The Summer of Consent

by Jayne Marlowe

  When Gloria arrived for work the next day, she noticed a different vibe inside the office that matched the way she felt. Things didn’t feel right.

  Since she’d rejected Nate’s offer to come to her place after work yesterday to see how she was doing, perhaps it was to be expected. Although she had been touched by the offer, she couldn’t face him yet.

  She never guessed that she had so much repressed jealousy for Brittany that it made her sick. But watching the way he was so enraptured by Brittany’s fascinating tales of Paris—well, fascinating for them, anyway. Gloria struggled to keep her mind from wandering as Brittany went on and on and on in typical Brittany fashion.

  And speaking of fashion, Brittany could definitely wear her some clothes. She made Gloria look a right old-fashioned frump in her standard uniform of pencil skirt and button-down shirt. The look in Nate’s eyes at the time reflected his appreciation for post-Paris Brittany.

  It meant one thing was for certain: Nate still regretted not having Brittany as a typist for the summer, and his relationship with Gloria was just a big mistake.

  So when she entered the office to see that Nate wasn’t there, she let out a big breath, relieved. It didn’t last long. A few minutes later, he rushed in just as she was getting her computer up and running.

  “Gloria!”

  Nate’s smiling face and enthusiasm at seeing her only made her feel more guilty.

  “I bought some donuts from Greg’s—including your favorite, strawberry-chocolate cake.”

  He lifted up a small white box and set it down on her desk before coming around and kneeling in front of her. He reached up and stroked her cheek.

  “How are you feeling, beautiful?”

  She must have failed to conceal her hangdog look because his sunny expression clouded over.

  “What’s wrong, Glo?”

  He took her hands in his briefly before reaching one up to feel her forehead and then her cheeks. She was moved by his interest in her health, but it didn’t make her feel better. She knew the truth. She couldn’t make up for the fact that Brittany was meant for this job—and possibly meant for Nate too.

  “You do feel a little warm, sweetheart,” he murmured. “Are you sure you want—”

  “I’m fine, Nate. Really. I’m just—” She fidgeted in her seat, at a loss for words. “I don’t know what came over me yesterday, but I’m better now.”

  “Are you?” He frowned. “You look a little pale and tired. I can take you home if—”

  Gloria leaned in and kissed him, it was warm but short, and when she pulled away she couldn’t help but giggle at the dreamy look on his face.

  “I’ll be fine, Nate. Thank you for the donuts.”

  “No problem, Glo.” He smiled. “Anything to keep my girl happy.”

  Gloria stood up so suddenly it almost knocked him on his ass. She pretended to need some more sticky notes from the supply cabinet on the other side of the office, but when she spun around to return to her desk, Nate still stood beside her desk chair, watching her.

  “What’s the matter, Gloria?”

  She froze as if she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, but she could tell from the way his lips were pressed together and the concern softening his gaze that she wasn’t fooling him.

  “Nothing’s the matter.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t have to be scared of me, sweetheart. What’s wrong?” He circled her desk and made his way toward her, slowly, so not to scare away a frightened deer. “You can start by telling me why you really didn’t want me coming over last night.”

  Gloria turned her face away to look out the one window in the office. She tried to stall in an attempt to gather her courage, but it wasn’t enough, and by the time she faced him again, she couldn’t keep the tears from gathering. He obviously wasn’t expecting that.

  Quickly, he went out of the office, and she heard him close and lock the door leading into the classroom. He also closed the office door. He then closed the gap between them and put his hands on her shoulders, but when she wouldn’t look up at him, he lifted her chin up with his finger.

  “Gloria, please...please tell me what’s wrong so I can help.”

  She shook her head. “You can’t help. That’s the point.”

  “I don’t—”

  “Nate, you don’t have to pretend any longer.”

  He frowned and took a step back to get a better look at her. “What do you mean ‘pretend?’ Gloria, I have been nothing but honest with you.”

