brandy, I won’t be here this evening. I have a date.”

  “A date?”

  Catherine wasn’t flattered by the surprise in the younger woman’s expression. She nodded coolly, feeling little compunction now about misrepresenting her plans for the evening. “You’ll have to ask someone else.”

  “Okay…well…have fun.”

  “Thank you. I intend to.”

  It wasn’t like her to take such pleasure from deliberately misleading someone. But her lips curved into a rather grim smile of satisfaction as she bent back down to her work. It felt good to make it clear that she didn’t actually live here in the lab, with no outside interests of her own.

  She really was going to have to start getting out more to make that assertion entirely true.

  Catherine usually dressed quite casually—pretty much a necessity for most lab work. Her wardrobe consisted primarily of khakis and camp shirts in muted solids, often worn open over beige or white sleeveless tops. When the weather turned cooler, she swapped the camp shirts for thin sweaters with sleeves that could be pushed up and out of her way.

  Occasionally she paired her khakis with more-professional blouses and blazers. When she had to dress up, she wore black slacks with the blazers. She rarely wore jeans or shorts and owned only a few skirts, since bare legs were not usually a good idea in a science lab.

  Because her wardrobe was so simple and her choices rather limited, she didn’t spend much time deciding what to wear. She simply reached for a pair of slacks and any of the dozen or so shirts that matched them. She kept her hair in an easy-to-style bob, wore only light touches of makeup and eschewed all jewelry except her functional watch and a couple of pairs of simply styled earrings. She could be ready to leave her apartment in under half an hour.

  All of which made it completely out of character for her to dither about her clothing for almost twenty minutes before Mike arrived Thursday evening. She had gotten home from work an hour earlier than she’d expected, giving her plenty of time to freshen up and change before Mike arrived, but for some reason she couldn’t decide what to wear. How silly, considering they wouldn’t be doing anything but studying, and that he wouldn’t notice her clothes, anyway.

  She reached for fresh khakis and camp shirt, then paused again. On an impulse, she turned to a shelf on which she kept the two pairs of jeans that she owned. She donned a pair with a snug-fitting yellow T-shirt, then slid her bare feet into a pair of brown leather clogs.

  Eyeing her reflection in the full-length mirror attached to the back of her closet door, she wondered if she had made the right choice. She looked more casual than usual. Too casual? Did it appear as though she were trying too hard to look younger?

  “What do you think, Normie?”

  The cat, who had been playing with a jingling toy ball near her feet, looked up and meowed rather impatiently, as if to tell her to stop being silly. Deciding that he was right, she turned off the closet light and left the bedroom.

  Mike was late again, but only by fifteen minutes. The large pizza box in his hand looked as though it was still steaming, which probably explained his tardiness, she decided. Maybe he’d had to wait in line to pick it up. They should have just called for delivery.

  A backpack was slung over one shoulder of the Hawaiian print shirt he wore over a T-shirt and faded jeans, reminding her of the “surfer dude” nickname she had given him the first time she’d seen him. He greeted her with a broad, beaming smile that elicited quivers of reaction deep inside her. “Hi.”

  “Hi.” She moved to one side. “Come in.”

  She closed the door behind him as he bent to scratch Norman’s ears. She wondered if anyone had seen him entering her apartment with the pizza, and if any tongues would wag as a result. She wasn’t accustomed to imagining herself at the center of apartment complex chatter, since her life wasn’t exactly fodder for juicy gossip.

  “The pizza smells really good,” she said, making a stab at polite chitchat.

  “We should probably eat it while it’s still hot, and then study afterward, don’t you think?”

  “That sounds good. What would you like to drink?” she asked, waving him toward the table.

  “Do you have a cola?”

  “Only diet, I’m afraid.”

  “That’ll work. It wouldn’t hurt me to cut a few calories.”

  She almost suspected him of saying that just to get her to look at his athletically built body. Even if that hadn’t been his intention, it was exactly what she did. Swallowing a comment about how he certainly didn’t have to worry about his weight—or anything else about his appearance, for that matter—she moved into the kitchen to fetch plates, napkins and two canned diet sodas.

  Catherine had been a bit concerned that conversation might be awkward between herself and Mike while they ate, but Mike took care of that. He had a talent for making small talk that she could only envy. Somehow she found herself relaxing and responding almost as easily as she might have chatted with Karen and Julia.

  “Tell me a little about yourself,” he urged as he reached for a second slice of pizza. “Where did you grow up? Do you have any brothers or sisters? Did you always want to be a scientist?”

  She hesitated a moment to organize her thoughts before answering. “I was born in College Station, Texas, but we moved several times during the next dozen years. My parents are college professors, and they taught in Texas and Virginia and Georgia before settling in Florida when I was twelve. They both taught at Florida State University until Dad retired two years ago, and Mom retired last year. They’re spending six months in Beijing now on a cooperative teaching program with the university there. They’ve been there just over a month.”