  “That doesn’t mean you don’t have regrets. I could tell that the very instant you saw Brittany at the mall.”

  Nate let her go and this time he looked at her with unfettered disbelief.

  “What?” was all he could manage to say.

  “You think I don’t see the pity in your eyes whenever you look at me?”

  “Gloria, I have no—”

  “Tell me that you don’t regret not getting Brittany to be your assistant. Tell me that if she’d accepted this job as you had planned, she’d be the one getting laid by you and not me. You’d be more than happy to be seen with her. I’m just a fluke!”

  As his normal, healthy glow drained from him right before her eyes, Gloria realized she struck a nerve, or more accurately, the truth. His jaw clenched and unclenched, and when he raised his hand and vigorously rubbed the back of his neck, it was a sure sign of his agitation. Finally he spoke, and when he did, his voice was soft and eerily calm.

  “Is that what you really, truly think, Gloria?”

  “It is now.”

  “Now?” he repeated then crossed his arms over his chest. “Why now?”

  “From the way you reacted when she spotted us at the mall. It was all over your face.”

  Nate took a deep breath and slowly released it through his nose, and Gloria thought that if he had been a bull, she’d be able to see steam.

  “It’s called being friendly, Gloria. And to be honest, yes, I was happy to see her. I’m always happy to see my students, especially ones who excelled in my class.”

  Gloria froze. If he had taken a knife and run it through her belly, it would’ve been kinder. She turned on her heel and slowly made her way back to her desk.

  “Gloria, I didn’t mean it that way.”

  She sat down and stared at her blank computer screen. She needed to get back to work. She still needed the money from this job no matter what her feelings for her boss were.

  When she didn’t respond, he sighed and without looking in his direction, she heard him go to his desk and start rummaging—loudly—among his things.

  “You know, Gloria? I do have to give you credit.” He slammed a desk drawer open and closed, and she heard him slapping folders together, stacking them on top of each other. “Yes. If truth be told, Brittany could very possibly be in the same position in which we find ourselves today.”

  This made her jerk her head up and meet his gaze. From his red eyes red and flushed face, he was livid.

  “I have made a terrible mistake, Gloria,” he continued, but now his voice was soft, hollow. “I allowed myself to indulge in the ultimate fantasy and give in to the appeal of a cheerleader, someone I have absolutely no right to be attracted to, even as eye candy, and as a result....” He picked up his stack of folders and headed for the door. “I end up falling for another person whom I’ve come to know to be more mature, responsible... reliable. More my type.”

  Gloria sat stunned. She...was his type?

  “Someone truly special and full of—if you don’t mind my saying—class.” He shrugged and gave a short laugh. “You have taught me a very valuable lesson, Gloria.”

  He opened the door.

  “This old dog should never have fallen for a young trick like you.”

  It took the rest of the morning for Gloria to recover from Nate calling her a trick. Actually, she didn’t recover at all. It didn’t stop the huge, painful lump from sitting in her throat or keep her eyes from stinging with unshed
tears. She just went into auto-mode and got back to work, doing whatever she had to do to function and get along. She had been called worse by adults before. Nate’s words just now became part of her collection.

  At least, Gloria thought, they now both knew where they stood with each other, and after nearly ten weeks, it was about time. And speaking of time, it was running out.

  With all of their fucking around, Gloria had been able to keep up with the demands of her job. But after taking a sick day, she really had to press on so she could stay on track.

  The next time she saw him, a few hours later when his first class session had ended, she suspected he felt at least a little bad for his behavior. He came into the office, but not with his usual energy and enthusiasm.

  That was one thing she loved about him. Nate always made any space more lively just by being in it. Whether he was excited at what he was doing or just in a hurry, he was a force that attracted others around him. It’s what made him so popular among the student body.

  Gloria frowned. That was one of the problems. There were plenty of student bodies that wanted to be next to him, and Gloria thought she had won the ultimate prize at being the chosen one. She was a prize all right.