  “How exciting for them.”

  “Yes, they were thrilled to have this opportunity.”

  “No siblings?”

  “No. My parents had given up on having children by the time I came along.” She remembered that he was the youngest of five siblings. She couldn’t imagine being a part of such a large family. Her own childhood had been quiet and orderly. She had never even had a pet before Norman.

  “Was it lonely for you?”

  “No, not really. I was very close to my parents and they always saw to it that I had playmates. They enrolled me in very good preschool programs and then excellent private schools as I grew older. Needless to say, they were heavily focused on academic enrichment. I spent every summer in educational camps, studying everything from math to science to foreign languages.”

  “And you liked that?” he asked a bit dubiously.

  “I loved it,” she admitted with a smile. “I always looked forward to my summer programs. I made friends as well as learned a wide variety of subjects.”

  “I spent my summers playing ball and working construction jobs for spending money. When I wasn’t at the ballpark
or on a job site, I’d be at the pool with my buddies, checking out the girls in bikinis.”

  Illustrating once again how very different they were, even from childhood.

  “When did you decide you wanted to be a scientist?” he asked.

  “I don’t remember, exactly. My parents always encouraged me to pursue academia.” That, of course, was an understatement, since her parents had pretty much mapped out her future from her birth. Fortunately, she had been perfectly willing to go along with their plans, which had suited her temperament well enough. “I suppose I started focusing on the biological sciences as a teenager, when I began to show a particular aptitude for the subject.”

  “So you never looked at anything else?”

  “I briefly considered pursuing an M.D., but I decided against that because I’m too much of a control freak,” she admitted. “If I couldn’t make the patients do what I suggested, it would make me crazy.”

  “And you have more control in research?”

  She had to laugh at that. “No. Research is usually two steps forward, one step back. Or as often as not, one step forward and three steps back. There are a zillion little variables that can affect any experiment, many of which the researcher has little to no control over.”

  His gaze seemed to focus for a long moment on her smiling mouth. “That doesn’t bother you?”

  What bothered her was the look in his eyes just then, an expression she couldn’t begin to interpret. She cleared her throat silently and said, “I get frustrated sometimes, but I enjoy my work for the most part.”

  “Lots of pressure to get results and get published, I would imagine.”

  “Oh, sure. Add to that the steady dwindling of grant monies for scientific research, and it’s a fairly high-stress job. But I can deal with that.”

  His gaze rose to her eyes again. “Something tells me you can handle just about anything.”

  No, she thought with a quick ripple of anxiety. There were some things she didn’t know how to handle at all.

  “So tell me more about your upcoming test,” she said a bit too hastily. “Do you feel pretty confident about it?”

  A third slice of pizza halfway to his mouth, Mike looked a bit surprised by her abrupt change of subject. “Um—yeah, pretty good. There are a couple of things I’m hoping you can explain a little better for me, but I think I have a good chance at doing well.”

  Chagrined at her awkwardness, she stuffed a bite of pizza into her mouth and reached grimly for her glass. She had certainly brought that conversation to an abrupt halt.

  Maybe she had better just stick to tutoring.

  Mike gathered his books and papers and stuffed them into his backpack an hour and a half later. “Once again, you’ve been really helpful, Catherine. I think I’m ready for the test now.”

  Catherine stood just a few feet away, watching him prepare to leave. Norman lay bonelessly in her arms, purring so loudly Mike could hear him from where he stood. “You’ve very welcome. Let me know how it goes, okay? I’ll be curious.”

  “Yes, I will.” He was rather pleased by her request, since it indicated a willingness on her part for their budding friendship to continue. He’d thought earlier that perhaps he had blown it by asking too many questions about her. It rather surprised him how important it was for him to keep the lines of communication open between them.

  It wasn’t because she was helping him study. He liked her. He admired her sharp mind and her generosity. Her cat. And, he had to admit, her chocolatey eyes, sensual mouth and willowy figure.

  He hesitated at the door, a bit reluctant to leave. “I forgot to ask, how did you like that new restaurant the other night? I saw you there with your friends.”

  “I thought it was quite good. My friends and I try to get together for dinner at least once a month, and we’re always pleased to find someplace new to eat. I noticed that your group seemed to be having a good time.”

  He chuckled. “Those were my sister’s friends, actually. It was her birthday, so she chose who to invite. But I had a good time with them.”

  “That beautiful redhead is your sister?” Catherine asked in surprise.

  Smiling, he nodded. “That’s Laurie. My sister Charlie was also at the table. You might not have seen her because she had her back to you, but she’s another redhead.”

  “Do all your sisters have red hair?”

  “Three of the four inherited Dad’s red hair. The other sister, the oldest, Gretchen, has the same blond hair that our mother and I have.”