  But Nate’s return to the office was definitely subdued. So much so that Gloria couldn’t remember ever seeing him this way, and it worried her. He entered the office so quietly that if it wasn’t for the slight squeak the door made, she wouldn’t have noticed his presence.

  She just happened to glance up while doing a neck roll and saw him come in. Usually her doing a neck roll would be followed by his coming over and giving her a quick massage. That would then lead to a quick fondling session—at the very least. It was during these short periods between classes when she and Nate had some of their steamier encounters. The thought of them alone made her squirm in her seat.

  Not today.

  Nate’s head was bowed, not held high to correspond with his genial, straightforward approach with people. When he looked up through his side-swept bangs, their eyes met momentarily before he quickly looked away and went to his desk.

  Neither spoke. What could be said to make up for what was said earlier? They both spoke what was on their minds. Can’t apologize for being honest.

  Gloria returned to her typing. The best thing for them to do was just get on with their work. There was barely two more weeks left in the summer session, and she still had a shit ton of preparing to do for her move to college. It wasn’t enough trying to prepare for the mental challenge of a whole new world on a much larger scale, she had to deal with her own self-made personal drama.

  She needed to keep her head clear and just get through it.

  “Hiya, Mr. Larsen.”

  Gloria looked up from her work at the sound of a voice, and smiled.

  “Hi, Rory,” Nate said. “What can I do for you?”

  “Actually, I was looking for Gloria.”

  Rory Stewart entered the office and headed for her desk. He was a visitor she’d welcome any time. He put his hands in his pockets and stood in front of her desk and bowed his head, trying to look like a student called up before the principal.

  He raised his eyes to look at her through his stylishly dishevelled bangs, Gloria smiled up at him, playing with a pencil.

  “Good morning, Miss Goodman.”

  “Good morning to you, Mr. Stewart.”

  “I just came by to let you know that some of us are gonna go to the Paranormal Activity double feature at the Rialto on Friday. Wanna come? We usually go to someplace after to eat.”

  The Rialto Theater was an art house theatre that also showed cult classics and had theme showings on certain days. Fridays during the summer were reserved for B-movies and horror.

  “Sounds like an all-nighter.”

  “It is.”

  “But...what about the curfew?”

  He laughed. “That’s for kids. We’re all over eighteen.”

  Gloria pursed her lips together, thinking. She didn’t usually go in for horror or slasher flicks, but going with a group would be fun, and she could definitely use some fun.

  “I hope you forgive me,” Rory said dramatically as she hesitated. “I don’t normally ask grown working women out, but just call it the impetuousness of youth.”

  She blinked. For some reason she never guessed that Rory could sound so mature and use multisyllabic words like “impetuousness” correctly in a sentence. But she scolded herself for her prejudice. She didn’t appreciate it when people assumed her to be a stupid kid, so she needed to be just as considerate.

  “Why...I’d be happy to.”

  She put down her pencil and leaned forward on the desk, and as a result, bunched her breasts together and emphasized her cleavage in the process. Not on purpose, but when she suddenly noticed two pairs of eyes grow wide for a moment, she froze. Too late to turn back now.

  “Umm, who else is going?”

  Rory swallowed and the tip of his tongue darted out to moisten lips that must have suddenly turned dry.

  “Uh, I-I don’t know if you know everyone,” he stammered. “Let’s see—Alan Green, Justin Rozelle, Carly DeWitt, Mina Holmes, Trent Purcell—oh, and Brittany Taylor. You’ll know her.”

  Now it was Gloria’s turn for her mouth to go dry. Of course Brittany would be there, and Carly and Mina were the two friends Brittany took with her to Paris, and Trent was her on-again-off-again boyfriend and had been for years.

  Although Gloria didn’t know any of them personally, apart from Brittany, Rory was part of that social stratum of students most others strived toward. Out of the group Rory listed, only she and Brittany were graduates, all the others would be seniors when the school year started in the fall.