  “Are they all as pretty as Laurie?”

  “Well, I think so—but I’m not exactly objective.”

  “A very handsome family, apparently.”

  He couldn’t help wondering if she included him in that description. Vain of him, of course, but he would like to think she found him as attractive as she was to him. “I guess I’d better go. Thanks again, Catherine. I wish there was some way that I could repay you.”

  “You’ve brought flowers and pizza. That’s really plenty.”

  He couldn’t understand what it was about her that made him uncharacteristically tongue-tied. With any other attractive, intriguing woman, he’d have already made his move. Flirted a little, tested her reaction to see if she might be receptive to going out with him. After that…well, he usually just allowed nature to take its course.

  Catherine Travis made him feel as awkward and uncertain as a schoolboy who’d never even had his first date. And because he wasn’t sure he liked that feeling, he made a swift departure at that point, before he made a complete fool of himself.

  Catherine was very busy at work during the next week. She spent long hours in the lab and at her desk, arriving home late and tired, then leaving very early again the next morning. She neither saw nor heard from Mike during that week, nor did she expect to. As reluctant as she was to admit it, she wasn’t sure she would ever see him again, except in passing, perhaps, around the complex.

  It wasn’t as if anything had changed in her life, she told herself as she sat wearily on her couch late Friday evening, trying to get up the energy to get ready for bed. Mike had popped in a few times and had now moved on. He had friends of his own, a big family, work and school. And she was certainly busy with her own job and…

  Well, she couldn’t say much about her social life, she conceded, looking down at the snoozing cat in her lap. But she did have friends of her own.

  Exhausted from the demanding week, she slept later than usual Saturday morning. The telephone rang at 8:00 a.m., causing her to wake with a start and snatch the receiver from its cradle.

  “Hello?” The word came out in a croak, making it impossible for her to deny that she had been sleeping.

  “You aren’t up yet?” Sounding as crisp and alert as ever, Julia was obviously surprised.

  “Long week in the lab,” Catherine explained after clearing her throat. “I guess I crashed.”

  “I’m sorry I woke you. Would you like me to call back later?”

  “No, it’s okay. I’d have been up soon, anyway.” Catherine pushed herself upright, dislodging Norman from her pillow.

  “I called to ask you a favor. You know that business trip I have to make to Chicago next week? I really need to do some shopping first. My wardrobe is getting pretty pathetic, and you know how I hate to shop.”

  “Yes, I know.” It wasn’t Catherine’s favorite activity, either.

  “So will you go with me? I’d have asked Karen, since she’s the shopper of our little group, but she had plans for today.”

  “Of course, though I’m not sure how much help I’ll be. You know I’m pretty clueless when it comes to fashion.”

  “You’ll be my moral support. And you can keep me from strangling perky salespeople.”

  Catherine chuckled. “Well, I can try.”

  “So when can you go?”

  “I have to run by the lab to check on an experiment, but I can meet you somewhere after lunch. Say, one o’clock?”

&nb
sp; “Great.” They agreed on a place to meet and then Julia hung up with her usual lack of ceremony.

  Catherine yawned, stretched and climbed out of bed. If she was going to get to the lab and meet Julia at one, she’d better start getting ready.

  Much later that day, Catherine stared in disbelief at the piles of shopping bags on her bed. What had happened this afternoon? She had gone to help Julia buy clothes, and she had ended up with several new fall outfits for herself at the same time. She hadn’t planned to make any purchases, but she had found herself looking at those enticing new clothes, and the next thing she knew…

  Watching Norman nosing into the bags with his usual curiosity about anything new brought into his surroundings, she wondered what had gotten into her. She had bought several snug-fitting sweaters, a couple of flirty skirts, two form-flattering dresses, two pairs of trendy jeans and a slim-cut pair of black slacks that had made her legs look about twice as long as they were.

  There wasn’t a pair of khaki slacks in the lot. She had even bought a pair of high-heeled leather boots to go with the jeans and skirts. Julia had thought she’d lost her mind, of course. Catherine wasn’t at all sure that she hadn’t.

  She supposed she could blame it on the skillful and persuasive salespeople she’d encountered. But she knew that would be unfair. The truth was, she’d been standing there among all those pretty clothes and pretty women who seemed to be having such a good time trying on and accessorizing…and here she was. The owner of a new fall wardrobe that looked very different from her usual, practical style.

  Her bank account was much lighter, her closet would be more crowded and her friend thought she’d flipped out. But as she drew a bold red dress out of a bag, brushing a few stray cat hairs from it as she did so, she realized that she wasn’t at all sorry.

  Restless. Perhaps that was the word that best summed up Catherine’s mood during the next two weeks. As the temperatures grew cooler and the days shorter, she found herself fighting a constant urge to do something different in her life.