  She couldn’t turn down the invitation now after hearing who’d be going. Next time she’d be sure to ask first before deciding.

  “O-OK. I’ll look forward to it.”

  “Great.” Rory smiled and levelled his eyes on hers. “Give me your phone number. I can’t believe I haven’t asked you for it way before now.”

  As the blush built inside her, Gloria could feel her face turn warm. Part of it was from the way Rory openly flirted with her—but most of it was because she could see Nate just over Rory’s shoulder, standing by one of the bookshelves by the door.

  He held a book open, reading it. But she could have sworn that he’d averted his eyes when she glanced at him.

  She reached into her desk for a sticky note and wrote her number for Rory. When she held it out for him, their fingers touched, but he made a show of it by playfully grasping her hand as he took the note.

  “The digits. At last.” Rory held her gaze as he tucked her note into his shirt pocket. “I’ll give you a call tonight. When will you be home?”

  “Uhh....” This time Gloria couldn’t help but shoot a look at Nate, and Rory followed the direction of her look.

  “Oh!” Rory said, remembering they weren’t alone. “I’m sorry, Mr. Larsen. If you have plans to keep Gloria late or—”

  Nate chuckled grimly. “Nonsense! I have no hold over Gloria after four-thirty. She’s free to do what she wants.” He snapped his book shut and headed out of the office. “You kids go have fun.”

  With Rory’s back to her, Gloria was glad that he didn’t see her sitting there with open-mouthed disappointment, hurt again by Nate’s words and nonchalant attitude. But by the time Rory turned around again, she sat composed as if nothing had happened.

  “Give me a call tonight around seven,” she said.

  “Talk to you soon.” Rory’s voice now sounded deeper than a moment ago. Was it because they were no alone and he didn’t have to act so restrained?

  Gloria gave him a slow smile, similar to the one she gave Nate whenever she wanted to get his attention. If he was ready to cut her loose, then so be it.

  “I can’t wait.”

  Nate stalked down the school’s main corridor toward the faculty lounge. He needed a stiff jolt of coffee after witnessing th
at little scene. It took all his will to keep from putting a gentle but firm hand on Rory Stewart’s shoulder and guiding him out of the office. What was he thinking—coming into Nate’s office and asking Gloria for a date in front of him?

  He knew the answer to that asinine question before it fully formed in his head. What was he thinking—fucking around with an eighteen-year-old former student? Even if he was honest to himself and believed that it was more than merely “fucking around,” it didn’t change the fact that Rory was a much better match for Gloria than Nate could ever be, her mature disposition notwithstanding.

  Nate found his coffee mug and snagged the last Green Mountain Coffee Breakfast Blend pod for the Keurig. As he waited for his drink to brew, he couldn’t help but drum his fingers on the counter, an irritating sound that annoyed him, but ironically appropriate when considering his mood.

  Fortunately, no one else was in the lounge. A rare occurrence during the school year, but quite normal for the summer session. He didn’t want to be social or even fake interest in other humans at the moment. The only thing on his mind was a 5’ 9”, curvaceous bombshell sitting in his office being charmed by some high school jock, when at any other time, Nate could have had her sitting on his face.

  That was the wrong image to conjure up and he immediately started to grow hard. The coffee maker was done making his cup, and when he grabbed it, he did it too quickly and a few drops of hot coffee splashed onto his hand.

  “Fuck!”

  Fortunately, the sudden shock had the desired effect of halting his hard-on as blood diverted to his hand to make an irritated red mark. He shook his head.

  “Dumbass,” he said referring to himself both physically and mentally.

  The sound of the door opening made him spin around, dreading the possibility of running into Jill after their last encounter yesterday. Fortunately, it was a pair of teachers from the foreign language department. They stopped their chatter abruptly when they saw him standing there.

  He exchanged pleasantries with the ladies, who made their way to the communal fridge before camping out at a table on the opposite end of the lounge, by the windows.